Week of July 25th: Food, Glorious Food

Wednesday, July 25 to Tuesday, July 31

Liam ate 'solid' food this week. Figuring that he was nearly 5 months old, we fed him a bowl of rice cereal. It looks a lot like wallpaper paste, but he thought it tasted pretty good.

We took lots of pictures of his first ever bowl of 'real' food. We have to give credit where it is due. The only reason why the first food off a spoon came even close to working was due to Granny's diligence in teaching Liam to take Gripe Water from a spoon. This is not to say that the event was a total success. Of the bowl of cereal, we estimate that about 1/3 went into Liam, 1/3 coated Liam, and the final third ended up a puddle he sat in. Needless to say it was bath time after that.

Friends came over to play our favorite game, Apples to Apples, on Sunday. Liam was happy to have all the extra attention (and hands to feed him). Margie seemed somewhat concerned that we take off Liam's clothes to feed him, suggesting he might grow up and think he needs to do the same. She suggested the bib; thanks Margie. However, with the mess he makes, it's still easiest to take the clothes off before eating. But the bib helps.

Cara and Joya helped me give Liam a bath after we all fed him cereal. Then we played Apples to Apples. I don't recall who won.

Liam also has a new exersaucer -- obtained mostly so that we have one for upstairs and one for downstairs. This also helps when Carter is over, so Krysti has a place to put both of them.

Finally, we met the newest baby on the block. Liam no longer has that title. There's nothing quite like a new, tiny little one, as light as a feather. Hard to believe Liam was ever so small.

Liam is 21 weeks old, and weighs 16.5 lb and is 24 inches long (that's 2 feet tall).

More pictures:

Food Glorious Food

July 18-24: I'll eat my words now...

Tuesday, July 17 - Tuesday July 24

Last week I said:

... getting him to sleep is now straightforward and dare I say it... easy?

Remember those words? HAH! I should have known better. I'd like to retract them. Liam had a rough week. He sleeps through the night on occasion now. As of today, short naps are back on the agenda, but I would no longer use the word easy. Today we had a 12 minute nap. Does that even count?

Friday night was tough; he was up at least 4 times, and I had to be at school at 8am on Saturday. Luckily, Lester took over at some dark and early morning hour.

He's also back on the Binkie. Our Nanny Krysti, gave it to him one day, and now he likes it when he falls asleep. I don't think it will be long-lived though because it's too much work to be very rewarding.

Back to our Nanny, she brings her 9-month-old Carter with her. Until now, the two played side-by-side. But now that they are more comfortable with each other, the two have been interacting a little. Liam reaches out for Carter, which looks a little like a swat at a nearby fly. And Carter 'pets' Liam on the head like he's a kitty.

Last week, Liam started making the broken car noise... neh--uh--neh--uh--neh--uh. I think it most resembles a car with a worn-out battery trying to start, unsuccessfully. This noise can go on for hours, and I think it means 'I'm bored'. Doesn't matter what toy or person he has in front of him... neh--uh--neh--uh--neh--uh. Sometimes there's a hint of pending tears, or laughter. Then, without warning, he's quiet again. That's who he is this week, I guess.

I think Liam is a Baby scientist. He loves to study things -- anything, really-- and he can look at it for a very long time. His reaction to seeing something new (or something he thinks is new) is a happy giggle with a smile, and then a long stare. When interrupted, he gives the same expression Lester uses, as if to say, right, where was I?

We have a new CD of kid songs, like the Hokie-Pokie. Liam likes to dance and he's actually starting to recognize the songs. Apparently Liam will have a lot to learn, as we are discovering many of the songs have American and British versions.

For example, I sing "Ten bears in the bed and the little one said,

Roll over, I'm crowded,

So they all rolled over and one fell out..."

But when Lester sings it, it goes something like this:

"Ten in a bed and the little one said,

Roll over, roll over,

And they all rolled over and one fell out...

Bumped his head,

And gave a shout, Please remember, To tie a knot in my pyjamas,

Single beds are only made for one, two, three, four, five, six in the bed and the little one said..."

Liam now grabs for things he wants to hold. It's really cute. Last night in the bath, he grabbed the washcloth I was using to sqeeze water onto his head. He just wanted to hold it. I guess it's only logical that he now can do things deliberately; he is almost 5 months old after all!

Liam is 20 weeks old and weighs 16.5 pounds.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Week of July 10th

Tuesday July 10th through Tuesday July 17th


Liam has been settling into routines this week. At the suggestion of the pediatrician, we read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. This book suggested we try an early bedtime and several well-timed naps troughout the day. Liam's now going to bed at 8, and he usually sleeps until 6am. He also takes two short naps a day. This is a very good thing. And getting him to sleep is now straightforward and dare I say it... easy?


It was very hot last week; near 100 degrees every day. The house grew warmer and warmer with each passing hour, so we went out in the afternoons to avoid the heat. On Wednesday we went to the swimming pool, which was set to 1.5 feet. Liam loves the water, but there may have been too many kids in the pool for him to really feel comfortable.

