To Feed or not To Feed?

Liam is making all the signs that he's ready to start on some cereal but I wasnt sure about doing it before going to his 4 month appt. - which due to his ped. schedule puts him at 18 weeks instead of 16 - so I called the nurse line for advice.

That didnt get me very far.

She was distracted & not paying attention when I had to tell her twice that he IS 4 months old, in fact he's 17 weeks so yes, I understand that you dont want him starting before that mark BUT HE IS PAST THAT MARK! And I could hear her typing which at first, I thought, hey cool she's taking notes, but I just dont think that's the case. I'm pretty sure she was trying to get some other work done. The best reason she could give me for not starting cereal before his appt. was that they give me a handout. Gee thanks. And that if I wanted to come in earlier that I could make an appt. So, if I can come in earlier, why couldnt I schedule his 4 month appt. AT 4 MONTHS?

I'm a little frustrated by this. And my patience is being tried because Liam is also starting to teeth & since his night time sleep schedule is ALL sorts of messed up so is Mommy's. AND he's a Cat Napper - doesnt normally take naps longer than 20 minutes during the day but WAS sleeping through the night so we didnt have any issues with that until now.

He's waking up anywhere from 3-10 times a night - whereas before he was waking up once around 4am and then again at 8ish to start his day. The boy is exhausted. He's been napping now for almost 2 hours & I'm afraid his 8pm bedtime is now going to get messed up but I'm not about to wake him up.

I called Matias to have him pick up some cereal on his way home so either we will get to that tonight or tomorrow night depending on how & when he wakes up from this nap. I think I'm going to go ahead and start him on cereal anyway to see if it helps him out.

I cannot stand to hear him cry (the sad cry!) when he's so tired and I think there's something I can do about it.

And on that note...

Pity, Party of 1, your table is ready.

I’ve put off writing about this because it is such a downer & I don’t like to vocalize such things as they then become Real once said out loud but it’s been bothering me a lot as of late & I really just want to get it off my chest – or my aptly – my stomach.

I’ve had a hard time losing the last of my baby weight & with a combination of a C-section and the sweet tooth not leaving when Liam arrived I’m struggling.

I’m not writing this to garner the “don’t worry” or “you look great” comments cause the truth is I DO worry & I don’t FEEL like I look GREAT and that’s what really matters. I take walks with Liam whenever I can and weather permits; I have two flights of stairs in the house and no bathroom on the main floor. So it’s not like I am completely sitting on my ass all day long. And to add some lightness to this, my ass is the only thing that has remained the same – thankfully.

I finally packed away my maternity clothes and bought a size larger pair of jeans – THANK god it was only ONE size larger. I’ve been living in yoga pants and long t-shirts for the past 4 months and my maternity jeans and I hate it. But I’ve taken the step and put them away and will live in my new larger size jeans.

I hate that I look dumpy because of the clothes I’m wearing and because I’m fat. I hate that my incision site still hurts periodically and that stops me from trying to wear non-elastic waist pants. I hate that my boobs are lopsided because Liam only nurses from one side – but please note that I don’t “hate” Liam because he only nurses from one side – I hate the way it looks when I’m wearing clothes that you can tell my 36DD boobs aren’t BOTH 36DD.

I hate that I have no money to buy any “make me feel pretty” clothes. But to be honest, even if I did have “extra” money I would spend it on Liam anyway. I hate that I have no underwear that fits me.

I hate thinking about shopping for new larger clothes cause that’s simply just depressing. I hate that I have a whole closet full of clothes, most with the tags still on, I bought last Fall that I will probably never be able to wear again.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the Reason for any of this. I wouldn’t trade Liam for 10 pounds or even 50 pounds but that doesn’t erase the thoughts and sadness that creeps into my thoughts and self image. I avoid mirrors, especially when naked, but mostly so that I don’t have to see how large I am now. I suppose I should be happy that I can rest Liam not only on my hips but also my gut but we all know humor will only get us so far. And I know there are things I can with my diet, even though I’m still breastfeeding, but I barely have time (or remember) to eat lunch let alone add a fricking diet regime into that mix. Plus I have to keep a certain amount of calories in my diet for the Pimp Juice to be nutritional. And I know I should step away from the cookies but I cannot get rid of the sweet tooth. And I don’t eat entirely horribly to begin with – portion control would probably be my best method here but I just don’t see that it will make much difference.

So you can probably sense that I’m just somewhat resigning myself to this situation all the while still bitching about it. And in my mind I’m totally, well not totally, blaming this on the C-section. I didn’t want one (hell, who would?) & THIS is the reason why. My body doesn’t feel like mine anymore, it doesn’t feel like it will ever be back to even my worst pre-pregnancy state again and that’s out of my control.

I hate looking at pictures of myself & I hate being around other people and having my picture taken cause the whole time all I’m thinking is how they will go back and look at those pictures and talk about how fat & gross I am.

I just wish I didn’t care.

Happy 4 Month Old Birthday, Liam Robert!

So, I’m only a week behind in writing his 4 month old birthday entry…we’ve been a tad busy! To defend myself further I would like remind y’all that we went to AoE for Matias’ 30^th birthday over Veteran’s Day weekend, then my sister, Auntie Leanne, came to visit between jobs on that Monday and stayed till Friday (YAY for bad weather!) THEN grandma & grandpa came for Thanksgiving on Tuesday and on that weekend I had my CM Open House and a book club meeting. And I survived. And more importantly so did Liam!

So enough explaining my absence away – let’s move onto Liam’s 4 Month Gush Fest, shall we?

As I mentioned above, we’ve been traveling and had some company the past couple of weeks and Liam took it all in stride – he LOVED having family over & visiting with everyone. He hammed it up for all the grandparents – we have a video of him laughing his adorable little head off for Poppa (which is what Daddy now wants to be called), he kissed Grandma all over her face until she was covered in sweet baby drool, and I think we mastered the “driving long distances in a car” issue – leave after his bedtime with his jammies on and after a nice warm bath.

He’s growing in leaps and bounds right now that it’s hard to remember everything he has accomplished or has started to accomplish!

I thought he was starting to have a tooth break through cause I found a tiny dot of blood on his gums one morning and rushed to call everyone with the news and then NOTHING! But those days surrounding the Blood Dot were tough days on him and I do still think he is in the starting phase of teething. He didn’t quite know what to think of the berry flavored Baby OraGel (why is it flavored? He has no idea what a berry is or even what a FLAVOR is beyond Pimp Juice…) and made some amusing faces when I was applying it to his little baby gums. He is chewing on his fists like a mad man & proceeds to gag himself almost every time which has led me to keep a bibbie on him almost all the time so that we can attempt to catch the vomit he gags up.

He LOVES LOVES LOVES his monster of an activity center. Smiles and wiggles and swivels himself the whole time just chilling and squealing and learning. You can SEE him analyzing his options on how to make things work & he’s mastered everything but the “move the ball over the arched plastic thingie” and the fact that he hasn’t mastered it yet is starting to frustrate him. He’s the type of thinker who studies how it works and then stares at it before just making it happen and since it’s taking him longer to make this one work, I can see the frustration and sometimes hear it on his face. The Cow is still his favorite but the Lion is a close second (he likes the ROAR). He still works out in his gym in the morning, doing his morning stretches. He plays mostly with his feet during this time, so I take them out of his PJs to give him ultimate access to those monkey toes of his. I’ve never seen a baby who can so easily spread his toes – I cannot even separate my big toe independently of the rest of them – but he has yet to shove them in his mouth. Maybe it is because his fist is always in there? And sometimes, it’s both fists at the same time. He is a DROOL MACHINE when he is in his activity center for some reason.

