8 months, wow!

Dear Liam,

This year is flying by of course, and you have made some BIG changes this month!

You have starting eating quite a bit more solid food... pretty much whatever I put in front of you! You are quite the carb boy... I try to give you as many fruits and veggies as possible, but your favorites are rice cakes (called baby mum-mums) and toast!  I have recently been able to give you some purees which you have been resisting since you were about 6 months.  At first you just spit them back at me, but in the past couple of days you have eaten some pureed peaches and sweet potatoes.  You weren't too much of a fan of pureed carrots, although you did like cooked carrots that you could hold yourself! You much prefer to feed yourself, although I cannot get you to eat blueberries, strawberries, or cantaloupe.  Hmmmm.... are you going to be a picky eater?? We shall see!

You are moving ALL OVER THE PLACE now!  You are a champion army crawler, and you are starting to get your legs motoring too.  You can also get up on all fours and rock back and forth.  You are great at rolling all over the place and army crawling wherever you want to go! You also started pulling up on things this month... you can pull yourself to standing in your crib or on low surfaces... very scary for mommy! You already have received a couple of bruises here and there from being so active!
You LOOOOVE your big sister.  She loves to make you laugh and you really started playing together this month! She likes to give you toys and play peek a boo with you.  You giggle hysterically when she makes faces at you and she will do anything to try and make you laugh! She gets more laughs out of you than I do a lot of the time!

You also slept through the night a couple of times this month!! Mommy is SOOOOOO happy about this because she has more energy and is starting to feel more active!  Your sleeping has been pretty good for the most part this month, just waking up once or twice or not at all and then going right back to sleep.  Some mornings you even slept in until 7:00/7:30! WAHOOOO!!!! I know you don't care about this... but mommy does.... :-) :-) :-)

You are suuuuuuch a sweet cuddle bug.... just so snuggly and easy to love.  Everyone you come into contact with oooo's and ahhh's about how adorable you are.... everyone loves your cute whitish blonde hair and big blue eyes.... you are so easy to fall in love with!! Quite the charmer with your adorable little grin and chuckle!

You are still a big chubster weighing just 2 lbs less than your 2.5 year old sister!!  You are about 23 lbs now... BIG boy!! I love your chunky thighs, belly rolls, and I'm pretty sure that not one more oz of fat would fit on your fatty little feet!! You are so soft and squishy!! :-)

Here are some pictures from this month:

 Happy Father's Day!

 Trying some bananas

 Standing in the crib! Ahh!

 Good morning sweet boy!

 First time seeing in the ocean in Gold Beach, OR!

 Falling asleep on the beach in Gigi's arms! 

 Munching on some sand at the beach

 Getting a little too big for the swing!

 Ready for church!

 I love you sweet boy!! You are a greater blessing than I could have ever imagined.  When I nurse you and cuddle you, my heart just about explodes every time.  Happy 8 months!

Happy 7 months to you!

Can't believe how fast this year is flying by and yet going slow at the same time!

Here are some updates from this month a few days early because we will be traveling next week on your 7 month birthday!

*You are just about ready to take off crawling!  You can pretty much get to where you want to go when you are motivated.  You roll around and scoot most of the time, but sometimes you get your knees working too!  You are very active and love to get your body moving.  You really don't like to sit still! You are very good at grabbing objects... you especially like grabbing plates and glasses off the table!

*We have tried some more foods... bananas, mangos, red peppers (just to chew on), oatmeal, and apple cores.  You definitely prefer feeding yourself rather than being spoon fed!  Which is also kind of ironic because your favorite "toy" is a big yellow plastic spoon that you chew on alllllll day long.

*You are still experimenting with your voice and I have heard you say "Ma," "Da," and your new one is "BA!" Your favorite syllables are DADADADADADADA.

*Your giggle is absolutely hilarious.  Such a cute little belly laugh!!

Here are some pictures from this past month:

 Picking weeds with Daddy!

 Picture for Daddy for Father's Day

 I love the crinkle nose laugh!

 First time swimming! You didn't like it much the first time we went, but you didn't mind as much the second time. :-)

 Your sister loves to give you toys and read to you!

 She loves to take care of you, talk to you, and make you laugh!

 Making you laugh is one of her favorite activities!

 She also likes to put princess crowns on you still! Sometimes you don't mind... I think you are starting to accept it as just a part of life!

 Friday night dinner out to eat! And of course you are chewing on a spoon as usual!

 Annnnd another spoon... entertained you all the way through the grocery store!

 Play date with friends! 

This pic kind of describes the month we've had with your sleep little buddy... you have had a minor cold and haven't been feeling so hot so your sleep has been a little crazy.  You also have decided you want to nurse all night every night so mommy and daddy are exhausted.  You love to cuddle though so I can't resist cuddling and snuggling you all night.  You are just the sweetest to smell and kiss and love on and I just love you to pieces!!  

