Liam visits his Grandparents and Aunt Robyn

This post is a little overdue. On our way back from Liam's first trip to Camp Anokijig we stopped off at my sister Robyn's house to visit with the family. It was a beautiful afternoon to just hang out and be together.

Mmmm, Grandma Schultz is giving me a bottle.

Wow, that's wet!

Good times with my Aunt Robyn

Having "man time" with my Gramps. Admiring each other's flannel.

The family (Grandma and Grandpa Schultz, Aunt Robyn and Uncle Andy) enjoying the back patio.

Terry's Aunt gave Liam a little baseball uniform outfit that has miraculously fit him for months, even while he outgrew other outfits left and right. If you told me elves snuck in at night and kept replacing it with a slightly larger outfit, I'd probably believe you. Here's a couple cute faces of Liam hanging out on the couch being playful.

In this picture I feel like I can see the face of the little boy he will one day become. Makes me feel a little choked up.

You can almost hear his "coooo!" of joy in this one.

Hmmm, this is sort of tasty. When I'm bored with mine, can I chew on your fingers?

Toy time with Liam

Just before we went to Nashville Liam developed the cool new skill of playing with toys. I believe in the baby development book they call this "two handed play." It opened a whole new world of watching him interact with the things around him, and it has been incredibly fun.

One of his favorite toys is a small block with a rattle inside that is surrounded by soft plastic loops. The loops are perfect for grabbing and for chewing on, and the colors and rattle sound keeps things interesting. This was a gift from the Carswell clan, who really know their stuff.

We've also been experimenting with introducing some toys that have cute soft stuffed animal heads, and small little blankets for bodies. They are easy for him to grasp and hold. Which is great because grasping and holding seem to be his new favorite pass time.


Why hello there black thing that goes "click." I recognize you.

I'm cute and you know it.


Hmmm, this lion is sort of soft and cuddly.


Ahh, but is it tasty?


Daddy makes a very comfy play mat.


Interesting colorful loops. Very exciting.

Nice, very nice. Chewing is very fun.

Hmm, if I could just get the loop. Oh and that loop too.

If I could just somehow get the whole darn thing in my mouth I'm sure that would be awesome. Hmm...

Phew, hello fist. What a relief. You are always there for me.

Father's Day 2009

Erin made my first Father's day rather lovely. I awoke to the smell of homemade waffles, with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. As Erin prepared breakfast, I played with Liam for a little while (who thinks mom and dad dancing is hysterical). I was bouncing him up and down when Erin offered to bring me a hot mug of tea. That seemed like a lovely idea to me so I accepted her pampering. As I was entertaining Liam, she slyly placed a mug of tea in front of me on the table. After a little while of being distracted playing with Liam I noticed the mug on the table -- it was an awesome "Happy First Father's Day" mug, with a collage of great pictures of Liam! Coffee and tea definitely taste better when I'm drinking from that mug--it is like drinking essence of baby!

After my surprise mug, Erin invited me to the dining room to enjoy the tasty deliciousness that was my father's day breakfast. Erin had asked what my favorite breakfast dish was earlier that week, and she delivered with these light and fluffy homemade waffles. Her raspberry sauce really punched up the flavor.

After breakfast I was presented with some more gifts. I unwrapped two t-shirts. One that was an olive green shirt with "THE DAD" stenciled military-style over a red star. Erin knows I rule with an iron fist, so the shirt was appropriate. The other shirt was a "Me 2.0" baseball-style shirt with a white body and navy blue sleeves. Now I can rock out fatherhood in style.

Next Erin surprised me with a round of golf with my other father friends (co-fathers?). She rushed me out the door to meet Chris and Harvey (a soon to be dad) for a father's day round of 18 holes at the Glencoe Golf Club. Erin treated me to a yummy hot dog at the turn, and Chris Harvey and I enjoyed many a light beer and each others' company.

After our round of golf, I had a secret envelope to open giving my directions to the next Father's day event. Based on Erin's drawing of a grill and sketch of a steak, I deduced that we were all going to barbecue at Chris and Gabrielle's place. The afternoon was lovely, hanging out with all the kids and all our spouses as I manned the grill with the other men, cooking the great food that Erin, Gab, and Heather had prepared. We had NY Strip Steaks (covered in olive oil and garlic), grilled asparagus, broccoli slaw, curried sweet potato salad, fruit salad, and topping it off we lubricated the event with margaritas and beer. Then Ellen Berrey showed up with Eli to make the day even more festive. Savino and Eli colored Bella--Chris and Gab's Dalmatian--different colors with sidewalk chalk, and we threw around the mini nerf football with the kids. Tasty food and great company with our good friends.

It was truly the perfect first father's day, a celebration of manhood (golf, barbecue, and beer) and a celebration of family. Let's hope that I'm lucky enough to enjoy many more Father's days like this from here on out. I could get used to this holiday! Many thanks to Erin for making the day so special with all my surprises and her thoughtfulness. She's the best wife and mother a guy could ask for as a partner.

We're on a roll!: new developments in the world of liam

We arrived in Nashville last night safe and sound. The kiddo took to the car trip like a champ, although he didnt get the road naps I was hoping for. Turns out he's stubborn on napping whether on the road or in the crib.

He's developed a host of new little things. Each of them seems to be a variation on more rudamentary things before, yet to our eyes they seem so exciting and distinct.

He has been batting at the animals that hang from his play mat for a while now, and with increasing intentionality. Now it is quite clear that he has good aim and strength, for when he bats at them he can now swing them up and over the bar they hang from.

A little while ago Terry saw him switch his rattle from one hand to the next. We all cooed over his achievement, but he didn't immediately repeat it. Well for the last two days or so he has had an explosion of two hand play. If given a rattle or toy into one hand, he immediately takes it into both hands and plays with it, sometimes together, sometimes switching back and forth between hands.

