A Denton Jaunt

Saturday, we decided to get out of town and head to the far north reaches of DFW, Denton. We had planned to go six months ago as something to do on our anniversary, but apparently something else came up.

The weather around here has been reasonable the past couple of weeks, so we decided to go since it wouldn't be SCORCHING hot. It was still hot, but not melt-yo-face hot.

Getting on the road later than planned (quite typical for us), we made it to Denton in less than an hour. It no longer felt sooo far away. Our first stop was to be Seven Mile Cafe, since they had lots of veggie options. It's a popular place, and upon arriving, we were told it was a 40 minute wait. So, we strapped Liam in the stroller and walked across the street to Cupboard Natural Foods to kill some time (and having to wrangle Liam for 40 minutes sounded like torture). I set an alarm on my phone (to not lose track of time), and we perused the aisles of the small, delightful store. It smelled JUST like the Olde Wheat Barn!

We headed back to the restaurant after only 30 minutes, but we had been skipped over already, so we still had to wait. Since the restaurant is a small, old house, the waiting area was outside. Of course, Liam wanted to walk around. I can't say it's the best decision I ever made, but I put his shoes on him, and off he went. Will was doing the wrangling, and very quickly it turned into "Keep Liam from walking out into the street." Will had to pick him up to keep him from doing so, and then the screaming and back arching and all out fit-throwing ensued. In front of other people! I try not to get too embarrassed and hope other people (especially those with kids) can sympathize. One guy waiting with his family said he had two boys who used to be the same way. He was getting a kick out of it. Then, of course Liam kept wanting to head out to the street because, since he was banned from going there, it must be the best place ever. More scene-making and disrupting other peoples' meals ensued because there were a couple of tables outside. Finally, Will had enough and took him to the car and told me we were leaving. He put Liam in his car seat and Liam was just bawling. I told them both to calm down, and we gave Liam some water and a snack. He stopped crying, and once we had our wits about us, we went back into the restaurant, this time standing inside (even though it was crowded) and holding Liam until we were seated. We got seated pretty quickly then because I think we were in the way. Liam was perfectly behaved during the meal, staring and smiling at a lady sitting behind him. He had no interest in the sandwich I brought for him, but he ate crackers (I didn't care how many he ate as long as he wasn't causing a scene) and helped me eat my tofu scramble with avocado and hashbrowns. It was a delicious meal, and I'm so glad we didn't leave!

After that, we drove around Denton's courthouse square (way cooler than Homer's), and then drove around the UNT campus, but not without first driving around TWU because we thought it was UNT! During this time, Liam snoozed. We saw lots of college kids moving into their dorms and drove through some of the neighborhoods. I liked Denton; it seemed like a larger version of Ruston.

After Liam woke up, we went into a music shop because Will and I thought they might have guitars. Nope, just endless sheet music. A nice older lady was working there, and she told me I had a beautiful...child. I guess Liam is looking rather ambiguous these days. We still haven't made a decision about his hair. I don't want to cut the back yet because, once we do, those baby curls will be gone forever. And the swoop does get in his eyes, but if we power through it, eventually it'll go behind his ears, and he can get a haircut that doesn't have bangs. We'll see. Right now, I think we're just going to leave it alone.

We then drove around the square several times looking for a parking spot. They are hard to come by there! We ended up parking just off the square in front of Denton Square Donuts, so we went inside. They call what they sell a donut, but it's really a square puff pastry with toppings. It was good, but not a donut! Then we set off walking around the square.

Our first stop was a pawn and musical instrument shop. Will looked around for a little bit, and we ended up buying Liam his first pawn shop musical instrument...a plastic egg shaker maraca! He actually held on to that thing for a long time, and didn't let go until our next stop on the square, Beth Marie's ice cream shop. Neither of us really wanted anything, but I wanted to go inside since it looks like an old timey ice cream shop and soda fountain. We ended up getting some mango sorbet to split. Liam wasn't interested in it, but we finally got him to taste it, and he made a pretty funny face. I somehow captured it in a picture below.

We walked around the whole square, then headed home. We were all tired. It was a nice little day trip to Denton!

Seven Mile Cafe

Gazing and sporting cracker crumbs

I offered him some square donut, but he just wanted a cracker...

...and water (with smiling eyes!)

Denton courthouse

egg shaker!

"The guy behind me isn't wearing a cowboy hat, is he?"

mango sorbet face

amazed by something, I suppose

Tired Liam...about to head home

Liam at 15 Months

Fifteen months have passed since Liam was born. It truly is amazing how fast kids grow and develop and change literally everyday.

Personality: Liam is still pushing boundaries, messing with things he's not supposed to, and throwing fits when we make him stop. Throwing fits have become his specialty. There was a period of time earlier this month when Liam would throw huge fits at bedtime. We would try to hold him (because he likes it usually), and he would hit our faces and push hard against us to get down. Not acceptable! That's when we would put him in his crib and let him cry till we all calmed down, because seriously, I'm not getting mauled in the face. Saying "gentle, gentle" wouldn't do anything. I don't want Liam to ever think hurting someone is ok. I need to learn how to handle times like these. Thankfully, those fits only lasted a few nights, and then he magically went back to being calm at bedtime. There's definitely been some tough moments this month, and he's still too young to understand discipline. He just thinks we're making him stop doing something that's super fun! I know Liam is learning to explore his world and explore his relationship with us, and that includes seeing how we react when he does something, either good or bad. We clap for him a lot when he does something good or follows directions. He loves to be clapped for; he usually joins in. Not all of Liam's personality is difficult these days. He becomes more affectionate all the time. He runs to Will to give him hugs and smooches. If I'm on the floor with him, most of the time he's trying to get in my lap or laying his head on my leg. The vast majority of the time, he is a sweet boy! When leaving him in childcare at church, he's gotten clingy, and does typically cry when I leave. However, the teachers tell me he stops after a few minutes and is perfectly fine the rest of the time. When I pick him up, he usually screams with happiness! Yep, he's still a screamer. Eating in restaurants with him is hit or miss. Sometimes he's fine, and sometimes we have to take turns eating while the other takes him outside. Oh, and diaper changes are the worst! Silly me for thinking he might not want to walk around with poopy pants.

Skills: As I mentioned in a previous post, Liam is definitely saying more words these days! It's still so strange to hear a proper word come out of him! He does two animals sounds: moo for cow, and ah ah ah for monkey. He can also identify cows, monkeys, and dogs, either by making the sound in the case of cows and monkeys or saying the word in the case of dog. I've been signing with him a lot more lately. He still just does the one for more, but sometimes puts his fingers in his mouth when I say the word "eat." Eh, close enough I suppose. Liam can now identify his feet when we ask him, "Where are your feet?" He grabs them proudly! That's the only body part identification so far. He's been stacking wooden blocks for awhile, but now he loves to build with his plastic Lego-y style blocks. Like I've said before, Liam just seems to understand so much more now. The other day I told him I thought his monkey (little plastic one) was under the couch, and then he got on his hands and knees and looked under the couch! I really had no idea he knew the word couch. He's also gotten really helpful at getting himself dressed or undressed (umm, when he's not throwing a fit about it!). He pulls his arms through the holes, lifts his feet to have socks put on, and can pull his t-shirts off over his head.

Food and Drink: Liam still feeds himself fruit and veggies! Broccoli seems to be his favorite. Really the only new food this month is probably peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yay for no peanut allergy! I still have not been giving him any cows milk, even though all tummy issues have been resolved. He does eat yogurt and cheese, though, and seems to do fine with those. And yes, he's still drinking his milk from a bottle. He absolutely refuses to drink it from his straw cup! He's also been working on his spoon and fork skills this month. He's getting there, although he usually still misses his mouth and isn't good at getting the food on the fork or spoon yet!

