The One with the Two Month Update

Liam Michael you are

TWO MONTHS OLD!

How did another month go by already?  Mommy sometimes wants to just freeze time and keep you this small forever!

What are your stats and what does the doctor say?
At your doctor's appointment on July 1st you weighed 13 pounds and were 23 inches long. You are in the 75% for weight.  Dr. G and I talked all about how you had been doing since our last visit and he was super happy with how you looked and sounded.  We talked about swimming (you can go in the ocean and the pool on vacation!), how much you are eating and sleeping, and about using some different products on your skin because you have a very mild case of eczema.  You also got three shots and one oral vaccine.  You did pretty well and only cried when the needles went in (so did Mommy!).  You were super tired that afternoon and little fussy that night, but overall you did very well.  Your hair is still blond and your eyes are a steel blue color.

 War wounds.  Good thing you have chubby thighs.

What are you eating?
You are eating 6 four-ounce bottles of Similac Advance formula a day and you usually have 1 two-ounce bottle after your bath before you go to sleep.  Because you are sleeping longer at night, sometimes it is hard to fit all six bottles in your day.  We are going to be starting to give you five-ounce bottles soon and hopefully going down to five bottles a day.

When do you sleep and eat?
You are still a great sleeper!  You are sleeping 7 to 8 hours a night and have had some nights lately where you slept for more than 9 hours!  You usually wake up around 6ish, have a bottle, play for an hour or so, and go back to sleep until 8:30 or 9.  You eat again around and then we play for a while on your mat or in your bouncy chair.  Mommy tries to sneak a shower for herself in here too!  If we are going out during the day, Mommy tries to do it during this time before your next bottle; otherwise we wait until after the bottle you have around noontime.  Sometimes you take a long nap after this bottle, but lately you have wanted to take a quick nap and then be awake for a while.  Another bottle between 2:30 and 3:00 and then some stories and another short nap.  You are usually awake when Mommy and Daddy eat dinner and we try to time that around your 6:00 bottle (or whenever Daddy gets home from work...lately that has been very late and sometimes you are in bed before he gets home).  Sometimes you doze off after this bottle, but you are usually very awake during this time and sometimes a little fussy (but we still love you lots!).  We squeeze in another bottle between 8:30 and 9:00 before we start getting ready for bed.  You are a very loud sleeper and make lots of noises before you fully wake up, but you are always very happy once you are all the way awake.

Those crinkly eyed smiles just make Mommy's heart melt.

What do your routines look like?
During the day, we don't have a set nap schedule set up just yet, although your first nap of the day is often in your bouncy seat.  You usually fall asleep in your carseat anytime Mommy takes you out to run errands.  You like to help Mommy water the flowers.  You hang out in your baby carrier and usually fall asleep in the later afternoon when we give the flowers their drinks.  You are still getting a bath every night and you just love that time.  You could be super fussy right before and the minute you get in the water, you are a happy camper.  You love to splash and get water everywhere!  We usually start this around 9:15 or whenever you have settled down after your last bottle.  Dr. G. said to start backing up bath time about 5-10 minutes every week in the hopes of getting you to sleep earlier every night so you are sleeping 10-12 hours at night by 4-5 months.  After your bath, you still get a little baby massage with lotion and then swaddled.  You get a 1-2 ounce bottle and then we read a story before you go to sleep in the Rock 'n Play.

You're outgrowing this tub already!

What size clothes and diapers are you wearing?
You are wearing mostly 3 month clothes and a few 0-3 month clothes still fit you.  Mommy put a 6 month onesie on you this week and it definitely wasn't too big!  You are wearing size 1 diapers but we will be moving into size 2 soon.

What are some things you love?
You love to be moving, whether it's in your stroller or carseat or walking with Mommy in the carrier.  You are always kicking your legs and moving your arms.  Mommy and Daddy are in big trouble when you start crawling and walking!  You still love your playmat and have started to notice all the toys hanging on it now.  You love to watch the fan spin when you are laying on the playmat.  You are so happy on your changing mat when we just let you hang out there.  You laugh and talk to us before your diaper gets changed.  You also love to find your hands and put them in your mouth.  You are getting much better at figuring that out and using them to help you soothe yourself.  You love to stretch your arms and legs, especially when you are waking up.  You also really like to hang out on your Boppy pillow when Mommy is working on the computer.

What are some things you don't love?
You are not thrilled when Mommy makes you have tummy time.  You tend to only last a few minutes before you start getting annoyed that you can't move.  You are still very hot all the time and are not happy if you can't cool down.  You don't like having your movement restricted, like when we strap you in your carseat or swaddle you.  You like being in your carseat and being swaddled once the process is done, but you don't like the initial restriction of your stretching.