We are getting ready to travel to Oregon on Sunday so you will get to go to the beach for the first time.  Can't wait to take pictures of those little piggies in the sand!  

Anyway, happy 7 months buddy!  Thank you for being such a sweet sweet blessing in my life. xo

1/2 birthday!

Sweet Liam,

You are now 6 months old!  Wow! 1/2 way to one!  You have changed my life in the sweetest way... I just simply cannot imagine my life without you.  You bring me so much joy every day, I cannot even put it into words!  Here are some updates from this past month!

You are sitting up even better for longer periods of time and you are starting to scoot a bit.  You shove your nose into the ground and do a body roll while shuffling those knees of yours to get where you want to go.  You also roll around front to back and back to front like a pro so I have to be very careful where I put you!

You love to play with toys and love to explore everything with your hands and mouth.  You play quite contentedly by yourself... sometimes up to 45 minutes at a time!  You especially love your exersaucer and iced teething rings.

You started eating mum-mums this month!  These are just little crackers that you can hold on to that dissolve in your mouth.  We mostly give them to you to keep you occupied while we all eat dinner!  You also sat in Kaelyn's high chair for the first time!  You mostly played with toys in there but I'm pretty sure a little avocado made it into your mouth as well!

You are a biiiiig boy, still in the 90th ish percentile for weight now weighing in around 21 pounds!  Your 2.5 year old sister weighs 26 pounds... you are going to pass her up in no time!  Our baby swing maxes out at 25 pounds which is a bummer for mommy and daddy because you love your swing!

Mama just put you on a nap schedule this past week... you have been doing really well sleeping from about 8:45-10:45am and 1-2:15/2:30ish this whole week!  That means mama has a predictable time that she knows she can get a few things done.  Wahoooooo!  Of course Kaelyn decided she wanted to use the potty this week as well, so mama's not really getting anything actually done around the house... but that is neither here nor there... we are working on eating and growing at this point!  Clean clothes and dishes are a luxury right!? ;-)

You are also much more verbal now... your favorite babble syllable is "da da da da da da da da da!" It was Kaelyn's first word too... I will try not to have hurt feelings. ;-)

We are still waiting for your first tooth to make it's appearance!  Still drooling and chewing up a storm!

You are sleeping much better most nights.... going to bed around 7 and only waking 2-3 times for little snacks.  You usually go back down pretty easily most nights and then like to wake up around 6.  Some days you decide 4:30 is more fun, but Daddy usually gets up with you then for some quality man time before he has to go to work.

You continue to be a very happy and easy going baby much to mama's delight! You smile and giggle incredibly easily and love to snuggle.  You are such a lovable little dude!!!  Okay... big little dude. ;-)

Here are some pictures from this month!

 WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH

 First time in shopping cart!

 Relaxing in the beautiful AZ springtime!

 Happy Easter!!

 Or not....

 Peek a boo!!!

 6 month birthday!!!

 Your best friend!!

 You find her hilarious!

 My cutie patootie

Up to no good!

I love you my sweet Liam!! Thank you for continuing to bless me far beyond my imagination!!!

5 months

Happy 5 months sweet boy!

Here are some updates from this month:

You are now sitting up on your own pretty well.  I have to put pillows around you because you usually fall over at some point but you are quite sturdy now!

You don't love "tummy time" too much but in the morning you will tolerate it as you are a pretty happy dude when you first wake up!

You have been nursing all night long and then waking up at 5am.  At first I thought it was a growth spurt but now I'm thinking I am just a human pacifier!  I think it's mostly because you just like to snuggle so much and be close to mommy!

You continue to love to cuddle and will even fall asleep on complete strangers sometimes!  I love that!

You had a little tummy bug this month and it was sooooo hard for mommy to see you sick!  We had lots of cuddles and nursing time and you are feeling much better now!

You are becoming much more active and a pro at rolling over!  You like to jump in the jumperoo and spin around in your exersaucer.

Your first food was chomping on a pizza crust at dinner.  Super healthy, right??? Ha.  You also tried some squished up mangos in a mesh feeder and loved them!  You didn't really eat them but you enjoyed the new flavor. You also tasted a bite of avocado but you didn't really know what to do with it once it was in your mouth! We all giggled at your funny faces.

You are talking up a storm!  You love to squeal and jabber.  Sometimes you let out high pitched squeals that make us all laugh.  Right now you are laying on the bed squealing... you kind of sound like a dying animal or some kind of strange dolphin!

You are also drooling a lot!  I think your first tooth will be right around the corner!  Sometimes your entire front of your shirt is soaking wet from so much drool!

You are very coordinated and getting really good at grabbing things.  You also discovered your hands this month which has been really fun to watch!

Here are some pics from the past month: