TGIFs happen for SAHMs, too

{So this is a shirt I just bought for Liam last week. Love it. Obviously it's a seasonal item, and since there are only about six weeks of the year during which he can wear it, I want him to wear it LOTS while he has the chance. Chad, on the other hand, thinks it should be packed away for another month. Just one more example of parenting style disparity. Ah yes, and please excuse the huge wet spot on the front of it. Liam spent the entire day trying to eat the ghost. I kid you not. My resolve is sooooo weakening - I am going to fold and feed him any day now. There is already a box of cereal on my counter, and a freshly washed baby-size spoon in the cutlery drawer.}

Friday was a great day. In the morning I whisked Liam down to the baby weigh-in clinic just before it closed up. Having hit the five month mark earlier in the week, I wanted to get a record of his weight. Sixteen pounds even. His growth (in terms of weight at least) has really slowed, which confuses me to no end. There are four other five-month-old babies who attend our playgroup, and he is easily the biggest among them, even though he was dead average in terms of birth weight.

Following the weigh-in, and following the panic attack I had about Liam's name (which drove me to look up some Social Security statistics about baby name popularity), we then went to the government office to apply for a social insurance number for him. We want to open an educational savings account and the SIN is the first step in that process. (So in a way, that alumni magazine served a purpose - a good reminder to get the application started.) The SIN is free. The cost to replace my birth certificate, which tore while we were completing the application, is $35.

Following that, we went out to buy socks. Liam may not be a big guy anymore in the grand scheme of things, but he still has bizarrely huge feet (or so we're told). And his baby socks are all far too small on him now. We picked up 5 pairs of new socks and just happened to see, while we were at the store, two other items of note. Number one - three different varieties of Baby's 1st Christmas pajamas. Trust me, as soon as I can decide which one I like the best, we will be back to make a purchase. Number two - yet another Little People 'zoo' set. How can there be so many variations on one toy? Good grief. I think I like this one best of all though. Add that to the Christmas list - maybe pick it up along with the pajamas.

Liam went down for two long, consolidated naps - and I put him down for both while he was still awake, and he didn't cry. I also put him to bed without a peep. Chad and I then went out for dinner while Grandma Cook babysat for us. Poor Grandma - she wants nothing more than to play with Liam while he's being social, but every time she's here (which is almost invariably early evening) he's either on his way to bed (and therefore crabby) or already in bed.

We have a fun week in store for us next week:

• We have lunch planned with Jessica. Actually, I have lunch planned with Jessica - Liam has lunch planned with Grandma Cook. I would love to take him with me, but I know I won't be able to eat in peace, and I want to use the time to catch up with my friend rather than preventing him from wrecking the place. And this will allow Grandma some daytime interaction with him for once!
• I believe that this week's playgroup is our baby massage session, which sounds like fun. I go for massages religiously and would love to convince Liam to like them, too. I could breathe in that Johnson's Baby Lotion scent all day long.
• We're going swimming with Anne and her two youngest girls - I'm hoping to make that one of our fall/winter activities once the weather isn't so good for walks anymore.
• And, our local Home Depot just opened. Field trip!! Honestly, I do want to check the place out, and I need a couple of home improvement-type items too, so what better place to look?