Liam's Theme Song

I hate to Nap
and I cannot lie
you Mama just can't deny
when you put me in the crib and give me a kiss
and then I just cry!

I am so tired
but I cannot sleep
put me in the crib I make a peep
and another and another and another and another
I never count no sheep!

More sleep
is required
some people say my brain is wired
with trying to crawl and talking to ya'll
I am so inspired!

9 months

Liam! Our little guy!

What's happening now?

1. excited hand flapping and laughing

2. lots of babbling and squeaking

3. I finally figured out that he will listen to an entire book on my lap in a chair-- sitting on the floor presents too many opportunities to creep away and roll under the couch.

4. The weather on Tuesday was so beautiful that I gave him lunch in a cafe on our way to the library. He ate almost all of the red lentils and applesauce that he absolutely hated the day before. I had tried my trick of mixing it with yogurt and he acted completely betrayed. But sit him surrounded by new people and music... Or maybe he is gearing up for the 9 month growth spurt.

(I shouldn't get too carried away. In keeping with the four day rule, I gave him lentils 3 days in a row and last night a tremendous fart woke him up at 10:30. Oops!)


My beef/apple/squash was also a big smash today. (I didn't make the beef-I'm not going that far...)

He likes a bit cinnamon in his fruits and rosemary on his roasted squash. Our little gourmand!

5. He's still creeping around, but he will pull up to standing on everything. He doesn't really like to sit on his bottom, but he will lean on his side like a tiny playboy.

6. The elusive baby kiss (he may or may not have given me one a couple of months ago after a heavy campaign of "Liam kiss-- SMACK!-- Mama kiss---vague slobber against my cheek". This time it was more of a slobbery cheek suck. I'll take it.


Unrelated note: I think I have a nutella addiction.

Here's our bike trailer!I was all gung-ho to try it out yesterday, but attaching it to my bike was a bit harder than I expected-- the bolt wouldn't budge, and the weather was not so nice.
We're hoping to use it this weekend.

Aaaack! This is it!

It was the first really warm Saturday, and we took a walk to a new cute street I discovered, where, of course, all the shops were already closed, and there was a line 10 people deep at the ice-cream parlor- it looks like Liam and I will have to go there during the week! Especially this week, since it is our last week together before a massive 5-hours-a-day workshop at school the last 2 weeks of March, and the first week in April I have 4 days of classes... I also have quite a bit of revising work to finish up for this semester, but as Liam is not a reliable napper (see below), I have to do everything after he goes to sleep at night. But I do digress.

Tickle time!

The teeth continue their recalcitrant way out. We were able to get up close and personal this morning and inspect the tiny bits of whiter stuff that is now visible to the naked eye:

As you can see, he's grinding them with his established teeth, causing a frequent Popeye sneer, aka The Tooth Face. We are now in Sleep By Whatever Means Necessary mode, meaning yesterday he only took one 45 minute nap ALL DAY. And today the morning nap is once agan on the chopping block. Hey grandparents! Good luck in Göttingen (insert evil laugh). Good thing he's cute.

Pajama Parade

Pre-Pajama

Ommmmm baby.

Brussels part 2

Uh-oh-- I just heard a squawk from Mr. Morning Nap... I'll make this quick:

1. Fries-- Yes yes yes! We even stood in line at Maison Antoine with all the other good tourists-- FOR AN HOUR. We had the bad luck of being in the line with a school group and assorted other jokers who were getting huge, heavy plastic bags filled with multiple portions of fries. By the time we realized what happened we were already in it for too long to quit. You know the line is too long when Liam's afternoon nap begins and ends in the line. But the fries were good, and the cafes nearby let you bring in the fries and drink a beer.

2. Baby technology-- we LOVE the use-it-on-any-chair fabric baby seat. Only the museums had actual high chairs, so it came in very handy. Plus the squeezy spoon and the crazy baby travel tent. We also opted not to bring the stroller on this trip, and it's the last time we can do that-- 4 hours of Liam in a wrap is now a bit... tiring.

3. Chocolate-- we forgot to buy it.

4. French baby clothes-- check. (and less expensive than the clothes around here!)

5. Jeremy found the best Asian food I have yet had in Europe.

Now Liam is looking at the computer, like, " Why don't I see my grandparents?" and whining, so gotta go!

Pass the Frites!

We are in Belgium! And because a certain SOMEONE in our family goes to bed at the ungodly hour of 6:30, I have plenty of time to type up a little something about our day.

