Rehoboth Beach Trip

Liam had his first trip to a real sandy beach. Beaches around here just don't count, really. We met up with the entire Dunlap clan for a week at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. My Uncle Jess and Aunt Linda have a condo there so they and my cousins Byron and Jenn as well as their significant others stayed in their condo while Mom, Dad, Ty, Leanne, Quinn, Colin, Trevor, Sarah, Ashton, Mattie, MIke, Liam and I all stayed in the condo next door. Boy was it crazy sometimes with all of those kids in one condo. As crazy as it was, it was fantastic to get to spend so much time with the family. I am not sure that Liam knew what to make with so many people around. He is used to the relative quiet of our three person home. Having the cousins around to entertain him and love on him was a definite pleasure though. He would trail behind them as they all went along their way doing the things that small children will do.
The first few days, Liam was not at all sure what to make of the ocean waves. He has been dipped into the frigid ocean waters of Maine but being near the waves of Delaware is an entirely different experience. The first few times we ventured near the water he would get quite scared of the waves rolling up towards him. Eventually, he grew to love them. On many occasions he would set off crawling away from out small village of umbrellas and towels and jet towards the wave without so much as a backward glance. We would trail behind him trying to determine what he would do. It soon became apparent that he was fully ready just to crawl right down to and in the water. We would scoop him up right as the water came sweeping past his knees and he would laugh. We certainly have a little water baby on our hands.
Liam was also a huge fan of the sand. He was perfectly content to sit and play in the sand and eat a ton of it as well. One would think that after your first mouthful of sand, you would not put more in your mouth. Liam seemed to think it was tasty as he would just keep shoveling more in. I guess he really believes in becomming one with nature.
Rehoboth has a nice little boardwalk that has a small amusement park for kids and grownups alike. Trevor was addicted to skiball the entire time that we were there and he seemed to pass on his addiction to Ashon. Liam just loved to got to Funland and watch the people and see the lights. Mike did take him on the Merry-go-round but he was not at all sure what to make of that. The rest of the cousins though were totally into the rides. At one point Colin, Mattie, Ashton and Quinn all were on these little kiddie swings, it was ridiciously cute.
I am sure that we will have many more beach vacations to look forward too. Next time I have no doubt that Liam will be ready to go all the way into the water and take on the waves.

Playing Catch Up!

It seems that I always think about needing to blog, but never quite do it. Since our last post, we have celebrated Mike's first father's day. We celebrated by going out to breakfast in Ellsworth, a town about 30 minutes from us. On our way home, we stopped by a field of lupine to catch some pics of Liam. The lupine blooms for such a small window of time but it is so beautiful while it is in bloom. You really can't beat fields of purple and pink. Liam seemed to really like the lupine but also seemed to want to try to eat the flowers.








Today, Liam and I joined our friend Natalie and her daughter Anouk for a trip to Birdsacre, a sanctuary in Ellsworth. None of us had been there before and it was really amazing! The are about 200 acres of per served land right in the heart of Ellsworth. The sanctuary has restored the childhood home of Cordelia Stanwood who was an ornithologist and photographer in the early to mid 1900's. In addition to being able to tour the home you can walk the trails on the 200 acres and enjoy the tranquility that you wouldn't expect to find so close to town. Birdsacre also takes in injured birds so Liam got to see many owls and hawks. It was a beautiful day and a fantastic discovery.

As many of you may remember, Liam will be turning one on Friday! It hardly seems possible that so much time has already gone by. So, here is the lowdown on Liam at almost one. He isn't walking yet but cruises around on the furniture constantly. He will let go and stand for a few seconds but will eventually ease himself to the floor. He is the fastest crawler around, really. He still only has two teeth, we are getting a little worried that the rest of his teeth will never come in. Perhaps we will get him dentures for his first birthday. He pretty much will eat anything so long as he is in control of getting the food to his mouth. He loves fresh fruit, kalamata olives, tofu, avocado, pita bread w/ or w/out humus and cheerios. His favorite books are Hop on Pop (still), The Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. The only time he sits still is when we are reading, it is amazing. His favorite song is No Bad News by Patty Griffin. He dances to it every time. He already loves folk music, just like Mom and Dad.

We are heading to Rehoboth Beach to meet up with the Dunlap side of the family Friday after Mike gets off work. We are so excited to see everyone and to introduce Liam to a warm section of ocean, hot sand and real waves!

