Love letter to Liam - month 12

teething is hard work

                      

Dear 1 year old Liam,

You will have officially completed your 12th month of life tonight at 11:01pm. What a ride it's been.

This past month you've been starting to stand on your own for 3 seconds or so, and are walking more and more using us as your guides, though you get frustrated after about 10 steps of slow steps, and collapse to your knees crawling away quickly as if to say, why should I waste my time your way when I get there so much faster my way? You're loving feeding yourself, and will pick the food piece by piece out of a bowl I hold for you. I am mesmerized watching you decide what you want out of the bowl, and then pick it up yourself. You've been eating it all, but you have an order in which you want it, and it's eerily (and awesomely) adult. You are eating more and more of everything - steak, asparagus, lamb, zucchini, purple and white potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, chicken, pasta, breadsticks, sweet potato pancakes, baked apples, bananas, pears, mango, cheese, black beans, chickpeas, the list goes on. To keep up with your zest for food, you've cut 6 MORE teeth this past months molars top and bottom, and canines on the bottom as well, bringing your total number of teeth to 16, which is just craziness. You do know it's not a race, right? You look like a very small 2 year old, with all your teeth and hair.

You have such a sense of humor now. You know you're not supposed to go in the bathroom, so whenever you see the door ajar, you make a beeline for it, and if one of us starts to go after you, you giggle as you dart away. You also love pretending to eat my fingers - you grab my hand and start to slowly bring my ring finger to your mouth, all the while looking as me, waiting for me to react, and then as soon as our eyes meet, you chortle. You love our daily games of "chasing" Billie, only to catch her and give her a kiss, and being surprised by one of us popping out of a doorway. You have grown attached to your stuffed penguin Shedd, and he is now a must-have for walks and bedtime. I've jury-rigged a harness for him out of a shoelace (MacGyver Mom, that's me), so that we don't have any unfortunate losses! Your dad's favorite stuffed animal was a penguin as well, Opus (he's a penguin from a comic strip) but Dad's was named Nosh (instead of Schnozz, which your dad couldn't say), in any case, it's apt that you have a similar plush pal.

We've been out and about a lot lately - you rode the train to the West Loop and saw your first art show (for about 25 minutes, the CTA bus tracker so failed me, but I am committed to us exploring the world, no matter what the hassle of public transportation/baby accoutrement is...) and the same weekend we went to the Harold Washington Library to see an author speak about her book. You made it through about 15 minutes of that, and then we listened to the rest of the talk from the hallway, where you did your best windup baby impression, crawling from one end of the 25 foot marble hallway to the other at least 10 times before you started putting your head down for 10 second breaks. We take a walk every evening these days, unless it's over 90 degrees outside - sometimes it's all 4 of us, and sometimes it's you in the carrier, me, and Billie. Luckily you think my bending over (with you strapped to my chest) to pick up after Billie is great fun, and you haven't yet reached out to help. A word to the wise, continue keeping those hands to yourself, kiddo.

You've graduated from baths in the kitchen sink to baths in our bathtub and you LOVE it. I anticipate many a night wiping down a drenched bathroom, but it's good clean fun, right? Billie usually comes in to check on you during your bath (and to lick some of the water off your face) which is so lovely to see, especially since she has always hated getting wet herself, and generally stays away from the bathtub.

I've been documenting all these little things this past year, and I can remember the strangest tiniest details of this day, a year ago, but I just don't know, Liam. When was it that you put your tiny hands around my heart and fused yourself there? You're mischeivious, and curious, and clever, and silly. You smile often, love animals, and give big open-mouthed sloppy kisses. You're loud - you scream and tense your whole body when you want to be heard or when you want something. You're still not quite clear on the not going headfirst off the couch, the bed, pretty much anything, but you're starting to get down feet first, so that's something! I love all of this, even the screaming is okay for now. I think of you all the time, and while I'm glad to have a break and get things done when you're asleep, I also kind of miss you when you're not in the room. I honestly don't know how I lived without you for so long, and am so very glad you're here with us now. 

love, mom

 

Liam month 10

happy to be out for a walk!

Billie was sent to bed for trying to eat some food off of our plates before we were done.  Liam pleads for her release here.

Happily wreaking havoc in an upright fashion.

posing while wreaking more havoc.  Someone is very comfortable standing up!

