The Conley Boys

Quinn isn't all bad...

2012-01-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

For the first time ever, we got a really good report on Quinn's day at school. Usually they politely say he had a good day, but it hasn't ever felt like daycare folks meant it. I actually imagine the teachers trying to convince the director to expell Quinn for being too emotional. During last couple weeks we've had some slightly warmer evaluation, but yesterday was off the charts. Whenever I pick the kids up I walk in to school with my apologies ready, so I was shocked when they said "Quinn was the best kid in class all day.". He does seem much happier going to school these days. It has taken quite a while, but he doesn't cry when we drop him off and seems to be having fun most days when we pick him up. It is nice to think he isn't making everyone around him miserable.In addition to emotional growth, he also is doing a little better with his communication. He certainly is following some instructions like "throw away xyz" or " go get". And tonight he was stacking blocks 6-8 tall.As for Liam, he started sleeping in a toddler bed on Monday. We have this in our bedroom, but at least he is out of our bed. He is doing ok, but it will take a while for him to get comfortable. No real guess as to when we'll be able to move his bed into another room. Oh well...at least Quinn is still loving nights in his crib.

Quinn Growing Up Too

2012-01-09T14:26:00.001-05:00

We were at lunch last week and a person said that Quinn was quite independent.   I'm not sure how he could tell that in such short observation, but it is hard to argue.    And while Quinn's "independence" is a bit different than Liam's these days, I guess it is all relative.

Quinn likes things his way. He doesn't have much tolerance for being told no and can throw one heck of a tantrum. The biggest battle these days is about his darn bottle and the quest to transition him to a sippy cup. Somehow at school they seem to have moved him to a cup, but at home it is still not happening. Perhaps we are too soft, but those fits are just too much to take after a while.

At lunch last week he was all smiles and happy because I let him stand on the chair while eating his hot dog and fries.   He felt like he was a 'normal' kid as he didn't have a high-chair or anything that would constrain his mobility. He doesn't care that it wasn't the safest thing and most parents were probably cursing me -- especially when I left him there to go pick up food and drinks.

Quinn contorts his body in all directions when he isn't happy and makes it very hard to hold him. And when you give up and let him onto the floor he will just drop to his back.. slam his head on ground.. and roll around like a mad man.   It is a bit out of Poltergeist or maybe Exorcist.   It all seems a bit over the top to get milk in a bottle instead of a cup, but he seems to think it is worth it.

Communication is starting to appear for him and not always via tantrum. Hopefully as this develops a bit more, we can avoid some of the battles. Like Liam, we are trying to do some sign language with him and he is certainly getting it --- I think we worked on "more" too much as he does that sign a lot and usually when he is trying to get a bottle.   Hopefully we can get him to recognize difference and start to do sign for "milk" when he wants a drink, "eat" when he is hungry, "more", and maybe even "thank you".   Seems a ways off now, but he is doing more and more of that.

He isn't talking per se, but he certainly makes sounds that are similar to those we'd make for things like "bye-bye".   He does a good job waving and even started to blow a kiss.   Speaking of kisses, this is something he is also starting to do and was making out with some toy last night (but that is a different story) -- he does a very open mouthed kiss, but it is very cute.

As we get through Xmas, it has been very neat to see him light up when he sees Christmas lights like those on trees across the street. He really seems to love them! He also seems to know that Santa is a good guy and fixates on him whenever he appeared at mall, sidewalk, or on TV.   Funny how he can already sense that being friends with the jolly fat guy can pay huge dividends.

So while he is a challenge, he is certainly getting a bit easier to be around. He still climbs a bit more than we'd like, but he is also more stable with it most of the time.   Unfortunately he still manages to take a couple tumbles when he (and I) get overconfident in his abilities.

Independent Liam

2012-01-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

Recently Liam has started to become a bit more independent with everything. And it is mostly good, but there is a sadness about him growing up. As I think I posted recently, he is at the perfect age and is just super lovable.

Normally he doesn't go to the next room without someone going with him. This week he has started to wander a bit more without dragging an adult with him. Yesterday I caught him upstairs when he thought everyone was downstairs. And today he went into kitchen by himself, pulled out some leftover chicken nuggets from the frige, grabbed a plate and cup, filled cup with water, made up the plate and even added appropriate amount of ketchup to his afternoon snack. I was amazed when I went looking for him and discovered this boy all independent.

His other funny thing is him asking for "privacy" when he uses the bathroom. Although we still get the joy of wiping....guess some more independence is desired by all.

On a sad note, today we had to euthanize our cat Lulu. We are sad and just need to find way to tell Liam.

Christmas

2011-12-27T18:43:00.001-05:00

The boys had a fantastic Christmas and we all enjoyed seeing Santa through the eyes of a child. Between Santa, Aunts and Uncles, Friends, and Grandparents these two boys opened enough gifts to start a day care facility. Everyone is so thoughtful and generous -- these boys are truly blessed (and yes a bit spoiled too!).

We stayed home for Christmas Eve and Day which was so relaxing. It was great to be in PJ's for 2 days without the challenge of travel. Plus with the Sunday holiday, we also all had Monday together to hang out and play. It really was a great family holiday weekend.

Fortunately we were able to coax a few visitors and had a nice dinner with Scanlon's on Friday night. Then on Christmas Eve we had Nana and Grampy Conley come up and spend the night.

Quinn on Christmas Eve

Boys with Nana

Our family - We are so blessed!

On Christmas morning we discovered that Santa had arrived and had brought lots of toys for the boys. Uncle Matt and Aunt Erin joined us for breakfast and some more unwrapping.

Christmas Loot --- kids must have been on the 'Good Boy' list. Big OSU bean bag chair from Papa Tom; Santa brought Thomas Train table, Woody doll, a helicopter, and some clothes and toiletries; Grandparents McDonald sent boxes of trucks and a big ride around car in background. Nana and Grampy sent Toy Story Imaginix set.

On his own, Liam gathered his toys and surrounded himself. The green frog is from Uncle Matt and Aunt Erin along with lots of other neat stuff.

Quinn loving his singing frog and monkey. Is the frog staring at Quinn?

Kids were all wired so we couldn't get a "nice" photo -- but we got at least one shot with grandparents

It was a fabulous Christmas. We are so lucky and blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Merry Christmas to all!

Kids active = Fewer Blog Updates

2011-12-13T15:38:00.002-05:00

Wow. I just realized how long it has been since I've updated the blog. It is amazing how fast time flies.

So what have I missed for news? Well the most glaring miss is that of the Thanksgiving Holiday. We had a great holiday dinner at Uncle Matt and Aunt Erin's. They hosted a family holiday for the first time and did a fantastic job with all the cooking and hosting duties. Glad to have them in the 'rotatation' for future holiday and family gatherings.

Quinn took swimming lessons this fall and those have now ended. He certainly got real comfortable with the water and had fun bonding with mommy (daddy only took him once).

Liam is back skating again. He's gone for the last 6 or so weeks and really is getting much better with his skating and is using both feet as you can see in this snippet from last Saturday.

The kids had their school photos done for the fall. I have no idea how the photographer did it because we can never get them to both sit together, smile, and look at the camera. That always seems to elude our picture taking.

We hosted our first big adults only holiday party in early December. It was a combination of close friends, family, and co-workers.   We had a lot of fun getting the house cleaned up and hiding toys so we didn't look like a day-care center.   The weather cooperated and we ended up with about 50 people attending. Maybe we'll go even bigger next year.

There are just a couple weeks left before Christmas.   Liam is super excited!    And his excitement is helping all of us also take greater stock in the Christmas spirit. There is very little in this world better than seeing the excitement of Christmas through the eyes of a 3 year old.

Liam really is such a joy these days.   If we could 'freeze' him in time it just might be now as he is a wonderful mix of crazy, smart, entertaining, and yet still being cute and snugly.   He still has his binky, but we've got him down to car rides and bed time.   He also is still sleeping with one of us (mommy is his strong preference, but if she is at work daddy will suffice).  We sometimes leave him asleep alone in his bed, but he always wakes before morning and crawls in with us.   We really don't mind and actually embrace it as we know it won't last forever (right?).   He is also starting to become a bit more independent and wants to do a lot of things without help -- ex. put on seat belt, potty, brush teeth, open garage door, as well as some things that depend upon his mood like getting dressed or washing self in tub.   He has a wonderul memory and says lots of entertaining things.   He has a lot of the alphabet down, but stumbles when he gets to Q.
As for Quinn, he sleeps great most nights and he is an adorable looking kid.   He can be a challenge on the personality side as he is "very emotional" as his teacher Kim likes to say.   His moods vary quite a bit and it is hard to understand the triggers of good vs. bad.   And it seems lately that more have been on the negative side where he cries, throws food, bangs head on floor (actually just goes completely limp and lets head fall back against floor), climbs on everything, hits every button that beeps or lights (stove, tv, remotes), pulls down decorations, and does all sorts of things he isn't supposed to do.   And despite all our attempts to say NO to him, he just ignores you or worse laughs and just does it anyway.   He is a pistol for sure and we look forward to him growing up a bit and learning to communicate with us.   And he is still wedded to his bottle with little signs of giving it up anytime soon. He doesn't eat consistently well, but no one would say he is underweight either.

As always, we try to cherish all the time we have together with the boys. We are very blessed and try not to take any of it for granted!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-10T12:11:00.001-05:00

Another Halloween has passed and again we didn't have enough candy to stay open. We went through 400 pieces before 7:00.

As for the kids, Liam was excited at first about going out but he quickly determined that he'd rather hand out candy than go to the door for it. He did do a great job saying 'trick-or-treat' and 'thank you' when he went to the door. The funny story was when he got Skittles and while still standing in the doorway said, "Dad, the lady gave me Skittles and I don't like Skittles." She was kind and gave him something else. It may sound obnoxious, but it was really pretty cute.

Here is Val and the boys....

October Snow

2011-10-30T21:03:00.002-04:00

Liam had a great time visiting Nana and Grampy Conley during the first snow. It wasn't even November and there was a storm with enough snow for a full size snowman. Liam really enjoyed being outside and playing in the snow.

Halloween Party at Hilltop

2011-10-27T08:54:00.001-04:00

Liam has been excited about Halloween for a month now. He practices 'trick-or-treat', get candy, and say 'thank you' or 'happy halloween'. Additionally, he hasn't wavered at all about his costume -- he has wanted to be a ghost and he is thrilled with his costume. He wanted to surprise everyone at school this morning as his class is having a party today. Here he is (try not to be scared)....

Quinn's First Haircut

2011-10-23T08:43:00.000-04:00

Perhaps it was because we expected it to be such a disaster or maybe just because his curls look cute, but nevertheless we have been avoiding getting Quinn's hair cut. Here he is just before his first cut.

Much to our surprise, Quinn was amazingly cooperative. He didn't fuss even once! He sat on dad's lap and allowed the stylist to cut all the curls and here he is after the cut (lolipop in hand of course)...

and one more...

