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