Getting in Trouble

Now that Liam is mobile, Liam has figured out a few things.

How to chase the cats, how to try and use EVERYTHING to try and stand, that a sharp "NO" when reaching for something means he needs to wait to try again later. (*sigh*)

And best of all, he had learned how to get stuck.

Stuck standing up and not knowing how to get down.... This causes a loud cry from him of purest anguish. It is enough to chill your bones and make you run into his room like your butt is on fire only to find him standing in the corner of his crib.

Stuck on the floor. He crawls over toys like they are not there, he crawls over clothes, cats, shoes.... but the one thing that foils him for sure is anything that is stuck in place and will not move.

You see, as Liam crawls, he has not learned to lift his knees yet. He shuffles them along, and while this is nice and speedy for the most part, it means things like the bar on his highchair base get in the way.

He works very hard at trying to get unstuck, but it takes him a while.

The first time he got stuck, I waited. I watched him try to figure it out. He did not cry, he did not fuss, he did not get mad. He just kept trying. Sometimes he tried the same thing over and over again, as if by sheer force of will he would move away from this spot. At times he laid down over the bar and sucked his thumb. It took him 10 minutes to get over the bar.

And then he met the next obstacle. The sliding glass door.

I decided that it would do little good to rescue him from every situation. He would never learn that way.

Liam likes to figure stuff out. He has a way of reaching for things with precision and sort of skipped that random infant hand flailing stage where he just HAPPENS to hit the toy. I think that one lasted about 30 minutes, and then he knew that things happened and he wouldn't reach until he thought about it and how to do it.

He is the same way with getting in trouble. He picks his target and heads for it with a goal in mind and a plan for once he gets there.

Now it is up to me and Daddy to intercept him before he reaches the scarier aspects of mobility. I have already winced at head thunks, dived forward to make his head land on my hand and not the hardwood floors, watched him cry for a little bump and shake off a bump that seemed to shake the whole house. I have a feeling we will be seeing more bruises and bumps in the near future.

Look out world, Here comes Liam!

New Years Eve

I have to admit, New Years has not been fun since I was a teenager. Running about in downtown Santa Cruz for First Night, which has been canceled since 2005 and replaced with a community started parade and festival that is making the city mad.

But I fondly remember a mass of people, foods to eat, musicians and performers all just doing their thing, as well as all the city planned stuff that cost an arm and a leg to get into.

Ever since then, and the horrible party of New Years '99 into '00 which shall never be forgotten, always thought of as a terrible idea in hindsight, and forever be remembered by a few key events I wish had never happened.... New Years had not been all that much fun.

I hope that a few years from now Liam will have fun with it, getting to stay up late if he can, banging some pots and pans together and shouting outside.

Until then I shall just use the day like any other day.

On that note...

Here are some pictures!

The house! We are all moved in, keys given back to the manager at the old apartment. Now we just have a few more touch ups here until we can call it perfect. And a whole lot of yard maintenance to learn about. First thing on my list is the Hydrangeas you can still see dead flowers on!

Liam got a play yard for Christmas. Right now it is a safe place for me to put him while I do things that take my attention off of him. I leave it open most of the time when I am in the room, but it is nice to have a place for him to be when I have to step away for a while. I put an unzipped sleeping bag in it as at least a slight cushion for him when he topples over.

And he has been toppling a lot lately! He mastered crawling, and sitting, but has decided to rush full on into kneeling and pulling up into standing. While the standing does not happen except in his crib so far, he gets on his knees and can wind up on his bum or his side pretty quick. So far no serious head bonkings, but the little ones still make me wince. Thankfully I am not one of those moms who wants to go overboard.

He also is having a major teething session, so he is a little upset. Everything is making him look at me with those sad eyes. Even playing!

Liam is of course enjoying his kitty cats... I think we have one of the most tolerant cats in the world. Plus the cats are a great distraction when the teething gets to be too much for him. I only hope their nerves survive it all!

 

We have started the long process of unpacking. I made a rule about bringing in one box at a time and unpacking it fully before moving onto the next box, and putting things where they go. I am trying to declutter and keep a tidy house. (I also started another blog on an idea I had to help with that concept...)

And I will end this blog post on a happy note... Liam also got a swing for Christmas! And an excuse to bundle up and go outside. So far we have to limit it, his little cheeks and hands get so cold!

