Lesson #4 "Be a Social Butterfly" part 2

When I was pregnant, I had all of the normal concerns of any mother-to-be about her child. Will he be healthy? Will he be happy? Will he love Target as much as I do? We have been 6 times in his 8 weeks of life. Turns out that while he doesn't have a choice in going, little Liam loves himself a Target run! Thank God.

It's very strange not working right now. I get my high school "fix" by taking Liam to visit Daddy at Shawnee Mission South. This picture brings back great memories of Ryan rocking and twirling Liam around in his office chair just minutes before Liam had a blowout in his pants and had to be changed on the floor of this very office. Welcome to high school little guy.

Salty Iguana is one of our favorite restaurants, and Liam has already been here a handful of times, usually with Benjamin and Dominic right beside him. But the best visit to Salty so far was when Aunt Marcia, Cousin Sarah and Cousin Kelly were visiting from Dallas. It was at Salty that they met Liam for the first time and he finally got to meet the women he had heard so much about.

One of the things I love best about my little guy is that he will always find a way to see the people he loves, even if it means crying at the top of his lungs a full 45 minutes before it was time to eat while we are shopping for flowers at Family Tree Nursery. That little stinker knew that Aunt Nancy's house was just minutes away and that he had not been there before, so sure enough, we had to make a pit stop. Nancy was wonderful as usual, setting me up with pillows to nurse on, serving us refreshments and even keeping Larry in the basement until I was finished feeding Liam (sorry about that Larry :). We had a wonderful, if unplanned, visit. Nancy, thanks for the fun afternoon, playing on the floor and introducing Liam to the joy of watching a ceiling fan go round and round and round!

My mom's best friend Anita Evans has a daughter Kristen who had a little boy just a few months before Liam was born. Grayson Deiter was born in late September and I am lucky to ask Kristen all of those annoying new mom questions. Only problem is, they live outside Chicago, so the boys had not met until just the other day at The Tavern down the street. It was amazing to see how big and gooey and lovable Grayson is, and to know that Liam will be that big some day soon (and then you know, bigger and bigger and bigger).

Tuesdays in the Margherio household are traditionally "Tuesday Foosday"- a wonderful tradition of driving or walking to Foo's, a delicious frozen custard joint in Brookside. Benjamin is famous for his "chocolate sprinkles" and they all know him there. We were excited to join them last Tuesday for some yumminess. Actually, I was the only one from our gang that partook, although Liam gets it secondhand. I had Heath bars in vanilla. I wonder what his favorite will be?

Lastly, Liam finally got himself to the Plaza last week to join the ladies who lunch (namely me and best friend Stacey Lukas). Classic Cup's patio, a glass of wine, a lovely lunch and much laughter made for a perfect time.

Liam knows that being a social butterfly is a great responsibility, but I think he is up for the challenge. Lesson well learned.

Lesson #3 "Be a Social Butterfly", part 1

Apparently nine months in my uterine "cocoon" was enough for little Liam, because he is now a social BUTTERFLY! It all began on his one week birthday when he decided to join Daddy in his civic duty and vote. It was his first outing in the stroller, and we walked a whopping 3 blocks to the retirement home and back. And in that half hour, we met two different families living nearby with little ones. Liam definitely is a good way to meet people.

The first (unofficial) restaurant he visited was at about two weeks when we traveled up to St. Joe for Grandma Flurry's retirement dinner at the Sante Fe Steakhouse, a strange culinary hybrid of American Steakhouse and Tex Mex. Now Ryan really doesn't want this trip to count as his first restaurant experience (he was holding out for Tanners, which wouldn't come until a week later), so we'll call it a "celebration" instead.

Jackstack BBQ was the official first restaurant that Liam visited, along with Grandma, Jodi, Jeff, Shannon and all three cousins! We felt very lucky to be seated in our own private room, no doubt picked specifically for us when we told them there would be four boys under four years old. It was a wonderful night, but apparently Liam was so excited to go out that he became exhausted and slept through the ENTIRE meal and all photo opps afterward. Still, we all had a great time, celebrating Grandma's retirement and remembering Grandpa Dolph.

Now for those of you who don't know, I get to spend every Saturday morning at First Watch having breakfast with an amazing group of women. We have been meeting for years and at two and a half weeks, Liam was only the second guy to join this special group (Ryan is allowed to crash it every once in awhile). He showed up in an especially sassy outfit with perfectly coiffed hair and within minutes had a total blowout up his back and through the clothes. Best laid plans. But the ladies understood and even oooed and ahhed when they saw that Ryan had changed his diaper, done clean-up duty and reappeared with Liam at the table smelling like a rose (or at least ot like poop anymore). Since then, Liam is a regular member of the Breakfast Club and frequently joins Daddy at the hardware store afterwards. He can hang with the girls and boys alike.

I have saved the best for last. Tanners. Most of you know that since Ryan and I were engaged, we have been going to the Waldo Tanners on Wednesday nights. With their half order of mushrooms and WiFi, it was the perfect place to plan the wedding. "Wedding Wednesday" turned to "Wedded Wednesday" after we got married, and then, this Christmas, Shannon gave us Tanners gift cards for "We Need a Night Out Wednesdays." Thanks Aunt Shannon! The neon lights and row of TVs were like a newborn's dream, so Liam continues to love going there. Three times in 7 weeks. He even flirts with our favorite waitress Katie.

If the first 7 weeks are any sign of things to come, our little social butterfly will keep us very busy for years to come. Lesson well learned.

Lesson #2 "Size Does Matter"

Size matters. Forget what you've heard... size does matter. I did not fully realize this until Liam was born. Actually, I first realized it when I was pregnant. Suddenly, everything was about size.

We began to track the size of the fetus on various websites. Our favorite was the one that compared the growing life inside of me to different kinds of foods- you know, this week it's the size of a clementine, this week the size of a beet, and so on. Sometimes it threw in the occasional candy reference as well. I remember feeling very nauseous during the Twix week.

And of course, size mattered every month and eventually every week that they weighed me. But we don't need to go into that. At least not in public- ask me in private and I will share the scary numbers with you.

Size mattered during the Level 2 sonogram when they measured the back of Liam's neck for signs of Down's Syndrome, when they predicted him to be around 8 pounds (yeah, right), and when they told us that it looked like he had cute, big feet. :)

And then he was here, all 9 pounds of him (well, 8 lbs, 15.9 oz, but he took a big poop right before, so they called it an even 9), size mattered again. He lost 9% of his body weight in the hospital (the pediatrician said she didn't worry until it was 10%), and so since then we have been cheering every ounce.

So now our big guy, at 6 weeks old today, weighed in at 9 pounds 13 1/2 ounces. And that last 1/2 ounce counts... it's just like how my mom Patty always describes her own height as not 5 feet, but rather 5 feet 1/2 inch. I used to laugh at her for it, but I totally get it now. Size matters.

Tiny toes, tiny nose, tiny body. But big, big love. Lesson well learned.