So little time...

...life is so, so busy that I hardly have the time to write here like I want to.

Liam has learned so much in the past few months. Today he surprised me. I was trying to work on the computer and was not the most attentive. He decided to dress up in a silly outfit from random stuff in his dress-up basket. Then he came over and said, "what am I wearing that starts with a B?" He had on a pair of cowboy boots. Then I asked him if he was wearing anything with the letter G, and he knew it was "glasses". I quizzed him on a bunch of other silly accessories until we ran out and he had to go change his outfit. I had no idea he had such a grasp of letters, their sounds, and words they spelled. I was quite impressed.

Grant has been eating more and more solid foods. He sometimes gets annoyed when we feed him pureed food, as he wants to feed himself now. So I've been trying to thing of new and interesting finger foods for him. The new food this week was whole wheat spiral pastas cut into little bits. He hasn't started crawling, but he manages to get around. He must scooch when I'm not looking or something, because he's constantly getting into his brothers toys. Lately, he has started crying when I leave him at daycare. He has figured out that mama leaves and he is not happy about it. It is soooo very hard to leave him when he's crying - babies sure know how to manipulate their mamas. On plus side, he constantly delights everyone with his non-stop smile everywhere we go. I really hope that he never looses it!

Chomp'in Chunks

Grant has been eating more and more solid foods now. He is so independent-minded that he'd rather feed himself than be fed pureed baby food. This week he tried some chicken for the first time and loved it! He couldn't get enough of it! He's also been eating rice, noodles, avocado, banana, sweet potato, and lots of puffs.

Bathing Beauty

Yesterday Grant finally took a bath and enjoyed it! Every bath before this was spent screaming, but now that Grant can sit up he is having fun and splashing.

Achy, Breaky, Ears

It was bound to happen eventually, Grant has his first ear infection. I hate that we have to give him antibiotics. Hopefully he will be better soon and won't get many more.

In other news, Liam got to go bowling for the first time this week. On the 13th we went bowling with a bunch of kids from his Montessori school. I think he enjoyed it, but it was total chaos. There were too many people and too little organization. Grant faired alright, but he was sick from the ear infection and the noisy bowling alley was not a very good place for him. Sean and I were quite rusty at bowling - it's been too long!

Liam and Grant recently discovered that they can play with Liam's toy computer together. Grant likes to pound on the keyboard and make noise, while Liam uses the mouse to actually try to play the games. That's my little nerds!

Liam Goes Sledding

It's hard to believe that Liam has never been sledding down hill before now, but today was his first time. Sean and Liam tried to use my old and rather beat up metal sled, but it wouldn't go down the hill. So they bought a nice new sled and it turned out to be supper fast! On his first trip down the local hill, Liam went so fast that he ended up in a bramble bush. Thankfully he wasn't hurt and it did not deter his enthusiasm! He ended up sledding for hours.

Bummer

Well after weeks of waiting, I finally got the news that I did not get the job. I'm quite bummed, because I think I would have been happy there. So it's back to the grind of applying for jobs and working my two part-time teaching gigs.

Earlier today I decided to go ahead and enroll Grant into daycare for four days a week, so that I have a little more time for myself and my own research. Hopefully the time will be productive for me. Grant seems to like it there and I know he will be well cared for. Meanwhile, he is still working hard on getting his first tooth.

Six-Month Monkey

It's totally amazing that six months have already passed since Grant's birth! He has grown so much! He started sitting uo all by himself around Christmas. Now he likes to sit and play on his mat and chew on various toys. I can see one of his upper teeth in pretty close to coming in and he's been somewhat cranky in the evenings.

Yesterday the family went to the pottery painting studio to make a handprint plate for Grant. We managed to get a pretty good handprint - not so easy to do with a baby. We also got his footprint on the back of the plate. His foot was so long that it nearly didn't fit! Liam behaved really well and sat still long enough to paint his own piece of art. He painted a dark blue elephant and daddy helped by adding eyes and nostrils. It looked very cute!

