Week 19

Happy Labour Day everyone! I love long weekends - especially with Daddy being around an extra day to help out. I really need a full-time nanny if I ever decided to do this again - one that babysits, cooks, cleans - the whole shaboogy. Even with all the sleep we get (Liam continues to go to bed at 7:30pm or thereabouts and sleeps for 7-8 hours - we're damn lucky) I am still ALWAYS tired. It's that "Mommy Give Give Give" syndrome. I've been tired for almost 5 months straight. 5 months down, 20 years to go. Good thing we are leaving in 4 days for the Dominican - I can taste the fruity cocktails and salt water already.

The biggest challenge of this entire trip is how the hell we're going to pack everything we need into 2 suitcases and 3 backpacks. Sounds like a fair amount of baggage space but half of that is diapers - all 130 of them. Since we are now into Size 3's they are getting bigger and there is no way for me to be able to vacuum seal them (my usual method of packing). I have resorted to the fact that between the 130 diapers and 11 days worth of baby outfits I have enough space for a swimsuit, set of underwear and a sarong. Oh and maybe my hairbrush (need to maintain somewhat of an appearance), toothbrush (fuzzy teeth is not an attractive feature) and deoderant (don't want my baby & husband avoiding me). Not to mention we have to bring the bouncy chair (essential "don't leave home without it" item), inflatable turtle, baby first aid kit, adult first aid kit and snorkel gear. Griswalds eat my shorts - this is National Lampoons Dominican Vacation - Ward Style.

Progress continues with Liam - besides his very good sleep routine (and the fact that we get a couple of hours in the evening to unwind) he has started playing a new game with his soother where he pulls it out with his one hand, hold it and looks at it and then attempts to put it back into his mouth. Most of the time he gets the wrong end in but he's getting pretty good at putting it back in the right way. No sooner is it back in his yap then he pulls it out and starts the whole cycle again. Once he's done with his "sucky" he tosses it aside and sticks his two fingers in his mouth. Everything he's interested in goes straight into his yap.

Saturday night he woke up after almost 9 hours - in my sleep haze I remember thinking that I needed to pump out some milk from my bowling ball before feeding him but was too lazy to get out of bed so I fed him straight from the keg instead. Once he was done super sucking I got out of bed and was en route to the nursery patting his back when he opened his mouth and projectile vomited a BUCKET of milk over my shoulder and all over the floor. It was quite spectaular. There was nothing I could do but stand still and wait for the cavalry (ie. Daddy) to rescue me from the pool of barf I was standing in. 3 towels, dry feet and a new outfit later we were back to bed. Unfortunately the lights and commotion revved Mr. Barfy up and he chatted at top volume for almost an hour before finally falling asleep. Yes - coffee was definitely a priority when we woke up 3 hours later. I would like nothing better than to wake up and instantly roll over to a giant java sitting next to my bed. Or maybe one of those hats that have tubes attached that I could stick on my head and suck away happily on while Liam has his breakfast munchies. I wake up tired, I go to bed tired. I'm perpetually tired.

From the funny corner Daddy has discovered that playing peek-a-boo (putting a blanket over Liam's head and then saying "where's daddy" and pulling it up quickly) makes him howl. That and saying WAAZZZZUUUUPPPPP!!!!!!!Cracks him right up. It's harder to make him laugh all the time, but ocasionally you'll do something random and he'll start howling (which prompts you to do it over and over and over again until he no longer finds it funny). One of the things that makes him laugh the most is Daddy's singing - Ian is totally tone deaf and for some reason Liam finds it hilarious. I must admit, he seems to find Daddy much more funny overall than Mommy. That doesn't surprise me though - Daddy is a pretty funny guy.

Liam is not a small, petite baby. He's robust and strong and loves to stand up on our laps while we hold his arms - can do it for quite a long time. We are working on putting him in his Bumbo chair more to get him used to sitting up. He spends a lot of time on his tummy now and is starting to try and crawl. He is very verbal in his attempts and makes loud grunting noises while waving his arms and legs like flippers. Looks like he's trying to swim. We try and encourage him and he yells in frustration while maddly paddling. He is so verbal in fact that he chats away when we're out and about and commands a lot of attention. The fact that he has beautiful big blue eyes is a lady killer - he is definitely going to be a hit with the women. Good looking and smooth talking!

Well this is it for a couple of weeks while we are on vacation - stay tuned - I'm keeping a journal while we're away and I'm sure I'll have lots to share when we return. ADIOS!