I have a tooth!

Tooth #1 broke through this week! Perhaps the drooling will scale back a bit now.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Train

The CTA decorates a "holiday train" each year, completely lit up and with a flat bed car in the middle holding Santa's sleigh and reindeer. Liam was very excited over the whole experience, mostly waiting on the platform and seeing the other trains pass as we waited for the santa train.

Mmm, Gingerbread

Little helper cannot keep his fingers off the gingerbread / frosting / candies.

Happy 2nd Birthday Liam!

My how fast 2 years passes by! Liam celebrated his birthday with scrumptious chocolate tart, candles (he loves to blow them out), and some fantastic new books and toys.

Christmas Cookies

Mmmm, Liam loves Christmas cookies. And he really enjoyed rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes as well - a very good helper indeed.

Breakfast with Santa

Everyone looks happy... almost. Liam was trying desparately to escape, it turns out even the nicest Santas can be a little scary.

Cleanup

Liam loves to clean up. In fact, he does so unprompted. Here is a typical end of day view of how he arranges his cars / trucks etc for the night time.

12 Hours

Killian slept TWELVE HOURS the other night. And I'm really crossing my fingers for a repeat. He's a great sleeper, and has consistently been sleeping 8 hours at night from about 8 weeks old. However, since our boys go to bed early (6pm), eight hours only gets me until 2am when we need to refuel until we start the day at 5am. Tending to these timeslots leaves me chronically tired. Here's hoping we are having a breakthrough.

(no, they don't sleep together, but they do like to have some cuddle time when they wake up... Liam asks for the baby first thing).

Killian - 4 months

Killian has now hit his 4 month milestone, and with that a new set of stats. He weighs 16 1/2 pounds (90 percentile) and measures 27" long (>95 percentile). He's rolling over regularly, and now seems to prefer laying on his tummy versus his back. His fingers are getting very nimble, and while he can already remove his pacifier from his mouth we are eagerly looking forward to him replacing it himself too!

Double Stroller

We now own THREE strollers! The boys seem to be enjoying the new double stroller, and Liam leans over to check on baby brother when we're out for a stroll. Our outdoor excursions were pretty limited to what Liam could walk to (and toddlers walk VERY slowly as they are so busy exploring everything along the way) , so now we have more flexibility on our journeys.

Happy Halloween! (a little late)

Whew, what a busy few weeks it has been. I've returned to work after my maternity leave and have been readjusting to my job outside the home. I've also had some computer issues that I'm still resolving, but there is a real backlog of photos I still need to get through. So, to bridge the gap from my last entry to now, here are a few photos from Halloween. Liam LOVED being a fireman and wearing his costume (a rain slicker and boots so that he can continue to wear it). He enjoyed his first trick-or-treat and the look on his face when we saw he could ask for chocolate and receive it was priceless. His friend (also named) Liam, also dressed up as a fireman, and the two got busy exploring the neighborhood together.

First Haircut

Liam had his first haircut a few weeks ago - his curls were getting rather unruly and we were spending much of bathtime removing food from his hair! To ease any stress with a first cut, we went to a kids salon - as you can see the chairs were designed with young clients in mind. Liam tried out the plane and train before settling on a taxi for his cut.

Mmm, baby love

Killian's Baptism

Sunday October 2nd, St Michael in Old Town.

Every good and perfect gift is from above. James 1:17

Wakeup routine

Our wake up routine... Killian wakes up first, and as he sleeps in our room in a moses basket, he gets some cuddle time alone, before we head downstairs together to get Liam. The boys like to hang out together in Liam's crib before getting the day started.

Lil kicker

Killian's smile

Cookie Monster

GREAT Grandparents

Killian and Liam met their great grandparents John and Dot, who were visiting from New Jersey last weekend. They also got to go on their first boat ride along the chicago river on one of our last warm summer days.

Killian - 8 weeks!

Killian had his 8 week check up last week and the verdict is he's growing up fast! He weighs 13lbs1oz (75 percentile) and measures 23.5in long (95 percentile). He's eating well, sleeping well, vocalizing, holding up his head and turning it side to side while on his tummy. The pediatrician was very impressed! He's also a very sweet baby who loves to cuddle and smiles /laughs when you look at him. Big brother Liam treats him very nicely, often checking in on him, rocking his bouncy seat, and replacing his dropped pacifier (although Liam does sometimes like to take a drag of said paci every now and then).

Door County

We had a fantastic week in northern Wisconsin. Liam busied himself walking in the woods, climbing, and throwing rocks. I'm still downloading photos, but wanted to share a cute one... L couldn't get enough of the rocks, good thing the supply was fairly infinite.

Our happy baby

Killian at 7 weeks...

Liam 2 - Pinecones 0

Enjoying the woods, beach, and sunshine in Door County. Killian spends the day in his moses basket on the deck, enjoying the breeze and watching the trees overhead. Liam spends his day picking up bugs, splashing in the shallows, burrowing in the sand AND YESTERDAY HE ATE TWO PINECONES. Hmmm.

Some favorites

While he may lack a little finesse yet, it's so sweet watching Liam helping out Killian and replacing a lost pacifier...

... and watching Killian gaze at his big brother.

Airshow

This weekend we saw the Chicago Air and Water show. Airplanes are a big hit with Mr Liam - he saw the rehearsals on Friday and the show on both Saturday and Sunday.

Dad's shoes

Liam loves to try on our shoes and walk around in them - no shoes are safe, he's tried them all on.

Do I need a haircut?

Killian 1 month

Killian had his 1 month check up with his pediatrician this week. Dr Johnston was very impressed to hear that Killian is already rolling from his tummy to his back (anything to avoid the dreaded tummy-time) and to hear him vocalizing as much as he is (not crying, just general engaging). He scored in the 90% for all his stats - height is 23" and weight is 11lbs 3oz. We just wish he was sleeping longer stretches at night... he now has a ~6 hr asleep stretch, unfortunately it is from 6pm - 12am, and then we're back to feedings every 3 hours :(

Our beach

Now that the outside temperature has dropped to a more acceptable 80degrees, it's time to visit our local beach and dig in the sand.

Playtime

Liam has really taken to his little brother... he likes to lay down beside him during "tummy time" and point out all of his body parts.

Sushi

Liam trying his first California roll. Verdict - "more".

Visitors

We had a visit from Bryan's cousins - Nolan, Molly, and Owen who brought some fantastic toys for Liam including this tractor which he has played with every day since.

Brothers

Morning at the park

Mom and the boys

Oh happy days.

Baby Killian

It took us a few days to land on a name, but Killian it is. And here is the "fine I'll pose" ...

and the "I've had enough now" expressions from when he was 2 days old.

Brothers

Liam has taken a keen interest in his brother, and gets very concerned when he hears him crying. Here he is going in for a smooch.

Sweet baby-ness

First Meeting

Big brother, meet little brother. Liam and Bryan came to visit us at the hospital today... Liam took an interest in the baby, followed by an interest in how the hospital bed moves up and down, how the portable crib rolls around, and how the carts slide.

New Baby

Baby boy O'Rear born 7-5-11 at 13h51. 8lbs 9 oz, 20.5 inches. Sleeping and eating like a dream. Mom and Dad are still working on a name!

39 weeks

Shots of my 39 week sized belly, just before heading off to the hospital.

Saturday afternoon

It's been a hot week in the city, too hot to venture far from the house. We spent a lot of the afternoon relaxing at home, eating our snacks on the front stoop, and gardening.