Family Dress Up

2011-10-16T20:32:00.000-04:00

We went to the baptism of Grace Burke and had fun visiting with everyone. We all put on our Sunday Best for some time at Church. It is always hard to get good pix, but here are a couple decent ones...

Luke, Liam (O'Brien), and Quinn planning to steal something...

Liam Conley and Jack Burke, telling on the other troublemakers

Brothers

2011-10-14T08:26:00.001-04:00

Liam got to pick the outfits today for school and he has some good taste. Both kids looked cute in their sweaters so I had to grab a few pix. It is just hard (ok, almost impossible) to get the 2 of them together.

Topsfield Fair

2011-10-11T08:17:00.001-04:00

Over the Columbus Day weekend we took the boys to the Topsfield Fair. Not sure if it was just because it was so nice outside (75 degrees) or if it is always this way, but it was amazingly busy. We could barely move around in there and we were there when the place opened. It was nice, but give me the Sterling Fair any day as a much better and cheaper alternative. Regardless, the boys seemed to have a good time and that is what it is about anyway.

Here are a few pix from the day...

Quinn's 1 Year Photos

2011-10-03T21:55:00.001-04:00

Here are some pictures of Quinn at his first year photo shoot. He has a great little smile and giggle, but he doesn't seem to show it during this set of pix. Never-the-less, he is still pretty darn cute.

Clean Bill from Doctor

2011-10-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

Both boys went to the doctor today and got clean bills of health. Of course it was followed by a bunch of shots for Quinn, but after a quick cry he was settled down thanks to a bottle. (Ok.. insert joke about him being dad's son here).

Conley Boy Metrics...
Liam -- 39" and 36 lbs.
Quinn -- 30" (50-75%) and 24.7 lbs. (75%)

As the doctor said, "we got a couple of keepers here."

Quinn at 1

2011-09-09T14:17:00.001-04:00

Quinn is now 1 years old. Amazing how time flies by. So what is Quinn doing now?

Mobility -- While he still looks like a town drunk when waddling around the place, he is getting to be quite quick on his feet. He can disappear on you very quickly and there is no telling where he may end up. Splashing in the toilet is certainly an option, chewing a K-Cup from the pantry, dumping dog food & water, or climbing on anything.   He certainly isn't too afraid to climb stairs alone and he isn't satisfied with just crawling either... he has to try walking up (which he does pretty well when holding the posts).. and walking down (knock on wood, so far we've always managed to catch him before falling).

Food and Drink -- For about a week now, we've been mixing his formula 50/50 with some milk. He has not taken much to food and still gets most of his nourishment from a bottle.   In the last week he seems to be showing some increased interest in food.   No one would call him malnourished as he certainly gets plenty of calories!

School - He seems to get lots of mixed reviews at school, but a long as he gets some exercise he seems to do ok.   Being couped up in a room isn't his idea of a good time... this boy likes to get out an explore.

Communication -  Other than crying, it is hard to fully understand what he needs.  His funnies behaviour is when he throws himself on the ground and just goes limp with his upper body so his head hits the floor -- this means he's tired (probably some other stuff too, but that is the key sign that he's done).    His laugh is adorable and is mostly heard whenever Liam is around.   He is doing a bit of babbling and will do the hand over mouth (awww- awwww -awww) thing once in a while.

Sleep - Most nights Quinn is a great sleeper. His normal routine is to go into bed around 7pm and get a bottle fed to him by dad. He then goes into his crib without any fuss and curls up on his belly while hugging a blanket and goes right out.    Sometimes he makes grunts and whatnot during the night, but he doesn't get up unless something is wrong (teething, tummy, etc.).    The only bad side of him is the morning .. it seems to start just around 5am and he starts waking up.   We can leave him in crib for about an hour before he really starts to fit, but once he starts getting up at that time there really isn't any turning back.   A bottle just mean more excitement and someone to play with.   On a great night, he could make it until 6:30, but those are few and far between. All-in-all, we aren't complaining and certainly don't misss the 2-3 times per night he used to be up.

Health - Other than the numerous black-and-blues that have resulted from his crazy climbing and falling, he has been mostly pretty healthy.   That said, Quinn is currently sporting a full body rash that he's had for about a week. The doctor assumes it was reaction to detergent (maybe from vacation), but doesn't think it is any viral issue.   Quinn is just finishing with his 8th tooth popping thru and he has handled teething pretty well -- during peak pain periods we try to load him up with Tylenol before bed, but that is only when were really know he's in pain. It is so hard to deal with these things when kids can't talk and tell what is bothering them. It is a guessing game for sure teeth? belly? ear?      There hasn't been any change in his pilonidal cycst in his bum, so as far as we can tell that is ok for now. For the most part, Quinn has been really healthy. Hopefully good health will continue as he moves from part to full-time day care.

Fun - I know I've repeated this a number of times, but Quinn's favorite thing to do is play with Liam. He will take any attention Liam will give him and will just laugh.   Liam could hit him in the head repeadely with a toy and Quinn will just laugh. (Editors Note: I tried to stop him, but Liam said "He likes it" -- hard to argue).    Quinn enjoys playing with toys and has a fondness for the Thomas the Train toys. For the most part, he really likes the freedom to roam around the house or yard.

As the t-shirt company says, "Life is Good". And we are very blessed to have Quinn in our lives. He is more enjoyable and loveable each and every day!

Brothers First Day of School

2011-09-07T13:24:00.001-04:00

It is the start of another school year and Quinn is now going to daycare full time. The boys continue to have a fondness for one another and that is fun to see. Quinn in particular adores everything Liam does. Both are very hard to photograph and getting the two of them together is impossible!

Here they are before heading out to school.

Boys Birthday Party

2011-09-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

We had a joint birthday party for the boys over Labor Day Weekend. It was a "Cars" theme with invitations, cakes, plates, napkins, a pinata, and of course lots of gifts. The boys were excited to have their cousins and some other family and friends there to enjoy the day. The weather held out nicely for us and everyone got to spend time outside with kids having a fun time on the Sport Court. The boys received lots of neat and thoughtful gifts and have been playing with everything -- and now we have toys all over the house!

Here are a few pictures from their day.

Grampy Conley with Quinn and Madison Scanlon

Liam's Cars Cake --- Quinn had his own too

Quinn's First Birthday!

Mollie, Liam, Summer, Val, and Max -- Gift Time!

Pinata -- Candy For All

Newport Vacation

2011-09-01T21:33:00.003-04:00

After Hurricane Irene left Newport and power was restored, we managed to get in 4 days of family vacation with good weather. The best part was that Shawna and the girls came and stayed with us for a couple days. The kids all loved spending time together and as parents it was so nice to see them build their relationships as cousins. It is just a little sad that we don't get to see each other more often!

We did a couple trips to the beach and witnessed the aftermath of Irene. The beach was littered with stranded clamns -- it was actually a bit sad and overwhelming to see them all washed up. The girls were able to enjoy the ocean a bit and while Liam mostly played on the beach and Quinn tried to eat all the sand.

Boys on Bowen's Wharf

"Daddy, take my picture on the shell"

Liam at the Point

Having fun with mommy

Poor clams :-(

Easton Beach Carousel

Thomas the Train

Liam is 3!

2011-08-30T13:05:00.094-04:00

Liam is now 3 years old.

He brings us such joy and really is a lot of fun to be around.   While certainly he can be difficult, he is mostly a really good kid. We love our little man.

Here is what he's up to these days...

Sleeping -- we have tried to move him into his own bed (actually the futon in the office as Quinn is now in the boys bedroom).   Liam really likes his bed, but he only goes to sleep with somebody laying down with him. For the most part, we still enjoy that too and it is part of our bonding with him.   It would be nice if he would sleep there all night, but once he wakes up and realizes that he is alone, he comes looking for us. He either ends up in our bed or one of us goes back and just sleeps with him.

Binky - still his major vice. He uses it every night to go to sleep and off&on throughout the day. Oh well... maybe we can get rid of it soon.

Playing Outside - Liam is totally into sports activities. He wants to go play on the sportcourt all the time and hopes that people will come see him. He has a new friend in the neighborhood who comes over once in a while. Baseball is the sport of choice these days and he always wants to play catch and hit.

Playing Inside -- He is always playing with something, but matchbox cars seem to be a common favorite these days. And at bedtime it is all about the ipad.   He plays all sorts of educational games on the ipad and knows how to start new games or books all by himself. It is neat to see how comfortable he is with technology.

Food - It is all about McDonald's these days. They have him hooked on their Happy Meal toys and 'Smurfs' in particular.   We have to force him to eat dinner as he plays games about not liking food when we know he does.   If he had his way it would be just snacks all night.

School - He really likes school and he always seems to be having fun when we pick him up.   The teachers have been great and we are so pleased with his development. Sadly, he fusses in the morning when he is being dropped off -- not quite sure why this is and somedays it is just so sad leaving him and Quinn there especially when both crying.

Language - He seems to be a pretty bright kid and he has a pretty expansive vocabulary. As long as the binky is out of his mouth, he communicates very well.   And what is most amazing is his memory and how he makes correlations. He even just used "damn-it" correctly --- he was playing catch and the ball hit his glove and fell to the ground. We told him it was a bad word and to use "oh shucks". Then this week he said to me, "Dad, when I drop the baseball I can say oh shucks, but I can't say damn-it right?"

Learning -- He seems to have a good grasp on the colors, but still not great.  He has no interest in saying the alphabet -- not sure why, but he opposes any attempt to learn letters.   Counting is pretty good and can count to 11 or 12 without a problem, but he doesn't like to do it on demand (like alphabet).  Basically he is a bad student and doesn't want to practice these things -- must get that from his father!

Happy Birthday Liam!

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-27T13:04:00.001-04:00

The kids went to stay with Nana and Grampy Conley yesterday while we headed to Newport.   They are supposed to join us tomorrow, but with Hurricane Irene coming up the coast they may not come until Monday.

Val and I are going to make the most of our alone time with some dining out at places that don't give out Smurf's.   And most enjoyably we'll sleep without any baby monitors.   Newport is boarding up shop all over town as there is a lot of anticipation of big surges of water.   We are pretty unconcerned (maybe just naive), so hopefully this passes without a lot of fanfare.

Earlier this week, Liam got to celebrate his upcoming birthday with his school buddies. We sent cupcakes and "Cars" gift bags for all the kids. Liam was excited going into school and said he had fun.   His birthday theme is "Cars" and we got him the movie a couple weeks ago. I think we've seen it 4 times now and it would be much more if Liam had his way -- although he has not watched the whole movie in a single instance and always wants to multi-task and use the ipad while he watches the movie.

Ohio Visit

2011-08-10T08:46:00.000-04:00

Val took the boys to Ohio for a long weekend. They got to see lots of the family, but most importantly were able to spend a lot of time with Grandpa and Grandma Mac.

While there, they did plenty of playing despite the very warm temperatures. They had an early birthday party too and got cool gifts, cake, and of course some ice cream.

Here are some pix..

