happy halloween

The day started off rough after another night of Liam not being comfortable and waking up numerous time throughout the night. Thank goodness I have an awesome husband who is an even more awesome father. We all woke up with some bags under our eyes. Before breakfast I decided to stick my finger into Liam's mouth to hunt for some teeth. To my surprise I finally felt a little sharp nub on his lower gum. I sure do hope this is the start of a tooth and not some left over hardened turkey from the night before. Fingers, toes and everything else is crossed that his tooth will be here to celebrate Liam's big 12 month mark.

Halloween was a fun day. We started off by getting a visit from one cute shark and his parents.

Liam & Dylan's first Halloween. Seriously, these two are so cute!

Dylan!

 
Then we headed out to a couple other places to do some "trick or treating".  We did get some trick or treaters. Andrew believes that we don't get many kids coming to our door is because I hand out Halloween pretzels rather than teeth rotting candy. We are the lame house on the corner. Anyhow...here are some photos from the fun day. And a big happy birthday to Grandma Nan today, too!

luck

How did I get so lucky?

flash friday

I can't believe a week has gone by since my last post. So you are probably wondering, "what the heck has been happening?"Andrew and I have been diligently preparing and getting everything in order for Liam's birthday parties (maybe I will give a little sneak peek later on). Yes folks, this lucky little boy is having three 1st birthday parties. The first one is next weekend in Utica. The second one is at our home and the third will be in the OuterBanks. It is pretty obvious that Liam is loved by so many people. I have been working hard on getting his first year of photos book completed. And I have also started to look into getting this bad boy printed. On top of that work has been super bonkers for Andrew and just bonkers for me.

Liam is now clapping his hands, especially when he is eating. He is also trying to stand up on his own from a sitting position. He gets up on his knees and then attempts to stand. No luck, yet.  He also has been teething awfully. We really wish those teeth would pop through. Last weekend and early in this week, he could wake up crying throughout the night, act like Mr. Cranky Pants and there were some serious blow-outs.

Liam got to enjoy two Halloween parties this week. One at Andrew's job and one at daycare. We are looking forward to trick or treating on Sunday with him. Here is just a little peek at our happy dragon & Olive.

Olive is more interested in the treat part of trick-or-treat.

Happiest dragon on the block.

Liam really like to touch the innards of the pumpkin when Andrew was carving it.

11 months

Happy 11th Month, Liam!! I am not even sure what to write this month. I feel like I should save all my special thoughts for next month. But of course I must share some special thoughts with you from this past month. I am pretty sure that a few times this month you woke up looking more and more like a little boy. Your face has changed again and you have gotten so tall. I recall days when I could easily hold you in both of my hands, your whole body. Today, not so much. I miss those moments in the rocker when you were swaddled, cradled in my arms, quiet, warm and peaceful. Now I get to enjoy you sitting next to me on the couch, cuddled under a blanket, watching you smile and talk as we watch Wonder Pets or Jeopardy.

You took a couple steps independently this month. You are becoming more and more brave with standing on your own . It is cute because sometime I think you realize what you  are doing (look mom, no hands!) and you get excited which leads to falling back on your bum. You still don't like to wear shoes. A day is successful if you keep your socks on. A day is really, really successful if you keep your socks and shoes on.

This month you started to say your first word...well at least we think so. You will look at the dog and say your version of "Olive". Or you will say her name and turbo crawl over to her. You have also started to share your Cheerios with her in the mornings. When you are finished with your Cheerios you will hold a couple in your hand, look over towards Olive and then drop the Cheerios over the top of your highchair, where Olive is patiently waiting.

Next month is the big month. I am realizing that your baby days are almost over and we all will enter the next phase in our journey...toddler hood. While I am a bit sad that your baby days are behind us, I can not wait to see what the next year brings and how much you will change & learn. I wonder how much your dad and  I will change & learn, too.

Happy 11th Month, Liam!!!

hugs

Liam melts my heart numerous times a day. Today I was a dripping mess. When I arrived at daycare, I always try to stand outside of the room and watch him through the window. It is fun to watch him be himself and interact with his friends. There is one little girl in his room that he seems to hang out with more than the other kids. I can't blame him, she is pretty darn adorable. Today I stood there and watched him, then I walked into the room. He looked at me and acted like how I expect him to act when he is 15 with me in the same room. He saw me, but no acknowledgment. Then he looked again at me and flashed the gummy smile and sprinted(crawling on fast forward) over to me. He tugged at my pants and I bent over to grab him. Before I could grab him, he waved to me and then wrapped his arms around me and gave me the best hug.

open house

Liam's daycare hosted an open house for those parents who were interested in what their kid does all day long. When we arrived, Andrew & I were the only parents. Then we were informed that we were the only ones who signed up. That is a bummer, but again we are new parents.  Overall, Liam is doing great. He shares with other kids, knows when to back off if someone is not in a good mood, really likes to interact with the other kids and uses his left hand a lot :)
It was nice to hear that they enjoy having Liam there (really, how could they not?!?) and that if he decides not to sleep during the day, that is okay. And if he decides to poop four times in one day, that is okay too. A month into the new daycare, Andrew and I are really satisfied with everything. We really hope that this continues and he can stay there for a bit. Plus, Liam's excitement about daycare (happy squeals) equals two enthusiastic thumbs up (I wish he would figure that out already).

apple of my eye

Mama & Liam

10.17.10

time of year

It is that time of year to break out the footed jammies.

monster mash

And to break out really cute slippers that my child will not keep on his feet.

