Mr. Bobblehead

Liam had his four month check-up today:
weight: 15 pounds (50th percentile)
height: 24 inches (10th percentile)
head circ: 42.5 cm (50th percentile)

Keep in mind these percentiles are for true four month olds; Liam is technically still 5 weeks from being at this point! In summary, our little guy is short, fat and bald (but we still love him!). Fortunately (or not) for Liam, he comes from very hairy stock, so he shouldn't be bald for long!

Bathing Beauties

Now that liam is getting better at holding his head up, we decided he was ready to stop bathing in the sink and instead lounge in the luxiurious blue plastic baby bath.

Megan didn't want to be left out. After Liam's bath, she insisted that she bathe in the baby tub, too

Life's a beach

We spent the past weekend at Aunt Sharon's beach house in Lincoln City. I even had Monday off, so we got an extra long weekend.

We enjoyed the kite festival.

Cousin Brooke got better acquainted with Liam.

Megan spent lots of time in the sand.

Liam got a new perspective on the world.

And the adults tried to have some kid free time on the beach (baby monitor in hand!).

It was a great weekend!

Obsessive Compulsive Tomato Kick

My friend Joel has recently been studying psychiatry. He used his newfound knowledge to try to diagnose a stranger with obsessive compulsive personality disorder, but as he ticked off the criteria, I found the traits oddly self-descriptive. The kicker:"an inability to get rid of things even though they have no sentimental value." Coupled with my plant addiction, this trait was the driving force behind my inordinate number of tomato plants this year. You see I planted at least twice as many as I thought I would need, figuring then I could have my choice of the strongest plants. But when the weather warmed enough to plant outside, I found that I couldn't part with any of my blossoming beauties. I mean, how could I just compost something that I had been nurturing in the greenhouse for two months? And so, I found space for all 28(!) plants. - good thing we have a lot of land!

Look at that fruit! And I figure it'll be great fun to chuck all the extra tomatoes off of the deck!

What a difference four months makes

When we brought Liam home, people constantly told us how little he was. Frequently people would add,"My kids were never that little," and I know they weren't exaggerating; Liam WAS little.

But I can't remember the last time somebody called Liam little and it's not just because my groggy, sleep-starved brain has poor recall function. It's because nobody calls Liam little anymore. Just the opposite, now people say, "Wow, he's a big boy!" or "He doesn't look like a preemie."

Yes, Little Liam is growing up (and out). He now weighs in at a whopping 15.5 pounds and is almost TRIPLE his lowest weight! (5lb.4oz. x 3 = 15lb.12oz. for those who need the math explained). Two months of force feeding really taught Liam how to eat!

Ode to My Dad

If you have a Dad, you probably remember some silly goof-ball thing he did (does) when you were growing up. Around here we call them 'Dad jokes.'

The one I so vividly remember from my Dad would go like this:

We'd be having some kind of trouble getting dressed and so we'd take the item of clothing to my Dad and ask "Can you put this on?" at which point he would make a complete farce of trying to fit himself into litte girl sized clothes or shoes before coming to the conclusion punch line (delivered with supreme melodrama):"No! I can't put this on! It doesn't fit!"

In the youngest years this got great laughs, in our older years there were lots of eye rolls. And now this Dad joke was reincarnated at our house yesterday when Megan asked me to put on her pink princess dress. I put it on my head like a tulle tiara and delivered the punchline. Fortunately, Megan is still young enough to be amused. She patiently explained to me (with both hands on her chest for emphasis), " No, you put the dress on ME!" And I just rolled my eyes that I had been so corny.

Underwear Dog

I took Megan to the park and was pushing her on the swing.

"I need underwear!" she tells me emphatically.

"What?" I am clueless.

"I need underwear!! Underwear Dog!"

"What? Megan, what do you want?" I am more clueless.

"I need Underwear Dog. You do Underwear Dog, like Andrew does," Megan patiently explains.

Aaah! it finally clicks - Underwear Dog! (usually referred to as just Under Dog!) A swing push wherein the pusher runs under the swing. I perform the manuever successfully, only to be met with another request:

"More Underwear Dog!"

Happy Father's Day!