He is pulling himself up into sitting position really well these days! And if he’s in your lap leaning back he can basically do it all on his own now! And his newest trick is to lean all the way forward and roll onto his back. Sometimes I think he’s bringing his mouth to his feet instead of his feet to his mouth which I keep telling him is the hard way to go about doing that but, already, he isn’t listening to his Mommy.

He is still quite the little Cat Napper but will take longer naps when he is sleeping with Poppa – go figure. And, of course, after we’ve been out and about or after company leaves he can nap like a pro. He does really like his stroller & likes walking around the mall or outside – this almost always leads to a 2 hour nap – which makes Mommy want to shop more or take him on walks!

Grandma & Grandpa bought him his Bumbo seat and he’s still figuring it out to an extent. The first time he was in it he listed all the way over and then we realized that he took a major poopie. Then the second time, he did the same thing. We joked that he must think he’s on the potty! So now instead of Matias putting him in his backpack while he cooks dinner, he sets him on the kitchen island in his Bumbo seat and Liam watches, totally enthralled, as Poppa cooks! He loved being in his backpack while Poppa cooks & it’s really cute to watch him peek over his shoulder to check out what he is doing.

The cats are really becoming interested in him since he is becoming more active & Monkey is getting a lot braver around him – even coming into bed with the 3 of us and letting Liam “pet” him. Petting usually involves pulling his ears & grabbing his tail, but Monkey is such a gentle little boy that he doesn’t mind this at all, in fact, he’s even licked him a few times! Mystic still jumps up on the couch for a short cuddle with us when we are nursing & Liam has started “tracking” her movements when she passes by him. It’s cute to watch him crane his neck to see her walk around him and swivel his activity center to track her. She will still retreat to her bag when he starts crying though!

In addition to his fist shoving, Liam has also started sucking his thumb more regularly now! Yesterday he napped successfully without his chupie and I think we are going to keep that going and only put him down for the night with it and slowly wean him off of it, hopefully. I’d rather have a thumb sucker cause as my mom says “they can’t lose their thumb”! He’s also REALLY discovered his hands – not just for grabbing things cause he’s been doing that for a while – but he EXAMINES his fingers and hands all the time now, and it’s just adorable to watch. But let’s face it; I think just about everything he does is adorable to watch.

He is also scrunching his nose when he smiles – which IS just damn adorable. And he does NOT like it when I talk or anyone talks to me while we are nursing – he cuts his eyes at me and PULLS off. And I think it’s funny. Until he hurts me, then not so funny anymore. He is also blowing raspberries and loving to be kissed all over. After you smother him he then covers you in Liam Kisses and leaves you a wet goopy mess and he just LOVES it. He smiles all the time. He’s just the Happiest Baby Ever. He gives his smiles away pretty easy but the laughs take some work – if you happen to know the Super Secret Special Sound to make him lose his mind then you can make him laugh from another room but otherwise you’ll just be blessed with the sideways smile and nose scrunching.

He stands up SO well these days! He’s getting so strong & agile & I feel like it’s all happening so fast! When he has tummy time on Mommy he doesn’t like to keep his arms up in position but when he does he is accomplishing his baby push-ups and pushing his legs and butt into the air!

Liam is a little cuddler, as most little boys tend to be, but for me it’s just the sweetest part of him growing up – the Mommy Hugs. He just snuggles right into you and I can smoother him with kisses all atop his head and neck and squishy cheeks & he LETS ME!

Like I said, there’s so much changing and developing these days that it’s overwhelming and hard to recapture in a monthly wrap-up so I’m going to try and be better about posting more often so that I can help myself remember all these moments with Liam.

VACA!

Liam's favorite part of his activity center is his animal noise maker. His favorite by FAR is the cow. You hit it once and it moos, again and it says cow, again and it says vaca again and it plays Old McDonald. He will hit the cow 8 out of 10 times - I counted it yesterday.

Although I'm getting a tad sick of sing E-I-E-I-O, he loves it. I fondly refer to that damn cow as Mother Vaca (say it out loud and quickly).

But how can you hate it so when this is the face looking up at you after he hits it?

Just so you know

It was a year ago today we found out we were pregnant :)

Growing Boy!

I know I mentioned that I took the pillow away from underneath Liam's feet in the activity center a couple of weeks ago but just this week, OVERNIGHT, he grew some more & I was really only able to tell because of the activity center.

His feet were touching the bottom but not Fully. Leanne & I put him in it the next day and BOOM his feet were FULLY FLAT on the ground!!

I'm positive this is also what is making him being able to stand so well when we hold him up - he's a ton more stable now & you can feel the strength in his legs increasing daily.

And also, overnight, he went from a size 1 diaper to a size 2! I know this was "overnight" because he peed through his sleeper, blanket & sheets TWICE in one night. And this little guy gets so upset when he pees through, he does his sad cry & just wants to be held and cuddled. Unfortunately, we had just gotten some size 1 diapers when we were in AoE but thankfully, we had size 2 diapers since my diaper cake from my baby shower were made totally of size 2 PAMPERS!!

My Boys

This morning I was surrounded by My Boys in bed. Monkey was on the side by the edge of the bed with his head on my arm all tucked into me, Liam was on the other side between his Daddy & me, then Daddy was over on the other side with his arm under Liam, me & Monkey. Only one missing was My Girl, and it turned out she was in the room, just not in bed with us! I wished I had a tripod set up to capture the moment but I simply had to close my eyes and commit it to memory. And then I went back to sleep surrounded by My Boys.

Later in the morning, Daddy & Liam were watching Transformers & lying on the floor and it was just the sweetest little boys moment.

I know I have tons of those moments to come.

Picture of the Day

Just hanging around

NapTunes

It seems that if you play The Beatles for our little Fellow that he sleeps for hours. HOURS. Yesterday it was almost 2 ½ hours, today, he’s been down for close to an hour already!

YIPPEEE!! We’ve found the golden ticket!! No more Cat Napper!! We have a portable CD player that I bought years ago for Tour Time Hotel Music Needs and I just plugged it in up there and he’s OUT.

Matias started to list off all these albums he liked and I just stopped him and said “I have 3 Greatest Hits CDs, that will do”. So now, I’m listening to The Beatles through the monitor. I actually got to take a shower and get ready all while he’s napping!

I love the smell of Naptime in the morning.

Our Visit to the Park!

Liam & I went over to Kym & Joey’s to go the park last week – it was his first trip to a park! We had other playdates arranged but rain always seem to cancel them out during the summer-time…so this was his first venture to the land of swings and slides!

He didn’t much care for the swing – don’t worry, I sat with him in my lap, arm completely wrapped around him! He almost started to cry so I jumped off right quick, but the slide was a different story. He smiled the whole way down and I think I could have gotten a laugh out of him if we repeatedly kept going on it but Mommy’s Ass (it deserves to be capitalized at this moment in time) was -->thisclose<-- to getting stuck while going down and we couldn’t have that happen in public!

He also loves taking walks in the wind – he talks the whole time, ok jibber-jabbers, and smiles and when you check on him he’s expression reads Pure Bliss. So we go Wind Walking and it keeps/makes him happy! Hopefully, it’s also working off some of Mommy’s Ass in the process too. Cause trust me, I’ve never been one of Those People who find themselves sitting on the couch and thinking “I should do some sit-ups right now” and then ACTUALLY DO THEM. Oh, the thought crosses my mind but then I go eat some Halloween candy or something.

