Nine Months

My little man,

Here you are at nine months old. Why does 9 months always seem like such a big deal to me? Is it the clothing size change? (…though you have been in 9 month clothes for a while now…) or is it just because you have been with us for 3/4 of a year? I don't know. But so it seemed with your sister, and so it seems with you.

You have had an event filled and traveling month, my son. We kicked it off with your very first mountains trip. Hooray! Last year you were just a kicking little ball in my belly while we learned that your friend Levi (whose name had yet to be revealed) was going to be a boy! I remember standing there and thinking maybe you would be too, but either way you would be playing together this year. And this year, there you both were, in all your little boy glory.

Being the sweet, but adventurous, boys that you are - we all found some good usage in the playpen that I made your Daddy tote along for the front porch. Your sister even got in on some of the jailing action. While we were there, Momma's suspicions were confirmed and we found out for sure that you are going to be a cousin! Baby Clark will be making their arrival sometime this Spring and I am just so stinking excited for all of you to be friends and cousins. It certainly makes it all the more bittersweet to know that we may not be able to make it on this little trip next year - but I know that someday we will be back. A long weekend with the best of friends and no technology, it really is fantastic.

We also took a trip up to Richmond to hit up the pumpkin patch with your Aunt Haley and Uncle Justin this month. You had fun and did pretty well with all the travel considering your most major milestone this month - all the teething.

Teeth, teeth and more teeth. Ok, well not so many actual teeth, but you are certainly working on them. Drool, drool, drool, for sure. And lots of misery and restless nights and Momma snuggles. You continue to be my snuggliest of babies, continually wanting to be with your Momma.

Which is, you know, fine by me.

Your new-ish interest in books has continued to develop, which I continue to love and adore. You really love all the animal books specifically. This puppy book is certainly a favorite.

And, it, you know, manages to keep you in one place on occasion, so we have it on hand quite readily.

 Your new teeth have not diminished your appetite in the slightest, which continues to amaze and bamboozle me. Considering that your sister is going through a particularly picky phase at the moment, you occasionally eat more than she does in one sitting. She is a peanut and sometimes I fear that you will turn into a veritable tower of a child.

Breastfeeding is still going strong, very strong…through all of your appetite changes. It is most certainly your favorite comfort activity with all this teething business and still your preferred way to nod off. Since it helps you sleep and Momma is oh so tired, we just keep right on with your demands. Someday - please, please - you will learn to sleep without, but for now I love the peaceful moments it brings to both of us.

You had your very first Halloween this month as well, and made an oh so adorable little punkin'. Your sister had an array of costume choices and changes - for a school party and trick or treating and ballet, because, heaven forbid, we reuse the same costume! - but you just worked it out as a little pumpkin for Halloween night. You did great watching all the other kids and riding in the Mazzio's trusty wagon for a bit of the festivities.

We also snapped your requisite "Baby in a Pumpkin" photo, which I am sure will hang somewhere on a wall at some point alongside your sister's.

You are moving and grooving, little man. Still cruising and pushing and pulling and crawling all the live long day. Your sister doesn't know quite what to do with herself now that you can, you know, get to her and her things whenever you want. I have tried to reassure her, but since is only the very beginning of an epic battle to wage over the next well, many years…Er, I mean, the beginning of a beautiful friendship and sibling hood between you two, there's not much I can say except to try to prepare her for the eventual happenings.

She does mostly think it makes for a better playmate though.

And besides all the gray hairs you are currently giving me with your fearlessness, I agree. 

You have stolen our hearts and souls my little blue eyed man.

I love you so.

All my heart,

Momma.

Evelyn Rae is two, Liam is nine months old

…and what am I supposed to do with this adventurous kid when it gets seriously cold outside? Yikes.

Eight Months

Sweet Baby Boy,

What a month you have had, my little man. You are growing and changing by leaps and bounds, seemingly each and every day. I think that your observant little self takes in much, much more than I was giving you credit for - a few of our grown up friends have been saying that you seem like an 'old soul' ever since you were born, and I cannot agree more. As fun loving and happy a baby as you are, you just seem to know so much more than you are letting on right now.

I fear that I won't be able to keep you in this chair much longer for these monthly photos, but we will get to that. This month you have had a bunch of firsts. The biggest one hanging over us for the last few weeks has been your very first cold. You can thank your sister for bringing home some preschool germs that hit her, you and Mommy all pretty hard.

