My little introvert

Every Sunday, on our way to church, Evan and I discuss with Liam the proper socializing techniques needed to make friends. And every Sunday we watch Liam walk down with all the kids to sit on the "stage" for children's time. It pains me to watch him walk alone, start to go to sit down and then a kid will run past him, stopping him in his tracks as he is now unsure of himself. He will turn the other way to sit in another spot and another kid will run past him and he stops again. He will then find a teacher and go sit by them.

It is hard for me to watch because I am, for the most part, outgoing. As a kid I made friends very easily and kids wanted to be friends with me. (hello! I was super cool!) I don't know if it is painful for Evan to watch because Evan is an introvert. He is very understanding of how Liam feels because he states this is how he was when he was a kid also. (and still is)

So, imagine after church this past Sunday as we walked to the car, Liam says, "I made a friend today! His name is Chase! And we played together." I was so proud and excited for him until he said, "So now I get parade candy right Daddy?"

Apparently while Caroline and I were getting ready for church Evan decided that Liam's quest for today was to find a friend at church and learn his name. He was to introduce himself and then ask him/her if they wanted to play. His reward for making a friend? Fourth of July parade candy.

It's good to know that bribery always works with preschoolers, in case you hadn't heard.

My funny little introvert wearing his shirt for pants and his pants on his head

For Uncle Zach

While reading a Curious George book today Liam was introduced to the word mammal. I did my best to explain what a mammal is:

M: A mammal is any living creature that has hair....so are you a mammal?
L: Yes!
M: How about me and baby Caroline?
L: Yes, and Daddy too!
     But not Uncle Zach.
M: (laughing) Well, Uncle Zach may not have hair on his head but he does have hair on his arms and legs. Just like you and me. One more important fact about mammals are that they need air to breathe.

I probably should have led with the breathing air part first.

One month

Caroline at one month old is your pretty basic infant. 

Likes: Eating, sleeping and pooping. She is really starting to become more aware of her surroundings. Very curious and likes to watch us. She loves the vacuum cleaner and tolerates her swing and bouncy seat for awhile before she wants out. She prefers to be held, at all times, tummy to tummy is her favorite position. We occasionally get a smile but it is more due to having a happy full belly then a reaction to seeing us or a toy.

Dislikes: We think she is starting to hate her harness. When she is crying she tries to stretch and kick her legs which is possible but not fully unrestricted and so we think that this makes her more upset that she cannot kick and stretch like she wants. We are not into books yet. I try to read to her but she just cries. She really does not like it when the car stops moving. She does not like pacifiers and she does not like it when we try to put her down so we can do anything else. 

Sleeping: Caroline will sleep for 2 1/2 hours straight at night. Waking up to eat every 3 hours. She usually will go right back to sleep but this is not always the case despite her very tired parents.

Health: Today we saw the orthopedic surgeon for our two week follow up visit. I didn't think we would be doing anything today except adjusting her straps as it is apparent that she has grown since the last visit. Dr. Novotny came in to check her hips and I was pleasantly surprised by him saying that he no longer feels a click in either hip. He also states that upon viewing the ultrasound that was done in the hospital when she was 2 days old neither hip was out of socket. Thank you God! We can now start weaning her off the harness which should take another 4 weeks. This means he wants her wearing the harness for one more week 24/7, next week for 12 hours, the next week for 6 hours and the week after that for only 3 hours a day. After that as long as everything still feels good she should be healed and done. We are so thankful for all the prayers from our family and dear friends!

"Yay for me! Good-bye harness!"

Firsts

A weekend of firsts which included:

First real bath which she loved! Definitely a water baby

First bottle which she did not really love
but big brother sure did love helping Daddy

She eventually got the hang of it

So in love with them both

Such a helper

Being a big brother is hard stuff but Liam is adapting well to his new role. He always has lots of ideas on how to get Caroline to stop crying which include sharing his favorite bear, holding Mike from Monsters, Inc, or getting her a new diaper. 

This past weekend Evan was taking a well deserved nap and I was trying to put Liam down for a nap while feeding his screaming sister. I needed to get a clean diaper from the other room so I set Caroline down on the floor and told Liam to keep reading his book as I would be right back. When I came back into the room 30 seconds later, Liam informed me that he had "helped" me change her diaper. And there was Caroline with her diaper undone; thankfully he had left the back of the diaper on her. (probably because with her harness he couldn't get it off)

My big boy helper

Enjoying his new pool with Daddy

Laying out in the sun to get warm

Happy 4th of July!