A bit more cheerful...

Well, a few weeks have passed since Taylor's latest departure and Liam is doing really well. The past few weekends have been spent with family, which Liam always enjoys.

The weekend after Taylor had left, Mike came to visit. It was a nice time to just relax and have some good playtime with her. The weather turned out to be not stellar, but everything said, a good time was had:



Liam is really beginning to play with George a bit more and pay more attention to him. The morning that Mike left, there were pretty decent thunderstorms, which really freak Liam out. Liam actually asked if he could keep George safe under his blanket with Snoopy...pretty cute:



Later that day, it was off to Aunt Katherine and Uncle Judd's to celebrate cousin Ben's 2nd birthday! Liam was sooooo excited and a bit hyper, but had a fabulous time....



...although he was not thrilled with the end-of-night photo session:



This past weekend, we met up with cousin Ben again for A Day Out with Thomas! The boys, as always, had a blast together and got to ride on the REAL Thomas! They did really have fun, but as lunch and nap time were desperately needed, their enthusiasm is a bit masked:



Liam also really enjoyed all the other trains that were there at the railroad museum. I, too, was really impressed with the sheer size of some of the engines they had:



While it was a bit challenging to handle both boys at an event such as this, Katherine and Judd were an immense help with Liam and he had such fun because of it:



Mr. Man has really been such a help and comfort to me with Taylor gone. Just when you get a bit in the dumps, he cheers you up with stunts such as making his H2 into a convertible by putting his blanket it on him and calling it his convertible top (the weather has been getting nicer and he is fascinated with these right now):



He tells me over and over each day "Mom, I like you" and has become really cuddly and lovable. The other day in the store, I was bending down and groaning that I'm getting old and he said "I don't want you to get old." When I asked why not, his response was "Because I like you." It is these little moments that make me love him more and more each day....like the day we found a turtle in our backyard and brought him in for a science lesson:



While he is definitely missing Taylor (he constantly asks if we can call him), he seems to be handling things extremely well. I think we all wish that we had the innocence and imagination of a 3 year old at times...I know I do. Whenever I remind Liam that we can't call Daddy, as I too wish I could, he just says okay and goes and gets the nearest toy phone and proceeds to have a "conversation" with Taylor anyway. What coping skills! I am truly jealous! I am amazed every day at all the things he is learning (he knows all his colors in spanish now) and all the ways in which he is growing (he can get his own juice/snack/etc.) now and am just really enjoying every day with him more than ever.

When I was on the operating table prepping for G's coming and getting my spinal tap, I learned that Liam was my happy thought....if I just thought of him and his smile, I could block out all that I was worried about with the tap itself and the impending surgery. So, Liam, thank you for being my happy thought through all of this...my sunshine through the rain...the smile to begin and end all my days with....my Mr. Man.

I promised a positive update...

....so here it is. It took me a few weeks to feel a bit more rested and therefore not as grouchy. George is actually doing really, really well. He is taking in a fair amount of solids at this point. He has some cereal mixed with apples or pears in the morning and cereal mixed with more fruit at night. He is LOVING the apples and pears:



Yesterday was his first day of bananas, and well, I guess you could say the verdict is out on this one:



Liam tries to help out and show him how it's done:



He still drinks a fair amount and will only take the cereal mixed with fruit, but it's far better than earlier when he wouldn't even open his mouth!

The week that Taylor had left, I thought about how different our lives are with him gone and how I want to make things as much the same as they would be for the boys as if Taylor were here. Well, as we know, most babies tend to say Da-da before "ma-ma" so I decided that I would work with G on that. Well, lo and behold, he picked it up right away! Now, I know he doesn't relate it to Taylor at all, but that part will come. He is babbling a lot now, especially to Liam, the pets, and his friends at school.

George is seriously on the move now. He rolls over everywhere and somehow scoots himself everywhere, too! No crawling and not so much we need gates yet, but definitely does not stay in one place. His teacher and I think it's because he really loves playing with this girl Rivka at school. She is army crawling and he wants to keep up with her. The two of them actually play together a ton and babble and giggle at one another. It's pretty cute! Either way, G is on the move and I'm just waiting for him to get up on all fours and pick up speed!



The past few weeks have brought several visits with family. My nephew Ben, turned two a few weeks ago and G got his party hat on for the celebration:



He seemed to enjoy himself, although was deathly afraid of their dog, Sammy. Granted Sammy is neither calm nor tiny, but George has been around Sam several times before with no reaction (not to mention we have a dog, too!) . However, this time, any time Sam would just walk by, George would get the saddest face ever and just start crying. It was cute and pathetic at the same time. We also took time that day to get some good cousin pics. I'm not so sure Ben thought a lot of the photo session, though:



Mike came down to visit one weekend and we had fun just enjoying some quiet play time with her:



George is still as relaxed as ever. He is (finally!) sleeping through the night and doesn't really cry that much...mostly only if he's hungry. He puts himself to sleep each night while watching his crib soother (which he loves):



And hugging Taggie (another huge love):



Lately, though, all of a sudden, he has become a HUGE thumb sucker and comforts himself that way:



All in all, though, he's still very easy and very chill....a happy baby. So, if you're reading this, don't worry Daddy...I'm still the same ol' George!