August 21-28: Entering Advanced Baby Mode

August 21 - August 28

I remember the days when his tiny head fit in the palm of my hand.

Is this the same baby?

16 days / 6 months

Liam is one week shy of six months. He sits up and plays with toys now. We no longer 'practice' sitting; he just does. Sure, he falls over sometimes, for no reason at all... but who doesn't?

He also figured out how to roll from front to back. In the same evening, he figured out how to crawl. Currently he doesn't really do either of these with any regularity, but he knows how. He really wants to crawl - you can see the determined look in his expression. Honestly, I think he just wants to walk and do the things other people do. He doesn't understand it; even the dog can walk and talk and eat real food, so why can't he?

I tell Liam he's an advanced baby, meaning he used to be a beginner baby. Pretty soon he'll be an expert baby and he will teach the other tiny babies how to look at things and say advanced words, like 'google.'

Now he's beyond the tiny baby things. For instance, he has outgrown most of his tiny baby toys. He still likes to hold onto them, but he's no longer engaged by rattles. The toy I call 'blinkie blinkie' was his first 'toy' that he could play with. Now he looks at it as though he's figured it out. After only a few minutes he scoots away to something else. I fear even his mobile has numbered days...

So this week I went to the second-hand store to buy some new toys. Yes, I went to Target first because I'm scared about all the toy recalls. Nearly all toys are made in China. Target has moderately-expensive toys, primarily for brand new babies. There were a few that he might like, but nothing exciting. But then we went to the second hand store, where he can at least see what the toys look like without all the packaging. That's part of the reason I don't like buying Liam new new toys... all the packaging just goes to a landfill anyway. There's life left in so many toys, and Liam doesn't know the difference if it's slightly used. Plus, the cost savings means we can buy twice or three times as many. Sure, I have to go online and make sure the toys haven't been recalled, but I figure thats the least we can do for this planet. Perhaps it helps to offset all the diapers.

This week brought more solid food. Liam now eats apples and sweet potatoes. We gave up on cereal -- it didn't like him. Granny has sent us so many baby spoons that we can use a different spoon every day of the week without the need to do dishes! The British spoons are better though, like almost everything. Some even change color when the food is too hot. Granny also sent a puppy puppet from their travels in Ireland. Liam says 'gooh' which could mean anything. We hope it means thank you.

Currently we have a little extra help. Our nanny and he son are staying with us for a little while. There are no complaints from the boys who now always have someone to play with.

Liam is 25 weeks old and he weighs 18 pounds. He is 28 inches long. (Can that be right?)

More photos:

End of August

Music

Liam also now really enjoys listening to music. One of his CDs has a song that goes like this:

There was a tree (there was a tree)
All in the wood (all in the wood)
The prettiest tree (the prettiest tree)
That you ever did see (that you ever did see)
The tree in a hole and the hole in the ground
And the green grass grows all around, all around
The green grass grows all around.
The song lists out a root in the hole, and a tree on the root and a branch on the tree...

You get the idea.

So Lester figured out it's the same song as an Irish drinking song.
It goes something like:
With the hole in the bog and the bog down in the Valley Oh
And in that hole there was a tree, a rare tree, a Ratlan tree ...
the likeness is that the verses are all parts of the tree, bird, etc.

The words are slightly different, but the tune is the same. :-)

August 14-21: Dog Days of Summer

This week Liam figured out that he has a doggie. He reaches out to pet Zoe and grabs a fist full of fur. Sometimes, with the right encouragement, he actually 'pets' Zoe, and so far, she's been receptive to the whole relationship. Zoe loves any attention she gets these days. With the right supervision, Zoe's allowed to sniff Liam. Sometimes he gets an unexpected 'kiss' on the cheek. He smiles and giggles -- dog might be man's best friend, but Liam is clearly Zoe's best friend.

Liam and I watched the Packers vs. the Seahawks on TV Saturday afternoon. It was preseason, but the Packers looked really good. This was Liam's first game. Normally Liam doesn't watch any TV, but this was a special event. In Wisconsin, it's never too early for football, and I was likely watching football before I could say 'Go Pack Go.' Lester thinks Liam should be a Seahawks fan, but I argue that he has Green & Gold blood in him. Besides, being a Seahawks fan is so ordinary. Being a Packer Backer shows character.

