Got Teeth?

It's hard to believe that Liam has almost been here for 4 months. At the same time it seems like so long ago and yet not so long ago that he made his grand arrival (oh, don't worry...I haven't forgotten ANYTHING about those 37 hours). He's already growing up so fast. He has TWO teeth that have broken through his gums - the bottom center teeth. Those things are sharp...very, very glad he is a formula baby. He nearly broke the skin on my finger today when he decided he wanted to snack on my fingers instead of his. I guess Frank can finally claim a victory. He is teething, but it started around week 15 instead of week 6 like her initial claim. FYI to the masses, you should go buy stock in Tylenol - we are starting to go through it like nobody's business.

Besides the teething (which is so much fun for everyone...groan), he is very much in "discovery mode" lately. He's been curious regarding his surroundings for awhile, but now it's really entertaining to watch. He loves to go outside and watch the cars drive by and look at the plants. He's fascinated by football and NASCAR on the TV (so many moving colors!). And, he's learning causal relationships. This is what I imagine Liam is thinking - "If I push the button, the toy flashes and makes noise which is wicked awesome. If I keep doing it when mommy tells me to, I get laughs and claps. If I do it long enough after she's lost interest, she'll come take me out of the toy and snuggle me because the noise has driven her crazy." He's a pretty smart guy.

I also think he's realized that his room is amazing. It's usually dark when we go up there - we only have a nightlight on when we take him up for chow and rocking before putting him to bed. But the past few days during the "teething episodes" (teething episodes = no napping, fit throwing hours where nothing makes us happy), I've taken him up to his room to rock him in the chair. He likes to look at the whales and the fish on the wall. I'm not sure he realizes this is the same place we go every night, but at least it seems like he appreciates all of me and Thomas' hard work.

Rolling Rolling Rolling

We've reached a new milestone - Liam can roll. Apparently front to back and back to front, but I've only witnessed front to back. He doesn't do it all the time, but it's happened enough times now to know it wasn't just a fluke (like the time he did it on the inclined couch cushion at 2 months and Thomas and I had a panic attack). He's also moving like crazy at night in his crib. He goes to sleep on his back with his head up near his mobile. When I walk up there in the mornings, he's either turned completely around with his head at the other end or he's all smushed up like he was in mid-turn and for some reason decided sleeping in the narrowest part of the crib is ideal. Either way, he's sleeping, so I guess it's all good. I'm too sacked out at night to know when he starts making his moves. I don't wake up until I hear the loud "come get me now!" fusses or my alarm clock (a rarity, but sometimes it beats Liam's built-in clock).

I'm also convinced that we really are teething now (Frank swears he's been teething since about week 6...no teeth yet). He's starting to get extra fussy at times, he can't keep his hand out of his mouth (yum...finger snack!), and he drools buckets. In general, he's still a really happy guy, but there are days (more so recently) where we go through the Liam checklist (diaper, food, book, swing, gym, stationary awesome thing, nap, playtime with Mommy and Daddy, lovey, etc.) to see what will make him happy, but sometimes it's a few hours before he decides he's at peace with the world. Of course, it could also be growing pains. The little monster is three and half months old, and, if my super accurate method (weigh self holding baby, weigh self, subtract) of weighing him is, well, moderately accurate, he's approaching 20 lbs. The scale said there was a 19lb 6oz difference between the two measurements, so I'm assuming he's at least 19lbs. He's shaping up to be a pretty big guy, but the good news is he's cute baby fat, and not overly chunky. Sure, he's got rolls, but in the cutest of places. Plus, Thomas is convinced that at least a pound or two of his weight is in his cheeks. They are so pinchable!

In other Liam news, he's learned how to stick out his tongue (thanks PJ). He thinks its funny, I think its funny that he thinks its funny, so we just crack each other up. There's nothing quite like a Liam laugh and smile. It can make a grown-up tough guy (i.e. Daddy), turn to absolute mush.

He may just be a little dude, but I'm pretty sure he's aware he has the two big people in his house wrapped around his little, slobber-soaked fingers.

Liam Ops

Liam Ops (that's "operations" for you non-NASA folks) take up a significant portion of my week (and Thomas' too!), but sometimes, ops extend beyond formula and diapers to some really, really fun stuff...like dressing him up like a giraffe. That's right. He was a giraffe for Halloween. For five minutes at our house. Then five minutes at Oma's house. Then five minutes at the Cejka house. Just long enough to snap a few pics before he screamed his head off. In his defense, the costume was hot even though we were experiencing some of the coolest temperatures we had seen in a long while.

Our latest challenge in Liam ops is keeping him entertained. His all-time favorite play toy, his gym where he can swat his stuffed bee and chew on everything else really doesn't cut it anymore when Oma went and one-upped us and got a stationary bouncy thing with lots of toys. So we had to go out and buy our own stationary bouncy thing with lots of toys...because he was aware that we did not own a stationary bouncy thing with lots of toys. I said it before when we bought the swing that gave us a solid 6 hours of sleep (which at the time was amazing - now he does that plus some in his crib...woohoo!), but this is probably the best money I've ever spent.

That's "Bat Spud" hanging out in his newest toy (Spud is his normal nickname...the "Bat" only ocomes in when he's wearing his Batman onesie...yup, we are those people.) My living room is starting to resemble an aisle in Babies 'R Us - swings, toys, diapers, etc., etc. This is so not what I wanted, but you have to roll with what works. At least the playpen is in our bedroom and not the living room. Besides, where else would Thomas put laundry that needed to be folded if we didn't have the playpen in our room? It's cheaper than a treadmill and serves the same purpose :)