12 days of Christmas--Liam style

12 Fun new toys (at least)
11 Articles of clothing
10 Christmas dances
9 People chased
8 Lots of food
7 Packs of the car
6 Naps total
5 Cousins visited
4 Different houses
3 Celebrations
2 Outdoor walks
1 Amazing time

Liam had a wonderful Christmas and was able to show off his new skills: pointing at what he wants, rocking to some music and running in a walker. He loved the walker so much that he acquired a blister on his toe (it has yet to slow him down). The video below shows him enjoying his Christmas present. Sorry it is kind of long--I haven't figured out how to edit from our new camera.


Another video shows Liam's love for music and his potential dancing career. You can see he takes his dancing very seriously.

Santa on Pause

One day in the future I fear that Liam will be looking through his baby books and notice that one timeless photo is missing. He will ask, "Mom, where is my baby picture with Santa?" and I will have to tell him that "Santa had some hungry reindeer that year."

Liam and I braved the mall on 3 separate occasions at 3 different times of day to try to sit on Santa's lap. All 3 times, we were turned away because as the sign stated, "Santa was feeding his reindeer." It is important to note that the sign does not say when these feedings are to occur each day.

Liam really didn't seem to mind not waiting in the long line and I am guessing he would prefer Daddy's lap over Santa's, so it really worked out well for him. And even though I tell myself that I don't need the famous Santa picture for every year, there may be some clever photoshoping in my future.

We will fill you in on Liam's first Christmas after the holidays, but we sincerely hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Oh, and if you are going to the mall to visit Santa, you might want to bring some reindeer food to help speed up the process.

A couple of firsts

Liam has had some new experiences lately. He played Picasso for an afternoon and experienced "painting" with his play group. I put this is quotes because having a baby paint is more like letting them swim in non-toxic goo. Just getting him to stay still long enough to make some hand prints and foot prints for the reindeer was a challenge. He had a great time though and I think I am going to have to make it a regular thing for him.

He also attended his first birthday party for one of the babies in his group. Adrianna was supposed to be born around the same time as Liam, but was 4 months early. She is doing amazingly well and Liam was thrilled to celebrate the day with her. His personality is a lot like his father's: very gregarious and social. He loves to be around people: one of the other fathers even remarked, "Liam seems to be the center of attention and it is not even his party!"


If you are painting using their hands and feet as a stamp, I recommend using a sleeping baby.


Another recommendation: Make sure you realize that only a very small amount of the paint will end up on the paper.


Liam had his face painted at the party. This lasted for about 3 minutes.


Not only is Liam a ham, but he is, unfortunately, kind of a bully.


The birthday girl enjoying her first taste of sugar.

Sweetness

Liam had a really tough time falling asleep tonight, so I went up to his room to try to help. At first, I tried holding him in the rocking chair, but he just struggled. So, I turned on the lights and got on the floor with him to play. We quietly played for about 20 minutes and then I gradually dimmed the lights and started to pretend I was going to sleep on the floor. Over the next 20 minutes, the room got darker and Liam played and crawled less and less. Eventually, he crawled over to me and put his head on my arms to fall asleep :) While falling asleep, he kept reaching back to hold my hand or grab my finger :) That was a highlight of my life so far.
After he seemed to be asleep for about a minute, I got up (he popped his head up too) and put him in his crib. He feel right back to sleep and we haven't heard him since.

Lingua Liam and Giving Thanks

We've started teaching Liam sign language because babies can learn to communicate with their hands before they have enough control over their voices to talk. As the book on sign language I got from the library points out, babies use sign language without instruction. For example, if Liam lifts both arms up, he wants to be picked up; if he reaches toward something with one arm and out-stretched hand, he wants it (or to be taken to it); rubbing his eyes means he's tired. These signs seem to be pretty universally used by babies and understood by parents without any coaching.

The book recommends teaching no more than 3 signs a day, no more than one sign per sentence and recommends starting with "more", "eat", and "milk" because they are usually the easiest to learn. They're easy because they don't involve much dexterity and they are things babies frequently want and need help getting. The book also recommends opportunistically teaching a simple sign for something of particular interest to the baby. For Liam, this has usually been "cat" so far. He now studies our gestures as we sign. If we're consistent, the book says he might mimic a sign in the next 8 to 10 weeks.

Thanksgiving was terrific. We got together at two big family celebrations and Liam loved it. He has always loved being around lots of people and new things. Since he's happier, and we have so many helping hands, we can relax and enjoy ourselves too. Liam got sick just before Thanksgiving and woke up every 3 hours during the night like he did as a newborn. It was sad to hear his little coughs and labored breathing while he tried to sleep. He seems to be over it now and slept through the night last night for the first time in days. In honor of Turkey day, Liam had his first meat in the form of some chicken and sweet potato baby food. He liked it, but he's liked almost everything he can eat so far, so he's not too picky. Just don't try peas and rice together (separately is still fine)!

Liam is still learning new things each day. As this blog also serves as our baby book, I'll list some: army crawl across the floor (necessitating some child-proofing measures), clap his hands with a huge open-mouthed smile, wave, stand up (while holding something for support like a foot-stool), point at things he's interested in (right hand only), turn off the electric piano, and make one of his toys play "la cucaracha" ad nauseam :) while rocking back and forth to the beat.