So Happy New Years to all, and I will see you next year!

Baby's First Christmas, the day after

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent a gift for Liam.

Aunts, Uncles, Grandmas, and Cousins all helped make his day one full of paper tearing and amusement.

We had a calm day with Liam sleeping for a lot of it and then getting to sample part of dinner with us. He tried mashed potatoes and a roasted carrot instead of just a mashed steamed one.

I debated running broccoli through the blender, but decided against it at the final moment.

While dinner was cooking, Liam got a bath in the kitchen sink. He was drying off and getting lotioned with me while we sat on the couch when he took an interest in the Christmas Tree, leading to a great picture.
I sent it out as yesterdays Daily Liam, but here it is again.

p.s. If you want to be part of the Daily Liam, just let me know and I will either text or e-mail you a picture of the little guy every day.

All I want for Christmas...

Apparently, despite never hearing the song, Liam wants his two front teeth for Christmas. The upper left one is starting to show! It is just being a little nubbin behind his gums right now, but you can see the edge where it is going to push out in a day or two.

Merry Christmas little chompy baby!

Have a Crawly Jolly Christmas!

Liam is almost crawling!

He made 3 crawling steps today (all one right after the other!), and 2 last night. The motivation for these were reaching toward the cats, and grabbing at a cat toy dangled by his Uncle Dave.

I am just happy that he is almost crawling. He is getting to be more mobile, so it was not a moment too soon that the infant play yard arrived in the mail.

We wrestled with it to put it up, trying to figure out how to move it to be in the shape we wanted and finally it got into place. It is the perfect size to give him lots of room and take over half the living room. But considering that we sometimes need to do things that involve NOT watching the baby constantly, it means we have a safe place to put him where he can work on his crawling skills in relative safety and not end up under the couch or under a desk chair. It will come in handy out in the yard this summer when I am trying to garden, and Liam is wanting to play.

He also got to hang out in the kitchen while I was making dinner last night. He was in his high chair and spending time with me, banging some measuring cups together and a wooden spoon.

Plus all this, he is starting to sit up. Sometimes on his own he will end up sitting, but if we sit him up, he will stay that way for quite some time and then instead of falling over, now he will just sort of bend over and then get into his crawling pose or do a belly flop.

I love watching him figure things out, so it will be fun on Christmas morning when we give him his presents to open. He will get to play with the paper and tear them open... then keep playing with the paper and disregard the toy... like all babies. I have no expectations otherwise.

In other news, Dave is here and getting settled in. I think he is bored to death waiting for his computer to arrive. But he gets on well with Liam, he seems to like Liam and Liam thinks he is pretty great too as far as I can tell. Liam took to him right away.

Tomorrow we get to go out to breakfast with some family here, then have a nice calm morning until Dan gets home from work. We get Chrismas Day to spend as a family and I am thankful for that.
 

Home Sweet Home

Yesterday was moving day. The movers came at 9am and piled things into their truck. They did a pretty good job loading, but the unloading was a bit sloppy. That is ok, we can restack the pile.

Liam had a rough day, so much happening around him, even with him staying in the basement with mom while the movers were running through the house.

Comcast came and hooked up the internet, can't live long without that now can we? The day ended with putting beds together, Dan crawling under the house to run the cable for my internet under the floor, and then an early night heading to bed.

We found a few quirks with the house as we started to settle in, like why they had the water heater turned up sooooo high. If you don't have it high, you run out of hot water after just 5 minutes.

Today we awoke with a strong desire to hit the Aleve bottle and get some coffee made. All of us were sore! We all whined and moped a bit, then overcame our various aches and pains with some more work. Unloading a few boxes of needed stuff, getting some more work done in the basement and tending to Liam's needs.

Poor little guy was extra cranky today, plus his cheeks are chapped. I think perhaps the new environment, rolling about on the carpet in the basement, the change from warm to cold multiple times a day as we traveled more with him in the days before moving, and perhaps the oodles of drool he has been drooling each night in his sleep that just stay on the sheets. So we have been tending to his poor little cheeks today when he seems upset. He also might have another tooth coming in soon.

He is working so hard to crawl!

But he still has a ways to go. I hope he gets there soon, he will not be so frustrated then.

