Fuzzy Love

Nothing Much

There really isn't anything exciting going on today, but I have some pictures, so I'm posting anyway. It's a quiet, gray day around here. Liam didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't sleep well last night. That's about it. But yesterday Liam discovered the joys of pillows (who knew that was a milestone?). He puts his head down comme ca, and thinks it is all hilarious.

Then he rolls off, ending up on his back, laughing. Gotta love the little guy.

And here is another funny EBay link: poor guy is selling his ex's wedding dress. My favorite part is about the Texas cheerleader hair, although it's hard to choose.

Moo Juice

It's finally happened: weaning has begun. I know, technically, weaning began the moment Liam took his first spoonful of rice cereal, but now the actual transition from mom to cow's milk is taking place. Over the last few weeks, Liam has been less interested in nursing and more interested in sippy-cupped water. I talked to good ol' Dr. Gin who suggested introducing whole cow's milk a mite early (generally it isn't advised to begin until one year) to replace some of that water. Yesterday, at one week short of eleven months old, Liam tried it for the first time. And loved it. Looooooved it. He almost never likes anything on the first try, so I was expecting at least a few days of pushing the stuff on him, but that was not to be. I admit, I was a little disappointed that it all went so smoothly (without even an ounce of protest from Liam), so when Mark said, "Liam! Now you don't need Mommy any more!", I started to cry. I know we still have a ways to go - over the next few weeks we'll increase the sippy cups and decrease the nursing - but it's started and there's no going back. Sigh.

The odd links for the day are both on EBay: first the worthless junk sale (too bad it's over), then the entire contents of a country music wax museum (these still could be yours!). Be prepared for some loud but crappy music when you hit that second page.

Video!!!!

We finally were successful and captured this video of Liam walking. As you can see, the catch and release process does not allow for holding a camera, so this set up was the best we could do. For some reason, the whole walking thing really clicked for Liam today; he has been pushing off all sorts of surfaces all on his own. He even made it from the tv to the sofa (about eight feet), with hands up and with a big smile. Check it out, but I don't want any comments about plumbers crack (you honestly can't see a thing):

Liam's on the move!

If you have a hard time viewing the video, save it to your computer first and watch it there. I'm trying to figure out what's up, since typepad changed their set up. And our house looks way messier than it really is - that's the damage that Liam can do in about ten seconds.

I know parents say this all the time, but he's growing up so fast! (sniff sniff)

Really Walking!

Liam is learning to walk. All of a sudden, he can take six or seven steps in a row, with his hands up in the air (for balance or something) and a big smile. Hopefully soon we'll have some video. We tried to take some tonight, but someone has to launch Liam (that's the only way to get him to walk on demand) and someone has to catch him. Both of those are hard to do while holding a camera. We know; we tried. Liam landed headfirst on Mark's knee, started crying, Mark and I got into a fight over how the accident could have been prevented, and we decided to try again tomorrow with the tripod.

Just so you don't have to go entirely picture-free today, here's one of me being swarmed on day two of babysitting (see yesterday's entry).

Babies Sitting

First of all, happy birthday Jenn!

I know, it's been a while since I posted. Last week was really hectic, and I really didn't have the time or energy to put anything down that you would actually be interested in. This week I've just been lazy.

Our good friends Josh and Kelly and their son Jake moved away on Sunday. Far, far away: Washington (state, not city). Josh works for Microsoft and was called to the motherland, so off they went. Last week was their moving week, so besides being emotionally traumatic, there was a lot of work to do. I helped by watching Jake for a couple of days. To my surprise, the first day went really well. Watching two babies isn't much harder than watching one, because they entertain each other.

If one baby was interested in something, the other was interested in that same something, so mostly I just had to break up tugs-of-war and deliver hugs and veggie poofs (today's baby snack of choice).

The second day didn't go quite so well. Turns out that day one had everyone in a perfect mood, but that wasn't the case on the second day. It wasn't horrible or anything, but I am no longer so cocky about my supreme parenting abilities.

Needless to say, we were all pretty happy to see Kelly get back at the end of the day.

Seriously, we were happy to do all we could to help them out and we miss them horribly. They are doing well though, and soon will be settled in their new (and beauuuuuutiful) home.

Here's an odd link for today: the 10 worst album covers of all time (thank you Allison).

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny did come to our house yesterday and Liam was very surprised. At the moment, one of the best toys (up there with tissue paper, bottles of water, and Fuzz) is a balloon, so that little string leads up to a giant easter egg balloon. It was a hit.

So were the other little toys, including Bun Bun (named by us after another bunny related to the family) and a blowfish that blows bubbles.

And all of the chocolate in crinkly wrappers, which technically belongs to me (oh yes, the Easter Bunny was very good to Mark and me too).

Hope you had a good holiday.

Spring Snow

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but Liam has developed a strange habit of staying up until 8:30 or 9:00 at night this week, so I have been too exhausted to think straight, let along write a coherent sentence. I didn't realize how much I depended on a couple of hours of me (and Mark) time each night until I lost it. Liam's back on track tonight though, and hopefully it will stay that way.

In the meantime, we got some snow today - enough to need a bit of a shoveling.

Liam is just tall enough to see out the windows and watch the snow falling (okay, he looks out there even when there's absolutely nothing going on, just like the cat).

And then he checked it all out from the sliding glass door.

Oddity of the day: for those of you who can appreciate a good Peep (do they have Peeps in Canada? I can't remember), check out this sad little site. Poor Peeps. But it's all for the advancement of science...or something.

He's Walking!

Well, almost. With some assistance, but it's still pretty great. We've captured it on video and I hope you can all see it.

Liam walking

Liam also went to a birthday party today. It was for his friend Emma (the daugher of my friend Tiffany), who turned one yesterday. Happy Birthday Emma! It was a good party and I learned some things that will go into practice for Liam's 1st: have a baby-proofed area so adults won't step on the little guests; put out bowls of cheerios, goldfish, and animal crackers; and display pictures of the party girl (or boy) throughout the first year. Unfortunately, due to naplessness on Liam's part, I wan't able to get many good pictures at the party. Here's one of Liam in one of his less cranky moments.

Really, that's the best we've got. Cold, damp (unopened) Sprite cans are great for the teething baby, by the way. Here's another that shows a bit of the party scene.

We did get this great one of Lauren and Jenn (the mom). This picture cracks me up. Ever notice how we parents often look considerably happier than our babies, in the hopes that the mood will catch on?

We didn't get any decent pictures of the birthday girl, so I won't put them up, but she's always cute (trust me).

Sick and Tired

It's been a hard week. Liam has been quite sick, although he's getting better now. He's had a fever, a bad cough, a sore throat, and an earache. Plus, one of his little top teeth came through this morning, so he's had to contend with that too. But, as I said, he's now on the mend, thanks to TLC, lots of sleep, and some antibiotics. Thankfully this morning he's been more like his usual happy self.

Thank goodness Mark is now home for good. Here's some photographic evidence that he's actually back. Note Liam's pout; this was taken yesterday and he still was cranky (the pout is in no way related to Mark's return).

We were outside because it really has been beautiful around here. It's been so nice, in fact, that the leaves are starting to come out early. This tree in our front yard has all its little flowers budding, which just means that there will be snow soon. Unfortunately, all those petals usually end up all over the front yard.

Poor Fuzz desperately wants to be outside, especially when it's nice and we are out there. But the coyotes are hungry, Fuzz, so inside you'll stay.

Well, I don't have any April Fool's Day tricks for you. Our local news announced this morning that the donut harvest was taking place this weekend (fruit loops were planted last fall), and I thought that was pretty lame, so I won't even try. (Shouldn't a joke be even just a little believable?) But some of these are funny: the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time. My favorites are the Taco Liberty Bell and the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial (#4).