Grabbing and eating

Liam now looks very earnestly at things and can grab nearly everything he wants. Yesterday he decided it was time to really play with his turtle . . . which right now means trying to eat the turtle.

Walking and sleeping

We ended up getting Liam's stroller just in time for the weather to get really cold (and often rainy!). On the days when it's above 40 (4 degrees Celsius) we try to take Liam out for walks. Each time it has been warm enough to take him out, it has also been really windy and he has lasted about 15 minutes. We now have a wind/rain guard that we can add to the stroller so we hope he will last longer. Here is a picture of our walk on Sunday.


Tobias and I always joke about the fact that we have to fight to stay awake when we are trying to put Liam to sleep. Rocking in a quiet, dimly lit or dark room at the end of the day is a recipe to put Mom and Dad to sleep. I caught this shot tonight when Tobias was putting Liam to sleep.

Peek-a-boo

Liam loves to play on his changing table. Here's a little video of play time last night. As always, the really great laughs came before we could get to the camera . . .

Bumbo

Thank you Boston Bunns for my new bumbo! Mommy ordered it with the gift card you gave me for Christmas. Thought you might enjoy seeing pictures from my first play time with it!!

Hey look! It's my pacifier!

How do I get this in my mouth?!

(After picking it up and failing to get it in his mouth . . . )
Forget the paci . . . my hand is much easier!
Speaking of hands . . . I now can reach and grab toys.
The elephant's ears make a crinkling noise!
I like my bumbo!

Give me a hand

In the past two days Liam seems to have noticed his hands. He started looking at them and working very hard to grab and pull things. He has been bumping things for a couple weeks but now he is grabbing - - which yesterday turned into figuring out that anything in his hand can make it in his mouth.

Starting to play with a new toy

GOTCHA!
He tried several times to get this in his mouth,
but he couldn't quite sit up enough to make it reach.

When good play time goes bad

Yesterday evening I was cleaning the kitchen and Liam was playing in his cradle swing. He has just discovered the mirror in the top of the mobile and he was really playing with the animals on the mobile for the first time. In an instant he went from laughing, talking and cooing to screaming. When I got over to him he was red faced and bleeding. Those blasted fingernails struck. He has had little scratches before, but this was the first time he drew blood. As you can see from the picture below, he recovered after some Neosporin and TLC.

BABY

We have had a wonderful week with the Boston Bunns here. It was very good to seem them and great to see how the cousins interacted. The triplets always looked at Liam and said 'baby!' Today we were all in Boykins for lunch and to visit with the folks there. This was the first time the triplets had seen Liam when I was not holding him. They all ran to his bouncy chair pointing and saying 'Baby! Baby!' Since toddlers can be very enthusiastic, we had to remind them to be gentle. They learned the term 'gentle' in the context of hair pulling so every time we said 'be gentle' they would rub his head. It was very sweet.

BABY! BABY!

Be gentle . . .

Abby's 4!!

This afternoon we had the family birthday party for Abby's birthday. She turned 4 on the 15th, but today was the first chance the family had to celebrate. Since the Boston Bunns are still here the cousins were able to celebrate together . . . except for Wesley who was napping during the party.

Liam watching the party

Playing with cousin Ann

Abby showing off her bracelet from the Boston Bunns

Winston
Charlie and Rob

Let's play with Liam

Ann and Abby came over tonight to visit. Rob and Ginger brought some soft toys for Liam to play with. When Ann and Abby arrived tonight they found the toys and decided it would be a good idea to play with them and Liam. We had to help them understand that they could not play with all of them at the same time with Liam. Poor Liam doesn't know what to do!

Car seat

We always feel like we can see Liam's growth best when we compare similar pictures. Below is a picture of Liam in his car seat the day he came home at 2.5 weeks and one of him at 4 months. Bearing in mind it's the same head support and the same pacifier in both pictures.


This is what Liam was really doing in the car seat before I gave him his pacifier for the comparison picture.

Blue man

When Liam went to the doctor for his 4 month check up I asked him to look at the skin on Liam's head. The doctor said he had developed 'cradle cap' and to put on Selsen Blue at night. His recommendation was to apply the Selsen Blue like make-up and to leave it on.

Since I have never used it before you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Selsen Blue is so named because the shampoo is actually blue. It goes on blue and it stays blue. I did my best to rub the shampoo in but no matter what I did, Liam just looked liked someone from the Blue Man Group.


I took my little Blue Man to Mom and Dad's and explained to everyone why his head was blue. Rob and Ginger said the boys had the same thing and they were able to treat it with Eucerin cream. Thankfully, he now looks like this again.

4 months

Thanks to Aunt Ginger we have a 4 month picture of Liam. He spent today with his cousins. It was the first time all of them were in the same place at the same time.

Liam, 4 months
The Bunn Cousins:
Ann, Abby, Liam
Charlie, Wesley, Winston

4 months

Liam is 4 months old today. He started the day with his 4 month check up. His weight is now 13 pounds (5901 grams) and his length is around 24 inches (61 cm). (The liver specialist last week measured him at 24.5 (62.2 cm) so he must have moved or something today.) The doctor said he is a healthy growing boy and we have nothing to worry about right now.

After his visit to the doctor Liam met his Funcle Robbie, Aunt Ginger, and his cousins, Win, Wes, and Charlie for the first time since they are visiting this week. As soon as I walked in with Liam Charlie pointed and said, 'baby!'. I wasn't able to get pictures today but I will get some tomorrow.

