Liam loves his jumperoo and has for some time. Because it brought him such evident joy and glee, it was sad when it was time to retire the jumperoo. This video is from one of the last times he was able to use it (back in November I believe). As you can see in the video, he is now so big and strong that he can move the jumperoo around a lot! And if he wants to get something in front of him, he can lean forward and make the jumperoo go horizontal, which I am sure it is not intended to do. He dangles there horizontal like some sort of astronaut in training, straining to get some toy just out of his grasp.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Jumperoo Peekaboo
Liam loves peekaboo, and liam loves his jumperoo. So what could be better than peekaboo IN the jumperoo?
Liam loves his jumperoo and has for some time. Because it brought him such evident joy and glee, it was sad when it was time to retire the jumperoo. This video is from one of the last times he was able to use it (back in November I believe). As you can see in the video, he is now so big and strong that he can move the jumperoo around a lot! And if he wants to get something in front of him, he can lean forward and make the jumperoo go horizontal, which I am sure it is not intended to do. He dangles there horizontal like some sort of astronaut in training, straining to get some toy just out of his grasp.
Liam loves his jumperoo and has for some time. Because it brought him such evident joy and glee, it was sad when it was time to retire the jumperoo. This video is from one of the last times he was able to use it (back in November I believe). As you can see in the video, he is now so big and strong that he can move the jumperoo around a lot! And if he wants to get something in front of him, he can lean forward and make the jumperoo go horizontal, which I am sure it is not intended to do. He dangles there horizontal like some sort of astronaut in training, straining to get some toy just out of his grasp.
Nashville Christmas Parade
Terrible napping threatened the plans, but Terry was getting a ride there fro colleagues, so we were already committed. Liam screamed so loud for five minutes on the way there that I almost turned around to go home, but then he fell soundly asleep.
Christmas tree in front of the capitol building.
Jackson, the son of Terry's friend and colleague, enjoys a lighted sword while watching the parade.
Through marching bands, floats blaring Christmas music, and honking horns of clown cars, Liam sleeps on.
My sweet little angel has sweater marks on his cheek. It was so nice to feel him all warm and snuggled up, with the gentle rhythm of his breathing against my stomach.
On the way home his santa hat slipped down over his eyes and acted like a sleep mask, blocking the light.
Holiday Travel, with Baby
On the whole, nothing really atrocious happened while traveling with the baby. I guess I maybe had the whole process blown up to Dante-type proportions. The first leg of flying was quite smooth, thanks to flying to and from pretty small scale airports.
Don't forget to bring me!
Like a giant run-way for babies! And I can really cruise on carpeting!
Our flights to and from North Carolina were another matter. First of all, they were out of Ohare, that black hole of travel that seems to suck all problems into its orbit. Second of all, we were flying out on a red eye, when combined with Ohare and the weekend's weather problems and tons of crabby delayed passengers, that meant we had to get to the airport around 4:20AM.
We had planned to stay with our friends Rachel and Kelly in their Evanston home, but weather problems in Europe meant that they weren't back from France yet. So instead we had to radically shift plans, find a bus down from Racine to Ohare and get a hotel in the Ohare area.
The Doubltree kindly provided us this Soviet era gulag prison style crib for Liam (no offense Natasha)
We ordered room service that was pricey as all get out, but actually reasonably tasty. We put Liam to bed in his prison crib, and then--with no where else to go in the room that wouldnt disturb Liam--we retreated to the bathroom where we perched on the tub edge and watched the final few episodes of Dexter before bed. It was actually pretty charming in the way only unexpected and slightly inconvenient things can be.
The Doubletree folks were really nice, and they give out warm cookies which makes me predisposed to like them. When I asked if we would have any trouble getting on the first shuttle of the day (at 4:15am) they assured me we would not. So imagine my surprise when we arrive bleary eyed down to the lobby just after 4:00 and find it packed with about 30 people! We sort of had to wait out in the freezing cold and shove a few people out of the way with a stroller, but we managed to secure a spot on the shuttle, get to Ohare, wait in an hour long line to resolve problems with our connecting flight (a little problem called the second leg took off from Charlotte before we ever left the ground in Chicago). All the while we were on the phone with a nice but utterly unhelpful Indian man from customer service trying to see if we could resolve it on the phone. But thankfully the saint of a woman helping all those crabby customers was impressive and effective and fixed the problem for us.
Our way back from Wilmington wasn't too bad, though there were still some problems with the flights that had to be fixed. I suppose we should consider ourselves blessed on many accounts, as we were flying back after the Christmas day brief's bomber (or "underwear bomber" if you prefer). That really puts just a few mild inconveniences into perspective. Plus, Terry, Liam and Grandma McDonnell got their picture into the paper!
On the way home from Milwaukee to Nashville, the very final stretch of many many too many flights, we finally had our first major delay. Instead of getting home by 730 in time for Liam's bedtime, we would be stuck in the Mitchell terminal with an over tired baby. Recipe for disaster you say?