010111

Not a bad start to the new year. I got to sleep in a bit. Liam and Grant were fairly congenial in the morning. Daddy took Liam to the doctor, while Grant napped - leaving me some rare quiet time alone. I decided to start knitting a project for Grant.

After daddy and Liam returned, we decided to go geocaching. This was the first time I've gone since before Grant was born. We did 11 caches in a special "winter" series. Most of these caches were easy to get to and fairly quick.

The sunshine came out for a while today too. I took pictures of all the things I have been sewing for my shop in the past few days. Liam was my model for some items. Later, Grant played happily on his mat, while I took down the Christmas tree. Now the boy's play area is restored and hopefully, I won't be tripping over legos and trains quite as much.

This evening was going great until Sean accidentally dumped my homemade pizza upside-down in the oven. We managed to salvage dinner, thanks to some leftover crackers and cheese from New Years eve. After dinner, I read books to the boys and Sean finished up the tin-can uke that he started yesterday. He wasn't happy with the sound though, so he may be back at it again tomorrow!

Goodbye 2010

This year has just flown by! I suppose that is because it was a busy year with lots of work, activities with Liam, and the arrival of Grant. Our family is doing well, and I have no complaints, really. I just hope that 2011 goes smoothly and I look forward to watching my boys grow and change.

It's a Blizzard, Baby!

So I traveled to the upper Midwest for an interview and got stranded due to a blizzard. I was supposed to be home today, but it looks like it may be a couple days before I can fly home. All of the airports within 3 hours of here are closed. Even some of the highways have been shut down. I guess there is nothing to do but chill out in my hotel room and wait. But I'm missing my family pretty bad and really want to be home. I'm also worried because Grant will soon be out of his supply of mommy-milk. Thankfully he's eating solids now, but I'm sure he's going to be cranky and missing mommy to snuggle with.

Stage Star

Today Liam really made me proud! He had been practicing songs with his class for several weeks now. They were preparing for the Holiday pageant, which was tonight. At first, Sean and I were against letting him do it - thinking of the travesty that occurred at his "preschool graduation" last spring and of how loud and overwhelming it would be in an auditorium. But he seemed really excited and quite persistent in his preparations. So at last I relented and decided to let him go.

We were pleasantly surprised at how well he behaved. He sat and waited patiently before his class went up. He listened to his teachers, sang and performed well. He even sat through the next grade's performance afterwords! To top it all off, he left without a fight and when they gifted him with a doughnut as we left, he actually held it the whole way home and waited to eat it at the table instead of getting into it in the car! Totally AMAZING!

On the other hand, Grant has been quite beside himself. I'm not sure if it's his teeth or if he has the flu. He hasn't been able to keep solid food down for a couple days now and he has been crying a LOT. We lucked out, however, because he was actually happy at the concert and was dancing on my lap to the beat of the music!

The only bummer is that I was a terrible mom and forgot my camera! SO I have no documentation of the amazing evening. Nuts!

Giving Thanks

What a delightful Thanksgiving we had this year. It was the first time we stayed home, rather than traveling, in a very long time. We spent Thursday and Friday cooking tasty food for the thanksgiving feast that we hosted on Saturday. It was so nice to hang out, just the four of us.

Then on Friday evening, my sister and her friend, Mandy, came to stay with us. Liam flirted like a fool with Mandy. It was really quite embarrassing! Mandy was a good sport about it though and she loved little Grant too.

The rest of Sean's family and my family came up on Saturday. We had tons of yummy food for everyone. My sister's boyfriend and his two boys also came. Sean's nephews were also able to come. It was so nice to actually have kids in the house for Liam to play with. All the boys, and some of the big-kids, played with legos after dinner. Grant sat in the midst of it all, obviously wanting to play along with the rest of the kids. We had a great time and feel so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends!