Closing in on the big day

We had a lot of fun with Liam in May during this large gulf between posts. I promise we weren't sitting around at home learning the abacus or something. Grampy McKernan came up for Memorial Day weekend and helped us get a huge start on the summer project (I hope it doesn't last all summer) to paint the outside of the house. I'm continuing to plug away on the weekends and after work.

Liam is excited because he has a new bike trailer in which to zip around, attached like a little wagon to my bike. A few Sundays ago, he was out on the Park loop road for about three hours - there was a lot of stopping - and he did great. He also enjoyed the carriage roads, which are gravelly and a little bumpy, and more for mountain or cross bikes than for roadies.

While I was painting, Tara took Liam and had with some friends a lovely picnic at the Wonderland area in Acadia National Park. This spot has somewhat flat granite blocks, which make up the beach, providing plenty of space for little 11 month olds to crawl around.



And speaking of 11 months old, we're getting close to the big day! It's just crazy how much he has changed in just 12 months. The two big things right now are learning how to stand and learning how to feed himself. Liam is now to the point where he would rather feed himself than be fed by Tara or me. In fact, when we approach with a spoon full of something pureed, he will try to whack it away with some baby jujitsu move. It's cute at first, but can be a little trying. I have learned to be wicked fast and to anticipate his moves, so I'm pretty good at feeding despite his defensive moves. He has also recently learned that food can be thrown (as he tests his parents' will and ability to modify his behavior). Food throwing was the next logical step after he mastered the art of food smashing - a surefire sign that Liam is full. "Nothing else can fit in my stomach, so whatever is left...it must be destroyed."

Anyway, the self-feeding works pretty well when the food is banana or avocado or Cheerios, etc. Not so much when it's puree sweet potato, squash, blueberry. You get the idea. I think we're done with purees and might instead opt for thick-cut steamed veggies. I'll have to try that this week to see how he fares. However, I suppose he has to learn how to use a spoon eventually.



Liam is starting to stand a little bit. It usually happens when he's pulled himself up onto something. Before he realizes what he's doing, he's been standing for 5-7 seconds, completely unsupported. Still haven't been able to capture it on film, as much as I'd like to have record of this milestone.

Mother's Day breakfast

Liam and I took Tara out to breakfast on Sunday to one of our favorite (and unfortunately, seasonal) breafast spots in Bar Harbor. Liam had his first blueberry pancake - no syrup - and made it about two thirds of the way through before sputtering out. What I love about this series is you can see him struggling to finish - and stay awake. After a trip to see his summer friends at the farmers market, we went home and put him down for a LONG nap.

Spring at last!

Well, Bar Harbor has officially reopend her doors. The shops are opening, the cruise ships are spewing out their passengers, the Park loop road is once again feeling vehicles on its pavement. We have arrived. For those of you who haven't visited Bar Harbor in the winter (or at all), everything closes and our little town resembles something from the set of Northern Exposure. All year round residents breathe a sigh of relief as things begin to quiet down but come May we are ready for our favorite haunts to open again.

As the bars and restaurants reopen the trees start to bud and the sun finally begins producing heat. Today was the type of day I love here on MDI. The whole town was alive and buzzing. Liam and I set out to hang out for a bit in the Village Green. We sat in the sun for awhile. Liam was getting the biggest kick out of watching other kids run around and play in the fountain. He sat still (this never happens) watching and taking in the sights. He finally decided that he had to join the action so he took of crawling. I followed him as he explored the green. Towards the end of his explorations, we ran into some friends and their dogs. I have to add here that Liam adores dogs. They make him laugh the cutest little belly laugh. So, he was thrilled to learn that we would be going on a walk with the dogs and their owners. He giggled for a good part of our walk down the Shore path. He loved it. After we parted with our friends we started to head towards home. We got a few minutes up the street before running into another friend, Jen. Jen and I stood on the sidewalk talking and as we did so, Liam crashed. Head to the side he let himself sleep in the warmth of the sun.

A little less then two weeks ago, our friends Rich and Natalie gave birth to a little girl. We are so pleased that Liam has a new friend to play with. He is not at all sure what to make of Anouk right now. He kind of gives her curious looks and every now and then tries to reach out and grab her. On Thursday night, Anouk and her parents asked a bunch of us to meet them at the Lompoc (our favorite restaurant/bar) for drinks and dinner. Towards the end of the evening both Liam and Anouk were fast asleep. It was so cute. Liam used to fall asleep at the Lompoc all of the time when he was wee little. We were convinced we would never be lucky enough to have that happen again. It seems to hold its sleeping magic though as two nights now have found Liam fast asleep in my arms after dinner.

