Happy 2 Month Birthday Liam Robert

To my little boy,

Two months ago today you showed us your face. You came into our lives and brought us love & laughter & patience & meaning. You were born wide-eyed and ready to go & you havent stopped since. Your little legs are constantly moving, just like they were when I was pregnant with you, your fingers are in constant 'grab' mode - thankfully we have an unending supply of cat fuff for you to clutch between those little fingers with the never ending growing fingernails (that I have mastered clipping, thank you very much). Your smiles are about as bright and wide as your gorgeous brownishgreen eyes & always there in the morning when I sit up and look over your cradle and say "good morning, Bundle, would you like your breakfast now?" Your monkey toes are very strong, I must say, crushing anything that comes into their path - you grab and hold onto drawstrings on pants, the cute little tie that is on one of my tank tops rarely leaves your toes' grasp - I'm sure it's from all the time you spent dangling like a monkey from my rib cage that gave you this extra firm Kung Fu Grip.

You dont like the larger planes that fly overhead so I try and shut the patio doors before you notice, you dont like being wet or poopy (but who would?) and wake yourself up from naps just to be changed & then you refuse to go back to sleep, if you see me coming at you with a Gag Rag (trademark Cousin Alexis) you start crying but not when Daddy does it. But that's ok because you dont cry when I slather you with kisses but for some reason (must be the stubble) you cry when your Daddy kisses you. Daddy can also put you to sleep in under 5 minutes, whereas it usually takes me a little longer and then you will normally wake up as soon as I put you down - and mostly, I dont complain cause I get to cuddle my bundle a little longer.

You LOVE music - just about any music, really. Daddy plays the Beatles for you just about every chance he gets & I sneak in some of "my" music when he isnt looking. You look up at the stereo (he's THAT smart he knows where the music is coming from) and just stop what you are doing and listen. I really wish we could take you to the shows this weekend but we'd like you to be able to hear music for the rest of your life and not ruin it in one shot! When you are "really" fussy (which isnt fussy at all) I can put you to sleep if I sing to you & cradle you in my arms. You like your belly rubbed & you like it when I cup your feet in my hands. You've regrown enough hair on the top of your head for me to be able to brush it with my hands when we're having some quiet time. You like the water, just as I knew you would. We are signing you up for swim lessons in November & I cannot WAIT to get into that water with you.

There are so many things we want to teach you and share with you. Some of them arent "traditional" but they are Life Lessons we believe have taught us well in our lives & wish to pass them along to you, our Son.

Monkey has discovered that you do in fact move and make noise & has now become afraid of you. We try and sneak up on him when he's sleeping and get a few Monkey Kitty rubs in. Mystic is Mystic & only runs from you when you're crying & even then she just 'hides' in her bag. Sometimes they do "inspect" you when you're in your gym though & it's cute to watch them go over you and make an inventory of just what is this little thing here...

I try to call the cats Your Monkey Kitty & Your Mystic Kitty so that he can at LEAST learn that Monkey is a Cat and not a Monkey - you never know, years down the road you might be asked "what sound does a Monkey make?" and you'll meow for them. And I want you to know that these Kitties of yours will be here for you to play with, and depend on as you grow older - they make excellent pillows & are great shoulders to lean on when you need a friend. They are your first friends & you should know how much it means to me to you to have such great Monkey Kitty & Mystic Kitty in your life.

Mommy & Daddy are trying very hard to do their best by you & even though money is getting tight, we're making allowances and changes to meet your best interests. You will ALWAYS come first. As Daddy said last night "dont worry, it's just money, it's Liam that's important" and he couldnt have been more right.

You are always going to come first, Liam Robert. You deserve that & I'll gladly give it to you.

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Liam Robert - Mommy loves you.

Photo of the Day

I call this "Contemplating World Peace or Possibly Taking a Poop - an Ode to George W. Bush"

It was bound to happen sooner or later

I called Liam "Monkey" and then later called Monkey "Liam". At least I'm keeping the sexes correct unlike when I called Matias "Mystic" once, or twice, maybe.

Someone make it stop

I just organized my COUPONS. I mean REALLY organized them. Into catagories, with tabs & everything. I'm using one of my Creative Memories photo file holders that I had 459275 million of before we moved for it & it's perfect for this use but I think I just took it a bit too far...

I would say "looks like someone needs a hobby" but I fear this IS my new hobby.

