Liam is changing so fast these days. He is keeping me so busy, hence the lack of new blog posts. He is now crawling all over the place and it amazes me how magnetic things like electrical cords and the dog bone are. He crawl isn’t very developed yet and looks like a little crawl and then scoot. I am glad that he finally has it down even though it meant that I had to start baby-proofing the house because I was getting tired of all the frustrated crying that he would do because he couldn’t quite figure it out. The other day Wrigley was chewing his bone next to Liam and it was all Liam had eyes for so I took it and threw it into the next room thinking that it would take care of the problem. Yeah, sometimes Mom isn’t so smart. I went back to cleaning up the kitchen for I swear only a minute and when I looked up at Liam, he was chewing on the bone! It was disgusting but he looked as though he was thoroughly enjoying it! I guess Wrigley thought I was playing fetch when I threw it, and he brought it back to where Liam was sitting and his quick little hands finally got what they wanted. He also wants all the electrical cords in the house. He can be surrounded by numerous great toys, but he wants to make a beeline (for Court if you are reading this…”Wouldn’t it be more like an “I” line”) to the electrical cords or dirty shoes. I am beginning to think he is part dog the way he goes after shoes and bones.
He is also having fun trying new foods. We have found that when he loves a food, he LOVES a food. These include: yams, pears, apples, bananas and prunes. He will get very vocal and frustrated if you don’t feed him fast enough and his wrists and feet continually twist around while he eats. I had to include a video of it because it makes me laugh. When he doesn’t like something he gags and starts spitting the food out by the third bite when he realizes that what is going in his mouth isn’t changing. These foods include straight cereals of any kind, peas and squash. He tolerates carrots and green beans really well, but they don’t illicit the twisting appendage response.
We have been spending more time outside now that the weather is nicer and Liam loves the sunshine. He loves our daily walks and just sits and watches from his stroller. There is a nearby park that I love to walk around because the path goes around a lake, but there are tons of geese there and they have all had babies. While I love watching the little families waddle around, the adults are now extremely protective and will hiss and flap their wings and chase you away. I have had them take flight and follow me on more than one occasion. Although nothing beats the time I was running around the same lake and a big blackbird flew out of nowhere and clawed my scalp. It felt very Hitchcockish and I was scanning the skies and brandishing a stick until I was finished running.
Liam is now babbling a lot more and will tell you off if he is upset. His voice gets a very angry tone as he blurts out, “da da da du du du.” It makes me smile every time. I hope I don’t have a developing attitude on my hands. Tom and I are doing great. We just enjoyed a visit from Tom’s grandmother and his brother and sister-in-law, Rich and Jessica, this past weekend. Liam loved the attention and it was nice to see family. We are looking forward to heading to Tahoe in a couple of weekends with some friends of ours to take in nature and hopefully some kayaking. I think Liam and I might enjoy the beach while Daddy explores the lake. I don’t think he would sit still in a kayak!
One tricked out baby!
He never sleeps like this with me!
There were 2 female peacocks in our front yard the other night! Go figure!
Before I begin, I sliced my finger yesterday while making dinner so please disregard any typos. It is hard to type wearing a huge bandage. Liam and I just returned from visiting my family in Pittsburgh for two weeks. It was so wonderful to see my family and to spend time with them. It is so hard being the only one who lives far away, but it makes the visits that much more precious. Liam had a blast being the center of attention. He was fawned over by Nana and Papa, all the aunts and Emma. Understandably, the boys had more pressing issues like Wii! It was Liam’s first Easter so we dyed eggs and I have to say that his was the prettiest. He intuitively knew to make it Mommy and Daddy’s favorite color. We were also there for Emma’s birthday party. She had a spa party and it was so much fun to help out painting nails and giving facials and satin hands. The girls had a blast and Emma scored some major loot. They loved having a baby there and stood in line to hold him. Afterwards, Nana took all her girls, and Liam the lucky boy, to dinner. Thanks Mom!
We went to the zoo with my cousin Mckenzie and her two precious little girls. The newest was just three weeks-old and so tiny with a head full of dark hair. Liam seemed to really enjoy the sea lions. He kept swinging his arms and kicking his legs in the bjorn as he watched them swim. I guess it is time to take a trip to San Fran and see if they have returned to Pier 39. (As if I need an excuse to go to the city!) I loved going shopping with Emma after her party to use up allof her gift cards. That girl has a great sense of style. I can’t wait to see her strutting her stuff in her new cherry bathing suit with matching sandals.
It was fun to watch the two youngest playing together. Benjamin wasn’t too thrilled to have Liam playing with his toys and he kept babbling and screaming at him and climbing over the toys he was playing with. Liam just sat and played and smiled oblivious to the rivalry he was causing. We took the two boys to get their pictures taken together and that was a great experience. The camera turned on and so did Liam’s smile, while Benjamin didn’t want to have anything to do with sitting pretty for the camera. They both took some timeless pics and gave Jessica and I some stress and plenty of smiles.