Events and Firsts: Probably the biggest first was that we had a babysitter stay here with Liam for the first time! He's spent plenty of time in the church nursery, but this was the first time someone other than my mom had watched him at our place, and that has only happened a few times. So it was a big deal to us. She watched him for two hours while Will and I went to dinner to celebrate the 11th anniversary of our first date! We had a nice dinner together, and Liam was well-behaved and "charming." Liam played in a mall play area for the first time. Our friends Crystal and Brian and their two kids were in town, so we met them at the Galleria to visit. Liam spent his time in the play area constantly walking around, sometimes touching things, and occasionally escaping the play area and heading straight for a dress shop! I think he was drawn to it because it was bright, colorful, and right outside of the play area. Will and I took turns chasing him, so it wore us out. I sold some of Liam's baby things at a consignment sale. I sold the items I don't want to have to store away until the next child because they take up too much space. I also sold his cloth diapers. Right now we're just using disposables until I figure out what kind I'd like to get him that will work until he's potty trained. I'm already tired of using disposables full-time, so I"m looking forward to getting some cloth again. Liam also got to experience the Olympics for the first time. He watched some with us and clapped for the divers! Next time the summer Olympics happen, he will be 5 years old! One recent event was my birthday and Will's birthday, which happens to be the same day! We ate at Johnny's Pizza with friends! Then today, I took Liam to the local library for really the first time since he was a little baby. He played in the play area with some friends who just happened to be there as well for a little while, then it was time to run up and down the rows making lots of noises! And of course, pitching a fit when I tried to get him back in the stroller. I will definitely be taking him more often and hopefully we can actually check out items next time. I didn't have my library card or my license (discovered that surprising fact at the checkout counter). Then we walked around outside for about ten minutes so I could take some pictures of my crazy 15th month old!

Teeth: Still just four teeth. I'm still wondering when he'll get more. I don't see any on the verge of coming in.

Favorites: 
- throwing fits (ugh, but seriously, he seems to be a fan of this!)
- seeing dogs and saying "dog"
- walking and exploring
- playing with plastic blocks and building towers
- eating broccoli and cheese cubes
- drinking water from straw cups without flow-limiting valves
- socks (obsessed!)
- identifying his feet

Here are some pictures I took at the library this morning:

Taking his shoe off for like the fifth time!

Looking at the fountain

Inspecting a leaf stem

The swoop WILL be trimmed soon

Look Who's Talking

Lately, Liam has been adding words to his vocabulary at a fast pace. He still doesn't say a lot of words, but it's still impressive to hear a proper word come out of his mouth.

The new ones lately (just in the past couple of weeks) are:
ball
block
car
dog

Pretty much all related to toys..ha!

All of those he has said more than once, and can easily identify those things.

This past weekend, he started saying "mine" and "my," but not in any context. He's usually not holding any objects when he says them. He just walks around saying, "mine, mine, mine." So I don't think he really understands what it means yet, or he really does think he owns this place. However, he does pronounce the word very clearly. Some of the other words are usually missing the last sound. Car is typically "cah."

book - said once, while walking away from me going to get a book

He is also working on saying "down" and "dark." Dark came about because anytime I go in the bathroom and don't turn on the light, Liam follows me and closes the door. I always say, "It's dark." and he picked up on it and started saying, "dar."

The other words he says (and has been saying for awhile) are:
mama (still a fave of his!)
dad and dada
hi
hey
good
go (always said as go, go go)
cat-used sparingly
baby

He also said IKEA that one time. He also said "Thank you (dankoo)" one time. So all in all, not a lot of words, but he definitely understands more than this!

He also still loves to "babble," but I know even that will turn into words eventually!

As for sign language, the only one he ever uses is "more." He loves that one, though. He's an enthusiastic user of that sign. I've been doing several others with him for a while now, that he understands, but doesn't do. I've recently started teaching him more signs. hopefully he will pick up on them.

As for animals sounds, he does two of them now. "moo" for a cow and "ah ah ah" for a monkey. He can usually do them on command, too. Very cute.

I just have to mention this so I can remember it: he doesn't say the word "socks" but he's certainly a fan of them. He takes socks and lays them on top of his feet. Then he usually brings them to me and attempts to lift one of his feet so I can put it on him. Little dude loves socks.

One Year Pictures

Back on Memorial Day weekend, my friend Jamie took Liam's one year pictures. She did a great job, and Liam is so cute in them! That was back when he didn't have any top teeth. Here are a few!