Liam Land

Liam's ready for the wedding (not his)

2007-04-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

So Liam is ready for his Aunt Alison to get married. She is slated to do so at the end of April, but over the weekend we went to Atlanta for a shower for her and Liam got to try on his tux (he's the ring bearer). He was all ready to go to the wedding. He actually didn't want to go to bed later because he was afraid we'd have the wedding without him. He kept telling Alison to go get her dress so we could go to her wedding. Play the video to hear for yourself!

Sunday's Child

2006-11-03T19:32:00.000-08:00

It seems that John Patrick will most likely be born on Sunday, November 5th, which means that both my boys will be November babies, and both will be born on Sundays following a full moon -- unless, of course, I go into spontaneous labor before 6am Sunday morning. Otherwise, that is when the induction will begin. I struggled with the decision to be induced as I really wanted to avoid the use of Pitocin this time, but in the end, the pros outweighed the one con, and I snapped up the ONLY available slot for induction for the next week and a half.

So, yes, Sunday should be a good day, indeed. And now, I've got to go rest up for it.

I Want Candy; I Want Candy!

2006-10-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Some days as a stay-at-home mom require chocolate sedation. Today was one of those days. Liam may not be fully two yet, but if the terrible twos get worse than this, then please nobody tell me about it. Because I may just go stark-raving mad at the possibility.

Today began with Liam insisting that yellow "dirt trucks" make their appearance. Will and I only have ourselves to blame for this one. We made the mistake of thinking that we could do a little Christmas shopping for Liam with Liam present. This was NOT one of our brighter ideas. So we bought a set of yellow, wooden, block construction vehicles (a.k.a. dirt trucks), and feigned ignorance when Liam began asking for them as soon as we got home. He actually became so aggravated with our ridiculous show of idiocy that he had the biggest, baddest meltdown EVER last night -- neither Will nor I have ever seen him so mad. And I guess he dreamt about those damn trucks all night because he woke up asking for them. According to Will, their "good morning" conversation went like this:

Liam: "Mama" (as in take me to her)
Will: "Good Morning!"
Liam: "Big trucks! Big Velyow Duht Trucks! Big Velyow Duht Trucks OUTSIDE!" (as if it just occurred to him where they might be hiding)

So it was hopeless, and I relented, and he got the yellow trucks. Merry October 24th!

Except it wasn't. Anything that didn't involve playing with big, yellow, dirt trucks was a major ordeal. I tried to shower -- Liam threw a fit because I wouldn't let him risk cracking his head open on the tile floor by playing with the sink faucet while teetering on his step-stool. I tried to dress Liam -- Liam threw a fit because he did NOT want to wear overalls or a coat. I tried to dress myself -- Liam threw a fit because I wouldn't let him use the iron. I tried to get us both in the car -- Liam threw a fit because he couldn't take both yellow dirt trucks AND his fire truck basket containing around 15 Matchbox/Hot Wheels vehicles AND baby brother's stuffed fish AND. . .well, you get the idea.

Lunchtime didn't get any better. Liam bit my hand for no apparent reason and landed himself a time-out. Then napping (it couldn't have come too soon), and then another fit upon waking because Mama wanted to sit on the sofa and read while Liam wanted Mama to sit in the floor and play trucks, which culminated with ANOTHER bite and a really, really, really long time-out (more for Mama than child).

Yes, chocolate is my friend, friends. It keeps me from driving to a remote location, dropping the boy off, and leaving my son to fend for himself on days like this. Thank the Lord these days are few and far between. . .at least for now.

And now for the REST of the story.

2006-10-18T11:16:00.001-07:00

Here is the conclusion of the day in pictures started below.

Once we finish wearing out the dog (well, as much as you can wear out a Weim), Liam and I head out with the intention of going to the library and the grocery store.
Stop One: Anderson County Library

Liam adores this enormous "bug" and makes a beeline for it every time we go to the lbirary. Today, they happened to have Goodnight Moon in the basket on the table, and he immediately flipped to a page he remembered and said, "Goo-nigh hooouuuuuse."

Liam also loves the fish sculptures which reside in various spots around downtown Anderson -- this one has its home in the library's children's courtyard.

Also in the courtyard is a "guy" that Liam talks to. . .

and tattles on for not wearing shoes.

Our time on the town is cut short due to more sciatic nerve pain, so we head home and walk in the door to discover "Dada!" cooking dinner!! (My hero!) Liam shows his dad what he scored at the library -- an Elmo Halloween video.

Liam is entranced by Elmo and the Count, so Mama and Daddy work on finishing up dinner.

But not for long! Even Elmo is no match for Daddy and the grill.