Liam month 9

Love Letter to Liam - month 9

Dear 9 month old Liam,

You are MOVING and SHAKING this month! You’ve been crawling all over these past 3 weeks – at first it was just a few feet, and then you’d stop and sit back and assess where you were and where you wanted to go, but that quickly gave way to the speed demon we know today.  You were moving kind of a la one of those windup monkey with the cymbals, with all of the speed coming from your arms, and you would kind of drag your legs along, and we’d hear the slap slap slap of your hands hitting the floor.  You’ve figured out your coordination and now you are stealthy AND speedy, though Billie still knows when you’re coming.  Billie definitely likes you, and she LOVES the food you share with her, and is fiercely protective, but she also wants you to leave her alone most of the time, like most older sisters.  You, of course, want to be with her always…you see her in her crate (her “safe spot”), and crawl right over.  She waits until you are a foot away, and then walks past you to her pillow.  You change course, and head over towards the pillow and she gets up and goes back to the crate.  Repeat and repeat... poor puppy!  She’s a good sport about it all, and what’s especially sweet is that you smack your lips at her as you crawl towards your canine friend, as if you are blowing kisses.

On the SHAKING front, You've started shaking your head as if to say “nonononono”, but you also move your hands at the same time, which makes you look a little like a dancing muppet.  I HOPE it's a dance, and not a precursor to the “NONONONONONO's to come, though I fear the latter, since you often shake your head when you’ve decided you don’t want anymore food off the spoon.  Once upon a time you used to eat EVERYTHING I spooned into your mouth – even green beans (though those took a few weeks for you to warm up to).  NOW, you will only eat a third of your usual helping of spoonfed food, and only the green ones at that – spinach/banana, kale/potato/green bean, and broccoli.  So you’re feeding yourself, mostly, and while we had a week where the amount of food you actually consumed was woefully low, you’re starting to get better at it.  We’ve added yogurt and chickpeas to your food options, and you like both of those, as well as the ginger apricot no-knead bread I made.

You do make these crazy dinosaur/demon/monster deep growly sounds lately.  It sounds like it comes from deep in your throat, and I’m not sure what you’re trying to express.  You don’t seem distressed, and it IS funny, but I am looking forward to hearing your voice, and your words!

You’re starting to get more attached to us these past few weeks – you still like others, and you definitely still flirt with long-haired ladies when we’re out in the world (you do have an attraction to long hair – you kept looking at a gentleman with a ponytail at the hardware store last week), but our partings each morning are getting harder.   Don’t worry little man, I will never leave you for long!

All the love in the world,

Your mother

more pictures from the month:

Love Letter to Liam - month 8

Dear little man,

This is a week late, since time seems to be in short supply these days!  You marked turning 8 months old by breaking out your 7^th and 8^th teeth, making your jack’o’lantern smile that much fuller, with 4 teeth on top and 4 on bottom.  We can see more teeth starting to emerge, and are now, a week later, in the throes of more teething.  At least with all your teeth you’re getting to enjoy more solid food.  You like almost everything I’ve made for you – especially broccoli (!) and kale-potato-green bean.  (I plan on holding these memories of you eating these varied green things dear when the day comes that you turn your nose up at anything that’s not hot dogs or chicken nuggets or peanut butter and jelly).  I hope that you’ll always be an open eater, but I know you’ll have a mind of your own and may not always want to eat what I dish up.  Since you started eating food, I’ve been entertaining myself (and I hope you as well) by playing a free-association-alliteration game based on whatever food you’re eating.  So sweet potatoes are succulent and not smarmy, and suspicious and go well with succotach, or peas are popular in Paris and Peru, and also pernicious and promising.  You get the idea.  Now that you’ve started eating meats – particularly beef, I’ve been inspired to tell you all about the burgers your father and I like and plan to introduce you to.  You’ve heard entries from the Kuma’s menu, and about my single girl search for the best $2 burger deals in Chicago, how In-and-Out is my favorite thing about LA…we have many many burger discussions.  Will you remember any of this?  I do hope we continue our food/vocabulary chats when you’re old enough to talk and my monologue can give way to a dialogue!

You have lately been more discriminating with your full-on-D-shaped open-mouth-smiles.  There are times when you look at your father and I with this barely-amused-smirk (‘Mom, Dad.  You are maybe a *little* funny').  We joke that you’re already too cool for us, with your rocker-(read: troublemaker)-hair that needs no styling (or rather, defies styling) and your coy ways with your babysitters, and the ladies at the shops in our neighborhood.  You’ve already mastered the look-away-bashfully-and-then-look-back-with-a-chortle-and-smiling-eyes-through-those-minky-eyelashes.  Who taught you to do that?  

You’re keeping us on our toes more and more as you try to crawl for about a minute and then change your mind and go for the easier rolling all over the apartment route.  I feel like I should get you a microfiber playsuit and hat so I can take advantage of the tendency you have to collect dog hair on your person as you roll and roll and roll.  I’m torn between wanting to see what you’ll do next and hoping that I can keep up with whatever it is!  It was easier when you stayed in one place, but surely not as entertaining!