I'll start with yesterday--- Jeremy came back from Lake Tahoe (the entire trip took almost 24 hors!), and Liam and I went to meet him. Liam was ecstatic! Papa! The Peekaboo Master! And, wouldn't you know it-- he slept normally last night! He woke up twice to eat, and then went right back to sleep in his crib. Pure Papa magic. (or the tooth has settled down, but the timing is awfully convenient, no?)

We caught the 8:45 train to Brussels-- after coffee and breakfast for all, not too shabby. Liam loves looking at people, so the first half of the ride was taken care of, and he slept the second half. After getting out in the Brussels South station, we spent a fair amount of time wandering around, trying to find a map and a locker for our bags because we couldn't check into our hotel yet. After that, we made it into the antiques/flea market/art gallery hipster central of the city where we found pita sandwiches with four dipping sauces for lunch. My horrifying French (what? one semester in NYC seven years ago doesn't do anything?) aside, we managed to order what we wanted and I had a water with violet syrup. It tasted...perfume-y. Liam ate his lunch in the restaurant, too, and his distractability doesn't make things impossible anymore.

Time for Liam's second lunch! Maybe something carroty?
I packed all of Liam's foods (with the awesome squeezy spoon that makes all the mommies in our playgroup jealous), but I left it all in our bag back at the train station. We found a grocery store with a couple of jars of baby food, but NO SPOONS! I almost fed Liam with the handle side of a plastic fork, when we spotted an ice cream truck. With waffles! And the waffles come with a free ice cream spoon, if you ask nicely. Then we high-tailed it over to the nearby Magritte Museum to feed the guy in a pretty fancy cafe with baby high chairs and everything. Poor Jeremy had to drink another Belgian beer. The Magritte exhibit itself was pretty great, much more than I thought they would have. And Liam fell asleep again!

We're staying in a studio apartment kind of hotel which is perfect if you have to stay in in the evenings. Jeremy ran out for fries and baguettes and cheese and paté and hummus and more waffles while I put Liam to sleep in his crazy travel tent. It took an extra bit of effort to get him to go to sleep in there, but he's now been asleep for a good hour and a half. I kind of doubt he'll stay in there all night, but we'll see.

Tomorrow-- brunch and the science museum! And chocolates! (I don't think they allow vegetables here)

Blasted Tooth! Come OUT!: or, the last day before Jeremy gets home.

We are surviving the papa-less week over here. It's been a bit dull-- especially after I put Liam to bed and it is QUIET. Luckily, Liam ramps up the excitement in the night. The tooth situation seems to have settled on pain, unless he is waking and crying and needing to be held every 2 hours for no reason-- but let's just not even think about that. It's the tooth. Last night he wouldn't go to sleep unless he was holding on to my arm!

And related to the Tooth, Liam is even kind of grumpy today... our sunny, sweet boy?!?! But all the usual suspects are probably also at work-- Jeremy away with a smidgen of separation anxiety (he actually cried when I left him with Miriam today-- first time!). Phase. Phase. Phase.

Today is the beginning of Carnival, and we are doing NOTHING. Our neighbors gave Liam a cute little reindeer shirt, so that is his costume for the big exciting indoor activities I have planned for today. It's just too drunken and smoky and overstimulating out there. Maybe next year we can go to the kid parties, but my vote is to get out of dodge. We are getting out this time, but not until Saturday. We're taking the train to Brussels! Jeremy gets back Friday afternoon, and he'll probably be a jet-lagged mess, so I'll have to take the pictures of the peeing boy statue.



(Jeremy has the camera in America)

a tooth, how about another tooth, and another one-- wait you missed the tooth coming in over here

Oh babies, and their mysterious sleep destroyers.

It's a lot like the great bottle fiasco of Fall 2010. I try a hundred different things, and in the end, Liam does it or he doesn't. We never got him to drink from a bottle, and the weeks before he could drink from a sippy cup were pretty hairy. In the same vein, we've been working on eliminating bad sleeping habits (nursing to sleep-- EVERY TIME-- replaced with music and book reading rituals), but sometimes he just can't sleep. So, I am trying to be flexible, let him nurse for comfort sometimes when he needs it, sleep with him when he needs it, but generally try to hold the line about sleeping in his own crib without too much screaming.

We've been thinking Liam is getting another tooth--- for the past two weeks, off and on. It's one or all (!) of the top four center ones and MAN are they taking their sweet time. I saw a bit of white where the side incisors will come in, so Gott sei dank! Maybe that means I can sleep in my own bed within the next week.

I bet he misses Jeremy, too.

But it's not all sleep woes around here, he gave me a wet willy yesterday, and every time I try to record him with the camera, this happens: