photos

seconds before Olive attacked him with kisses

intense crib playing

he caught me spying on him

Sunday morning lounging

mini back scratcher

The Happiest Baby on the Block

knock out

Liam may have taken those shots like a champ, but those shots kicked his 10lb booty. It was a rough evening for all of us. He cried and screamed. Thankfully the magic of the swaddle gave some relief. He threw up. Somehow he managed to throw up down the inside of the front of my shirt while I was holding him. I give him credit for keeping the vomit contained to one area. He had a low grade fever and just could not get comfortable. Swaddle (not too tight), baby Tylenol, cool cloths, a bath, massage, Andrew singing to Liam and lots of love seemed to do the trick. Despite not feeling great, he did manage to sleep well. He woke up this morning with no fever, smiling and acting like his old self.

Liam loved wearing a cool washcloth on his head

champ

Liam had his two month check up appointment today which included his first round of shots. *sigh* But first things first...Liam broke the double digits & now weighs 10lbs 12oz!! I have to say that Liam was a champ today when he received his shots. He cried a bit, whimpered (saddest sound to date), enjoyed a hug & kisses from me and then wanted to eat. I think I did okay, too. If only kisses and hugs could fix all things painful we experience in our lives.

happy 2 months Liam!!!

Liam is two months old today! Andrew and I reflected this morning about how it feels like Liam has been here for so much longer than just two months. I guess it was all the waiting and anticipation for him to finally join us. Thank you Liam for teaching me so much in such little time. These two months have been incredible.

finally

He started his morning off with smiles, then projectile vomit and then more smiles. I love that they are occurring more and more often. I think last night he may have even let out a tiny tiny giggle. It is these types of things that cause my heart to melt again and again, day after day.

7.5 hrs

Last night a record was broke..Little LCG slept for a whole 7.5 hours. Which also means that Andrew and I slept for a whole 7.5 hours. Outstanding! The previous record was 5 hours. I have a feeling that Liam would have slept longer, but I woke up at 5am and felt I should check on him since he did not make any sound all night. Sleeping for more than 3hrs straight often ends up with me waking in a panic.

I am not sure what the cause of him sleeping this long is. It could be a variety of things. Monday night he slept for 5hrs straight. It may be he is maturing, making enough melatonin and sleeping longer OR it could be because of the best book I have read thus far as a parent, The Happiest Baby On the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp ( I know book titles should be underlined, but for some reason this computer is not allowing that function). I truly wish I would have read this before Liam was born.

Let me just begin by saying that initially I thought this book was crap because the author, who is a man, started the book by saying that woman should be pregnant for an additional 3 months. While I LOVED being pregnant, I am not sure if I would have been able to tolerate the heart burn, being uncomfortable, finding clothing that fit, kicks to the rib from the baby the size of a 3month old, let alone give birth to a 3 month old. But after reading more of the book it made complete sense. Dr. K. came up with some techniques to use to soothe baby and make his surroundings very similar to that of the womb. BTW..who knew that the sounds in the womb are louder than a vacuum cleaner.

The techniques worked really well yesterday when Liam was being fussy in the afternoon. I also believe the techniques helped with putting Liam down for the night and keeping him asleep. Who knows, it could just be a coincidence, but I am willing to continue the techniques.

I will say I felt a bit guilty about Liam sleeping (ok, me sleeping) all those hours and him not eating. But the smile that was on his face when he was laying in his crib reassured me that he was going to be fine and not hate me...today, at least.

hi ho, hi ho

it's off to work I go. Well my return date for work is 2/15. How is it possible that 12 weeks are almost over?

