Boys Tales

I think it is safe to declare Liam soother-free.   Over the last few weeks, he had been chewing it more than sucking it.  So on Saturday, every chance I got, I cut a little bit of the nipple off.  When Liam would ask for it, I’d hand it to him and he would notice that something was amiss until all that was left was a nub.  At that point, he looked at it, put it in his mouth for a second and then handed it back to me.  And he hasn’t asked for it since.  I’m glad it went smoothly, I had anticipated tears and tantrums to the extreme.

My little boy is growing up.  He’s even trying more adventurous adult foods like pizza, old cheddar cheese, grapes and clementines.  He doesn’t mind salt and vinegar chips or bbq Ringoloos chips.  Last week, he even had some of my Korean cold noodles.  I think it was the chopsticks that made it interesting for him.

He’s also got some funny moment going for him right now.  We recently got the WII Fit and I think he’s learned to count down from three by watching it.  He poses, says two one two, go and then runs to the end of the room.  It’s funny to watch.

And of course Sean is growing up too.  He is on the cusp of rolling over on to  his tummy.  He has a pretty good arc going on, and boy does he ever get around the playmat.  He can do a full circle scooting around on his back.  We got him a Jumperoo and he loves hanging out in that, and just this morning I had to raise his excersaucer to the next height level.  Eek!

I have been neglecting this blog, oops.  Life certainly gets busy.   My last post mentioned that Pepper and I were going to a dog class.  Well we went, and we barely survived it.  Pepper was at her most stubborn self and it certainly didn’t make it easy for me.  She was headstrong and wanted to show me that there were things she wouldn’t do.  Now grant it, the things Brad wanted us to do aren’t the every day run of the mill things we encounter on our daily walks.  He wanted me to lead her up on to a picnic table.  After I struggled and it became a battle of wills, he even tried her himself.  And 50% of the time, she was dragging along the side of the course.  Brad pointed her out as a stubborn, or what he called her, a pancake dog who was smarter than her owner.  But he also said she was as cute as a button and at the end of the class, he commended me for perservering the class.  He said I could have walked away but that I showed that I was committed to my dog by sticking to it.

Thanksgiving weekend  we made the long trek up to Elliot Lake where my inlaws recently moved to.  Luckily the boys were pretty good during the long car ride and the weather that weekend was beautiful.  It was warm and the colour of the leaves was just vibrant.

Halloween was another milestone in Liam’s life.  He went trick or treating for the first time.  He went as Diego and he was a trooper.  Mike took him out while Sean and I stayed home and gave out the candy.  Apparently Liam loved the whole ringing the doorbell and towards the end of his outing, would say his own version of trick or treat.  And he was introduced to Smarties which he now loves.  “More?  more? “  is an often repeated question around here.

Sean’s been passing milestones of his own.  He can now sit in his excersaucer and jolly jumper.  He’s no longer a fan of being in the swing.  He also loves being on his back and is so close to rolling over.  He loves grabbing his toes and sort of rocks back and forth.  He’s such an easy going baby, always smiling, always happy.

This had to be a first, Liam fell asleep last night around 7.  We didn’t even get a chance to put his pjs on or even change his diaper.  He apparantly had a busy day and passed out for the night.  He did wake up at about 12:30 am because his diaper had reached maximum liquid hold.  But he settled back quickly in our bed, as usual.

Even now as I type this, I have one boy asleep in his swing and the other in his carseat in the car.  He went out to run some errands with daddy and fell asleep on the drive home.  Daddy is out tinkering in the garage to let him sleep.

It’s daddy’s time to have both boys later today.  Pepper and I are going to do an JUrban Agility training class with dog trainer Brad Pattison.  He’s a no nonsense trainer who has a tv show on right now.  I hope Pepper behaves today and doesn’t make me look too bad an owner.

My little big baby is four months today, all 16 pounds of him.  I was wrong with his weight, I thought for sure he’d tip the scale at 18 pounds.  But he is definitely in the top range of his age.  He is currently wearing 6 month clothing and even some of them are tight.

It’s funny because he is such a happy baby most of the time, every time we go to the doctor, he decides to play the crying baby.  He must have a fear of the doctor and her big needles.

Liam came with us to the doctor’s and also got weighed and measured.  He’s average for his age.  He’s 28 pounds and about 83 cm tall.

Sean can now hold his head without bobbing around.  He is on the verge of rolling over, and can already roll-scoot himself around.  He likes to sit up all the time and so far loves the exersaucer.  I think we will soon be retiring the swing because he doesn’t seem that interested in it anymore.

Time seems to be flying by.  It seems it was only yesterday that he was born.

My inlaws moved further north a few weeks ago, from one hour away to six hours.  And when you factor in children, that’s a long roadtrip.  And yet somehow we managed it.

We decided to go up and see them before winter hits and icy roads and snow making the trip impossible.  We lucked out on the weather.  It was summer-like and the fall colours were gorgeous.  The leaves were vibrant reds, oranges and yellows.  I really do love fall for the colours.

We drove up Saturday afternoon and got in around 11.    The boys slept quite a bit in the car, Sean didn’t even wake up once we transferred him from the car seat to the bed.  Liam was a different story.  He was wired for a full hour after we got in.  The plan was for he and daddy to sleep in one room, and Sean and I in the other, on an air mattress.  But he wouldn’t settle down until he saw me, so he ended up sleeping with Sean and I.  I hardly got any sleep that night, between the uncomfortableness of the air mattress to making sure Liam didn’t roll on top of Sean.  Liam has this habit of draping his legs over someone when he sleeps, he tried it with Sean but I quickly fixed him of that.  I also had to hang on to Liam because he kept rolling off the mattress.  It was funny to watch.

