FAMILY ACTIVITIES

Apologies to the creationists out there reading but it appears clear now that we did evolve from apes. Hey, at least we evolved! (A little bit.)

QUIET NIGHT

Although Liam didn't move to his room last night he took a step in that direction. Monday was the first night that he slept through the entire night, 10:30pm to 6:30am. And, actually, I've never seen a baby go that long without breast milk. Quite a performance.

This was one of the moments where you wake up because something is different and unfortunately all you can think is that something must be wrong. After we checked in the bassinet and saw that he was still snoring away at 6am then we were just as happy as he was.

BOYS ROOM

Liam's new room is almost ready. Momma has been working hard on it and most things seem to be in place.

Last week Liam got his first tree which is a sort of tropical fern tall enough to give him a good view from his crib. Whenever we go outside or near a window trees always seem to grab his attention. It's now sitting right next to his crib after a good watering outside yesterday.

I originally thought that the room Liam is going to have would be our room in the new house but found out shortly after moving in that I was wrong. The reason? It has a blue carpet and blue is for boys. This is why I spend most of my time doing the outside type work.

So far Liam's room as served as a guest room for the many visitors we've had. Jess has been here to visit along with my friend Kyle from Australia who was making a lap around the world. Of course grandparents have also been down for overnight stays to help us with the house. Once the inflatable guest bed is aired out I think it may be time for the little man to take over the room.

Maybe tonight?

BATHTIME WITH OMA

Liam got a bath from Oma last week.

WALK OF FAME

Carter and Liam provided a good reason to repair part of the walkway at camp last weekend. They are now immortalized like Hollywood stars along with some friendly footprints from Carter's big sister.

LITTLE CAPTAIN

Liam captained the Canandaigua Lady for the first time this weekend. He took Mom, Dad, Aunt Mairin, and part of the Oregon family (Linda, Sara and Ian) on a cruise around the lake with Captain Don keeping watch.

Judging by the photo we think that he found it was a pretty simple task.

The Canandaigua Lady

THINGS THAT MAKE LIAM HAPPY

This is probably true for a lot of babies but it's funny to see the things that make our little 'man' happy.

• Burping: If Liam is crying I can put him into his burping pose to instantly silence him. The burping pose is sitting on one leg facing sideways with one hand holding him in a semi-choke hold while the other hand pats his back. When he gets to this position he will go into a surprised stare straight ahead as if he can feel the massive burp working it's way up. He'll keep that same stare and composure until the gas is release at which point he'll return back to the former Liam and resume his calls for milk.
• Passing gas the other way: We've been told many times that when infants smile it's because they have gas and we have found that this is absolutely true. Liam has smiled many many times at us but every smile has been followed by a big rip. At first if he delayed a bit after his smile we would start to get excited thinking that maybe he was smiling at us but now we've learned to just wait and counts the seconds after the smile to determine just how big the upcoming release of gas is going to be.
• Passing solid waste: Most deuces are accompanied by a wide-eyed "oooohhhhh" face which was cute at first but now appears to be mocking. "ooohhhhhh!! guess what you're cleaning up!"
• Climbing: In my opinion Liam has not shown a great amount of strength in his arms but his legs are built like that a 9 month old. Anytime he is lying on my chest and not sleeping he is constantly making an effort to climb up and over my shoulder. As long as I give him something to push off from for his feet he will always end up curled up around my ear and calling out in disappointment because there is nowhere else to go.
• Drinking too fast: At one point during every bottle feeding Liam will drive himself into a coughing fit because he drinks too fast. I've taken to pulling the bottle away every 15 seconds to help him slow down but it doesn't always work. The thing is that he doesn't mind. Even as he's coughing and I pull the bottle away he starts swinging for it with his arms and throwing his head towards the bottle.

Maybe little girls are the same way but these all seem likely masculine traits to me.

GREAT GRANDPARENTS

Liam is fortunate enough to have six great grandparents. They have all had a chance to get their hands on him and for the most part they have not wanted to let go.

DIRTY BATH

Caption: I just pooped in the bathtub!

LIFE LESSONS

"... and now Liam, we're going to learn about DHCP. Are you still awake?"