Let the Wild Rumpus Start

Week 108: Seeing Beauty

Reading my favorite photographers and blogs around the world tonight... I was struck once again by this photographer.  Her work is more than astonishing; it reaches deep inside.  It does more than inspire me; it make me feel lucky to be alive. 

While reading another blog, I found this poem:

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.



Naomi Shihab Nye

 

Here is my boy.  My muse.  My Liam. 

  

 

 

Week 8: Homeboy

This week Liam officially turned 2 months old and we had his well-child doctor's visit. He is 24 inches long and almost 14 lbs! That puts him in the 75th percentile for his age group. He was great during the appointment and very healthy. We feel very fortunate.

I read in a child development book this week that a two month old can sometimes intentionally hold things. Can you believe it??? Our boy is holding a little maraca!

Sheesh. It's like he just came home with a gold medal I'm so proud.

Liam and I have started going to a local Mom and Baby Group. We have a lot really great people and it's good to meet other moms that are as sleep-deprived/deliriously in love as I am. 

We think we figured out where Liam's blond hair comes from. It's a Shotwell trait - my Dad's Dad had it as well as Dad's sisters Nancy and Kim. My brother, Dylan, shown as a spunky three year old below, has it.

Looking at their photos, I can see the same round face, nose, and hair.

Which is wild because if he's anything like Dylan...

...we're in trouble.

Buckley

Buckley is our cat. Buckley has been with us since before we started dating. I am a sucker for free cat signs, and when I pulled over and this little guy started cuddling and purring right away I knew he had to be mine.

He's a rather eccentric fellow. During the winter he chews his fur off.  No kidding, he chews all the fur that he can reach off. We've had him looked at and the vet said he's fine, and that it is psychological.  (!!!!!)  Also, we've found that Buckley eats like most dogs do. He'll eat until the food is gone. Gone. If that means he has to eat the WHOLE BAG of food, then so be it. We've had to limit the amount of food we give him a day, and yet he has managed to grow exponentially with each passing year.

For a long time he was the star in the family. We cuddled with him and Saturday mornings. We would watch every movie with us. (His favorite was the Maya Deren film the Private Life of a Cat. ) At night he slept on my chest.

And then everything changed.

Since Liam was born, Buckley has fallen from rank. He no longer sleeps in the room with us, since Liam is in his bassinet in it. And we are busy playing, nursing, or changing him to give him the attention he desires. He has started running the halls of our small apartment, darting back and forth from Liam's room to the kitchen. Back and forth, over and over again. To get our attention, he will hide under the kitchen chairs and swat us with his paw as we pass.  He also enjoys the carpet, for it is his new scratching post.

We didn't know how Buckley would take to Liam. He's not a malicious cat, but he loves to cuddle. Turns out, we had nothing to worry about. Buckley couldn't care less about this little thing invading his space. About a week after we brought him home, Buckley sniffed his head a couple times and kept walking. He doesn't even mind when Liam kicks him over and over again.

We don't leave them alone together yet, but the supervised time is pretty cute.

It'll be fun for Liam to grow up in a house with animals. Maybe Buckley will be a horse and Liam a cowboy. Perhaps Buckley can be his pillow on a big boy bed. Either way there will be lots of pictures and lots of laughs.

Liam's First Outfit

Liam has been wearing only pajamas and onesies until this point.  It was so easy and he was getting everything so dirty, I just didn't feel like dressing him up!  But we went out today and got all fancy! 

Mom was Bored One Afternoon

"Punk" Liam

"Hipster" Liam

"Don Draper" Liam

(We would like to thank Audrey for the homemade organic baby oil

that gets rid of Liam's cradle cap and gives us an afternoon of hair fun!)

 

This week Liam discovered his voice and his hands. Sometimes he talks so loud when we are at his changing table that John can hear him in the living room, two rooms away. The agoo's and loud laughs are a nice preview of what's to come. On Tuesday he clasped his hands together and brought them to his mouth. It seems like he is gaining some control over his limbs. He managed to get one thumb into his mouth and hold it there for a while. 

John and I are trying to get him to learn words. Mama, Dada, and Noel Carroll (film philosopher) are common attempts.

