Teething sucks

We can only assume that Liam is going through an uncomfortable phase teething right now. Today was a particularly challenging day since he spent most of it screaming and crying. When he wasn't crying he was gumming anything he could get his hands on.

Liam's newest teething toy . . . Mom's apple
(other teething toys today,
the handlebar on the shopping cart at the grocery store,
the rubber duckie and teether at GG's,
Liam's teething star,
Mom's measuring cups,
and pretty much anything that fits in his mouth!)

Numbing his gums with freezer pops
(thanks TT and UB for the suggestion and the box of freezer pops!!)

Sucking on fingers - not pictured,
sucking on Mom's fingers and Papi's fingers

Gnawing on the paci

What most of the day looked like

Bobs of our lives

The bobs of our lives

Liam's BOB stroller

Poppa Bob

Mommy's new (old) bob

Random 'goings-on'

Hanging out with Dad

Papi's little helper

Can I eat it?

What are those?
Can I eat them?

Sitting tall

Liam in his new chair - working on holding his own bottle,
but not there yet

Yesterday, we were outside working in the yard and Tobias and I noticed birds in our gutters and lots of debris on our front porch. We wondered if the birds were making a nest in our gutters. Today, Tobias was power washing the house and he took the wreath off our front door to wash the door. This is what he found on top of the wreath. As it turns out, the birds were not building a nest in our gutters, but on top of the wreath on the front door.

Play time, I mean bath time

Bath time is now play time. Getting Liam bathed is now secondary to letting him explore and play in the bath water and with the bath toys. Liam LOVES to get the washcloth and suck the bath water. Tobias has nearly stopped worrying about it. Now, if Liam could just figure out how to catch the water!!

Tobias is my dad

Further proof that Liam has a healthy dose of Janke DNA . . .

Liam discovered the space bar and 'C' key after learning that the mouse key stops and starts the "Sendung mit der Maus" clips. To tell the truth he has not quite figured out what clicking and pushing of keyboard keys really does but still had a lot fun exploring!

Not happy about Tobias taking his picture
when he was trying to figure out the computer

Spielkalb!

8 months old!!

Liam is 8 months old today!

We have started foods again and will proceed very cautiously. Liam scarfed down his sweet potatoes today. We will keep him on sweet potatoes (and rice cereal) for a week before trying anything news. We'll see how food goes this time. He has always been a good eater, but his body was NOT ready for food when we tried at 7 months.

He is growing and changing every day. He can move around by rolling and he is now rocking on all fours. We figure crawling is going to follow soon. We will enjoy the final days of being able to easily contain him. We now have be VERY careful with him in his bouncy chair because we have found him hanging off the sides, nearly tipping several times. He now only sits in it on the floor. Let's hope we don't find a Liam turtle any time soon. We will hate to see the bouncy seat go.

We took Liam to make his first passport application today. Let's just say getting an infant passport photo is interesting. It took 15 tries but we got there in the end. With infants the parents have to appear in person to make application. So, we all met for lunch today and Liam will have his US passport in 6-8 weeks. Once we have his US passport we can apply for his German passport.

Speaking of taking pictures at 8 months old . . . this is why taking any picture is getting difficult.

(Some of) the outtakes

Mother's Day Picture!

Traci and Bruce got some pictures at their house so I do have some pictures from Mother's Day!

This is Liam's I-should-have-taken-two-naps-by-now look

This is me enjoying a gift from Bruce
Now pretend Liam and I are in the same picture and we have a Mother's Day picture together. :)

German Fisch for breakfast

Feedings are becoming increasingly difficult because there are so many things that Liam wants to notice and explore during feeding time. This morning he decided he wanted fish for breakfast, not milk! At almost 8 months he has finally decided to adopt the fish rattle he got from the German Nikolaus a few months ago. It fits his hands perfectly and the fish is just the right size for a chew toy. The most amazing thing was that he did not drop it on the way from the changing table to the living room. His pacifier would have been on the floor at least once!

