A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

What a gorgeous couple of days we are having! The sun is shining, the temperature is cool (60's to 70's in the A.M.), and the air is dry. Mommy loves this time of year, just as fall is thinking of making an appearance.

This afternoon, Liam and Mommy went to Flatwoods Park for a walk. Flatwoods is a 198 acre park just west of Ellettsville, with a paved trail through a wetlands and woods and a little prairie. And the whole time we were there, we only saw one other Mommy and Baby at the playground. (Which suits this shy / misanthropic Mommy just fine.)

We had such a pleasant stroll that, as long as the days are beautiful, we will be going to walk at Flatwoods Park. Oh, and the best part? We get to drive right past JIFFY TREET on the way home! We did not give in to temptation today, but Mommy thought about raspberry truffle shakes all the way home.

*Insert clever segue*

Yesterday it occurred to Mommy that there will come a day when Liam will not want hugs and will not want kisses and will have a smart mouth for talking back to Mommy. Until that day, Mommy has resolved to give Liam as many hugs and kisses and smiles and fun-happy-together-playtime as possible. Because if Daddy is any indication, this kid is going to have a smart mouth.

Besides, how could you NOT want to smother this baby in gravy and eat him right up with a spoon?

Steppin' Out with My Baby

Guess who rode in a shopping cart like a big boy yesterday?

Liam did!

Only, don't tell anyone. The warning on the cart seat said it was for kids 6 months and older. Let's just round up, shall we?

Cereal Success

So we tried cereal again today....and Liam loved it! Mommy mixed up just a little bit of cereal this time, and it was a little thicker than usual. I sat down to feed him, and with the first spoonful he grabbed my hand and pulled the spoon in his mouth. We made it through the first batch with only a little ending up on his face. Well, maybe more than a little, but less than usual. When it was gone, he got a little upset and wanted more. The second batch was met with the same enthusiasm. He did blow a couple of raspberries with the spoon in his mouth. If you watch the video closely, you can see some of the cereal fly through the air. Here's to hoping this is the start of nice new trend.

Daddy's Home... And Liam is 5 Months Old!

Did you hear? Daddy's home from Washington!

On Friday we went the Tiny to Two reading program at the library, which was lots of fun! Liam was one of the youngest babies. He wasn't big enough to play with the other kids, but he had a good time watching them. The group sang a song about green frogs on a speckled log and learned a poem about pond animals watching each other. We also sang "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" and watched the bigger kids play with the parachute. The next Tiny to Two day is not until September 17th. Anyone want to come along?

No crawling yet. Perhaps that Move and Crawl Ball, with its lights and music and movement, distracted Liam, and now he's forgotten he was trying to learn to crawl. We'll just put that back up on the shelf for a few more weeks.

We tried rice cereal AGAIN last night, and Liam seemed a little bit more accepting. He did not spit out his first two or three bites, although he still seems more interested in sucking on the spoon. We'll get there yet!

This morning there was a family of 4 deer in the backyard, and another group of 3 showed up. The two fawns were galloping around, like they were playing tag. Liam was asleep for it.

Today is Liam's 5 month birthday. We tried taking his measurements, and we think he is about 19-1/2 pounds and about 26-1/2 inches long.

Daddy's in Washington - Day 4

Liam here. I've been in a MOOD today.

Mommy thought I should take a nap today, but I disagreed. She tricked me once by putting in my swing. But I figured out I was sleeping and woke up half an hour later!

She only caught me sleeping one other time, during "An American in Paris," when I rocked myself to sleep on her lap for 10 minutes. I'll admit, that was a nice nap, and Mommy seemed happy too.

But then she kept trying to put me down, which I did not like. And I let her know! I said, "Woman, God help you if you put me down!"

Oh, and seriously, what is with that disgusting rice cereal she keeps trying to feed me?

So now Mommy is in the bathroom... on the floor... crying a little... and she smells like Communion.

I sure hope Daddy gets home soon.

Daddy's in Washington - Days 2 & 3

It's Wednesday night, and we're more than halfway to Daddy!

Yesterday was a whole lot of nothing. We finished watching Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, because Liam has a thing for Caprica 6. We played with the Move and Crawl Ball from Cathy. Mommy sang The Alphabet Song umpteen million times. Liam tried more rice cereal and might have swallowed two spoonfuls. Oh, and we made venison stew in the crock pot. Yup, a whole lot of nothing.