I went out and searched all over for a live Christmas tree of the Norfolk Pine variety. Alive, in a planter, and NOT covered in spray on glitter. I got what I wanted, except for the glitter. Thankfully it seems rather well stuck on and is not leaving little glitter particles all over the place. Yay!

So it is a little leany... that is ok. It is the best looking tree with the least amount of glitter. Now to just collect ornaments that mean something.  We have two so far. A hand painted glass one from the realtor, Tim Saeland. (Nicest guy, I really liked him a lot. He went above and beyond in getting us to look at houses that had what we needed and not waste our time on other ones. ) and a cute little snowflake from my Aunt Judy that we are using as a star on top.

Our living room is looking more like home.

Plus the move had the added benefit of creating a bonding experience for our two kitties who have had a hard time getting along with each other. Tulip and Katchoo spent the better part of Saturday snuggling in the same carrier and have been hissing at each other less. Lets just hope that the truce lasts past the settling in phase.

Now to begin the great task of unpacking, organizing, cleaning as we go and getting all settled. Right now everything is in weird places that has come out of its box. I think the thermos is hanging out with a pile of fabric on the kitchen counter while some shelves and the baby bath frolic in the dining room.

We have a house, now to turn it into a home!

The boxes were stacked by the chimney with care...

Moving right before Christmas has put a bit of a damper on the holiday spirit this year.

We are hoping to send out some Christmas gifts this year, but they will be a little bit late. We are packing up everything and somewhere in the mess of painting and moving everything else seems to take back stage.

I know we missed Christmas last year, but if nothing else this year I want a small tree and to at least send some cards.

My mom just got here this morning so she can help us with getting the house ready and the move. Today she and I are going to finish the painting while Dan stays home with Liam and works on packing.

I am so weary and looking forward to a chance to just relax for a little while.

Will post pictures of the house once we get it all painted. Just a little bit more to do and then we are finished with that part and will be ready to move in. And clean. And unpack, and organize.

But thankfully once we are in the house, we will not ever HAVE to move again, unless we choose to move if 15 years down the line we find a better place or something.

It is almost over.

Things I can not wait for

I love reading my cousin-in-law's blog. But I am just a SMIDGE jealous. Her and her 4 girls bake cupcakes and all kinds of goodies, make fudge, decorate a christmas tree... well, the littlest one tries, but even she can help in ways, and participate. She gets to interact more than Liam can right now.

I want to bake with Liam. I want to decorate a tree... (we WILL do this this year, but it will have to wait until the 21st or so, after we move.) I want to sit in the kitchen with him and watch him lick frosting off the mixer blade. I want to do all those fun things she does with her munchkins.

In a way, I want Liam to grow up just a little bit.

But I am enjoying him as he is right now too. Learning to crawl... I love watching him try. He gets up on his hands and knees and wobbles a bit, sticks his bum in the air, and tries to move one arm and BOOMPH, down he falls, back to his tummy just to get up and try it again.

I know these times will pass so fast... and I DO enjoy them and love having my little baby who snuggles with me and sucks his thumb. I love each second of watching him learn... but I am so excited for what comes next, I can hardly stand it!!!!!

House into Home

We have set a moving date... December 19th!

Thanks to my step mom and my dad we are able to hire movers to make this transition not be accompanied by back pain, arguments about how to get a desk through a door and the seemingly endless trips through the courtyard to put the boxes into the truck.

We hired 2Brothers movers, and I will let you all know how that works out. Out of all the movers I called and looked up they had the best rates, looked the most professional and were the kindest on the phone. I hope they live up to that when they come to move all our stuff.

Dan and I are closing in on finishing the painting jobs. I think that if I go over there on Sunday or Monday after he gets off work I will be able to get enough prep work done so that we can just come in on Wednesday and finish it up. All we have left is the wall for the other half of the kitchen and dining room, painting the entryway and the hallway and the accent color for Liam's bedroom. Plus the cupboard backings and the cupboard and cabinet doors. Then all we do is rehang curtains, sweep the whole place, run the vacuum and call it good. It sounds like so little when I write it down, but feels like so much when I think about doing it.

My mom and I got a lot of work done when she was up here for a week. We got the wallpaper taken down from the master bedroom. Liam helped with that!  We also did a lot of prep, painting, sanding.... so many things!

