I’m on the phone!

So I’ve started this Sunday routine. I go for a long walk through my neighborhood and call home to chat with my parents for a while. Of course, no phone call home is every complete without speaking to Max– even if it’s briefly. Over the past few months I’ve realized that Max tends to say the same things, in the same way every time I’m on the phone with him. So I decided to poll my siblings… and I was right. He says the same exact things to me as he does to them. Here’s what it’s like to hold a cellphone conversation with Max…

If you call him…

1. He-llo (insert sibling name), I miss you!

If he calls you…

1. He-llo (insert sibling name), it’s your brother Max speaking to you again…

Once contact has been established, Max will try to FaceTime.

Here’s what happens if you have an internet connection and pick up

1. Max will spend the whole time looking at himself in the camera and be too distracted to actually converse with you

2. He may decide he wants to communicate with you, but only by making funny faces

If you do not have an internet connection and cannot FaceTime

1. Max will call again. and again. In between his calls- you’re trying to call him to tell him that FaceTime won’t work right now.

2. He’s super bummed it won’t work– he really just wanted to play look at himself in the camera

Then the middle of the conversation will involve anything from one to all of these phrases…

1. Um, what are you doing right now?

2. Um, what are you doing tonight?

3. Um, what did you do yesterday?

4. Um, what are you doing tomorrow?

5. (Then he always answers his own question from number four with disgust) Let me guess- work?

7. Guess what– da… (insert sports team name) (insert sports statistic)(insert sports statistic)(insert sports statistic)

8. What are you doing on March 15? (this one is actually mostly directed at Kelsey– it’s her due date)

9. When are you coming home?

At the end of the conversation, he will begin his closing with one of the first two lines and finish with the promise:

1. I finished speaking to you now. Here’s my muffer. (mother)

2. Ok, umm… I gotta go.

3. I’ll call you later tonight (insert sibling name)- I swear.

 

Translation–Max wants to get back to whatever TV show or video game we pulled him away from.

The Charmer

What happens when you loan Max your cell phone…

Max doesn’t have a cell phone. This means he entertains himself by stealing our cell phones- especially those of us with iPhones. Last week Mary let Max borrow her phone to text with Kelsey. Mary sat on the couch and Max sat on the floor below her. Mary coached him when necessary, but for the most part, Max was able to text and spell things correctly with almost no help. It was super cute. He was very proud of himself.

Two nights ago I let him borrow my phone to once again text and snap chat with Kelsey. After about ten minutes, Max began to giggle…Kelsey would respond, Max would text and he would giggle again. He repeated this about 4 times and then looked at me with a rascally grin and said, “Hey Grace, Look. I just keep saying ‘Land’ to Kelsey.” Now, I have no idea why this started…maybe Max was just trying to use words that he knew how to spell…but he found Kelsey’s confusion funny. Then he found her annoyance to be hilarious. So he just kept texting it, over and over again to Kelsey.

Here’s a screen shot of part of their conversation:

And then Kelsey (as any sane big sister would), threatens to kill Max… this does not phase him in the slightest as you can see:

When he shared this with all of us, and we read some of Kelsey’s responses, we couldn’t help but laugh. This kid is SO weird. Somehow…the joke developed into two different ways we now amuse ourselves: 1. We randomly insert the word “land” into all of our conversations with each other 2. We have given Kelsey and Brandon’s in-utero son the nickname “Landrew”–as his parents already plan on calling him “Drew.”

Kelsey is still not amused…

~Grace

Max’s New Year’s Resolutions

The following took place a couple days ago…

Me: “Hey Max- wanna write some New Year’s Resolutions?”

Max: “No.”

Me: “Do you even know what a resolution is?”

Max: “No- what.”

Me: “They’re things you come up with that you’d like to change about yourself or your life in the coming year; it could be that you want to do more of something good…or less of something bad…”

Max: “No. Don’t want to do that.”

Me: “What if I put it on the blog?”

Max: “….ok.”

In other words, Max is a total ham who will do anything for his adoring fans.

Thus- the following is a list of Max’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2014

1. Play more football

2. Watch more football

3. Play more football video games

4. Play more Apples to Apples (this means convincing unwilling siblings)

5. Eat more food

6. Take less bike rides– but wear my killer new bike helmet that Kelsey gave me for Christmas (see below for the visual)

7. Build a tree house

8. Play Zumba on the Wii

9. Love and marriage

10. Become an uncle (which he will around March 15 😀 )

11. Swim with the dolphins

12. Love girls (He tells me this and then winks at me when I tell him he better not be loving multiple girls)

Watch out 2014!! Max has big plans for you!!

