Liam, 8 Months

Look at me, ma!

What's new with Liam at 8 months?  The little guy does not like being cooped up these days. He is quite the little explorer and loves to crawl everywhere and get his hands on everything and put it in his mouth. He can pull himself up to standing position and even take a few steps while holding onto one of his larger toys.

Liam has 8 teeth now!  Four front top and four front bottom. No wonder he likes to bite everything.

Liam started eating Cheerios a few days ago, which is very exciting for me because it also keeps him occupied at the high chair! Other foods he has had: beef, chicken, rice porridge, potato, carrots, zucchini, butternut squash, spagetti squash, sweet potato, and all the other standard baby fare such as rice cereal, apple, banana. He's eating very, very well!

This little baby is still very easy to take care of. Thank goodness because Connor is still a handful these days, demanding lots of attention.

Looking like a little Buddha baby!

In this photo you can see Liam's four lower teeth.

Happy after a relaxing bath.

Liam and Mommy

I took this photo to see their height difference.

Fright Night! Halloween 2012

Connor the Pumpkin had a blast this Halloween! During the morning at school, the kids got to make a cat bag for stashing Halloween loot. Then they went from class to class to get trick or treat!

In the evening we went trick or treating with his friend Andrew from school (in the dragon costume below), and two of Andrew's friends from his apartment.  It was fun watching them trot from house to house and yelling "Happy Halloween!". The neighbours around here are amazing, many houses with extensive decorations including live actors popping out of a trash can, a dead body on the ground coming to life, smoke machines, and music!  Needless to say, Connor got too much candy (2+ buckets full).

Liam had fun too, he was dressed up as Tigger the Tiger!

Fall 2012

It's Fall, and with it the business of school!  Connor started Junior Kindergarten in September. Part of the Ontario kindergarten program, the school near us offers it part-time from 8:40-11:15, 5 days a week (all schools are phased into full-time offerings). The school is just two blocks away, and I've been walking Connor to school and back each day.

Connor of course did not want to go.I made the mistake of telling Connor that I would be at home while he is at school. He cried right away and all the way to school! But after a couple of days the crying stopped. However, he does need to believe that I am waiting outside the school for him. Every day he says,"Mom, wait right outside of the school". And I tell him, yes, I will be right outside. Of course I actually do go home, but what he doesn't know means he won't cry.

After 4 weeks of school, Connor seems to be doing well. He is very vocal to the teacher and often tells the teacher about his family. There is one Chinese Mandarin-speaking boy named Andrew that lives a couple of blocks from us in an apartment building; they walk in the same direction as us to go home so we have been walking home together. His mom takes him to school, and they have a 4-month old. The boy Andrew does not speak much English, as his parents speak Mandarin at home. Andrew and Connor are friends and they play together at  school - they play 'dragon' at the playground when they have outside time at school, they do puzzles together at school, and we had a playdate with Andrew at the playground just outside Andrew's apartment. It was great to see the two little boys running around together laughing and playing!

Connor has homework every Friday. Here he is doing his very first assignment.

Liam is growing so fast! Two weeks ago he was able to pull and slither across the room pretty quickly, and now he can actually crawl. He can also pull himself up to a standing position. Liam's two top front teeth are growing in now; they are clearly visible. So everything he picks up goes into his mouth.

Ever curious, we really have to keep an eye on where he is and what he's trying to pick up. He doesn't have the fine dexterity to pick up small objects like Lego yet, but we are nervous about all the tiny little Lego pieces that Connor has, and so we have tried to ban Lego playing in the living room. I also took a refresher course on emergency response for choking infants and toddlers. Liam is still pretty easy to take care of, however we cannot leave him alone in a room anymore - once he knows he's alone, he starts crying.

I signed up for a family music class at Gymboree, so that the three of us can have a family activity together. The best thing about Gymboree is their play area, which is set with padded mats and climbing structures that are safe for little ones. Below are a couple of pics from the Gymboree play area.

That's all for now! It took me three days to finish this post! It's now the Thanksgiving long weekend, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Liam can sit up by himself

Milestone today! Liam is able to sit up all by himself! He was very proud.

6 Months Already?!

Note: We've got a new blog name and look!  I thought this change would be more appropriate for the change in our family.  The old blog redirects to the new blog at http://adventuresofconnorandliam.blogspot.ca. All the old posts can be viewed here on this new blog, too.


It's hard to believe that Liam is 6 months already! The time is whizzing by so much faster it seems than it was with Connor. Here are some updates on his progress.

• Weighed in a couple of weeks ago at 17.5 lbs.

• Liam is working hard to crawl. He can do mini-push ups and then be on his knees for a short while and wiggles his bum! So cute!  He can also do a push-up onto his toes! I don't recall seeing this much with Connor but I guess it must have happened. Liam can roll and wiggle his way around quite a bit, so we have to be a lot more careful now when leaving him on a bed or on the floor.