Quinn update

2011-08-09T21:38:00.006-04:00

Mr. Quinn gets to be more fun (read: less cranky) every day. I think most of this comes from his new found mobility. He is able to walk freely without holding walls or toys, but still uses them and anything he can find to pull himself up when needed. We've seen him get himself up without extra assistance, so he is just being lazy.

Quinn still hasn't taken to baby food and may just skip right past it. We try once in a while, but for some reason he just doesn't care for it. He does much better with some regular pasta, cheerios, fries, hot dogs, etc.. But more than anything, this kid loves his formula. We haven't tried to switch over to milk yet, but probably soon.

Lately Quinn has started to babble a bit more than he ever has. He can be super cute when he couples it with a little wave hello or good-bye.

On the sleep front, he really has been doing great for the last 4-6 weeks. There have only been a couple times that he has woken up in the middle of the night and needed attention. And on those occasions it is usually because he didn't eat/drink enough at bedtime. In the last week he has also been better at sleeping in a bit - we seemed to go thru a long stretch of the summer where he was wide awake by 5:30. Now he is closer to 6:30 and that one extra hour is a world of difference to us. So for the most part we have some pretty normal nights sleep happening. This has been particularly helpful in last month as Val has been traveling a bit for work.

Quinn isn't great at warming up to new people and takes time to even warm up to family and friends. While he is great with us, Papa Tom, and Ms. Meaghan from school, there is really just one person that he truly melts for and that is his brother. Quinn just love anything Liam does and laughs at him all the time. At time I'm on the verge of yelling at Liam for being too rough only to get a huge cackle laugh from Quinn . It is very sweet to see how much he loves Liam. I think Liam is really starting to enjoy having a brother he can almost play with and he certainly enjoys all the attention Quinn gives him.

Sports Court Installed

2011-08-01T22:07:00.004-04:00

This summer we had a multi-purpose court installed in our back yard. Hopefully it will provide the boys with years of enjoyment while giving us some comfort having kids safely playing in the yard. We have already been down there a lot riding bike, roller blaring, playing baseball, tennis, and basketball. Liam plays each for about five minutes before coming up with new ideas of what to do.

We still need to do something with the landscaping to fix up the yard. So for now the court looks great, but the yard is a mess.

July 4th Weekend

2011-07-04T21:21:00.002-04:00

Fun July 4th weekend. Started with a pool party at the Lucht's on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and kids had fun swimming and playing baseball.

Then we did back to back days with the Scanlon's at Seabrook Beach. Always a good time but weather on Monday was better. Liam especially loves time with all his bonus aunts and uncles.

Cape Cod Vacation Pictures

2011-06-23T20:09:00.000-04:00

Beach Time

At Cape Cod League game

Provincetown

Golf & Baseball were themes of the week

Cape Cod Vacation

2011-06-23T18:18:00.030-04:00

One thing is for sure, having 2 kids this age makes blogging very difficult.   We don't get much time without one or both needing attention.

Liam is getting big and is starting to play on his own a bit, but for the most part he still desires to have one of us play with him.   We've been doing lots of time down at the pool and he is doing great with his swimming. He started the week using his life jacket, but yesterday progressed to the arm floaties and did great with it. He is very comfortable in the pool and will be swimming before we know it.   He is also enjoying the golf putting green they have here at the condo complex, although he only likes using the 3 iron and doesn't want to use a putter. Our thoughts of taking him miniature golfing have waned a bit.   We have done a little time down at the ocean, but Liam only likes to get his feet in the water. By far the thing Liam has liked the most this week has been playing baseball. Val bought him a new foam baseball bat/ball set and we play 2-3 times per day. He is doing a great job hitting the ball and continues to throw pretty well (when he uses his right hand). He doesn't quite grasp catching the ball and consistently puts his glove on the wrong hand.   On the funny side, when we throw to him and it hits him he insists that we apologize.   All isn't 100% perfect with him as he can be a bit disruptive -- he doesn't listen well and certainly does lots of things to earn a timeout.

Quinn has had a great week and for the most part has had a great disposition. He has enjoyed the pool and has done a great job with his crawling and walking.   He is so eager to walk on his own and seems to be trending to walk even sooner than Liam did.   He desires so much to be like his older brother and has even taken up binky's, but we think it is only because he sees Liam with them.   We think part of his good disposition is the fact that he had 4 teeth pop thru, so clearly they have been just below the surface for the last few weeks which caused him to be a real pill (we checked the baby return policy, but determined we had to keep him).

Our week has been good and we had above average temperatures the early part of the week. We did lots of time at parks, pools and beaches. We even caught a Cape Cod League baseball game on Father's Day -- and got a shattered windshield as a parting gift.    We have gone out to eat a little bit, but mostly quick bites and child friendly places like The Squire in Chatham,  a good hot dog stand, a pizza place, a few ice cream stands, and Chapin's (formerly Clancy's).   Hot dog was perhaps best meal of week so far.     We had rain today so we went up to Provincetown for the day.   We just walked around for a couple hours and grabbed some ice cream --- life is good.

6/12/11 A greatest day

2011-06-12T22:06:00.000-04:00

Kids are now both asleep, but as I reflect on day I smile. Quinn turned 9 months old today and we started the day together at 5 am. Val is away this weekend so I've been relying on grandpa's for some extra help.

The Quinn highlights are mostly around his villanous smile when I say "no" as he tries to put fingers in electric socket an his newfound ability to walk with his toy walker. He'd started this a couple weeks ago with other toys and chairs, but this weekend he really figured it out.

That said, the time with Liam today was super special. We had lunch at Sterling Ice Cream Bar and he discovered frappes which he insisted were just chocolate milk. In the afternoon he genuinely helped me do yard work as I trimmed bushes and he put cut stuff into a big pile. He later "helped" by using his toy mower while I did lawn - we gave each other fist pumps each time we passed. He giggled and I just sucked it all in.

The highlight though was playing baseball. He has rules and makes me wear a glove to catch whiffleballs. We played catch and took turns hitting. I wish I could bottle the fun as he was such a joy and really made me laugh with his comments. In particular when we were playing catch there were a number of times when the ball would hit him (because he can't catch as he is just learning). - well he would say to me. "say your sorry". ( you know, for hitting him). Then he would ask if " I meant it". All of course very funny to me and something I'll always remember

Quinn Baptism

2011-05-20T20:13:00.001-04:00

We finally had Quinn baptised and he did fine at Church. It was nice to have the Conley family there and his God Parents Tom & Anne Scanlon and Jim McCarthy. And it was especially great to have Grandma Jenny there from Ohio.

Photo Book for Mother's Day

2011-05-08T19:17:00.000-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T19:16:00.001-04:00

We went to Holden on Saturday after going to Tanner Gaffney's 2nd birthday. Liam had a lot of fun playing with the kids at the party and eating pizza, cake, and ice cream.
On Sunday we had a nice day with Nana and Grampy Conley. We went out for breakfast and then stayed around for most of the afternoon. It was fun to be able to spend time with at least a couple mom's on Mothers day. (Val's mom is coming on Thursday and will be here for Quinn's baptism next weekend).

Quinn had a neat milestone day to help celebrate mother's day --- he crawled for the first time. He's been showing lots of signs of it as he holds his body up great, but just couldn't figure out the legs. It somehow kicked in a bit today and he was off to the races.

Here are a couple pictures from our day.

Happy Birthday Summer

2011-05-02T23:58:00.001-04:00

Quinn and Liam wish their cousin Summer a very happy birthday.

Quinn is cute again!

2011-04-21T17:16:00.003-04:00

It was a tough stretch of time before Quinn's first 2 teeth came through. He was quite the pistol and often made us wonder why we had subjected ourselves to another child! That all said, he's always been our love and now he's actually quite fun. His sleeping pattern is odd, but not too bad. He just always seems to be awake just after 5am to start the day. But he does sleep in his own crib and is really good at putting himself to sleep.

On the mobility front he is a huge wiggle worm and is a nightmare to change and dress, but he hasn't started to crawl just yet. We don't have carpet in rooms, so his clothes in combo with hardwood floors isn't very conducive to crawling. Perhaps once it is warm he will start scooting around.

Here are the best pix over the last couple months.

Quinn "official" 6-Month Photo

2011-03-21T07:38:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple pictures of Quinn from his photo shoot on Saturday. He was a perfect angel for the pictures which was amazing as his nights have been devlish. The poor kid is struggling with his teeth starting to pop up.

By the way, here are pictures from Liam's 6-months shoot. Quinn was able to mostly sit up on his own, but there would be no way he could stand like Liam did... but we love them both the same!

Quinn at 6 Months

2011-03-13T11:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was quite the milestone for Mr. Quinn.   He turned 6 months old and got his first tooth to pop thru.  He is a growing boy for sure, but seems to be much more 'work' than Liam ever was. His sleeping paterns in particular seem to be a lot harder to manage as he's up 3+ times per night and sometimes is wide awake ready to start the day by 5am.

He hasn't taken to food all that much. He mostly spits any cerel or fruit out and would much rather just have his bottle.   Not a big deal, just a bit different than our experience with Liam.

He does really enjoy sitting up and seeing the world. He took to the stroller this week as long as he could be positioned to ride forward and able to see what was going on.   The same is true when he is being held (which is often) as he likes to face forward.

Quinn took a bit of time to adjust to school, but he has been doing much better there the last few weeks. Hopefully when he goes back tomorrow after our week long vacation, he gets right back into it.

While he has been mostly healthy, he does have a little medical issue that needs to be addressed. He has a pilonidal cyst on the crack of his bum that needs attention. He is going to see a surgeon on Wednesday to figure out what to do. This is a heriditary thing -- thanks Conley/Shea genes - but thankfully it doesn't seem to be anything too serious.

Liam is playing with him well and often helps out by picking up his rattle or chew toys and handing back to Quinn. We are eager to see his next developmental milestones with crawling hopefully happening soon. We also need to get him in for some official 6-month photos and get him baptised hopefully in May.

We love our boy Quinn. Happy 6 Month Birthday!

Florida Visit

2011-03-13T11:17:00.000-04:00

We took our annual trip to Florida to see Nana and Grampy Conley. It was so nice to escape the winter weather of New England and enjoy some fun in the sun.

On Sunday Liam went to his first Red Sox game. Granted it was a spring training game, but it did prove to be a challenge as he was ready to go home before the first pitch. He managed to keep occupied with food and ice cream until about the 5th inning. And honestly by that time we were all ready to go. It was a nice day and it was neat to be there with Grampy, Daddy, and Liam.

We did some golfing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Grampy winning the first 2 days, with Rich squeezing out a victory on last day to save face a bit. On Tuesday we also went to a Red Sox game, but this time without Liam. We too only lasted about 5 innings, but got to see some bettter players (Papi, Youk, Elsberry from Sox, plus Puljos et all from St. Louis). Here is Rich and Grampy at Roger Dean Stadium.