He's also become a super drooly kid in the last week or two (I call him Drooly McGee when this happens, though I don't know where I got the name). Sometimes he makes little bubbles with the drool, and for the first time today I saw him use his little tongue to wipe the drool up. Goofy, but cute.

On friday I was invited by Ian and Sian to join them for a Cubs game, which Terry missed because he was sick (Liam's second, pictures forthcoming). In addition to being way more alert than at his last cubs game, on the way out of the stadium he surprised us all by actually laughing at Ian, which he then continued to do for a good 5 minutes. The next morning at brunch he showed off his new found sound by laughing for Dave and Natasha and Terry. He had been making joyful "gooo!" sounds for a while, but this was the first distinct laughter.

In the 24 hours before we left for Nashville, he developed another new sound. This one sounds to me for all the world exactly the way I imagine a peridactyl. "ruuuuaaact!" Terry calls it "the devil cat got my son" sound. (Terry wants me to make a note that for all those of you who've seen "The Grudge" its like the sound the kid makes in that. I'm not sure what that means but I bet I wouldnt like it if I did). Apparently this is one of his new favorites, because once he got it going, it has become a frequent one in his little repertoire.

This morning I was playing around with him on the bed in the hotel room while Terry sat on the couch looking up more places for us to check out. I had Liam doing some tummy time, but instead of pushing up on his hands like he usually does, he was digging in with his feet, getting his butt a good 6 inches off the bed. I kept telling Terry to check him out, so Terry came over and laid on the other side of him. Liam kept doing his version of a face-plant down dog baby yoga move. It reminded me a lot of what he used to do when he was on his tummy in the NICU and his little butt would rise up and shake around before settling back down. I used to call it his bumble bee butt because it reminded me of those videos where bees communicate complex directions to honey by shaking their hinie.

So as Terry and I are laying there watching this yoga/bee type move Liam starts pushing with one of his arms and PRESTO he rolls himself over from belly onto his back. Woo Hoo! Terry and I start cheering for him and giving each other high fives and praising him. He clearly thinks we're nuts.

So then we roll him back onto his belly to see if he can do it again. He immediately starts digging in with his legs and raising his butt up and he gets so close several times, but he doesnt quite get to the coordination to flop himself the rest of the way over, so after a number of tries where we just vocally cheer him on, he seems to be getting frustrated, so Terry helps give him a tiny nudge.

So we have on unassisted belly to back roll, but no repeat performance. Still pretty darn exciting day for a little guy.

Liam at the Cubbies

When Terry's friends Jason and Sarah were in town visiting with their 8 month old son Davis, we got the gang together and headed out to see a Cubbies game. For a northside Chicago baby, a first trip to Wrigley Field is a rite of passage. Although our camera battery was dead, Keith's girlfriend Emily was kind enough to lend her camera to satisfy my shutterbug tendencies. Here are some of the cute shots from the outing. If I can figure out how to do it, Emily also captured on video all of us singing the babies' first 7th inning stretch. Too cute. There are also a few other cute pictures (like ones of Liam and Davis together) that I may add later.


Before the game, looking awesome in my cute cubbies outfit.


Liam with Mom and Dad.
The whole fam.
I heart my Godfather Keith.

All of us down by the field after the game.

More smiles, more active and Liam's first trip to Anokijig

It seems that after what feels like an eternity of waiting, Liam is finally entering that phase where it seems like he is taking in the world so eagerly, and learning and developing all these little new skills.

Sometimes progress comes in little things. Before I would have to sort of coerce his little chubby hands open and then put the rattle into his hand. Only then would he grip it, notice it, and shake it around. Now he seems to reach for it and grab it on purpose.

Three days ago Terry gave Liam his rattle (thank you Rachel for the gift that keeps on giving). For the first time, Liam transferred the rattle from one hand to the other. He then of course promptly dropped it, and he hasn't done it since. But even so it was a moment of excitement for us. We both crowded around him cooing. Liam's response was something like "yeah, I suppose, but have you seen how exciting the fan is?"

We are still dutifully doing tummy time. He usually hangs out for a while there before he gets fussy, so gains there come in small strides. He looks around interested at the stuff I put in front of him (trying to make the visual field interesting enough to justify lifting his head up, which really resembles push ups). Whenever we transition into and out of tummy time I roll him over so he gets introduced to the mechanics of rolling. When on his back he now does a lot of leg kicking and moving, which totally resembles pilates. A couple of times when he was particularly vigorous with his leg antics he has rocked himself over onto his side. Once he did it while I was sitting next to him, so I just gave him a little assist and helped him finish rolling over. So we are not ready to decree a roll yet, and it may still be some ways off, but we're working on it.

He now smiles much much more often. That alone makes all the difference. It is much more reactive. In addition to the smile you can get a nice long musical cooing sound going sometimes. Terry had him on the bed the other day and finally got him laughing from a sort of tickle. Terry would kiss his belly right where those hamhock thighs connect and Liam would break into a grin and "gooooo!" his little heart out. Terry had him going like that for a couple of minutes. Precious.

We also took the little guy up to Camp Anokijig for his first trip to camp. We volunteered at an open house event they were running.

McDonnell clan taking a family photo in front of the boat pier.

Standing in the very same spot we took a belly picture back when I was pregnant and we'd just started feeling the baby kick.

Liam in his camper onesie from Grammy Mac.

Little chilly in the morning so he's in his bear suit. Bear. Suit. That's right. Adorable.

And underneath that bear suit? Any true camper is a flannel man.








Obligatory photo at the Camp Anokijig sign. I've been taking pictures at this sign every time I visited camp since I was 8 years old. This one is a little Lion King style.