About a month ago Liam and I went on a field trip with some friends to Great Falls, MD. It was a really pretty spot and Liam loved looking at the falls. But more than anything he loved climbing the rocks, I guess his rock climbing abilities shouldn't have surprised me considering he climbs steps in super speed, but it still took me off guard. Here is the video, particularly enjoyable is his triumphant yelling at the end.
Update: The video is now working.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Questions
1. Have any of you used a Topsy Turvy tomato planter? If so, did you like it?
2. Do any of you have a used Verizon phone you could send my way? Both Ryan's phone and mine are dying, we have one for him from my parents but I still need one.
2. Do any of you have a used Verizon phone you could send my way? Both Ryan's phone and mine are dying, we have one for him from my parents but I still need one.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A few things I love about the men in my life
Ryan
I love that a couple of mornings ago I awoke to the sound of Ryan reading a French children's book to Liam. I love that he makes a killer avocado sandwich. I love that even when he promises and swears that when he goes to the grocery store he will only get the couple of things on his list he still comes home with a bag full of random goodies with a guilty smirk on his face. I love that he makes it a priority to take me out on dates and insists on us having a romantic anniversary. I love that he makes me laugh like no one else can.
Liam
I love that he scrunches his nose when he thinks something is funny but not funny enough to laugh. I love how excited he gets to see me in the morning and to see Ryan at the end of the day. I love watching him learn new sounds every day and then repeating that sound over and over all day as he crawls around exploring (most recent sound "nga"). I love that he likes to cuddle. I love that he likes animals.
My dad
I love that he still can't resist a good yard sale or flea market. I love that he wears his heart on his sleeve. I love that when he is singing he closes his eyes and tilts his head back like he is having some sort of transcendent experience. I love his eloquence and propensity to write long notes that make you feel like you can conquer the world.
I love that a couple of mornings ago I awoke to the sound of Ryan reading a French children's book to Liam. I love that he makes a killer avocado sandwich. I love that even when he promises and swears that when he goes to the grocery store he will only get the couple of things on his list he still comes home with a bag full of random goodies with a guilty smirk on his face. I love that he makes it a priority to take me out on dates and insists on us having a romantic anniversary. I love that he makes me laugh like no one else can.
Liam
I love that he scrunches his nose when he thinks something is funny but not funny enough to laugh. I love how excited he gets to see me in the morning and to see Ryan at the end of the day. I love watching him learn new sounds every day and then repeating that sound over and over all day as he crawls around exploring (most recent sound "nga"). I love that he likes to cuddle. I love that he likes animals.
My dad
I love that he still can't resist a good yard sale or flea market. I love that he wears his heart on his sleeve. I love that when he is singing he closes his eyes and tilts his head back like he is having some sort of transcendent experience. I love his eloquence and propensity to write long notes that make you feel like you can conquer the world.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
All my life I have felt things too deeply, I would cry when my parent's sold our cars, I signed up for Feed The Children when I was probably ten and would often deal with bouts of melancholy at the suffering I saw around me. Knowing this about myself as an adult I put up a certain barrier so that I don't allow myself to really think about those things that make me sad.
But this week that barrier seemed to disappear as I read story upon story in the news of parents killing and abusing their children and stories of random acts of violence around the world and as I talked to a representative from the UN Refugee Agency and he told me that 80% of the people displaced from their homes in Sudan and Darfur are women and children. He was telling me this of course as I stood comfortably in my warm home with a cool glass of water in my hands and my child sleeping peacefully upstairs. So I let it get to me this week and it has really been weighing me down.
On the one hand I feel so grateful to live in a country with a stable good government but on the other hand I feel almost guilty for how lucky I am. How do you deal with these feelings of guilt if you have them. And what do you do to give back? I need to do more so any ideas are welcome.
P.S. Ryan is not allowing me to read the news for a while.
But this week that barrier seemed to disappear as I read story upon story in the news of parents killing and abusing their children and stories of random acts of violence around the world and as I talked to a representative from the UN Refugee Agency and he told me that 80% of the people displaced from their homes in Sudan and Darfur are women and children. He was telling me this of course as I stood comfortably in my warm home with a cool glass of water in my hands and my child sleeping peacefully upstairs. So I let it get to me this week and it has really been weighing me down.