As LeNelle says "housewife-rly" of me

I've been trying to get the household chores and such under control since we've brought Liam Fellow home with us & even though it hasnt been BAD it's been noticable, esp. since I am home 100% of the time now - not something I can sweep under the rug (HA! look! a housecleaning metaphor!) and pretend it isnt there, I see it for 12 hours a day! So anyway...I decided to come up with a Weekly Schedule to hopefully get all the chores and tasks done in a timely manner instead of rushing around trying to clean EVERYTHING in one day -that will NEVER happen even with a Good Liam Fellow in the house. Ok, so I've come to grips with these new terms now let's make a List!

That's another thing - I was talking with David this weekend & he was asking me about being a SAHM and how I am adjusting to it. I had to make a concentrated effort to run my new life & house like I would my Job & Office - I make lists & I complete them, daily & weekly. I consider my Mommy Group Events to be Meetings & since they are on the calendar it makes it 100% easier to make sure I get out of the house and go do something as opposed to something like this - "hmmm, maybe I'll do something today..." which leads to no where - except for me staring at the cat fur that appeared once again on the floor and wondering just how do these cats not manage to be bald considering all the mother loving fur they drop every fricking night...

If you already havent started laughing at me for this Weekly Schedule you may commence NOW. I created it on Tuesday & I'm already two days behind :) BUT BUT BUT as long as they GET DONE in this weeks' time period, that's all that matters in the end. Partly, I can blame leaving the house from 10-3 yesterday for not getting Mommy Laundry done & it's got me thinking that I pretty sure I dont want to clean the bathrooms today either BUT I have a List & a Guide and I know that if I stick to it (even loosely) that I will get it all done in time and not lose my ever loving mind trying to clean this house with a baby in my arms & two cats underfoot.

A Good Liam Fellow

Yesterday, I went to my first CM event since forever (honestly, if it wasnt my first than it's only my 2nd one since getting pregnant) & I took Mr. Liam Fellow with me. What a good boy I have here - he either slept in his papasan or was walked around for 5 minutes to fall back asleep after being nursed in the bathroom. Where, like a ROCKSTAR, he puked on his first bathroom floor. Oh, how proud I was. He barely made a peep, except to smile and coo at every lady walking by. I was able to stay the whole time - until 2:30 and got home for his 3pm feeding. Now, granted, I didnt exactly get a lot of pages done what with 20 minute feedings and diaper changes and checking on him to make sure the Crazy Lady wasnt talking too loudly and waking up my baby...BUT this is the longest he's been out of the house at one time (not counting Road Trip #1) & I think he was just fabulous.

But I'm not biased or anything :)

It's a life long celebration

Song Currently Singing to Liam:

Baby let's go below the surface
See what we can find
There's no reason to be nervous
'Cause it happens all the time

I don't want to go up to the mountain
I don't need to go down to the sea
Gonna sit right here 'till we unravel
The mystery

While the lights of the city
Are shining below
Gonna hold onto you girl
And never let go
While everyone else is just walking around
In their sleep
Baby let's dig down
Dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

And I don't wanna wait until tomorrow
'Cause the fortune said that "The time is now"
It's time to find out what we're doing
What we're doing anyhow

Let's go out in the moonlight
And walk for awhile
Maybe stay up all night and we could
Talk for awhile
Kick off your shoes
'Cause you've got nothing to lose
But your sleep
Baby let's dig down
Dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

It's an open invitation
So baby don't you cry
It's a life long celebration
And I think we're right on time
It's a feeling in your heart
And a lump in the throat
It's a strange and lovely ride
Wanna dig down deep inside

While the lights of the city
Are shining below
Gonna hold onto you girl
And never let go
While everyone else is just walking around
In their sleep
Baby let's dig down
Dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

Could you dig down deep
I wanna dig down deep

I like to call this...

What up, my bitches?

Winter Jacket

So Liam will be needing a winter jacket & I just think this is most cutest thing EVER.

9-11 In Memorium

I made a concentrated effort to put Liam in his firemen rescue outfit today so that we could memorialize the rescue workers in NY, PA & DC who attended to the terrorist attacks.

