Busy, Busy, Busy

Liam has a lot to do these days. After finally rolling out of bed (where he slept on his dad's chest for three hours) at 11 this morning, he got right to work on one of his favorite new hobbies--searching for his thumb:



Shortly after (unsuccessfully) trying to locate his thumb, he went right to work on trying to climb over the boppy.



Man. I get tired just watching these. No wonder he needs so many naps.

Waking Up is Hard to Do

There are so many awesome things about life with Liam, but one of my favorites is watching him wake up. It takes several minutes of pretty intense stretching before he can even open his eyes. This video only shows part of it. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my very favorite Liam move. When we pick him up as he's waking, he arches his back, sticks his butt out, whips his head to the side and purses his lips. He's done this since the day he was born and it gets me every time.

Sleeps Like a Baby

I never knew that the phrase "sleeping like a baby" meant "making all sorts of crazy-ass noises."



In this one, the clicking is the swing, the rhythmic creaking is our kid.

More Administrative Stuff.

Since I know that you all are really here to see pictures and could really care less what we actually type, I've made it easier for you!

At your left, underneath that breathtakingly adorable picture of Liam, there are links to pictures of Liam in my flickr account and Damian's flickr account. D's will have the better pictures, but mine will have more!

Enjoy! (And if you have a flickr account let me know, so we can be friends and you can see the non-public content.)

w00t! Smile!

We finally got a smile out of Liam this morning. It's still a fleeting thing, so no pictures. Let me tell you, though, if you thought it wasn't possible for this kid to get any cuter, just wait.

Maiden(ish) Voyage

Jane officially broke in the BOB for Liam over the weekend (pictures of her visit--and Scott and Jonnett, too--forthcoming). Once he saw how it was done, he was ready to try it himself. Liam and I took the BOB out for a walk on the Prairie Path this afternoon.





And, look! A smile! (Still only when he's sleeping, though.)

Bumbo Growth-o-Meter

Our friend Amanda was here for a visit early this week and was kind enough to give Liam a Bumbo baby seat. I can't wait for him to get his head-holding-up together so he can make full use of it. As much as he loves to look around, I know he's going to LOVE it.

I also thought it would be a great way to monitor Liam's growth month-by-month. So here is our boy, being swallowed by the bumbo!

And, for your entertainment (and in case Karo is looking) an outtake of pure misery:

One Month

Like most new parents, Damian and I can't believe it's already been a month and can't believe it's only been a month. Our boy is growing amazingly fast. We went to the pediatrician yesterday and he's up to 9 pounds 8 oz (40th percentile) and a whopping 22.5 inches (70th percentile).

Obviously that height does not come from his mother.

Liam is such a content little guy. He spends his awake time looking around with giant eyes, taking everything in. He's very snuggly and loves to be in our arms, against our chests, or draped over our laps. He is a great sleeper, too. Usually only waking us a couple of times a night. If we can time his bedtime and eating right, he'll only wake once.

He's very busy working on all of the things that one-month-olds work on. He can hold his head up for a little while and he is *this* close to real smiles (instead of those as he drifts off to sleep or fills his diaper). And, of course, he spends a lot of time holding court with adoring grandparents and other fans.

We are having such a good time with him. We have been trying to get out with him often. We've taken him out to eat a few times, went to see the new Harry Potter movie at the drive in on D's birthday, took in the classic car show in downtown Wheaton, toured some World War II planes, and checked out the Geneva Arts Fair. He loves car rides, his strollers, and our slings and carriers. That makes it very easy to take him places.

One thing he doesn't like is when I try to eat. As soon as there is a plate of food in front of me, he is awake and needs to eat (even if he just finished). I've decided this is the REAL reason women lose weight when nursing. He's also not a fan of diaper changes or having his arms swaddled. As soon as we wrap him up, he grunts and wiggles until he can pop his arms out of the swaddle.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Liam's first month:

Watching Regis and Kelly. He loves those two! (This is a current shot.)

Thinking ...

Ready for a toga party, or: testing out his J-Lo Halloween costume.

Close-up with baby acne.

Notice the fist, freed from the swaddle

Reading with Gran

Comments: Open Season!!

Visitors have mentioned that they can't leave comments here without registering for a google account.

Well.

Unacceptable.

I went into our settings this morning and fixed this. I could have chosen to allow comments with non-Google logins, but opted for the no login necessary choice, meaning that people can, gasp!, leave anonymous comments.

So now ... do your worst! Burn us for our poor grammar! Suggest that maybe we should take a closer look at our wine consumption! Nail us for not posting enough! All while safely cloaked in anonymity!

Just remember, we can see your IP! ;)