Listener Supported – Liam Approved

On Saturday when Daddy went to play soccer and it was too cold for us to venture out with him to watch, I decided to put on a DMB DVD to see what Liam’s reaction would be…he was ENRAPTURED. Loved every single second of it & enthusiastically approved of the many close ups of Dave (would SMILE and giggle) and he appears to be a Roi fan! He sat on my lap and just watched & listened. It was so darling! The good thing about the gas fireplace is the reflective glass covering it, you can watch his reflection in it (and see what Daddy’s up to in the kitchen!) without having to be in front of him. It was just too cute. I wonder if all the times of us listening & the four shows he went to had any effect? Like was he thinking, “FINALLY! So THAT’S what that guy looks like!” and “isn’t he funny when he dances?” Carter or Stefan didn’t get much of a reaction out of him and Boyd started to gain his attention later into the show, but for the time being he’s ALL about Dave & Roi.

His favorite song, BY FAR, is Rhyme & Reason, not the BEST song for a baby but he just goes batshit crazy for it. I had to play it again for Daddy to see & his little legs were stuck straight out, feet jamming & squeals were being emitted at top decibel. So Rhyme & Reason, it is. I was a little bummed that Satellite wasn’t on the set list ONLY for the reason of wanting to see what his reaction would be to someone singing it who sounds decent and to discover that there’s more than one verse. Of course, he really like PNP intro and then was pleasantly surprised with Rapunzel – I wish I could have captured it on film but I didn’t want to risk putting him down and sitting on his own only for him to start crying and then ruin the moment for him (and the picture!) so I left him alone with his new found joy.

It was really fun to watch him react to The Boys – he really got a kick out of it – and the smiles to prove it! I was joking that Listener Supported would be on Saturdays, GORGE on Sundays…you get the picture…but I’m not at all afraid to throw one in if he decides he’s going to get fussy on me & we are out of things to do!

Picture of the Day

I just cannot help but love that little face.

Growth Spurt

It seems our Little Liam Fellow has had a growth spurt in the past 48 hours or so!

A couple of days ago we had to bolster him up on his activity center by putting a throw pillow under his feet & when I put him in it today, he doesnt need the pillow anymore. When did that happen??!?

He has been sleeping longer in the afternoon but I was just thinking he rearranged his schedule again since the Evil, Evil Time Change of 2006 and he was going to sleep longer in the PM Nap Time Slot but it seems he must have been growing during that time!

I hope he still takes long naps in the afternoon though - those were nice! ;)

Liam's First Halloween, y'all

Liam in his Baby's First Halloween outfit his Auntie gave him. Throwing his feet up in the air as he is doing all the time these days, I just thought it was fitting that his little footsies said BOO! on them :)















Mommy with her Tigger getting ready to go out Trick or Treating - notice that Liam is holding his goodie bag (yes, Grandma that IS the bag you sent his books in!) all on his own!



Daddy with his baby Tigger and all his candy he got when we went out - notice the whiskers, courtesy of Mary Kay & my free gift of brown lip liner. That's probably the most use I'll get out of that...

Busy Boy

Liam likes talking on the phone - here he is "talking" to Grandma yesterday morning. I usually take the phone away from him when he starts licking it or attempting to shove it in his mouth along with his fists.


Check out the Big Boy in his Big Activity Center! This was the first time I put him in it & he swiveled himself around and touched and whacked and played with every single damn thing on this Monster.



Tummy Time Break - taking a little break from his push-ups to smile at Daddy. He really likes his snake & it has really helped in helping him enjoy Tummy Time which he detests.

Big Day!

Oct. 24th - Liam started sucking his thumb

Last week, Liam found his thumb & started taking naps in his crib - a big day for everyone involved! Mommy sucked her thumbs for many, many years & I have no problem whatsoever with Liam sucking his thumb. We just arent sure how much what thumb he sucks relates to if he'll be left or right handed...he's an equal opportunity thumb-sucker at the moment, so we'll just wait and see.

Oct. 25th - Liam starting napping in his crib



Here's also a picture of Liam taking his first nap in his Big Boy Bed! Every since he's learned to roll onto his side (Oct. 23rd he started rolling from his back to his side and then back onto his back), he's LOVED sleeping on his side, in fact, if you flip him onto his side you can almost always get him to sleep in under 35 seconds.



And this last picture is just humorous to me :) I did NOT put his chupie there, he did it himself. I swear. I only put toys on his head, not chupies on his face.

Cuteness Overload

I have a bunch of really great pictures from the past couple days that I want to post but I'm having issues deciding on which ones!!

I'll probably get over those issues after he goes down to bed tonight and just post a slew of them :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BOO!

Seriously Evil Time Change

This once good sleeper has now started getting up at 5 or 5:30AM, AM PEOPLE, and not going back to sleep. And he's learned to SQUEAL so that's normally what we we hear. He's now sitting happily in his papasan with vibrate on squealing away and sending the cats running and it's 7:40AM.

This early rising shit is for the birds.

Big Boy

My little man has been sleeping in his crib the past two nights! YAY and BOO!

I started him out just taking his naps in there but then last night Matias asked where I wanted him to put him down (Daddy puts him to bed) & I just said "crib" and then we decided that when he woke up we would bring him into his cradle (still in our room). He didnt wake up until 4:30 (5:30 OLD time) so he slept most of the night in his Big Boy Room in his Big Boy Bed!

He looks so tiny in it!! And so HUGE in his cradle!! Mommy's not ready for this!! I went in tonight to give him his chupie & he just looked so damn cute stretching in his crib...then I quietly sneaked back out as to not wake him up & he went back to LA LA Land. Of course, I took a picture of his first nap in his crib but I should get a picture of him waking up in the morning also...

Speaking of the nursery, I got a few things from my Want List this week!

-- two really cute frames - white & light blue (I think we're going with the light blue accent color, navy just seems so dark in there for some reason!)
-- a new changing pad slip cover in light blue. I just went with the cheaper one from Target, it's nice and a cozy terry cloth fabric - the color is just taking me some time to get used to since we've only had white in there so far!

Things We Still Need to Get:

-- window treatments from PBK in light blue (SURPRISE!)
-- shelves (I'm going to go to Michael's and just paint the unfinished ones myself)
-- lamp (need to drive out to IKEA soon and pick that up!)
-- night light (Matias had one picked out from the store today but it wasnt cutting it for me! Too boring & sterile looking - I need a PIG or something in there)

I know it probably seems strange that we havent decorated or even finished his nursery yet and he's almost 3 1/2 months old BUT I just couldnt do anything without knowing the sex first and then finding out what type of little boy he was, PLUS we've had these three months of him being in our room anyway so it's not like he was really USING his room beyond getting changed & diapered there! I'm glad we waited but now I just want to pull it all together but I LOVE what has changed so far & that's part of not being able to wait till it's all finished, you know?

But, yeah, my little Liam Fellow is sleeping in his nursery in his Big Boy Bed.

sigh - where has all the time gone already?

Next Stage

So it's still sitting in pieces in our living room because we couldnt fit it in our car with the stroller so we had to take it out of the box...BUT...we have moved onto our next stage with Liam & we went ahead and bought him an activity center! Matias stuck him in it at the store & we took it for a test drive to make sure he liked it and was engaged by it - he already whacked a few of the buttons & moved some of the balls around!! And he looked so Grown Up sitting in his little excersaucer!! I'll post pictures once I get him in it :)

Here's the specs for it:

• Nine activity toys
• Fun animal sounds
• Teaches animal names in English and Spanish
• Baby-friendly classical music
• Your baby can rock, spin, bounce, or sit
• Seat rotates 360 degrees
• Three-position height adjustment
• Removable, washable seat cushion
• On/off switch and volume control
• Suitable for children less than 32" tall who are not walking

P.S. I know I said I wasnt going to go for the "big Baby Einstein" one BUT they are discontinuing the smaller Graco or Evenflo one (cannot remember at this moment) and the choices below that price point were nothing to write home about. The seat doesnt rotate (which I REALLY wanted) and there wasnt anything about them that looked enticing, sure they turned into walkers when he needs that but I dont think we're going to look to depend on a walker for him at that point...so yeah, we got the big one!

