Radical Dude

Liam loves wearing these old 80's sunglasses. I think its a good look for him :)

Recently, Liam started "calling" us in the same way he "calls" the dog: "Mommy, come!" He occasionally even adds in some hand claps or clicks to hurry us along if we delay. We're slowly getting him to at least modify it to: "Mommy, come... please." He says it so cheerfully and it's hilarious (even when he's "calling" me).

Pivotal Moments

Liam enjoys a bubble bath by putting the bubbles all over his head

Liam comes to the rescue of his friend before she is cooked by the witch.  One of a few such scenes at a local farm where we got a pumpkin and some expensive apples.

About a week ago, Liam started putting words together in two-word phrases.  The phrases take the form "no kitty" or "bye-bye daddy."  The leading word in these phrases is called a pivot word - it can be used in many contexts preceded or followed by an open word (e.g. bye-bye daddy, bye-bye mommy, bye-bye kitty).  These short phrases are referred to as "telegraphic" speech because they resemble the short-cut wording of a telegram.

He's really interested in letters now and will point out an M, O, etc. in random words that we see.  He identifies yellow (la-lellow) and blue.  At first, I thought he might be red-green color blind, but he can point to the right color when asked, he just doesn't seem to be able to say those colors.

Sitting in a stroller can be a real drag, so Liam has taken to walking along with us while we push an empty stoller (which is just a bit slower).  Here he is preparing to walk the dog:

Mommy was recruited to add the video, so while I was here, I thought I would also share this picture, which shows what a difference a year can make. You can see from last year at the farm, he was not only smaller, but he didn't get the "put your head in a circle" thing. This year, he even smiled for the camera.

Number of signs, words and phrases Liam can express over time (months old).

Favorite Things

Liam definitely has preferences now.

He enjoys banging on laptops

The swing is great fun

Peek-a-boo is still a favorite

He loves the cat, but I am not sure the cat returns the sentiment.

Purr-fect Fur-niture

Our cat (Yuki) has been very tolerant of Liam's recent affection for him in the form of full-on tackles followed by using the cat as a pillow. We had a cozy little snuggle on the couch yesterday during our weekend sick-in.

Yes, unfortunately, we all felt under the weather this weekend to varying degrees of severity. Everyone is feeling better now though - I think the weekend of lounging around the house helped :)

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.

Out for a Stroll

We took Liam on his first stroller ride today for a couple of miles on our path system. Although it drizzled a little at times, it was a really pleasant walk and Liam slept most of the way. We kept him warm and toasty with a couple layers of clothes and a really nice stroller blanket from my cousin Mary. He was also introduced to a few of our friendly neighbors who have been really supportive. The stroller was given to us by my grandmother and is really neat. Its light-weight and folds and expands without having to go through the process required by most other strollers to do so (push this button with your right hand while pulling this lever with your left and stepping on this level with one foot... now bend to the ground and tie it off with your teeth). Instead, you simply pull on a handle in the seat to fold it up, and lift it off the ground to allow it to expand.

Makoto was well behaved on the walk - although he still doesn't like people with basketballs. I think he's in for a rude awakening when Liam starts bouncing balls around the house! Overall, Makoto is still very curious about Liam and Yuki is still very cautious. We'd like to keep it that way for a while longer until Liam is able to push the cat off if he decides to sleep too close. For now, we just keep the two separate.

Methinks this couch is a wee bit too big for Liam. However, he is getting bigger and bigger. He's almost too big for his newborn "union suits" (one-piece outfits that have feet).

Hands

At one time or another, all of us had hands this small. Liam's got a lot of growing to do and I'm sure we're in for many surprises. I'm sure that as soon as we figure out his current schedule, he'll be finished with that and on to something new. He'll keep us on our toes. For now, he has four states: sleeping, awake and curious, nursing, wanting to nurse (i.e. crying). So, its pretty easy to figure out what to do if he gets fussy. Of course, the most fun time is when he's awake and curious. He looks around and is fun to entertain with various songs, talking and silly noises. I recently found that he enjoys a quick fake bike ride. I prop him up on my knees and support his head while gently jiggling him along straight-aways, whoosh in his ear going down a hill and sway to each side while taking a turn. I figure he recognizes the concept from his mommy's many spin classes (which she took up until the day before he was born!).