On Saturday, Liam went to the zoo with Daddy, Guy (one of Liam's Godfathers), Granny Beth and Cara, Margie and Margie's son Max. This was a field trip for the Weyerhaeuser Photo Club. Guy, Lester, Margie and Max went on a photo scavenger hunt. Liam, Cara and Granny Beth looked at the animals and ate lunch.



Our house is now, and forever will be, Liam's playground. There are brightly-colored plastic toys everywhere... as it should be. He is really quite strong, and can sit on his own for short periods of time. There is a photo of him sitting up in the album below... I think his head looks so big compared to the rest of him that it amazing that he can manage to keep it upright. Eventually he does start to lean, and then he gently flops over, hopefully into something soft, or someone's waiting arms.


We started the week with a pillow behind him in the exersaucer (Office 2000) in case he toppled backward. Now he spins around and uses all the different toys, and the pillow gets in the way. I can happily put him in there for a while while I load the dishwasher or get ready to go to school. Last week I mentioned that the hand-me-down saucer is called "The Office" by the friends who gave it to us... so when I put Liam in the saucer, I tell him it's time for his office hours. I actully think if I had one of these in my office at work, he could do his office hours right beside me while I do mine!

Unfortunately that arrangement won't work, because most of the time I'm at work, I'm teaching. So Liam stays at home with Krysti, his nanny. She brings her 9-month-old son, Carter, with her, and the three of them play while I'm gone. Liam is going to learn a lot from Carter, I think, because Liam is constantly watching. When Krysti puts Carter in the Office, he jumps around like the drummer in a rock band (and makes about the same amount of noise). Liam just watches...

Today was his first day with the Nanny, and I really think this is an excellent arrangement for all of us. Plus, it was nice to get away for a few hours. Although Liam is my favorite student, and he learns so quickly, it's refreshing to focus on language skills at a (slightly) higher level. :-)

Next week should be as ordinary as tap water... but then again, you never know.

More photos:

Heatwave & the Zoo

On July 15th Liam was 4 1/2 months. He weighs more than 16 pounds.

Week of 7/3: Happy 4th!

Tuesday, July 3 to Monday, July 9

We spent a lot of time outside this week. The garden is now a nice place for all of us... we put a few more plants in, and the lilac finally has a home. Good thing too, because this week will be a scorcher!

On the 4th of July, we went to the local park in Auburn. Liam will really enjoy the activities there when he can run around and get wet at the spray playground. In the afternoon, we went up north for a BBQ at the Crawfords. We watched a few fireworks from the bedroom window - we can see three or four of the local displays going all the way out tho the sound. We were all so tired though!

Over the weekend, we had a chance to meet some of the neighbors. We all got together in the park in front of our house for a picnic. Liam behaved himself so well that we stayed out until his bedtime! We also

learned that he won't be the youngest boy on the block for very long -- seems there's something in the water around here!

We also met up with the Kresse's one last time before they move to Oregon. Joel was there -- we haven't seen him since Jill's wedding in Arkansas last year!

The week ended with Liam's 4-month check-up. He's in good health, and growing fast. At the official weigh-in, he was 16 pounds, 1 oz, and just under 25 inches long! As Granny says, he's a Baby Heffalump.

The doc has suggested an earlier bedtime and trying a little rice cereal once a day. I haven't decided about the baby cereal yet; she thinks it would be good to see how he does while he's still very young. Plus, rice allergies are rare. We'll see how it goes.

Something new for this week: Liam now is big enough for "Office 2000" the hand-me-down exersaucer that's been hanging out in our living room. (Zinta and Guntis came up with the clever name.) On Sunday he tried it for the first time and wasn't sure. By yesterday, he'd figured how to spin around in it, and how to use all the toys. I'll have pictures next week.

Liam's 1st 4th

On July 9th Liam was 4 months, one week old. He weighs 16 pounds.

Week of 6/25: Trains and boats and planes.

Monday, June 25th to Sunday, July 1st

This week was all about travel and weddings. Last weekend, Liam experienced his first road trip. We all piled into the new Matrix, and headed to Oregon.

On 6/23/07 the three of us piled in the car for a trip to Portland. Our friends Shaun and Sherry got married. As you can see from the photo, Liam slept most of the way.

The Westin created very nice accommodations for his first hotel stay. It was so cute, we had to take a picture. A few people asked to see it.

Liam did really well on the trip, even though Daddy forgot all his clothes for the wedding at home. So while Liam and I went for a walk and browsed the Kid's section at Powells, Daddy rushed over to the Men's Warehouse to get a new everything. Seems we were both so focused on having everything we needed for the little one that we forgot to look after ourselves!

That wasn't the case the following week with our trip to Texas. Liam enjoyed his first flight on Wednesday. He did quite well, though he was a little squirmy. I think we brought two of everything we needed!

Katie and Ronnie got married, and the wedding was very nice. We had a great time, and Liam met so many new people; family and friends. It was a good trip.

More photos from our two trips:

Weddings

On July 1st Liam was 4 months old. He weighs 15.5 pounds.