What can you do?
You are such a happy baby and have given us lots of social smiles.  You are "talking" to us with coos and noises all the time and love to participate in conversations.  You can find your hands and put them in your mouth with much greater accuracy.  You seem to have a preference for your left hand, which Mommy loves! Your head and neck control has greatly increased and you turn your head from side to side with little support.  You turn your head and eyes to follow sounds and objects.  You keep a tight grasp on anything placed in your hands and love grabbing Mommy's shirt and hair when she is holding you.

 Your big brother left you a few presents the other morning.

Where have you gone?
Well, you survived your big trip to Chicago last month and were a big hit at Auntie Nic and Uncle Brian's wedding.  You also went to visit your great-great aunt Eleanor in Columbus, OH on the way home.  You like to run errands with Mommy and we joined a moms group with lots of other babies your age.  Another big road trip is planned in a couple of weeks!

 
What have you celebrated?
You celebrated your first holiday yesterday on the 4th of July.  You went to a cookout and slept the whole time.  It was so gross and hot outside that Mommy decided we should leave early because you were a sweaty monster but you did so well in the heat.  Plus, you looked pretty darn adorable in your outfit.  We also celebrated Nana's birthday yesterday.  You wanted to help her eat her donut cake!

 Not a care in the world.

Oh just wait until you can have donut cake.  It's kinda a tradition round these parts.

Who has visited and watched you?
You met Auntie Nic and Uncle Brian, along with their families while we were in Chicago.  Nana has gotten to spend lots of time with you (she was a big help on our Chicago trip) and Gramma and Poppa have visited from Maine. 

What was Mommy's Mother of the Year moment this month?
The other day we went for a long walk with our mommy friends and their babies.  Mommy attached the carseat to the stroller for our walk.  Because you don't like to be strapped in unless you have to be, Mommy unhooked all the straps while we were walking.  When it was time to go back in the car, Mommy put your seat in the base in the car.  Mommy looked back at you after about a block and realized she had never strapped you back in!  Cue panic and looking for a quick place to pull over to fix that major problem.  Thank goodness we have a mirror in the car so Mommy could see her huge mistake.  Great mommy over here!

What are some of your nicknames?
Liam Love, Bug, Mr. Man, Doodles, Lovebug, Little Man, Cookie, Pumpkin, Bubba.

And here are some pictures from our photo shoot this morning...

You are truly a miracle, little boy, and we are so blessed to have you in our lives.  Mommy and Daddy could not love you more and it is so fun watching your personality develop.  Can't wait to see what the next month holds!

The One with the Wedding

We took a road trip to Chicago for my best friend's wedding last weekend.

The trip was long and there was an awful lot of driving involved, but it was a great weekend.

On Friday, we had the rehearsal and dinner.  Hubs hadn't arrived yet so it was just my mom, Liam, and I at the hotel at that point.  We decided earlier that day that Liam would stay at the hotel with my mom after seeing everyone at the rehearsal and I would go to the dinner by myself.  I really needed to focus on being the MOH and he really needed a normal, quiet night without a ton of people around.  The dinner was a lot of fun and mommy had her first real drinks since starting IVF last summer.  I forgot to take a picture, but those glasses of Prosecco were delish.

Liam was great for my mom on Friday night and I while I missed him a ton, it was nice to have a night out.

On Saturday morning, L was up bright and early and I headed out to the airport to pick up Hubs, my brother, and my brother's girlfriend.  They slept for most of the morning while I had my hair and makeup done.  My mom walked several miles in the hotel throughout the day with Liam in the stroller to keep him occupied.

Liam looked absolutely adorable in his outfit for the ceremony.

The ceremony had to be held indoors because of some storms earlier in the day.

 

Nic was a trooper that day as the photographer had us schlepping all around the grounds to take pictures.  It was so hot and humid!

The beautiful bride and I.

Liam switched into his seersucker suit for the reception.  He got lots of compliments!  Here are a couple family pictures (it's still so weird to say that!)

 

 The brave bride holding the could-spit-up-at-any-moment baby.

My mom took Liam back to the room after cocktail hour.  They both needed a break from the crowd and the noise.  Hubs and I were able to enjoy ourselves, even though Mommy went up to check on Liam several times!

The wedding was held at the Hyatt Lodge on the McDonalds Campus.  They have a university on the campus where the managers and franchisees train.  Because of that, they served cheeseburgers at the end of the night.  It was the perfect snack!

The happy bride and groom.

We had a great time celebrating with Nicolette and Brian and it was such a fun weekend!

The One with the First Father's Day

I realize it's been almost two weeks since Father's Day but I really wanted to do a quick recap post about how we spent Hubs' first Father's Day.

