Christmas Day

Christmas morning was very sunny and beautiful. I suppose if I can't have a white Christmas then sun is better than rain! We had 'Land of Nod' cinnamon buns for breakfast....a sugar rush for all.

Our boys are very patient on Christmas morning and always have been. No waking up at obscenely early hours or any of that monkey business!

Liam also patiently waited to open his gifts.

How is it that babies know fairly early on what a phone is? It's not like I am often on the phone in his presence but he will put about anything shaped like a phone to his ear and 'chat'!

The boys loved their Star Wars thing-a-ma-bob. Whatever...what do I know about these things?

Keith and I both got each other a new smell :) Perfume for me and cologne for him. Yeah...looking a bit tired, aren't I? Just keeping it real.

And then I opened Santa's gift to us (me)! A new camera! Yippee! I like it but am still adjusting to all the new features and settings.

Liam and I in our red Christmas sweaters. We went back to my mom's in the afternoon for turkey dinner.

My dad took out his antique train set that he's had since he was a little boy to show Liam. Liam definitely approved with many 'ooh-ooh-ohhs'!

Chad knows to hug the cook....and sneak a few tastes before dinner is served.

Every year I say it's my mom's best turkey dinner ever. I think this year beat them all....it was tops!

My grandpa came over for part of the afternoon and evening. He moved into the Menno Home this past fall and I think was thrilled to have a break from it. He was in good form and definitely enjoyed seeing the kids. He tried very hard to get Liam to come sit on his lap but Liam is wary of 'strangers' and the best he could manage was to pat Grandpa's knee.

Just playing with my new camera....

After supper my parents took out the laptop to show my Grandpa some photos from his brother's recent funeral.

Grandpa went back to the Menno Home around 7:30 and when my dad came back we put Liam to bed so we could all watch a movie. Andrew gave me 'Enchanted' and so we watched that. A good girlie movie at best that my boys will tolerate because at least there is a dragon in the last scenes.

A wonderful day with my family!

He Likes It!

Liam's latest enjoyable activities:

Watching Baby Einstein 'Water' DVD over and over and over again.


Waving bye bye out the window or just standing there and watching the kids play on the street.

Standing on his own....close to walking but not quite there! Maybe for his birthday.

Banging the drum all day...or pots or coffee table....

Promoting the Rellies

My dad's Uncle Ed sent Liam this very cool onsie. His son Sean (not sure how we would be related exactly) has started up doing some designer baby wear. You can check out his site at

http://www.orangeheat.com/ to see all he has to offer!

Want to Go for a Ride?

Many moons ago I was given this wonderful wagon as a baby gift for Nathan. Not precisely sure why I had kept it all these years but I am certainly glad I was so smart to do so :)

We gave Nate many rides in it. Nate gave Chad many rides in it. Now Nate and Chad are giving Liam many rides in it!

Liam might not look super comfortable but he fits in just perfectly!

Nate looks wildly excited to zoom Liam down the hallway.

Up and down they go until Nathan's back is sore! Sore back....hmmmm....is there a theme in our house this week?

Then it's Chad's turn.

Liam pays back in smiles and laughter! Let's go again brothers!

11 months

Little Liam is 11 months today.
This is what is happening with him lately....

cheesy grins
kisses
spontaneous cuddles
3.5 new teeth (the .5 is almost 'cut')
ravenous appetite for any food offered
getting to like his nana and granddad a bit better
seek and destroy missions in our house
thick blonde hair
waving bye bye spontaneously, giving high fives and being fascinated with the garbage truck

He's the life of the party!

It's Happened!

No, this isn't a photo of Liam. But it is a photo of what has happened to Liam. He's FINALLY gotten his first tooth! I had about given up on my gummy little smiler but it's just cut through today and now we know he's actually got teeth. Yippee!

Depend On It!

There are certain things in life you can count on. One of them is Liam's bedtime routine. We call it the 'Triple B' and it happens every single night around 7:30 pm.

Bath

Bottle

Bed

~Brought to you by the letter 'B'~

10 Months

I must interrupt the Irish saga to post Liam's monthly milestone. I am already 2 days late!

