2 Already!

Another year! Really! You are 2! People call this the "terrible two's" but I like to think of it as the independent and knowing what you want stage. You love to "help" mommy and daddy. One of your favorite phrases is "Liam do it."

You are growing by leaps and bounds. The doctor puts you in the 90% tile for height, 75% for weight, and your head is in the 95% tile--you've got big brains. Most people who meet you would believe that. You know all your letters, most of your colors and the other day you counted to 20 and I am not even sure who taught you that.

If I had to predict what you are going to be when you grow up, I would say an engineer (because you seem to like to find out how things work and also, let's face it, it is in your DNA) or a housekeeper. You do not like disorder. One way to get you to stop crying is to tell you that you are making a mess.

You really seemed to enjoy your second birthday party. The music teacher that came to the house was a huge hit and you relished the the explosion of sesame street that was represented in everything from the cake to the giant balloons. You are a fun, curious, gentle little boy. It is a treat to be your mother.


This was more of a project than I would have thought. My hands were a red and black mess after this endeavor.

9 month stats at 10 month birthday

Liam hit 10 month mark today and I realized that we never posted his 9 month stats. At his last check-up, the doctor pronounced that he "is one of the healthiest babies at the practice." He weighed in at a slim 23 pounds (90th percentile), was 31 inches tall (95 percentile) and I can't remember his head size, but it is big (97th percentile).

One of the more common questions I hear is "Is his Daddy big?" Actually, both of us were big babies, so it is hard to tell if he will take after his dad in the height department. So far, with his coloring and cheek size, he seems to resemble me a little more, but you can definitely see the Luke in him. Here are some baby pictures of us around that age (I will try to find a close up one of Steve and post it later on).

Ginormous Child

We are back from the west and are trying to get back on East Coast time. I am beginning to feel like Liam is a night-owl like his dad because going to Pacific time was a pretty easy transition for him, but lately he has been sleeping in and going to bed later than usual.

I continue to be amazed at the rate of Liam's growth. Whenever I take him out, people will ask how old he is and be amazed when I say four months--they say things like "he is strong" and "what a healthy baby", but I know they are thinking "what a ginormous child". Before we left for the trip, we had Liam's check-up and he was 18.28 pounds and 27 1/2 inches long. This put him in the 97th and 100th percentiles respectively. Much to the doctor's surprise, he even has two little teeth coming in.

While we were in Portland, the we put the moby through its paces--when you have a big baby, sometimes you need a little assistance carrying him :) Sadly, we did not get a picture of everyone who tried out the moby, but here are a few. I also wanted to share a picture of my mom's side of the family. We were there to pay tribute to her and it is so nice that she comes from a big family...they say it takes a village; here is just some of Liam's village.

Stronger than yesterday

Even though Liam is an early roller, he hates being on his tummy. While face down, he makes a lot of uhh and ehh groaning noises which are usually followed by cries. While he still prefers lying on his back, he has started to at least tolerate being on his stomach. My friend Mariel and her mother bought Liam a nifty little tummy-time tool which resembles putting Liam on a clock so he can spin around and see 5 different play stations. For the first time this week, Liam might have enjoyed himself while spinning around. His neck is getting much stronger and he is realizing that his arms can help him lift up. This is great news for his parents, who, after getting a second opinion from another doctor, have decided to let Liam sleep in the crib instead of a chair at night.
He is also getting more coordinated and is actually holding onto objects. While he still is not grabbing at his toys, he will, when an object is placed on his stomach, grasp it and put it in his mouth. It doesn't seem like much, but the books say this is helping him develop hand-eye coordination...something this parent has always lacked.
While we might not have a soccer player on our hands, we do have a music lover. Today, during mommy and me, we had a music teacher who inspired the infants with bells, drums sticks and fun little ditties. Liam loved the whole program, especially the part where we banged on sticks. I have a feeling I better lock up my pots and pans.

Moving and Talking

I'm currently watching Liam on our video monitor as he "sleeps" in his crib. His head is now where his feet were 30 minutes ago. He keeps curling up and rolling onto his side, then uncurling. He always does this on his left side and it always rotates him a little bit counter-clockwise, so he just keep spinning around in the crib. His eyes are definitely open and he keeps sticking his hands in his mouth, so we'll see when he actually goes to sleep...

Liam is also doing a lot of "talking" recently. He seems to especially get talkative when I am around. He usually says some combination of "Lah" and "Rah" but has a few other cute sounds in his repertoire. I've been trying to capture these phenomena on video to post here, but as soon as he sees a camera, he is fascinated by it and stops everything he was doing. He smiles more each day and sometimes lets out a joyful little shriek and that always makes us happy and laugh.

Since Liam is now able to roll himself over on to his tummy, but is not quite 3 months, our doctor directed us to not let him sleep in the crib over night while we sleep, until he is at least 4 months old! So, now he sleeps in the papasan chair Mariel gave us over night.

