April Happenings

I feel like I have less and less time to post these days because I have so much going on.  I'm trying super hard to save money wherever we can, and that kind of planning (coupons, etc) takes time!

The boys and I have been having fun as usual.  Yesterday, we met up with Rachna and Baby Quinn at the Palisades Mall.  Eli was thrilled because I let him go on the "rides" (seriously moms... when those dinky things cost a dollar... WHY are you ruining it for the rest of us by putting coins in???  Your 2 year old does not care if it's "going" or not going... they think they are riding it!) and then let him run around like a crazy person in the lower level (huuuuge open space).  It was fun to see Rachna and we're cherishing our visits before she has to move to Chicago in a few months.

We've been trying HARD lately to get Eli to be interested in potty training, but to no avail... he really wants nothing to do with it.  One day, I put him in undies and he was SO not impressed.  "Get these things OFF, mommy!"  I checked out a ton of potty books from the library and reserved a bunch of potty DVDs.  Eli asked to watch "Potty time" like three times in a row this morning... I thought that was good news until I realized that he was actually pooping in his diaper during the "only babies wear diapers" song.  Lovely.  I told him that three year olds don't wear diapers anymore, so we'll see how that goes!  Two weeks to go, buddy.

Since we'll be in this apartment longer than we'd hoped, it's time to get Eli a toddler bed.  Poor Liam has been sleeping in a pack n play since he was born, and it's only fair to let him sleep in a crib for a while.  Eli is jazzed about sleeping in a big boy bed but NOT happy about letting Liam sleep in HIS bed.  Hoping this goes smoothly... we're pushing it as a big exciting thing to happen when you turn three... sleeping in a big boy bed!  I found cheap beds ($50ish) at Target and was reluctant at first, but pfffffft.... we don't have room for a full sized twin bed and this is perfect for our needs right now.  I asked him if he wants Toy Story or Spider-Man and he said he wanted "CARS!"  Um.. cars?  Dude, you've seen that movie once.  "Are you sure, buddy? What about spider-man?"  "NO! CARS!"  Ha... so we'll see what we end up with.

Eli's also been doing a very cute thing lately... when he wakes up in the morning, he likes to tell me what time he woke up.  Since he has no idea what time is or how to tell time, he either wakes up at "35s!" or "4 and 5's!"  I just asked him what time he woke up this morning and he told me "five millions!" lol.

Eli has drastically improved in his ability to count in a row over the past two months or so.  He can solidly count to 16 and then things get a little dicey.  He's also really good at the alphabet except for the obvious LMNOP part.  Lol.

Eli's now allowed to watch two things a day (the TV watching was getting out of hand again) and this week, he's been picking the Camouflage Carla episode of Sesame Street and either Inspector Gadget (woohoo!), Woody Woodpecker, or Dora.

:)

Liam's first steps!

Today is quite the momentous day.... Liam took his first steps!!  Monday, April 23rd, around 6pm, right when Daddy got home so we were both there to see it.  He's 10 months and 8 days old.  He's been SO close for weeks now and I was sure he'd walk when he was 9 months.   For the past few weeks, he's been able to walk holding onto just one hand, and today, he was walking around holding onto my finger.  He also likes creeping up behind me and holding onto the back of my legs...walking around.  Ha.  Super cute.

So all day today, I was trying to get him to take steps alone, but he just kept looking at me like "HA!  I know what you want me to do!" and then he'd sit down.

When Mike came home, we took him over to the living room and tried to get him to walk in between couches, like Eli did for his first steps.  He'd take a STEP, but I don't really consider that walking.  Then, we took a little baseball away from him and used it as bait... he SO wanted that ball.  The next thing I knew, he let go of the couch and took a few steps!  He grabbed the ball and then stood there chewing it for a few seconds before taking a few more little steps to mike.  I got it all on camera and am super excited!

I know he's going to just take OFF in the next couple of days!  My life just got a wee bit crazier, methinks.  :)

Liam is 10 months!!

My little baby is really turning into a little boy. Today, for the first time, when we were at the Bronx Zoo riding the Bug Carousel, I looked at him and saw the beginnings of a little boy. He was sitting there (more on his own accord), holding onto the pole, looking around, really noticing everything. He was smiling at me, getting the concept of wheeeeeeeee, and just having a blast.

He is DAYS away from walking, if not hours. He can stand on his own for at least 10 seconds now, though he still chooses to hold on most of the time. He looooves walking around holding Mommy or Daddy's hands, and I've even started walking him just holding onto one hand.

MOST of the time, diaper changes are 100% better and he will lay there still, playing with his feet while I change him. Wiping his face or hands after eating, however, still remains the WORST THING IN HIS LIFE. lol. His bangs have gotten so long (daddy won't let me cut his hair til he turns one) that they are perpetually in his eyes, and when he eats, he ALWAYS rubs food into them. We almost always need a bath after dinner these days. :)

Speaking of bathtime, Liam still LOVES getting baths and has now started standing up in the tub. Whenever he does that, or his favorite (crawling over to the litter box), I say "No no no, baby baby!" and he giggles and stops for a few seconds before starting again. For some reason, I've taken to calling him "baby baby" lately.

For the past week or so, he's been sleeping through the night, waking up right around 6am. WOOOHOOO!!!

He's still in size 3 diapers, 9 month clothes (and can sometimes squeeze into 6, but he's really too tall for that now), size 3 shoes.

He drinks 7ish ounces at a time, and has 4 bottles a day. He's a good little eater, most of the time, and really enjoys feeding himself finger foods.