Warning - V. Mushy Stuff Coming

It's not that I never thought my heart could feel this way about my child, I'm just still so overwhelmed that this little perfect guy is Mine. Literally, I think my heart bursts when I think about him and us and our new little family, I know I get choked up and cant breathe properly and the tears start coming & I have to stop myself from going to him, running to him, really, and just covering him in kisses and smoothing out his 'duck's ass' and rubbing his chest or back or just staring at him. It's almost too much. This leaves me vunerable and shaky and not quite sure what to do with my heart that is just exploding with pride & love & awe. How he looks at his daddy when he comes home and just SMILES & how when he wakes up in the morning and is getting ready for breakfast his little hand reaches out for me and his face explodes with happiness. And I treasure our time nursing, it's our time, our private time, my time to have him all to myself with his little fingers working through my own, his feet kicking and leaning up against my arm as he settles in for his meal, his eyes that look up at me and smile with this unconditional love. This love that I have no idea where it comes from, where it originates, where it stems from but I think, I think, it's a 'product' of the love that is between Matias & I and that we, us, are represented through him and that just overwhelms me even more. I'm not ready for him to be in his crib, for him to grow out of a size of clothes...but it's so exciting & [again] overwhelming for him to be learning so many new things...he's discovered his tongue & that it can actually leave his mouth, he's trying to fit his whole fist in his mouth, he thinks it's funny when he pees on Mommy (and I'm sure he's not the only one), he likes his lotion warmed up before we slather him in it, he's getting ticklish, or maybe he's just laughing at Mommy, he's holding his head up, he's enjoying being on his tummy much more these days & he still screams blue murder when I burp him. He does have Mommy's Ticket though - my mom & sister laugh at me for holding him for four hours on afternoon when he wouldnt settle or have it any other way but I dont mind, I got to cuddle this bundle (one of my nicknames for him), hold him close, wrap his fingers around mine and sing softly to him - he likes to hear me sing, sing anything, really, but I prefer to sing DMB to him but he doesnt like the pauses for the instrumental portions of the songs so I have to hum through those, even though I'm singing without any music playing, his favorite at the moment is Satelitte, but he's starting to enjoy Crash also, I attempted to sing After Her to him but I burst into tears and had to stop before I went 'too far'. He's spending more time awake than not it seems these days, he's playing & spending so much more time in his 'gym', thrashing around, kicking and grabbing and learning and growing - singing to himself all the while.

I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life waiting to see what he does next.

This is going to be tougher than I thought

Liam seems to be out growing his cradle faster than either Matias or I imagined & it's hitting us both hard. We arent ready to move him into his crib, into another room - our little boy cannot be getting this big/old already. We dont have much longer, Matias said "months" last night & I just had to laugh cause, really, it's probably going to be just until the end of September that we can keep him in there. And really, if I'm having problems moving him from the cradle to the crib how am I ever going to let him go away to college? I'm only somewhat joking. We've already decided that this one is going to UVA & I think that would be the perfect time for us to finally move to CVille, wouldnt you agree? Again, only somewhat joking. That is, unless of course, he turns out to be a little punk, then he's on his own. Totally joking that time. How could this little face turn out to be a punk?

Bath Time!

We started just filling up the tub after Bath Number 2 didnt go over so well & letting him 'swim' around...to my surprise (Matias said "trust me, I've done this 1,000 times") Liam LOVED it!

He pushes off the walls, just like he did in Mommy's tummy, loves being swam around & just doesnt complain at all!

Can I get an Ahem?

Picture of the Day

(I might as well just go on and admit that this is turning into more of a photoblog than a journal but hell, with a 'subject' like this, who can resist!)

Footnote to "play date" cards

Click the link below to see what I'm talking about.

You ALMOST want them cause, damn they are TOO CUTE, but then you look at the pricetag ($50!!?) and decide against it. Sort of. Cause I'm sure I can find a use for bookplates or return address labels...

http://www.felixdoolittle.com/web/front_junior.aspx

Road Warrior

Liam Fellow went on his first Road Trip to AoE this weekend - but really, can I even call it the "weekend" since we didnt leave until Sunday around noon and came back on Monday - but I digress (aka 'snidly bitch') - and I'd LOVE to report that he was SO SO good during the 6 hours in a car on Sunday and almost 7 hours on Monday!

