Pint-sized Graduate

Today my little boy graduated from preschool! Silly, I know, but a milestone nonetheless. I can't believe that he will soon be 5 years old and starting kindergarten in a couple months! He has grown and learned so much in the past year. We still have our challenges, but he has also improved a lot. He made many good friends this year, some of whom will be joining him in the same elementary school next fall. Mommy and Daddy are proud of you Liam!
Yes, Liam is wearing a tie! :)

Busy Boys!

We have had a busy, busy week!

Last Wednesday Liam had a fun field trip to the Bug House! He was in heaven with all the creepy crawlies. He got to hold a hissing cockroach, two types of walking sticks, a darkling beetle, and even a huge tarantula!

Last Thursday, the boys and I went to Impression-5. Liam had fun playing at the water table. Grant was much more adventurous than our last visit. He crawled around exploring and even climbed up the steps on the play loft. Grant discovered the zig-zag tower and cars. He even managed to put a few of the cars down the tower, laughing at them the whole way down.

Then on Friday the 13th, we meet some friends at the Potter Park Zoo. It was an unseasonably hot day, but quite lovely! We took our time, stopping to feed the goats and then feed ourselves some ice cream to cool off.





After a wet and rainy weekend and past couple days, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit today and watch the boys for me while I went to an interview. Grant got to play with his grandparents while Liam had a fun time at preschool this morning - they got to watch a little chicken hatch from an egg!

Oh, yeah, and Grant has another tooth with a fifth on the way.

Playing Catch-up

Well, the end of the semester is always a super busy time - even for the professor. I've been so wrapped up with work that I've had little time or energy to post anything lately. I have several posts started, but nothing finished...

So the big news about Liam is that he has started trying to copy images that he sees in books in his drawings. His likenesses are very good actually - he has an eye for detail. Today he drew me a picture of a transformer from a library book. Yesterday he drew a picture from the Runaway Bunny.

Grant has been changing in SO many ways. He is acting more like a toddler than a baby now. Which is fun, but also makes me a little sad that his babyhood went by so fast! He has started asserting his will and letting us know when he is not happy about something. He is also a bit devious and likes to get into things he knows he shouldn't. He started pulling himself up to standing on the furniture last weekend. This week he has made a few attempts at cruising with the furniture. In the last month he: started clapping, started signing for milk, giving kisses, and putting a ring on and off of the stacker toy. Today he helped Liam and I pick up blocks and put them in a basket - it was so cute! He also FINALLY called me "mama" today instead of calling me "dada".

OH, and I almost forgot to mention that Grant's third tooth finally poked through today and a fourth one is right behind it.

When I grow up...

Liam has decided he's going to be either a paleoanthropologist or Robin Hood. That's my boy!

Stunt Man Grant

Grant is making the first moves at cruising. The only problem is that his confidence is greater than his skill at standing and walking...

Yesterday...

...I signed Liam up for Kindergarten at the Montessori school! Wow, there it is. I can't hardly believe it. Seems like yesterday that he was a little crawling babe and now he's gearing up for real school.

Speaking of crawling babes, Grant as gotten super mobile in the past few days. I am constantly picking him up and moving him away from things he shouldn't be getting into. I thought my house was baby-proofed, but I forgot how mischievous little crawling boys can be! I think I'm going to need to tether my floor lamps to the wall, along with a few other special measures...On the other hand, it is fun to watch him crawl around the house and explore with such eagerness and curiosity. Everything is new and exciting for him!

Dio Donti (Two Teeth)

Today Grant's second tooth popped out of his gums. He's been quite unhappy about it. I can't say I can blame him either, especially since he has an ear infection as well. Sean took him to the Dr. today while I was teaching. Poor kid...at least it's only his second ear infection.

Over last weekend we all had the chance to go to the Orchid Show - one of our favorite events every year. Liam took his camera and took some pictures (see below).

Sean and I took a few pictures too, although we were not super serious about it this year since we have so many pictures from previous years. We did, however, manage to win first prize for the hand-painted orchid guitar that Sean and I made together. It was a lot of work, but it paid off - we've been after a first prize for years.

Grant's First Tooth!

We have suffered long and hard through Grant's teething and FINALLY one has arrived! Grant has had a hard time sleeping at night, has been cranky in the evenings lately, and chewing on everything like nobodies business. This afternoon, when I peeked in his mouth I could finally see his bottom left tooth poking out. Hooray!

A Happy Birthday!

Well, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, I made a bunch of money selling baby gear and clothes at a mom2mom sale, my mom came up to spend the weekend with us, Liam and Grant were both angels when we went out for a late lunch/early dinner.

The past week was also eventful. Grant started crawling! He's still working it all out, but he can push up on his arms really well. He managed to crawl across the length of the rug in the living room to get to his favorite toy - his stacking cups.



Liam is learning to share with his brother, now that Grant is interested in his toys and can get to them. Sometimes Liam is willing to share, but doesn't know how to play. Other times, he is reluctant to share or even takes Grant's toys. It is a work in progress...But the other night I was happy to have them both on my lap and they played together well after I gave Liam a suggestion on how to share. Liam had a mini slinky that he would let Grant pull on. Grant thought it was funny. They both took turns pulling on it and laughing. The next morning, Liam and Grant played again. I hope they can have many more fun games like that together. :)

Before all the snow melted with the little warm-spell, Liam and I managed to get outside and make a snowman last weekend. Liam did a good job helping me pack the snow. Our snowman was taller than Liam when we were finished. We added a carrot nose and brusselsprouts for eyes!

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!