I am posting many pictures of the boy as he has grown and changed so much. It is amazing to think that we are fast approaching his first birthday. We no longer have a baby, I fear he has already become a toddler.

Easter Weekend

First of all, let me apoligize for not posting in such a long time. I just couldn't seemm to get my act together in order to post. There is no good excuse for this except maybe that my thumb is still splinted and it is a drag to do modified typing.

At any rate, we have some catching up to do.

Grammy and Grampy McKernan came for a visit over Easter weekend. They timed their visit just perfecty enough that the had to drive through Maine at the tail end of an April Nor'easter. Yep, we got well over a foot of snow for Easter weekend. It seemed impossible that I would find myself with a snow day in April but I did. While I wasn't super excited about the snow at first, it did provide is with the opportunity to go snowshoeing. On the Saturday of Easter weekend, we all strapped on our snowshoes and took to the hills. It was fantastic. As you can see in the pictures, Liam made the switch from the Baby Bjorn to the backpack. We were finding that Liam was a little too tall for the Bjorn these days. It is so hard to believe that he has grown so much but he has!

At his nine month well child check Liam checked in at almost 30 inches tall and about 19.5 pounds. We were checking the weight limit on his car seat after the appt. and were shocked to find that he was too tall for it by four inches! So, if anyone has an extra convertable car seat kicking around let us know.

We had a great rest of our visit with Grammy and Grampy. Easter was a pretty laid back affair as Liam was feeling a little under the weather. He had a temp and seemed pretty exhausted. We thought he had the start of a cold but a few days later we realized that what he really had was a new tooth popping through. Little Liam now has two tiny little teeth poking through the surface of his bottom gums.

I had this week off for our April Break. I was hoping for georgous weather so that Liam and I could walk everyday. Sadly, the first four days were rainy, windy and cold. We got out Thursday afternoon for a good walk. It was a bit cold but we were just so happy to see sun we didn't care. Today was beautiful. It was warm enough that as we were walking our loop I was able to wear a tank top. It felt good to get some sun on my skin. Liam seemed to enjoy soaking up the rays as well. I did have to remember to lather him with sunscreen. He is so fair skinned I was sure that he would be burnt to a crisp if the sun had a direct path to his face. After our walk we went for a nice swim. He still loves the water and has no fear. He kept wanting to swim away from me.

Mike is in a canoe race tomorrow. We are hoping for the best as the water appears to be pretty high. Luckily, he is paddling with an experienced white water paddler. We will let you know how it goes. While Mike is racing Liam and I will be enjoying some Earth Day activities at the College of the Atlantic. I promise a new report after the weekend.

Last Ski of the Season (we think)

Liam had another exciting weekend of indoor and outdoor fun. Friday night was his first wine tasting (and I think ours, too), as we tasted some possible wines for Chris(tine) and Joel's wedding. Liam did great and we he got to bedtime, we laid him down in spare bedroom at C and J's place and, go figure, he actually fell asleep. Allowing for a more indepth study of the wine. I think we concluded that more research would be necessary.

On Saturday, we ventured off at the crack of dawn to The Sunday River Inn with a group of our friends.
The weather was amazing and the skiing was pretty decent for the last weekend in March. We had to pick our way around some mud and water but a good number of the trails were very skiable. On Sunday we were able to ski in short sleeves. I believe we even managed to get the first sunburns of the season.
Two members of our group (Steve and Rich) made a last minute decision to enter the Inn's annual triathlon
Liam as always was great and seemed to have a lot of fun skiing and hanging out with the crew. He was very lucky to have two older friends (Eliza and Sammy) to entertain him on the car ride and for most of the weekend. Liam seems happiest when outside playing. He spent much time in the Bjorn skiing with Mike. He and I also took an early morning walk on Sunday while we were waiting for everyone else to wake up.
I am still in my splint so it was pretty interesting figuring out how to x-country ski without hurting my thumb. I had to be a bit more cautious then usual but I did mangage to make it through the weekend without anymore breaks.
We are so lucky to be surrounded by great people with whom we are able to share some really fun weekends. We are even more fortunate in that they all love Liam and seem to enjoy him as much as we do.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is Tara's 30th birthday! Happy birthday Tara! T is going to celebrate her birthday with a Thai yoga massage, which I think she'll enjoy. During the massage, Liam and I are going for a hike. Temps this week will be in the 50s, and I'm willing to bet we've seen the last skiable snowfall (at least on the coast). So, welcome spring.