Dan's brother, Dave, is going to come rent the bottom living space from us for a while, which will help us with the monthly payments for the house. Liam will have his uncle close by and I think it will do Dan a lot of good to have someone so close who he can spend some time with.

I am going to see about getting a couple kids to babysit for while I look into getting licensed for child care. Graphic Design is not going anywhere, even as a home business... I am getting desperate for some income.

Liam is getting so close to crawling, he does amazingly well! Soon he will be all over the place!

He is starting to make "Mmmmm" sounds, some "mmmaaaaa, maaaaaa" babbling that makes me smile. We repeat his sounds back to him, add new ones... He is learning so fast. I love watching that moment when something makes a connection and he realized what he can do.

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Silly Old Bluebirds

We are closing on the house in the next day or two. And while this makes us SO happy, it also means a whole lot of work.

We signed a release of liability so we could get into the house and paint and start getting it ready so that we had a little less pressure to get it all done before we moved in. Everyone knows that if you don't paint before you move in, you will either NEVER paint, or it will be many years from now. The kitchen was Ice Pink, it is now Spice on some walls and Colosseum Marble on the other walls. The master bedroom is Stone Fence, a beautiful gray with tones of blue and green to it in the right light. The second bedroom was Ugly as Sin Pink and now is a nice Sliced Cucumber, a soft green with gray to it as well. I got the idea for that color from the lichens on the tree outside the window to that room.

And the best room of all is Liam's room. It is painted Hundred Acre Sky blue and will have an accent design of Silly Old Bluebirds blue as well. Apparently Disney sold Behr paint the rights to make colors with their name on them basically. But they really are some vibrant and bright colors. I loved the idea of his room being Hundred Acre Sky and Silly Old Bluebirds. It makes it sound like so much fun.

Speaking of Liam and fun, he is learning how to crawl SO fast. He can balance on his hands and knees and keep his head up now. He is trying to take a few little crawling steps.

This is happening at a great time since we can baby proof the house as we are moving in. Outlet covers. Cabinet locks. Wires all tucked away and we can watch for sharp corners or screws sticking out as we move things. I do not want to go overboard in baby proofing, but I do want to remove the chance of certain things happening. There will be no forks in the wall sockets, and no little baby/toddler hands getting into cleaning supplies under the sink.

The plan for now is to be moved in before Christmas. With that goal set for us, we can pick a final moving day and also spent time before then finishing getting the house painted and then packing some boxes up and moving them into the garage after we close, even if it is not painted yet.

I was going to start packing books this morning, but I can not find my tape!!! I guess it will have to wait.

Liam's Uncle Rob is going to watch him on Wednesday so that Dan and I can get a whole bunch of work done then. The second coat on the bedroom walls, and the kitchen cupboards painted, the second coat of Spice on the kitchen, the first coat of that other color we are doing.... I hope we can get all that done. It feels like so much work still!

But the yard is great, there are so many fruit trees and berry bushes. Peach tree, fig tree, two cherry trees, a pluot (a plum apricot hybrid) black berries, raspberries, some kind of gooseberry cross, two types of grapes, three types of apple, a pear tree that grows two or three kinds of pears and some weird edible root plant that is supposed to be like a water chestnut, called a Jerusalem Artichoke.

Plus a raised bed to plant a whole garden in!

Thanks, and giving it

This is Liam's first Thanksgiving. He will get to try mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and maybe even a taste of pumpkin pie filling. We are going to my Aunt Judy's house in Vancouver to join her and her boyfriend's family for the holiday.

Dan is making the turkey, the house is filled with the smells of a really good turkey as it cooks in the oven. This year, the turkey weighs more than Liam does!

My mom is here visiting, we are about to close on a house and start the process of painting and getting ready to move in.

I tried to crochet a pumpkin pie hat last night, but it looked too feminine for Liam to wear.

His next thanksgiving, he will get to try more of the food, and maybe spend it with more people from his family.

While I do not care for the history of thanksgiving, the native american and pilgrim crap they try to teach us in school, I will use the day as a time to think about what we are thankful for.

I can teach Liam to think about what is important to him, and while we should be glad every day for these things, we can use this day as a time to reflect, and a time to spend sharing a meal with family. We can work as a family to prepare the meal too.

