Liam at 16 Months

Sixteen months already? Geez.

Personality: Let's see...how can I describe Liam's personality? He's a boy who wants to do what he wants to do, and he doesn't want his mama stopping him. Unfortunately for Liam, sometimes he wants to do things he really shouldn't. He's definitely an explorer of his world, which I love. I try to give him as much freedom as I possibly can without him getting into potentially dangerous situations. He doesn't set out to do "bad" (98% of the time), but there have been lots of teachable moments this month where he's learning what he can and can't do. He's definitely been keeping me on my toes, and more often than not I regret it if I take my eyes off him for more than a few seconds. So that other 2% percent of the time, he knows he's doing something he shouldn't be doing. Climbing on the end table by the couch is one example. I would prefer it stay in its place so I can teach him not to climb on it, but on the days where I have to "teach" him that over and over, I move it! The other day, he climbed on it and as I was walking over to him to get him down, he gave me a mischievous grin and stood straight up on it. Good grief, that's dangerous! It only cost $5 at Target (they were supposed to be temporary...), and is flimsy. He's a daredevil for sure and climbing is his new favorite thing. A chunk of my day is also spent teaching him that we sit on our bottoms on the couch, not stand and walk all over it. Like I said, lots of teachable moments this month! However, as Liam becomes more daring, he also becomes more affectionate. He seems to enjoy cuddling more and more all the time, and just generally preferring to be super duper close to me if I'm on the floor playing with him. He loves to run to both of us for hugs and smooches, and he gives his stuffed animals smooches and cuddles. He's a sweet, sweet boy for sure! He hasn't screamed much lately, but he's still throwing fits if he's stopped from doing something fun (dangerous). Thankfully his fits last only a few seconds and rarely involve true crying. I just tell him that I know he's upset he had to stop (doing whatever) and that he doesn't yet know the words to express that, so I understand why he's frustrated. I tell him I'm doing it to keep him safe. He hasn't been nearly as clingy when going to the church nursery lately. I can usually easily distract him with a toy and leave. Liam has also learned how to tease. As in, he will hold up food as if he's offering it to you, and then when you get close to take a bite, he pulls it backs and laughs! This can also happen with offerings of toys. I'm not sure where he learned it, because we've never done that with him. But he thinks it's funny. He actually has a well-developed sense of humor. He especially cracks up at the Meow-Mix commercial with the cats singing "meow" over and over. All in all, I LOVE his personality, and he definitely has a lot of it.

Skills: Liam is seriously learning new words all the time. Boom, socks, throw, duck, and down are the new ones. He can now identify ducks and say the word, and when I ask him what a duck says, he will sometimes say, "kak kak." However, when it comes to animals, dogs are his love at the moment. He can identify real or cartoon dogs, and says "oof oof." Dog is his favorite word to say at the moment. Yesterday he also attempted to say "meow" but it sounded like "mao." I'm pretty sure he knows what all of his toys and possessions are. If we ask him to bring us a specific toy or something like his blanket, he brings the right one 98% of the time. We also think he might know the colors blue and green. If we ask for the blue ball, he brings the blue one. Same thing goes for the green ball. He can pick those colors out of a line-up. He doesn't know red or yellow, or any other colors. If we hand Liam a brush or comb, he will start brushing his hair with it. I've taught him how to sing the words "Row, row, row" in the song "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." He just does the first three words, but it's so cute. He loves to look at and hear the ABC's. If I ask him to bring me the ABC's, he brings "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" where they're in the back of the book. He knows the letter "D." It's amazing how much he is learning and understanding these days. We're working on his spoon/fork feeding skills and coloring with big crayons. He tends to try and eat regular-sized crayons. He also started making "vroom, vroom" noises while playing with his cars. I love that! In the area of sleep, he puts himself to sleep for his nap nearly 100% of the time. At night, I typically have to hold him while he falls asleep. If I don't, he will usually pitch a big fit. He also says "uh oh" in appropriate situations.

Food and Drink: This month, Liam has developed a love for noodles. Before then, he really showed little to no interest in them. Asian or spaghetti noodles, he likes them all! He does an excellent job feeding himself (with his hands) these days and eating food he can take bites out of. Like I mentioned, we're working on the spoon and fork feeding skills. He's getting better at getting food on the spoon or stabbing it with a fork. He actually does an excellent job of getting the utensil in his mouth, it's just that usually there's no food on it! He had his first Olive Garden breadstick, which I'm pretty sure he was enjoying until he decided to throw it on the floor. The second he's done with his food, he starts throwing it on the floor, so I have to watch him closely, especially with messy food. Since we're in an apartment, the high chair has to go on carpet, and there are already enough tiny fruit snacks smooshed in the fibers.