Evil, Evil Time Change

This time change is messing with my sweet baby.

He's been up since 5:30 OLD time and been really unsettled the whole morning. He's eaten and taken a nap and been changed and ready to go for the day all before 9:30 NEW time. That's how long it took me to notice that some clocks were an hour "behind". GAH.

Poor guy. Poor Mommy too. Matias tried to lay a guilt trip on me when I left him with Daddy in bed (hoping he would go back to sleep like he always does with Daddy) - he came down with him all sad looking with "REAL tears" after having been calling for me for like a 1/2 hour. He's trying to use the whole "he says Maman" against me - but guilt trips dont work on me. I DO feel bad though that he couldnt calm down and was looking for me BUT he cant always be brought to me every single time he does that - there's two parents here, and sometimes one of them needs a break AND that's not the one still lying in bed.

Evil, evil time change.

Costume idea

I was thinking the other day that Liam actually looks a little like Charlie Brown - with his funny hairline and all - and how cute he would be dressed up as him for Halloween!

I think it's a bit late though to be thinking of costume ideas so maybe next year, right?

Damnit, I just found baby shirts on Ebay...

Sneak Peek!

Oh Daddy, what will we do with you?

From last night as Daddy came to bed with Liam-

Daddy with Liam & his laptop in his arms:

Daddy: What do you think I'd drop first?

Mommy: (silence) Honestly trying to respond but also trying to figure out what would be best situation to drop Liam (carpet, hardwood, on the bed...) and I couldnt come up with an answer. (crickets chripping)

I know that he wouldnt drop EITHER but that stipulation of "which one FIRST" really threw me.

Do y'all see what I have to deal with? Devil's Food & Dropping Laptops...the fun never ends, folks!

3 Cute pictures of Liam during the last month

Swimming in the tub - you are quite good at dog paddling when Daddy flips you over to have me wash your backside!


This is just TOO CUTE - sitting in bed with Daddy before getting up to start your day


In Cville - just plum tuckered and ready to fall asleep in about 1/2 second!

These are from Auntie Leanne (she's old AND wise!) & I just think they express all your cuteness in 3 distinct ways.

Happy 3 Month Birthday!

Wow, Liam, what a month you had!!

For four weekends in a row you experienced something new and exciting and I experienced it all right along with you.

You went to Charlottesville to meet your DMB Freak Family, The Babysitter watched you while Mommy & Daddy went to two DMB shows – making that your first time being left & also the first time I had ever been apart from you for more than 2 hours. I couldn’t stop talking about you & I knew I sounded like one of Those Mothers who cannot talk about anything other than their kid but I didn’t care cause I’m so proud of you & love you so much and talking about you when you weren’t with us made me feel closer to you. I missed you when we were apart & I thought about you all the time – I know your Daddy did too cause when I whispered to him that I missed you, he said “I do too” and we smiled knowing how special you are. You met some very important people in our lives and they welcomed you with open arms and lots of hugs & everyone was so very happy to have met you FINALLY. I’m glad that we got to go to the shows but I don’t know what I would have done if we had been apart for the entire weekend and hadn’t been able to fly The Babysitter in from Canada to watch you for us, how could I have survived being apart from you for so long? So, not only did you meet our Freak Family but you also got to spend 3 more days with Auntie Leanne, Grandpa & Grandma in Charlottesville!!

The next weekend was your Baptism in Washington in the church that Mommy & Daddy got married just a little over a 1 ½ years ago! We had a lot of family in town that weekend – I think there was probably over 15 of us here supporting you in your first step in becoming a member of the Catholic church. I baked you a cake that Auntie Leanne helped me (and when I say help, I mean “basically did everything”) finish – she made the icing, cut the cross out & slathered most of the icing on it for me, I was too nervous to make a mistake and ruin this for you, I wanted it to be perfect & I wasn’t sure if I could do that for you, so I asked for help. Never be afraid to ask your family for help – that’s what they are for, Liam. I just hope that you become the catholic I know you can be with the “proper” guidance. Your behavior amazed everyone, including the priest, but I knew you had it in you – you love to watch everything happen & you like to participate in things around you – even at this age, I can tell you are a Joiner and not a Spectator, I hope you keep that attitude throughout your life and don’t lose it because it seems to come so naturally to you. You watched the priest as he baptized you, you watched our hands as your daddy, your Godfather, Godmother & myself held a candle over you & you even helped cut your own cake!

THEN the next weekend we went to Grandma & Grandpa’s house for the VERY FIRST TIME!! You are so spoiled when you are with them – spoiled with love and kisses and hugs and they never stop telling you how much they love you, how special you are, how perfect you are & you just take it all in & reward them by laughing out loud for them FIRST (I’m not bitter, don’t worry!)! It’s nice for me, Mommy, to get the extra help with you but let me tell you a little secret, it’s not HELP or WORK for them to spend time with you and change your diapers or rock you to sleep or walk with you during Fussy Hour – they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else doing anything else. Don’t ever take that for granted. If you can remember these times that you’ve been surrounded by love, you’ll be able to make it through anything knowing that you always have us to fall back on when you need it. And that’s why you always go home for Canadian Thanksgiving.

We went back to North Carolina for a wedding that week by train & you were so well behaved and just adapted to everything happening around you so easily. You nursed & napped and played on the train like we were sitting in our family room and not on a loud, fast moving train with weird smells and loud talking people & I couldn’t have been happier with you! Who ever thought I’d be a Mother on a train with an 11 week old and LOVING IT?!?! I taught you that “a train goes WOO WOO” and when I say that to you, you respond with a little WOO. At the wedding, you sat on my knee and WATCHED it all happen. You got scared when everyone clapped and I just cuddled you into me & you were ok. You napped through most of the reception when you were in Grandma’s arms meeting all of her friends! When we went to the celebration dinner later that evening you slept through the entire thing – you woke once & all I had to do was pick you up and tuckle you into me & you went right back to sleep. No one could get over how well you behaved but that’s just all about being a Liam Fellow, isn’t it? We stayed until Monday morning so that we could spend time with everyone & waited for Auntie Leanne to come home from her trip to PA so that she could see you again & spoil you with her attention. We dressed you up in your First Halloween costume & posed you amongst all of Grandma’s pumpkins and got some heart melting, ovary flipping pictures of you – the first one I saw I couldn’t believe you were my son – you are so cute, and loveable, I just couldn’t get over that what I was looking at was actually MINE. It can take me by surprise sometimes, I can get a little distance and see you from afar and just be in shock that you “belong” to me – or more accurately that I BELONG TO YOU. You’ve got my number, kid. And I’m just fine with that.

You’ve started doing so many things, hitting so many milestones at once that it’s so hard to keep up with you sometimes. The laughing out loud just makes me happy – when Grandma was dancing with you to Jack Johnson & I was singing and dancing around with y’all and you LAUGHED and LAUGHED like it was the best thing in the world – to me it was. You were so happy listening to the music with us singing along for you, dancing in circles in Grandma’s arms…you just giggled like a little boy who just GOT IT. It’s like you’ve already got it all figured out. Please keep that with you. Always know that music and singing and dancing will always make you laugh out loud especially if you are doing it with other people who you love.