Picking tomatoes from their sadly overgrown garden plot -- Will is telling Liam, "DON'T eat that! We have to WASH it!" (hmmm. . .wonder why the boy is so particular?)

Will and I have yet to figure out why the food on our plates is ALWAYS more appetizing than the food on Liam's plate.

After dinner, the bedtime rituals begin. First there is the getting naked part. Tonight Liam decides that he'd like to do a little drawing in the nude.

Then there is the chasing and hiding part. (Wheeeeere's Liam????)

Then there is the rolling and tickling in John Patrick's room (yep, that big-bellied lady attempted to ROLL!).

And then it's time for a bath.

Liam is most cooperative during tooth-brushing.

He wants to do it "all by self."

Bedtime story

And off to dreamland he goes.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. . .

2006-10-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

Welp, it's been over a year since anything has changed on this blog, so it's possible that no one will notice the big changes that are about to happen. Change number one: a post! This past Thursday I decided to document my day with Liam; what follows is the result.

Change number two: the author of this blog. Yup, Liam's Mama is overtaking this one since Will has his hands full and barely has time to eek out a post every couple of months on his own site. I finally succumbed to Will's Blogger tutorial and am now capable of updating this site (to steal a phrase from Liam) "all by self." I make no promises about the regularity of my posts -- especially with the arrival of John Patrick inching ever closer -- but I can promise that they will happen more than once a year!

Change number three: the name of this blog. I don't have any big ideas, so input would be appreciated, but Liam's Land is about to be invaded, so I think the name of the site needs to reflect that.

Anyway, without further ado. . .heeeeeere's Liam!

A Day in the Life of Liam

2006-10-14T07:42:00.003-07:00

Wake up time -- Liam calls out, "Mama, pick you UP!" (He doesn't exactly have correct pronoun usage down.)

He's too busy asking for his trains to bother with a morning greeting.

Bed turned railway. . .

Once out of bed, it's time for a little "monica" jam session. He actually makes some pretty good music on this (thanks, Uncle Joe!).

My very particular son is pointing out the yogurt that is befouling his plate. "Wipe off, Mama. Wipe OFF!"

Liam helps with the grocery list. . .

putting soap in the dishwasher. . .

and turning the dishwasher on.

We have to hurry! We're supposed to be at playgroup (a.k.a. social hour for the under 3 set, involving new concepts for this nearly two-year-old such as SHARING) at 10.

"Go, go, GO, Mama!" But wait. . .where did that paci come from? (I swear he stashes them in little hiding places.)

No pics of playgroup because Mom ended up on a heating pad on the sofa of the host's house due to crippling sciatica pain. Good times. After playgroup, we stop off to see my OB, and as I'm hobbling to the door, Liam offers to "kiss Mama."

Lest you think he's too sweet though, I should also note that he tried to run away from me as we were getting off the elevator (I could barely walk much less run), and the elevator doors nearly shut on me before I could get to him!

Back at home, Liam procrastinates about going inside by picking flowers for me.

That's sweet, honey, but we still have to go inside.

No, really, we ARE going inside!

A short-lived fit -- he is distracted by me taking pictures of it.

Liam plays with puzzles while I make lunch.

Yummy pizza

Time for a nap

"Put me to bed, Mama. . ."

". . .I'm sooooo sleepy."

What a good nap! (Mom had time to catch some shut-eye, too.)

Bed head

We head to the bathroom to rectify his hair, but no trip to the bathroom would be complete without a little handwashing.

Liam "calls" Daddy to tell him about his day, but I want to get that phone away from him ASAP (he called 911 from the home phone earlier in the week which resulted in a VERY embarrassing visit from a police officer).

So I bribe him with promises of going outside and playing with Wiggle.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

GradLiam1

2005-06-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

GradLiam1
Originally uploaded by willcphoto.

OK, this is a test. We're trying a new way of loading photos on Liam's site, so lets see how it goes...

2005-03-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

The three Williams: William Francis Taffee, Jr., left, William Arthur Luedders Chandler, middle, and William Lewis Chandler.

2005-03-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

He doesn't care there's no candy inside. His motto is one doesn't truely know an object until one has tasted said object.

2005-03-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Lick Lick likes to get in on the pictures. If you see a black and white blur in a photo its probably her.

2005-03-25T09:19:00.000-08:00

This Easter outfit belonged to Liam's Uncle Brian when he was young.

2005-03-25T09:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Easter Liam.

2005-03-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

Liam in one of his Easter outfits. We wanted him to smile but he didn't appreciate us egging him on. Ha! Ok. Sorry.

2005-03-25T09:05:00.000-08:00

What a Trip!