OK, he seems to have fallen asleep while I wrote this (30 minutes of moving and then 3 minutes to fall asleep). Good thing we have this video monitor - thanks mom and dad!!

2 month check-up

Liam turned 2 months yesterday and the occasion was marked by a trip to the doctor for a check-up and some shots. As was suspected, Liam is doing great. The doctor was very impressed by his weight gain. Since he hadn't been weighed since his last check-up, his parents were also in awe by the 14 lbs 11 oz that was read on the scale. Turns out, he is in the 97th percentile for weight and at 2ft and 1/2 inch, he is in the 93rd percentile for height. He also passed all the tests such as lifting his head up while on his tummy and following an object from the midline.
The shots were not pleasant and seemed to make for a tired Liam and a worried mommy, but he is doing fine today and doesn't even seem to notice the few sticks that he got with the needle.

Below are some pictures of Liam; the first one is of him on St. Patty's day (3 days old) and the other one is of him as he is now. You can see that he has really filled out the outfit that my Aunt Jannie gave to him. In fact, that is the only 0-3 month outfit that still fits him. He has moved into the 3-6 month range. I guess he is an over achiever! Now, if only he could figure out the code on the wall!

Growing

Liam is now 9 lbs, 4.5 oz and 21 inches. He's certainly growing fast and its no surprise given his copious sleeping and eating. He'll soon be out of his current diaper weight class and maybe we can shift into the reusables soon. The doctor is pleased with his progress but concerned with his proclivity for holding his breath while crying. He recommends flicking a little water in his face when he starts to get in that mode. Now all we need to do is have water handy where ever he might cry :)

Annika's family visited tonight for dinner, dessert and a game of What's Yours Like? which can be a frustrating game, but is interesting and most importantly, doesn't require sitting at a table and is thus conducive to having a Liam on your lap. This was the first time Annika's brother got to meet Liam and he brought a Stanford ones-y for Liam to wear.

Liam, as usual was crying as Annika's family rang the doorbell, but stopped the instant they walked in the door and went to sleep. He was quiet as a mouse throughout the visit, and promptly went ballistic as soon as they left. At least he knows to behave when we have company :)

Berry Pi and Handmade Gifts

My aunt Penny and cousin Dan brought over a couple more dishes for us including a berry "pi" in honor of Liam's birth date. We were supposed to eat it when my sister visited tomorrow, but she had to cancel her trip because she came down with a cold, so we started digging into it tonight. Its as delicious as it is punny.

Its a bummer that my sister won't be able to make it out to see Liam tomorrow. I know she's disappointed too. But, she won't be missing too much action since Liam is usually sleeping or nursing. The odds are low that she would be here during the random 20 - 40 minutes of "active" time he has during the day. Get better soon Michelle!

We've started using Mylicon on the recommendation of Annika's friend Karen, and Annika is trying a diet without dairy to see if we can get Liam's gas under control. The pediatrician confirmed that he does have more gas than usual. If we can reduce that, I think we'll have a much happier baby :)

We received a number of hand-made gifts for Liam and thought it would be fun to get a picture of him with them. Here, we see that this hand-made cashmere hat from Aunt Laurie will probably fit him in a few months...

Annika's aunts and grandmom on her mother's side made us this cool blue and brown quilt with all kinds of neat patterns in it. They also made a matching scarf for Makoto and ribbon for Yuki. Kitty's mom knit us this soft white blanket to keep Liam warm.

Hiccups

Liam is a big fan of hiccups - and has been for a long time. Annika felt him hiccuping in the womb long ago. Here's a quick video of Liam and his favorite pastime:


My favorite times are when Liam is awake and content and we get to just interact with him. This picture shows my view of him as he sits against my chest or on my lap. He generally looks around with curiosity or occasionally scours at my pathetic attempts to amuse him. Someday he'll laugh and that'll be wonderful.

Over the past two days, Annika and I have been dining on some delicious food my aunt Penny prepared for us and has been kept frozen in our freezer till now. Sadly, we just finished the chicken dish with sweet potato and apple sides. Soon, we'll move on to the fish (we're getting the final ingredient tomorrow)! We really appreciate the help we've gotten from everyone throughout this. You've all played a part in making this a better experience :)

Finally, we took Liam to the doctor again today and he could find nothing wrong with him (despite our several worries to the contrary) so our minds are now at ease. Liam is now a whopping 8 lbs 14.4 ounces, so I guess he's not going hungry!

A+ Baby

Liam had his first visit to the pediatrician today. His doctor officially pronounced him an "A+" baby (its his blood type). Surprisingly, Liam is already back up to his birth weight after just six days. Babies usually lose about 10% of their birth weight in the first couple days and then put it back on over the next two weeks. Since Liam's been such a good eater, he's put it back on twice as fast. While this same pattern might be troubling in an older person, this is a good thing for a baby so the doctor was happy.