You are scaring me cause I think you’re teething and I’m petrified that you’ve saved all your “badness” up for this time! I know it’s early for you to be teething but your Uncle Chris cut his teeth early so…and all the DROOLING (daddy calls you his Drool Boy), and shoving of the fists in your mouth and the sucking on the burp rags and your teething toys & the increasing fussiness when you nurse…it all points in that general direction. Plus, I can see some little nubby points breaking through where no nubby points existed before, young man!

You now prefer to sleep on your side & when I rock you to sleep, as I do before every nap & bedtime, you just roll over into my chest and roll your eyes back and you are OUT. You cry when I put you down on your back so I have to reposition you onto your side and you go right back to sleep. I asked my Mommies Group about this & everyone basically said that all their 3 month olds usually start rolling to their side to sleep so I know you’re ok & I’m not allowing you to do something to might hurt you. And goddamn it’s just too cute to see you all tucked up like that. You can roll over from your side to your back and then back to your side but Tummy Time is still an issue with you – although you have reached all your milestones, you haven’t really always done it with smiles on your face!

You watch TV. You love the news, especially the weather report. You actually sit up and watch it. You also watch Jeporady! at 12:30 with Daddy & me before your nap. Last night I thought you had had enough of the news (I think they were talking about the president) and I decided to put Curious George on so that you could hear Jack & possibly watch something a little more age appropriate. YOU LOVED IT. You laughed out loud, you “danced”, you smiled and you sat the entire time GLUED to the screen. Daddy calls you a TV Fan & I know it’s probably not the best thing for you to be attracted to at the moment but, jesus, it sure is cute. As soon as the music started you were spellbound, you just love yourself some Jack. And again, that’s just fine with Mommy.

I caught Daddy dancing with you today while he was playing the Beatles for you and my heart melted. You were loving it & I think it’s safe to say, so was Daddy.

All your new noises are just so much fun, our conversations are never boring! You tell me just about everything that’s on your mind & I hope you always do. I know you wont, but at least for now, I know you like telling me everything that crosses your mind & I’ll always listen even if I don’t understand.

You still really don’t like it when I’m not in your line of vision & although I don’t mind it most of the time (cause really how far should I be away from you?), it does make things a little difficult to get done! You still LOVE being on your changing table, but I’m well aware that will probably change within the year! You’ve started to discover that you control your feet and you’ve acquired the skill of finding your poopy diaper with your feet already. You haven’t quite gotten them to your mouth yet, but I just attribute that to you being so tall! Now you don’t only think your own farts are really funny but also that Mommy & Daddy’s are pretty silly too. It’s like a little inside joke when you smile at me after I’ve, hmmm, really let one rip. I think if you could high five me, you would.

Mystic has really taken to you and enjoys spending time with you on the couch & still retreats to her bag when you begin to cry. Monkey, I think, slept in your cradle when we were gone cause there’s just way too much fur in there to have been transferred from you to your sheets! He’s still not quite sure about you when you move about but has become a lot braver about sticking around when you start to get going. You almost always have Monkey Fur between your fingers and toes, I’m trying to at least keep it out of your mouth since your fists are always trying to fit in there, but it IS really interesting when I find it in your diaper!

My catalog of Songs I Sing to You While You Fall Asleep has not really expanded – I added Crash Into Me & you seem to like that one! I can actually sing all of Nancies and you haven’t complained about that either. But usually I just have to sing London Bridge (my fair Liam, of course), Twinkle Twinkle, Fere Jacques, & Satelitte and you are asleep. You didn’t really appreciate The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow this afternoon so I don’t think I’ll be adding that to our permanent catalog.

You play with almost all your toys! It’s hard to pick a favorite one cause you play with all of them with the same enthusiasm. Although we do have a couple of “fail safe” toys that I always bring out to keep you company!

I have to go now cause you just started crying & I need to go make sure everything is ok with my little Liam Fellow. I love you, sweetie. OK FALSE ALARM! You were just restless, but you’ve been waking up during the night since you started teething and been quite inconsolable. I know I shouldn’t run to you like I do but if something was ever wrong and I didn’t react, I don’t know what I would do. On a funny note, one night I was hearing these weird noises on the monitor when you were sleeping & I FINALLY figured out that these loud, booming sounds were you FARTING. And I laughed. You always make me laugh, Liam. I hope I do the same for you.

Happy 3 month birthday, my little bundle. Mommy loves you, more than even she can imagine.

Baptism Pictures!

Liam helping Mommy cut his cake - do you see him watching?!! too cute!


His Godfather, Joaquin holding him while getting Baptized - do you see him watching the priest?!!? That's me on the left & his Godmother, Caroline, on the right



Cute little picture of his outfit :)

God Bless JC Penny's!

We had our 3 month photo shoot yesterday & I couldnt be MORE pleased or excited about it all!

JC Penny's was fantastic. The woman taking the pictures actually knew what the hell she was doing with a baby & had me supporting him under the blanket, something TARGET didnt even consider for a one month old. As soon as he was 'posed' he started LAUGHING OUT LOUD and didnt stop the entire time. I was nearly crying I was so happy & relieved. Needless to say, the pictures turned out just perfect. And I ordered a LOT more than I went in wanting to :)

He laughed, he smiled, he didnt squawk at anything or any position she put him in. So we have a set of poses with his whole outfit on, one with just the polo and pants (no sweater), and a set with him in just his diapers and every single one is just edible. And I didnt even order every one. What I did do though was purchase the online access with a passworded site where people can view and order sheets if they so wish so once I get that I will let you know and if you just email me (jennifer(dot)nino(at)gmail(dot)com) I can send you the password so you can see Sir Cuteness in all his 3 month glory! Thankfully, Matias didnt lose his head over how much I ended up spending - I think it had to do with how much he liked the pictures too!!

So, YAY Penny's!!!

Finally!

I FINALLY ordered (and decided on) Liam's crib sheets!!

We ended up going with the Navy Kasey from Pottery Barn Kids with the navy chambray sheets, the airplane sheets & the train junction sheets (the last two were on clearance!) - and I LOVE it!

We didnt want to tie ourselves into a theme or a distinct color, we wanted to be able to decorate and change things around with things we can add in his room as he grows and changes so we just went with a nice array of blues and khakis that we can obviously add our own little touches - like the trains and the airplanes but not trains and airplanes ALL the time. I wish they had some sailboat sheets that matched also...

And I normally dont talk about prices or amounts but we got all of his bedding for $110 simply because I used a wedding gift card we got from Pottery Barn (I could NEVER find anything for that amount since everything is so costly there...) and Liam's Baptism gift from Matias' family. I'm really happy that we didnt have to pay an arm & a leg for this stuff cause although it's all cute and adorable I just cant stand paying a ton of money for it all - this way it worked out really well! Now, if shipping & handling wasnt over $20 that price would have been a lot lower!

We should be getting it all early next week & I just cannot wait to get his room all set up - I just think it's going to look so adorable against all the white furniture & new fresh walls! Our next big thing will be introducing him to sleeping in his crib & I am not looking forward to that. He's on the verge of being way too long for his cradle but I'm the one not ready to have him in another room, just yet. I'm sure it will be nice to have our bedroom back to ourselves but I do like having him in there...sigh...

We still have to get some window treatments - I've picked out a few but Matias hasnt chimed in yet on which ones he 'approves' of so we havent bought them yet. And I know which light I want from IKEA so I just have to run over there and get it (not paying shipping!) and it's a great price too!