But for this year, we are mostly thankful for a house to make into a home, Liam being here with us and all of the people who love him, be they near or far. We are thankful for the love of our families and friends, and for the odd twists of life that brought us all together in such an amazing way.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Teeth, and the proper use for a book

Liam's front bottom teeth are coming in!!!

And while working on teething he got some new grabbing and shaking skills in the quest for getting things into his mouth. He is still making progress on the rolling and attempts to crawl.

And some great new funny faces!

We are going to be moving soon into a real house with a yard and everything! I will keep everyone up to date on the moving process. Liam will get to grow up in a nice house. I am so happy about this!!!

House

Yard

moving forward.... and backward a bit.

Liam is starting to learn to crawl. I am amazed. He can not even sit without help (though that is getting better too!). He sits with some help from pillows and mommy's leg. He pulls himself into a sitting position when he is leaned back, which at times can be frustrating when you just want him to stay PUT for a moment!

He will sometimes go forward by scooting on his face, and other times go backward by not moving his hands and legs at the right times. He has even gotten to his knees once or twice and pulled up his torso so he is in the right pose. Though that always leads to toppling over right now, which sometimes is the source of many giggles, and other times is the source of a frustrated cry.

He seems to enjoy when the cats come along to help him in his progress. Johnny especially appears to like interacting with Liam, even if it means the occasional handful of his tail will make a journey into a little drool covered hand. 

But truly, I am amazed at his determination and devotion to his progress. When he wants to work at it, he will cry and cry until me and Dan figure out that he wants to be on the floor.

He only occasionally gets into a tight spot and needs help getting out, and once he started licking the legs to Dan's desk chair. Other than a few stray cat hairs that I have to pull out of his fists and a few minor head bonks (darn those legs of the playpen!) he is just excited to have a new skill to perfect.

And I am excited to watch him learn it!

My little crib scooter

So Liam is sleeping in his crib for the second night tonight. (Thank you Grammy Wanda for his beautiful crib!!!)

I put the bumper in the crib, jammed in between the bars and the mattress because my little baby boy scoots.

During the night he apparently puts his head down, gets his butt up in the air and pushes with his feet, sliding along on the side of his face.

He did this in the bassinet, but to a lesser degree simply because there was not as much room to move. Now that he has more space, he is using it. He managed to scoot along last night up and around the side of the crib, then around and down the other side, winding up upside down and backwards from where he started.

It was a little odd to not have him sleeping there right next to me. I missed the soft sounds of his baby snuffling as he turned over. The creak of the bassinet when he scooted or rolled. I missing being able to reach over and put my hand on his back and feel his breathing without getting up from my bed.

The baby monitor we have is one with a camera on it, so I get video and sound when I turn it on. It helps. I can watch for a moment and finally see him twitch a hand or move a foot. Or I catch him wiggling and rolling and scooting. But it isn't the same as touching him and feeling his little ribs move with each breath under my hand.

But it is time for the move into the crib... he is outgrowing the bassinet rapidly. And it also might mean he will sleep longer in the mornings without Daddy's alarms going off.

I admit, I cried a bit that first night. And I might cry some more tonight. I know it is good for him to sleep in his own room. Now we are not waking him up when we come in, and we can talk in normal voices when we head to bed and not hushed whispers.

He seems to be taking to the crib well. He is very easy going about a lot of things. I hope that trend continues as he grows up. He adapts well to new situations. I think I have a harder time adapting than he does!

And the things you can't remember, Tell the things you can't forget.....

I bought white bread on Sunday.

While this may not seem like a big deal, the smell of that bread reminded me of the Wonder Bread I use to get at my grandma's house. A slice of Wonder Bread, and I would put a little margarine on it... I don't remember ever having Wonder Bread at home, it was a Grandma thing.

Malt-o-meal reminds me of my grandpa. Spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and waking up early. He would make malt-o-meal and we would watch cartoons.

Poodles make me think of my Aunt Jean, Lemon meringue pie is for Aunt Judy. Cantaloupe for my Uncle John. He always had it at the table when I had dinner with him and my cousins.

Dinosaurs for my grandpa on my dads side. We always went to the museum in Houston when I visited them.

My Grammy Wanda would make cinnamon toast for me in the house in Houston with the lake out back. I remember mixing up cinnamon and sugar in a little cup or bowl to put on the toast.

