I love this boy...

Grateful...

--for my father-in-law's successful aortic repair done this week. He's home, comfortable and doing well.

--for dodging Hurricane Irene.

--for a really great photo session with Emerson & Liam yesterday. Photos turned out so cute!

--for wonderful neighbors & family who helped us get through our childcare drought last month.

--for my friend, Jen, even though we don't get to see each other often enough. I think about her daily.

--for flexibility at work, and coworkers who didn't care that my 4 yr old was camped out with an iPad outside my office all day on Friday.

--for a husband who pitches in, stays up late, gets up early and makes our babies laugh.

--that my thyroid nodule was benign and it's almost gone now.

--for a three day weekend with nothing to do & nowhere we have to be.

Behind...

Oh, *sigh*....as my Mama pointed out, I am behind in my blog posting & photo updating. The truth is that our little boy is not nearly as well-documented photographically speaking as Emerson was at this age. He is as cute as a little button...filling out in all the right rolly-polly places and crazy wavy hair. He's started wearing his hair thin on the sides & back a little from rolling around in his sleep (I assume), but we've also seen him tugging on his hair on the sides as well. He smiles at his sister when she comes around to aggravate, er, talk to him. He's a chatty little guy who likes to make eye contact & talk you up. He's enjoying chewing on his hands as well as any piece of cloth that comes within reach (washcloth during bath time, your shirt during burps, bibs or blankets). He's spent the past 2 days (last Friday and today) at the daycare for some transitional time, and then starts full time on Sept 1. Keith and I are splitting days until then as we've been unsuccessful in finding any other alternatives this week and next. Public school starts this week, so babysitters are trying to enjoy their last few days of freedom.

Meanwhile, big sister is taking private swim lessons and is really gaining confidence in the water. We are working hard to break the thumb-sucking habit with the help of a product called Malvo-stop. One of my coworkers is married to a dentist, and she recommended this. It tastes horrible and you paint it on the thumbnail. I did this for the first time while Em slept, and she woke up crying that night at 1am (but went back to sleep without intervention) and then told me in the morning she "had a bad dream and her thumb tasted DISGUSTING!" I didn't fess up and have been painting this stuff on after she falls asleep for the past week or so. She is stubborn, and trying to figure out how to suck that darn thumb without tasting the stuff. Surprisingly, she hasn't asked how that nasty taste got on her thumb, but did suggest that it might help her quit sucking. I mentioned a Thumbalina fairy who sprinkles stuff on thumbs in the middle of the night, and she pondered that one for a while. We are also (poor kid) worked hard on staying dry at night. She's been dry the past 3 nights in undies instead of a Pull-up. This requires my getting her up after Liam's last bottle and when Liam wakes up at 4-5 am to eat. So far, it's working!! She is so proud of herself in the morning.

Em started in her new classroom at the beginning of August (4-5 yr olds). I signed up to be the Library helper for her class, and bring a ton of books in each week that support the theme they are studying. There is a real focus on learning letters, reading & spelling. I really think she'll be in good shape this time next year when kindergarten rolls around (*sob!*). Now that I'm back to work, we're establishing an evening routine in which Liam is put to bed by 745-800, and Em has 30 minutes of total parental attention. We've been playing board games, reading, doing flashcards, etc. She eats it up, and her behavior has improved considerably.

Seriously Sweet Sleeping Baby Boy

Summer Updates

1. We're going to sign Em up for private swimming lessons soon (I know, summer is 2/3 over!) in an effort to get her swimming independently. Group lessons just haven't cut it.

2. Liam caught his first cold, courtesy of big sister, who had it last week. *sigh* There is nothing very effective you can do for such little guys when they are sick. Good news is Em is finally old enough to get cold meds!

3. I'm trying to figure out the nusing/pumping schedule for when I go back to work in a week. I have a general idea of how this will work, but it all really depends upon the sleep schedule Liam settles into. He's been sleeping in his crib for the past week, and that's working well. He usually gets his last bottle around 9p and then wakes up once around 2-3am (although this morning was 430!!) I'll breastfeed around 6-630 when he wakes up again.

