Category: News

Unfortunately I’m not referring to a movie.

This morning Liam had his first self-induced bloody injury.  I was sitting at the kitchen table and he was playing at my feet.  All of a sudden he face-planted and bit it (quite literally) on the hardwood floor.  He started screaming (‘bloody’ murder, of course) immediately and when I looked down I saw my precious boy with blood all over his hands and face.  At first I couldn’t figure out where the blood was coming from (and I never did find out exactly, because he wasn’t too keen on my rooting around to find the spot from which the blood was flowing) but as I began furiously wiping blood from his hands and face it became clear (especially after I took out the pacifier) that it was coming from his gums.  I know that there will be many more cuts and scrapes (especially, I’m afraid, with this kid) but I have a feeling that each one will hurt me in a different way–but just as much–as it does him.

This morning Liam thought it would be fun to pull up on the door handle to the oven, slightly opening it.  Then–when that wasn’t thrilling enough–he decided that he’d like to see what happens when he tries to turn the stove knobs.  Then when I said No to him he sat down on the floor, bent over at the waist and put his face on the ground and cried.  I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t use the oven or the stove in the morning…

What is it, exactly, about Matt walking out the door that has a laxative effect on Liam?

Let me tell you, you do not want to run across one of these guys at mile 3 of an 8 mile run. The guy (copperhead) that I found I think was dead, although you couldn’t tell unless you poked him with a stick and then dragged him out of the road using that stick. For those of you that don’t know, Shannon and I are training for a half-marathon on Thanksgiving. As part of our training, we run a “long run” each weekend that has been steadily building in length. A half-marathon is 13.1 miles, which seems possible now that we have each run an 8-miler. I track my runs using a somewhat buggy website, but here is a link to the route I ran today. 

Today Liam climbed the stairs–and no, I don’t mean in my arms–he climbed the stairs of his own accord.  Matt and I were both standing there just sort of waiting to see what he would do and if we hadn’t been there he would have gone backwards off the stairs onto his head.  The problem is that the stairs to our family room don’t have a railing or balustrades on the side from which you enter the room so there’s no place to put a gate.  What should we do so that we can still enjoy our family room with Liam sans playpen?

I have to stop writing now because Liam is trying to eat the cord that goes from the telephone to the wall.  I guess you’ll need to use our cells if you need to contact us because I’m going to have to unplug that, too–at least our electricity bills will eventually go down as we gradually unplug everything in our house and put a child-safety stopper in the outlets…

…but he actually ate several puffs (finger food) today after about a month of trying to get him to understand that food can come in forms outside of jars and bottles.  I’m not sure he’ll ever drink from a sippy cup, however.  He loves to drink water from my water bottles and cups and he’ll drink it from a sippy without the lid (with my help) but he seems to think that the handles on the sippy cup are there solely for throwing it across the room.  I just hope he gets there soon, because he’s drinking fewer and fewer bottles and he needs the hydration.  I guess I’ll wait to worry about it until after his 9 month appointment which is coming up very soon.

At least I can add Tylenol and Baby Oragel to his list of likes for any future pleas…

Likes:

Electrical sockets, cords of any kind, running his fingers along greased sliding glass door tracks (and licking said finger when finished), crawling through or over anything that might cause bodily harm, splashing bathwater with such force that it floods the bathroom, eating toilet paper, ripping magazines, laptops, dishwashers (inside only), refrigerators (also inside), scratching, and biting.

Dislikes:

Lotion, having his diaper changed (unless he’s allowed to stick his hand in poo), putting on pajamas, the hours between 3:30 and 7, napping past 2pm, sleeping past 6am, highchairs, children’s toys, haircuts, riding in the carseat, and having his fingernails clipped.

Please send CVs to shannon@losinghermind.com.

Serious inquiries only.

Today, after two months of furiously gnawing on everything and drooling incessantly, one of Liam’s top front teeth has finally broken through!

I’ll post a picture when it’s big enough to really see when he smiles.

Today Liam made the leap from merely pulling up to cruising along the side of the couch.  As usual, he made the leap while trying to pull keys off the laptop, which was sitting on the couch.  His development of this particular skill has been interesting because unlike his propensity for danger in other areas (see: tongue in light socket) he’s fairly cautious about things in the vertical arena.  He only stands (and now walks while standing) if he wants something and he very carefully sits himself down when he’s finished exploring.  The only place that he pulls up for the sake of pulling up is on the bars of his crib.  My guess is that the reason for this is that he’s learned that his mattress is fairly soft when compared with the floor and he doesn’t mind falling as much when he’s doing it in his bed.  At any rate, he’s definitely progressing towards walking fairly quickly.  I’m comforting myself with the notion that he’s being careful in his quest.