I sat in the back with him both ways & that was a lot easier to make sure he was covered from the sun & that I could attend to him if and when he woke up a little fussy. Plus, I just like to sit there and hold his hand :) We only had to stop once going up & let me tell you, I'm not a fan of the Rest Stop Change & Feed routine. Liam nursed really well though given the circumstances (in the front seat of a car...I could make some comment about 'getting action in a car' BUT my mom reads this so...) so although I could complain up the wazoo, he didnt, so I wont. BAH HUMBUG. The first 3 hours he slept right through everything & then after changing him and getting off the Jersey Turnpike he was a little more awake and alert so we played with his Quackers the Duck (duh...) and sang DMB to him. What a little trooper!! On the way home, we had to stop twice - once in Jersey - I wanted to stop before we hit the traffic that is Delaware (and we hit traffic that took us over an hour to go about 7 miles - stupid Delaware - I swear they count traffic as Tourism) and then again in Maryland (stupid Marylanders and not knowing how to drive causing accident MoFos) but this time we pulled into a Holiday Inn parking lot and had much more privacy and less sunshine issues since it was raining! Daddy was all freaking out cause he had a poopy diaper and he was going to get a really bad rash cause he was sitting in while we were in traffic cause of the accident - he wanted to pull over on the shoulder and change it there - thankfully Mommy squashed that idea for Safety Reasons (aka, 'are you f'ing kidding me?'). BUT being the Prepared Mommy that I am, I had a sample dose of Butt Paste in the diaper bag so rash averted - Thanks Prepared Mommy!

(I've had coffee, can you tell?)

Liam was a perfect Liam Fellow at his Grandparents de Ninos house - slept like an angel within all the chaos that is a house with 20 people in it. [I would like it noted for the record that I am REFRAINING from being mean and nasty.] He met his cousin Luccia (who is two weeks younger than Liam) for the first time & got many gifts from his family in Argentina. They called to say they already missed him. But, shit, I miss the little Liam Fellow too even when I'm just gone to the grocery store :)

We got home & he was just a little off schedule - I think he finally went down after another meal around 10pm - so only an hour behind - not too bad! He was up once more at 1:30 for a late night snack and then slept through till 5:30am and now we are back on track with our Every Two Hour Feeding schedule. Not too bad, at all! I'm starting to think I might be able to manage the drive to NC all by myself if he keeps this behaviour up! Plus, the Rest Areas are WAY nicer in VA & NC than NJ, but that's kind of a no-brainer isnt it? And I think I will pump a meal or two for the next trip - nursing in a car is not something I want to make a habit of & then we'd only have to stop for diaper changes...

I'll post pictures once I raid Matias' hard drive!

Happy Sunday!

Liam Fellow sends his very bestest smiles :)

I’ve entered the Danger Zone

Sound the Alarms.

I believe I have firmly crossed the threshold into Soccer Mom Territory – I have joined a Mommies Group.

Hi! My name’s Jennifer & I’m a Mommies Group Member. I’ve been a member for about 4 weeks now & I’ve slipped once & gone to a Mommies Group Event.

Liam & I went to a Ice Cream Social & we had a great time!! Ok, he slept the entire time but Mommy had a yummy chocolate shake. All the women are really nice & friendly – there weren’t a lot of infants there that time but there are many new guys that have recently been born so I’m thinking at future events there will be more of us New Mommies present.

It is a DC Metro area group run off of YahooGroups & there are Local Chapters – thankfully Manassas is included too. There are then subgroups including book clubs (Manassas just started one once I expressed interest!), scrapbooking clubs, walking moms groups, etc…so I honestly think this is a good fit for me. It gets me out of the house, doing fun things & socializing with Liam & gets ME doing fun things for ME! It’s an adjustment (Understatement of 2006) this Stay at Home Mom business (and that’s SAHM, for you non-breeders) & I am hoping that this group will, not only, help with my new Job as a SAHM but help me adjust to being a Mother.

I don’t necessarily miss my job, the act of going into work doesn’t appeal to me at the moment (but with a two hour commute who would that appeal to??) but I do miss having Things To Do that are outside of the sit on the couch with a bebe attached to my boob! So my calendar is quite full – not all of the events can Liam & I participate in yet but just looking at the next week there are 3 events scheduled! Of course, I’m missing my first Mom’s Night Out (MNO) because we are going to AoE (Axis of Evil), but it’s still nice to see a schedule and things for me to do filling up my days.

