Fun with Nana

Liam spent his last days of May with a visit from Nana! After enjoying his first (but certainly not his last) experience Saturday night playing on the deck while Mommy and Nana ate crab legs, Liam went to bed early-- and slept through the night!-- so he would be all rested for the KoP 10 Miler bright and early Sunday morning. Now let's be serious... we were definitely not doing a 10 mile run. We did, however, take part in the 5K walk, and Liam was officially the youngest in the race. Here we are lining up at the starting line:

Some of our fellow "Screwballs" were also walking. Here we are with Ed, T, and Nikki:

It was a little overcast in the morning, but it ended up being a perfect day for a walk. And despite having to push Liam up several nasty hills, we had a great time! Liam was awake for the first 1/2 mile and the last 1/4 mile, and that's about it.

After the race and church, we went to Bahama Breeze where we sat on the porch for lunch. The weather couldn't have been more gorgeous! Here are Liam and Daddy talking to Nana:

Liam enjoyed some live calypso music (and a little snuggling, too):

And after all that action, it was time for a little shut-eye :) Thanks for visiting us, Nana!

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day, everybody! Liam started off the weekend wearing his tribute to Uncle Tim, who will soon be a Captain in the Air Force. Don't mind the drool, Tim-- it just means he likes his shirt.



Liam has been loving looking at "that baby" in mirrors lately, so here he is talking it up with his new little "friend":



On Sunday, we had some friends over for a little Memorial Weekend barbeque, and Liam made the rounds. He was a little befuddled by Mike, who claims to just have that effect on babies:



Here he is hanging out with Bridget and Justin:



And then cuddling it up (instead of spitting it up, like last time!) with Meg:



Liam then spent some quality time chewing on a burp cloth, which apparently feels good on the gums:



As is evidenced by this smile!



Today, our friends Andy and Becky and their sweet daughters Hannah and Leah came to visit on their way back home to Connecticut. How cute are those girls?!



While we were outside getting ready to wave goodbye to them from under the shade of a tree, Liam was "christened" by what they tell me supposedly means "good luck" on his collar. Luck for what, I don't know! I'll let you decide:

Yuck! Good thing he was asleep for that one (and VERY good thing it was only on his shirt!)!

3 Months Old

Liam is three months old tomorrow! I've started back at work part time, so Liam has been spending a couple of days a week with the sitter. He is being pretty stubborn with refusing the bottle lately, which is certainly not helping as I prepare to go back to work full time in a couple of weeks! Believe it or not, Liam is also starting to teethe, further amplifying the feeding woes. Low-grade fevers, rashes on his face and chin, buckets of drool, and pained crying have been the norm around here. Even when he is nursed, we have to alternate between feeding and giving him a washcloth or cloth diaper to bite on in order to calm him down. Our usual calm, peaceful, chilled-out boy is just no match for teething pain! Poor kid! Our sitter deserves a medal.

Here's Liam sporting his new outfit from Nana and Grandpa. As you can see, his hair is definitely getting lighter (our neighbor thinks it looks a little red!):



Now that he can grasp and pick items up, Liam has become our little professor, spending a lot of time studying his toys (and trying to figure out how to gnaw on them):



We had another softball game this week, and Liam enjoyed an evening out with the team. It was a little chilly! Here we are with his little friend Julia (10 mos) and her mommy cheering them on, unfortunately to no avail:



After the game, Liam hit up Screwballs for a little social time. Here he is checking out the menu:



He must have had a great time, because he slept through the night that night!

Another new "trick" of Liam's has been cruising around on his back. It's keeping us on our toes, because we are never quite sure where he is going to end up! This has led to some funny mornings as we discover the ground he has covered overnight.

As you can see, he wrestled out of his swaddle (he was originally laid there length wise with his feet pointing toward the right side of this picture), scooted along the side of his crib into the corner, and fell back asleep while trying to look at himself in his crib mirror!



And this was our favorite. We found him in the morning, lying crosswise (instead of lengthwise) in the corner, sucking on his fingers, with both of his feet popping out between the last snap and the feet of his jammies! Now that takes some work!