Yuki is still quite wary of Liam, but decided that his changing table pad would make an excellent bed. We'll need to stay vigilant making sure Yuki doesn't decide Liam's bassinet would make an excellent cat bed! Fortunately, the bassinet in our room has a full canopy that keeps him out.

My parents came over tonight and cooked us dinner, watched a DVD with us and then helped clean up. It was fun and a bit of a relief to have a couple other adults in the house. They also brought our second bassinet (given by one of my co-workers) so we could set Liam up on the first floor with a place to sleep other than in our arms. He seems to really enjoy the new bassinet because he can look through the mesh side at the lights in the house - I think he likes the light-dark pattern that creates. Wouldn't it be nice if we were all still so easily pleased? Instead of fancy TVs, we could just buy a small bit of mesh and look at a light bulb WHEE!

Home Alone

As many people predicted, Liam has cried more at home than he did at the hospital. I think its because we're still trying to work out his nursing and sleeping schedule. It was frustrating trying to figure out how to make him feel better late at night last night and into the early morning. He's still sleeping for three or four hours at a time though once we get him content.

Makoto spent the whole day near Liam. He didn't want to go outside or eat, just be near Liam. Someday, he's going to realize that Liam is going to be here for a long time and he'll need to eat anyway. I think he's adopted him into the "pack." Meanwhile, Yuki still won't get near him. Yuki's probably annoyed that there's a new person invading his territory.

Its amazing how our sense of time is already getting distorted. Depending on what Liam is doing, time either flies or drags. A couple hours of sleep seems like 10 minutes while 15 minutes of burping, rocking, swaddling, shushing, etc. feels like an hour. Meanwhile, the things we're used to take much longer now - like going to a new room, or eating a meal. These normally trivial tasks have become undertakings involving many interruptions. I'm sure we'll get into the swing of it soon though.

It seems like longer, but Liam is only a little over 5 days old!

Homeward Bound

Today we said goodbye to the awesome nurses and our room at the hospital. Although we were happy to head home and introduce the pets to Liam, we wished we could keep the conveniences of the hospital (someone else did Liam's laundry, we just called for room service, a maid cleaned the room each day, and nurses came in to check on Annika and Liam all the time and took him at night if Annika wanted to get some rest).
For the first night, I stayed at the hospital on this bed. However, the last couple nights I went home for some real sleep while I still could. Now we need to decide where to set up shop while Annika continues her recovery. I might also need to go buy a cranberry juice machine to replicate the cran-waters on the rocks that Annika loved so much at the hospital!
Before we left the hospital, they removed Liam's LoJack device from his ankle. This prevented anyone from walking out of the hospital with Liam before he was officially discharged.
We got Liam all dressed up in a one-piece that his Aunt Michelle gave him and a hat that Annika's Aunt Laurie made for him. He was quite upset about being in his infant carrier at first and had a good cry. I took the harness off and rocked him in the carrier for a while on the floor until he calmed down, and then I slowly snuck the harness back on. By the time we got to the car, he was fast asleep and stayed that way as we arrived back at the house.
Our lovely neighbors had decorated our front door with balloons, banners and a sign announcing Liam's birth. It was really nice of them.
Once we got inside, and settled in, I went to the store to pick up Annika's pain medication. So far, her pain has been kept under control. Once I got back, we introduced Makoto to Liam. It was hilarious to watch him sniff Liam all over. He was really excited to meet Liam and has been following him around all day as we carry Liam from room to room. I think they're going to get along famously and we're both happy that Makoto reacted this way.