Liam sported a special outfit for Mom on Mather's Day, so it was only appropriate that he would do the same for Dad on Father's Day. Here he is in the L.A. Dodgers "star player" outfit. I can't take credit for this; Thanks go to Auntie Alessandra.

What a guy! - after some Dad-time, Mac put the finishing touches on the new swing set.

The swing set was a real deal purchase, made even better because my parents paid for it. According to the directions, two people could complete the twenty assembly steps in about five hours. A mere 20 hours (or so) of work later, Mac was just tightening the last screw. But Megan is super excited about it. She keeps asking, "Isn't my swingset amazing?" (where does she come up with this stuff??) Thanks Daddy-o!

A whole lotta love

Recently we were in the car when Megan started naming her affections:
"I love Mommy, and Daddy, and Liam, and Mamaw, and Papa, and --I love Grandpa and Grammy, and Minnie, and Uncle Pat and Nick, and -- I love trees!
***
On Friday, Harrison and Emma tried to play tag with Megan. "Tag. You're It!," they kept yelling. On Saturday, Megan wanted to play again: "Tag. You're Rich!" Oh, if only it were that easy!
***
We've always said Megan is clumsy, but now we know why:
Megan stuck out her left foot and said, "This is my left foot." Then she stuck out her other foot,"And this is my left foot."

Computer Whiz

Megan loves to type on the laptop. We set up Microsoft Word for her with the font at 72. She likes to ask us what all the symbols are. To keep from constantly having to answer,"comma," "semi-colon," and "backslash," I gave Megan an assignment. "Can you type your name?" Check out the screen:

Megan knew the right order of the letters and could type them on the computer. Her only request for help: "Where is the 'G'?"

New Chicks on the Block

A friend of a friend had been warned about the high mortality rate in chicks, and so she purchased a few extras to make sure she ended up with the number she wanted. When they all survived, she had twice that number. So our mutual friend let her know about the luxurious Smith chicken accommodations, and before we knew it, she was at our house, dropping off three new residents. And so we add Grace (after the lady who brought them), Blackie, and Tess to our flock. The new chickens are about a week older than ours and consist of two barred rocks (black and white speckles) and one Rhode Island Red (like Rusty). Instead of melding smoothly with Rusty, John Jacob, Bunny, and Cartoons, the two groups mostly maintain separate cliques. Here are the seven chickens, somewhat together, but not totally.

Eye on Liam

Liam's left pupil isn't completely round. There is a little tiny line around 11 o'clock extending about a third of the way to the center. This isn't something I can take a picture of (trust me, I tried), but to get an idea it looks like a capital Q with only the inner part of the stem.

Friday he had an appointment in Portland with a pediatric opthamologist. The good news is that it is a pupillary membrane and it won't affect his vision. The bad news is that his didn't break when they dilated his eyes and so this little rat bite in his eye might not ever go away. Fortunately, most people still have trouble seeing it, even when I point it out.

Pam's Choice

In a moment of pure egotism, I ordered these foxgloves from a gardening catalog - the variety "Pam's Choice." (I meant to take these photos earlier, the flowers aren't quite as fresh
 anymore)

Indeed they have been quite impressive this year, topping out around eight feet tall, a nice backdrop to the garden bench. It certainly is an improvement over things two years ago, when this was just a patch of weeds and a couple of trees.

Mr. Liam

In one of those who-knows-where-it-came-from moments, Liam picked up a formal title and is often referred to as "Mr. Liam" around here. The monniker is even more catchy if you sing it to the tune of "Mr. Wendell." Indeed, our Mr. Liam is becoming quite a little man. He's a real charmer with his smiles and he is also a great conversationalist, although I have no idea what he is saying. Maybe he is just trying to sing along, too. "Mr. Lee-aaam, yeah, yeah..."

A Third of a century

It's now been 4 months since Mac's birthday, which means today he is 33 1/3 years old - yup, a third of a century! Fortunately, Mac has assurred me that he should "easily make 90," so I don't have to worry about him getting old just yet.

Weekend sans children...

...for Pam that is.

Pam's note: Yes, I had a very nice weekend, while Mac took the kids to SoCal for Grandma's Smith's surprise 90th birthday.