The Mother's Frosted Oatmeal cookies remind me of my Aunt Saskia. I remember going to see her and we bought some of those while I was there.

And even though I have not seen my Uncle Bob for a long long time, I remember something about him having these beautiful stones. Like the kind I now go out and hunt from time to time. So when I go rock hunting, I think about him.

There are so many memories that tie the people I love to me. They come up at the most random times.

Like opening a loaf of bread that we bought for a dollar just so I could follow the recipe for my Swedish meatballs.

It is nice to know that these moments bring my family to me, even when they are far away or no longer in this world. They are with me in scents and sights, tastes and touch.

Liam is starting to recognize some people now, he hears his daddy's voice and turns to him, he sees me and smiles. He knows the neighbors, and sometimes will smile at Angie when she comes by with her baby girl, Jordyn, when I babysit for her.

What memories will Liam have of his family? Even the ones I rarely see, I have things that remind me of them.

Even my new family. Knitted things make me think of Liam's Grandma Julie. I see a nice yarn and keep thinking that I should learn how to knit. I keep trying but it never comes out right.

Some day when Liam is older, I want to ask him what makes him think of his family, what reminds him of the people who love him. If nothing else, then to put the idea in his mind to remember things.

So much to think about and remember...

Even as I am thinking about how Liam will be as a 3 year old, and how I will feel when he starts school, I still think back to when I was pregnant. The labor, the delivery, that first day when it seemed like everything was great. Then that second night when I thought I would have sold my soul for just an HOUR of uninterrupted sleep as my husband is snoring in the "daddy bed" provided which would have been rejected by any sensible adult.

I remember the pain, but faintly. More, I remember the pain of being pregnant. The pain in my thighs that still haunts me 5 months later, the tailbone that felt like a great beast of lore had been gnawing it on vigorously. The pain of Liam pushing his feet against my ribs at 3 in the morning. But I also remember being awake at 3 in the morning, making blankets and talking to my son as he pushed his feet into me. Now I gently shhhhh him to sleep at 11:20 and am grateful. I am even thrilled the nights he goes to bed at 10:00. I relish nap time, I want to dance in glee when I set him in his swing and within moments he is asleep so that I can FINALLY brush my hair at noon, or make something to eat that is more nourishing than a pop-tart.

I want to stay up until 3am watching CSI and making something, but I know that if I do not get to sleep, I will regret it when 6:30 am comes and with it Dan's alarm clocks and Liam's wake up routine. Thankfully he just starts to shuffle in his sleep and then whimper a bit. The full on wailing only comes when Mean Ol' Mommy decided that you must have a clean diaper before I feed you, because there is a 90% chance that once you are full you will be asleep and I can get in another 2 hours of sleep before you decide to be awake until you are hungry again.

And then there is the wondering. Will he like wooden blocks or Duplo blocks? Will he want to color or play with play doh and/or mud? Will he be talkative or quiet? Cheerful or moody? Will he want to play with other kids or be content on his own? Will I be able to teach him to share? To not throw sand? Will he be the kid who cries at everything or the one who is able to tumble over and then get right back up and run off like nothing happened?

Probably he will be in the middle.

Sometimes I miss my life before Liam. But I miss the oddest things. Staying up late, being able to actually finish a chore after I start it and not stop in the middle to tend to him. Being able to dedicate time to do something without interruptions.

Then I look into his eyes, feel how tightly he grips onto my finger, hear him try his little laugh out, see his smile and I know that no matter what happened in the past, and no matter that the future brings, he is the single most important thing in the whole world to me.

The day will come when he sleeps until 8 or 9 and I know he will not need to wake  up at 6am to eat. The day will come when I can put him in his playpen and he will remain happy in the 30 minutes it takes me to do dishes and wipe down the kitchen. He won't roll onto his tummy and then get stuck and be mad about it. He won't cry because he wants to be sitting up but doesn't know how to get there.

I am sure some day I will remember these days and miss the baby who could barely move across a blanket, let alone suddenly be across a room and getting into trouble. But that is the beauty of memory. I will always remember it as my sweet toddler reaches up to me to be picked up and hugged. And then, I will remember those years as he becomes more and more independent and grows up even more. Some day I will see him finish elementary school, then middle school, then high school and college, and each time even as I give thanks for his growing ability to take care of himself, I will remember and miss the times before.