It’s really easy to stay in the house with your newborn and just take care of your daily things but if I have a Schedule or an Appointment than I’m much less inclined to be lazy or take the easy route and get out and do something. And I know all of that will change once I get a lot more comfortable venturing outside with Liam. As HIS schedule becomes clearer it’s easier to guesstimate WHEN Mom can escape into the world with Liam in tow. Especially since I’ve been nursing without supplementing by bottle or formula – that’s a tough call between feedings and naps – I’ve got a two hour window that gets filled with 30 minutes feedings, diaper changes at the hour mark and maybe a nap in there if we are playing in the gym or singing & dancing around the house – those two hours FLY BY so I don’t ever feel like I can JUST LEAVE. There’s always the Next Feeding to think about.

I’ve also got some Crop Events that I’m planning on making a routine practice – Liza has Thrifty Thursdays where you are only obligated to bring a snack for everyone & the workshop is free of charge – this happens every 2^nd Thursday & is from 9-2. Now, I may not make it exactly at 9 and I may not make every 2^nd Thursday but I DO have it on my calendar & I don Intend on making those events! Cause people, I haven’t even started my PREGNANCY ALBUM yet & Liam is 6 weeks old!! (that whole statement is worthy of another post altogether!)

And it will be nice to meet other women in the area – women that I actually have things in common with now. There’s a long standing joke with my scrapbooking buddies at Liza’s that I was the person who rarely made albums of PEOPLE that most of my pictures were of CATS. Not true any longer.

Hi! My name’s Jennifer & I’m a New Mother.

The Land of BoPos & Liam Fellows

The Land of BoPos & Liam Fellows

It was the Liam’s first night at home & things weren’t going badly at all – he had one little bout of restlessness but I think that stemmed from the combination of us putting him in his crib & being in a new place. At the hospital he never slept in his little bassinet but rather slept with his daddy on the pull out bed or with me in the early morning hours in the hospital bed. We didn’t plan on co-sleeping with him (although I’m sure Daddy would have pushed harder for it if our bed was bigger and if I wasn’t such a paranoid person to begin with…) so we didn’t bring him to bed with us right away. He did end up sleeping with us for about a weeks’ time but we knew we wanted him in his cradle, right next to Mommy, to help make the transition easier to his crib when the time came or else we’d end up with an 8 year old still sleeping with us (I’m looking at your Mother in Law!).

So at this point he was upset and fussy, but not crying out of control, so Matias was up and walking with him around the room. It’s amazing what some “walking” will do for a baby who just wants to be cuddled and in motion. I was somewhat awake since, of course, this is my baby too but I was just lying in bed trying to catch some more sleep so I was listening to the story that Matias was weaving for our Little Liam.

It starts out with the Land of BoPos (made up word, said with a strange accent in baby voice) – this is where all the babies who are misbehaving go cause they are lured & tempted by the other BoPos. This isn’t a place you want to stay for long cause you will miss out on all the fun that the other Liam Fellows are having over in the Land of Liam Fellows. I laughed quietly while listening to Matias whisper this tale to his newborn son, I didn’t laugh quietly enough though since Daddy heard me & knew I was listening to him spin this tale & he laughed back in response. The story continued for about a ½ hour all the while, Daddy was pacing around the room reminding him of all the pleasures to be found in the Land of Liam Fellows and beckoning him to come and play with all the other good Liam Fellows, finally Liam conceded and returned from the Land of BoPos to the Land of Good Liam Fellows & we all went back to sleep.

The next morning I asked Matias what a BoPo was – thinking possibly it was a Spanish word or something he knew from his childhood – and he looked at me with a deadpan face & said “you will never speak their name out loud again” and that was the end of that. We try not to speak their name in our house – we never threaten a Good Liam Fellow with BoPos as it might scare him & give him nightmares. But we do encourage & reward Good Liam Fellows in this household with many slobbery kisses & squishy hugs!

I fear he might grow up to believe his middle name is Fellow though! I think his nickname is rather fitting and debunaire in a sense – it’s almost as if we are calling him a Gentleman, which is exactly how he is acting when he is being a Good Liam Fellow. And it’s also not unlike Good Will Hunting – grin – but again his middle name or last name is not Fellow. HA.

We are constantly on the lookout for the BoPos as we don’t want them to tempt our Little Liam Fellow and we try & protect him from them whenever & wherever we can. I would think that this isn’t a bad strategy for us all.