Andrew and I brought Liam over to meet his daycare provider yesterday. Liam did well-minus the crying fit he gave for a few minutes. I guess that is his way of communicating he was comfortable there. Andrew and I feel comfortable with him there, too. While all along I have said I wanted to put him in daycare a week prior to me returning to work, to get our schedules down, I just could not do it last night. My heart felt heavy and as we were walking to the car, I felt that lump in my throat. I am not sure Andrew fully understands how hard this will be for me- Liam and I have been together for a while now... since March '09 (with a few exceptions since being born). He just gave me the usual reassurance that everything will be fine. I know everything will be fine, I think it is just knowing that Liam will be spending more time with his daycare provider (awake) than he will with us is what makes me sad. I guess that only means that we will have to make the most of the time we have together during the week and on weekends. I do think that it will be amazing when we pick up Liam and he gives us a squeal of delight!

a baby!

Andrew & I recently learned that our good friends, Jeff & Robyn, are expecting their first child in early August!!! We can not wait for them to experience the joy of becoming parents. Congrats!!

01.17.80

Today I turned 30 years old, and Liam turned 8 weeks old. This was his expression when he learned how old I am.
p.s.- the poor little guy is being attacked by baby acne

Mama, you are how old?!?

elephants!

I chuckled to myself about how ridiculous this photos is. Liam in a elephant onesie, laying on his elephant blanket with his elephant friend, Eleanor. Can one say elephant overload? Never mind the Saturday Night Fever dance move...

playin'

Liam & I have somewhat of a morning routine. He usually gets up around 7am to eat and then goes back to sleep until about 9:30-10:00. During that time I take care of me. When he wakes he eats again, listens to his favorite cd and we have some playtime before I get him dressed for the day. While it would be wonderful if everyday went as smoothly as this, it just isn't all that realistic. Anyhow, this morning he played until he fell asleep. I could see that he was falling asleep so I removed him from playing and got him dressed (which is a whole other routine) and then put him back down to play- which ultimately ended in him falling asleep while playing.

P.S. Liam still favors his left hand :) gooooo southpaws!!

Action Shot.



Posing

Finally giving the right hand some love

Liam has a pretty strong grasp.

dressed, moisturized and out cold.

12 days

We were finally able to view the photos that Jennifer Ames took of Liam when he was only 12 days old. They came out great. It is just amazing how much he has changed in such little time. I am happy we have captured this moment in his life & our lives. Here are some of my favorites:

24/7

Being sick is one thing. Being sick and being a mom is a whole other ballgame. I have been feeling under the weather (wow a lot of cliches here) for about 4 days now. It started out on Monday and I partially blame the hotel room we slept in Saturday night which came with no heat. So all I have been wanting to do is sleep this off, rest and keep my fluids up...no such luck. Liam decided this week that he wanted to be more alert during the day. More stimulation leads to more cooing, more smiling and being more active...all which I truly adore & look forward to. I know that if I wasn't filled with snot and phlegm I could be more entertaining to him, but instead I am just going through the motions with him and praying that he gets exhausted from all his fun and takes a nap. And when he does take a nap and I can rest my eyes for a minute, I swear that kid has a mommy alarm. As soon as my eyes close he decides he is finished with his nap and wants to play. Hearing the sound of Andrew's Jeep pulling into the driveway this week has been nicer than usual.

I just don't want to pass this onto him. I hate having to use that booger sucker in his nose- it is a torture device.

bags are packed

Andrew and I survived our first over night without Liam. My best friend from high school got married over the weekend. Liam stayed with his Grandma & Grandpa B. on Saturday night. I think if you were to ask Andrew how I did without Liam, I think he would say I did well. I did not call my parents the night of the wedding. I did call once on Friday when we were at the rehearsal and dinner. I figured it something was wrong, they would contact us. It was difficult, especially since everyone asked me about the little guy and how I was doing without him. I have to admit that sleeping a whole night through without interruption was pretty nice (even though our hotel room was lacking heat)& I could not remember the last time that happened. We had fun at the wedding and I am pretty sure Liam had fun with his grandparents. I know for sure that my mom and dad had a blast with Liam and the pugs. I have to admit that I could not wait to see him on Sunday.

Jackie & I
01.09.10

addendum to resolutions

I went to my six week post partum appointment and left a bit disappointed.