You have come through it like a champion, with the aid of many, many Mommy snuggles and cuddles - which has pretty much meant we got nothing else done for a while. These Mommy snuggles were usually following your new trick, a little sound you liek to make that sounds suspiciously like "Mama." Well, it really sounds like, "Mamamamamamamamama." Daddy and I are pretty tough on the word front, so we're not calling it your first word just yet - but you sure seem to say it when you are sad and looking at me with the most pitiful eyes, wanting me to snuggle you.

I think you are working on those top two teeth right now, as though your sickiness has passed - you have seemed a little extra fussy the last few days, and again, the hands are constantly in your mouth. You exhibit the signs and symptoms well before a tooth cuts though, if your first two were any indication, so we will just hope these come a teensy bit faster.

You are eating so.much.food. I can hardly believe it. I honestly thought that boys were supposed to wait until they were teenagers before they began eating you out of house and home, but if your appetite now is any indication....we are in trouble. You eat *at least* a one egg spinach omelette (sometimes two), some sort of fruit, a waffle or toast, some snacky baby food item while your eggs are cooking, and usually anything else I can scrounge up from dinner the night before when you are STILL hungry after all the rest of that.

You have started showing a whole lot more interest in books this month, which warms this book ner Momma's heart. To be fair, you haven't really had a chance, as your sister is very very very concerned that every time you pick up a book you will rip it or wreck it. "No, no, no baby! Too little!" she can often be heard yelling. Daddy and I have been more stern lately making sure that she knows the books in your room are just fine for you to play with, and lo and behold, you do!

Your absolute favorite bedtime book this month has been your two Little Blue Truck books, which are admittedly, adorable. I think you like hearing Momma make all of the crazy animal, truck, car and city sounds.

And now in movement news. You are scaring me, my dear moving and shaking son. You are just so.darn.mobile! You are leaps and bounds ahead of where your sister was at eight months, and truth be told, I think it is because you want to keep up with her so badly.

You are officially cruising the furniture, and within a day of figuring that out, you were reaching out to cross over to different pieces of furniture. So, you now cruise from the ottoman to the couch, to the bouncer, to the arm chair and back again. And you look so darn proud of yourself. I can hardly believe it when I watch you do these things and look at me like, "Oh yeah, I do this now."

Along with all this movement though, have come a few really, really hard falls. You go all out, my boy, that is for sure. Your Dad and I like to theorize that because everyone else around you is walking, you just forget that you can't quite do it yet and continue cruising past the end of the furniture sometimes - though...you can't walk, so then you fall. And man, do you fall. You never did like sitting a whole lot, and so you do not do the toddler fall into a sit, thing. Nope, you completely trust fall yourself over. Your poor little head. Your Daddy and I try to catch you, but we have been just short a few times and whew. Those tumbles are real ones.

But, you keep trying. And just recently, as you can see in these photos, you have started pushing things and walking behind them. Like, in the last few days. Let's just slow it down a little bit, m'kay? Mommy can't handle all this business. You just started doing a legitimate crawl all the time! Let's take it one stpe at a time.

But, I am beginning to wonder if this just isn't going to be your personality. Running headlong into what you want, with just enough passion and perseverance to get you through...usually. But, the good news is, when it isn't quite enough - you are never too far behind with another try. You are definitely a "get back on the horse" kind of kid, so far, and should that continue I think you may be the cause of more than a few more gray hairs on your Momma's head.

I love you and that flirty faced mischief making smirk you give me more than I could ever describe. And, as your shirt says, you are indeed "Seriously Handsome." I think I'm in trouble.

All my love,

Momma.


Evelyn Rae is two years old, Liam is eight months old

...and this post is brought to you by a super long day, two rainy drizzly forecasts and almost no natural light for these photos. With the windows open. At noon. Gah. Summer, come back!

Seven Months

My Growing (way too fast for this Momma to keep up) Boy,

Well, here we are again. Another month gone by. And you are SEVEN months old. I don't know exactly why, but this just seems so...grown.

Perhaps it is all the mobility that you continue to amaze me with these days. You have gone from standing up against something for a few moments - if we placed you there - to pulling up all on your own! I am still so surprised every time I leave you alone for a second and come back to see you standing. 

You have continued your push up crawl, though you mix it in with a traditional crawl these days as well. It seems that you favor whatever you feel will get you to your intended destination the fastest. You are moving mainly toward things to climb upon, which has made for more than one spill and tumble this month, that is for sure. The other day, you pulled a twelve pack of water over while trying to stand up on it, causing the cans inside to roll all over the floor and around you. Total time I turned my back? About ten seconds, you little mischief maker. I am still not used to you being so quick!

