9 months... a few weeks ago...

I've been a bit busy. Back at University, working full time, dealing with a teething child and preparing for our trip back home. Still, I suppose, it's no excuse to deprive all of you from an update on our big man. Just before Liam turned 9 months I took him for a short check up with his doctor. He was 77.5 cms and 9.74 kgs! For height, he is still in the 99th percentile, but he's dropped into the 50th for weight. The general consensus is that he is a big, bright, healthy boy. I did mention his persistent cough and occasional wheezing, but the doctor did not seemed overly concerned. He explained that recent NHS reports have found that doctors are over diagnosing asthma and despite a family history (my brother had very bad asthma as a child) he felt Liam would grow out of the wheezing/ coughing. He did offer to prescribe an inhaler (not steroid based) to help with the wheezing, but Oliver was reluctant at this stage. We decided to keep a watchful eye and notify the doctor if it gets worse.

Other than that, he remains a very content little man- despite his teething! I feel so bad for the wee man. There's really nothing that helps the pain, plus it's been making him crap like mad. He had 5 poos at creche and then another one before bedtime on Thursday. That in turn makes his wee bum super red and sore. Poor baby.

He's saying mommy and daddy more consistently now. More with Ollie than me. I have a framed collage of some honeymoon pictures in the hall. I often point to a picture and say 'who's that, Liam?'. He'll look at the picture and say dada or daddy. It's so cute! He's trying to stand without support and is able to do so for a few seconds before falling on his bum. He's able to climb all the stairs and has been managing to climb down from the very bottom of the stairs.

His appetite is ferocious! He goes mental at creche when it's food time and must always be fed first. He also eats some of the other children's food. Think he takes that after his daddy. He loves string/strip cheese. Loves it! I've recently introduced eggs. He really enjoyed his cheese omelet the other day. And his new favourite is french toast- with a little cinnamon. I'm still making all of his foods and have recently introduced rice, which he is enjoying but is a little freaked out with the texture. I'm going to try salmon next weekend.

Some recent pictures:

This is how Liam feel asleep the other day for his afternoon nap. Notice his lovely clothes- Ollie dressed him that day. It won't happen again!At the end of September, we enjoyed a bit of an Indian summer. Actually, it was the only bit of summer we had this year. We went to the park, for a nice walk around the development and then to a beer garden (duh, we're in Ireland) for a few pints (Ollie), coffee (me) and water and baby cookies (they taste a bit like animal crackers). Liam enjoying his cookie.

And another cookie...

Last and first shorts of the summer.
Sunshine out the front...

Still waking up before creche...Think he looks older than 9 months in this picture. Don't you?

Happy 4th Anniversary

I remember that day 4 years ago. It was warm and sunny and the champagne was flowing! We watch the sunset as we danced and partied into the wee hours of the morning. Just wishing my feather and her beau (who really sucks at pool, may I add) a very very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Hope you guys have a brilliant day!

Recent pictures

No real commentary on this post. Just recent pictures of Liam.

Old man face

Bathtime!

Everything in the mouth...

Another day in the park...

We met up with a few friends at the park over the bank holiday weekend. It was babies galore!! Deborah and Rosha, Cara and Anya, Anna and Oliver and me and Liam. It was so cute to see how they all interacted with each other! Ollie, Liam and I turned up a bit early to enjoy the swings and take a few pictures- Liam is always getting pictures of him and his daddy, but I want to be in there as well!

Ollie and Liam

The swinger

The clapper- Liam loves to clap.

Liam's hair is getting so curly! It's very cute.

Old friends

I love facebook. I don’t spend every waking minute on it and I hardly ever use my blackberry to check my page for updates (hardly ever), but I’ve reconnected with loads of friends from middle school, high school and college and old colleagues. With some people it’s been 12 years since I last saw or spoke to them. How much our lives have changed! Some have children, some living in different states or different countries, some with really interesting jobs and some that really haven’t changed that much at all. I’m notoriously bad at keeping in touch with people. This was the case long before Liam arrived so I cannot blame it on being a busy working mother. I can go months and months without emailing people. What was my point? Oh, even though I haven’t spoken to some of these friends in years, it still seems like yesterday. I don’t feel 30. I don’t feel thousands of miles and many timezones away. Although when I go back to the states it doesn’t feel like home anymore, when I see my friends I remember my time with them like it was yesterday.

I miss seeing my girls everyday, but I suppose that makes the times I do see them even more special! Can't wait for my October trip!

Lora’s Challenge

Lora recently challenged her loyal blog readers to see how Proctor and Gambleised (it’s a word, sort of) their lives were. I’ve always tried to boycott P&G ever since I signed a petition at a Princeton health food store when I was 20. This is mostly because they were testing on animals. To be fair, I’m not sure if they have changed that policy but it’s kind of always stuck with me. For the past 10 years I’ve been pretty successful until Liam arrived and I started using Pampers. I have tried the other brands- Huggies leaked through on too many occasions and Nature Babycare cannot handle the overnight pee pees. I’m still using Nature Babycare during the day because I would never leave my child in a wet nappy for more than a few hours so they work fine. I seem to have developed superhuman smell since I first fell pregnant- I can smell a poopy or pee-pee from down the block. At one time I had even entertained the idea of reusable nappies, but there aren’t any local nappy-washing services and I just don’t have the time to wash them myself.

My toothpaste is Colgate, my shower gel and deodorant Dove, my make up and face wash Clinique or Lancome and my hair products and moisturiser always Aveda. I’ve used Aveda since I first moved to Philly in 1999. My aunt had gotten the shampure range as a gift, but regifted to me (well, she just gave it to me) and I’ve been addicted ever since. Heather used to always say the smell of the confixor reminded her of me- Buffy the Vampire Slayer always reminds me of Heather. Whenever I go home or my family come here, they bring me the moisturiser and the super size shampoo and conditioners. I just can’t justify buying it over here, because it costs an absolute fortune- try double the price!

Persil for laundry and washing up liquid, comfort pure fabric softener, and can’t remember what dishwasher tablets I use. I hardly ever buy bounty because I try and use the recycled brands. So, I’m not too bad. Not too bad.

More photos...

Some other photos from the past week. Here's Liam in a huff this weekend at St George's Market. He's been exhibiting some arsey behaviour these days... very frustrating for mommy and daddy. He also lost his wee shoe. He now has four pairs of shoes missing one shoe.

They had a petting zoo and kids learning zone at the market this weekend. He was a bit young to fully appreciate everything.
I don't have to hold his bottle for him anymore. He feeds himself and is very good at it! I'm still spoonfeeding his dinners... think it will be a while before he masters the spoon.
We need to get gates for the stairs because Liam has discovered how to go up.