at the temple of milk...

We're headed off to Dresden tomorrow!

Before we can post a picture of Liam napping in the Most Beautiful Milk Shop in the World, here is a little diaper and drool to tide you over. He is soooo close to being able to roll from his back to his stomach-- left side only.

Cräzy Sätürdäy Wräp-üp

Last Saturday was THE DAY, ladies and gentlemen. German exam in the morning and performance for Kölner Musiknacht at night. I was going to have to be away from my Liam at least 7 hours, and his bottle drinking skills were not yet perfected. Aiiiyeee!

Well, luckily Jeremy the Superdad tricked the boy into drinking a relatively large amount that day. The exam? Not so bad, if I do say so myself--- But this exam was very serious business. You had to hand over all cell phones and of course no use of dictionaries was allowed. It covered all 4 aspects of language fluency: reading comprehension, selective listening, writing (we had to write an essay) and speaking in formal and informal situations. The last part was recorded on CASSETTE TAPE! They did let me pump during the break--- even if it was a little embarrassing to ask the examiner, it made me much more comfortable... Jeremy, Liam, and I met up at the train station where we booked a trip to Dresden for next weekend (!!), and then we all went to the performance space. I kept trying to feed the little guy, but everything was too exciting for him. He watched the dress rehearsal without making a peep-- perhaps it's not surprising but the boy loves him some live music.


Here's what happened last week:




And this is from today! This is the third time---I was too slow with the camera the first two times.

a couple of videos

Now that I've torn Liam away from the keyboard--

Here are some videos from last week. Enjoy!

and to expand...

Hi folks, Liam here. I decided to take it easy on Mom last night, and only wake her up every 2 hours. (The white noise they put in the bedroom was a good idea.) She was all grateful, like, "sweet, sweet sleep!". That's how you train Mommies.

I was unimpressed by Mama's "new skills piling up". How lame. I decided that I better just tell you myself all the amazing things I can do.

First of all, if I grab your hand, clothing, or hair and pull it into my mouth, it means I love you and I love to CHOMP. Chomp! Chomp! Oh, the delight! I also like to chomp on my giant squid and my puppy, but Mama won't give me the alpaca bear to chomp on because she is mean.

Also, I don't like to be swaddled anymore, so don't do it. If you do, I will have little crying explosions every 10 minutes, so there.

I can move the baby gym this way and that. Me strong, strong man!

And finally, I have the astounding ability to laugh and cry at the same time. For example, if Mama is trying to dress me, and I decide that I am hungry NOW NOW NOW but Papa is doing a funny dance for me, then laughing while crying is indeed the most reasonable option.

Till next time, everybody!

3 months

I don't have the brain-power to write a coherent entry because Liam now likes to wake up every 45 mins at night... During the day, he is still the cutest little guy and the new skills are piling up! And the sweaters I made are now a perfect fit (even if monkey buttons has short sleeves...)

fyi-- we really only sit him on the couch to take pictures...

This Week in Liam: Fill in the Captions

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Post-o-Mania!

Don't expect this kind of treatment forever, folks, but before school starts I'm taking it a little easy. I mean, I am still rehearsing for a performance on Sept 25th and studying for my German exam that will take place ON THE SAME DAY, but hey-- I cleverly will be performing dances that I have performed before. Cheat! As for the German exam... well, I'm trying put in an hour of concentrated studying a day. Our little guy likes to go to sleep at 7pm, so that isn't too hard.

Liam is amazingly easy-going. He thinks yoga is funny mama entertainment-- especially with all the crazy breathing. When I was rehearsing the Harlequin dances, he helped me understand what was funny. I do the bulk of my rehearsing during his morning nap, but if pressed for time, he will oblige by watching me for 10 minutes or so. And he lets me take a shower!

Our challenges are still a bit of nursing distraction when not at home (although it is getting better) and a refusal to take a bottle. Eeek. So now we are buying all kinds of different nipples and bottles-- various flow levels, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Being good scientists, we are also trying to use controls to figure him out (but of course, if the main problem is time to get used to the bottle, all of this is NONSENSE)-- frozen vs. fresh milk, feeding positions, and I should really not be anywhere near the experiments. He took the bottle fine before and during Schwetzingen, but now the little guy has wised up. Bummer.

If you haven't read Jeremy's Utrecht entry, do it now!! He's much funnier than me.

In lieu of being clever, may I present to you... Tummy Time!
Watch for the moment when he becomes hypnotized by the ladybugs on his quilt...

Poor Liam...

...with parents like us, he doesn't stand a chance.