So here's our little sweetheart.

He's really changing quickly. He eats anything and everything. He can do a long night of sleep (when he feels like it). He waves, chats and plays shy. He's all boy and loves to throw things and bang things to make noise. We've had to put a gate up so he doesn't tumble down the stairs and basically watch him like a hawk. He's good at touching everything he shouldn't but does understand 'no' and once in a while actually obeys.

I'm sort of sad to have to go back to work and leave him when he's starting to be so much fun. It will be good for him though because he's quite clingy to his family and he needs to realize that others can care for him too!

Baby, You're 9 Months!

Naughty monkey...those remotes are a no-no!
Enjoying his Fisher Price Barn. So glad I saved it all these years!

So, Liam's now been 'out' as long as he was 'in'. Wow! His development has just exploded this past month. He's standing, walking on furniture, waving bye-bye on command, eating everything and anything, and our favorite, saying 'dada' and 'mama'.

He's a ton of work and I can't really leave him alone for a second. He wants to explore, taste, touch and destroy.

He definitely loves to pull himself up to standing on everything. Why sit when you can stand?!

He loves to hang out with Dad on the weekends to get tastes of his breakfast. Pablum day after day has got to be a bit boring!

Shot Nerves = Grumpy Father's Day

In the past several weeks Liam has been very difficult when it comes to getting sleep. All the trouble seemed to coincide with his new crawling/standing skills. I think that fact he can stand up in his crib and scream is something he is taking a strange delight in!

Anyhow...naps have been sketchy and the nights have been horrible. I sort of gave into him with naps and simply let him stay up as tired as he was just to avoid the screaming in the crib. That lead to nights with us getting up about 4-7 times trying to soothe him, rock him to sleep and even a desperate middle of the night bottle he wasn't interested in.

By this past Friday night we were DONE! It was like having a newborn...and we did not think his going backward in his sleep progress was something we could ignore any longer.

We decided it was time for a little tough love. Crying it out was the new sheriff in town. We began Saturday morning for his nap. One hour solid of screaming and a two hour nap. Saturday afternoon nap. Lovely..no problem. Saturday night.....he was up at 4:00 am and screamed to 4:30 am. I know this doesn't sound long, but to listen to your baby crying and not respond is so difficult. Difficult but for his greater good. He needs his solid sleep. We need our sleep. Nate and Chad need their sleep! Anyhow....today's naps weren't too bad. I put him to bed awhile ago and had about 25 min of screaming. I find that if I run away to the basement then I can't hear him as well and it doesn't bug me :)

With all that going on plus a very early morning on Saturday for a IAFF sponsored fishing derby, a wrong number phone call at 5 am and getting up early for church we were all quite edgy and cranky today. After watching Keith increase in his moodiness all afternoon I kicked him out this evening to catch a 'guy' movie with my brother. I do hope he comes back with an attitude adjustment :) LOL! Actually, all we need is a good night's sleep. One can hope!

Trade Places, Anyone? ANYONE?

Funny or maybe not so funny how a baby can start off the day so cute and sweet and then....

turn into something I don't want in my house!!!!
He was a bear pretty much all afternoon and by the time Keith got home we were BOTH in tears.

Rotten Mother!

Well, not really rotten but maybe just a bit moldy on the edges. Seriously! I did two...actually make that three dumb things today concerning Liam.

First of all this morning I went to Rotary field to watch Nathan in his challenge track meet. The sun was shining brightly and it was going to be a warm day. As I sat down in the stands with Liam I discovered not only did I forget his sun hat, I also forgot his water and sunscreen.

After watching Nathan in the hurdles went decided to go home for his morning nap. That was a bit of a bust since he decided to sleep for only 30 minutes. After that I gave him lunch and we headed back to the track to watch Nate's final events. This time with the sunscreen, hat and water.

I stopped to talk to Nate's previous P.E. teacher for a moment and all of a sudden he said....'Your baby!' and I turned around to see my stroller rolling backwards away from me and making a sharp turn in a storm drain. Ha ha...I laughed it off but was mortified! Mr Tod said...is that how you drive too? Actually to be honest I've left my car in neurtral and have found it in places where I didn't originally park it! Blondie!