• He has his two front bottom teeth! They started coming out a few weeks ago. The two teeth are about the same in height, and about 2 millimeters show through the gums. Other than one night at 4 months when he got a fever, Liam hasn't been much more fussy at all.

• Liam is eating solids!  We started about two weeks ago with homemade brown rice cereal, avocados, bananas, pears, oatmeal, and peaches. Making this stuff is time consuming, but it feels good to give Liam fresh homemade foods and I'm sure it must taste so much better. The brown rice is tough to get a non-lumpy smooth consistency, even with a small food processor. The oatmeal is a bit easier, but the problem is both take a long time to boil down soft enough. My second batch of hot brown rice broke my hand-held mixer (a rubber seal broke off at the base of the mixer. It still works but it is very dirty there and the inside is exposed, so I can't use it). Bananas an avocado are easy enough to mash down with a fork; same with the cooked pears and peaches, but then it takes time to cook them. So Liam has been eating slightly lumpy food and has been doing very well with it. It is easiest to make a smoother rice or oatmeal cereal if you grind it into a powder first. Since my old grinder is broken, I bought a new smaller Cuisinart Chopper/Grinder. It still won't pulverize the rice down to a fine powder, but it does get it into small pieces for faster cooking and a smoother result.

One of his first solid meals - rice cereal with breast milk.

We are also glad that Connor loves his little brother soooo much. I always tell Connor that they will be brothers forever and they need to love and take care of each other.

Connor loves to play with Liam, and hug and kiss him. Sometimes Connor gets a bit carried away though - he can get a bit rough or not-so-gentle, so we have to keep an eye on them.

Connor loves to pick Liam up and sit him up (to my dismay!).

Connor loves hugging Liam.

What's up at 5 Months for Liam

Happy as a clam!

Five months old now!  I wish the time would not go so fast!  Liam is adorable and still very easy to take care of.

For daytime naps though he can easily sleep in his bassinet if I am able to place him there at the right "window of nap opportunity". He can also nap in his crib but I don't think he thinks of it as a place to sleep, since it has been used mostly as a diaper changing station. I've moved all the diapering stuff off the crib now and will try to place him there to nap more often. He is a bit more fussier now closer to bedtime. He sleeps in bed with me, I rarely place him into the bassinet for the night.

Liam cannot quite sit up by himself yet, but he can hold the pose for a minute or more without support.

Other milestones reached: he can hold/grasp items such as his toys. Yesterday he grabbed my dinner knife as I held him next to the table! Have to keep an eye on him, he is fast!  Often he will gnaw on his toys or a cloth or a bib - he is likely teething (but it may be a month or more before the teeth will show).  He often plays with his hands and feet. Definitely shows signs of separation anxiety from his momma. Here is a list of milestones: http://www.babycenter.com/0_milestone-chart-1-to-6-months_1496585.bc

Asleep in mommy's bed, not a care in the world.

Sitting up for the camera!

Sound asleep in his bassinet.

Toes

Yumyumyum! Toes sure are yummy, especially with a dash of beach sand!

Liam's First Time Sitting by Himself

Liam sat up by himself for the first time on July 13! He was sitting in my lap and squirmed to get down so I tried to sit him on the floor... and here he is, the moment captured...  of course Connor wanted a picture taken with Liam too!

Liam sitting up in his big red bouncy car.

Liam Rollover and Kicks

Liam can roll over already. First he was able to roll from his front onto his back. Then a couple of days later, I had left him on his back in his crib and when I came back he was on his tummy! The first time he did it was around June 3rd. This is on the early side for a baby to be turning over - typically it occurs between 4-6 months. Here's a video of one of his early turnovers from front to back.






These days when we place Liam in his bouncy chair, he really kicks up a storm! Check out this video - it's like he's boxing with his cute little feet!

Just a cute video... Liam sleeping, kicking, sucking his fingers

I think these videos are adorable and sure made me smile. But then, I'm his Mom so I'm biased. Hope you enjoy the two videos!

(Remember to view on the website if you received this via email)

Post-Partum Discomfort Update

 

I saw a chiropractor last Wednesday and she determined the problem source to be a weak core. She tested this by having me contract my transverse abdominis muscles (the lower abdomen) and then try to move my leg in the manner which I was having problems (ie I have pain when lifting the right knee to swing the leg out of the car). Sure enough, when I did this I was able to move my leg with much less pain.

The weak core led to the problem muscles working much harder than required. Additionally this meant my back was doing more work as well. So the chiropractor did some 'adjustment' to my upper spine. She also adjusted my sacroiliac joint, which she said appeared quite stable already.

