Liam is 9 Months Old!

Only 3 more months and he'll be a year old!  WHAT?  Where did the time go? My little Liam is not so little anymore.  At 9 months he weighed in at 19 lbs 14 oz. (30th percentile), and measured at 28.25 inches (50th percentile).  Remember...he was born weighing 5 lbs 11 oz, and measuring 18.75 inches. 


At 9 months Liam has 6 teeth (2 lower 4 upper) with 2 more coming in on the bottom any day now (we hope.) He sleeps between 9 and 11 hours a night, mostly without waking up at all.  His main source of nutrition is now split between formula (4 bottles of about 7 oz. a day) and solid foods.  He eats a variety of foods and loves things that have some flavor to them-as opposed to just bland stuff.  Thank goodness my mom is such a good cook-she cooks him fresh soups and other savory dishes all the time!  He eats fruit (banana still a favorite), veggies (sweet potato is the leader here), soup, chicken, potato, has tried eggs, peanut butter (loves it!), and recently discovered bagels.  He also likes puffs and biter biscuits.  Up until very recently he had an issue with gagging.  We even had to cut the puffs in half to avoid him losing his lunch.  But now he's doing much better!!!

     

At this point, Liam still can't crawl forward.  He's a champ at going backwards though!  His very favorite thing to do is stand in his pack and play and cruise all around it.  He also loves to use it as a trampoline.  I'm amazed at how he holds on to the sides and just JUMPS, with both feet leaving the ground.  He's working on falling without bonking his head every time.  Favorite toys include nesting cups, balls, Elmo, and a farm with animals that make noise.  He still loves his exersaucer and jumperoo!




An older picture but still too cute!

Socially, we've hit the point of separation anxiety.  It's very frustrating.  He has no problem being with me and with his Safta Tova and Saba Danny (my mom and step dad), but doesn't like being alone with anyone else, including, sadly, his daddy.  Especially in the evenings. During the day it's fine, but the closer it gets to bedtime the worse it gets.  Liam will cry and call out for me (YES, FIRST WORD IS "EEMA"-mommy in Hebrew!!!).  I hope this phase passes soon...It's a good thing daddy doesn't take this personally.  On a good note, he does great on playdates!

We had our very first overnight trip with the whole family, and it went GREAT!  We all went to see big brother Coby compete in a TaeKwonDo tournament in Charlotte.  Everyone had fun, and Coby got a Spirit Medal!  Yay, Coby!!! As an aside, let me add what an AMAZING big brother Coby is.  Last week there was a storm here that shut down roads the next morning and made traffic a nightmare.  It took Brian nearly an hour to take Liam to Safta in the morning, with Coby in the car with him as well.  Liam was hungry and cranky, and Coby saved the day by showing Liam You Tube videos on his cell phone the whole way there and Liam stopped crying!  Way To Go big brother!!!  I'm adding a video of Coby singing one of Liam's favorite Hebrew songs and pushing him around in his walker. Liam loves his big brother!

I wonder if Liam will be walking by this time next month???

Updates

So we finally got the stats on Liam.  At 8 months he weighed in at 19.5 lbs, and measured 27.5 inches.  He now has 4 teeth-2 bottom and 2 tops (the top two came in within 2 days of each other).  He gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth-every once in a while he makes it a few moves forward.  Baby proofing, here we come!!!

Liam is 8 Months Old!



I'm 8 months old!



For a change I'm almost on time! It's only March 2nd. Hooray!  Liam is 8  months old, and I don't have his stats this time.  We're due to go to the doctor next week for his vaccines, so I'll get his weight and length then.  In the meanwhile, there is SO much to share!

To start with, Liam has 2 teeth!  Two very sharp teeth, actually.  He bites like nobody's business, and it becomes a problem when we give him finger foods.  Before teeth, he would gum on stuff, sort of dissolve it, and it would go down easy.  Now, he takes bites-big bites out of food and gags.  So we have to watch him like a hawk and hope that whatever he eats stays down and won't choke him.  We think the top two teeth are coming in, and once they do it'll be a lot easier for him to chew (I hope.)



I have two teeth!

Another new thing is that Liam now loves to turn over on his belly-especially when he sleeps.  It was scary at first, and thank goodness for video monitors, but I'm pretty comfortable with it now.  There are two problems with this belly sleeping though.  One-if he wakes up in the middle of the night he can't figure out how to turn back onto his back so he gets frustrated and cries.  The other problem is that somehow the belly sleeping makes his diaper leak.  We can't figure out why, but he now wakes up soaked almost every morning.

Finally-we're MOBILE!!!  Liam is pseudo-crawling.  He gets onto his hands and knees with no problem.  But then he uses his hands and arms to push himself BACKWARDS.  Poor little guy-can't figure out how to move forward for the life of him.  And if I put a toy in front of him to try to get him to move forward he gets so frustrated!  He wants the toy but keeps moving farther and farther away.  I'm sure he'll learn to move forward eventually though, and then it'll be time to baby proof the house. 

Let's see...what else?  Ah yes....the playground.  Since we've had such fabulous weather here lately, Coby, Liam and I have been frequenting the different parks around here.  Liam discovered the swings and boy is he in love!  We tried the slides, with Coby holding him and coming down with him.  Not so much! We'll keep trying though!



Love that hat...and the boy wearing it!

I love the swing!



 

I'm curious to see how long it will take Liam to crawl forward and eventually to walk.  Coby never really crawled, and walked right at a year.  I have a feeling Liam will walk sooner....Oy!!!  Coby is such a fabulous big brother!  He always makes Liam laugh.  And lately, even when he has friends over he sits down to play with Liam!  Check out the pictures!!