But right now, I am going to go put myself to bed because 6:30 and that feeding is going to come quickly. And I will wake up and make his bottle in my sleepy haze and endure the crying while I change him as I make sure his after feeding sleepiness can be taken advantage of without needing to wake him to change a wet diaper.

And I will know that there is nothing better than this that could ever happen to me.


I want him to grow, but perhaps, not too fast. This might be hard right now, but the best things in life are never easy.


But they are filled with love.

A life in photos

As the list for The Daily Liam grows, (If you want to be on it, just send me a message with your e-mail address in it.) I think about the wonders of technology.

I can take tons of pictures. Currently I have over 7000 pictures of my son and my little family here.

There is no cost to view them, other than the cost of the item used to take them.

Only to print them costs anything.

I love how sending out The Daily Liam has me taking pictures of him every day. Not one day goes by without a picture of my little guy. Some day I will be able to make an album of a whole years worth of pictures, the ones I sent out for The Daily Liam.

Today I uploaded a new album. I am posting ALL of the pictures of Liam that I take. I want even his family far away to be able to see him.

You can view them at http://picasaweb.google.com/Auriya. Please feel free to share them!

The Poop Chronicles

Every new parent does it, so don't read it if you don't wanna know...

It just took me 20 minutes to get a diaper on my munchkin.

First he spent 5 minutes screaming like a banshee before spitting up down the front of BOTH him and I. So I went to go change his clothes, and mine... And there was a dirty diaper!


It took three tries to get a diaper on him and some butt paste to keep the redness at bay. Each time I was about to put that diaper on he either messed again or sprung a leak! It took two parents and 20 minutes to finally get him in a clean diaper. A mop for the floor, about 15 wipes and three applications of Butt Paste as well.

I found it funny that somehow two adults could not get a diaper on him. He arched up his back and wiggled away and refused to be covered. Finally he is clean, dry and STILL cranky.

I think he has some teething issues that are making him unusually upset. Dan is patting Liam's back while he lays in the playpen, tossing and turning and fussy-crying.

But I wanted to share my frustration in the Battle of the Diaper. I wonder how many other new parents are amazed at the strength these little guys have. I never thought a baby could arch up and move his whole body away from something while I held his legs. I always thought babies just sort of accepted diaper changes, maybe were grateful for them... Most of the time Liam is pleased to be clean, but lately he seems to be upset by it.

Perhaps it is time to plug in the wipe warmer again and see if something warm instead of cold makes this any easier.

And I never realized just how much poop a baby can make.

Liam is learning!

He can roll from back to tummy easily now. He is working on tummy to back.

He gets toys into his mouth with better accuracy.

Now he will lurch forward when reclining to try and sit up.

He is about 95% solid with head holding up.

He is starting to push up on his arms while on his belly.

And of course, he can find his feet!

Annabell the Nasty, and Other Fun Stuff...

I finally reported the manager to the housing authority here in Oregon.

The final straw came when she hired some guy to come spray for bugs and did not give us warning. Before I could even put down the baby bottle I was feeding Liam with and stand up, he had sprayed the base of my OPEN screen door with insecticide.

Liam was not even 2 feet away from that!

Then he proceeded to spray poison on our bag of charcoal that we use to BBQ with. AND on the ORGANIC bag of dirt... which is no longer organic.

When I complained and asked for a little warning next time, she snapped at me and said in a RUDE AND NASTY tone of voice, "Fine, we won't spray your place next time and you can just live with the spiders and the bugs."

Every time I have asked for her to ask the management about the MOLD that is taking over this place, or the broken heaters, she treats me with scorn.

I have had ENOUGH. We might be low income, but we STILL deserve to live in a nice place. We don't even get rent assistance, we PAY the full amount, each month, RIGHT ON TIME!

ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thankfully Liam seems ok even after getting a nose full of Spider Death Nasty Smelling POISON.

I am so fed up with dealing with mean people and stupid people here in this apartment. It makes me want to smack them ALL upside the head with a 2x4.

I just want to do the best for my baby boy. I want him to live in a safe place. Not one where I need to treat the windows with bleach to kill the mold.... hmmmm, bleach fumes or mold, which is worse? I don't even know anymore.