There's still a short list of things I want for the room though:

white & blue frames for his pictures
white shelves for his "stuff" (I think I can get these at Michaels or ACMoore and just paint them myself for cheaper than buying actual white shelves...)
a mobile (I think we can hold off on that since we have a thing that attaches to the inside of his crib but we'll see once we get him in there)
a night light (right now we leave a lamp on in there all the time since he doesnt sleep in there it's ok for night time changes but that will stop once he's sleeping in there!)

And then 3 months AFTER he was born, his nursery will be ready :) It was funny, the dude on the phone at PBK asked when I was due...I said "3 months ago" and he laughed but then I explained how we didnt know "what" we were having so we wanted to wait and see and discover what kind of little boy OR girl he OR she was before deciding on their room decor.

WOW!

Liam just CLICKED HIS TONGUE!!!

We were standing at the top of the stairs with Daddy & just getting ready to go down when he just up and clicked his tongue & smiled!!!

Our boy is growing up so FAST!!!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, eh!

So over a week has past since we returned from our VERY FIRST VISIT TO GRANDMA & GRANDPA’S (and Old, Wise Auntie) for Liam’s VERY FIRST CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!!

This trip also marked my first time being the driver while Daddy hung out in the back with Liam – we just find it easier on the road trips to have one of us in the back with him to make sure he’s ok & to better monitor what is going on with him since you cant see him at all cause he’s rear facing and that just kind of drives me crazy. Thankfully we didn’t hit any traffic as we have a little Red Light Racer & it is not pleasant to hear him wail while sitting at a red light or in traffic. If I can remember correctly, we only had to stop twice for the Pimp Juice & twice for diaper changes – I think the normally 4 ½ hour trip was extended to 5 hours but overall that’s not too bad. At some points though the weather was just horrible & it is now getting dark early so for Mommy the drive wasn’t all that grand but we made it to Cary just a little after his bedtime & we got him situated in his pack and play (Grandma bought her own to encourage visits – just kidding! It makes it a lot easier for us not to have to pack it in the car along with everything else we need to bring along with him!) and hung out a little with the family before heading to bed ourselves.

That night we discovered that Liam didn’t really dig the pack and play – the “bed” is almost suspended and any movement causes it to swing like a suspension bridge which woke him up and made him do the “frozen snowangel” (or more technically known as the “startle response”) and cry. I caved (yeah, twist my arm) and brought him to bed with us where he spent the rest of the weekend. I’m a sucker for having our little guy in bed with us especially when I can use the “he can’t sleep” excuse.

Sunday, we went to Macy*s since Liam had received a gift card from Matias’ co-workers at his contract site at his SURPRISE baby shower earlier that week and we SHOPPED! They had some great sales & we got some really cute stuff – another hoodie, a rugby shirt, some adorable pants, and some really cute shirts. We needed to stock up on some Fall clothes – crapper of the whole thing is that he is in between sizes AND seasons! He’s just a little too small for the next size up right now but the weather is changing so he’s wearing his clothes a little big right now & just might be doing that until next month (which is sneaking up on us quickly!) – it’s kind of a pain in the ass to get some massive shopping done though cause he’s going to be six months in January but he doesn’t need TWO sets of winter clothes – I know, horrible thing to stress over, right?! Don’t worry, I’ve got it all covered – literally. Liam will be the Layer King. Awww, Liam the Layer King – kidding. But it does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

[edited to note: this is not the “catch up nap time” I was alluding to earlier this is “Mets vs. Cards Game is on” catch up time. I’m a talented multi-tasker. Liam has been down for the night for two hours now]

Sunday NIGHT we had a fantastic Canadian Thanksgiving – complete with all my favorite trimmings & a GLASS OF WINE! Liam received a bib that was altered to read My First CANADIAN Thanksgiving and proudly wore it while in his car seat on the dining room table. Yes, the dining room table – Grandma even admitted that she would never do with her own kids (yeah, hello!) but with Grandkids it’s OK. whatEVER. I think it took him a few times of us going upstairs to finally get him down for good but I do believe he enjoyed his first thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa’s!

Monday morning my mom left for a beach trip – can you believe she left before Liam had even woken up?!!? I still cannot believe that she missed out on all that time she could have been spending with him just to go to the beach and quilt. Oh well. I suppose it was her decision to leave her grandson.

[god, I love guilt trips]

Liam had his first trip to Best Buy to go computer parts shopping – what a proud moment! Matias needed to fix my sister’s computer (fried video card – I called that!) so we trekked out with Grandpa to go pick up the replacement & then went to lunch.

Liam is definitely getting more comfortable & better at spending time in his car seat – he was never BAD about it (of course not!), it just seems that now he’s grown a little more accustomed to hanging out in there without bitching about “are we there yet?” He still is the Red Light Racer though – I was joking with someone on the train yesterday (when he started getting fussy while the train was stopped waiting for “track work”) that I now totally encourage all drivers to run the yellow lights – much less painless than sitting at a red light!

I wanted to make it home before his bedtime & we nearly made it – it would have been a little more helpful if the person in charge of “knowing what Liam needed” was a little more in tune with things – like say, possibly changing his diapers and suggesting a feeding AT THE SAME STOP so that we wouldn’t have to stop DOUBLE the amount of times. It really isn’t ALL that easy to find a “nice” spot to whip out your boob in the back seat of the car to feed your baby, contrary to what you might have envisioned. Plus it would have been nice to make it home before dark but everything worked out ok with only TWO stops within 15 miles of home. Yeah, please don’t ask cause I have a headache from rolling my eyes about it simply thinking about it.

So it was a quick but wonderful trip to Grandma & Grandpa’s (and Old, Wise Auntie) House for Canadian Thanksgiving but that was ok cause I was getting ready to turn around on Thursday and take our First Train Ride back to NC for our First Wedding & Mommy’s First Weekend Alone [without Daddy]!

Maybe I’ll find the time to post about that before the kid turns six months! Now I’m off to pump so that Daddy has something to feed the little Bundle while I’m at the church bazaar on Saturday – HIS First Day Alone [without Mommy]!

I’m hoping to get some pictures from my family covering the past two weekends – HINT HINT – so I’ll post them here, of course, when I get them!!

Mr. Bundle

One of the many nicknames for Liam - Mr. Bundle ALWAYS greets you with a smile in the morning. Here he is in Great Auntie Jean's Truly Canadian Blankie on his first night wearing fuzzy footie pjs last week when the weather dipped.

Two weeks lag time!

It appears I have fallen about two weeks behind in posting our outings! We've had a VERY busy month what with his Baptism, Canadian Thanksgiving, Liam's first Wedding so I need to catch a nap time (when I dont have anything else to do around the house or for work) where I can sit down and write. Let's see when I can make that happen!

Liam's growing in leaps & bounds though at the moment - almost too much going on at one time for me to grasp!! There's the sitting up on his own, laughing out loud at Mommy's dancing (!!!), rolling over...the list just goes on!

The rest of the month is busy too! His 3 month birthday is sneaking up this Friday (WHAT?), we have his photo shoot scheduled for tomorrow, Halloween is coming & Mommy has a church bazzar to work this weekend so Daddy will be babysitting on his own for about 1/2 a day!

I'm going to try and join the other Mommies for a trip to Cox Farms for Fall Festival on Thursday, I have a crop scheduled for Sunday at the house & we have a Halloween party on the 27th!!

AND I think, 90% sure, he's TEETHING.

2 Month Doctor Appointment

We went for our 2 Month Appointment on Thursday - yes at 10 weeks but the week he turned 2 months was set aside for two week old appointments [whatever that means...] and he got his first round of immunizations.