I knew I wanted his first holiday as a daddy to be extra special so I planned a few things to celebrate him.  Everything was a surprise (which was pure torture for Hubs!) and I had so much fun deciding what to do for him.

We started off Saturday by heading out to lunch.  We just went to a local chain restaurant because we were both starving and wanted to squeeze lunch in before Liam woke up.

I then gave Hubs directions to an appliance store about 30 minutes away where we went to pick out his present.  I kinda messed up and thought we would be able to take the present home that day.  Unfortunately, we had to order it and they told us we were going to have to wait almost two weeks for it to be delivered.  However, Hubs was pretty excited that we ordered this...

Samsung 65" Smart LED TV.  Similar here.

We had been talking about getting a new TV for a while to replace the ancient rear-projection TV we had in our living room.  I decided it would make a really great Father's Day gift.  Hubs was definitely a little disappointed that we couldn't take the TV home that afternoon, but was looking forward to it being delivered.

I digress momentarily...
Because my husband is the world's most impatient person, he actually got out of work early one day last week and went to pick up the TV.  I was in Chicago so he had to put everything together himself (and I had to fix it when I got home because he had it hooked up incorrectly!), but we now have a giant TV in our living room.

Back to the weekend...
Saturday afternoon we headed to a graduation party and then just relaxed at home watching the hockey game (on our crappy old TV as Hubs kept teasing me about!).

On Sunday, we went out for an awesome breakfast place that Hubs has been talking about since we first went there several months ago.  They have fantastic food and huge portions.  Like pancakes that are the size of the entire plate.  It was so yummy!  I totally forgot to take a picture of my food, but I was very full when we left.  Liam was awesome throughout the entire breakfast and woke up to eat just as we were finishing our meals.

I had originally planned for us to head up to Boston for lunch/dinner but we were both so full from breakfast that we decided to postpone that trip to another weekend (Hubs still doesn't know where we will be going).  So, we went up to IKEA instead to pick out a TV stand.

We got this one.

While Liam and I were away in Chicago and after Hubs picked up the TV, he decided to put that stand together.  If you have ever bought anything from IKEA you know everything comes in eighty billion pieces and you have to almost whittle the wood yourself to put it together.

Hubs was less than thrilled with the whole experience and has informed me we will never be buying anything from IKEA again (and I quote..."not even a fucking wooden spoon").

Thank God I was halfway across the country for this hot mess!

 By the time I got home from Chicago, this monstrosity was in my living room.

  While it is huge, I will admit it's nice to be able to read the guide without squinting.

When we got home that day, I snapped a few pictures of my boys.

We had a great weekend together and I think Hubs enjoyed his first Father's Day.  He is such an awesome father to both Liam and Max and we are so lucky to have him.

Love you honey!

The One with the Newborn Pictures

It seems like forever ago that we had Liam's newborn pictures taken.

He was just about two weeks old when the amazingly talented Julie Furtado came to our house to shoot his pictures.  Julie took Grizzly's pictures in the summer of 2010 and we have stayed in touch with her through the years.  She does fantastic work and is so easy to work with.  She didn't blink when Liam peed on her props and wouldn't fall asleep to take those oh-so-cute sleepy newborn pictures.

We tried to get Max in some of the pictures but he was just too wild so he had to hang outside in his pen while Liam was modeling.  But Julie got some cute pictures of Max by himself.

We ordered the CD with all the images and I just put together Liam's birth announcement using some of the pictures.

I am so thrilled with how they came out.

Here is just a small sampling of the pictures Julie took.

You may remember this post and this post about the infamous Ford Raptor.  It had to make an appearance in Liam's pictures.

 

 Little Man posed himself like this.

 Cracks me up that his hair looks almost red here.  It's really blond still and I think the red wall in our dining room is giving it that reddish hue.

 I'm not listening Mom.

 The hair is terrible in these pictures.  And God, we look exhausted!

 

 Please let me out of here guys!

I highly recommend Julie to anyone who is local and looking to have picture of their families or pets taken.  She is awesome!

I'm off to hopefully take a quick nap while Liam sleeps.

The One with the One Month Update

Liam Michael you are

One month old!

Hard to believe you have been in our lives for a whole month, although most days it is impossible to imagine a day when you weren't a part of this family. 

My hope is to do monthly updates to document your growth, milestones and exciting events, kind of like what Mommy did during her pregnancy. 

What are your stats and what does the doctor say?
At your doctor's appointment on May 29th (when you were 24 days old) you weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces and were 20.5 inches long.  Dr. G said you are perfect in every way!  Your heart and lungs sound great and he was impressed with your eye contact and neck strength.  We talked about your eating and sleeping habits (more on that in a bit) and he thought you were a pretty chill and relaxed baby.  You still have blue eyes and blonde hair and look exactly like Daddy.