Val, Quinn, and Liam spent a lot of time together at the pool and park with Nana while the golfers were gone. The weather was great most of the week, with just one cooler day (mid-60s).

Val and Rich did get out a couple times for date nights... one nice dinner at Prime Catch and another night downtown Delray. The family also got out a couple times, once over at Ale House and other night at Boston's. A nice trip to see the family! Thanks Nana and Grampy!

Happy 62nd BDay Papa!

2011-03-02T21:46:00.010-05:00

We celebrated Tom's birthday over the weekend with a little cake and ice cream. Here are a few pics of the boys with their Papa Tom!

Ills of winter

2011-02-19T22:32:00.001-05:00

It has been a long winter and we've been pretty lucky in terms of flus and colds, but Quinn has really been struggling the last couple weeks. He can't seem to shake a cold and now has both an ear infection and conjunctivitis in his eye on top of the head cold. Poor kid is drooling everywhere and has runny nose all the time too. And laying down to sleep is so hard as he is so stuffed up.

Here are the boys last weekend.

And here is Liam at lesson #7 in his hockey life. It has been incredible to see his progress each week and he is now actually skating. Last week he started to get up on his own after falling and this week he had that perfected. The jump this week is probably tied to his new found option to rollerblade before and after school throughout the house, so he's getting lots of extra skating practice. Most importantly -- he is really enjoying everything hockey.

Weekend of Liam

2011-01-31T11:39:00.002-05:00

Liam had quite a good weekend...

First, he is doing really well with the potty. While not necessarily fun stuff, it is a huge milestone in the family. He is very much into his candy rewards that come with using the potty. It started a few weeks back when his school initiated it and bravely put him in underwear during the day.   Accidents were frequent, but have reduced greatly in a short time. On Friday he seemed to be 100% accident free and he really went through the weekend with minimal accidents. Anyway, we are very proud of our boy and hope he continues to progress with it.

Second, he had a great day of skating on Saturday. For the first time he went through the skate without crying. In fact, he was eager to go on the ice and went all the way across and back for the first time.   It was like he was someone else's kid, because previous weeks weren't nearly as fun.

Third, he got to go to the UMass Lowell hockey game on Saturday night. It was a nice treat for him to sit with mom for this.   He again got to give high-fives to the players as they went onto the ice and the coach gave him a puck.   He loves going to see the Riverhawks and really is a huge hockey nut.

Finally, on Sunday he had another date with mommy. They went to see Elmo's Green Thumb at the Lowell Auditorium. He had a great time at the show and mommy even bought him a few souvenirs.

So what about Quinn.... well he is doing just fine. He has been trying to do more sleeping in his crib. He goes down well at night and even did a 7 hour stretch last night. Unfortunately he didn't want to go back to sleep after that and it was only 3am.   As is always the case, we broke down and pulled him into bed with us and he slept fine.      He hasn't done much in terms of milestones, but he does seem to be getting more comfortable on his belly and is almost into a crawl position.   He only rolls over on occasion, but he can do it when he is not fussing too much.     He really does seem to love his jumpy, so that is good as Liam's legs got so strong doing that all the time.

We are very blessed and appreciate how wonderful our boys are.

Snow Day #3

2011-01-21T16:45:00.000-05:00

Ok.. I know it is New England, but we have now had 3 snow days in last 3 weeks. Daycare is getting lots of free money from us.

Anyway, Liam and I were outside today and were finally able to make a real snowman. He is very proud of this.

Sidenote: We watched Frosty once this winter, but Liam strongly recalls the concept of putting the hat on the snowman and him coming to life. When we put the hat on our snowman Liam said with funny voice, "Happpy Newww Yeeeaar.!" Very funny indeed!

Snow Day #2

2011-01-18T20:53:00.001-05:00

We had an early release today thanks to another visit from Mother Nature. The snow was a bit more snowball friendly than the other day, so Liam and I played with it a bit. Liam can't quite put his 'SN's" together, so they are "no balls" and "no mans".

Fortunately Liam had low expectations as it wasn't great for snowman building, but we did manage to put this together and he loved it. We had to get the camera, drag papa out of the house, and then show mamma when she got him. He was very excited about his first "big no man". It was a memory making event for sure.

The night was capped off with a fun exchange between the kids. It was so much fun to see Quinn laugh at his brother... very cute indeed.

Snow Day

2011-01-17T16:26:00.001-05:00

For the first time, Liam actually enjoyed being outside and in the snow. Previous attempts to introduce him to it weren't very successful, but this week we had a snow day and he loved being out there. He did a lot of sledding in the driveway and also was quite helpful with a shovel. He tried to make a snow angel but didn't have the weight/muscle to make it work very well.

Here are a couple pictures of Quinn. Note that this will be the last time he wears that Patriots jersey.

Liam starts hockey

2011-01-08T12:56:00.002-05:00

Today Liam began his hockey career. Needless to say, Sidney Crosby doesn't need to fear someone stealing his job any time soon. Never-the-less, for a first day ever on ice he did fine. He certainly didn't love the uncertainty of life on 2 blades on top of slippery and cold ice. Even in just 40 minutes of time it was pretty incredible to see progress in his comfort level. Hopefully after a few more sessions he will be more comfortable on ice. We signed him up for a 6 week session and he is probably the youngest kid there, so we may be a year too soon --- time will tell.

In other Liam progress, he is doing really well with counting. He likes to skip 3-4-5, but now seems to do that as a joke. I caught him counting his trains this morning and he went 1-11 without messing up.

Also, Liam can spell his first word. And it is no surprise what that is --- O-H-I-O. He's even got the shtick down where he says "I-O" after someone says "O-H". And in props to Buckeye Nation, he woke up and watched the 4th quarter of the Sugar Bowl with dad and grampa Tom.

Here is video of Mr. Liam's hockey adventure...

Christmas

2011-01-04T11:54:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all. It has been a busy couple weeks with the holidays and these 2 growing boys keep us away from the computer.

We spent Christmas in Connecticut with the Feeley's. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and sharing the holiday together. Shawna was quite the cook and Seth is truly Mr. Christmas. Most importantly, the kids all loved being together and getting their toys from Santa and family. Liam was very into the whole Santa gift giving event and was thinking he'd come again on the 26th -- we had to let him know it only happened once per year. He is now focused on Easter as that is when he next gets gifts!

The Familia

First Family Christmas

You can dress him up, but...

Quinn - 3.5 months old

Trip to see Santa

2010-12-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we struck out when the line to see Santa was way too long. This week we had much better success as we went closer to dinner time. The wait was about 45 minutes, but the kids were both well behaved. Liam has been a bit of a terror lately with a bit of hitting and flat out disobedience, but on this day he was pretty good and we took comfort in watching other parents deal with their own problem children -- their pain was comfort to us that we weren't all that bad of parents. One grandmother almost strangled her grandson while another mother had to take her boy out of line for a mid-mall timeout as a result of slapping mom. I'm sure it will be us next time, but for 2010 we did OK.

Back to our wonderful angels... wink, wink. Liam at first wasn't sure he wanted to sit on Santa's lap, but as soon as he pulled out a piece of candy he would have flown with him to the North Pole. (Note this doesn't bode well for his own safety, so we'll need to work on proper response to being offered candy from strangers). Quinn was fine and just wanted to eat his hand so we were lucky to get this one picture without his hands in his face.

Merry Christmas to all.

Liam is sharp

2010-12-03T20:20:00.000-05:00

Liam is turning into a very funny and smart little kid. All his teachers love him and are sad that he is moving up to the next toddler level next week.

Here is a funny story.. although no promise I can tell it and keep it funny....

Since our trip we've been starting to talk about Christmas a bit and trying to get Liam acquainted with the whole gift from Santa stuff. We have been trying to learn from him what he wanted for Christmas. Well we were in the car in sunny California and he declared that he needed sun glasses like daddy had. He tried mine on, but they clearly didn't fit and so we put that on the list. Weeks later he is still talking about sun glasses and has even told his teachers about it. Well tonight he was in grampa Tom's room and saw his eye glass cleaning wipes and took them. He said he was keeping them for when he got sun glasses from Santa. We think that is pretty dang smart and funny too.

Thanksgiving Week Travel

2010-12-03T16:35:00.001-05:00

We returned earlier this week from our week+ trip out to Ohio for Thanksgiving.   We had a very nice visit with the extended family as well as Val's girlfriends.

We stayed with the Feeley's in Connecticut on the Saturday night before Thanksgiving and enjoyed visiting with them. Liam absolutely loves spending time with his cousins and Summer even let him play with some of her LPS (Little Pet Shop) toys.   Mollie was great with Quinn and did a great job keeping him happy. We headed out for Ohio crack of dawn on Sunday.

Sunday was a long day of driving, but the kids did real well. We stopped just a couple times for coffee, gas, and then lunch.   We were reminded that having kids in diapers actually helps as we don't have to stop nearly as often as we will once Liam starts potty training (not quite sure when that will be).   We arrived in Ohio in time for Rich to watch the Patriots game.    The Grandma and Grandpa Mac were warmly greeted by Liam and Quinn.   Later in the evening they gave the kids Christmas gifts, so it was nice for Liam to have new toys to play with during the week!

We took a trip into Columbus one day to visit Ohio State so Liam could see Brutus the Buckeye. We then got to have a nice visit with a bunch of Val's friends.   It was great to see them, but disappointing to have such a short visit.

Other highlights include:

Fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with the family
Liam and Quinn got to spend a little time with their cousin Hallee and Aunt Stacey
Val, Grandma Mac, Great Aunt Shirley, and Quinn drove up to Dayton area to meet Val's good friend Karen who drove over from Indiana. They had a nice day of dining and shopping.
and of course an Ohio State whooping of Michigan

We left Ohio on Sunday after Thanksgiving and headed to the Poconos (6 hours) as that is about half-way home. We stayed there for a few days and toured around a bit. Like lots of places, it seems to be much more enjoyable when there is warmer weather. The resort (Split Rock something?) had a big indoor water park, but we didn't go there as it is geared toward slightly older kids. There was a decent indoor pool, so we did get Liam some more swimming. We had his life jacket with us too and that worked out great -- he did so well with it, we wish we had brought that with us to Hawaii and California.

On Thursday we returned to the working world with both Val and Rich returning to work. It was a challenge to get through all the morning logistics to get everyone dressed and out of the house. I'm sure with a bit more practice we'll get it figured out.

Quinn 2 Month Checkup

2010-11-18T16:36:00.011-05:00

All went well with Quinn's checkup and doctor said he was doing great. He is growing quickly and is already 13.4 pounds which is a full pound heavier than Liam was at the same age. He got a couple shots and was a champ about it.

Quinn with cousin Mollie (Photo Courtesy of Aunt Shawna)

Newport Coast, California

2010-11-11T01:01:00.001-05:00

The kids both did very well on our flight to LAX. We didn't get to the condo in Newport Coast until after midnight local time. Then on Sunday my parents arrived around 9am as they did a red-eye flight. Sunday wasn't very productive, but we did get ourselves settled and drove down to Laguna just to see some of the sites. We had a late lunch/early dinner at zpizza and it exceeded expectations.