Events and Firsts: A couple of weeks ago, Grandma and Grandpa (Will's parents) came to visit. Liam had a great time throwing items over the safety gate with Grandpa and yelling, "Boom!" When he ran out of items, he even tried to push me over the gate. I obliged and hopped over it. Since the oppressive heat finally decided to take a hike, we've been able to spend more time outside at the park. One Saturday we went and Liam got to try his hand at climbing on some playground equipment. He also got to swing and walk around the park. I'm looking forward to going to the park a lot this fall. A funny first is that, while changing his diaper, he decided to run away before I got the new diaper on him. He promptly peed on his foot and the living room floor. Speaking of that, I started cloth diapering him again. I only have six right now, so it's not full-time, but I'm glad to be at it again. In August, I took Liam to a free music and drama class at a local cloth diaper shop. It was mostly just a lady singing kid songs while playing guitar. At first Liam was very clingy and glued to my lap. Then he kept sliding off of my lap more and more and eventually walked around. He doesn't dance yet, but he loves guitars, so at one point he just pushed his way up to the front and stood right in front of the guitar. He did enjoy playing the instruments she brought for the kids. Of course, he tried to take one from another child, but I think he picked a four year old to mess with and that kid wasn't about to give his tambourine up to a baby! At church, Liam is no longer in the baby rooms. He's moved up to the toddler room and is on the other side of the hallway. Before I know it, he'll be in the two's room and then in the older preschool building. As mentioned in a previous post, we all went to to Denton for the first time! On Labor Day, we finally trimmed the swoop! Just enough to where it's not constantly in his eyes. Still handsome as ever.

Teeth: Seriously, he still just has four teeth. I guess that's ok considering how tooth-brushing time has become a fight. It take less time with just four. The bulges on his gums are even though, so I am concerned that they will all come in at the same time...if that ever happens! Some days it seems like he's just going to have four forever even though I know that's not the case.

Favorites:
- eating noodles
- anything dog
- bringing us stuff when we ask for it (like playing fetch with a toddler!)
- climbing on EVERYTHING!
- watching his Baby Signing Time video
- listening to me sing songs
- playing with "cahs"
- messing with everything he shouldn't (throwing fits when he's prevented from doing so)
- still pretty obsessed with shoes and socks
- chasing the cats (they still hate him)

Swingin' good time

Freedom at the park

Touching nature

Blue-eyed boy

Those curls!

Partaking in some "free-range" water from the bench. Yuck

Todayborday is a Labor Day

Homestarrunner, anyone?

Three day weekends are so nice, even for stay at home moms who technically don't get the day off. Will is home, though, so it's like an extra weekend day!

The first part of the weekend was filled with a visit from Grandpa and Grandma (Will's parents). They came in Friday evening, and after going out to dinner, we visited and played with Liam. Liam and his Grandpa made a game of dropping items over the safety gate. Grandpa would say "boom" whenever Liam dropped something. Liam just laughed and laughed! He threw everything he could over the gate, and when he ran out of items, he started pushing me towards it! I complied by hopping over the gate. He even tried to pick up the end table and put it over the gate. Lots of fun was had! Saturday morning, we hung out some more and went to the mall for lunch. Liam surprised me by eating a lot of basmati rice.

That afternoon, when Liam and Will were taking naps, I went to the Nappy Shoppe to check out cloth diapers. I sold our BumGenius diapers about a month ago because they just weren't working for us anymore and I was weary with the whole cloth diapering process. Since a month has now passed, I'm ready to get some more diapers and give it a go again. The plan this time is to have less diapers and cheaper diapers, and all with snaps. I ended up getting two Sweet Pea diapers that were on sale. Then on Sunday, I bought a Kawaii diaper from a friend. Today, Liam is trying out his diapers. So far, so good.

I've taken a lot of pictures of Liam this weekend, so here are some of those. As you will see below, Liam is now a couch climber, which wouldn't be so bad if he just sat there, but no...he's also a couch walker.

In the first two pictures, Liam walked backwards and fell in the box. He was a good sport about it.

At Sweet Firefly. He refused repeated offers of ice cream.

Couch climbing and walking has become a regular occurrence.

Arm around invisible girlfriend.

Really, he's so cute!

Obligatory spaghetti-eating picture

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!

July...Still Not Over Yet

The summer seems to be dragging along. When I was a kid, it seemed like it always took forever to get to August. I looked forward to my birthday and going back to school. Yes, I looked forward to school! Now I just wish I had a vacation to look forward to.

July has just been super hot and oppressive, as expected. We haven't gotten out much. Liam and I have been having a lot of fun at home, though, spending our days playing and reading books and having occasional play dates here. On Tuesdays, I've been going to a Bible Study at church, so Liam gets to hang out with his pals there.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Liam didn't do so well at his first summer play day at church. But yesterday, we went back again. I was needed to work, and Liam was a month older than the last time, so I hoped he would do better. And guess what? He did! He ate food, drank water, and even slept some. Go Liam! I did miss spending the day with him, though. One toddler is much easier to handle than ten, which is how many I spent the day with (along with an awesome co-teacher, of course!) I think now I feel good about working the three more play days I've committed to. Maybe his super cute lunch bag (that he totally picked out!) helped.

The flash gets him every time.

When we got home from the play day, Liam and I were both worn out, but he was wired as well and playing, but he wasn't very coordinated. Unfortunately, he tripped over his own feet and ended up falling and hitting his head on the wall. A big bump swelled up on the top of his forehead. Poor guy cried for several minutes, but then he was ok. I iced it as much as he would let me (not much), and ended up calling the pediatrician to see if we needed to bring him in since he hit right where his soft spot is or was. By then, Liam was playing and acting normal. He told me what to watch for, but said Liam would be fine. I was certainly rattled by it. I seriously never want him to get hurt! So that was his first bump on the head, and I'm sure it won't be his last. Thankfully, today I can't even feel the bump and there's only a small red mark. I guess he literally is hard-headed.