Well, it could have been. But instead of melting down, Liam decided to crawl around and make friends with all the other waiting passengers. He got lucky in that the two men sitting directly across from us--the first objects of Liam's flirtation--were Grandfathers themselves and more than glad to make fun faces with a giggly little baby. Several of the women in the row also had fun waving at him and making him laugh.
There was a little girl, maybe 2.5 years old with curly red hair whose father was keeping her busy running up and down the main walkway. Liam crawled over to see what she was up to and she immediately exlaimed "baby!" in the sweetest little doll voice and crouched down and then laid on her belly so she could be eye to eye with him. They jabbered at each other and then she ran on. Soon she was back, again proclaiming "Baby!" only this time she added, "I'm gonna kiss him" and then just as sweet as could be she crouched down by where Liam was sitting, puckered her lips, and gave him a little kiss. Then she put her arms around him in a hug, and he sort of half hugged her back, and gave his version of a kiss, which is sort of a sloppy prepubescent opened mouth slobbering.
Apart from visiting his friends in the row of seats where we were waiting, Terry and I took turns keeping him occupied and happy. Here's an example...
Don't forget to bring me!
Like a giant run-way for babies! And I can really cruise on carpeting!
Our flights to and from North Carolina were another matter. First of all, they were out of Ohare, that black hole of travel that seems to suck all problems into its orbit. Second of all, we were flying out on a red eye, when combined with Ohare and the weekend's weather problems and tons of crabby delayed passengers, that meant we had to get to the airport around 4:20AM.
We had planned to stay with our friends Rachel and Kelly in their Evanston home, but weather problems in Europe meant that they weren't back from France yet. So instead we had to radically shift plans, find a bus down from Racine to Ohare and get a hotel in the Ohare area.
The Doubltree kindly provided us this Soviet era gulag prison style crib for Liam (no offense Natasha)
We ordered room service that was pricey as all get out, but actually reasonably tasty. We put Liam to bed in his prison crib, and then--with no where else to go in the room that wouldnt disturb Liam--we retreated to the bathroom where we perched on the tub edge and watched the final few episodes of Dexter before bed. It was actually pretty charming in the way only unexpected and slightly inconvenient things can be.
The Doubletree folks were really nice, and they give out warm cookies which makes me predisposed to like them. When I asked if we would have any trouble getting on the first shuttle of the day (at 4:15am) they assured me we would not. So imagine my surprise when we arrive bleary eyed down to the lobby just after 4:00 and find it packed with about 30 people! We sort of had to wait out in the freezing cold and shove a few people out of the way with a stroller, but we managed to secure a spot on the shuttle, get to Ohare, wait in an hour long line to resolve problems with our connecting flight (a little problem called the second leg took off from Charlotte before we ever left the ground in Chicago). All the while we were on the phone with a nice but utterly unhelpful Indian man from customer service trying to see if we could resolve it on the phone. But thankfully the saint of a woman helping all those crabby customers was impressive and effective and fixed the problem for us.
Our way back from Wilmington wasn't too bad, though there were still some problems with the flights that had to be fixed. I suppose we should consider ourselves blessed on many accounts, as we were flying back after the Christmas day brief's bomber (or "underwear bomber" if you prefer). That really puts just a few mild inconveniences into perspective. Plus, Terry, Liam and Grandma McDonnell got their picture into the paper!
On the way home from Milwaukee to Nashville, the very final stretch of many many too many flights, we finally had our first major delay. Instead of getting home by 730 in time for Liam's bedtime, we would be stuck in the Mitchell terminal with an over tired baby. Recipe for disaster you say?
Well, it could have been. But instead of melting down, Liam decided to crawl around and make friends with all the other waiting passengers. He got lucky in that the two men sitting directly across from us--the first objects of Liam's flirtation--were Grandfathers themselves and more than glad to make fun faces with a giggly little baby. Several of the women in the row also had fun waving at him and making him laugh.
There was a little girl, maybe 2.5 years old with curly red hair whose father was keeping her busy running up and down the main walkway. Liam crawled over to see what she was up to and she immediately exlaimed "baby!" in the sweetest little doll voice and crouched down and then laid on her belly so she could be eye to eye with him. They jabbered at each other and then she ran on. Soon she was back, again proclaiming "Baby!" only this time she added, "I'm gonna kiss him" and then just as sweet as could be she crouched down by where Liam was sitting, puckered her lips, and gave him a little kiss. Then she put her arms around him in a hug, and he sort of half hugged her back, and gave his version of a kiss, which is sort of a sloppy prepubescent opened mouth slobbering.
Apart from visiting his friends in the row of seats where we were waiting, Terry and I took turns keeping him occupied and happy. Here's an example...
Monday, December 14, 2009
Randoms from November
Eager little face, always on the look out for something disastrous to grab and pull off the table. Keeps mommy on her toes.