Max’s new bike helmet from Kelsey– she and her husband will make Max an uncle this year!

(also- our New Year’s Resolution is to post more on this blog, which shouldn’t be difficult considering our current track record)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

What Max Means To Us

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.   We thought this would be a perfect opportunity for each of us to share what Max means to us and how he has totally changed the world as we know it!

Leigh

Max is many things, he is a son, a brother, a friend.  One thing I never expected him to be was my teacher.  But that is exactly what this little man has been in my life!   He has taught me that family is the most important thing in this world.  The joy on his face when his “whole family” is home totally melts my heart.  He has taught me that with patience and perseverance any obstacle can be conquered.  The most important lesson he has taught me is how to love.  Max loves in a no questions asked, no judgments passed, in a one hundred percent unconditional way!  I am beyond grateful to have the One-in-a- million-Max in my life!

Kelsey

Words really can not describe the way I feel for my brother Max. It’s difficult living so far away from him. He has a smile that melts my heart. Whenever I am down I call him to cheer me up. I’m very excited to see what an awesome uncle he will make! (That’s right world, there is a baby Shields due to arrive in March!!!)

Grace

My Max. What to say… any attempt to explain what that boy has brought into my life will fall short. Max is truly the best, most unexpected and most undeserved gift that God has given me… He is also the most needed of all the gifts that have been placed in my life. Max has taught me so much about love: about how to give it, and also how to receive it. Max gives everything that he has to the people around him… he uses his entire capability…when he can’t do something, he joyfully allows us to help him. Max has shown me how to give my all, to accept my own limits and find joy in knowing there are people in my life who will help me when I can’t get by on my own. Also… DANCING. Dancing will always bring laughter. 🙂

Mary

I honestly can’t even imagine what my life would be like without Max. He is the glue that holds our family together… a very, VERY strong glue. I also think he has a sixth sense. He can pick up on what kind of mood I’m in, whether I’m happy, sad… well you get it. He knows how to cheer me up and make me laugh, he also knows when to just give me a hug. I can’t think of a time when I was upset about something and Max couldn’t make me feel better. He’s so smart, witty and goofy. I love my Maxxy, and I’m lucky to have a job close to home and that I get to be around him so much more than my other siblings 😉

Ben

Max is my only brother, and he means the world to me.  I don’t know what I would do without him.  Seeing him just being who he is everyday, has taught me to find true joy in life and not worry about things I can’t control. I love the kid!

Therese

Max is my best friend. He is always there for me and always ready to make me laugh. I love him with my whole heart and always will!

Big Black Brothers

If you know our family at all, you know that we are a family of movie-lovers. It started when we were little. We didn’t have cable, so if we wanted to watch TV movies were our only option. We got multiple VHS’ every time we went to the library (which during the summer, was pretty much everyday). We finally got a DISH when I was 9 years old, but the satellite has yet to replace our love for the magic of a movie. This love is a love that we have also passed on to Max. Although he’s always had the option to turn on the DISH, going to the library to borrow movies and going to the movie theatre are two of his absolute favorite things to do.

One of those movies that Max got to see in theatres (and now owns on DVD) is “The Blind Side”

For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s based on the true story of Baltimore Raven’s player, Michael Oher. Sandra Bullock stars as Leigh Anne Tuohy, an interior designer whose husband Sean owns over 85 fast food franchises. When her son SJ (Sean Jr.) befriends  “Big Mike,” the new black kid at their nearly all-white Christian school, Leigh Anne also becomes attentive. The Tuochy’s bring Michael into their home on a cold, autumn night when they see him walking around with no place to go. The rest of the story is a real heart-warming transformation story. To see how it turns out- rent the movie!  You can also check out this link to the trailer. I found this on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1hG_mjQojw

“The Blind Side” is not only one of Max’s favorite movies, but also mine. Max and I exchange lines from this movie often (sidenote: the Burnham children have a weird talent. We can all quote movies, just about line for line, after seeing it once or twice. My dad often gets annoyed with us at the dinner table because every other sentence is some movie quote. Sometimes I feel like Gus from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”- the father who was always saying, “Give me a word-any word- and I will show you that the root of that word is Greek.” Well I could say, “Give me a word-any word- and I will think of a movie quote that uses it.”) If Max is in my car, he’ll put his feet up on my dashboard and look at me with his rascally grin until I say, “Get your feet off my dash!” a line that Leigh Anne Tuohy directs at SJ when he climbs in the car after school one day. But that’s just one example of how much Max loves that movie. Because of the movie, Max’s love also extends to the person that is Michael Oher. Max was so excited the Ravens were playing in the Superbowl this past year merely because of his idol.