On Monday we did a bit more exploring and headed over to Balboa Island and to Newport Beach area. Here are some pix from the trip.

Walking along waterfront on Balboa Island

On 3-car ferry between Balboa and Newport/Balboa Village

We picked a restaurant called Harborside for lunch and had absolutely fantastic meals. It was not very pricey and yet the meals were served as if 5-star. Add in the fact that we could see the water and it was perfect -- not even a Quinn explosion could ruin lunch. We followed it up with some penny-candy and frozen banana's along the boardwalk.

Dad about to enjoy a frozen banana

On Tuesday, dad and I went golfing over at Oak Creek which is the poor-mans version of Pelican Hill -- it is also a Fazio course and run by same company. While not nearly the views of Pelican Hill, the course itself was beautiful and very challenging. The rough was US Open worthy as there was some tournament going on and losing a ball just off the fairway was easy to do. As with most rounds of golf there were plenty of bad shots, but enough good ones to keep us happy. It was a fantastic day of golf with father and son.. I look forward to someday playing with my boys too.

Mom, Val, and the kids spent the day at the pool and around the resort. Liam made a tie-dye shirt, played on the swings, played a little basketball and golf, and of course lots of swimming.

At sunset we went up to the poolside bar for some appetizers and cocktails. It was a beautiful night (albeit a bit chilly). The views from the resort over the ocean are amazing.

View from poolside bar at Marriott Newport Coast

Afterwards, Val and I ventured out on a date. Upon recommendation of the guys I golfed with, we went to a place called 'Splashes' . When GPS said we were there, we were not quite sure it was correct as there wasn't much fanfare so certainly nothing we'd have picked on our own. Yet once we got in and sat just feet from the ocean behind glass half-walls, it was clearly a special place. We had great meals and a bottle of wine -- and absolutely beautiful night. We figured this was an early anniversary dinner and it truly was wonderful. Thanks mom and dad for taking the kids.

On Wednesday morning mom and dad left for home, but they left with lots of great memories. We went down to Laguna Beach and Liam played on the swings and then ran on the beach --- he eventually fell in when a wave caught him -- not a big deal it was just that we didn't bring swimsuits, so that quickly brought the visit to a close. So we headed back and got changed -- here are our diaper boys.

We then went up to Newport Beach to a place called Rudy's for lunch -- again we hit a home run as we had great pub food. We continued our adventure and went over to Long Beach and saw the Queen Mary (another Big Ben, Parliament moment). And to end the day we checked out Downtown Disney. It was nice to see and a bit different from Orlando -- we all enjoyed some cookies as an afternoon snack.

Mickey Cookie at Downtown Disney

Good Bye Kaua'i

2010-11-10T23:56:00.001-05:00

The week went fast, but we had a very nice visit to Hawaii. Most of us will never be back given how far it is, but hopefully Quinn and Liam return when they are older. It is a beautiful spot in the world and we are glad we made the trip. But a return isn't likely given how far it is and the fact that there are so many great Caribbean islands that offer much of the same charm and beauty.. without 10 hours of flying.

Mom bought the boys great Hawaiian outfits and we hope to get a good one for Christmas cards, but the boys don't always cooperate for a family photo. Here are a few with the family.

Kaua'i Vacation Part 2

2010-11-05T21:32:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday we did a little tour of the south coast. It was very nice, but not as neat as the north. Although we did get to see a couple waterfalls.

In Koi Pond Garden at Marriott

At the Fantasy Island waterfalls

And at the 'other' waterfalls

Riverboat tours.. would be nice, but not with kids

We didn't go all the way to the end as it was a bit further than we thought. We ended up eating at Brennecke's Beach Broiler right on Poipu Beach. This is a great location to see sunset too. The food was good and we had a cool waiter which added to the fun. Liam was exhausted though and was asleep in the restaurant.

Poipu Beach at sunset

Thursday, we spent some time at the pool in the morning and then Rich & Val went golfing while Nana and Grampy stayed with the kids. The weather was a bit overcast, but it was still fun to spend time together without the kids. At night we ventured across the street for dinner at Kalapaki Joe's (not very good).

Then on Friday we spent more time by the pool in the morning. Liam had a super time swimming in the big boy pool with his grampy. After some naps we headed out for happy hour and a final dinner.

Yes, we do have Quinn with us -- he just doesn't make it into many pictures.

Kaua'i Vacation Part 1

2010-11-04T02:52:00.001-04:00

We safely arrived in Kaua'i on Saturday and got settled into the resort. It was a long day of travel and we were beat -- so with that and another 3 hour time zone shift we were in bed early.

At Marriott property checking out the place.

On Sunday we woke up and explored the resort a bit. It is HUGE with multiple towers and a gigantic pool. There is a fish pond that Liam absolutely loves. The place is clearly not new as it has some dated elements to it, but not really enough to complain about. My parents arrived in the afternoon and we picked them up at the airport. After getting them settled we went out for dinner at Cafe Portofino and had a very nice Italian dinner.

Liam had to stop and see fishies all the time and fed them every morning

Hotel pool.. view from cool veranda

On Monday we went out and did some exploring on the North side of the island.

Kilauea Light House

Mom and Dad

Wet Caves

Bubba's Burgers for some good eats. Lots of celebs have eaten here.

On Tuesday dad and I golfed while the rest of the family hung at the pool. We played at the resort course as there was a decent deal and the place was super convenient. It is Kaua'i Lagoons course and I squeaked out a 3 stroke victory over dad, but it was just great to be able to play together in Hawaii.

Par 3 over a lot of canyon-like area

Posing... and landed on green (ok.. it rolled off back)

Dinner at Duke's

After golf we joined back up with the family and went over to Duke's for dinner. It was a good meal with a waterfront view. We even finished it all off with Hula Pie! Very enjoyable and another 'memory making' day!

SF Day 3

2010-10-30T00:22:00.000-04:00

At 11am today we had a scheduled duck tour of the city, so we tried to keep it low key this morning to keep Liam well rested. We did some more sleeping and think we are mostly on track for West Coast time! We did breakfast at Boudin and it was very good although I think Peet's Coffee sucks.

Then we went off to do the Bay Quackers tour and enjoyed it quite a bit, although the SF setup is NOT very conducive to duck tours as there is nothing to see in the water. The only site from the water was the back of the AT&T ballpark and that could be seen just fine from the land. Never-the-less, as with any tour deal it is the quality of the guide that really makes the trip and our guide was excellent. Like lots of things you do for your kids, this was one of those deals where we got lots of joy seeing Liam's excitement especially when we went in water. So it was a good take and worth doing.. .just not doing again.

AT&T Park from Duck Boat

Liam was very excited to drive the 'boat' in McCovey Cove

Touring through China Town

After a long afternoon nap, we went out for an early dinner. Again we felt that we can infiltrate the nice restaurants in off hours, so we went to another waterfront place. Castagnola's is a nice place and the food was very good (a little pricey), but it was nice to have a view of boats while eating.

Family Dinner!

We ended the night by walking around the waterfront. We passed the Bush Man again (btw - duck boat guy said he makes like 60k doing this homeless gig). And of course we had to go see the sea lions once again. Liam said his good-byes and we headed back to the hotel to pack.

SF Day 2

2010-10-29T11:07:00.001-04:00

If the early bird catches the worm, we must have plenty of worms. Still on East Coast time, the kids were both up before 5AM so our day started early. We started walking around when it was still dark and headed out toward the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a nice morning to walk and we stopped over near the Marina district to take some pictures and that was a close as we got to the bridge.

After the bridge, we made our way up to the Union Street. There were lots of nice shops, but no one was open. Seems SF likes to sleep -- most stores listed 10am or 11am as the opening -- plus with Giants winning game #1 last night they could all be real tired. We did find a very nice bakery called La Boulange open where we sat and had a wonderful breakfast.

Feeling a bit ambitious, we then ventured up to Lombard Street to see the world 'crookedest street'. It was a bit dumb as the hills with 2 carriages was a bit much. Never-the-less we ventured on and got a good workout.

Liam was saying "Go Mommy Go" and "You can do it"

Crookedest Street isn't stroller friendly, so this is extent of what we could see.

After making our way back down the hills and over to the Fisherman's Wharf area we went over to Pier 39 and grabbed a beer and nachos at the Wipeout Bar & Grill. I know it is just nachos, but they were fantastic!

Liam was most impressed by the shark inside the Wipeout B&G

We then continued our exploration as it was still just noon. Pier 39 had lots more stores and restaurants. Liam rode a big merry-go-round that had sea lions and dolphins to ride -- he had to try both. We again visited the sea lions as they greatly entertain Liam.

Quinn was less impressed by the sea lions, but was still a good sport

Later in the afternoon we took the MUNI light rail car for a little ride. We went down to Union Square and saw all the high end stores -- it is nice, but could be any city with Bloomingdales, Macy's, and Tiffany's. We then took the Powell & Hyde trolley down to the waterfront and headed over to Ghirardelli Square and had a little ice cream.

After ice cream, Liam was a bit energetic so we went down to the water where he did lots of running. Crazy SF people were swimming and it wasn't that nice out.

We were exhausted and it was only 5pm when we got back to the room. We rallied and went back out for another walk to Pier 39 to keep everyone awake, as we are trying to get onto West Coast time. We kept kids up until 8pm and parents were asleep by 8:30pm.... oh yeah and Giants win again.

Vacation Day 1

2010-10-27T23:36:00.003-04:00

Today was our first day of our extended vacation. We left Lowell at 6:30am today to begin a journey out to San Francisco (4 days); Kauai, Hawaii (7 days); and Newport Coast,CA (7 days).

First and foremost, I can't say enough good things about our kids. I know that is normal parent bragging, but I'd be the first to rat them out for being difficult. Liam was the one we feared the most as he is used to more mobility and certainly can throw good tantrums when he wants to do so. But he was truly excellent -- small pockets of restlessness, but he was great. We did go with the car seat for him and that was a SUPERB call -- thanks to all who encouraged this approach. Val and I each did our part to keep him entertained with a range of new toys (Crayola coloring stuff and some new ipad games & videos). Quinn --- well he is pretty easy going, and today he was great and didn't have any issues with flying --- he just always seems to go #2 at the worst time!

SF is a buzz for sure with Giants at home in World Series Game #1 tonight. We drove by the park around 2pm (west coast time) and there were big crowds and fanatics all over the place.
We are staying in Fisherman's Wharf area and that seems to be good. We were very hungry given all the time changes and no in-flight meal, so we quickly found a restaurant near the hotel. We were ahead of the normal dinner crowd as it was 4:00 local time, so we didn't feel too bad eating at a nicer place. We randomly chose Alitos and were very pleased--- really good Italian food and fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge and SF Bay.

Picture: Hard to see, but GGBride in background.