Liam was much better last night than on his first night home. He slept for 3 hours at a time throughout the night, just waking up for food and a diaper change. Annika and I were much more refreshed this morning as a result. A baby his age doesn't have a big enough stomach to hold more than about 3-4 hours of food, so this is as good as it gets at this stage in terms of sleep.

Annika's sister and dad came over tonight to cook dinner and eat with us. While we ate, we put Liam in his swing for the first time and it worked like a charm. One instant, he was crying hard and the next (when I turned on the swing) he was sleeping. We have to resist using it as a crutch to get him to sleep all the time, but its nice to have such a powerful tool when the need arises!

First Night

I spent the night at the hospital with Annika last night because they couldn't leave Liam in there alone with her, and we didn't want him to be in the nursery all night. I slept on the luxurious chair that pulls out into a lumpy cot and had the jobs of changing, swaddling and transporting (from bassinet to Annika and back) Liam, while Annika nursed him. He was very well behaved through the night and only cried for a change or food. He is a pretty quiet baby so far, and we hope it stays that way :)


Liam continues to nurse well and has really been great! We did have him stay in the nursery for 2 hours last night so we could get a nice solid 2 hours of sleep (my sleeping expectations have changed when I think 2 solid hours is "nice"). I'm getting much better at changing him now and we're both learning a lot form the nurses at the hospital. They tend to come in about once an hour to check on things like Annika's pain level, Liam's nursing, etc. They've all been very nice and expressed excitement about our new family member (even though they see this all day every day) so that's been nice.

Annika is now up and walking on her own and is starting to feel better. Being mobile has given her a psychological boost as well. The pediatrician visited this morning and said Liam is in good health and has no problems. Another OB from Annika's group came by and was happy with her progress so far too. Everything is going smoothly and we're both thrilled about it all. Even Liam's cries make me smile.

Mariah has been a big help by taking care of our pets while I stayed at the hospital and taking a shift at the hospital to enable me to come home and update this blog!

Delivery

Today, Annika and I woke up like it was Christmas morning. We anxiously got ready and went to the hospital for a 9:30 check-in. We got a room and started getting ready for the sonogram and probable C-section. Over the next two hours, Annika was prepared for surgery as we waited for the doctor to do the sonogram and find out if the surgery would be necessary. Annika's sister Mariah came to the hospital around this time and provided support and company as we got closer to the time. At about 11:30, the doctor arrived and did the sonogram and found out that Liam was still in the breech position, so the C-section would proceed as planned.


I got into scrubs and Annika was whisked to the operating room where she was given her anaesthesia. After about 15 minutes, I was let into the room to witness the delivery, comfort Annika, meet the baby and document it as much as possible on camera. The surgery went smoothly and Annika didn't feel much. She talked to me and the anesthesiologist for most of the operation. The nurse asked Annika to recite her name, birth date and why she was there - which she did. But I thought that was too easy, so I asked her the square root of 81, which she also got right away :)


At 12:34 (pretty cool time eh?) Liam was delivered by C-section and brought around for Annika to see. After a quick hello, he was shuttled to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) station in the operating room. This is standard procedure for a C-section. Soon, he was crying on the NICU table and I was able to video tape again. I then got to go visit Liam on the NICU table and let him grip my finger in his hand, talk to him, and get a better look. He currently has dark blue eyes and light brown hair. I also got to cut the remainder of the umbilical cord and put on his first diaper.


The nurse weighed him in at 8 pounds, 6.4 ounces and 20 inches. This makes Kitty the winner of the baby pool with a guess of 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches! Congrats Kitty!


Now, they brought Liam up to Annika for a real introduction. She gave him a kiss on the head and asked if he recognized her voice. He stopped crying when she spoke, so I guess he did! Soon after, I escorted Liam as he was rolled to the nursery for a bath and some quick tests. He is perfectly healthy so far :) Unlike many breech babies, he doesn't even grab his ankles, but just lies flat. As I walked out of the nursery, I saw my parents and Annika's dad as they were just arriving. They came with me to Annika's room where we all visited with her while Mariah took a turn looking at Liam in the nursery.

Liam had no trouble nursing and has been doing fine all around. Annika and I will be at the hospital this weekend as she continues to recover. She's doing about as well as can be expected for just having surgery so I'm hopeful about her recovery.

So far, everything has gone really well and, as long as Annika recovers well, there's nothing more we could ask for. He's a cute little guy and we love him already :)

Sonogram

Annika had a sonogram today and I'm really glad I went too. It was amazing to see the baby's heart beating and recognize him as a little person. It was also good to know the gender. Although I didn't really care if it was a boy or a girl, now we know the gender and can start thinking of names!

The sonographer (they're actually called sonogram technicians, but I like sonographer much better) also recorded a short movie on a DVD of the baby moving around. The movie didn't capture the really good stuff we saw during the exam though: he got the hiccups, played with his umbilical cord, and yawned. It was an amazing experience.