Fun

As a new mom, I'm becoming more and more aware that the definition of fun is now very different in my life. Because of my aching love for this little man, my heart and body well up with emotion with every move he makes and everything he does. I am quite aware how qualitatively different my blog is now compared to what it was the year before Liam was born. I write less and post more pictures. I reflect less on outside events and circumstances and am completely absorbed in the life of this little one.

I am continuing my efforts to try to simplify things. The more I simplify (or try to), the more it seems I need to do to pare down even more.

Lately what I am most mindful of is my need to focus on gratitude. I read somewhere recently that people with attitudes that focus on what they are grateful for have lives that are less stressful and report feeling more at peace. That makes sense to me.

I personally experienced that this week. Sunday, I got frustrated with a comment that Will made that hurt my feelings. I was thinking about my reaction and decided to change my perspective to think about all the things he had done that day that were right - he had let me take nap and have a break from watching Liam. He cooked dinner and he had done a load of laundry. It helped me lift my frustration and step back to look at the big picture of my life and that day rather than getting caught up in the moment and letting that one interaction cause me to be frustrated at him (and ultimately tie up my energy in negative, non-productive feelings).

Simplifying is not easy. But, I am trying. My guess is that I will always be working on it.

Now, on to the "fun."

Liam enjoyed the church picnic this weekend and the opportunity to play with Sedgie, his buddy from school.

It doesn't take much to keep him entertained these days. This water bottle was the prize toy of the afternoon.

Monday afternoon we went to the clinic to see the puppies. Liam is not afraid of anything at this point in his life and he just cackled and laughed at those puppies and their mama, Sam. They would jump on him, lick him, and one even bit his sock and tried to pull it off. All the time, he just laughed and laughed.

He loves playing in his activity center. He gets wound up and excited and just jumps like crazy.

Liam is getting hair! I know many of you laugh when you hear me say that, but here is proof. I was going to take a pic of him in the tub because you can really see his hair when it's wet. Then, he was so cute kicking and splashing, I just decided to do a quick video. He loves his bathtime and he LOVE his rubber duckie.

This shot is also a good one of his cute little teeth (he has 6 teeth now!)