And to top it all off Liam finally fell asleep in the car on the way home. He was beyond exhausted and I was happy that once we got back home I could slip him into his crib for a nice long nap until it was time to pick up Chad from the bus. I was just laying him down when somehow I lost my grip and banged his face/head into the rails. Well of course he woke up and wailed like a banshee. There was no going back to sleep for him. So now he's awake...overtired and whinging at every little thing. There is no hope for another nap now since we having swimming right after school.

Can it be Monday on Thursday?

My consolation is that Nathan did awesome with 1st place in hurdles, 2nd place in high jump and 2nd place in the 100m dash!

***UPDATED 3:36 pm***

What happens to babies that don't nap when they should......they fall asleep in the stranges places! This is where I found the little man when I got home from the bus stop. I left Nate in charge. Now I have to pick him up to get to swimming...figures!

The Business of Cooling Off

We had to do something. With indoor temps reaching highs of 29 degrees it was becoming clear we'd have to escape the indoors to cool off outdoors. I went and bought Liam a little pool from Canadian Tire and set it up on the deck. The boys were very keen to 'swim' in 3 inches of water. They are devoted brothers. Actually, Chad lasted only a few minutes. He got bored!

Liam enjoyed himself very much but quickly discovered he could easily escape to explore new and exciting places. So much for my idea of lounging on a chair with Liam plays nicely with some toys. He's an escape artist!

Flaked Out

Liam has a cold. Liam has been more than a little cranky. Liam is falling asleep at unusual times and unusual places!

PS. His legs aren't sunburned but chaffed from crawling!

Cooking

It's 27 degrees at 10:30 pm....indoors!

I'm just happy to not be pregnant in this heat.

Liam is doing what he can to sleep 'cool'.....

Baby Toes

8 Months!

Hey hey hey....Liam's monthly milestone is here again!

This boy is busy crawling everywhere and getting into everything! If you could only see his rough, red knees. He's putting on the miles.

He's also establishing an excellent appetite. I have yet to find a food that he won't eat. He knows his mealtimes and does not let anyone forget his breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Some of his current favorites are:

sweet potatoes

yogurt

pears

feta cheese

puffed wheat

What All Babies Do

The Tupperware cupboard. All babies learn there is one cupboard in kitchens that is not off limits to them! What fun can be had with plastic!

Liam seemed a little bored with his baby toys the other day so I figured it was time to introduce 'the cupboard'. He knew what to do right away and was very happy for quite some time while I made supper. The happiness came to an end when he discovered my old cheese grater at the back and picked himself on the sharp metal. Ooops! Bad mummy.

Dual Personality

If you are lucky enough to meet our sweet Liam in person you will probably not get a smile. Liam doesn't hand out smiles to just anyone. He's a fairly serious observer and really takes in his environment. Quiet and thinking. That is Liam....out of the house.

At home, Liam is a LOUD boy. He coos, talks, spits, blows raspberries, squeals and SCREAMS! Not the crying sort of screaming but the 'I am going to scream because God gave me lungs' kind of screaming. It's cute for a while but after entire afternoons of it we all want to run away. Today was a screaming day. I had to record some noise because no one really believes he has it in him!

Jumping and Moving

Today Nathan was involved in an interschool track meet. There were six other area elementary schools involved. The day started off with some big scary clouds and there were thundershowers in the forecast. Fortunately the weather co-operated although the wind was a bit chilly. I was really happy to be able to attend and watch Nate compete in two of his three events. He was in long jump, hurdles and high jump. I just knew those long legs would come to good use one day!

Here he is, pleased at punch with his ribbons. His best placing with 2nd in the hurdles. In a few weeks he'll advanced to the next track meet with the best of the best from all the district schools.

Liam reached yet another milestone. He's no longer in his infant car seat and I'm rejoicing! That thing was cumbersome and so heavy to lug around. I was really quite tired of it! He's now in his rear-facing convertible seat and he thinks it's pretty great. And on that note, I have an infant seat with base in perfect condition that needs a home. Does anyone know of a needy new mom or mom-to-be that would like to have it?