I missed Tom a lot during the trip, but was to happy to be able to spend so much time with my family. I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents and amazing sisters that I am so close to despite the distance. I miss everyone already and can’t wait to see them again in Michigan at the end of summer.
When I got home we celebrated my birthday. Turning 30 hasn’t been a big deal to me and I rang in a new decade with a perfect day. Tom got me a gift card for a 90 min. massage which was butter! I literally melted! Afterwards, we went to Roseville to do some shopping. I got my photo collage jewelry box so that finally my jewelry won’t be tangled in a box under the bed! Liam and Tom were the perfect patient men as they gave Mom her day of shopping. I found a nice shirt and a great sweater. They got me a couple of gift cards to sandwich shops because ever since my pregnancy, sandwiches seem to be my favorite food! I just can’t kick the goodness between two slices of bread! We went to dinner and came home for a homemade dessert. Yes, I made my own birthday dessert, but I had been needing a reason to try a new cheesecake recipe and if my bday isn’t a reason then I don’t know what it. Not to toot my own horn, but the recipe was a success. Hello creme brulee cheesecake!
Liam and his Easter egg
Baby's first Easter basket
Napping with Aunt Kate
Eating Nana's tape measure
One happy baby and one not-so-happy baby!
Life of the party, the little flirt!
Playing in the ballpit with Nicholas
Shopping with Emma
I love Mike's attempt to pose. Even better are the two boys trying to mimic their dad!
Since Tom’s birthday is at the end of March along with our anniversary and my birthday is in the middle of April, we decided to take a long weekend to celebrate. We spent this past weekend in Carmel and it was amazing. We stayed in this little bed and breakfast and planned a great “foodie” weekend full of wonderful restaurants. All I can say is its a good thing that Liam is still nursing because I enjoyed some unbelievable but not calorie friendly fare! We arrived Friday afternoon and walked around some of the shops in the town. I got to choose where we ate Friday night so I chose this French restaurant called Patisserie Boissiere where we had phenomonal French onion soup (and yes I am a dork and I took a picture of it!) Tom was a snake and ordered what I was going to order which turned out to be one of the best things I had ever tasted. It was a croissant campagnard which was this ham and cheese filled croissant with bechemal sauce. It was like BUTTER! He liked it so much that he went there for lunch before we headed out and got the same thing! I can’t blame him! Tom suprised me with a beautiful necklace that had a silver peapod with two peas in it. I love it! Thanks Babe!
Saturday we spent the day taking a walking tour of the town. We saw the Hugh Comstock houses and both decided that someday we are building a house modeled after them. The architecture in Carmel is like nothing I have ever seen before. It is like stepping back in time to a fairytale. I suggest going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/from_linda_yvonne/sets/72157600130746798/ to check out pics of the houses amd buildings down there. Because it was a “foodie” weekend we didn’t hold back on tasting things. We went to this great little bakery and had a cinnamon pretzel that was covered in white and milk chocolate, and because we were celebrating, between the two of us we finished the whole thing and didin’t feel guilty. Well…maybe a little! We continued walking and exploring all the many courtyards that Carmel is famous for. There are at least three in each block and they each have unique and beautiful gardens in them. They are very peaceful. We saw The Hog’s Breath which is Clint Eastwood’s restaurant but it wasn’t one that we chose to taste. We also bought some new kitchen supplies in honor of our love of cooking. Now we can bake our own soup in our new ramakins.
We took a walk on the beach and took some pics of Pebble Beach golf course for my dad. Someday Dad! Liam got his first taste of the ocean and really enjoyed it. He loved watching all the dogs on the beach. I have decided that all dogs go to heaven and dog heaven is the Carmel beach. It was great watching them all chase balls and play fetch in the waves. It made me wish we had brought Wrigley, but he would have been a handful.
That night we went to Tom’s restaurant choice which was good but mine was better! It was this place called Grasings and their four onion tart was so yummy. I finally tasted creme brulee and am now addicted.
We spent our last day on the beach again and taking an easy morning. I was so bummed to leave and am still sad that the weekend flew by so quickly. On the way home we got to stop by and see some friends back in the East Bay. Man, I miss that place. Liam was so good the entire trip. He loved being in his stroller and carried around all day. It was great to bring him along with us and have our first little trip as a family. I am so blessed to have had the most amazing husband for the past two years and now a wonderful baby boy. Can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
Enjoying the warm weather with Daddy
Chillin with the boys in the morning
Adorable restaurant in Carmel
Patisserie Boissiere
Crazy good French onion soup
Cottage of Sweets
Liam is so happy after a trip to the baby spa
My little man
Uh oh!
First taste of the beach
Our family
Sandy toes
Tom is killing me by now with all the pictures!
Dude, what's your problem!? Being bald is awesome!