Our second night we splurged and stayed in a nearby hotel.  It was wonderful to sleep in an actual bed. Again I slept with Sean and Liam slept with daddy.  Pepper stayed at the inlaws.

The drive home was a bit longer and Mike had to sit in the back seat to entertain the boys while I drove.  It was a relief to finally get home.  There really is no place like home.

As I suspected, getting a chance to write this blog is a little harder now that there are three of us at home.   And because of Mike’s schedule, I was a single parent for an extra night and most of the day Saturday.

I’m trying hard to occupy the days, making sure that Liam gets enough stimulation and exercise so he can sleep at night.

On Wednesday I had to take Sean to the eye doctor.  He’s had a blocked tear duct since birth and it oozes quite a bit.  He’s already had two rounds of antibiotics with no relief.  The eye doctor has given him new drops and an ointment to put on the raw bit under his eye, due to the ooze.

Taking them both went relatively well.  Liam brought two cars to play with in the waiting room, and he was pretty well behaved.  The only tears came when the doctor rolled into him and knocked him over.

The weather here is starting to get colder, so getting out for walks and trips to the playground is a little trickier because I don’t want Sean to get sick.  I suspect he already has a bit of a cold, he sounds like a Pug when he breathes.

I think the next toy purchase for Liam will be a train set, since he now fascinated with Thomas the Train and a mini-trampoline with handlebars.  As I sit here, he is currently jumping the crap out of our couch.  Methinks he’ll love the trampoline.

You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not at my best…. The opening line to one of my favourite Spirit of the West songs, “Home For A Rest”.  Although in my case, home will certainly not be restful for the next nine months. I’m on day two of Project Liam At Home With Me and Sean.  Yesterday was good, some moments of meltdown, but today it’s complete chaos.  Liam refused to nap once we got home from the Early Years Centre, and Sean seems out of sorts too.  He keeps crying eventhough he’s had a lot to eat.  I’ve just given him some gripe water, let’s see if that settles him.  I would so love it they both had a nap so that mommy could nap too.

At least Diego isn’t playing in the background, Liam didn’t kick up a fuss when I said no to Diego.  Diego will come on when I’m cooking dinner later.

Yesterday was a good day, we went to Liam’s class in the morning and Sean was as good as gold, sleeping most of the class.  Both boys napped at the same time and after the naps, we walked Pepper.

Today we went to the EYC, Liam had a small tantrum because he didn’t want to share the train table with another boy.  Eventually he calmed down and we played while Sean slept.  This afternoon it seems neither of them want to sleep.

I really miss daycare…

Today is Liam’s last day at daycare until June, when I go back to work.  Up until now, my top up has been paying for his daycare but sadly it comes to an end this month.  While I know I should be lucky to be able to spend quality time with him, he loves the structure of daycare.  At daycare he eats all of his lunch, most days he has seconds and even thirds.  It tires him out so he sleeps well at night and of course he had lots of kids to play with.  What’s worse is that he’ll be home during the winter months, which might make us all go a little stir crazy.  But we’ll work it out and I’m sure it will be great for Sean to bond with his brother, especially since Sean is getting to the more interactive stage.

Sean is more awake and aware during the day now.  I can place him on his play mat and he gets a kick looking at all the toys hanging above him.  He also loves this Sesame Street toy that spins and makes noises and lights up.  It’s free standing and he is able to grab it and turn it himself.

That is what we say to mommy’s pee every time Liam sees me going to the washroom.  It is my attempt to get him used to the idea of of potty training.  He’s usually in the bathroom with me in the morning, because of our co-sleeping.  Or rather, his crawling into our bed in the early hours.  He knows that when I get up and go into the little room off our bedroom, that his day is beginning.  Today he waved good bye to it.

I’m not delusional, I know he’s nowhere ready to potty train.  He’s just turned two.  He’s only been telling us he has a poo-poo after the fact the last few weeks.  We did buy him a potty ages ago, but he sees that as a chair with storage.  And thanks to daddy, he sometimes wears the potty bowl on his head.  When we are seriously training, we will have to buy a new one, very unlike the current one.  Could you imagine the mess?  Ugh, just thinking about it makes me want to throw up a bit.

This morning, when he realized I was awake, with his head on my pillow, he said hi mommy.  It was very cute and nice to wake up.  I should savour this moment because I know it won’t last forever.  There will be a time where Liam won’t want to crawl into our bed because it makes him feel safe and loved.  He will become a kid who doesn’t want to show outwardly displays of affection from his mommy.  But he will always be my little baby.

Today two years ago, my oldest son was born and I can’t remember what life was like pre-Liam.  He has certainly added some colour to our lives.  He’s a silly little boy with a big heart and an even louder scream.

I brought in cupcakes for daycare today.  I thought I ordered 30 but I ended up with and paid for 60!  But they didn’t go to waste.  I gave one box to all the caregivers at daycare on behalf of Liam to thank them and they were a hit.  They were from a nut free bakery in Mississauga that also has an indoor play gym for the kids.  I suspect I’ll be taking the boys there in the cold winter months.  It looked like a nice space.

I didn’t join the class while they ate their snacks, I knew that if I were there, Liam wouldn’t eat his cupcake and would want to leave, or at the very least, not leave my side.  And sure enough, he ate the cupcake.  I brought a few home to share with daddy and Liam will not eat it.

As Liam and I were leaving daycare, a older little girl ran up to Liam and gave him a hug and a kiss.  She actually did this twice.  It was so cute and Liam just stood there and took it.  I think it’s safe to say that he is liked at daycare, one lady even called him a social butterfly.  It’s funny because when he’s around us, he’s so serious and quiet.