Love you, my funny Valentine.

mom

Liam month 8

a family ready to go for a walk (Billie came on the walk, but didn't make it into the photo!)

swinging on a 45 degree February day!

sitting and playing with one of the many new toys from Christmas.

                             trying new foods, and liking them!  Especially BROCCOLI!

Love Letter to Liam - month 7

To our precious little monster,

This seventh month of your life has been a roller coaster of change.  You've cut FOUR new teeth in 4 weeks, and we all have the bags under our eyes to show for it!  Your smile is that much more charming with the new additions, and we value your good mood even more than before, armed with the experience of how cranky you can be!  You've started eating finger foods like roasted carrots and cheerios now that you have more teeth to chew these things with, which is exciting.  Less exciting is the fact that you've already learned to feed Billie from your high chair.  Someone might have to hang out in her crate at mealtimes from now on, hmm?

You've gotten incredibly strong this past month - you sit up and lean to and fro without toppling over too much.  You're thisclose to crawling - just working on figuring out how to coordinate your arms with your legs.  For now, you roll all over the place, and for some reason, the place you most want to roll to is towards Billie's crate and the fireplace.   We're going to have to get serious about this childproofing pretty darn soon.

In other news, you're starting to smell more like a person and less like a sweet baby.  This must be because you're eating more and more different kinds of food, including lamb and chicken.  Just the other day we went to nom on your chunky toes, and stopped short because your feet smell like....like FEET.  Who said that was okay?

This month we bid Bon Voyage to your amazing caregiver, and our friend, Amy.  She has been such an incredible addition to our lives - showering you with love and laughter, exploring the Shedd, the Art Institute, the Lincoln Park Zoo, Andersonville, and our neighborhood with you, and generally giving us so much peace of mind when we leave you in her capable hands.  We are all going to miss her so much while she's gone, and plan to keep in touch with her while she's abroad.  She'll be another addition to the list of family and friends we FaceTime and Skype!

Change is hard, little man, but it leads to new things and people and experiences!  We have solid food to look forward to!  And walking!  And a whole host of other things.  As long as we have each other, we can get through anything, even new teeth.

your adoring parents, Mom and Dad

More photos from this month:

 you had your first cold!  There was a LOT of snot, and you HATE HATE HATE having your face/nose wiped, but you LOVED all the warm showers we took with you!  I sang all the 'rain' songs I know to you - Singing in the Rain, Little April Showers, Rainy Days and Mondays, and Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head - and we pretended the shower was a car wash...

Love letter to Liam - month 6

Dear precious Liam,

I've just put you down for your morning nap. We're at your grandparent's house for Christmas, and for the first time, you are scared of your room there. It's a new development (and a slightly challenging one, I can't lie), but it shows how much more aware you are these days. You look at everything so carefully, and are constantly turning your head and tilting your body to get a better look at everything. You look for Billie as soon as we pick you up out of your crib, and chortle when you see her. She is endlessly entertaining to you, and it's lovely to watch you enjoy her presence.

These past 6 months have flown by faster than any 6 months I have ever experienced before. Every day you seem to grow and change before my eyes! Last year at this time, your father and I were getting ready to leave for our first trip to India together (and my first trip since I was 5). You were about 3 inches long then, and I was barely showing with you...now, a year later, you are over 26 inches long and weigh almost 16 pounds! That's crazy! You have 2 teeth, and have been drooling buckets and buckets, so we know more are on the way. Pretty much everything goes into your mouth and I've learned not to let my hand or fingers be one of those things. You have a very strong bite, young man!

You have the best smile that goes from 0 to 60 and melts my heart about that quickly! You love playing peek-a-boo, and I've been using that to let me do things like clean your nose, since lately we seem to end every meal with some pureed peas or sweet potatoes rimming one of your nostrils, but you just HATE when I wipe your face down after eating. It's all very stealthy, the peek-a-boo/washing your nose setup, but lately you've caught on, and it's getting harder and harder to fool you. Kid, I'm just trying to help you out!

This past week you've moved from coughing as your communication (it was almost like you thought coughing was laughing, because you'd smile gleefully after each cough), to spitting. You spit bubbles at us mostly when you're happy, and the rest of the time when you're playing, so at least it's not a case of 'I'm so mad I could spit') but it is a little odd, and a LOT juicy. You are soaking us and yourself in Liam-juice, and while I still love you very much, I do hope you'll understand sometime soon that having peas in your nose and spitting are not the most attractive things you could do.

The newest development is that you're starting to kiss us back, kind of. You open your mouth and head for our faces and make contact, and drool on us a little. At first I thought you just wanted to chew on my face - you have the same concentrated look as when you grab a new item to bite down on - but no, you just hold your little mouth to my cheek for a few moments and then pull away. It's so very sweet! (and wet, but that seems to be your m.o. these days)

Merry first Christmas, dear spitting-kissing-little-man. I love you heaps.  