2005-01-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

Where HAS the time gone? I stuttered a bit at my mom's office today when one of her patients asked me how old Liam was. . . . Seven weeks?!?! Again I wonder -- where HAS the time gone? And in all that time I've been much too engrossed in our little man to post, so here's a sampling of the myriad changes which have taken place in that seven week blink of an eye: 1. a three pound, 3-ounce weight gain by six weeks (my little Hoover sucks down some milk!), 2. an infant acid-reflux diagnosis, complete with Zantac prescription which, and I think Liam would agree with me on this, tastes something like gasoline, 3. two bushy eyebrows, 4. numerous smiles -- they've increased in regularity and heart-melting capability, 5. a strengthening of the neck muscles -- Liam can hold his head up and crane it around to see objects and faces of interest, 6. a bit of notoriety -- hey, making the front page of the Anderson Independent ain't nothin', and 7. an ever-expanding array of noises and sounds -- grunting and crying are so passé these days! Then there are the places he's been: the walking track and park around the Anderson Civic Center, church, and most recently my grandmother's home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The car ride to Bowling Green was quite an adventure. We set off from Anderson to my parents' home in Woodstock around 9:30, and about half an hour into the two and a half hour trip, Liam decided he'd had enough of the car seat. "You are My Sunshine" sung loudly seemed to be the only antidote to the top-of-the-register wailing. Two very long hours later, one nerve-wracked mom and one tear-wracked baby arrived in Woodstock wishing fervently they'd never left home (there's no place like home, there's no place like home) and that there were more than two verses to "You are My Sunshine." One quick nursing/diaper-changing break in the Grandparents' house later, and we were back on the road -- this time with Grandmother behind the wheel. Two hours later, Liam was ready for his afternoon snack. It occurred to me on this trip that there was a great benefit to having babies before the passage of car seat laws -- nursing moms could simply hold their babies and nurse while riding. Not so today. Emily Berry once told me a tale of her mother, desperate to feed her baby during a car trip, trying to maneuver herself over the baby's car seat to nurse in transit. The image the story called to mind was outrageously hilarious when I heard it, but seemed calculatingly sane while making the Bowling Green trek. Between the stops to nurse and the stops to take care of that which nursing leaves behind, what should have been a four and a half hour trip took eight hours. What a day. However, the weekend was well worth the trouble. Liam was a star, bringing relatives out of the woodwork, and my grandmother -- Liam's great-grandmother -- was overjoyed to meet and hold the latest in her lineage. He handled being passed around like a football (and consequently missing many naps) with more grace than any baby should possess, and I couldn't help but want to freeze him as he is right now. At seven weeks he is such a precious, alert, curious little being, ever-learning and ever-changing.

But then again, I can't wait to see what happens next. . . .

Pictures will follow shortly (I promise you won't have to wait another seven weeks).

2004-12-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

Liam practicing that winning smile. Yes, he's gonna be popular with the ladies.

2004-12-11T18:21:00.001-08:00

Liam and his rattle. He grabbed it himself, which at not even two weeks old he's not supposed to be able to do!

2004-12-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

Liam crying under the warmer just minutes after being born.

2004-12-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

Meghan and Liam arrive home from the hospital.

2004-12-11T18:18:00.001-08:00

Liam stylin' in his penguin hat

2004-12-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

Liam in the arms of his Grandmother Hobbs. She stayed for the first week we were home from the hospital and was a tremendous help. We didn't want her to leave.

2004-12-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

Liam at nearly two weeks old. He's put on a pound in just a week. He's only supposed to put on 6 oz., but he's eating like a champ!

2004-12-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

Liam and his grandparents on the day he was born. Can you tell he's the first grandchild on both sides?

He is here!

2004-12-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the photos, Liam has arrived. He is happy, healthy and eating well. His dad is still trying to figure out the whole photo thing, so a longer post and more photos should follow shortly!

By the way, I've tried making the comments on this page so that you don't have to sign in but with little success. Any ideas?

2004-12-03T16:17:00.000-08:00

This is an experiment--the first photo on Liam Land! Here he is in the arms of his mom the day after he was born.

It's the Final Countdown. . . .

2004-11-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

So, so busy, but just had to express my amazement at the time warp going on! Even the nurse checking me in at my doctor's appointment on Friday said, "I can't believe you're 37 weeks already!" Me neither. I've had women tell me that the last month of pregnancy seems to last as long as the first eight, but I have not found that to be true. Nesting has hit with great force, and it seems that there is so much to do before we'll be ready for Liam to arrive (every window must be cleaned -- inside and out, every ceiling fan must be dusted, every bed must be vacuumed beneath, etc.).