Cruising is not limited to his crib, however; he will also get moving on his gym mat. I have found him scooted off the mat and onto the wooden floor, and yesterday was this interesting move. I am not sure how he pulled this one off! His feet were originally on the right side of the picture (on the blue border of the mat):



If he's squirming around this much on his back, we wonder if this is foreshadowing for when he learns to crawl! Yikes!

Rolling

Liam started rolling over from his tummy to his back this week! We finally caught the tail end of it on video (sparing you the several minutes of him struggling while trying to make up his mind about whether or not he was actually going to do it):



He also came to our softball game to help cheer us on.



Unfortunately we lost, but at least he still looked cute in his team t-shirt. Liam's milk gut is starting to rival the team's beer guts-- looks like it's time to go up a size! (and yes, that is the name of our team.)

Illinois Trip Part 2

After a few great days in Milford, we travelled on to Peoria to celebrate our niece and goddaughter Antonia's First Communion. Before mass, Liam got to meet his Uncle Andy, and there were smiles all around! It was such a sweet moment!



The mass was beautiful, as was Antonia. It feels like yesterday that we were celebrating her baptism.



As usual, this was how Liam spent most of the occasion:



After mass, we went to Uncle Andy's house to celebrate. Liam got to spend some time with his cousins Aidan and Antonia-- they were great with him! Here are our 3 favorite Derrys:



Liam also loved playing with his Uncle Jake. They had lots of fun together throughout the weekend:



It did not take Liam long to find his way into the arms of another Fanning, where he promptly fell asleep. Thanks for a great nap, Nikki!



Another highlight was getting to meet little Drake Ronna. Drake and Liam's due dates were originally within 2 days of each other, but with Drake arriving early and Liam coming late, they ended up over a month apart! We were so excited to finally get these boys together. Drake, however, did not seem so enthused:



Drake and Liam showing off their cute baby toes:



Look at those handsome Derry boys!



Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Here is Liam saying "See you soon!" to Grandma and Papa:



And getting a good-bye kiss from Aidan and Toni:



We can't thank everyone enough for all they did to make us feel so welcomed and loved! We had a great time and can't wait to see them all again soon.

Liam's Trip to Illinois, Part 1

What a great trip! We just got back from 5 fun days in Illinois, where Liam finally got to meet his daddy's family and lots of wonderful friends. It was Liam's first time on an airplane! He enjoyed most of the ride through the backs of his eyelids, but we sure weren't complaining! Here is Liam getting ready to board:


After an uneventful flight, we arrived in Chicago where Liam stopped for a quick photo op:



We were then picked up by Uncle Jake, who braved the dangers of the swine flu to meet his new nephew. Safety first, right Jake?



Jake drove us down to Milford, and as we arrived in town, we couldn't believe the welcome! This definitely set the tone for the rest of our visit.



After the long trip, Liam arrived at his Grandma and Papa's house where he finally got to meet his Papa! Papa was ready to greet a little baby, so he was sure surprised when he saw the size of his grandson.

On Friday, we hit up Monical's Pizza (one of our must-stops whenever we're out in IL!) in Manteno to see my good friend Becky and meet her adorable daughter Elisa. Elisa was born in December in London, and they just moved back to Chicago a couple of weeks ago. It was so great to see them! By the time we got around to taking pictures, both Elisa and Liam were fast asleep, so this is the best we could do:

Later that afternoon, Liam got to meet his Great Nana. Liam is her 12th great-grandchild!

Four generations: Great-Nana, Papa, Daddy, and Liam.

On Friday night, Daddy's best friend Bill and his wife Kristin came over to visit. Don't they look good with a baby? ;)

And after all that visiting, we were pretty tired! Time to gear up for another big day tomorrow!

On Saturday, Bill's mom Sandy threw a little homecoming party for Liam. Check out this cool cake!



Here are some pictures of Liam meeting his Grandma's wonderful friends, who were so good to him:

Liam decided to give grandma-in-training Terri a little practice; the verdict is that she's ready! In fact, taking naps on the Fanning women would become a favorite activity for Liam during the trip. Stay tuned...