Old man slippers and his favorite book

jeans

The other morning Andrew was getting dressed and ready for the day with the help of his assistant, Liam. Liam is just at the right height to stand up and pull clothes out of the bottom of  drawer of Andrew's dresser. I hear this conversation going on:

Liam: "DADADADADA"
Andrew: "No, Liam you can not have those jeans. Those are mine. I have already given you all my good genes."
Liam: "DADADADA"

wedding weekend

This past weekend we took a road trip to Poughkeepsie to support two of our good friends who got married. The weather was absolutely perfect, the food was great and the company was even better. It was a lovely weekend. Did I mention that the food was unbelievable?? Congrats, Matt & Brie!!

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Us, prior to gaining 15lbs at the ice cream bar

Almost the whole gang

Andrew was so moved by the moment he had to close his eyes. Welcome to the club!!

the maine dog

Andrew and I learned Friday evening that Zeppelin was being adopted on Saturday. He will be going to live with his new humans and a female, fawn pug in Maine! I sure hope Zeppy's attitude towards the snow changes, if not, winter is going to be a long season for him and his humans.  His new humans came prepared with all LL Bean dog items- good bye Orvis, hello Bean!  Our contact information was also passed along to his new humans, we hope at some point they will let us know how he is adjusting to his new surroundings. While we wish the circumstances were different, we are happy that he has been adopted and can enjoy the rest of his life as a Maine dog.

flash friday

Happy Friday! We are all looking forward to this upcoming weekend. Liam & Olive will be spending with weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Bonomo. Andrew and I will be out of town for the weekend to celebrate Matt & Brie's wedding. I am not sure who will have more fun this weekend, Liam or Grandma & Grandpa.

We went pumpkin picking last weekend with the Sanders Family. It started off as a chilly day (hence hat & mittens) but gradually warmed up and turned out to be a great day.

Liam would have been happier crawling around in the dirt.  Just not enough action in the bjorn.

After tearing off his own shoes, he got down and dirty.

Indian Ladder Farms. October 2010.

Liam has started to take a few (three-four) steps on his own. He started off by standing and then just going. It usually starts with either Andrew or I helping him get his balance. Once he is standing  we let go and off he goes. After a couple steps in, Liam will either fall back on his bum or fall forward- however, he knows enough to put his arms in front of him to lessen the impact of the fall. It is pretty amazing to watch. He gets so excited when he travels between Andrew and I. You can't begin to imagine the excitement Andrew and I have when we watch our little boy taking a few steps at walking.

Steady! (look @ that face!)

Ready!

Go! Someone was very excited...

We are discovering new foods that Liam really enjoys eating. This week he went bananas for home-made mac & cheese and home made pizza. I did not get any photos of him with his mac & cheese because he was eating it so fast there just was not enough time to get the camera out. He also has been enjoying graham crackers as well. I am very happy that he is adventurous with trying out new foods.

pizza! pizza!

And finally, Andrew and I have come to terms that Liam is turning one in less than two months. So we started to come up with some ideas for the 1st birthday party. Invitations designed and being printed today!!

ch-ch-ch-changes

Liam started a new daycare on Tuesday. We are hoping that the third time is the charm. 

Not to go too far into detail, there were some things at the previous daycare that made this mama a bit hesitant to leave Liam there all day. So Andrew and I started to seek out another daycare provider and found a daycare center that we both approved of and there was an opening for Liam! Perfect. So we broke up with the previous daycare provider and gave a two week notice. Well things went from to  pretty smooth to rocky to explosive in a matter of days. So we pulled Liam out of there sooner than expected. Fortunately, the new place was able to take him in sooner that we originally planned for.

So far, so good. The staff have shared that he is adjusting really well. He gets along well with the other kids and loves to play. He eats like a champ and is still adjusting to nap time. They told me one day this week that he is quite the social butterfly. Which is cute now, but when he is ten and in school and getting in trouble for being the social butterfly, not so cute. There is a "motor room" at daycare, which is pretty much a huge room with toys and all mats. A safe area for the kids to explore, play and get crazy. Liam got crazy alright. So crazy that he somehow managed to get a mat burn on his forehead. Staff reported that he cried a little, got right back up and went back to what he was doing. Boys will be boys.


I am also adjusting to the new daycare. I feel very comfortable leaving him there. It is cute because the kids get excited when Liam arrives. Liam eats it right up (social butterfly). The staff are very kind and it feels like big family there. I hope this continues...for a while. It is also comforting to me that at most there can only be 8 babies in his room- which is important to Andrew & I and for Liam. Oh, I almost forgot to mention one of the best things about this new place...it is only a 5 minute walk from Andrew's office. So he can pop in whenever he wants and even have lunch with Liam. We find that to be fantastic!