On the one hand I feel so grateful to live in a country with a stable good government but on the other hand I feel almost guilty for how lucky I am. How do you deal with these feelings of guilt if you have them. And what do you do to give back? I need to do more so any ideas are welcome.
P.S. Ryan is not allowing me to read the news for a while.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Walking!
In recent Liam developments...
Liam just took his first steps! Hopefully we'll be able to get video of it soon to post here for the grandparents. I don't think it will be a frequent occurrence yet but we were still pretty excited.
Also he said what we think were his first words a couple of weeks ago, Ryan was with him downstairs and when I came down to join them he looked up at me and said "mama". This weekend he learned the word car. I'm sure there are some other words he is saying that we just aren't recognizing yet.
And lastly, this past week he discovered the ability to point, so now he points at everything. We went on a walk just now and he would point at every person we passed, every tree, every airplane that flew overhead. We are loving it, it is just so cute.
And now some pictures of our boy. He is ten months old this week.
Liam just took his first steps! Hopefully we'll be able to get video of it soon to post here for the grandparents. I don't think it will be a frequent occurrence yet but we were still pretty excited.
Also he said what we think were his first words a couple of weeks ago, Ryan was with him downstairs and when I came down to join them he looked up at me and said "mama". This weekend he learned the word car. I'm sure there are some other words he is saying that we just aren't recognizing yet.
And lastly, this past week he discovered the ability to point, so now he points at everything. We went on a walk just now and he would point at every person we passed, every tree, every airplane that flew overhead. We are loving it, it is just so cute.
And now some pictures of our boy. He is ten months old this week.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Family Pictures
We took our first family pictures a couple of weeks ago on our Sunday drive out to Poolesvile, MD (another one of Ryan's bike ride routes) to enjoy the Fall colors. We ended up with a couple of great pictures like the one that now graces our header, but I almost enjoy the not so great pictures more.
Before we got this
There was this
Before there was this
There was this
All in all I think our first family picture session was succesful, we got some pictures that we love, there was minimal fighting, only one tantrum (cough cough Ryan:) and we got to enjoy some beautiful scenery.
Before we got this
There was this
Before there was this
There was this
All in all I think our first family picture session was succesful, we got some pictures that we love, there was minimal fighting, only one tantrum (cough cough Ryan:) and we got to enjoy some beautiful scenery.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Marketing Madness
A couple of weeks ago I started to worry that I was somehow denying Liam educational advancement because I didn't have any baby movies for him to watch. Every day I worried a bit more until I saw this in the news. In case you hadn't heard, Disney is offering $15.99 refunds per video for all Baby Einstein videos because as it turns out the videos will not make your child smarter and will actually probably make their attention span shorter later in life.
I'm not posting this to condemn the videos or anything, but merely to express my amazement at how easy it is to be sucked in to thinking you need something. I had truly started to wonder if Liam needed videos like that in order to be smart even though babies have been thriving for so long without them.
When I go into stores like Babies R Us and walk through the toy section all of the sudden I can start to feel like Liam needs this or that toy to help him develop whatever they are telling me it will help him develop. Luckily I always remind myself that Liam can spend 30 minutes being entertained by a plastic cup or Roxy's leash and I'm able to walk out of the store without pointless purchases.
This doesn't just apply to babies though, there are so many things out there (most things actually) that some marketing team somewhere is trying to convince you that you "need". If this most recent headline can teach us anything, it is to ignore them.
I'm not posting this to condemn the videos or anything, but merely to express my amazement at how easy it is to be sucked in to thinking you need something. I had truly started to wonder if Liam needed videos like that in order to be smart even though babies have been thriving for so long without them.
When I go into stores like Babies R Us and walk through the toy section all of the sudden I can start to feel like Liam needs this or that toy to help him develop whatever they are telling me it will help him develop. Luckily I always remind myself that Liam can spend 30 minutes being entertained by a plastic cup or Roxy's leash and I'm able to walk out of the store without pointless purchases.
This doesn't just apply to babies though, there are so many things out there (most things actually) that some marketing team somewhere is trying to convince you that you "need". If this most recent headline can teach us anything, it is to ignore them.
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