Today was a bit more exciting! We went to BABS for Parent-Baby Playtime and stayed to hear a speaker. The topic was Nurturing Children Through Nature. Now, Mommy likes nature as much as the next person, but this lady was a little spacey. She should have used slides and provided an outline, because she was all over the place.

She told us about a father who would call to his daughter with a bird alarm (high, soft whistle) and she was tuned to listen to it and they were 50 feet apart on a construction site and both noticed a great blue heron fly over and he whistled to her... "Did you see that heron?" "Yes Daddy..." and none of the construction workers noticed the heron or the whistle...

The same father advocates a "Sit Spot" where you go out in nature and sit for an hour every day, and when his daughter was 10 or so she wanted to learn to use a knife and other stuff, and he told her she had to go to a sit spot every day for a year before she could learn Big People Outdoor Skills.

Mommy loves nature, but not because some hippy told her to.

Oh yes, Daddy's in Washington...

We also went to Once Upon a Child today, because Liam is growing like a weed, and it is a challenge to button him into his clothes with his cloth diapers on. Hooray for three more rompers!

Tried a little more rice cereal tonight, but it was not very successful. Sang The Alphabet Song another umpteen million times.

On tomorrow's agenda: maybe go to playtime again, cut Liam's nails (they are SHARP!), finish a surprise and maybe start another.

Wow, is Mommy bored. And needs someone to talk to.

Question of the Day: Have you read this far? I'm so sorry.

Daddy's in Washington - Day 1

Daddy is on a very important mission for the Navy and is spending the week in Washington state. Mommy and Liam are home all alone, for 5 whole days!

We started the day with a volcano diaper. Fantastic. Liam enjoyed his morning bath, and Mommy was at least glad to be getting her shower in so early in the day.

Liam tried a little rice cereal again today. It worked a bit better this time, perhaps because it was not so runny. Should we try again tomorrow?

After lunch, we ran some errands. We dropped off the water and sewer bills and then went to the library. Liam was more interested in the other kids than in reading books, but that is ok too. We talked to one of the librarians and will be going to the "Tiny to Two" program on Friday.

Next stop, Aldi! Mommy got food for the week for $17.56, and so treated herself to sour cream and onion potato chips (!) and a chocolate bar.

Grandma J and Aunt Bethy surprised Liam with two books in the mail today. Irish fairy tales, and a Sesame Street book. Liam is going to have to learn how to not eat paper pages, because Mommy can hardly wait to read these!

We managed an early bedtime tonight. We'll see how early Liam wakes up in the morning.

Oh, and one of the dogs chewed up a roll of toilet paper.

Question of the day: Can you tell we are bored already?

First Cereal, Photo Contest, Vampires - Picture Edition

Liam tried rice cereal for the first time last week. Most of it ended up on his face and bib... and arms... and the floor... and Mommy... He mostly just liked sucking on the spoon.

Daddy took this next picture. Mommy and Liam entered a local photo contest last week for World Breastfeeding Week, and this photo tied (3 ways) for 2nd place! Good job, Daddy!

Liam has taken to sucking on faces. His favorite bits (in order) are chin, cheek, and ear. Daddy didn't get a photo of it, but last night Liam had Mommy's whole ear in his mouth. His tongue tickled.

And I just like this photo. :)

A Sticky End

Baby, let's try giving you a bottle again.

Ooooh, what's that?

Have some milk.

Burble, sputter, splurt, blarb.

Baby, you are covered in milk.

Ha ha, Mommy - so are you!

Did you even swallow any?

Nope. Now gimme that boobie, Woman!

Sigh.

Did You Know, 5% of Babies Skip Crawling?

I read an article somewhere that said oftentimes before a baby hits a major milestone they will eat and sleep A LOT. Does anyone know if that is true??

Yesterday it seemed like Liam ate every two hours. Then at about 6:30pm he demanded he be put to sleep. Except for waking him up at 10pm to eat and have a quick bath, diaper change, storytime, and feeding, he slept non-stop until 7:30am this morning.

This is what Liam looks like when he is having tummy time:

That is, until Saturday... when he started doing this:


Question of the day: Just where do you think you're going, young man?