Treats, not Tricks

Today was Grant's first Halloween. He wore the same costume as his big brother did - a leopard outfit. However, since Liam was dressed as Diego: Animal Rescuer, we pretended that Grant was Diego's sidekick, Baby Jaguar.

We started our evening at my friend, Alissa's house. The older kiddo's played while the adults had a quick dinner. Then we went out trick or treating in that neighborhood. Just for fun I dressed up like a butterfly. Liam was moving to fast for Ashtyn, who got frustrated that Liam wasn't waiting for her. Grant and Jonas were just along for the ride: Jonas in his stroller and Grant in the sling.

Then we went home so that we could pass out candy at our house and also make a pass through our neighborhood and see out neighbors. This time Sean also dressed up - he re-purposed part of my old Princess Leah costume - it was quite amusing! We were sad that not many kids came to our house, but we had fun walking through our neighborhood.

Earlier in the week I was able to attend the Halloween party at Liam's public preschool. Here is his class all dressed up! The boy dressed as Buzz Lighyear next to Liam is his best friend, Joshua. The kids got to go on parade through the school in their costumes, then they had a bunch of yummy treats and a movie to watch - lucky kids!

We also took both the boys to the Halloween event in downtown. It was very busy, but there were a few activities that Liam enjoyed, such as a hay maze and petting some animals from the zoo. There were also cool street performers, a rarity in this town. We ran into our friends, Dan and Annie and their boy Aidan while we were there.

Roller-coaster

The past couple days have been quite a roller-coaster in terms of emotions. On Wednesday, I met with the public school district to discuss the results of their evaluation of Liam for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Their findings: Liam is borderline Autistic. The good news is that this means that Liam qualifies for assistance and/or therapy. We don't yet know what this will entail, specifically, but at least we know that the school district is on our side and will provide resources for Liam.

I was contacted to teach a third class for Spring semester this week. I thought about it for a night and then decided that it was a good idea. Hopefully, I won't kick myself for it next semester!

Liam had TWO Halloween parties on Thursday. I got to go to the morning party at the public preschool. Liam and his class went on parade through the school. They also had a bunch of food and got to watch a video. I got to meet some of the other mom's, which was nice. Liam was already acting a little unregulated by 10am, so it's no surprised that he was super hyped up by the end of the day. But it was fun to see him with his classmates. He has a friend, named Joshua. They paled around together and Joshua even gave him a hug when it was time for Liam to go.

Friday I finally got my car back, but in the excitement we missing Liam's therapy appointment! Friday was also Sean's birthday. We didn't do a whole lot to celebrate, other than eat breakfast out as a family.

We had planned to celebrate on Saturday, by taking him to the Airzoo. We got the family all set and headed to K-zoo for the day. My mom was going to meet us there. Unfortunately, Liam had a potty accident shortly after we arrived and was also extremely obstinate, so we had to go home. :( It was a really bummer, especially after we had driven all that way!

Then to top it all off, I received a call for an interview for a job that I applied for a month ago. I'm quite excited about the job, but I have to travel to New Orleans for the interview next month! Just what I needed, more stress!

I terms of Grant's growth. Well, he's trying hard to sit up. He's still very wobbly, but he likes to practice sitting. He also likes to stand and squat, exercising his legs. He's gotten quite good and grabbing for things. He even grabbed my napkin at dinner one night! He's a very happy guy most of the time and it's a stitch to get him laughing - not hard to do because he's sooo very ticklish. ;-)

Daddy's Birthday Starts with a Bang!

Grant rolled out of bed this morning at 5:30am. Not the best parenting moment ever and definitely not the best way for Sean to start his birthday! Luckily, Grant was fine and only got a small bruise. He was in good spirits the rest of the day, in spite of the incident. Sean took the day off work (for his birthday) and the rest of the day was quite pleasant.

Liam, Animal Rescuer

Well, Liam totally wowed me this Thursday (20th)! He was quite the hero. While waiting in line to go back into class after playing on the playground, he discovered that there was a dog curled up in the trash can. The teacher was surprised to see the poor animal in there and hurried the class inside so that she could call animal control. Liam was so proud that he had discovered the trapped animal, that he had to show it to me when I arrived a few minutes later. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't have believed it!