Again, he took it all like a Champ. He didnt cry or scream as much as I expected him to & in turn I didnt have to cry or feel overly protective of him! YAY! He did turn very red in the face and scream a little but calmed down rather quickly. They gave him FOUR separate shots - not two at a time! And right after, I nursed him and that calmed him down right away. Matias was even laughing at how easily he calmed himself down.

Now for his numbers!

Weight: 11 lbs. 5 oz. (average weight)
Head Circum.: 16.5 inches (90%)
Height: 24.5 inches (90%)!!! (doctor even commented that he is a Tall Boy)

We have to work on having him play, lay & football hold nurse him since his head is a little flat on one side - nothing to worry about now, it's of Average Flatness - but down the road it could/can become a problem if not corrected. We are going to have get his new car seat when he hits 29" - not 26" like she mentioned. But it appears that he is gaining most of his weight through his height - they arent worried about his weight though so thankfully I dont have to start worrying over it myself! We have to start giving him Vitamin D drops since that is the one thing breastmilk lacks but other than that Liam got a clean bill of health at his 2 month check point!

He took a few more longer naps than normal that day - we had prepped him by giving him some baby tylenol & gave him some more throughout the day to lessen the effects of his shots - and was EXTRA cuddly (no complaints here!) and liked the comfort that nursing gave him a little more than usual. Went to bed on time & slept like a Champ through the night, per his usual schedule - with just one extra feeding, if I'm remembering correctly!

Friday was a little more 'uncomfortable' than Thursday - he slept in my arms for 2 hours, completely tuckled into me but did play in his gym that afternoon, and played very happily too! He got his bath last night (didnt want to push it on Thursday) and was same little happy boy and didnt even notice when Mommy 1-2-3 RIPPED the FOUR bandaids off of him in the tub! And yesterday was just the perfect day to stay tuckled up on the couch with his fleece pants & hoodie on with Mommy - rainy and COLD (today it's 48 but feels like 43!) - so we listened to music in between naps and just enjoyed each others company.

I asked the doctor about his 20 minute Cat Naps but since he's sleeping through the night, she saw no cause for concern - now that would REALLY suck if he ever only slept 20 minutes at a time but since that's not the case we are doing just fine! Mommy wishes it was a little more than 20 minutes cause that's quite a short amount of time to get anything done around the house - especially shower! But hey, the Liam Fellow is happy who cares if I'm dirty or there are tumbleweeds of Monkey Fur blowing across our hardwood prairie?

I’m not a stranger in the eyes of the Maker

Liam's Baptism

Let’s see if I can get this out while he’s still upstairs snuggled up with Daddy on this frigid and wet Saturday morning!

First off, I HAVE TO say that Liam was an angel during his Baptism. Even the priest (who is no longer Father Charles – he moved up to Rhode Island) commented no less than 4 times that he is “such a good boy”, “is he always like this”, and how “lucky we are” – yes thank you very much we know! We had him dressed in a cute little white seersucker overall suit with a white blouse underneath that his Great Aunt (on his mother’s side) had made for him with a Peter Pan collar that had blue stitching, and white shoes that came attached to one of his gifts just as a little ‘decoration’ to the wrapping (I’m sure they aren’t intended to be used as shoes but they look a hell of a lot cuter than his white GAP socks would have!) and a pin that Isabel had given me when I was pregnant. The pin had a blue fabric rosette, a lemon (not sure about that), a silver fist (think it has something to do with Rio since she lives in Brazil) & a St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals, charm on it, we added the silver cross his Great Grandma Txixi gave him and everything was complete! He had his cross & his Kitties with him looking over him even at the church. Of course, he looked just adorable & like a little gentleman.

It was quite the trek into DC with three cars in our caravan of Merry Baptizers but we made in time for Communion so everything was still on track! Liam got a little fussy during Mass so I took him out to his Grandma’s car to give him a quick lunch & I thought I had enough time to feed and change him since we were the second in line to get Baptized but I got a call from Matias just as I finished up & just as he filled his pants (quite loudly, I might add) that “we were up” so I brought him back in poopy diaper and all and just ‘prayed’ (as much as I can pray) that he didn’t get too upset about sitting in poop.

Needless to say, he didn’t react to his poop at all. He was seriously a little angel. He was all attentive & I would dare say it even appeared as if he was participating in his own Baptism! He was watching the priest when he spoke, looking at us & his Godparents when we were being spoken to, and watching the candle when we were all holding it & he SMILED when the priest baptized him!! The other little one being baptized (who was about 6-8 months old) was NOT happy about her situation – her gown was a traditional HUGE Baptismal gown that had been passed down & it was warm out – so she wasn’t very ecstatic to be there. Liam on the other hand – took it all in & behaved so, so well. He didn’t make one little peep, just laid there in all of our arms and chilled. Mommy was so very pleased.

What Mommy wasn’t so very pleased about was how Daddy’s brothers & sisters RUSHED the Baptismal Pool and crowded around to take pictures. Thanks for ruining the sanctity of our fricking event. I was even PUSHED out of the way, ELBOWED to move but no worries, I know when a well placed elbow of my own needs to be landed and WHERE. I’m still really upset over it all because I just really think it was rude to rush in and try to get in between us all for the sake of a fricking picture – LET US HAVE OUR MOMENT WITH OUR SON AND BACK THE FUCK UP PEOPLE! Looking back on it, which I’ve done numerous times in my head, I wish I had actually taken the Pain in the Ass by the shoulders and told her to get the fuck out of my way, that this is MY SON and your goddamn 12 y.o. ass does NOT need to be in between the PRIEST AND MYSELF! But instead all I did was land an elbow to the face. It was like a goddamn three ring circus up in there & I’m not pleased about it at all. Let us have a moment while we are performing this ritual, would you please?

After that it was time for pictures at the altar with everyone – I haven’t seen very many of them since we didn’t use our camera for it but I hope to see some at my parents this weekend! I have a few of my parents & Leanne with him & they just look adorable so here’s to hoping we have a decent one of ourselves!

And don’t get me started on when I was trying to ‘decorate’ Liam’s cake and the Pain in the Ass, ok?

And then it was over. I really LOVE our church. It’s intimate & gorgeous & just the right place for our family. The Priest was wonderful – again coming up to us afterwards to comment on Liam’s behavior & “bless” us one last time. I’m so GLAD (and relieved) that we were able to have Liam Baptized in the church his Mommy & Daddy were married in AND Matias couldn’t tell enough people that – everyone who talked to him he told that we were married there, so it turns out it mattered to him too. Wish he had a little foresight with that though – we could have saved ourselves an argument or two [dozen].

We came home & started on the Asado! Matias grilled chorizo and made ChoriPan (chorizo and bread) while I made broccoli slaw and finished the cake decorating and my mom made grilled zucchinis and potatoes – everything was just delicious, if not a bit frantic in the house trying to get everything prepped with about 34 dozen people milling and HOVERING over everything you do without ONCE actually attempting to help you do anything. BREATHING. BREATHING. STILL BREATHING.

Thankfully, Liam woke up after I had my mini-attack up there so now I’m in a much better state of mind! HA!

