Choo choo, Baker, tummy time, and growth spurts!

Everyone's favourite cutie-pie (dressed in his daddy's sweater and toque set)

Liam enjoys tummy time now! Wow, that took a while! For all of the 'tummy time' novices reading this, babies are supposed to play on their tummy for part of their day every day. This is due to the fact that babies now should be sleeping on their backs, to reduce the chance of SIDS. Well, being on their back to sleep and ride in a car seat and play has taken a toll on their development--not having the time on their tummies affects their hand-eye coordination, balance, and many other skills and abilities, not to mention basically their arm and core strength. So, babies on the whole have been reaching developmental milestones later since the beginning of the "Back-to-Sleep" campaign to reduce SIDS. Sooooo, babies need to play on their bellies.

All that to say, it has been torture putting Liam on his belly (as I think it is for many tykes). He would cry almost immediately. (Hey, if that weren't motivation enough to learn to say, "Flip me over, this sucks!" I don't know what is!) Anyway, it is nice to see that Liam can now stand to be on his belly for more than 2 minutes without the tears falling! Now we can really work on rolling over!

We've had a busy week: Scott left for Mexico City for the last race (hiphiphooray!) on Wednesday morning, leaving Liam and I to bach-it for the week. We visited Baker, my workplace, and hung out with the cool teachers--Liam was a hit!

Liam in his cool chair in Sheri's office--where did you get this chair, Sheri? You never told me!

Liam and Jesse, the science teacher

Liam and Sheri

Liam and Juli, 5th grade teacher

We hung out with Anna and Ben at their house and had lunch at the Choo-choo (a cool kid-targeted restaurant where your food is delivered by a train on the countertop--too cool--and birthday kids get a very loud and boistrous symphony of the Birthday Song sung to them, complete with train whistles atop frosted cupcakes! yeah... super cool.).

We did Lunch with Jess today and tomorrow we are heading over to Missy and Trace's house to watch the race. Phew! All this and Liam is in the middle of a growth spurt--meaning he sleeps no more than 1-2 hours per 'shift' before wanting to eat again at night. It's been a tiring week of that! Last night we actually went 3 hours between 'meals' so hopefuly we can get back up to that elusive 6 hour stretch that we once had. Ah, memories...

Speaking of sleeping, Liam is doing just that. He's entering into the second hour of his...hmmm pretty long...nap. Yeesh, I picked the shortest nap of the day to lay down with him this morning when I could have been in lala land myself right now! Sigh, hindsight is 20-20. :)

Well, all, once the beast awakes, it's into the tub he goes! Best get the bubbles ready! Tune in to the race on Sunday to watch Scott's team end their (ahem, WINNING) season on a high note with Seb's last race!

kisses from the wee one and me!

love,

b

Liam and his New Toy

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Toys, Treats and Together Again!

Liam got a new toy! I scored a used Baby Einstein play centre for mere pennies (compared to the retail $80 asking price!) and after a quick cleaning, Liam was ready to explore! Check out the video of Liam spinning the dials and being kissed by the puppet!

Halloween was a blast, with Liam scoring some good treats from our neighbours. He wore his little candy corn outfit (still fits, but barely!) and we bundled him up in a warm blanket and the neighbours practically threw candy at him, he was so cute. He even had a little bag to carry. We told him that he could only have as much as he could carry himself, and we knew it was time to go home when, at the last house, he dropped the bag. :) Here's a picture of Liam and his loot!

And here's Liam giving his daddy a high five:

Liam and I were lucky to hang out with Anna and Ben again today--it has been too long! The last couple of weeks were busy with Auntie Catherine's visit (yay!) and then with my flu-bug (ugh!) so our weekly outing with them was sorely missed! Here they are, with Liam, at Caribou Coffee today. Liam is getting bigger, but still has a ways to go to catch up with 2 1/2 year old Ben!

Liam is definitely growing like a weed. He's wearing his cousin Jake's hand-me-down overalls for a 3-6 month old! (thanks, Cathy!!) And looking super-cool, too, I might add.

Well, off to spend a nice Friday evening with my two fine-lookin' men. Happy weekend, all!
Love,
b

Family Portraits

Hi all,
Click on this link to see our first family portraits!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27665&l=8834e&id=613675774

Also, here's a pic of Liam at his first Halloween Party with Auntie Catherine and Mommy!

We went to the library to listen to a story-teller. Liam was more interested in watching the other kids. :) We enjoyed having Auntie Catherine visit for the time that Scott was in Australia. She was very helpful and did a lot of cuddling and playing.
Scott's team won the Champ Car Championship for the 4th year in a row with their driver Sebastien Bourdais! Congratulations!!
Well, best be off, I hear some waking noises!!

Happy Halloween, all!

love

Becky

Liam from 5 1/2 weeks to 7 1/2 weeks

The adventures have begun...

Hi all,
My apologies for not posting for the past almost 6 weeks! It's been...ahem...a BIT busy! :) We've had a wonderful, exhausting, adventurous, love-filled stretch of time since the last posting. Of course, as you know, little Liam has graced our lives, bringing a lot of laughter and joy! He is an amazing little being--so sweet and cute and good. We are definitely a lucky family to have him as our own little son.
Liam has changed--he changes every day!--from a little newborn to a full-fledged baby! He's eating well and putting on the pounds; he's sleeping very well (he can sleep anywhere at anytime--he's a champ!); and he's interacting more. In the past 2 weeks, we've seen a great leap in the way he interacts and he even plays for up to 30 minutes with his toys, batting at them and watching them shake and swing and then batting at them again. I swear he knows what he's doing... He coos and smiles more now, too--and it's not just gas! It's definitely social smiles. :) He has been laughing for the past 4 weeks in his sleep, (that's hilarious, by the way) but we have yet to hear the music of his laughter in a social setting.
We have been out and about a lot, going to a mommy and baby movie, having playdates with other mom/babies, attending surviving motherhood groups (where I feel guilty for not having any problems to discuss--ha!) and going for walks and going shopping.
We have had visitors--mom and dad, Dave and Trudy both stayed over for stretches of time to help out and hang out. That was wonderful. And we've had a variety of friends stop by and pay us a little visit, too.
So, things are going well. I'm definitely busier than ever and my time is more spent on feeding and entertaining and hanging out with my favourite little man. My favourite BIG man (AKA Scott) is also in heaven with our little Liam. They are a great pair, my two favourite guys!
Well, hope all is well! We welcome any emails, etc. but please be patient in when we can respond! :) But we will, eventually.
I hear the rumblings of a little hungry tummy. Best be off!
love,
Becky

Liam Up to 5 1/2 Weeks!