Christmas trip to OH

Merry Christmas to everyone in Who-ville! We're currently in Ohio enjoying a Christmas vacation with Tara's parents. We arrived on Wednesday, flying from Portland to Columbus through JFK. Liam did a great job during his first flights. He was a little fussy when we left PWM, but then he fell into (we think) a stress - induced sleep. The rest of the flights he slept through from takeoff to landing. I was glad I didn't have to pass around earplugs to our fellow travelers (I had some just in case). Perhaps on the flights home. My recommendation to fellow travelers - avoid JFK, especially Delta at all costs. The terminal is nutty and overcrowded, and most flights are delayed. As we waited at JFK (our flight was delayed ~2 hours), Liam was doing his usual happy pterodactyl-esqe screeching. A recently studied-abroad and "cosmopolitan" college chick cleverly observed that 'babies in Europe are so much quieter than babies in the US'. T went into mother wolf mode, and said that if she said another word, there would be issues. Luckily for the college chick, she kept additional observations to herself. It was a long travel day, but we arrived in Ashland safe and sound.

Liam's having a great time meeting new friends and family members. We actually celebrated Dunlap Christmas on Dec. 22, when everyone could get together before going separate ways for Christmas Eve and Day.

Liam was baptised at Trinity Lutheran in Ashland on Saturday evening. We had a private ceremony with family and friends. Tara's brother Tyler (an ordained pastor, but not practicing), performed the baptism. Liam was good until I passed him to Ty, and he was pretty displeased until Ty passed him back to me. After the baptism, everyone had dinner in the church home (an incredible turn of the century mansion donated to the church). Thanks Sarah, Leanne, and Terrie for putting everything together!

Tara, Liam and I had Christmas Eve with my parents at my uncle Scott and aunt Linda's house. It was wonderful to catch up and see aunts, uncles, and cousins some of whom I hadn't seen for several years. It was a great evening - good wine, food, and catching up with everyone.


So, it's Christmas Day and the house is fairly quiet. The big event for the day will be making Hungarian nut roll and chicken paprikash. Nut roll is pretty involved pastry to make - part of the process is rolling the dough on a bed sheet, lifting one end of the bed sheet to create a hill, and letting gravity take over to roll everthing up into a log. I'll have to post some pictures later. It's a pretty neat process.














Tara and Liam and I wish everyone a very happy Christmas. We hope everyone is having a warm and cheerful celebration wherever you are.

Delish!

Sorry we have been a little lax on posting lately. I think we're still pretty close to one post a week, which isn't entirely embarassing. OK, only three posts in December is actually pretty lame. We have a few things to tell you about our weekend and some local Christmas happenings. Stay tuned. And stay tuned as well for what I'm sure will be an interesting post about Liam's first airplane ride and our first airplane ride with a baby. We fly PWM to CMH, connecting JFK on Wednesday. I'm less concerned about his behavior than I am about connections and delays. Usual air travel unpleasantness. Today's post, though -- food.

Overall, Liam is a great eater. His veggies include carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and a somewhat ambiguous (but organic) blend called GREENS. I think it's green beans and spinach. His favorite by far are sweet potatoes, carrots and peas he can handle pretty well. The greens, however... I'll let this little still-camera based video speak for itself. (I think you need to have quicktime installed and your browser properly configured to see it. If you can't see it and still want to see the video, say so in the comments and I'll send it along)

Sorry, I just tried to figure out how to post video directly to blogger and it seems I'm not smart enough right now. For the time being, you are welcome to view the video here.

In which Liam plays in the snow

Once upon a time there was a very cute little boy named Liam. Now Liam had never seen snow before. To everyone's delight the streets of Bar Harbor, Maine were covered in snow when they greeted Friday morning. Friday was a blustery day, not at all the type of day that small boys should be out playing in the snow. So dear little Liam had to wait until Saturday morning to truly experience his first snow fall. Saturday morning finally came and little Liam got suited up for his outside adventure. On went his long johns and warm socks. Then came his Kelty snowsuit and finally his hat. Liam and his mom and dad then went right out to their yard to play. First they made some snow angels. Liam wasn't so sure about that but he played along anyway. Next they made some snowballs. Liam even threw one at his daddy. Finally, Liam and Daddy played the game in which Liam is thrown into the air and his daddy catches him. It was so much fun he just couldn't stop giggling. As with all good things, the fun had to end. So Liam and his mommy and daddy went back inside to sit by the tree. Liam had another idea though. He thought a nap was a much better option after so much fun.

First Tree and a visit to Santa!

On Friday, Liam, Emma, Carolyn and I took a trip to see Santa. The rec center in Soutwest Harbor had free pictures with Santa. The line once we got there was pretty long but Liam slept almost the entire time. I thought for sure that he would have a fit and would not grace us with one of his adorable smiles. I was so wrong though. He got to Santa and his face lit up. I didn't have our camera as it was a last minute decision to see Santa. Once I get the picture from the Rec center or Carolyn, I will be sure to post the picture. I love how having a child brings the magic back to holidays. I can only imagine how each passing year will only enhance the experiences.

Well, we finally got Liam's first Christmas tree this weekend. We picked it up on Saturday. Liam slept through the picking out of the tree but he woke up just in time to charm the sellers of the tree. We got the tree home and a few hours later began to decorate. Liam was pretty interested in the lights and the tree itself. He also got a kick out of listening to the Muppets Christmas cd.

After we put up the tree, Mike and I began to prepare for a Christmas party we were attending. Now I realize that when you hear that we were attending a Christmas party you may picture people standing around in nice clothes drinking holiday drinks. This party however is different. This party is annual and has a costume theme to go with it. It also has an 80's dance party room and a room to play old atari games. This year the theme was aliens. So, Mike and I threw together (with the help of our friend Jen) some Star Trek costumes. We had a babysitter for Liam that night. I have to say that while I adore my time with Liam there are times when it is very nice to enjoy a night out. Sadly, for Mike he had to fly to Texas on Sunday morning for work, so his night was not as stress free as mine.

That leads me to the fact that as we speak I am flying solo with Liam. I thought that we would never get out of the house this morning. I am so used to having Mike around in the mornings to help get Liam ready that I was having serious trouble getting us both ready to leave the house. It is really strange not to have Mike around to share Liam's funny antics. He comes back on Wednesday and I know both Liam and I are more than ready to have him home.