A Quick Break: May 4-6, 2007

Liam now has seen both oceans, though it was too cold to swim or play in the sand. We joined our friends, the Griffiths, on their trip to Ocean Shores. We didn't really do anything while we were there, though we did walk on the beach. Both boys fell asleep in their strollers. We mostly played inside, safe from the wind. We also celebrated Brian's birthday, which was the reason for the trip. Everyone had a good time, in fact we would have liked to stay longer.

Singing in the Rain

Late April/Early May

The weather has yet to turn nice, but Liam doesn't mind too much. He just learned there's a small yard out back with a ton of interesting things, like stones, a garden hose and a water meter. Today Lester took him outside barefoot to stomp in some puddles. At first he was a little reluctant to walk on cold, wet concrete. (I would be too!) Be then he tried it, and as you can see from the expression, it's fun.

This last week marked the arrival of tooth number seven. We didn't have the drama like before, but certainly a little less sleep. Bean also nods his head yes (sometimes even when he means yes) and he also sometimes says 'yah' when you ask him to do something. (Doesn't mean he'll do it.)

Liam has finished at Building Blocks school, and will have a little time at home with me. Currently I only teach on Wednesday nights.

Tomorrow we're off to the ocean for two days. I was thinking about how lucky Liam is to be able to travel. Lester and I were both adults before we'd seen both oceans. Liam will be just over a year. We updated our destinations map in the upstairs hallway to include Liam. (With help, he added green pins for Portland, Austin, San Antonio, Tampa and Cocoa Beach.

On May 2nd, Liam weighed 23.5 pounds and was tall enough to reach the doorknob.

Where did my Zen Baby Go?

Back in September, I commented that Liam was a little Zen Baby. Where is that child?

These days he runs around, all day long. He walks almost all the time now, looking for trouble to get into. Most of the time he climbs up onto things where he doesn't belong. He'll maneuver a toy into just the right spot, then scale the toy to reach something way up high. His tippy-toes get a lot of exercise.

He pounds on the windows, grabs cords, slobbers all over the remotes. In his high chair, everything goes directly to the floor. Then, with a sheepish look, he says 'mo, mo' which means more. I think he' a Newtonian physicist in training.

Before bed, we take a bath, read a story and play. Regardless, he nearly always crays for a few minutes and then falls asleep. However, I would no longer classify him as a Zen baby. :-) He LOVES to scream quite often. When he doesn't get what he wants, look out!

This week, we went back to the doc. The perpetual ear infection is gone, and with summer on the way, the doc no longer thinks tubes are needed. yay!

On April 2nd, Liam had his first haircut. We took a walk to the haircut place beside our local grocery store, and he sat still the whole time. He was such a brave boy!

A few days later, we took him for his first pair of walking shoes. He's looking very cute!

One step forward, one step back

If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.

We had one crazy month. It started with a nice party, new friends and a new school. Along the way, we had a few "monster-trance" first steps and much happiness. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a party and Easter with an Egg Hunt. Unfortunately the month ended with tears, infection and an assortment of messiness.

**The egg hunt photo**

On Easter morning, Liam wake up too sick to go to church. Luckily, he and Dev went to the neighborhood egg hunt on Saturday. We also went to the other park, to try out the baby swing again.

Just after Easter, Liam went to the doc because he wasn't keeping much down. He had a whopper ear infection in both ears. The medicine made poor Liam erupt from both ends before doing any good. He missed almost a week of school. Lester went out of town to help my mom move from San Diego to San Antonio. It was a difficult and mostly sleepless weekend here as Liam suffered from painful diaper rash, continued explosions around the clock, and boredom from being cooped up at home. Luckily, our neighbors fed us and helped while Lester was gone.

Over the weekend, Krysti and Carter were over, and the two boys played happily together. Liam studied Carter's walking (and running) ability, which fueled a zeal to take more steps at once. He walks a little every day, but still prefers to crawl. Being so sick, Liam didn't get much walking practice for about a week.

It snowed just before Lester left, and again on Friday.

Liam's lost a little weight. He's down to 20 pounds again, having lost nearly two. However, in the last two days, he has eaten nearly everything in sight. He once again likes food he previously didn't, including some new solids, like dried apricots. The doc said we'll worry about his eating issues once we know his ear infections are gone.

More next week, including photos from Liam's first haircut.

Baby Steps

Tonight, Liam took his first few solo steps! He was pushing his little red car all over the kitchen, perhaps trying to run over the dog. He stopped, just beside his high chair, and stood by himself for a moment. Then he took three or four steps towards me, right into my arms. It was all on his own, and I think the trick was that he wasn't thinking about it.

He hasn't really repeated the feat, but in his defense, he was very tired.

How fitting that Liam took his first steps on St. Patrick's Day.

Full Speed Ahead!

March 2nd through March 10

A year ago Liam was just figuring out life. He slept a lot (we didn't) and we introduced him to the world one piece, one friend, one day at a time. So it seems only appropriate that a year later, he's absorbing every detail that surrounds him.

This week he has started saying Mama. Previously he said mamamamama, and sometimes he looked in my direction. We were never really sure if he intended to speak a word, or if he uttered a meaningless sound. But really, right on his birthday, he started to say Mama and mean it. This morning, when I first saw him, clear as day, he said Mama and pointed. So far, it's the only word that we recognize, so it's his first word. He also infrequently says 'hiya' on the phone, so that might soon be his second word. He also says it randomly too, so it could be coincidence. He says 'da' a lot, but it still means too many things to pinpoint one meaning. He might be smart, but I think homonyms are still too advanced.

Other recent advances:

• He goes to school now. His friend Carter is there, and they play well together. He doesn't eat much while he's there, so that's something to work on.


• Little Bean stands on his own, and when brave, he takes a step between us. Still no walking.


• The car seat faces forward now, at least in one car. Liam likes to see where he's going.


• He gives us hugs & kisses. Gotta love these.
  

On 3/3/2008, Liam was 22 pounds, 11 oz. He was 29 inches tall. (Compare that to 3/3/07 when he was barely 6 pounds and 18.5 inches!) He is one year old.

Happy Birthday Baby Liam!

March 1st, 2008
Liam's first birthday!


Yesterday was Bean's First Birthday. It was a special day, so we celebrated with a party. Liam started his day early with breakfast. He ate yogurt and oatmeal as usual. After breakfast all the family from England called to wish Liam a happy birthday. After Liam's nap, we went to the grocery store, to get a few things for the party. We also found a 1st birthday balloon for the birthday boy!


At home, Shannon came over to help decorate the house. Liam decided he wanted to help too, so he climbed the ladder all by himself. It would have been frightening for us to watch, except he was up the ladder in a flash. By the time we noticed, he was halfway up the ladder! Luckily we were all nearby to make sure he didn't fall.

Around 3, Liam's friends arrived. The party started with a jelly bean egg hunt in the front park. Then we came inside for tea and cake. Finally, we all had cake and sang to Liam. He wasn't sure what to make of the cake at first, but eventually he discovered what to do. His cake was a round angel food with whipped cream frosting. The number 1 was on top, in blue sugar sprinkles.

Finally, Liam helped open his birthday gifts. He received many nice gifts, but the favorites were the handmade ones. Friends stayed at our house until Liam's bed time, and I don't think he fussed or cried the whole day. It was such a treat to have all of his friends over at once!

To end the day, I rocked Liam to sleep as always. He hadn't eaten much 'real food' all day, so we fed him baby food and yogurt before bed, as always. So as I was sweetly rocking my 1-year old son, he closed the festivities by barfing all over himself and Mommy.

It was a good day.