25 weeks

What a fun week we've had down here in California.  Liam has been to a birthday bash filled with TONS of kiddos of every age, started on solids, is well on his way to crawling, and is trying to pull up.  Lets start from the top shall we.

Firsts:
First food, ok I guess it's really the second or third depending on whether you count breastmilk and that apple he sucked on a few weeks back.  Avocado!  Liam was certainly apprehensive and didn't get much in his mouth but he had table food.  We're using the baby led weaning methods to start him on full solids from the start and skip over the purees altogether.  If your wondering why we're going this route it's mainly because it just makes sense to me but you can read more about it and why it's done here  here and here.  It's certainly not the most easy method, I mean I could be spooning food into his mouth for him which would be quicker, but it allows him the opportunity to pick which foods he likes and actually decreases the chances of choking if you do it at 6m and on babies pace.

One of Liam's favorite places to hang out is under the table.  Brooke was able to capture a few great shots of him chewing on the chairs

The pulling up I spoke of before, this is the most common place it happens.  We still have bumpers up because he likes to get his limbs caught in the bars when they're not, but now that he's trying to climb them I may have to switch to the breathable ones.

Loving bathtime...until we try and put on his diaper and pj's

I was so lucky as to deliver Gisselle and it was her first birthday on Monday so her parents threw a huge party for her.  She was all decked out in her pink dress and was a fabulous little birthday girl, until she decided to feel the candle's flame.  Luckily she didn't get burned and recovered in time to open all her presents.  Liam had an absolute blast hanging out with all the kids and enjoying new people.  You may recognize some of the faces as those of Theresa and Eric's girls, they're just so adorably cute I couldn't resist putting them up

This next set shows the froggy pose that Liam does after he pulls up into a crawling stance.  He doesn't seem to like to be on his knees.  We've tried putting him on softer surfaces, like his alphabet mat and the bed, and tried babylegs to protect his knees but neither works.  Who knows why he does it, but it sure is cute.

I couldn't post about his first food without including a shot I saw someone else do called "I got this far on breastmilk alone"  Seriously proud of our little family for sticking to breastmilk and building such a healthy little/big guy!  It's going to be a shame to let him eat some of his calories by himself, I sure thought they tasted pretty good!

'Umm, what am I suppose to do with these things????"  Of course he didn''t just go shoving them in his mouth like he does with everything else, including the dog's food.  I've learned already that bigger is better when it comes to pieces.  He can't eat what's in his hand and can't get his hand open very well yet, typical of this age, so by having larger pieces he can use part of them like a handle and put the other part into his mouth to suck/chew on it.

24 weeks

Labor Day weekend means 3 stay home days in a row for the whole family, Liam loved it.  He really does like having us all here even if it just means running errands and playing on the bed or his mat. In terms of what Liam is doing it's all about the same except he's much better now.  This weekend he started sitting up regularly with ease and I'm wondering if that's what helped his sleeping improve as well.  We were having about a week there when he woke up about 3-4 times a night and it was especially hard to get him down to sleep.  He even refused the boob which is completely unlike him.  Since he started sitting he's been going down about 8pm for the night and not waking until 4am when he eats like a crazy boy for about 20 minutes then goes straight into his crib where he sleeps until 8ish.  I have NO IDEA if this will stick or not...I'm sure not.

Firsts for the week:
Easily going from lying down to sitting, Liam kept evading being seen while he was doing this for SO LONG.  I think he did it about 5 times before we actually saw it happen.  We know he did it because we were watching him laying and then looked away for a second and he was sitting.  Since we've both seen him do it I can now guarantee that neither a fairy nor Eclair is sweeping in and lifting him up :)

This set gives a good idea of where he is on movement...bear crawls were not a favorite of Dominics but apparently Liam loves them

My water baby enjoying bath time as always

New pjs for the upcoming Halloween holiday, still a little big so they'll fit come the end of October

The many faces of Liam Christopher

I ordered these adorable hats off etsy a few weeks back and they just arrived...at $5 a piece I couldn't even make them cheaper.  They are acrylic, which I never knit with myself but hey they were $5!

Still enjoys the heck out of his jumparoo....this is a MUST HAVE toy for us

Liam, buddy, you're not suppose to be watching television yet!  Please note it's football on the screen.

Here was the first time we came in to check on him from a nap to find him sitting up.  He was being so quiet we didn't even know he was awake yet.

Naked baby enjoying the California heat and a three day weekend with mom and dad...oh, and Eclair

I go weak in the knees for baby rolls

and apparently Liam goes weak for mom's hair

stare down

Bubba, we got you a bunch of toys, you don't need to eat the mat

Monday picnic in the park plus Liam's third food, grass (one is mama's milk and the second is apple)

Wearing all white on labor day since you're not suppose to wear it AFTER labor day.

Showing off my skills and enjoying Sophie for lunch

My view from the blanket (this is the one Irene made us for our wedding and it's perfect size for picnics for three+Eclair)

23 weeks and Sitting Up

Another week gone by, Liam is justs continuing to experience life and I think he really likes it :) 

First for the week:

First time sitting up on his own.  He just did it TODAY and it's only happened once so far but I bet this week he changes that.

First time at O'Dea

First fair

First time tasting an apple, thanks to grandma's persistance I let him suck on it after she had taken a bite.  NO MORE until 6 months though.

This week we made the treck up to Washington again for Dominic's 10 year reunion and Liam had a blast catching up with everyone he hadn't seen in a month.  First stop was the Kitsap County fair with Hailee and Auntie Cindy.  H was proud that she was pushing the stroller, great practice for her new role as a big sis.

Just as I took the picture Liam woke up....startled much?!

There were lots of animals to see

and face painting to be done (please note the model for the batgirl, it's Hailee from last year!!!!!)

You can't go to the fair without going on a few rides, since Cindy is preggo (20 weeks) I got the privilege of going with her. 

I like to call this one Driving auntie Shawna

DELISH!  the elephant ear was SOOOO yummy.  we all split it and I could have eaten that entire thing myself

Someone decided to actually wake up and enjoy the fair...LIAM

Believe it or not, that elephant ear didn't fill anyone up.  We headed to Noah's Ark for some delicious lunch with Mary and a few of the Garguile clan. 

Liam and Dominic spent the rest of the afternoon with Nana/Mary while Cindy and I went shopping...they don't have my panache for taking the camera everywhere so we didn't get any pictures until the evening when Papa/Tim made some great burgers.

Grace, I know there's something in here...come feel it

Grandpa wanted to show Liam the Ted Nugent scarf he got...I'm pretty sure Liam liked it

In the morning we hung out at the Jensen's while Dominic went to the Mariner's game with his class (again, sans camera but he took a few with his phone this time)

Gina and Mary joined us for a while, does this kid love his Aunties or what?

Sunday was the family barbque in Seattle at O'Dea....as we were heading into the gym I was informed that the amount of banners I was about to see in one location was likely a record and I would never see so many in a single location anywhere else.  Somehow I am pretty sure this little guy is going to be contributing to those banners at some point in his life.  I actually let Liam down on the astro turf...sort of regretting that now, but he had a blast.

Behold the banners:

A small turn out but 20% isn't bad for a 10 year reunion from what I hear

Ferries are the BEST mom...especially when dad lets me drive the car!