Now to the funny part. This past weekend was an eventful one for our family: Kelsey married her fiance Brandon. The wedding took place a little sooner than expected because our new brother-in-law, a Lieutenant in the Marine Corp, is about to be deployed to Afghanistan. Though we’ve talked to Brandon via phone and internet, this was everyone’s first meeting in person. Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the wedding. It conflicted with my first day of work at a new job. But I was texted pictures and filled in with phone calls all weekend. My favorite was on Saturday when Dad told me about Max’s first encounter with his new brother. Brandon- a super friendly guy introduced himself to Max, asking him how he was doing and said, “I’m gonna be your new brother- your big black brother!” And Max got excited and said, “Like Michael Oher?!”

Needless to say, I laughed so hard when my dad told me that story. I think from now on I’ll call Max “SJ.” Maybe I’ll wait to see how Brandon feels before I change his name and start calling him “Michael.” 🙂

~Grace

Max and his brothers

Max’s First Trip To The Beach

At the beginning of June, we took a last-minute, “mini vacation” down to Swansboro, North Carolina to visit our sister Kelsey. This was Max’s first trip to the ocean so we were all excited to see his reaction on the beach. We drove in two separate cars because our Uncle Tom also was going down to N.C. for a vacation. Grace and I were not with Max when he first walked along the ocean, he walked along the beach with our mom and Therese. Therese told us later that Max slowly inched his way into the water when the waves were fairly mild, but then a stronger wave came along and wiped Max out. When he got up, he said to Therese “Oh my goodness, this tastes bad!” Just imagining his face when this happened makes me laugh!

One day we went to the Aquarium on Emerald Isle; we got there just in time to watch the end of a “Live Dive” where three scuba divers were in one of the tanks talking to the guests of the aquarium. Max was so fascinated—especially with the sharks that would swim by! At the end of the show, the divers came up the glass to give “glass high-fives” to all the kids.
After I snapped the picture the diver looked at me, pointed at Max’s Ohio State Buckeyes shirt and gave Max thumbs up. When I told Max that the diver likes The Ohio State Buckeyes, Max was thrilled and shouted “Cool Dude!”

Max also had the opportunity  to pet stingrays at the aquarium…but had to get his whole arm into the water in order to reach them. Afterwards, he visited the alligator exhibits and he had fun posing with a stuffed alligator.

Max also got to see penguins and we took another cute photo of him outside the exhibit… I give you… Maximus the boy penguin!

The next day, we laid out and swam in the ocean and at the pool adjoining our hotel. Max went into the ocean with us, but started to get scared of the waves as we walked in a little deeper. Grace was trying to teach him to jump with the waves so they wouldn’t knock him over. Instead of jumping up, he jumped onto Grace! Which worked too, because then Grace and I switched back and forth with holding Max and jumping with the waves.  He soon got bored with that and then wanted us to bury him in the sand… so we made him a mermaid.  Not the best sand mermaid ever made, but it was quite difficult because Max was constantly laughing and trying to see what he looked like buried. Every time he laughed, the whole torso of the mermaid shook!

There are two funny stories I would like to share with you that happened as we were packing up and on our drive home from North Carolina. The first one involves my razor. As I was packing up my suitcase I noticed that someone had been using my razor when I left it out in the shower the previous night, immediately I accused Therese (it’s usually the little sister right?) and she denied it. Nothing more was said until we started driving home and Max was being goofy and put his leg up on my lap. I noticed that he had a few hairs on some parts of his legs…but that most of his legs were silky smooth… and hairless…

Mary: “Max, did you use my razor to shave your legs?”

Max: (giggling with guilt)  “What? No…”

Mary: “Max… why are your legs smooth then? What happened to your leg hair?”

Max: (between laughs) “I don’t know!!”

Mary: “Max! You definitely used my razor to shave your legs!”

Max: “Oh come on, I was joking!”

Needless to say, Max shaved his legs, surprisingly fairly well since there were no nicks from slicing up his legs. We then continued to tease him about shaving his legs by calling him our little sister and referring to him as “Maxine.”