In the process of being tossed up in the air by daddy. This is very exciting, as you can see.
With some baby friends from playgroup. Behind him is James, who was born in January with Liam, and Leif, who was born just after Liam's due date.
Doing art projects with mommy is fun!
A post bath bottle. Hipster hair.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Thanksgiving (featuring spoons, horseraces, and a silly dog)
For Thanksgiving this year we joined the family of Terry's best friend, Keith. They live in Louisville, KY and so were a pretty close drive for us. We were invited over to Keith's grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner.
At the end of the meal, Liam entertained everyone with energetically banging spoons on the table.
Then Liam and Mr Karem watched football on television.
Liam loves seeing his Godfather Keith.
Keith's parents, the fantastic Karems, were wonderful hosts. They even watched Liam one night so we could go bowling with Keith, Emily and assorted Cousins. We thought Liam would just sleep, but apparently he made a fuss and wound up cozied up on the couch with Greg and Peggy Karem, sleeping while they watched TV (which was probably Liam's idea of heaven).
Liam also had fun interacting with their eager but skittish dog, Bailey. Bailey started to get a little jealous of all the attention Liam got, so while Greg was holding Liam on the couch, Bailey whined and crawled his way up onto Peggy's lap. From then on whenever someone picked up Liam, Bailey wanted to be held too. Here's a clip from just after Bailey whined his way up into Peggy's arms. Liam's having a great time. Bailey seem like he'd like nothing more than to crawl right up on top of Peggy's head and get away from this crazy kid who is invading his house.
The day after Thanksgiving instead of hitting the malls, we joined the Karems and Emily's family at Churchill downs for some horseracing (where I got to cash in a few tickets and wind up making a tiny profit on the day).
At the end of the meal, Liam entertained everyone with energetically banging spoons on the table.
Then Liam and Mr Karem watched football on television.
Liam loves seeing his Godfather Keith.
Keith's parents, the fantastic Karems, were wonderful hosts. They even watched Liam one night so we could go bowling with Keith, Emily and assorted Cousins. We thought Liam would just sleep, but apparently he made a fuss and wound up cozied up on the couch with Greg and Peggy Karem, sleeping while they watched TV (which was probably Liam's idea of heaven).
Liam also had fun interacting with their eager but skittish dog, Bailey. Bailey started to get a little jealous of all the attention Liam got, so while Greg was holding Liam on the couch, Bailey whined and crawled his way up onto Peggy's lap. From then on whenever someone picked up Liam, Bailey wanted to be held too. Here's a clip from just after Bailey whined his way up into Peggy's arms. Liam's having a great time. Bailey seem like he'd like nothing more than to crawl right up on top of Peggy's head and get away from this crazy kid who is invading his house.
The day after Thanksgiving instead of hitting the malls, we joined the Karems and Emily's family at Churchill downs for some horseracing (where I got to cash in a few tickets and wind up making a tiny profit on the day).
Halloween
We had quite a fun Halloween with our little guy. We took him to the pumpkin farm to pick out a pumpkin. The day before Halloween we went to a kids Halloween party with the other moms and kids from my MOMs Club. Then the day of Halloween we went to his friend Cora's birthday party, and then tried (and failed) to go Trick or Treating with our little dragon.
Sitting with friend Cora at the MOMs Club Halloween party.
Posing with some other costumed baby friends.
Rar! Ferocious dragon.
Dragon on the move
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Gragon and mommy
Liam's friend Cora turned one the day before Halloween, so she had a little Halloween themed birthday party on Halloween. Balloons were enjoyed by all the babies.
On the front porch, Halloween night. I wanted to carve a pumpkin that was somehow baby themed to celebrate Liam's first Halloween.
Our little dragon, sizing up the pumpkin.
Is there anybody in there?
We had wanted to go trick or treating with him, just to take him out in the pleasantly warm weather and let him see the fun sight of all the dressed up kids. There is a section of our neighborhood that is legendary for trick or treating, so it is apparently brimming with excited kids, and I thought it would be a fun sight. Alas, in the car halfway there Liam melted down and we turned around and took him home for bed.
Sitting with friend Cora at the MOMs Club Halloween party.
Posing with some other costumed baby friends.
Rar! Ferocious dragon.
Dragon on the move
Gragon and mommy
Liam's friend Cora turned one the day before Halloween, so she had a little Halloween themed birthday party on Halloween. Balloons were enjoyed by all the babies.
On the front porch, Halloween night. I wanted to carve a pumpkin that was somehow baby themed to celebrate Liam's first Halloween.
Our little dragon, sizing up the pumpkin.
Is there anybody in there?
We had wanted to go trick or treating with him, just to take him out in the pleasantly warm weather and let him see the fun sight of all the dressed up kids. There is a section of our neighborhood that is legendary for trick or treating, so it is apparently brimming with excited kids, and I thought it would be a fun sight. Alas, in the car halfway there Liam melted down and we turned around and took him home for bed.
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