We were very lucky to receive some fabulous gifts for Liam’s Baptism – my parents gifted him his silver mug engraved with his name & birth date! My mom got it in Montreal while she was there visiting her mother – she got it at my favorite store – Birk’s [think Tiffany’s of Canada] – and it just means the world to me! I plan on taking a picture soon to post here! Matias’ family gave us a card & some cash that I’m going to put towards his crib sheets (I just like saying that cause it’s a funny double entendre), my Grandmother, Liam’s GG (as we call her) gave him a commemorative Canadian Coin Set from his Year of Birth (TOO COOL!) and (ok follow me here) Micaela’s Mother in Law gave him a Savings Bond. [And I do have to rant here – AT NO POINT IS IT OK TO ASK ME HOW MUCH THE SAVINGS BOND IS ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TWELVE YEARS OLD]

My mom & sister had to leave after we served the cake (and good lord I can bitch about people being retards while I’m trying to cut the cake BUT I WILL REFRAIN) since Leanne had to work on Monday & Sunday was turning out to be a LONG ASS DAY. I was dropping my dad at Dulles for his return flight to Ottawa around 7:30pm that evening & Matias’ family was leaving when ever they got their act together (I’m surprised they still aren’t here!) – everyone was exhausted after our long day but it was all worth it – Liam Robert has been cleansed of his Original Sin & is now a Catholic (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?) – I’m glad we were able to Baptize Liam in OUR church & that our family was able to be with us to share the event with us. Seriously though, Liam is very blessed to have the love & support of his entire family & we are very happy to have been able to share it with everyone!

It took him about two days to fully recover from everyone being here and all the excitement – but he got back on Schedule pretty easily until we took him to get his shots on Thursday!

Guardian Angel

Matias firmly believes he has a guardian angel & I dont disbelieve - he prays to her & she helps him feel calm. There was the one time, on the night he proposed, that I lost my engagement ring throwing a snowball at Matias, that he asked her to help him find my ring & he walked off about 20 feet away and came back with the ring. I also believe I have a guardian angel but mine has fur & lives with us - I believe Mystic is my guardian angel. And today she proved that she also looks over Liam.

Liam got his 2 month old shots yesterday and has been feeling a little under the weather. He was sleeping in bed with Daddy this morning when he woke up crying so I went upstairs to see what he needed (maybe some Pimp Juice) & I found Mystic sleeping beside him in bed. Not something we see everyday. Then after I brought him downstairs for snuggle time, she jumped up on the couch to sleep beside him again. And as I'm writing this I had to change Liam so upstairs we went & who do you think followed us into the nursery and jumped inside the open dresser drawer to take a cat nap?

She just knew that he needed to be comforted today. She wont let him out of her sight. And she always knows this. Mystic will snuggle and cuddle and let you use her as a pillow when you're having a craptastic day - she's just that way but to see her do it for Liam really did bring me to tears.

I wrote earlier this month that I hope Liam knows he can count on his Kitties to be his friends & his support system when you just need that extra snuggle time for whatever reason & I truly meant it but to see her react the way she has today brought me to tears. I know that might sound lame but then you might not know how far back & deep Mystic & I go (and that's ok).

My ONE hope is that she will be here when he grows up. God, that's going to be so much fun to watch. I want him to be able to participate & be aware of this Mystic Kitty's love & sense of protection she already feels for him - it's just a fantastically overwhelming feeling to sense it beginning to happen.

God Bless Liam, indeed

I'll write a longer post about his Baptism when he takes another 20 minute Cat Nap this afternoon :)

But for now - here is my FIRST attempt at a cake for my baby! Oldest Auntie Leanne made the icing, scored the cake where I needed to cut it & did all the fancy icing. So I really didnt do too much but I had a pain in the ass hovering around me CONSTANTLY & I was nervous. I dont perform well in front of crowds.

And for the Record

Little Liam Fellow says "maman" :) He does, ask anyone!

And according to all the newsletters I'm getting he also SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! They consider sleeping through the night as getting 6-8 hours in a row without waking. He sleeps from 8pm-4am EVERY night - that's 8 hours right there! Then he goes back down for another 4 hours before getting up for breakfast!

What a Liam Fellow!

A Cville We Will Go!

Liam made his first long weekend trip just over a week ago to Charlottesville – Mommy & Daddy’s Mecca – and he got to meet SO many Freak Family members & he got to see Grandma, Grandpa “the Babysitter” & Auntie Leanne again!

He did REALLY well in the hotel but I think by the end of his 3 night stay he was a little bored with being in one room, with no fresh air, sleeping in his pack n play & not having his gym to work out in. He did get out during the day to walk around town and visit the downtown Mall so it’s not like he was cooped up for 3 days straight but I do think he missed “home” just like we all do after a time.

Grandpa babysat for Mommy & Daddy while we went to two DMB shows & did a little partying with our friends. I had been pumping every once in a while over about a months’ time in order to get enough milk for his pre-bedtime meals (dinner and nighttime snack) & one more bottle for his during-the-night meal so that Mommy could afford to have some fun herself. Thankfully, he had no problem taking the bottle (he rarely gets one, maybe once or twice a month as Mommy is the main source of the Pimp Juice [trademark Rach&Jen]) and showed no indication that he even “knew” it had been frozen. THANKFULLY. I would have dreaded getting that phone call saying he was refusing to eat but I had tested him on a bottle before we left & he was ok with it so it was just a matter of someone else feeding him with previously frozen milk…

Grandpa said that Night 1 he cried frantically for about an hour, I think, but that he chalked it up to missing us (which nearly broke my heart in a million pieces) but that otherwise he was a Good Liam Fellow for him. Since I am the main source of Pimp Juice, it’s RARE that I am away from him for more than 2 hours at the most, so this was really hard on me & of course I was the typically Mommy and couldn’t stop talking about him and thinking about him. LeNelle can even attest to me turning around during Satellite and looking at her and smiling as she had witnessed Liam falling asleep earlier with me singing that to him. And of course, I had to be careful not to cry at the show because of it. When we got back to the hotel we went straight to the Pack N Play and picked him up – he needed to eat again, right? Matias & I just missed the stuffing out of him & I needed to be close to him for just a while. I gave him a bottle & set him back to sleep. He then managed to sleep in until almost 9 though – that did put a little damper on our get out early desire and then with everyone coming by to see him and hold him and call him George we didn’t end up leaving the hotel until after noon! We walked down to the Mall & watched the gawkers at Miller’s and tried to find a place to eat that didn’t have a elevenity million hour wait and could accommodate our stroller. That probably only took about 2 hours! HA! Kidding! Amanda, Bobbo & Bill came over to meet our Little Liam Fellow & we got some really adorable pictures of everyone holding him. I felt really lucky to have everyone come over and meet him – it meant a lot to me. Nikki & Chris made their way over also with some local beers & ciders and we had a quick drink & Liam Pass Around before we headed back over to the Econo Lodge for some more partying.

Night2 went a little better once Grandpa discovered the Liam likes to watch the news during his Fussy Hour (currently running from 5:30-6:30 every night) – it’s hilarious to watch him watch the news! I don’t think anything out of the ordinary happened that night but we did restrain ourselves from rushing to him and picking him up as soon as we got back, we just wished that he would wake for food SOON! We weren’t disappointed! He slept really well, again, for the rest of the night & we got somewhat of an earlier start on Sunday. Although we didn’t make it out to do anything beyond have Brunch at the Virginian & wait twenty jillion hours to get anything from our servers. But I’m not complaining – YET. We realized that it was going to take us more time than normal to pack up our stuff & check out considering we had quite a bit more stuff & one extra little person who doesn’t really pick up after himself – YET. We had to drop the Babysitter off at Dulles that evening so he could catch his return flight to Ottawa – Liam was really well behaved in the car WHEN IT WAS MOVING. GOD FORBID WE HIT A RED LIGHT – oh the horror!

He recovered pretty well from his big weekend & was pretty much back on schedule by Tuesday. Mommy & Daddy needed a few more days though!

[sorry if this is totally disjointed, I started writing it this morning & now at 7:05pm, I'm finally finishing it up! It's not making a whole lot of sense to me so I wouldnt be surprised if it didnt make a lot of sense to you!]