Also new this week, Liam is eating a little oatmeal every day. We will see how that goes. He seems to like it. According to all the advice I've seen, now is the time to encourage cereal. Despite the rice cereal problems, oatmeal looks good so far.

The hospital sends an email every week to tell me how many weeks old Liam is, and what's normal for that week. This week there was a link to a neat little timeline tool. http://www.talaris.org/5ways/index.htm

As for six months... which is next week, this is the only one I don't know about:
Can perform simple addition and subtraction exercises (5 - 10 months).

Babies are supposed to know how to do math? I know some adults who don't yet have a handle on that one... what next, quadratic equations at 9 months? We are most certainly pushing kids too hard these days. ;-)

I digress. He has reached all of the 6-month milestones. This week we noticed he is capable of responding to own name (4 - 5 months), though he prefers 'Bean' to 'Liam'. He likes it when we spell his name 'L-I-A-M, Liam!' and when we slowly say the vowel letters. He now responds to voices over the phone, recognizing quite a few familiar voices. When he hears Granny, he starts 'talking' nonstop, and when he hears Nana, he smiles and trys to hold the phone. I'd say he likes his grandmothers!

Next week is Lester's final presentation for his MBA. One more 8-week class after this week, and he's officially over-educated. Liam sat in on one of Lester's group meetings, and he helped Daddy put together a few slides.

Over the weekend, we got to see a MO-VIE! We took the boy up to Joya and Wiley's house, which now has more toys than ours does. Liam had a great time hanging out there while we saw the Simpsons movie, which was one of the best movies ever. Lisa falls in love with a smart Irish kid with a dreamy accent. Need I say more?

OK, So Liam has just now reminded me of one more thing... HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY! Amy Power will be three years old this week! The four of them will get to meet Liam in October -- they are coming for a visit! Liam's so excited he just can't stop talking about it.

He's Growing Up Fast!

We missed the update for last week. I've hurt my wrist, so I'm keeping the typing to a minimum. However, today Liam finally figured out how to suck his thumb. I thought this was noteworthy, seeing as he has been trying so hard for so long.

More on Tuesday.

Week of 7/31-8/6: Liam's 5 months old!

Tuesday, July 31st to Tuesday August 6th


On August 1 Liam was 5 months old! In usual fashion, we remembered only after he fell asleep, so we sang to him the next day. I reveled in the idea that he's almost half a year old. He's also back to being a fully breastfed baby. The rice cereal made his tummy upset, so we've decided to wait until he's at least six months old. The doc is trying to convince me that he has acid reflux and perhaps needs medication. The way I see it, he ate the rice cereal and didn't feel well. Now that he's not eating cereal, he's back to normal... It doesn't take a Baby Einstein to figure out the problem here. So we are holding off until he's a little older.


We went swimming again this week. Liam loves the water. Next week we can register for swimming lessons which will start in early September. I know it sounds early, but my view is that it's never too early to learn how to be safe around water.


Speaking of water, Lester wanted to take some water photos for his photo club assignment. Keep in mind that it was Lester's idea to pour water on Liam's head. I am normally gentle, trying to get most of it down the back of his head. In fact, I even have a little visor, for days when he's not so pleased to start with. Contrast this with Lester's view. He thinks Liam should be able to handle water in his face without a bother, so he dumps the water right on his head. On this day, it made for a good picture, but I think tomorrow I'll go back to the old way.




On Thursday evening, with some effort, Liam rolled from his back to his front. By Friday morning he could flip around like he's been doing it his whole life. Now he's a pancake... that is he only flips one way... to his tummy. He hasn't figured out how to do it in reverse. So every morning, I go into his room, and he's frantically trying to get to his back. Sometimes it seems like an endless battle: roll, whine, flip, roll, whimper, flip.


Also this week, Liam met Nina Simone, who is the adorable little girl you might remember from the baby shower. We work with her parents (well actually her Daddy was my student when she was born; now he works at Weyerhaeuser, and her Mommy works at DeVry.) The two babies are so cute together - especially when they hold hands. She's almost one year old, so she's a little more gentle than the nanny's son, Carter.



It amazes me how at this age, even a few months difference in age is so profound, yet they could all be in the same Kindergarten class five years from now. I can hardly think about Liam eating with a fork or tying his shoes. This week I'm just so happy to see him roll to his front, and I'll be ever so pleased when he can roll back... on his own.




More pictures:

Rolling Over

Liam is now 5 months old; he weighs more than a gallon of milk and less than Zoe.