4. We are in a quandry about childcare come August. Liam's daycare spot doesn't open up until the end of the month. Judy is coming the 2nd week of August, but otherwise, it's probably going to be a lot of working from home/taking Liam to work for Keith and me. Hoping our neighborhood sitter can cover a few days before she goes back to school. This is making my transition back to work mighty stressful!

5. We had a successful trip to Myrtle Beach last week. We stayed at a Hampton Inn, which was nice in that 1) it was oceanfront & had 9 pools 2) free breakfast 3) fridge in the room for breastmilk & lunch items 4) seafood for dinner nightly 5) met up with an old from of Keith's from Tipton & her family for dinner one night 6) Mama got to take a long walk on the beach alone (well, almost alone...had a sleeping baby in the Bjorn)

6. We are in the process of refinancing our mortgage, and getting a *really* low interest rate. It will knock off several hundred dollars per month on the bill, save us thousands in interest, and we'll pay the house off faster. A win-win-win! (Thanks to Keith for researching & executing!)

7. We're trying to get back into some of our family routines (Saturday library trips, etc), as the past 3 months of complete chaos has really thrown Em for a loop. Behavior is turning ugly, and we need to get her back on track. Kids really do thrive on routine and having some predictability to their lives!

8. Em came out the bathroom the other night and told me a kid at school shoved a piece of candle up her nose. That seemed a bit odd. I asked her who did it, and she said she couldn't remember. We have a candle in the bathroom, so I asked her if she just shoved a candle piece up her nose, and that I wouldn't be mad if she did. So, she fessed up and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get the darn thing out. When I asked her why she did it, she said she wanted to smell it, and "it got to close". We had a nice chat about not putting anything up our nose again. *sigh*

9. I've been consigning & donating maternity clothes, kid stuff and am feeling the need to purge! Perhaps this is due to the large amount of baby STUFF that's all over the house these days.

10. The big to-do list I had to get accomplished during my maternity leave is mostly sitting undone. Drat! I can say that my boy has doubled his birth weight in 10 weeks and grown about 4 inches in length, so I guess I got something done!

Ch-ch-changes...

With the addition of a new little person to the family, lots of changes have been going on around here. The reduction of parental sleeping hours is just one of many! We are finally beginning to get into a bit of a schedule, with Liam *usually* only waking up once in the middle of the night after his last evening feed around 11pm. Some nights go better than others, but it is glorious bliss when he decides to snooze until 4am! I've been trying to have him take an afternoon nap in his crib so that we can begin that transition to nighttime sleep in his bedroom when I go back to work in early August. I'll be returning to work full time, but changes are on the horizon, as I found out my supervisor will have left by the time I return. It's been nice to not have to think about work for the summer, but reality will hit full-swing come August, as it's one of the busiest times of the school year.

Emerson will be transitioning to the 4 yr old classroom tomorrow. It's her last year at the preschool before kindergarten. I can't think about life this time next year, as we'll be buying school supplies for our girl, and gearing her up for her first school bus ride. I'm sure I'll be sobbing on the corner as the bus drives away. Who gave this kid permission to grow up?!

Liam is working hard to lift his head & shoulders up, do little "push-up's", and has rolled from front to back several times now (I think just to prove how much he hates tummy time). He is cooing, smiling and chatting us up on a regular basis. He's started swatting & kicking at toys, and enjoys our morning walks.

I've been taking 3 mile walks on a daily basis for the past several weeks in an attempt to get back into shape (and back into my work clothes). I've joined Weight Watchers online to shed the last few unwanted pounds. I'm considering joining the Durham YMCA, which is only 2 blocks from work. I discovered they offer lunch time exercise classes, which would work very well for my schedule.

Summer if flying by, and August will be here before we know it.

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