From our family to yours

Meeting Santa

Ollie is being needy right now and taking up all of my lap and licking my face…so I’ll leave you with Liam’s pictures.  We saw Santa today…he was at the Comfort Station downtown (basically a public restroom with an open area)….you just walked in and a man was sitting there with a Santa suit on.  The whole thing could have been shady, but we got our pictures and all was well.  And we got to take our own—so I have more than one for you :)  Or you know, all of them.  Because I’m that person…really.

Liam sitting up (in his way cute snowman jams)

Liam has a new skill…sitting up!  He can sit pretty well on his own when we sit him up.  And he loves playing with toys from this new vantage point!

Liam with the Tree

These don’t show Liam’s full love for the tree…but they do show him with the tree (sort of…he’s a little on the short side…so mostly it’s the presents)

Liam at seven months

Liam, you are a total blast right…except when you’re not.  You have become pretty volatile.  You are super happy most of the time, but when you’re mad, you are really mad.  You have started screaming more…for more attention, to be held, for more food, to hold your food (which isn’t going to happen), to pet Ollie, to slobber on us…basically, when you want something, you want it now, and you scream to get it.  It happens about 5-6 times a day, which really isn’t bad.  We just have to be prepared for it.

For the most part, though, you are a sweetheart.  You like to play lots.  You love shaking your maracas and anything that makes noise.  You only pay attention to the television when there is music being played—you love the theme song to Parks and Recreation, which tickles me to no end.  You “dance” anytime you hear music..if someone is holding you, you start bouncing and shaking, and if you’re on the floor you smile and kick.  You love bouncing in your Exersaucer.  You put everything in your mouth.  You are a lot better at sitting than you think.  If you don’t think we are supporting you, you fall over…but you can sit up on your own really well.  You have mastered the roll and scoot to get what you want.  We had to start doing some baby-proofing.  You put the cord to my laptop in your mouth…so we had to make sure all electrical wires were hidden from your sight….because your reach is getting better. 

You are also really in love with Ollie’s toys….and he’s in love with yours.  I picked up a mouse the other day, and I wasn’t sure whose slobber was on it—yours or Ollie’s.  He is pretty good about sharing his stuff with you….he’ll let you have it for a few seconds, then he very gingerly steals it back being careful to not hurt you or upset you.  It’s fun for me to watch.  You two interact a lot now….as long I pet him and scratch him, he’ll let you do whatever you want to him.  Recently you’ve been grabbing his beard and yanking…and sometimes you lean over him and just “pet” (smack) him all over.  Then he licks your face and neck.

You have figured out your own form of kissing.  You put your open mouth on our cheek or mouth and slobber all down our faces.  It’s pretty funny…when someone laughs, you do it more.  You think it’s the best.  You are in love with the Christmas tree…you would grab it and pull every bit of it to your face if I’d let you. 

You are also getting pretty good at solids.  Homemade butternut squash is your favorite, followed by any fruit.  You’ll eat everything, but you give a look that says, “Really?” anytime you eat a vegetable….which is often.  You sneeze every time I feed you, so you often spit food all over you, me, and Ollie.  Because Ollie is there to lick up any wayward bites that you might miss.  You love Baby MumMums….because you can feed them to yourself.  You will happily sit and munch on one of those about any time.  You currently hate your bottle.  You want it, your hungry, but you fight eating about 90 percent of all bottles.  It’s literally a battle to feed you.

Liam, we love you to pieces, and you are so much fun.  You’re the best, bitty boy.

Flipping the switch

One of the things I have learned in the last nearly seven months is that things can change at the flip of the switch.  This morning, for example, I was dancing with Liam and Ollie while listening to the Michael Buble Holiday station on Pandora (BEST.STATION.EVER), and I thought to myself that life just doesn’t get much better than that.  And it didn’t.  Nope, it went downhill.  Liam melted down (hello baby who is still wrecked after Thanksgiving and has had a rough two weeks) and started wailing and kicking.  And Ollie stole a toy and destroyed it and growled at me when I went to take it from him.  So I put Liam to bed and spanked Ollie.  And plopped him in his cage for a timeout (Ollie..not Liam).  So now I’m alone listening to my Pandora station, trying to gear up for the day. 

Last week was a lot of switches…so it’s kind of a struggle this morning.  I had my first cold as a mom (still do, actually), and it turns out it’s really hard to just rest on the sofa when you have a baby who wants to PLAYALLTHETIME.  And who goes on a nap strike.  And a husband who is working lots of extra time….  It’s all for a good thing, but it’s rough when the week where he hardly sees Liam coincides with the week I got sick.  And I hate all of our Christmas decorations…I honestly don’t have any ornaments on the tree (well..one, a ceramic bone I ordered with Oliver’s name on it).  It’s just sitting there with the lights and a pearl garland and the tree topper..and one Oliver ornament.  And my laptop broke.  It doesn’t recognize the battery exists anymore.  And my Kindle Fire stopped working…so Amazon is sending me a new one.  I think I’d rather just move my desktop (the hand me down I got from Andy) into the living room than replace the laptop right now.  So yeah…I’m trying to flip my switch to a more cheerful attitude.  Because I have a lot to be thankful for, and my bad attitude is just pretty dumb right now.