After dinner we walked around a bit and saw more of the Pier area. Got to see old submarine (used in WW2); lots of nice local restaurants as well as the more commercial places like Hard Rock, Rainforest, Joe's Crab Shack, and Bubba Gump. But the highlight for Liam was certainly seeing the Sea Lions. I can say with reasonable certainty that we will be back to visit as he left in tears as we dragged him away (mind you, we watched them for like 15 minutes --- Val and I are each from the Clark Griswald school of Big Ben, Parliament or Grand Canyon --- but not much better than seeing your child light up at the sight of anything and sea lions did all that.

Liam running on pier

Checking out the sea lions

Liam & Rich

As Liam was going to sleep tonight he said to Val, "I love you mommy". Then after some prodding he also said "I love you daddy". In all fairness, we've been feeding him these lines for 3+ months with little buy-in. So tonight to have him say it was certainly a great exclamation point on a long day of travel.

Mr. Quinn

2010-10-24T22:02:00.001-04:00

Here is Quinn at 6 weeks old. He is losing his hair a bit and has certainly put on some weight, but he has been healthy throughout. He has been a great little baby boy and we are happy to see him getting some meat on his bones.

The one oddity he has is squeaking -- he doesn't cry a lot, but during the night or even when he's being fussy he just does these odd squeaking sounds. Unfortunately, Val hears every one of them and hasn't been able to get great sleep.

Liam is a Riverhawk Fan

2010-10-24T21:29:00.000-04:00

Liam is starting to grow into a sports nut (double entendre for you Buckeye's out there). For some reason hockey has been a sport that has resonated with him the most. Maybe it was seeing Aunt Shawna at the Sound Tigers doing her entertaining gig when he was younger or just that he loves to hit people and thinks it is his calling. ("tackle" is currently his favorite game and he enjoys the hockey hitting more than any scoring)

We were at the UMass Lowell games on Friday and Saturday night. He never grows tired of it and wants to be there until the end, so I have to trick him to leave early. He got one face sticker on Friday and wouldn't let us wash it, then he got another on Saturday -- here it is Sunday and he has both still on there and he wants to wear them to school on Monday. Despite his fears of costume characters, I did trick him into bumping into the Riverhawk -- while it could have backfired, it didn't. He then wanted to go see him again so he could give him high-fives --- so we did that a couple times and it was cute.

Here he is with a couple 'chuck-a-pucks'... that he turned into 'take-home-some-pucks'.

Pictures from weeks 3 & 4

2010-10-13T08:50:00.003-04:00

Family pictures from last couple weeks...

One month old

2010-10-12T20:18:00.000-04:00

Quinn is one month today and seems to have grown quite bait. He had his one month checkup and the doctor gave him high marks. He is in 25% for size and cute as can be - ok the last part is my opinion.

Val is starting to do a little more work, so I'm getting more time with Quinn. Fortunately we are blessed to have Tom here to help with Liam and my parents are still taking him a couple days per week. We have no idea how anyone manages 2 young kids at the same time as both need full time attention. While certainly a challenge, we are loving our family!

Quinn is getting fat...

2010-10-04T10:16:00.000-04:00

Ok fat is an exageration, but given his previous visits to the doctor we were anxious for today's visit. Well he checked in at 9 pounds and 3 ounces. The doc was very happy and so are we.

Quinn has really enjoyed life on formula and breast milk. He is quite the eater.

I am home all week with the family as my quarantine continues. Val and Tom have been holding down the fort without much help from me. I will be doing lots of diaper changes on vacation at the end of the month.

q

2010-10-02T12:07:00.001-04:00

Quinn Update - 2 weeks

2010-09-29T10:28:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates on Quinn, but I'll try to be better.   I can see why the 2nd kid always feels short-changed in the photo and 'first year memory box' department. It isn't a lack of enjoyment or love we have for him, just a lack of free time.

We thank all our friends and family who have been out to visit, sent flowers and gifts, and shared their kind words. We are very blessed to have you all in our lives.

Not much to report on Quinn's life accomplishments yet. He continues to do what 2 week old babies do and that is excellent. His weight has been slow to return to birth weight (7.10 as of yesterday).   We have just started him onto some formula to 'top the tank' as his doctor puts it.   It has only been a half day, but he seems a lot happier.   Hopefully this will all continue and he'll put on a few more ounces before our next appointment on Monday.

We have been mostly sticking around the house with him, but Val did take him into Boston one day to meet some of her work colleagues.   And today he is heading out to Holden to spend a few hours with the Conley grandparents while Val gets her hair done. (NOTE: She was on way to get this done when she first went into labor back on 9/11, so she cancelled that appointment)

Val is a champ and has been doing most of this with less help from me than I should be providing. In some strange ironic way, I've been hit with pneumonia as did my mother after her second child. (Although hers was much worse -- at least so far). Hopefully the doctor figures this out soon and gets me the right antibiotics to clear this all up.   Anyway, as if I didn't owe Val enough for all she does -- I now owe her even more!

I am charging the battery for the camera and promise to get some new pictures of Quinn posted soon.   Here is one of Liam riding his tricycle which amazes us, but he learned this in summer camp with Nana and Grampy Conley.   Liam by the way has been a fantastic big brother and has shown no signs of jealousy. We are so proud of him and so impressed with all his progress with vocabulary -- it amazes us sometimes with the words he knows and funny things he says.

Quinn on day 4

2010-09-17T16:40:00.000-04:00

Quinn went out and about town yesterday. He had a doctors appointment and that went mostly well. They do want to see him gain more weight as he was down to 7lbs.7oz, so we are going to head back there on Monday to see. It is possible he'll be like Liam and need more food than one mamma can produce. Regardless, we aren't worried and neither is the doctor. Afterwards we went up to Babies R' Us for a few things to get everyone out of the house for a while.

Today has been a bit more low key as I haven't had to work at all today and have been able to enjoy Quinn much more. I'm also trying to get caught up with all the pictures we have. Happy to have the weekend here!

Tomorrow we are getting some visitors - yippee!! -- most (maybe all) of my family will be up for the afternoon. We are so looking forward to the visitors.

Quinn's First Day

2010-09-13T17:40:00.000-04:00

Here are all the pictures we have from the first day.

Day #2 has been filled with doctors checking him out, fixing him up, and giving him a clean bill of health.

Papa Tom

2010-09-12T13:10:00.000-04:00

We were fortunate to have Papa Tom at the house so we could leave in middle of night without waking Liam. They celebrated Quinn's arrival with a little D&D and then came over to the hospital around 10am.

Here is Papa Tom with baby Quinn

Our Family

2010-09-12T12:19:00.001-04:00

Liam was odd at first when he met Quinn, but after a few minutes he adjusted. He is quickly adapting though and just held Quinn. We think Liam will be a great big brother! By the time the Conley Grandparents arrived he was the proud brother who wanted to introduce them to "Quinny".

After about an hour, Liam decided he wanted to hold Quinn.

Conley Grandparents

2010-09-12T12:08:00.000-04:00

Quinns Pictures

2010-09-12T12:03:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of Quinn Luke Conley -- 8lbs. 2oz.; 20 inches

Welcome Quinn Luke Conley

2010-09-12T05:03:00.001-04:00

Baby was born at 4:25am on 9-12-10. He weighs 8 pounds 3 ounces.

All is well with mama and baby. We arrived at hospital just after 1am. Val was having contractions most of the night.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T19:37:00.000-04:00

We had an 'uneventful' labor day weekend -- aka NO LABOR. This was a good thing on multiple accounts as I've had the flu all weekend and offered zero parenting support for much of the weekend. On the nice side though, Val got to spend a lot of 1-on-1 time with Liam and he enjoyed that very much.

I finally emerged from my quarantine today and we got out of the house for a while. We went and had Liam's 2 year old pictures taken. Amazingly, at Babies R Us they now give you all the proofs on CD when you purchase a package. Anyway, he did great and was very cute during the photo taking part (he was a pistol when we were trying to pick-out pictures). Here is sample...

Liam's 2nd Birthday

2010-08-28T19:12:00.000-04:00

It was a beatiful day and he greatly enjoyed celebrating his "happy day" and being "two old". We had a mix of family and friends in attendance -- Liam especially liked spending time with his cousins. Special thanks to Papa Tom for all his hard work prepping and cooking.

Liam was a good sport all day and ate lots of fruit, cake, ice cream, and lolipops, and juiceboxes. He swam in his pool and entertained all. He appreciated all the gifts even though he fixated on the toy cars. It was a great day for a great kid.

Hard to believe our little guys is 2. Happy Birthday Son!! We love you always and forever -- Mom & Dad

Newport Vacation

2010-08-27T09:10:00.001-04:00

We ended up with the only rainy week of 2010 summer as our vacation, but we still managed to have a good time and enjoy the ocean, boats, and restaurants of Newport. This was Rich's favorite picture from the vacation!

Here are some more pictures too from the vacation. We were in Newport with Val's mom, step-dad, and niece.

Liam at 2 Years Old

2010-08-24T16:25:00.001-04:00

Liam turns 2 in just a couple days and figured we'd post a little report card on his latest developmental status. We found a little developmental checklist for kids turning 2 and milestones they should be at:

Cognitive

Personal Curiosity / Autonomy

1. Shows curiosity and interest is surroundings
Very much, he is loving being outside to see boats, birds, trucks, etc.

2. Imitates the actions of adults
Sometimes

3. Imitates play of other children
Rarely. Maybe because we don't see him with kids very much.

4. Finds own play areas or activity
Rarely. He only plays with others, so we are always pulled into play time with him.

5. Enjoys looking at books
Always. Loves books -- especially farm animals

6. begins to notice differences between safe and unsafe environment
Yes, he is starting to recognize things like "car coming" and understands being cautious around stairs.

Senses

7. Begins to develop senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing
Hmm. Not sure on this-- have to pay more attention. He sees everything though.

8. Begins to place large puzzle pieces in appropriate slots
Yes. He is good with puzzles at nana's house.

Memory

9. Refers to self by name
Yes. Lots of Liam

10. Points to common object on command
Yes. Huge list of things he knows.

11. Associates use with common objects
Yes. Remote control, camera, phones.

12. Stacks three rings by size
No. Doesn't seem to grasp the different size rings.

13. Knows that different activities go on different times of the day
Yes. Currently napping. Knows when mommy is going to work; when daddy is coming home.

14. Understands that idea of waiting for someone else to go first
May understand it, but doesn't like it.

Creativity

15. Shows simple symbolic play (pretends block is a cup)
Sometimes, but not a lot. Most things are what they are… not something else.

16. Acts out a simple story
Nope.

17. Draws a face (no arms or legs)
Nope.. Lots of scribbles.

Language

Sentence Structure

18. Describes what happened in two or three words
Yes. Even more than 3 words at times and does this quite often.

19. Verbalizes wants ("want water.")
Yes…perhaps more than we'd like as he wants candy, marshmallows, and other treats.

20. Repeats parts of songs, rhymes, and finger plays
No. Not into music or nursery rhymes.

21. Gives first and last name when asked
No. He knows first name only.

22. Uses short sentences to convey simple ideas
Yes.

Listening

23. Listens to simple stories and songs
Yes. He loves books and sometimes drifts off, but when you ask him about Thomas or Mickey in the stories, he can articulate that he knows what happened in the books.