Liam accompanied me to my appointment and all of the nurses were very happy to meet him. I met with Dr. Jacobs, who was a bit surprised I was seeing him since he thought my favorite doctor at the practice was Dr. Burack. I guess that may have something to do with the thank you note I sent her & that Andrew told her we were hoping she would be the doctor to deliver Liam.

So all was going well until Dr. Jacobs mentioned me that due to my insides still healing, I should not be running nor jogging. Which brings on the disappointment. I asked him if I need to wait a few more weeks before I can start to run...he said that it will take up to a year before I am healed and he does not recommend any running for at least six months to a year. Ahhhhhh. I asked him if he was serious and of course he was. So I guess I won't be running the Turkey Trot this year. Bummer. That also means I need to figure out an alternative to losing the last 13 pregnancy pounds, plus some more.
So on one hand I am happy that I am healing and life can somewhat get back to normal (walking dogs, doing laundry, etc...) but on the other hand I am disappointed that I can't start my running routine. Oh well. I guess either I deal with not running now or deal with my cervix falling out of me later on (that is a possible consequence according to Dr. J.).

smiles

Well Liam just made my day yesterday. I should say he makes my day everyday, yesterday more so than usual. Andrew woke him up and got him out of his crib and brought him into our room. I greeted him with good mornings and before I could give him a kiss he smiled, smiled and smiled. I thought for sure he was having a gassy moment. BUT it happened again & again throughout the day. I have been trying to catch one of those gum filled smiles with my camera. Here is what I have captured so far

All smiles
1.06.10

born free

Liam is a true man when it comes to his gas. I am sure if was more in tune with what was happening in the world around him, he not appreciate his mother discussing his gas issues. But he isn't so....

I called the pediatrician's office on Monday morning. He was so fussy Sunday night when we were trying to put him down to bed. The fussiness continued into Monday morning. He was struggling all night with passing gas. We would massage his belly, do the bicycle moves with his legs, give him the mylicon drops, pretty much anything we could think of to try to soothe him. The dr.'s office scheduled an appointment for that am. He was examined and I was told that I am probably in more pain watching/hearing him than he actually is. His digestive system is still developing and with time his gas will pass :) It is common in babies to have these issues. I was asked what type of bottles he was using (Playtex drop ins) and the dr. suggested trying another type of bottle to prevent him taking in so much air. She also said that I was one of the lucky parents were the baby was just filled with gas and that it is not colic. Amen to that!!

So I did some research and found that BornFree bottles are highly recommended for babies with gas. They are awesome!!! I love them and I think Liam does too. I do hope I don't jinx myself by writing this, but his gas is passing easier, he is taking in more formula,we are no longer using the mylicon drops, we haven't done the bicycle as often as we were, burps easier and he just seems to be an overall happier dude- which ultimately makes Andrew & I happier, too.

Oh not to forget, Liam weighed in at a 9lbs. 6oz at his appointment!!

resolutions

Resolutions....ahh here we go again. Lester Holt, who is part of the Today Show team once reported that people are more likely to keep their resolutions into the new year (say, past February)if they wrote down the resolutions...so with that being said, I have decided to go public with my resolutions. I don't want to change too much, but rather meet some personal goals & be a better human ( or at least try).
1. Run in the 2010 Turkey Trot. I am not worried about how long it takes me to complete it, I just want to complete it.
2.Make friends with other moms. Andrew & I are the first parents within our group of friends. It would be nice to have another mom to talk with about diapers, formula, sleeping patterns, life with baby & etc...all the stuff that is boring to non moms (at least I thought it was boring before Liam came along). But, I hate making new friends....
3. Become healthier. Even though Liam is a little dude, I want to be a positive role model when it comes to taking care of my body(exercising, making healthy food choices, being aware of what I am putting into my body) . I am hoping Andrew will pick up on this as well.
4. Being positive and judge less. I really need to improve in this area. I think this has been on my list for the past 15 years...

01.01.10

Happy 2010!!!!