Speaking of spring, I discovered this morning that Liam's first tooth is starting to emerge. Bottom tooth, left side from Liam's perspective. The crown is just peeking through the gums, and it probably cut through yesterday or overnight. I'd post a picture, but it would take three of us to hold him down, hold his mouth open, and snap a picture which would inevitably be blurry. Sounds humane. But it's exciting that he's on the breach of another new development.

Liam's is getting better and better at crawling around the house and we are learning to be very watchful. I think just as kids slowly learn to move around and explore and satisfy their curiosity, so does 'parental radar' develop and become more refined. So by the time a kid is 16, the radar is pretty much like a walking NORAD station.

Liam is crawling between rooms - going from the living room to the entry way where he can play with a big pile of shoes. Yesterday, he criss crossed the kitchen as I was trying to bake Tara's birthday pie and cake - going from the shelves on one side to the trash can on the other to the stack of cookbooks, and then in the middle of the floor, I put a wooden spoon and few other toys. I was baking and redirecting and saving him from potential pitfalls all at the same time. It was more fitness than baking. He's also starting to get into a crawling position and push himself up by his feet into a brief quasi-downward facing dog position.

We're also hearing a few new sounds like mamamamama and Brian and I are almost certain he said Emma. As Tara was holding Liam the other day, she and I swore he turned around and gestured with is hands and said 'hi'. Probaby a great coincidence though. Not sure if anything qualifies as a first word, but Tara is pretty excited about mamama.

Finally, I know who's going to protect me from the neighborhood toughs now...

A little break and crawling

So, I think we have a pretty good excuse for our recent lack of activity (at least online). Tara, Liam, and I went skiing the weekend before last at Saddleback Mountain. Incidentally, Saddleback is a neat little ski area in western Maine. It gets very little attention because of Sugarloaf and Sunday River, and I think most of the skiers are Mainers and not from unmentionalble states to our south. We had a great day skiing until, naturally, the last run of the day, when Tara decided to break her thumb. At first we though it was a dislocation, but xrays confirmed a pretty decent fracture. During all the chaos, Liam was enjoying himself in the slopeside daycare facility (another reason why Saddleback is nice; plus, the day care is cheap, and qualified to watch kids). A few days later she underwent surgery to set and pin the bones back into place. Of course it was her right hand.

It's been interesting around the house, especially for me, as Tara is just now able to help with Liam a little more. She can sort of move him from place to place, and she can feed him and play with him, but she's still unable to change diapers, change clothes, give baths, or really anything that requires two hands. And since Liam is incredibly squirmy, that's basically everything.

While Mom is injured, Liam has been doing great. As I think we reported before, Liam has shown tremendous progress in easily getting from his belly to a seated position, and even getting up onto his hands and knees. He was able to crawl in reverse, but when he tried to go forward, he would plop back on his belly again, much to his frustration. As of Wednesday, though, Liam has started to tentatively crawl forward! And he seems to be figuring it out at an increasingly fast pace.



Liam's favorite toy right now is our iPod cable, or really any white computer cable. We put it on the floor about four feet away from him, and inch by inch, he made his way over to the cable, and was able to grab it with one last lunge at the very end. It's very cool that he can get around a bit on his own. I think it makes him even more content, and he rarely cries now when he ends up on his belly. He must know he is now able to extract himself from any position if he rolls around, or sits up, and now he can crawl away. He was upset yesterday when he somehow managed to get himself stuck under the couch up to his waist. He was just stuck there and couldn't pull himself out. It was rather funny.

The other new thing is his mobility in his crib. We always put him to bed on his back, but he almost immediately rolls over to his side, and curls the blankets around his head. Tara and I have been peeking in a couple times a night just to see where he has ended up. He could be on his back, belly, or side. Sometimes he has crunched himself into the corner or one end of the crib.

It's exciting to see him move around, and strike out in different directions. I think the major activity this weekend will be baby proofing the house.

in only 8 months...

I think this is just amazing...

