Liam's P1 School Photos

I still need to get over the fact that my little Liam is growing into a big boy. When Liam tried his school jumper on for the first time in the shop, my eyes welled up with tears. He looked so grown up. Then on his first day of school I let several tears escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks.  He had on his tie and was holding his lunch bag like a briefcase and I got a knot in the bottom of my stomach.  I knew this day was coming, but it still kind of caught me by surprise.

Our dress rehearsal for his first day...

I REALLY wanted to go with the shorts, but Ollie said no other kids would be wearing them and he didn't want Liam to start off being different on his first day of school.  He was right, no other kids were wearing shorts.  But he looks so cute!!

He had his photos taken at school. We could order a set- your usual 8x10, 7x5, 6x4, wallets deal but I rang up and asked for the pictures on USB.  I 'll probably just go with the set going forward, but I wanted these first ones in high res.
Maybe I'll put them on mugs and t-shirts or just save for when he turns 18 and get the mugs and t-shirts made then!

I prefer the more casual one. He has a more natural smile.

Liam is doing really well in school, really well. He comes home everyday and shares the new sound he's learning. One of his favourite games to play in the car is the adding game- Ollie gives him 2 numbers to add together and he figures it out. We haven't gone above 10 yet- he's still adding up most combinations on his fingers.

Liam got the first head teacher's award. The principal (head teacher) presented him with a badge during assembly in front of the whole school. He was so proud of that badge and wore it for days.

He loves doing his homework and rushes in the house everyday to open up his workbook. They have just started reading books- well, they are picture books and we have to make a story up with them and then point to different parts of the picture I hope that continues!!

We're back....

So it's been a while, eh?  I could list a million excuses for not updating the blog (almost everyone who reads this is on facebook or instagram or twitter or pinterest so they see my updates there) but it's mostly just that I haven't bothered.  Well, I'm making a very late new year's resolution... with 2 months left of 2012, I'm going to try and update this thing on a more regular basis.

The past year has been very full of fun and adventure.  Liam started P1 (Kindergarten) and Cian has grown into a very active toddler.  We have been back to the US twice enjoying some warm sunny weather- last year the boys and I were home for 6 weeks and this past summer we were home for 2 weeks.  Ollie and I celebrated 11 years together, 6 years married and I've lived in Northern Ireland 11 years!

At my last post (in August of last year), Cian was 5 months old.  He's now 20 months old and running around wrecking the joint.  Here is my handsome little man (as Robin):

We had a fun Halloween.  The boys dressed up as Batman and Robin for a Halloween party at Daycare.  We had intended to go to Wallace Park in Lisburn for the Halloween Hoolie, but it was so cold and Cian still has an early bedtime (7-7:15) and gets very grouchy when up late.  So we just put on our costumes and did a little trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  It's not as big of a deal over here as it is back home, so only a handful of people were home and giving out candy.  It was still nice to get out and around our part of the development.

All dressed up and giving me a little pose...

We have a random blond curly wig that Liam wanted to try on with his costume (you can see Cian in the background crying because he wanted to try it on too).

My attempt at getting a photo of Cian with the wig on... fail!

Holding hands to trick-or-treat. 

It was really cute.  Liam would take Cian's hand and walk him up to the door.  Then they would both knock on the door (or ring the doorbell several times) and when someone answered Liam would say 'Trick or treat!' and Cian would say 'hiya' and just walk right in.  I spent more time apologizing for his over-friendliness than we did trick or treating!

We're pretty busy for the rest of the year, so I'll have no excuse for lack of things to post about. We have a few birthday parties to attend, my first fund raising event (a sponsored hike up Blacks Mountain) for St Luke's PTA, my first Ulster American Woman's Club Thanksgiving Potluck lunch, Liam's Superhero 5th Birthday party, The Panto, and loads of things for Christmas.

Till then...  

5 months

Okay, so I'm a little late (again) on the Cian update, but I wanted to get it up before we fly over to the states for 6 weeks.