Week 7: Santa Picture

As we approach Liam's two month birthday, on Dec, 17, I find myself growing sentimental. (It doesn't take much these days, sometimes I think about how much I love him and it brings tears to my eyes.) I find that I am trying to hold on to all of the details of these two months as we look forward to the years ahead. I recall pacing the apartment and swaying back and forth waiting for the contractions to start. There was red raspberry leaf tea and black and blue cohosh and yoga moves to start labor. In the end, it was out of my hands. Liam was the one who started labor, when he was good and ready, and I remember my water breaking all over the nice new carpet. I was so excited and nervous I was shaking. I could hardly speak with anticipation. Sweet Liam, who came thirty hours later, was more amazing that I could have imagined. I will never forget how he looked in the first few minutes of his birth, all curled up. In the first two weeks of his life, he only opened one eye at a time. He slept so much that we asked out doctor if he was okay!

In this Christmas season, we think about the traditions that we will set and the snowmen that we will build. We know that there will be cookies and milk (soymilk, maybe?) left for Santa and stockings hung. We will follow my family's tradition of having a Santa photo taken every year.

There may be challenges, like building tricycles at 3am on Christmas Eve or trying to explain how Santa gets into an apartment (through the balcony or the vent???), but we are ready.

Two Peas in a Pod

Week 6: Rolling Over!

This week Liam has started staying up during the day to play and smile all by himself. Our little man is getting so big! He is copying us all the time now. I would set him on his favorite spot, the changing table, and dance by shaking my arms and stop. Then he would start and stop. Then I would sing a song and stop, and he would pick it up right where I left off. I don't know who is more excited by this game, him or me.

Singing and laughing at the table is the only spot that we can get him to really giggle. It's amazing how such a little sound can make us so happy. John and I love him so much more than we could have imagined. It's such a big love, such a great love, and it can't be described. It's so great and it grows with every week.

We are so proud to say that Liam is now rolling over! Since last week, he has been doing it all the time. Look at that smile - he is so pleased with himself!

Liam teased us with a long nighttime stretch on Sunday night! He went five hours, ate, then four more hours! After so many nights of waking up every two to three hours, I kept waking up to see if he was okay. I would peer over the tip of his bassinet and watch him breathe for a few minutes before falling back to sleep. The next morning, I tell ya, I felt like a new woman. Monday night was back to normal, but it was good to know that he is capable of it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Truth be told, nighttime feedings aren't that bad. His bassinet is next to the bed on my side, and when he fusses I can catch him before he explodes. I lean down, grab him, and can feed him as I lean against my pillow. His squeaking noises (which sounds like a squeaky dog chew toy) and flailing limbs make it all worth it. Like when he accidentally kicks his sleeping father in the head at 1:30 in the morning.

We look forward to next weeks adventures...

Week Five

Liam's First Thanksgiving was a blast. John's parents came into town and were happy to share bathtime and bedtimes again. Liam, of course, got lots of kisses and love. He was the sole entertainment for the week.

John started sticking his tongue out at Liam, and they have turned it into a little game. They go back and forth, and John will poke out his tongue at Liam a few times and Liam will follow. They have played so much that he now associates his tongue poke with John, so sometimes all he has to do is hold him and Liam will start!

 

It is wild that he is this old. It seems like yesterday that we were in the hospital, laying him to bed for the first time. He seems so much bigger than he was the last time the grandparents were all here, and it is amazing to think that six weeks from now he will be in his crib. We are so proud of him. It is bittersweet to see him grow - we can't wait to crawl with him, run, ride a bike, but sad at the same time. I want to hold on to every day, every moment, and remember it forever. On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for so many things. For family and friends that are so supportive. For everyone around us that loves Liam as much as we do. I am grateful for our health, for our love, and for our boy.

I am glad to have this blog to document these days. Thank you for reading it.

 

 

Week 4

Liam is more and more aware every day. One day this week he was in his swing, when John and I looked over and noticed that he was looking at his bears. Since then he has become fascinated with the world! He is so fascinated that he has had doubled his nursing time. He now eats for a few minutes and then stops to look at the shadows or light dancing on the wall.

We are working on keeping him awake during the day a little more, so we are doing more tummy time, baths, baby massages, and dancing around the house. I only wish we had started it earlier! It is so much fun laying on the floor with him and looking up at the world from his angle. Once this week he was lying on his tummy and he rolled over! Lying next to the records, John was sure to introduce him to a dear friend, Bruce Springsteen.