I was so proud of him that we called daddy and he told daddy all about it. Later that day, we called his teacher to see what happened to the doggy. She told us that it was a girl doggy and that she was unharmed, just malnourished a bit. Apparently, the dog was wagging her tail when the animal control put her in the van.

So that's Liam's true story of being an animal rescuer, just like Diego!

Today, Liam is visiting with his Grandma's and Grandpa, while Daddy, Grant, and I are in Bloomington for a conference. I had a very sucessful paper presentation and have been enjoying myself a lot at this conference. It has been interesting traveling with Grant. I think it's really good that he and Daddy have been getting some quality time together. They don't usually get to spend so much time together. The weather has been unseasonably warm and the three of us have been taking advantage of it by walking around the IU campus and enjoying the fall colors.

Holding Pattern

Well, this past week things seem to have really smoothed out. If may just be because it's midterm and I know that the semester is half over and I've made it this far! But I'd like to think it's because I've finally figured out how to balance everything - at least for now. I've been sick all week and feeling terrible. But I've still managed to keep on top of my lecture and grading, as well as writing a conference paper, keeping the house minimally clean, and making sure the boys are fed and clothed. ;-)

It helps that Liam has been behaving fairly well. Grant has been cranky - he's also sick - but not overly so. He seems to be nursing a bit less now and actually slept fairly good the past two nights. He's been super cute lately. He's started grabbing his toys and holding them. He gets really excited about some of them - such as the mirror toy for the crib. I actually keep it where I change his diapers and he likes to reach up and spin the ball on it while I change him.

Today, the boys and I went for a lovely walk in the Scott Woods. It was just picture perfect. Liam had fun collecting leaves with me. Grant chilled out and enjoyed the lovely fall colors from his stroller. After our walk, Liam played on the playgroud for a bit. Grant and I swung on the swings next to Liam. We were all tuckered out by the time we headed home.

10.10.10

What a fun couple weekends we've had. Last weekend, October 3rd, was the Dino Dash for the MSU Museum. The morning was cool, but not bad. Liam did pretty good considering all of the excitement and anticipation - he didn't get too out of control. We bumped into a lot of friends and their kiddos this year. We all went out to lunch with Dan, Annie, and Aidan after the race and visit to the museum. The boys played and played in the gym at Burger King while the adults got to chat and relax.


Today we decided to trek to Grand Rapids to visit the John Ball Zoo - our favorite zoo in Michigan. It's not super big, but it has a lot of really nice exhibits. The weather was just perfect for us. Liam and Grant both cooperated well and we had a nice trip - except for the last few minutes, when everyone got tired and hungry....ooops.

Bad Week, Better Week

Well, last week was pretty darn terrible. Grant was ill and extremely out of sorts. So much so that I took him to the ER out of desperation one night. All that got us was sleep deprivation and aggravation. Grant and I suffered through a number of Dr. visits, and trips to the hospital for tests. In the end, we finally determined that there was nothing majorly wrong with his digestive track, but we still didn't get what we needed, which was a better GERD medication that didn't make him constipated.

This week, however, we finally got it! He is doing much better this week. He is back to his chipper self, cooing and babbling a lot. He's also started figuring out that he has hands and that hands are great for grabbing things. It's fun to watch him try to figure out how to extend his arm and try to grab something...it's a work in progress!

Montessori Milestones

Today was Liam's first day of Montessori school. Liam really seems to love it! His teachers seem to be very patient and have the skills necessary to deal with his willful personality. Apparently, he participates just great during circle time at the Montessori school - something he has yet to master at his private school. Even though I had initially thought of not taking him at the Montessori school because it was an inconvenience for me, I am really glad that I stuck with it.

I also made this Treasury on Etsy to celebrate the occasion: Back to School Montessori Style