The last story involves a toll booth in West Virginia, Uncle Tom, Therese and Max. During this leg of our journey home, Therese, Max and I were in Uncle Tom’s car. Our uncles have always enjoyed tormenting their nieces and nephews by teasing them… it doesn’t happen as much with the older kids now, because we know how to tease back. But Therese and Max are still picked on at family functions. As we were driving through a toll booth, Uncle Tom paid the toll to the booth worker. As we drove away, Uncle Tom asked Therese if she got a good look at the woman working the toll booth, because that would be her future one day. Therese immediately began defending herself as Max butted into the conversation saying “Hey! Uncle Tom! See that girl back there? That was your girlfriend!” I died laughing and even Uncle Tom admitted that Max made a good joke!
Overall, I think Max enjoyed his mini vacation to North Carolina!

~ Mary

God is that you?

There are certain things that Max will do or say that make you wonder if he has a sixth sense or divine connection, that makes him more attuned to peoples needs, even when they are miles away.

Last week I got a phone call from Kelsey who wanted to share one such instance. She has been having a tough time at work recently and the stress had really started to get to her. She woke up one morning very anxious about everything the day held when her phone started to ring. When she saw that it was our Dad’s number and because of the early hour she feared it was bad news.

Instead it was Max and he had a special message just for her. ” Hi Kelsey I just wanted to tell you that God loves you and will protect you. He won’t let the devil hurt you.”

Kelsey was overwhelmed “Did Dad tell you to call me and say that?”

“Nope! God did!

She still was not convinced that he hadn’t been coached to call her. But Dad, who had been searching the house high and low for his cellphone, assured her that Max had taken his phone and had acted entirely on his own.

Greatful and inspired by Max’s words, Kelsey was able to tackle the challenges of the day.

Max pinning on Kelsey’s Lieutenant Bars

What Max Said

A few summers ago the family was at a Cleveland Indians game to celebrate Kelsey’s birthday.  Max was having a blast, we lucked out because it was Kids Day and there were tons of free activities going on.  He got to pet a boa constrictor, dance with some robots, and even run the bases and meet some of the players after the game!

After the game, we were waiting at a cross walk for the light to change, when I noticed a shady looking character on the otherside of the street…

He was the kind of person you don’t want to run into by yourself in a dark ally.  But Max, ever the optimist and a sweet soul, sees the good in everyone and did not let this fact phase him.  As the light changed we all started into the cross walk and with each step Max’s swagger became more confident.  When they were just a few feet apart Max, doing his best gangster impression, gave a head nod, and said “Hey Man.”

Not missing a beat, the big, old, scary guy replied “Hey Homie”

Upon hearing this Max broke out in a huge smile, looked at me and exclaimed, “He called me homie!”  excitement pulsed through his little body, you would have thought that he won the lottery!  We were both on the opposite side of the street at this point. but Max turned around, waving his arms in the air and shouted at the top of his lungs “THANKS DUDE!”

Family

I have said it before, and I will say it again. Where ever Max goes there is love and a whole lot of it. Maybe that extra chromosome he has makes his heart ten times bigger than everyone else’s, so he has that much more love to give. But what ever the cause, he knows how to love, especially when it comes to his family. He loves all of us unconditionally and has the gift of making each of us feel like we are his favorite. When I was home over Christmas he said “Leigh, you are the best sister to love.” Feeling quite smug I turned to Mary and said “See, I’m Max’s favorite sister.” She laughed “Leigh, he told me the same thing when I got home!”

I will never forget the first time I heard him express just how important we are to him. He must have been about eight years old, both Kelsey and I were in college . It was my Mom’s birthday weekend and, I was home for the celebrations. Kelsey had told us that she wouldn’t be able to make it home that weekend, but unbeknownst to us she caught a ride with a friend. When she can walking through the door, Max rushed into her arms for a big hug, and cried out,

“My whole family!  Dad, My whole family is home!”

Max and Kelsey’s reunion at Thanksgiving

As the oldest, I have no idea what it is like to be at home and watch as, one by one, my siblings venture off into the world. I can’t imagine what goes through Max’s mind. He asked me not that long ago why all his sister’s kept leaving, and almost every time we talk on the phone, he wants to know why I live in New York. That kid really knows how to tug on the heart-strings. His words and actions make one thing crystal clear, his family is the most important thing in the world.

No matter where life takes each of us, one thing will remain the same, we are family, Max’s “Whole Family”.

My sister lives in NYC and all I got was this crappy T-shirt…