My 2 favorite boys in the whole wide world!

Coby Is Incredible!!!

As I mentioned a few days ago, Coby is now a member of the Raleigh Boy's Choir.  What we didn't know was the extent of his musical talent.  Today on the way home from school, I started singing a song that Coby learned in music class and that his class had performed a few weeks ago.  I was singing just for fun, no biggie.  Two notes into the song, Coby interjects:  "Mom!  You started the song on the wrong note.  The song starts on a 'G' and you started on a 'B'."  WH....WH....WHAT????!!!!!!  I thought he was joking, but no.  This kid of mine was serious!  We were on our way to my mom's house, where there is a piano.  I decided to do a little experiment.  When we got to my mom's, all of us went straight to the piano (so I'd have witnesses!). I told Coby to sing a 'G.'  He did.  I then played a 'G' on the piano.  Perfect.  Still not convinced, I told him to sing a 'C.'  Coby asked-"High or low??"  He sang a 'C,' then I played it.  Perfect again.  I challenged him next with an 'F.'  By then, the whole family is gathered around the piano, jaws touching the floor.  Sure enough, when I played it, we realized that again, he had gotten it spot on.  I'm stunned.  My child has perfect pitch.  What an amazing talent to have!  Now to find ways to take advantage of his talent!!! 

A Few (Important) Odds and Ends

We got the call today from the dermatologist that the pathology report came back, and everything is just fine.  That spot on Liam's head was a "benign lesion."  Nothing more!  Yay! I think I took my first real breath since Friday.  Liam still has a "hole" on his scalp, but I'm sure it'll heal pretty fast.


On a totally different note (no pun intended here...), I'm proud to announce that Coby auditioned for, and got accepted into the Raleigh Boys' Choir.  It's quite a prestigious group, who travel all around the world to perform.  Coby will have to work his way up, and now he's in the training choir.  It's very exciting, especially for me, since I've been in choirs all my life.  I sat in on one of their rehearsals, and was so impressed!  Coby is having a blast and has already made friends.  Love you, Coby!!!!

7 Months Old

I love pizza!



I love my feet!

Once again, like a broken record, I'm a week late. This past month has been crazy. About 3 weeks ago Liam got yet another ear infection. Ten days on antibiotics did the trick. It's a good thing he really liked it! His Reflux is finally under control, thanks to Prevacid. He's a changed kid! He sleeps well at night, his breath doesn't smell, and no more spitting up (not that he spat up much before.) The only bad thing is having to time the medicine with his food. The meds have to be given at least 90 minutes after a meal and at least 30 minutes before the next meal. In the morning it's not a big deal. As soon as he wakes up he gets the medicine, then we keep him entertained for 30 minutes and give him breakfast. In the afternoon it gets tricky. The medicine works best if given before 5:30 pm (because of how the acid pumps in the body work). So he has to be done eating no later than 4:00pm. And we have to make sure he eats well so that he's not starving later. I know...for a 7 month old going for 2 hours without food shouldn't be a big deal. But he likes to snack and try foods that we're eating. We've got it under control now. Yay!

While I'm on a medical "run," let me describe our latest adventure. About a week ago we noticed a small black spot on Liam's head, in the back. It was not there before, and I wanted his doctor to have a look. Sure enough, the doctor immediately sent us to a dermatologist, who "shaved" it off (not a fun experience for Liam or mommy) and sent it to pathology. We should be getting the results back by the end of this week. She said that there is a 90% chance it's nothing-just a regular mole. I'd rather not discuss the other 10%.


Other than that, let's talk about some good Liam things. At 7 months he weighs about 18 lbs (he hasn't gotten weighed since 6 months) and is about 26 inches long. He's now in 9-12 month clothes. I feel like we're always clothes shopping (not that I'm complaining!). He sits up all by himself with no problem, and reaches out to toys that are far away. We recently got him a shape-sorter, and he loves to take the shapes out one by one. It's great for his fine motor development. When we put him on his belly he still "swims" most of the time. But he does push up and try to move around. We're pretty sure he'll be walking before he crawls. Of course, every toy goes right in the mouth. This makes life interesting when toys (or a hand) gets shoved in a little too deep at very inopportune times.


Feedings are always fun around here. The majority of his food is still formula from a bottle. But we let him try a lot of things we eat. His latest favorite was pizza. We gave him the crust and he wouldn't let go for anything! He just chewed and chewed. He also likes fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, and Safta Tova's chicken soup. Yesterday we tried Gerber Freeze Dried Yogurt bites and he loved them.


Language wise, we hear a lot more sounds from him. Babababa is still a big one, but we hear the occasional mama, yaya, and uh-oh. He also understands more now. We'll say "where is daddy?" and he'll look at daddy. He also knows light, mommy, Coby, Safta, and teddy bear (all in Hebrew, of course.)


He loves playtime. He's definitely a techno kid. He loves toys that have lights and sounds. He can push buttons and make things spin-so definitely learning cause and effect. Peek-a-boo is a favorite as well.


it's amazing that 7 months have already passed. It's almost time to plan for his birthday (well...I said ALMOST!) See you in month 8!!!!

                                

Coby's Corner: At 6 months

Hey Hey Hey its coby on the page and i have to say, liam is awesome with a capital AWESOME!!!  Liam may be loud but he is cute.  He can laugh like no man's beezwaks.  He smiles almost anytime i talk to him and i held him twice on the spinny chair and he loves it.  All i have to say is liam rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!