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.

Liam's First Trip

Liam had his first trip out of state Thursday and his first plane trip. He was upset in the airport as we waiting for our delayed flight, but went to sleep soon after we boarded and stayed sleeping for the entire flight. It was a bit awkward to have so much stuff along with carrying the baby, but overall, it really wasn't bad. I think Liam was pretty happy with it and barely cried any more than he would normally at home. We arrived really late Thursday night and, after a short introduction of Liam to our hosts, we went to sleep. Liam only got up once during the night and then we got up and went for a 6 mile walk with the extended family. We strolled along the esplanade and saw downtown Portland a little. That evening we went to a wedding and Liam was, once again, very "well-behaved" (i.e. quiet and happy) during the ceremony and slept through most of the reception. He was up for a while though and got a fun ride in the Moby with his "fisherman" hat. He slept through the night last night and continues to be wonderful on this trip.

What's so funny

WebMD published an article recently saying that a child's smile is a natural high for his mom (you can read the article here). Lucky for this mom, Betty really discovered something the other day: if you ask Liam, "what's so funny?" he will respond with a big grin and a laugh. As this video shows, we really got him going as he found the phrase to be downright hilarious. I think he really knows what is funny, but he finds it funny that we have to ask a baby.
In other Liam news, last night, Liam FINALLY slept through the night. From 11pm to 5:30am, he was in the land of nod. Unfortunately, his mom did not make it through the night undisturbed. After 2am, I was up every hour awaiting his nightly feeding and paranoid because he was sleeping on his tummy. I was also upset because I was missing a rare opportunity to get some REM sleep--if only he would have woken up, then I could have at least had a natural high by asking him what is so funny!

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.

Nach Vorne, Nach Hinten

During my freshman year of highschool, my German teacher, Frau Luchini, taught us a German song: Nach Vorne, Nach Hinten. Translated, this song reads "To the front, To the back, To the left, to the Right, to the Up, To the Down, To the Left, To the Right." During this song, we were required to actually make the directional movements. Little did I know then that over 15 years later I would use this German song to bring laughter to my first born. You have to excuse the singing and the camera work, but you will get a glimpse of a Liam laugh.
As a parent, it is very rewarding to be able to make your child smile and laugh. For a long time, I was convinced that Liam would be identifying with Oscar the Grouch.

Rock and Roll

I'm blogging while monitoring again and have just watched Liam roll onto his tummy, and then roll himself back onto his back! Although he could roll onto his tummy already, I think this is the first time I've seen him do the reverse, which is the more important skill considering the extreme warnings about letting your baby sleep on his/her tummy. Although my entire generation always slept on our front, it is now considered a dangerous activity to be avoided at all costs - including not letting mom and dad sleep because they must constantly monitor baby.
Just as I finished writing that sentence, he rolled onto his tummy and got stuck. I had to go up and roll him back, so I guess we're not "out of the woods" yet!

Happy Father's Day, Steve

Steve's first father's day was filled with family and even a small little laugh from Liam. His first father's day coincided with Liam's 3rd month birthday, and true to all the baby books, it seems to be a major milestone. He is gradually stretching out his feeding times to be 3-4 hours during the day (although he is still on a 3 hour schedule at night--argh!); he also seems very happy during the times that he is awake as long as you dance, sing or make funny faces to entertain him. I am excited for the day that he can play peek-a-boo and worry that I might be making it rather trivial as I keep trying with no reaction from Liam besides a look of, "Yeah, so what. I've seen you do that since the day I was born." He is also holding his head up almost all by himself and he seems less fragile than before (although, at his weight, I am not sure if fragility was ever an adjective I would have used to describe him).