Right, so my little man is huge. He's pretty much on the same growth rate as Liam, which is big. At his 5 month check up he was a big 18lbs and 70cms. He's in US size 9months and UK size 6-9 month clothing. We changed him to the active baby pampers because he's such a mover. He spends most of his time on his tummy- he rolls over withing 2 seconds of being put down. At this stage (5 1/2 months), Liam was showing signs of crawling- he would be planking and putting his wee bum up in the air. Cian is showing this same signs and I think he'll be crawling around the same time.
Cian is eating all different types of vegetables- he's not very keen on fruit at this stage. He's tried carrot, parsnip, turnip, butternut squash, sweet potato, avocado, banana, apple and pear. We are going to continue with other fruits and veggies and start to introduce fish and chicken after 6 months.
This is what I find most of the time, Liam and Cian together.

Cian is getting better at sitting up. He still needs a bit of assistance, but he's well on his way.

My cuties.


We are off to the states tomorrow morning! I'll make sure to update the blog with loads of pictures from all of our adventures.

4 Months

Yes, I know, this is a really delayed update (as per usual these days). So the little man was 4 months at the beginning of the month. He is getting bigger and stronger with each passing day. I have him in US size 6-9 month clothing and he's outgrowing his UK size 3-6 month clothes already. He really is a big bruiser. I am visiting the baby clinic next Monday to have him weighed and measured but I think he's around 17 1/2 pounds and probably 70 cms. He is the same size, if not bigger than Liam was at this age. He's a pretty calm baby, but has his moments. He has found his hands and feet and spends a lot of time playing with both. He's mastered taking his dummy out and popping it back in. He is also rolling over back to tummy and tummy to back, something I found out unfortunately with a thud as he rolled off the bed- a good 4 rolls. Needless to say, he's no longer on my bed for anything. If I have forgotten something and I need to pop into another room, he goes straight on a blanket on the floor.

He started waking up in the middle of the night at 18/19 weeks for a feed, something he hasn't done since 3 or 4 weeks. So, I have started weaning him. We started with baby rice at 19 weeks. He was getting a bit constipated with just the rice and I also noticed a bit of eczema on the backs of his thighs and behind his ears. It's not severe and doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. I'm just making sure he's well oiled up after baths. We progressed at 20 weeks to a baby cereal in the morning and he didn't really like the taste, but after a few goes he seems to be taking to it. Last week (21 weeks) we started steamed pureed organic carrots which seems to have cured the constipation. This week we'll go for organic butternut squash and organic pureed apples. I love making him all of the little baby foods and watching as he tries something new.
The little man also seems to be teething. I bought him a Baltic amber teething anklet at 3 months because he was showing signs of teething then. He seems a bit better, but has very red rosy cheeks, is drooling constantly and gnawing away at anything he can.
He loves tummy time and flips onto his tummy pretty much as soon as I put him down. He grabs for everything, especially my hair, and loves looking at himself in the mirror. He is starting to babble a lot and loves to hear the sound of his voice. He has one piercing screech!
You can see his lovely eyes in this photo. They are getting bluer by the day. He has beautiful long and curled eyelashes- I'm very jealous!

Aunt Linda's visit

My aunt came over for just over 2 weeks at the end of May, beginning of June. It was so nice to have her here to help entertain Liam, love up Cian and help me organise the house a bit. The weather was less than impressive with low temperatures and mostly rainy or cloudy days... damn Irish weather!
She helped me get things prepared for the christening and was the official photographer on the day. We visited with Anne and Aunt Annie, hit the shops, visited the farm and the park. She introduced Liam to Banana ice cream, which is now his favourite ever!

I love this shot of Aunt Annie and Cian...

Aunt Lin and the wee man...
The weather got nicer towards the end of Aunt Lin's visit and we were able to get to the park for some fooling around...Spiderman...
We went to Springvale farm to see the animals. The weather was a bit crazy- one minute sunshine, the next clouds and rain. It was a nice day getting to see all of the little animals. Here's Liam hamming it up with me and Cian (wonder where he got that from?)
Big boy gets to go on his own in the barrel ride!
Nice shot of the boys.At the start of our development there are a few shops- hairdressers, tanning salon, chemist and village store. The village store was celebrating it's 1 year anniversary and threw a little family fun day with a bouncy castle, sumo wrestling, dj, etc. Here's Liam showing off his prize for being such a great dancer...
I realised how much I missed her, my mom, grandma and the rest of my family and friends so... I'm heading home to the states for an extended holiday at the end of the summer! I'm off on maternity leave until November so the time couldn't be better. I'll have 4 weeks there with just me and the boys and then Ollie will join us for the final 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to not having to cram a million visits into 2 weeks and get to enjoy a holiday at home for once!

Cian is 3 months

Cian is 3 months (well was a few weeks ago... he's nearly 4 months now) and boy is this little man growing strong! He's still a brilliant sleeper and is normally in bed from 9-10pm until 7-8am. He takes 2 set 2-3 hour naps during the day and is very alert for the remaining 7-10 hours! We have stopped breastfeeding completely now- I stopped at 12 weeks. My milk was just not there and that combined with his reflux and huge appetite just meant we had to stop. I was a little disappointed, but we did our best and 3 months is better than nothing at all! He is taking 210mls/ 7ozs of formula 5 to 6 times a day. He loves his food and is taking a real interest in what we are eating too. At his 3 month check up and injections he measured a big 65.5cms (25.8 ins) and 15lbs 9 ozs. He's in the 91st-97th percentile for both weight and length. He's pretty much exactly the same as Liam was at this stage, but considering he started out over a pound lighter and an inch smaller he might just be bigger than Liam soon! He has beautiful medium blue eyes and brown hair. Here's a pretty good shot of his eyes...
I have brown eyes and both Ollie and Liam have a hazel green, but everyone else in my family (apart from my grandmother) has blue eyes so I'm hoping they stay blue. He's a wee dote as they would say here- meaning he's a little cutie. He is a really good baby and I cannot complain one bit. He is a great sleeper, good eater, and for the most part has a great disposition. He seems to have outgrown his evening colic which makes for a more pleasant evening for everyone. He is so strong and loves to stand up (supported, of course) and is starting to enjoy tummy time, sitting in his bumbo chair and loves baby yoga. Cian is a wee wriggler and you cannot keep him still. I think he'll be rolling around and crawling in no time! He smiles all of the time now and has started laughing too. He loves his big brother and Liam loves him. I was a little worried that Liam would be jealous and be a bit rough with him, but he is so gentle and loving that it makes my heart melt. I know they are going to be best buddies.

Some recent photos of my little cutie-pie.

Cian's Christening

We celebrated Cian's christening on a sun filled, windy Sunday afternoon. He wore the same christening gown as Liam, one that I hope his own children will wear one day. I was getting a little worried he might not fit into it as it's 3-6 months and he is a little porker these days, but thankfully he fit it perfectly. We had Cian's christening at our parish church, Christ the Redeemer and Father Raymond performed a wonderfully personal service for us and 2 other babies. Cian, of course, was the cutest and most vocal... and from what my arms felt like after the 45 minute service, the heaviest. Here he is with his daddy after getting dressed in the crying chapel.
He wasn't that impressed with the water, but only fussed a wee bit.

We stayed for a few photos in the chapel before heading around to the Balmoral Hotel for his party. Here's the best family shot we could get.
Cian was stood for by one of Ollie's best mates, Joe (who according to Ollie would raise Cian in the religion of Man United) and Ollie's sister Susan.We had around 40 people join us for a hot buffet lunch of vegetarian pasta and garlic chicken with rice, salads and fresh breads. I made a cake and cupcakes for the kids. We had a friend, Warren, sing and play guitar. He got the kids all dancing to the Jungle Book and loads of funky wee tunes. Here's me with the wee man of the day.
Liam was in fine form, running around the ballroom and shouting, singing and dancing his wee heart out. He didn't even want a story that night and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

I'm a bit proud of Cian's cake which I made from scratch using fondant icing for the first time. It was a Madeira sponge cake with buttercream, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. It turned out really well and I'm going to try and get myself a few commission jobs to improve my skills.

More posts to come...