Skiing

We had a great snow storm on Friday. The storm dropped quite a lot of snow on us. Sadly, we also had some sleet, which compressed the snow a bit. At the end of the storm we did end up with some nice snow to cross country ski on today. Our first attempt at skiing with Liam a couple of weeks ago was not so successful. Today, we had a great ski with our friends Chris, Joel, Natalie and Rich (that's Rich in the picture with Mike, and Joel, Natalie and Chris, below). Liam babbled and blew raspberries almost all of the time we were out. It was great to listen to him on the trail. He seemed to love the downhills and his raspberries appeared to be his means to get Mike to move faster.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Saddleback Ski resort in western Maine to downhill ski. Liam will be spending the day in the daycare run by Saddleback. Mike checked out the daycare the last time he was at Saddleback earlier this season. It appears to be a clean and well organized place. Hopefully, Liam will have a good day. Mike and I are certainly looking forward to being on some of the powder that fell on Friday.

Mimi Visits

My mom was here for the past week. It was a fantastic visit in which Liam got to spend great amounts of time with his Grandma. Mom flew in the 22nd of Feburary and left on the first of March. She babysat for Liam all week long and even let us go to the movies and on a cross country ski over the weekend. Liam and Mimi got along famously and they both seemed to enjoy going for afternoon walks, hanging out in the mornings, reading books and of course just playing. It is always a joy to have grandparents around for extra love and support for our little guy.

As far as new things that Liam is doing.... he has finally figured out how to let go of the crackers once he gets it to his mouth. He is so very close to crawling that we think it could literally happen at any second. He gets up on his hands and news and rocks. He does this for awhile until he finally decides that he will try to move forward. As soon as that happens he tends to fall back onto his belly. He seems to get stronger each day though. He has been rolling around the floor a lot. Rolling and hopping on his bottom see to be his best means of getting from one place to another.

Liam has a favorite book. He loves Hop On Pop by Dr. Suess. It is pretty much the only time that he sits completely still. He will sit and listen to that book and just soak it in. As and experiment we will often try out another book right before and right after Hop on Pop but those never quite get a quiet little boy. It is so amazing to us that he can already have a book that he adores. He actually squeals with happiness when he even sees the cover. Mike and I on the other hand might be getting a little tired of reading the same book over and over again.

As always, each day brings Liam new delights. He continues to soak up the world around him. We love that he is so active and curious.

Future Olympian

Liam has been learning some new things recently. The other day we set up a rowing machine in our spare bedroom (thanks Scott and Linda!). Of course we couldn't wait to let Liam try it out. He loved sliding back and forth on the seat. Once I got on it to actually workout I was wishing I had someone just to push me back and forth too!




The next new sport that Liam tried recently is swimming. I took him for his first swim last Thursday when I had a snow day. He loved it so much that Mike and I brought him back today. He is a little fish already. He will hold on to just our hands and kick his little legs. He will also let us dunk him underwater without so much as a whimper. He comes up smiling most of the time. I am so pleased that he likes the water. I know that we will log many hours this summer swimming in some local lakes and probably the ocean too.




Onto non-sport related topics. Liam has been learning how to feed himself. We bought some organic baby crackers for him and have been letting him try to get them to his mouth. He has a pretty decent pincer grasp on the wee little crackers and he gets them to his mouth but then he forgets to let them go. Boy does he get mad when he then only gets part of the cracker in his mouth. Sooner or later I am sure he will figure out that he has to let it go in his mouth to get the whole bunch of goodness.

Finally, we swear that Liam said Dada when Mike walked in the door this morning after running some errands. I had Liam on the floor playing and Mike peeked his head around the corner. Liam said something that sounded a whole lot like Dada. Now I know that at this age any words are just accidental and are most likely not said on purpose but it was pretty thrilling to hear.

It seems like everyday this little boy is learning new things. It is great fun to watch and experience each first with him.

Poetry and film

Well after a very active week (not to mention the activity of the weekend prior), Liam's weekend was decidedly low-key. He napped like crazy on Saturday, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We had a small adventure on Thursday night when we took the ferry over to Swan's Island to attend the poetry slam at Tara's school. The poetry slam was fun. One of the kids wrote a poem about his favorite NASCAR team that I literally can't get out of my mind. Seriously. We spent the night out on Swan's at Mimi and Gary's house. It was a little wild to spend the night on the island, knowing we were a 45 min ferry ride away from MDI.