You still love your bouncer and are showing much more interest in toys these days overall. You have always liked them, but thankfully haven't had too many favorites as your sister likes to show you how to better play with the toys that you do gravitate towards. Now you are showing more and more interest in her toys and we have to make sure to keep everything very separate since you want to put all of her play food right in your little mouth...much like the cookie she thought you would enjoy for this month's photo shoot.

 Overall you are enjoying a bunch of real foods too! We still gave you a few purees at the beginning of the month if you got frustrated at meal times, but overall you are rocking out with solid foods. You are a much, much messier eater than I remember your sister being, but I also got to let her be naked most of the time, so that may have had something to do with it.

Now that you have to get to go with me for preschool drop off and pick up every Tuesday and Thursday, we all get dressed right away - at least twice a week. We've only done it twice now, but it is definitely a little harder getting out the door than Mommy anticipated.

You are growing like a weed, thanks to all that food, but you are still a string bean. You have been filling out clothes a little better and becoming more "dense" (as your Daddy likes to say), but you are still a skinny baby. Alas, it appears that I may never get to have babies with those juicy chunky thigh rolls...if you and your sister are any indication. Your feet, however, are definitely taking after your Brawford middle name. They are getting longer and longer by the day!

You are becoming more and more independent these days, especially with all of your newfound rocking and rolling. We have been hanging at the park quite a bit and you love the swings. I love your happy giggling self when you feel that rush of wind on your face. You have started to lean out of my arms more and more, seemingly saying, "Ok Mom, let me explore a bit." Which makes me crazy proud, and crazy heartbroken all at the same time. Bittersweet.

Thankfully, for a little while longer, you seem to be most content close to and hanging out with Mommy, though Daddy is coming in at a close second these days, which I know he is excited about. I know the time is coming that needing to carry you about and hold you all the live long day is only going to be here for another short eye blink, just don't make it too fast, okay?

I love you to the moon and back.

All my love,

Momma


Evelyn Rae is two years old, Liam is seven months old

...and I hope I can keep him in the frame for the rest of this series.

Six Months

Liam,

Hello once again, my darling little man. It is here! Your half-year birthday. Six months old and as adorable and happy as you've ever been. I simply cannot believe you are now closer to one than I care to think about.

Like your sister before you, we had a small little half birthday party to commemorate this momentous occasion. And, like your sister before you....everyone enjoyed the cake, except you. Sorry, bud. You'll have to wait for your actual birthday for that one.

We did, however, let you start n few weeks early with some solid foods. You just seemed to want to eat so.badly that I couldn't stand it anymore. I tried a few purees with you and you gobbled them down like gangbusters, so then I grabbed some Mum Mums and you gobbled those down too. So then we switched gears right over to BLW solids like we did for your sister. Your actual first food, even before the purees, was a slice of grilled bell pepper. We were eating steak fajitas and you kept trying to grab it from my plate (because naturally you were in your favorite place - on my lap) so I sucked off the seasoning and handed it to you. And man, did you go to town mashing and gnawing that pepper.

You were aided in your mashing and gnawing by your two newest possessions - your bottom teeth! Hooray for you! They came in within one day of each other, and your poor miserable little mouth was so much happier, and we have a small break in the "everything in the mouth all of the time" routine. Maybe.

You have been looking so big and strong and independent this month. You have been standing against everything and trying to reach up and pull up to standing from sitting. Your sitting is even more solid and your tummy doesn't seem to bother you as much lately. You have begun sitting in the front of carts thanks to some solo trips to the store with Mommy, but you also have gotten to sit up there when big sister wants to be a BIG GIRL and walk alongside the cart.

(Sometimes Mommy needs to keep you both contained and she rides happily in the basket as well.)

We have been chatting about all of the big kid stuff that we will need to be doing for you soon, like getting a bigger car seat and all that. I have started leaving your infant carrier in the car the majority of the time and treating it like a convertible car seat anyway, because you are just too dang heavy!

You aren't really a huge fan of being in the carseat lately and that is because you are on the move! You are rocking out the mobility with what your Dad and I affectionaely call  your "push up crawl" which is sort of a mix between crawling and scootching. It is pretty funny to us, but you make some good time with that little maneuver.

You have gotten your belly off of the floor and have been trying to do a legitimate crawl, but so far, you always go back to the good ol' push up crawl routine.

You really love standing and you really, really, love to bounce, so you spend  good portion of time in your bouncer. So long as someone is in the room with you, you are content to explore and play and bounce and bounce and bounce.