24. Follows simple directions
Yes he can follow directions, but doesn't do that very often.

25. Place objects in, on beside, or under
Yes.. Puts his toys away. Seems to understand the in,on, under concepts.

26. Identifies loud and soft
Hmm.. Maybe.

Labeling

27. Identifies own gender
Yes.. I think so.

28. Identifies boy or girl
Yes. Gets a bit bashful with girls.

29. Identifies self in mirror
Yes. He loves Liam.

30. Names common objects in pictures
Yes.. Especially animals but also cars, trucks, and other objects.

Self

31. Points to six body parts when named
He's been doing this for months. Probably 10+ parts.

32. Puts on and removes coat unassisted
No.. Starting to explore this now.

33. Lifts and drinks from cup and replaces on table
Yes. He drinks pretty well out of big-boy cup. Sometimes takes too much and spills out of mouth.

34. Spoon feeds without spilling
Yes he can, but often still spills his yogurt or cereal.

35. Begins to understand cleanliness
Yes.. Also knows how to deliberately make a mess.

36. Helps put things away
Always has done this well. Teachers at school even comment on how helpful he usually is.

Social Studies

37. Identifies self from snapshot
Yes.. Again he loves Liam

38. Shows pleasure in dealing with people and things
Mostly. He likes people he knows, but is shy and timid around strangers most of the time.

39. Values own property and names personal belongings
Yes… of course there are things that aren't his that he also claims.. Like Liam's car.

40. Follows simple rules in a game run by an adult
No.. Doesn't like to follow rules.

Math

Counting

41. Understands the concept of "one"
Yes. He can get 1 book and we push that there is only 1 more chip.

42. Counts two (repeats two digits)
He can get up to 3, but still isn't quite grasping what they mean.

43. Indicates awareness of more than two
Yes.

Classifying

44. Groups things together by size (one category)
Hmm.. Not sure.

Size Differences

45. Points to big and little objects
Yes he is pointing to big boats and small boats this week

Shapes

46. Differentiates circle and square
Yes.

Science

Concepts

47. Knows the names of three animals
For months now he can do this. He's can name all animals at the farm and only struggles with difference between a goose and a swan (can't say I blame him).

48. Can associate the words grass, plant, and tree with correct objects
I think so. Not sure we say 'plant' much, but trees, flowers, and grass are no problem.

49. Identifies rain, clouds, and sun
Yes. And you need an umbrella if it is raining; cream if it is sunny.

50. Begins to understand hard and soft
Yes. Only likes the soft pieces of pizza and not the hard ones.

51. Begins to understand hot and cold
Yes. Tub can be too hot. Ice is cold. Had nightmare other night and woke up yelling "no ice, no ice"

52. Begins to understand wet and dry
Yes. Bibby gets wet and needs to hang it on door to dry it off.

53. Matches two color samples
Yes.

Gross Motor

Arm-Eye Coordination

54. Throws a small object two feet
Is that twenty feet, because some of his throws are better than Rich's.

55. Catches a rolled ball and rolls it forward
Yes. No problem for a few months now.. Been playing ball all summer.

Body Coordination

56. Jumps with two feet
Yes. Was doing that just this week with jumping off a wall.

57. Claps with music
Yes… gets a little goofy clapping and pointing fingers like the hokey pokey.

58. Walks on tip toe
Yes... sometimes when he is dancing.

59. Walks upstairs alone (both feet on each step)
Yes. He is getting much better with stairs and often doesn't use the handrail.

60. Walks downstairs alone (both feet on each step)
Yes, but is usually holding a finger or the wall.

61. Hops on one foot
No.. Haven't seen this.

Fine Motor

Finger Strength and Dexterity

62. Fills and dumps container with sand
Mostly, but not sure he'll be patient to fill a container. He can do it though.

63. Turns single pages
Nope. Val says yes, but Rich hasn't seen it.

Eye-Hand Coordination

64. Applies glue and pastes collage pieces
Think he has done this at school

65. Paints with a large brush
Again, he's come home with painted stuff from school

66. Tears paper
Yes… is this good?

67. Strings five large beads
haven't seen this

68. Colors with a large crayon
he scribbles with crayons and he does seem to like it and doesn't break all the crayons.

69. Rolls, pounds, and squeezes clay
does this a little bit with play-doh

70. Draws a horizontal line
no

71. Builds a six-block tower yes.
He can stack pretty well

Summer Fun

2010-08-05T22:54:00.000-04:00

It has been a very hot summer and Liam has a love for the water. Here are some random pix from a few day trips we've taken this year.

Pictures from Ohio

2010-08-05T22:48:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from the Arnold / Amrbrust family reunion.

Weekend in Ohio

2010-08-04T14:36:00.000-04:00

We had a great visit to Ohio last weekend to visit with family. The primary purpose was to attend the Armbrust/Arnold family reunion. It was a great chance to see many of Val's aunts and uncles. We had a nice visit on Saturday and Sunday with everyone. Liam particularly enjoyed his time swimming in the pool with James and his cousin Hallee.

In addition to the Armbrust family, we also got to spend time with the McDonald's as we stayed with them. Liam had a great time picking vegetables from the garden, swimming in the pool, and playing with his new tornado golf set. Most importatnly, he had fun visiting with his Gradma Jenny, Grampy Terry, Hallee and his Great Aunts. He also got to visit with his cousin Nikki and her husband Matt.

And on top of it all, we also squeezed in a little visit with Val's girlfriends. We had a nice lunch at Tom Ice Cream Bowl and got to catch up a bit.

Here is a picture of us with gift for Liam and Quinn (thanks Karen H.) . I'll get some more pix up later too.

Boat Trip

2010-07-26T16:48:00.022-04:00

We had a fun trip down to see the Feeley's (aka Rich's sister & family) and saw Mollie perform wonderfully as Glinda the Good Witch. Her peformance was incredible and I'm so impressed by her tremendous accomplishments in theater.

On Sunday we did a little boat excursion with the family. It wasn't quite a thrill for Liam as he was a bit afraid of all the speed -- he doesn't even like windows down in the car as the wind blows him away. Never-the-less he got more comfortable as the day went on and he enjoyed seeing his cousins Mollie and Summer. Shawna and Seth put on a waterskiing show for us all as they are quite talented -- Val was sad to be reduced to spectator as she loves to ski, but the Quinn-in-belly didn't seem to be good match for watersports.

Welcome Home Mommy

2010-07-02T20:51:00.000-04:00

Liam and daddy got to spend a bunch of time together when mommy was on a girls weekend. We had a grand time just being boys. We enjoyed the cities, went to the ocean with friends, spent some time at the park with the water spray toys, and visited a farm to see some animals. While we had a lot of fun, we both missed mommy a lot and were glad to have her come home. Daddy and Liam were at the grocery store and Liam saw flowers and said, "mommy flowers" so we picked them up for her. He then met her at the train and carried them into the station to greet her. He is such a sweet and kind kid. His new kick is always trying to 'share' things -- although neither of us want binkies or bibbies or half eaten food that he offers -- but the thought is what counts!

Lowell City Championship Tournament

2010-07-02T20:39:00.004-04:00

Liam attended his first 'Cities' golf tournament and wanted to play. He was very interested in seeing all the golfers and watching them "hit ball". He entertained the clubhouse after the real players were done with his attempts to get the ball into the hole. It was amazing that he understood the concept of golf and what needed to be done. He's been practicing with Grampy Conley and Nana during his Tuesday night Conley Camp.

Here he is using 2 hands like grampy taught him.

"No hit ball water"

Daddy Day at Hilltop Learning Center

2010-06-14T21:52:00.000-04:00

Liam's school had a daddy's day breakfast and petting zoo. It was such a great day and Liam had a lot of fun playing with the rabbits and other animals. The highlight was when they brought out the horse as he was super excited. (Liam is horse crazy!) He went for 3 different rides and had a great time. He doesn't get crazy excited as he is so timid with new people, but when we were talking it was clear that he loved being on the horse and kept wanting to go again. It was a great morning with Liam!

Liam at 21 months

2010-05-27T22:14:00.000-04:00

It is amazing to think that in a few short months we'll have a second baby boy in the house. It has been so great to watch Liam develop over the last 21 months. He seems to be a very smart kid who is starting to put multiple words together to tell his stories. Tonight it was "birds sing" and "daddy park".

Last night we were walking around Sears and he was carrying a football he grabbed in the toy aisle. He was carrying it around and as we got to the front of the store, he said "dad buy". He remembered the concept of 'buying' from previous trips to stores, but it wasn't anything I said to him last night. Just amazes me sometimes with his memory and ability to apply knowledge in right places.

On the sweet side, he dropped above mentioned football when he saw dog treats and said "treats dog". He carried those treats with pride to the counter and wanted to give them to Sammy once we got home.

Anyway, we can only hope #2 will half as great as #1.

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T11:28:00.001-04:00

Mommy - Thank you for all you do for me. I know I'm a handful at times (as this shirt says!), but I hope I make you proud too. I'm trying real hard to learn the animals and love it when you laugh at my funny faces -- like my "meow" face, my doggie face, and my lion's roar. I think you are so pretty and smart -- I want to be just like you when I grow up. It was awesome to have my mommy come to school with me on Friday, I hope you like the gift I made you.

I know there is a baby in your belly and I can't wait to meet my little brother. I'm going to help you out a lot when he arrives and I'm going to be the best big brother in the world. I'll teach him some of the things you are teaching me -- like "no bite", "nice", and "sorry". I will try to share some of MY toys with baby, but they are MINE -- in fact everything is MINE and I just let you and daddy live in my house and drive my car. And if baby puts money in Piggy then it is MINE too.

I look forward to our trip to Ohio next weekend. We are going to have a good time and I'm going to be on my best behavior. I love to fly, so it will be nice not to have to worry about daddy as he's such a baby about flying.

Thanks again for being such a great mommy. I love you -- always and forever.

Happy Mother's Day

Love Liam

No

2010-04-21T20:59:00.000-04:00

While mostly a sweet kid, Liam has a strong love of the word NO. He understands most everything we say, so it is all the more insulting that he flat out ignores our requests. He climbs everything, jumps on couches and beds, runs with scissors (ok not that) -- and we yell NO, say NO sweet, explain why NO -- but he just laughs at us.   It is borderline cute other than we know we can't laugh at his disobedience.   He gets lots of mini-timeouts; then says he's sorry; gives a hug; and 1 minute later is back doing his mischief.

We haven't ended up in the ER just yet, but he did go flying off a chair and through a window.. well the chair hit the window and so did his head.... window was broken, but he bounced back just fine.

On the more cute side, Liam knows that we drop and pick Val up at the train.  He seems to be convinced that mom works at the train. When we say 'Mom is going to work' or 'Mom is at work' he comes back with a very proud "Chooo Chooo" complete with the arm pull motion.