Liam's weekend was rather mellow. After some much needed R & R around the house, we hired back to back babysitters (cha-ching) on Saturday and Sunday nights and T and I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour as it swung through Ellsworth. The film festival is an annual rite - something to look forward to during the long and dark winter. If the festival hasn't come to your area yet, you should should check it out. If you love anything outdoor (mountain cultures, snow sports, insane freeride mountain biking, free climbing, ice climbing on icebergs, etc), you will love this show. More than anything, it was another reminder of the fun ahead with Liam on skis. Safely away from his father, of course.

The photo is in honor of Melanie Ganim, Liam's godmother, who sent Liam this awesome onesie. Thanks Mel, have a great tour! And good luck to Liam's godfather, my brother Matt, as he heads out on tour with his band (sorry, no web link).

A few firsts

What, we haven't posted in over a week?! Lots to catch up on, then. It's been an exciting here during the last few days - Liam has had several exciting firsts which I'm pleased to report. Last Friday, Tara and I woke up around 6 am feeling remarkably refreshed, downright energized, even. We both knew what had just happened - Liam had slept through the night for the first time in his life. A full 11 hours of sleep from 7 pm to 6 am! I'm sure he woke up once or twice during the night, but his waking time must have been fleeting b/c neither of us heard a peep. He woke up naturally at 6 am, and had a really great and very happy day. We tried to figure out what we did the night before and nothing unusual popped out - other than I made what I thought was a radical and dicey choice - to put him down without the aid of his pacifier. It worked, he went down quietly, but I doubt that was the reason he slept all night. We didn't get our hopes up for a repeat performance, which is good, as he is now back to getting up once in the middle of the night and once ~4 am. Not to bad, considering other stories I've heard, but sleeping through the night felt REALLY good on Friday morning.

The other exciting first is Liam learning how to clap. T and I have been working on clapping for a while now, demonstrating and helping him move his hands in a clapping motion. Then out of the blue as I was getting him into his car seat on Friday morning, I thought I spotted a rough looking 'clap'. I stopped, clapped broadly, and he did it again once or twice. I called Tara down and we both tried to get him to clap a few more times, which he did with a big smile. It was a great way to start the day. We've been clapping all weekend - Tara and I will clap, we'll look at him and say 'your turn!', and then he'll clap 3 or 4 times. Sometimes he'll miss wildly, which is cute, but so far this seems to be the first discrete thing we've taught him - and, the 'your turn' command seems to be the first direct response he's made to a verbal command other than 'where's daddy', 'where's mommy'. The other cool interaction is when he's lying on his back and I put two fingers in front of his hands, he will grab my fingers and sit or stand up from lying flat (depending on how much I pull him).

The final big event of the last several days was a short XC ski trip yesterday afternoon. MDI finally got some decent snow this weekend, so T, Liam and I headed to Jordan Pond, which is one of our favorite places to XC ski. Before we left I had to apply some new kick wax appropriate to the temperature. People who have skied with us before will tell you that I have a bad track record in picking the right kick wax. Even with all the wax wizards and temperature guides, I always seem to pick the wrong one. ANYWAY, with the skis freshly waxed, we were on our way. Snow conditions weren't great so we picked short 1+ mile loop just to test things out. Given the Bjorn and the baby backpack, we picked the Bjorn for Liam, and I strapped him on my chest. Even as we set off, we knew the conditions weren't ideal. The snow was a little icy and it was wicked fast. Fast - like I wish my XC skis had metal edges and fixed heels fast. I think it was on the first decent - and this is a decent so gradual it would be pretty boring on sled - that I fell. I fell like I was sliding into home (but much less dramatic), and landed on my side cradling Liam into his Bjorn. So Liam was fine - he was very safe and didn't get upset at all - so we kept going. As it happens I fell like this three times in total, all on account of the fast icy snow, my skittishness with Liam, and the inability of my stupid skis to steer or stop like downhill skis. On the third fall, Liam started to cry, so I figured that was enough sking for one day. I walked back with Liam in his Bjorn and skis over my shoulder. The snow was so slick and my wax job so bad, that the pace of my walk was much faster than the pace of Tara on skis. So she walked too. We got back to the car, not willing to call it a day. We surveilled the local sledding hill, and ultimately decided on something a bit more mellow for a Sunday afternoon in February... Oh, and for future ski outing swith Liam (least XC skiing), we could really use one of these (the Chariot would be fine, thanks).