You are just the happiest little baby and you are so, so very happy when you have slept well. Which...is a struggle. You still don't consistently sleep through the night which is quite honestly driving your Mom a little batty. We have started you in your own room at night and naptime consistently since we got back from Wisconsin and you have great nights and not so great nights. I have been trying and trying and trying to get you on a schedule before your sister starts school and ballet next month, because then we will have actual places that we need to be (every week! ack!), but you are resisting with the best of em.

You sometimes take killer naps, and sometimes they are twenty minutes. You sometimes sleep through the night and sometimes you wake up three or four times. (Thankfully there aren't too many of those nights.) Sometimes, you fall asleep peacefully and easily on your own and sometimes you fuss and cry forever until you are held or nursed. There just seems to be no telling with you, my son. But, we shall keep at it. You are trending more and more toward sleeping through the night, but I am scared to even admit that publicly for fear of the backlash of the moon and the tides or some planet in retrograde or something.

You, my son, are just the embodiment of silliness and joyfulness here as of late. You make your Daddy and I swoon with your coos and giggles and your sister is officially smitten with you (when she isn't tattling about you trying to touch HER toys, that is...) Even the puppy is warming up to you quite nicely now that you have real food to share.

You bring so much laughter into our house and I can't imagine our family without your precious little soul inside of it.

All my love,

Momma.


Evelyn Rae is two, Liam is six months old

...and he is looking so, so grown these days. Be still my heart.

Five Months

My little Liam,

I must admit, we have fallen a bit behind on these photos. This month wasn't really our fault though, because we didn't get back from Wisconsin (and your first big trip!) until after your actual 5 month mark. But, you have again grown and changed in leaps and bounds since our last update.

As you can see from these photos - you are sitting much more comfortably and strongly than you have in the past. You really like sitting up for short periods because your sister seems to pay more attention to you this way, though you sometimes complain and fuss about sitting - my sneaking suspicion is that it bothers your little tummy by putting too much pressure on it. You are still quite the spit upper and our huge stash of burp cloths is never too far from reach.

We have been pretty adventurous in enjoying the spoils of summer this month, with plenty of outdoor time for you and your sister. We hung by the pools of some different friends in the beginning of the month and you definitely got plenty of outdoor time in Wisconsin. With all the pool and lake time, you have become quite the little water baby! You enjoy your bath time a whole lot more than you used to, smiling and laughing and splashing away.

You did extraordinarily well on your first big road trip with us, and you slept like a good little baby. You did not, however, sleep quite so well on your first couple of overnights without Mommy and Daddy. We went to a wedding in Long Island for a few days while you and your sister got to hang with Grandma Barb and Grandpa John, and you were none to happy about not having Mom to snuggle up next to while we were gone. It was only two nights, but I have a sneaking suspicion that your grandparents were ready to just be daytime snugglers once again.

 While we were gone though, your Grandma confirmed my absolute worst suspicions. You are definitely scootching. What the heck, son. You are only five months old and you are trying so hard (and achieveing successes!) on the mobility front. I thought perhaps I was just imagining it, but nope, your grandmother informs me that you were indeed on the move. I think you are trying to chase after that crazy sister of yours as you become more and more interested in anything and everything that she is doing.

Speaking of your big sister, she is pretty adorable with you. She calls you "baby brother" and pronounces your name as "Yee-um". She gives you lots of hugs and kisses and is super concerned about where you are and what you are doing all.of.the.time. She hears you over the monitor or crying and says "Baby brother awake!" or "Baby brother sad! Help Mommy!" She is consistently excited to help with you and has really started to love being my sidekick when it comes to caring for you. Naturally, you adore her and all of the (completely age inappropriate) toys that she brings to you in a steady stream, though now that you can grab for toys when she is playing with them, she is starting to eye you a bit more warily.

Your teeth are working really hard on cutting through, your bottom teeth that is. I can feel them both under the surface, so we are playing a waiting game to see which pops up first! You are still relatively insatiable and love your long and lingering nursing sessions. We will start you on solids next month (!) and given your general interest in everything and anything that is on anyone's plate around you, I am pretty sure that you will take to it like a duck to water. 

You are growing so fast and so big, my little man. I can't seem to see it happening day to day and then I have moments where I look at you and get a jolt of the toddler and child you will too soon become. While I am terribly excited to meet that kiddo, I am enjoying the snuggle bug that you are right now. You still think the best place to sleep is in anyone's arms - especially Momma's - and most of the time I don't mind that one bit.

Keep growing and exploring and discovering my adventurous boy, just don't do it too fast.

I love you with every bit of my wildly beating heart.

All my love,

Momma


Evelyn Rae is TWO YEARS OLD, Liam is five months old

...and here are some extra (sort of kinds of really blurry, but I still love them anyways) pictures of those baby blues.