In reality though, we are ready. Today my mom put some finishing touches on the nursery, I washed and folded Liam's going-home outfit(s), and Will installed the car seat. It's really just a waiting game at this point, but as far as I'm concerned, until we go past the 40-week mark, Liam can hang out, accumulate some cute baby fat, and play my insides like bongo drums. Now, once we pass 40 weeks, I'm certain that I'll be READY, but for now, I'll be perfectly content if we only have TURKEY on Thanksgiving. :-)

It's Halloween; Give the Baby Some CANDY (not ice)!

2004-10-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Funny thing about pregnancy -- at no other time in my life would I smile when a good-natured but slightly mischievous student directed traffic around me in a hallway saying, "Coming through. . .watch out people. . .wide load, comin' through. . . ." What a dear! In actuality, Daniel was being more sweet than sarcastic since some of those itty bitty sixth-graders who tote backpacks twice their size are much more rambunctious and even less sure-footed in the halls than I am. Especially the as Halloween approacheth.

Let's see, we've had a full moon, a football game, and a Halloween dance all in one school week. Needless to say, the kids (and their teachers) have been off their rockers. I actually found myself slamming my hand down on my podium during my last class on Friday and saying -- very loudly -- "No one is leaving this classroom to go to the nurse for ice! Ice, contrary to popular belief, does NOT cure everything! We are taking a quiz, so sit down and get happy about it!!" Whew. At my school ice is dispensed as a cure for headaches (ouch!), styes in eyes, sprains and bruises of all kinds, but mostly as a cure for the "I want to get out of class for five to ten minutes" syndrome. What the nurse needs to be dispensing in that office is CANDY! I mean the kids do go to a lot of trouble to put on their best "Oh, I'm so injured, watch me hobble about, favoring the opposite ankle that I claim to have sprained" costumes. Or their "My head mysteriously aches everytime the teacher mentions the word, 'test'" face masks. Go ahead, give 'em some candy for their efforts! At least the candy would be eaten and done with rather than melting and leaking out of its bag all over the classroom, leading to -- you guessed it -- another trip to the nurse to drain the offending water and refill with more ICE. Also, candy would appease the teachers as well as the students, especially if it was chocolate candy!

Here's what I plan to teach my son about all of this: 1) good chocolate is a much more powerful antidote than ice, 2) studying for tests and quizzes decreases one's fear of them, and 3) a teacher's patience can only stretch so far; messing with a (pregnant) teacher on a Friday is like skating on paper-thin ICE!

Who Knew Feeding the Baby Could Cause Such a Commotion?

2004-10-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Baby Question Number One. . . . Breastfeeding -- Too Risque for Public, um, Consumption?

Ok, you guys know me well enough to understand the irony involved when a person flings the phrase "stinkin' crunchy hippie-chick" in my direction. I mean, I pretty much don't leave the house without at least mascara and lip gloss on. I do own Birkenstocks, but the toenails displayed in them are always painted. That's just me -- you get the point. But when it comes to baby issues, apparently I have some pretty "stinkin' crunchy hippie-chick" ideas.

Since I found out I was pregnant, I have spent some time on an iVillage discussion board for women due in December. I have gleaned some valuable information from the other women there, but recently, several topics have developed into heated debates. The one which has intrigued and bothered me the most has centered around the concept of breastfeeding. Now, I hope to breastfeed for a full year, and I hadn't expected to spend the entire year sequestered in the house. I did think that I might actually go places with the baby. And feed Liam at those places. However, according to some women on the discussion board, ALL breastfeeding moms should do "that" at home or in *restrooms*. These women believe breastfeeding in public is the height of rudeness. One stated that the breast is a sexual organ and that even though breastfeeding moms try to feed their babies as discretely as possible -- we're not talking about waving boobs around or flashing strangers -- a baby nursing from a breast rather than a bottle made too many people uncomfortable. Therefore, any considerate mom would never think of breastfeeding in a public venue.

I am curious to hear what you think. . . .

Meghan (in case you thought Will had taken to wearing lip gloss)

Hey There, Everybody!

2004-10-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Liam Chandler's blog! He, as you may have figured out, is not posting this since he's in-utero and all, so his loving parents will be filling in for a while. As soon as Liam's dad figures out the whole ftp thing, we'll post some photos, etc. His technical advisor has moved to Japan, so this may take a bit of time. Can you still help from the other side of the world, Uncle Technical Advisor?

We'll also post comments and questions here that we'd like to get your feedback on. And since Liam's mom will also be working with this site, it may actually get updated on a fairly regular basis! Thats it for now. Liam says, "HIIIIIII-YA!" (that's him kicking, you see. That's pretty much his favorite pastime these days.)