Since Liam had his second round of vaccinations today he has been really sleepy and not very playful. I will try to get a good picture tomorrow to be his 4 month picture. For now, here is one from yesterday.

Sit ups

Liam is really starting to have a lot of fun during floor time and his smiles, squeals, and giggles make it a lot of fun for Mommy too. Here is picture from his 'sits ups' tonight. Guess it's time to get that boy a Bumbo!!!

Abby holds Liam

Abby has wanted to hold Liam for a while now. Yesterday she finally got the chance!!


Last week she finally connected that this Liam is the Liam that was 'in Lala's tummy.' Now she asks Traci every day if Traci has had her baby. Traci has explained that she will go the to hospital and when she comes home she will have the baby. Abby got very excited last week when Traci came home from work and told Bruce she had been to the hospital. Abby came running in and said 'did you have your baby?!' Traci explained she was visiting a parishioner, and that when she has the baby Abby will surely know.

New toys for the Janke boys

Tobias got a new lens for the camera for Christmas. Are you ready for your close up, Mr. Liam?

Liam through Daddy's new lens

One of the fun changes now is that Liam really interacts with people and things. The mobile that hangs over his crib is something he just started to notice over Christmas. Now it is something he enjoys looking at several times a day. It's especially helpful for times when he wakes up and Mommy can't pick him up directly . . . like when the bread dough she is making exceeds the capacity of her kneading hooks and begins to crawl out of the bowl and eventually pulls the hooks out of the mixer and into the dough and she gets sticky dough all over her hands as Liam starts to cry.

What are these strange colorful things? Do I like them or do they scare me?

Clean bill of health

Liam had his follow up appointment with the liver specialist today since his bilirubin level was slightly elevated at his 3 month check up. I was dreading the appointment today because I feared they would want another blood draw and holding Liam for that was traumatic last time. I certainly did not want to have to go through that again.

We got a lot of good news today. Firstly, his liver is completely healthy and the specialist has no concerns. Secondly, his weight was 12.8 pounds (5825 grams) and his length is now 24.5 inches (62.2 cm). (They took his weight with his diaper on so we'll see how it compares to his official weigh in next week at his 4 month check up.) The specialist said he seems to be a very healthy boy and he has no reason to see him again. Best of all . . . no new blood work!! We'll have to enjoy this one because the 4 month check up means another round of shots. :(

Our healthy baby boy! (Mami and Papi, look at what he is holding!!)

First Christmas outfit

Here is a sweet picture of Liam in his Christmas outfit from GG. This is the same outfit GG gave Win, Wes, and Charlie last year. Ginger provided the link for their picture: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7AqQ4-c8CDdTX2ePaZ6V415G1_8gnRwK31R0j28bCP9KSv0qK6JzVVGt71ZPZfGG2I33Qtq4i9daOgGsdT0WCDI53S0Y-FbflVC5YVj50ZZn_L2vy-4Y1zZH9erUAPOzmEYgWbI7bRU/s1600-h/IMG_1682.jpg

BOB

Liam is finally big enough to fit into a running stroller. Mom and Dad put that at the top of his list for Santa Claus this year since he needs something that can handle the gravel in the Museum and around the trail. Many thanks to everyone for Liam's Christmas contributions to the jogger fund. He is ready to go!!

Papi assembling Liam's stroller

A little ride around the house


For Poppa - check out the name of the stroller (sorry, it's upside down)

Big cousin, little cousin

Ann is a very sweet girl who loves babies. She come to life anytime she is around Liam. She is very attentive and she notices every change in his mood. Last night Mami Janke was holding Liam and he began to show signs of tiredness. Ann ran over and said, 'We need to take him right there (pointing to Liam's bedroom) and I will rock him to sleep. He is tired.' He then grabbed her finger and I was able to get this picture.

Big cousin, little cousin

New Year's Eve 2008

Since temperatures dropped from the mid 70s (24 celsius) to below freezing yesterday afternoon we spent New Year's Eve at home with family in front of a lovely fire. Mom and Dad donated some lovely ribeye steaks and 'Bias weathered the cold to grill them to perfection. (Christof, Tobias and you had that in common on New Year's Eve! Hope your grilling went well and NYE was great in Konstanz!)

Our table was filled by Mami and Papi Janke, Mom and Dad Bunn, Traci, Bias, Ann, Abby and me. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of steak and potatoes (and Sauerkraut for the pregnant lady). We called friends and family in Germany and England to wish them a happy new year as the 2009 began in each place. After dinner we had a visit from Reggie and Luciann Warren. We then filled out the remaining time until midnight by playing 'Mogeln' (a German version of card game Bull-you-know-what). All I have to say is keep your eye on Mami J and Dad B!!! :) But, to be honest . . . whenever someone received the pile we learned that there was not a whole lot of honesty going around that table!! I would have expected more at least from the preacher!! :)

For Christmas Tobias and I asked Liam for silent nights. He has delievered and last night was night four of a 7 to 9 hour sleeping stretch for him.

'Bias and I both seem to have developed head colds so New Year's Day will probably be spent watching movies and taking it easy.

We hope 2009 brings you health, happiness and faith, hope & love!!

The grill sergeant

Mami, Papi and Liam
Ann, Liam and Mami