Love letter to Liam - month 5

video to come!

Dear Liam, Happy 5 months and Happy First Thanksgiving! Last year at this time, you were the reason I was maxing out my daily Tums intake, and now, here you are...ready to sit at the table with us and eat your own Thanksgiving meal (pureed sweet potatoes...not as fun as stuffing and cranberry sauce, but a definite step up from your liquid diet of the past several months). You have been loving mealtimes, but I think what you love most about it is your new vantage point in your chair in the kitchen. You watch Billie circling you (waiting for you or me to drop some bananas, carrots, or sweet potatoes), you try to grab anything within 2 feet of you, and you can see your feet, which are apparently more appetizing than your food sometimes. You've started cooing and babbling all the time now - it's particularly sweet in the morning, when you wake up a little before schedule, but seem fine with lying in your crib and conversing with yourself. Your voice is so sweet that I don't miss not listening to the news in the morning (also the news of late is pretty frustrating...remind me to tell you about the protests around the country and the crazy presidential candidates....also the world financial system in turmoil. Fun stuff). You like to grab our faces and look in our eyes, and expound. We have no idea what you're saying, and the whole thing is kind of painful, since you have no qualms grabbing/pinching eyebrows, cheeks, noses etc. in your small but strong fingers, but we let you do it anyway. You are the best thing ever, little man. There are many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, and you are at the top of the list (followed closely by Tristan Dolik and Billie Holiday). all my love, your mom

Love Letter to Liam - month 4

Dear darling Liam, Happy 4 months! It's unbelievable that it's only been 4 months since you made your grand entrance into the outside world...I can no longer imagine a world without you and your delicious smile and heart-melting laugh. You love going on walks and seeing the world, and so far, have been a enjoyable meal companion (I'm sure that will change). You also love your plush homies, Elmo and Mike Wasowski, and babble constantly when they're in your line of vision. You're rolling front to back easily, and are THISCLOSE to rolling back to front - you just can't figure out where to put your arm. Elmo and Mike generally seem to be the things you want to roll towards, so they're your constant blanket companions. You're starting to smile when you see our dog Billie, and I have to say, the first time you reached out your hand to pet her, I got tears in my eyes. She is so gentle with you and protective of you, and I'm pretty sure you'll be the best of friends.

You are a determined little one, from your head to your toes. You DON'T want to be cradled like a baby, you DO want to be fed sitting up, you DON'T want us to be still while bottle-feeding you (you like to bounce/rock on the exer-ball), you DO want to stand, all the time. Even your teeth seem to be determined, as you cut your first one (lower left of center) two days ago! You are definitely going to keep us on our toes, aren't you? Don't grow up too fast, Liam-monster, we want to soak in as much of your baby-hood as possible! so much love, your mother

Love letter to Liam - month 3

To my favorite 3-month old in the universe: holy neck control Batman! This has been the month of your figuring out how to hold your massive (for your body) head up on your tiny little neck. You're impressively good at it now, so much so that your father and I affectionately call you our meerkat for the way you hold your head up and look all about when you're being held on our shoulders. When you're tired, you still can't stop taking in your surroundings, but either your head is heavier or your neck is more tired...you get a little bobble-headed then :). We are filling your little bobble-head with all kinds of useful stuff...woodworking videos, Radiolab, Planet Money, how to vacuum/do the dishes/make the bed, pancake and pizza making (with extensive discussions about flour types and rising agents) and how to use an ATM. I doubt you'll remember any of it, but for now you appear to be entertained and that's all we can ask. Love to you, little meerkat, from your mom.

Love letter to Liam - month 2

A one-day-early happy 2 months to you, my sweet son, who is the reason I'm awake right now, at 4 am. It is a testament to how seriously amazing you are that I don't mind that I'm up at this hour, and that I've been up this early for the past few months. I like my sleep, but for now, I like you better. Note that this may change, so let's not continue this trend forever, okay? Here is our bathroom mirror self portrait from last week... Those bags under my eyes? Those are all you, kiddo. See the contented smile in my face? That's all you too. So much love, little monster, your mom. more pictures from your second month:

Love letter to Liam - month 1

Dear Liam, youngest love of my life. In the past month there have been at least 300 photos taken of you! There have been far fewer of me, because I'm not so fond of pictures of me. However, I'd do pretty much anything for you, kid, so for your birthday, here is a picture of your slightly crazy mother from the day we were a family of pirates. We may have to have pirate day again sometime, before you're too old to be embarrassed by it. And without the eye injury. Happy 1-month Birthday my sweet boy! Love, Mom