This in addition to some simple exercises that strengthen the transverse abdominis appears to be doing the trick. On Thursday we were out walking for several hours and the whole time we walked I kept the transverse abdominis contracted. This made it easier to walk without pain. Today, I am better, I can walk with only slight pain but still getting sharp twisting pain in the thigh when going up and down the stairs. Hopefully this will all be a memory by next week. I have another chiropractic appointment on Wednesday.

Enjoy the pics on this post. They were taken with my iPhone and template photo effects were applied using the free app 'Instagram'. You can view all of my Instagram photos at http://instagrid.me/lulubabyobaby

Liam's 3 Months - Milestones

Liam is now three months young, and weighs 15 lbs. It's been exciting to observe that he's reached a few of the three-month milestones: 

• While on his tummy, he can keep his head off the floor for quite a while. 
• He is now using his hands and his feet to swat at his toys on his bouncy chair. 
• He is now grasping objects.
• He has laughed out loud on occasion. This is such a joy to watch!

The new fascination with his toys means that we can leave him in his bouncy chair and it appears he is very entertained. He kicks at the toys more that uses his hands. Below are two videos, one of Liam's first time swatting at the toys in his chair. The other video shows Liam holding his head up during tummy time - and Connor being a bit naughty and I subsequently had to place him in a time-out!

Note, if you are receiving this by email, you will need to go to the website to view the video.

Post-Partum Discomforts

Liam is almost 3 months old - no longer a newborn. He is much more aware and he 'talks', 'coos' and smiles a lot more. He has also started to laugh out loud, which is so wonderful when he does it.

My friend Amie visited last week and brought back my baby scale for me from Vancouver. So now I can weigh Liam anytime I want. Liam now weighs 14 lbs. What a heavyweight!  It's great but also adds to my health issues.

My right leg/hip hurts when I walk, especially if I am carrying extra weight or going up or down stairs. My physiotherapist says it is instability at the sacroiliac joint (side effect of pregnancy, the joint relaxes or is sprained during delivery). Because the joint has too much movement, other muscles are trying to take up the slack. I've had this problem since a week after giving birth to Liam. So I cannot run or easily go up or down stairs or do any exercise.

I've also got carpal tunnel in both hands, and also plantar fasciitis in both feet - I had both these conditions with Connor as well. Plantar fasciitis causes pain in both feet when walking, especially upon waking in the morning.  I'm just falling apart!

I need to try harder to do all the prescribed physio exercises to get better. I've been doing them but I also seem to keep aggravating the SI joint every other week.

Connor loves being a big brother!
He loves Liam's soft hair and skin.

With my friend Amie, visiting from Vancouver

 

 

The Textbook Baby

What luck! Liam is so far a textbook baby. Textbook in all the good ways!

He is now 2 months young and his poopys have reduced so that there is none through the night. He also has slept through the night 3 or 4 times - from midnight to 6:30-7:00AM. And after a feeding at that time, he usually sleeps until 9:00AM. When he cries, it is always one of three things: needs food, needs a diaper change, or needs sleep. He can be put down in his bassinet or bouncy chair and he will sleep. He can also self-sooth at times (sucking on his hands/fingers). Basically everything I had read about what babies should do, but Connor never did!

Lucky for Connor because it means we can still focus on this needy boy. :)

Liam is a little bit more interactive now. If you move an object from left to right he will follow it with his eyes. He will "coo" or "agoo" at you - sometimes I feel like we are having a conversation!  I think he's a cool little guy.

Oh, and his hair is growing in now!

Liam, Week 6 Pics

Week 6 !!

Here are some pics from last week - Liam's week 6. Liam is plumping up very nicely, I think! He feels heavier, looking chunkier, and is fitting into size 3 month clothes too!

In his first few weeks of life, Liam had baby acne. That has finally pretty much cleared up. For the past couple of weeks he appeared to have cradle cap on his eyebrows only (there is a picture of it below). That is also clearing up this week, yay! I don't know if it is a coincidence but both problems started to go away after I applied some coconut oil to his face and his eyebrows (just a little bit, and left it for a while, then wiped it off so that his face isn't all oily). I recently found out that Coconut oil is supposed to have a lot of benefits, including being anti-bacterial.

Last week my friend Helen also visited us. Connor was spoiled once again with lots of books from Helen, and Liam received a nice outfit. Thanks Helen! There's a photo of them below.

Liam has been sleeping GREAT. The last two nights, he slept for more than 6 hours! From midnight to 6:30AM, and midnight to 7:30AM. I was shocked! And a little worried about my milk supply possibly dwindling, if he's not feeding for so long. I'll try not to worry too much about it for now, since Liam seems to be thriving.  :D

The two brothers side by side. Do they look alike?

Liam with Helen

Cradle cap on the eyebrows.

Our chunky little dragon baby!