Baby Food Hair Gel

On Thursday this little man was eating his breakfast and had baby food all over his baby hands.

He decided to use the excess baby food as his own personal hair gel.

He has grabbed his hair while eating out of a bottle before but never baby food out of a jar.  He did it over and over on this particular day.  It gave his mom a good laugh.

Later that evening we went on a family walk and let Liam play at the park.  

We made funny faces

Smiled real big at his daddy before heading down the slide

Went down the slide

Then he walked around...with some assistance.

He played on the giant turtle

Enjoyed the teeter totter with his mama and dada.

This picture of him on the teeter totter is one of my FAVORITE pictures of him.  I just may have to frame it :)

Eight Months

It's official Liam is 8 months old! He is 29 inches long, which is shorter than what I measured him at last time, so I am assuming I screwed up last time! Ha!  I weighed myself and then him with me and he is about 18lbs 4ozs.  Thanks for the idea Michelle :) He is a blast. He loves to play and he also enjoys wrestling with his daddy when he gets home from work (his dad works, not Liam, to be clear).  He loves climbing, standing, and crawling as fast as he can.  Lately, he has been standing on his own for about 7 seconds, it keeps getting longer and longer.  He has 6 teeth in total and those darn 2 on top are still trying to pop through.  He has been making lots of sounds like baba and dada but not with any purpose to what he's saying or who he is saying it to, so we aren't officially counting any words yet.  Liam likes to look at you and start jibbering loudly and with purpose like he really has something important to say and then he will turn away.  It's awesome. He is still a very sweet baby and only gets upset a couple times a day because he is tired, hungry, or has fallen and bashed his head.  He is taking 2 naps a day but the length of them is very inconsistent, anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  He still wakes up around 2-3 am to eat and then is usually up to start his day about 6:30-7:00am.  He still is very observant and watches anything and anyone very closely.  He loves other babies and always smiles real big when he sees someone his size. I have finally given up breastfeeding, though for the last several weeks the biggest reason I was just pumping and not generally feeding him directly was fear of being bitten. He generally refuses to hold his own bottle even though he can (why do the work when one of your sucker parents will do it for you, right?).
We attempted his 8 month photo shoot on Sunday night when we got back from Richmond.

Liam quickly decided he was NOT in the mood.

So we gave up and tried again the next day.  Liam loves to crawl back and forth from the kitchen to the living room.  He also likes to stand up next to the trash can.

Here he is crawling towards his mama

Later he was trying to hold himself up on his Daddy's arm and gave me the cheesiest smile EVER! I LOVE it! Plus you can see all his teeth.

He's a sweet boy

He quickly decided he did not want to sit for pictures so I ended up with a few that looked like this...

So we took him outside to hopefully distract him enough to get a few photos

He sat there quietly picking at the grass and occasionally would look up at us, but we couldn't get any smiles out of the boy.

He likes playing in the grass

Profile shot

Then a mosquito landed on his face and I flipped out because I HATE mosquitoes with a passion.  We quickly came back inside and got this surprised look from him.

Lately, when the boy gets tired he will rest his head for about 2.2 seconds and before jumping up quickly in fear of actually falling asleep.

He was getting tired around 7:30 so Chris and I did our best to keep him awake a little longer by giving him a bath to buy some time before he fell asleep.  He still loves his baths.

He is a good boy and it amazes me every day how much he learns and grows.

Meeting Anderson!

Friday night we headed to Richmond to meet Anderson but first Liam crawled around and released some energy.  He did have his other foot up on the chair railing so it looked like he was floating but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

Then he looked sweetly at me before he started getting upset upon realizing he was stuck.

After we arrived late Friday evening Liam helped Aunt Mindy set up the high chair she had purchased for his and Anderson's use.

He also played with Rachel.  He LOVED her.

Then Liam and Rachel helped Mindy.

The following morning Liam kept following Rachel-including up the stairs (if you look closely you can see her looking down at Liam with the type of terror that only a neurotic Bichon can muster).

He thought he was big stuff

Then he clapped for Mindy and Rachel

Later, we headed out to see Stormy and Beauty

They are sweet

We also made a visit to Napoleon (Liam now has 9 toes).

Then the Ives showed up and we finally got to meet sweet Anderson!

We all got a family photo together.  Sorry it is a little foggy looking but the humidity was so bad it fogged up all of our lenses

Later the boys headed to a baseball game which was delayed for two hours and eventually cancelled. Us gals and babies headed to Hobby Lobby and dinner [I maintain we came out on top of that deal -wcc].  The babies looked cute side by side in their car-seats.

Sunday we all went to lunch before we headed home.  Here is a cute one of Anderson.  He is so tiny and precious, and has the longest eyelashes ever, along with the cutest little feet.  I guess what I am getting at is he is awesome.  It was so fun to hold a newborn again.  I miss those moments.

Cousin babies

Aunt Mindy with Liam

Uncle Randy getting attacked by Liam

And one last one of Uncle Randy with Liam.  We had a great time!

Date Night

Last night Chris and I left our precious boy and went on a date night for a quick dinner and to see the last Harry Potter.  I felt so guilty leaving Liam for our own pleasure.  Up until now the only few times we've had to get a baby sitter was due to work obligations.  Also, they were all nurses with CPR and ACLS certification.  This time, however, our dear friend Tammy came over to watch him.  She had me a little nervous because she posted a comment on Chris's facebook about how she had been watching youtube videos on how to hold a baby!  Despite her amateur status she did great!  It was really nice having a night out and being able to hold my husband's hand (normally we can't because we have a baby and a bunch of other stuff in our hands).  The movie was also excellent and I am kind of sad it is all over.  I even boycotted Harry Potter until a couple years ago when Chris made me watch the sixth movie.  Now I even plan on reading the books-although it could take years before I finish them all.

This little boy has been pretty cranky the last couple days. I am assuming it is those stinkin' teeth that are still working on coming in, but today he is back to his normal rambunctious self.

Yesterday when he woke up I walked into the room and he looked like this...

He turned the mobile on himself and was just standing in his crib watching it.  This morning the little man has been EVERYWHERE! We bought new end tables and a coffee table to get rid of the glass end tables. Though I have concluded the best way to baby-proof is just get rid of ALL furniture and install rubber floors and walls.   I let him explore where ever he wants and I even let him fall and stand by to catch him only when a particularly catastrophic fall is imminent.  This parenting thing really is a delicate balance.  I want him to climb and do everything he wants, I just don't want him to hurt himself or me to be overbearing. Things were MUCH EASIER before be became mobile,  athough this stage is so FUN and AWESOME at the same time. Liam seems to enjoy the new end table.

He has been crawling on it ALL morning long.

Then he decided to chew on it.

Here he is at the coffee table with one foot in his toy bucket and the other on the floor.

He's a funny boy.

Here he is after he woke up from his morning nap. I love his sleepy face!  He is eating his garden vegetable crunchies.  He LOVES them.  I already have to go buy him some more.