What are you eating?
You are eating 6 to 7 four-ounce bottles of Similac Advance formula a day and you usually have 1 two-ounce bottle after your bath before you go to sleep. 

When do you sleep?
You are a champion sleeper!  You are sleeping 6 to 7 hours a night which makes Mommy and Daddy very happy parents!  You usually wake up around 5ish, have a bottle and go back to sleep until 8 or 8:30.  You eat again and then are typically awake (with maybe a quick nap or two) until you eat again at 11ish.  After that, you usually take your long nap of the day from 11:30-2:30.  Then it's another bottle and some more awake time until another bottle around 5ish.  You are usually hungry again by 7:30 so we eat and hang out for a bit.  Obviously, this isn't an exact routine and some days you eat every 2 to 2 1/2 hours depending on how hungry you are.

What do your routines look like?
Starting right around your three-week birthday, we started giving you a bath every night.  Mommy is convinced this and our new bedtime routine (along with the keep-you-fuller-for-longer formula) is what helped you start sleeping for such a long stretch at night.  Around 8:30, we start our routine with a bath in your whale tub.  You weren't a big fan at first, but now you love it!  Then you get a massage with baby lotion and put on your pjs and swaddle blanket.  You drink a two-ounce bottle and we read a story in your room.  Then we move into Mommy and Daddy's room and you go to sleep in the Rock 'n Play.  Sometimes it takes you a little while to put yourself to sleep and Mommy often has to go back in to put your pacifier back in your mouth (on the nights you use it), but you are typically asleep by 10ish.

What size clothes are you wearing?
You are wearing 0-3 month and 3 month clothes and quickly outgrew any newborn clothes we owned.  You have a ton of clothes so Mommy is having fun playing dress up with you!

What are some things you love?
You love to eat and sleep (what baby doesn't?!).  You also love your playmat and walks in your stroller.  You like taking rides in the car (unless you get hungry) and you like to be held.  You enjoy when Mommy wears you in the Moby.  You love your baths and love listening to songs and music.  You like to be swaddled, but only at night.  You are also a gripe water addict and really appreciate a dose when you get the hiccups.

What are some things you don't love?
You are not a fan of being too hot (and you are super hot-blooded!) and you don't like it when someone takes your bottle away, even if it's just to burp you.  You get pretty cranky when you don't get to eat right away and sometimes you put up a stink if the diaper changing process takes too long.

What can you do?
You are responding to Mommy and Daddy's voices by turning your head.  You have given us a few social smiles, although sometimes I am not sure if they are really in reaction to us or just random.  You lift and turn your head when we put you on your tummy.  You grasp onto things when we place them in your hands.  You use your legs to help you crawl up the chest of anyone who is holding you.  You are such a boy and make tons of grunting and groaning noises all the time.  You love to stretch, especially when you are waking up.

Where have you gone?
Oh Liam, you are going to be such a traveler by the time two months arrives!  We have a trip to Chicago planned in two weeks for Auntie Nic's wedding.  But until that big long trip, we have done lots of little short trips in the car to get you ready.  You have been to Target, Lowe's, Stop and Shop, Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us, the doctor's office, and Mommy's school (you were a big hit with the kids and the grown-ups!).

Who has visited and watched you?
You have met tons of people since you arrived in the world.  Nana, Gramma, and Poppa all came to see you in the hospital, along with Auntie Julie and Mommy's friend, Suzanne.  You met Mommy's aunt and cousins shortly after you arrived.  You also met your great grandfather, along with Mommy's aunts and uncles.  Your Uncle Ric and cousin Larissa came to see you with Auntie Julie again (they live right down the road so we see them a lot!).  Nana has traveled from Connecticut to see you no less than 8 or 9 times since you were born!  She loves visiting with you and Mommy and Daddy even got to go see a movie last weekend while she babysat.  She has been a huge help.  Gramma also watched you for a while so Mommy could get her nails done.  The kids that Mommy used to nanny for came to visit you last weekend and you met another Liam (who kept calling you his brother!).  You saw everyone at Mommy's school this week and got to meet her students and co-workers.

What are some of your nicknames?
Liam Love, Doodlebug, Bubba, Mr. Man, Doodles, Bug...Mommy calls you something different every day and Daddy calls you his Pal or Buddy.

And here are some pictures from our photo shoot yesterday...

You are already getting so big and it is so amazing to watch you grow and change every day.

Mommy and Daddy (along with a whole lotta other people) love you so very much little boy.  We are having so much fun being your parents and are so happy you are our son.