First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day. I had really hoped to get some good pictures with Liam . . . unfortunately that did not work out. We started the day by going to church. The problem with church is that the 830 services falls right when Liam should be taking his first nap and the 1100 service hits right when Liam should be taking his 1100 bottle and 2nd nap. We went to 830 and since church gives Liam lots of new things and people to look at and hear he did not fall asleep for his nap until 920. That meant that putting him in his car seat at 937 woke him up and we lost nap number one. When we tried to give him his bottle at 1100 he decided he really didn't want to take it. We got half of it in him before we had to leave for Traci and Bruce's for Mother's Day lunch with family. This time Liam decided to fall asleep in the car 10 minutes before we got to the Powers' house. So, once again, he woke up when we moved him in his carseat. We had hoped giving him the rest of his bottle would put him back to sleep, but it did not. As soon as we tried to move him to the mattress to sleep he opened his eyes and saw that he was not at home. So much for nap number two. We headed home in time to give Liam his next bottle and we just knew he'd fall asleep for sure during this bottle since he missed both naps in the morning. Instead, he decided he did not want to take more than half of his bottle and he wanted to play! He remained awake and playful all afternoon and into the evening. After bath time it was bottle time again and this time he was fast asleep after about 3 minutes. He took the entire bottle and was down for the night.

I guess not being able to get a picture is actually fitting for the our first Mother's Day. Liam turns 8 months on Wednesday and I'll be sure to get some pictures then!!

Janke Jungs

A day in the life of the Janke Jungs. (The 'Janke boys')

Tobias and Liam were hanging out after breakfast this morning. The Germans will be happy to know that Tobias has introduced Liam to 'Sendung mit der Maus.' (That is a popular show in Germany for children.) Before Nanna has a heart attack, these are only video clips and last about 20 seconds. Liam is NOT watching TV.

Morning naps during soccer. Clearly, Bayern was not playing!

We decided to grill Bratwurst for lunch. One challenge though . . . Tobias needed to grill outside during the Koeln vs. Bremen game.

What I saw from the kitchen when Tobias was grilling. He is watching the soccer game through the window with his headphones on so he could keep up with the game.

After church, GG came by to visit Liam.

Raspberry!!

Liam loves to make 'raspberries' on any skin surface to which he can get his mouth. This afternoon Tobias and I cracked up when Liam attacked Tobias' leg while they were watching soccer. Liam was sitting in Tobias' lap when Tobias crossed his legs. As soon as Liam saw Tobias' thigh he threw his arms around Tobias leg and started giving him a 'raspberry.' (Any one know what that translates to in German?)

Liam attacking Tobias' leg

Mom, leave me alone. I am busy!

Back to work

Hey, look. A remote! I'll give it a raspberry.

Crud, doesn't work. Give me that hand

Everyone said parenting would change us. I just had no idea how much. When Liam starting mouthing the remote, and Tobias did nothing, I had to wonder who that man was and what he had done with Tobias! :)

First pets

Liam's cousins, Ann and Abby, came to spend the night last night. They have been saving their money and were very excited to get to buy their first pets today - - guppies!! Nanna taught them what bartering is by offering them an aquarium in exchange for some house work. We've never seen them dust with so much enthusiasm. With the tank secured they could focus their time and money on the important things: plants, rocks, and decorations for the tank.

Traci and I took them to the pet store this morning while Tobias and Liam watched soccer. They are now on their way home to go set up the aquarium.

Getting ready to go home with their fish (and snail)

Liam with his first pets

Other fun things from the past two days. Traci and Mom watched Liam last night so Tobias and i could go out to dinner with my colleagues from work. It was great to have some time together and to get a nice hot meal that we could eat at the same time.

Surprisingly, Abby fits in Liam's running stroller and she went running with me this morning. Pushing 48 pounds (21.78 kilograms) in the stroller really made the run a work out. We had a great time.

Evening at the Janke house

Last night we were able to capture Liam playing very contently for about 20 minutes. I videotaped a little over 6 minutes in which you can see him doing all of his latest and greatest tricks: chatting, rolling, smiling, burping, etc. He has even begun trying to give 'raspberries' on any arm to which he can get his mouth. So, this is a rather lengthy clip (OK, a really long clip). But we thought those of you who don't get to see Liam in his day to day action might enjoy it.

If you wonder how Liam starts magically sliding backwards, picture Tobias' hands around his ankles. :)