He's also getting into sports a bit -- surprise, surprise. He has a golf set that he loves, a hockey puck that he looks for every day, balls all over the house of all shapes and sizes, and even saw football highlights on TV and said "fodball".

ConleyBaby #2 is a BOY

2010-04-15T18:57:00.000-04:00

We had our big ultrasound today and found out that new conleybaby will be another boy. Most importantly all the vitals were good and baby looks to be very healthy. We would have loved a baby girl to balance out the family, but a little boy will certainly help us with entertaining Liam. We know that the two boys will be close enough in age to play well together (and fight well together).

We are very excited and look forward to our new arrival. Names anyone?

Big Apple Circus

2010-04-13T19:39:00.000-04:00

We took Liam to the circus down at City Hall Plaza in Boston. He did exceptionally well and was very into all the activity. He was particularly fond of the dogs in the show. Although, his favorite part of the day was probably the free pigeons flying around the plaza that sparked his greatest interest. (in Disney it was some ducks)

Easter

2010-04-04T11:17:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter. Liam enjoyed a candy breakfast and really got into a little Easter egg hunt. The naked picture has some history -- Val circa 1974 is shown below stealing candy off the Easter Cake.

Trip to Ohio

2010-03-28T20:00:00.003-04:00

Most of these are from our trip to Ohio.

Ultrasound from last month

2010-03-27T14:17:00.001-04:00

With all the chaos of lfe with Liam and lots of stuff going on, we've been a little slow to get information up about the new baby. Here are the pictures from the ultrasound.

Val continues to feel very good and has regained lots of energy and is starting to show a bit. So the baby must be doing well which is so exciting.

We have an appointment mid-April for the next ultrasound and the genetic counseling. As older parents we get lots of extra attention -- which is probaby good.

We have been tossing around names for both boy and girl. If we have a girl she'll probably be named Lauren. Boy names are harder as we like a few -- just saw another Brayden last weekend and like that; Ryan; and a few others still circulating through the brain.

We did some rearranging of furniture and have moved the crib into the office. That will eventually become the baby's room for at least a little while. Liam is sleeping in a bed (well a futon) in his room and that is going great. He falls asleep much better in there and sleeps through the night by himself most of the time.

Liam visiting Ohio

2010-03-21T13:04:00.000-04:00

Liam is awesome! No really, he is a great little boy who is so much fun to be around. He loves to play, smiles and laughs often, is healthy, eats everything, sleeps pretty well, and is just a fantastic son. We do love him so very much.

We are in Ohio this weekend and it is amazing to see him interact with his Grandma Jenny, Grampa Terry, Cousin Halle, and Aunt Stacie. For a kid who hasn't seen them in many months, he has taken to them like relatives that live next door. He's loving his visit and family.

In general, here are some of his favorites de jour...

'key' - aka candy
'joose' aks juice
loves to 'Cheers' with everyone.. toasting glasses
'kahs' aka cars

Again, he just makes us smile.

Liam is going to be a big brother

2010-03-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

We are expecting ConleyBaby #2 in September. As we are just 13 weeks along it is too early to find out gender, but when we can we will find out. We are thinking girl but other than intuition no real medical evidence on that one -- alhough multiple people have said the ultrasound looks like a girl. :-)

More to come soon.

Mamma and Dadda

2010-02-27T14:44:00.002-05:00

It isn't so much that he's saying mamma and dadda as he's said that for a few weeks. Rather, more the fact that he says them with such love and excitement these days. He really knows how to make you feel good with his big yells for mamma followed by big hugs. He wakes up and is quickly asking for dadda (as he's sleeping with mamma since the house is a disaster from bathroom remodeling work going on for the last month & his is the only dust free bedroom.

At school, we just made it through a full week without any biting incidents. This is probably the first time that has happened in over a month. It isn't that he's all that mean, but somehow sees biting as a way to get some attention --- when we yell at him, he laughs. Hopefully this passes quickly.

Overall, he is very aware of the English language and seems to understand quite a bit. He answers questions with very emphatic Yeaaaah or Noooooooo.

Val: Do you want another hot dog?

Liam: Yeaaaah

Val: Do you want to take a bath?

Liam: Nooooooo

Liam is starting to like TV a litte bit and not just when we are in the car. He won't watch much, but he does like to order up some "Elmo", "Monkey" (Curious George), or "Mickey". We also throw in some Bob the Builder and a little Thomas too.

And this is another Florida picture Shawnas sent us. Liam and Summer were great buddies!

Disney World and other Orlando

2010-02-15T15:21:00.000-05:00

It wasn't the warmest weather, but we made the most of it and had a great time.

Liam loves his cousins

2010-02-12T14:18:00.000-05:00

Liam's cousins Mollie and Summer (pictured here) have been having lots of fun together over the last few days. The weather hasn't been all that great, but seeing them all play together has really made the trip great. We were at Disney World on Wednesday and had a good time riding the small kid rides. Liam's favorite was "Its a Small World" and he also seemed to really like the parade and any of the signing and dancing. The only bad experience was Peter Pan as it was dark and little scary.

Orlando - Day 1

2010-02-08T18:34:00.000-05:00

We decided to go to Orlando as part of our annual visit to Florida. We always come down to see Nana and Grampy Conley. Shawna and the girls are also coming down, so we will have all the Conley grandkids on site later today and then grandparents up tomorrow.

Today we went to Animal Kingdom and had a nice day. The park was not very crowded as the weather is cool (50's). We got to see everything we wanted without much wait at all. Safari is probably the best part, but the Lion King and Nemo show was fun too. As expected (and warned) Liam was scared at "A Bugs Life" and so was every other kid his age that was there. Liam was great and we had fun with him there. Hopefully later in the week when we go to Disney World he'll be good too.

16 Months Old

2009-12-30T16:07:00.002-05:00

We are in Bar Harbor for a little holiday break -- although watching Liam 24/7 is hardly a break at all -- in fact working is much easier than keeping him occupied. That said, the purpose of this trip is to ensure we get to spend some good quality time with him alone. It is something we've managed to do every few months since he was born, but it is the first time it has been a lot of work (yes, welcome to parenting I'm sure many of you are saying). He is a bundle of energy and is up at 6am every day ready to go. He's napping about 1.5 -2.0 hours and then is asleep around 8pm. During all the awake time he's mostly eating but also doing a fair share of toy playing, chattering, and lots of roughhousing.

Liam still loves his binky and has started to be a blankey boy too, but mostly just uses his bibs as blakeys. He needs both to go to sleep.

Over the holiday's he seemed to get a little extra brain power as he is now identifying his eyes, nose, ears, head, and belly. Last week he couldn't do any of that, so it is an amazing change in such a short time. It is almost as if a light switch went on and woke him up to it all. He is doing lots of grunting and babbling, but words are still hard to come by. But it is clear that he understands a lot of what is said to him as he follows lots of instructions like picking up toys, throwing things in the trash, and surprising us all the time with new examples of him doing what he's told. On the flip side, he laughs like crazy when we say NO. He is a crazy stair climber, bed bouncer, and just out-and-out daredevil -- we try to keep up and say no, but he just laughs at us and gets a greater kick out of the attention.

Yesterday we were grocery shopping and he was playing with an apple. Next thing we knew he was eating it whole. It was first time he'd taken a bite of a whole apple rather than the normal slices we'd been giving him. Just another example of his great love for food. Fortunately most of what he likes is fruit and vegetables with a particular fondness for grapes lately.

We watched video of him over the last year and it is incredible to see all the changes. He is so different, yet there are still lots of personaltiy that is a carry over from his early weeks and months. We are very blessed and are so thankful for all the love and joy Liam has brought to our lives.

The Official Santa Photo 2009

2009-12-13T19:31:00.001-05:00

Liam visited Santa at the Burlington Mall on Saturday. He was extremly well behaved but just got shy when it came time to sit on Santa's lap. It was nice not to have him cry, but we wish he'd have cracked at least a little smile. Merry Christmas to all!

Almost 15 Months

2009-11-20T21:20:00.005-05:00

It is amazing to see how big Liam is (about 28 pounds) and how much he's developed in such a short time period. Here are a few of his key things these days...

Running. He is all over the place with his mobility. Loves to run around and be chased by anyone.
Swimming. He has been in swim lessons for the last couple months and absolutely loves the water. He is holding himself against the pool wall, doing a little kicking, but overall is just very comfortable being in the water.
Eating. Always a Liam strong suit, he really eats just about everything. Lately his favorite is bananas.
Bath Time. A bit of a pain as he likes to stand all the time. Has little interest in just sitting in tub playing. He actually enjoys showers almost more than a bath these days.
Climbing. Any place he can, he's climbing. He must have a dozen eggs on his head from all his falls (just small falls, no DSS please). He flies up stairs when crawling, but also likes to do it via walking. He can come downstairs, but doesn't have as much interest.
Talking. Not doing anything much. He is starting to babble a bit and has some sounds he repeats. Loves to yell in our back stairwell as there is a huge echo. Still no official first word.
Health. Overall he's really be a super healthy kid. He has primarily needed Tylenol for some tooth stuff, but not much else... well until this week when he got his first ear infection (a double at that). But to his credit, he bounces back pretty quickly and doesn't seem to let anything keep him grump too long.
Sleep. For the last few months it has been the same basic routine. He goes to sleep real easy at 8pm. Sleeps sound until about midnight. Then one of us grabs him and moves him into futon to sleep with us. He then stays there and moves around quite a bit but sleeps pretty good.
TV. Very little interest in tv/dvd's etc. He has little interest in sitting still to watch tv for a while. The only place it at all works is in the car, but even there he really doesn't stay focused on it for long.

He is fantastic and we still plan to keep him. He brings us joy each and every day!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-30T09:16:00.002-04:00

Our little Monkey Boy is all dressed up for day care today. He'll do a little trick-or-treating tomorrow.

Aruba Trip

2009-10-15T15:09:00.005-04:00

We have been enjoying a nice family trip to Aruba. Seems like we are missing the first cold blast of fall back home too. Weather is beautiful.. low 90's all week... no rain. Island is beautiful and nothing says Caribbean Islands like a bunch of Subway's, Mcdonald's, and Dunkin Donuts. :-) No complaints... great to be away and have extended time to spend with Liam.

First Haircut

2009-10-04T18:42:00.000-04:00

We finally broke down and took him for his first haircut. He loved the attention from the stylist and sat pretty still throughout, so we escaped this first one without any issue. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. First picture is the 'before' with the others just after when we celebrated with lunch at Friendly's.

Swimming Lessons at UMass Lowell

2009-10-04T18:39:00.000-04:00

Liam and mommy have started taking part in Saturday morning swimming lessons at UMass Lowell. Liam is probably the youngest kid there. He's done really well with it and hasn't cried once and I'm fairly certain every other kid has. He's been in the water before, so perhaps that combined with his naivity helps him relax and enjoy.