He seems to really like trains and cars and enjoys playing with them until his big brother comes around and rips them out of his hands. The boys have really been playing together a lot lately. Eli LOVES spending time with Liam, and vice-versa. I love when the two of them make each other laugh. Their favorite thing to do together involves cars. Eli will push a car and wait til Liam goes to chase it. Riiiight when Liam gets there, Eli runs over and gets it, pushing it to a new location. You'd think Liam would get mad or upset, but he usually just laughs and turbo crawls in the new direction to try to get it.

The cats bring Liam endless joy and he will drop whatever he's doing in order to chase them. If he's crying, I just have to bring him in view of one of them, and he stops and laughs.

Liam has the BEST laugh and I love tickling him to hear it. He loves it, too. :)

He has 5 teeth... three on top (two middle and one on his left side) and two on the bottom. It looks like a few more are threatening to make an appearance, so I hope they don't mess with his sleeping too much!

Liam appears to be a natural climber. He was outside crawling around and encountered a stair case for the first time. He instantly just climbed right up!

Two days ago, I was in the kitchen preparing something and opened the broiler drawer of the oven (where we store things...we don't use it for cooking) to get out a cookie sheet. Liam was thrilled to see the inside and started banging away at the muffin tin. I decided to let him bang around for a bit. Well, the next thing I knew, I looked down and he was INSIDE the drawer. The little monkey had climbed up and over (silently, because I was right there!) and gotten inside!

His hair in the back stands straight up, especially right after he's had a bath, and I love it. Everyone does... they comment on it all the time. My little fuzzy monkey. :)

He's started biting us a lot... me on the left shoulder, Eli and Daddy's toes.... he also likes to try to poke Eli's belly button whenever he sees it. He LOVES playing with my keyboard and comes over and bangs on it whenever he sees it. He seems to be fond of the symbol keys, frequently sending instant messages to my friends comprised mainly of symbols. :) He's FINALLY starting to show an interest in books and loves going over to the bookshelf to knock them all down. I often catch him flipping through books... he prefers the paper ones, mainly because he likes to eat them.

Liam, you're a fussy little guy but you have the best smile and laughter ever! You are a total joy, and I love and cherish all of the time I get to spend with you. 2 more months until you are a year old... I can hardly believe it!

The differences between Eli and Liam

I've heard the phrase "every kid is different" soooo many times, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to post about the differences between my two little guys.

Eli is super outgoing and always has been. He will go up to any stranger, say "Hi Lady! My name is Eli and this is my mommy and my brother, Liam." Anyone. He never had stranger anxiety, went to anyone without fussing and never noticed/cared when we left a room or the house.

Liam is shy. He prefers to cling to mommy or daddy and will crawl after me crying if I put him down and try to go into a different room. Not only will he not go to any strangers, but even if strangers come up and start talking to him, he'll start crying. This also holds true for family members he hasn't seen in a while.

Eli is a tough kid. He used to fall and bump his head 50,000 times a day and would rarely ever cry. If Liam so much as taps his head on something, he screams bloody murder. He will just sit there crying until someone comes to get him.

Eli was a HUGE eater, downing 10oz bottles. Liam has a smaller appetite and only drinks about 7 oz per bottle.

Eli liked the cats, but Liam LOOOOOOOVES them. It is Liam's main mission in life to chase riley around.

Eli was an amazing sleeper, always taking 2 hour naps and sleeping 12 hours at night (from when he was liiiiiittle). Liam is not such a great sleeper. He takes 30-45 min naps and still wakes up once a night. I think the longest he has ever slept has been 10 hours... but it's typically 7-8.

Eli was always very active, but Liam is much more so. He turbo crawls EVERYWHERE and did everything earlier than Eli did (crawling, standing, etc). Liam was even more active when I was pregnant.... never ceasing his kicking, moving, etc.

Eli was always a happy baby, very rarely upset. Liam is upset a LOT, but laughs a lot more than Eli ever did.

I feel like Liam is much more verbal than Eli was at this age, but I could be wrong.

Liam HATES being put into his stroller or car seat and is not a fan of riding in the car... Eli never minded.

Liam is just now starting to look at books... Eli always LOVED books.

Liam cries soooooooooo much more than Eli ever did.

Eli was never outwardly bothered by his teeth coming in. Liam can't deal with it.

Liam is much more cuddly than Eli ever was.

Liam plays by himself a lot more than Eli ever did. Whether this is a result of nature or just based on the fact that I have to ignore him a lot when I'm spending time with Eli...we'll never know. (I suspect the latter!)

Pretty different!!

Liam's first Easter!

I've been a little behind in getting anything done these days because it just seems like there is so much on my plate! Getting ready for Easter was a huge feat, as we have the entire family come over here every year. It was great and went off pretty smoothly...the food was well received, the fun kit-kat/m&m cake worked well and everyone was happy. We dyed (died?) Easter eggs with Eli for the first time and he had a ton of fun. We kept it very basic... no multicolors or stickers or glitter, etc... but he had a blast. It was fun to have my mom and Tommy and Kathryn over to help with the eggs. I let Liam hold a white egg for a few seconds and he was so happy, giggling away.

(That's one thing about Liam... he laughs a LOT. He loves to laugh, and it is the cutest thing in the world when he does).

The kids were still kind of young to grasp the whole concept of Easter eggs, and there were definitely some goldfish (stuffed inside) explosions because obviously, the concept of opening a plastic egg carefully is not there. It was so great to have my mom here and she gave the boys wonderful little presents, books, etc.

I want to write a lot more, but I'm pretty wiped and am heading off to do mind-numbing activities. I have one more post in mind, so maybe I'll work on that...