Easter 2013

I just wanted to share some pictures of Liam from Easter. It was a pretty typical Sunday for us. We went to church (we even got there slightly less late than we usually do), and Liam hung out with his pals in the nursery. After the service, we let him walk around some, and he went straight for stairs.

But before we went to church, Liam received his Easter goodies from us when he woke up. His response was, "Cool. Wow!" He got some of his favorite things including colors, coloring books, and blocks. The blocks are actually from his great-grandparents because they were bought with money they sent Liam in his Easter card. I got him some Color Wonder markers and paper in hopes he would forget (at least temporarily) about regular markers. It has worked, but he doesn't love the Color Wonder ones. He keeps coloring on regular paper with them, and that obviously doesn't work! He also got a box of 24 crayons and some dollar store coloring books. He loves to color and draw, and he spent a lot of time yesterday doing both.

After his nap, Will took Liam outside with his new bucket and digging tools to play in the dirt. I know I've said it before, but he LOVES dirt. Will had to bring him in kicking and screaming from playing in it.

That was our Easter Sunday, pretty much. At bedtime, I told Liam the Easter story, but he's just too young to get it. Hopefully next year he will begin to learn all about it.

Eleanor checking out the goodies the night before

I hung up the Easter/Spring art we did this week: a mixed media collage and a shifty-eyed bunny

"Cool. Wow!"

Had to drop some eggs first

Then it was straight to coloring

Checking everything out

More coloring!

"Bocks"

Almost ready to leave for church

You can't really tell, but he was making his smoochy/smacky noises with his mouth

We couldn't get him to look at the camera at all!

He was looking towards the door!

Up the stairs we went

Trying to make Liam go in right direction

Sophisticated dirt playing

Happy boy!

Gotta inspect the dirt on his hands

365: March 22-28

Texas seemingly forgot it was Spring this week, and it's been much cooler and windy. That, along with the fact that Liam has had a runny/congested nose this week, is why we've spent a lot of time indoors. We did some spring/Easter crafting, and I introduced Liam to markers. Of course he loves them and now regular colors simply will not do. I'm hoping a fresh box in his Easter basket changes his mind. I already miss the simplicity of crayons. I also introduced Liam to glue. I didn't have any glue sticks, so I went straight for the bottle. The kid is not yet ready for glue. Thankfully, though, he usually didn't realize that he had to squeeze to get glue out, so glue messes were kept to a minimum. He says glue really cutely, though, like "gyu." This was also the week Liam decided to start climbing up and into his high chair monkey style. Of course, the first time he did it my back was turned. I was quite surprised to see him standing up in it when I turned around. He had never even attempted such a feat before!

March 22: Will and I went to dinner and bowling with friends. Liam was at the church because there was free childcare! It was fun, but I was once again reminded at how horrible I am at bowling. Thankfully, I only go once every few years so it doesn't hurt my self-esteem very often. The picture is of my bowling shoes and Will's bowling shoes. I can't help but think about how many stinky feet have been in those shoes. Will's have probably seen less feet since they're an uncommon size.

March 23: That was the day we went to Hop 'n Hunt at the church. This was taken after we got home. Of course, Liam had to throw some of his eggs on the floor and fall on top of them. It's like the cool new way to play with toys around here.

March 24: I'm pretty sure Will took this one.l. Liam was brushing his teeth after a snack. He hates for me to brush his teeth, but he doesn't do a good enough job on his own. Any tips for making it easier or more fun for him when I brush them?

March 25: Will took this picture in the evening while I was at work (training for my new job which I will be doing from home once I'm comfortable enough doing so). I love Legos. I love it when Liam builds tall towers with them. I'm sure Will helped with this one!

March 26: Sometimes you just need a bath in the middle of the day. Liam was waiting (im)patiently for his when this was taken. Of course, when I took him to the bathroom, he had totally changed his mind about taking a bath. Thankfully, he eventually gave in.

March 27: Liam and markers = love at first sight.

March 28: This was the day I brought out the glue to make a bunny rabbit out of cotton balls. We both ended up with our hands covered in glue and cotton, but I actually did pretty much all of the gluing. Liam was more than happy to keep coloring with markers.

Hop 'n Hunt

This past Saturday, we went to the Hop 'n Hunt event at church. It was originally supposed to be outside and include a sunny Easter egg hunt. Texas weather had other plans, and instead it was cold and rainy and was held in the church gym. I knew this event, previously known as Spring Fling, would be popular, and I was concerned that it would be really crowded in the gym. We waffled back and forth about going, but eventually decided to go. We arrived about 30 minutes before it was over! This turned out to be the best choice. Liam had room to run around and time to try out several activities that may have had lines earlier in the day. Toddlers and waiting don't mix.

At first, he tried to interrupt games older kids were playing, but we successfully steered him to an open corner of the gym. There, Liam discovered a tall carrot made of balloons.

Next to it was a big bucket of soil to play with. Liam and dirt = best buds, so we figured we would be there a while. He enjoyed putting the soil in a cup and dumping it out. One of his sweet friends even played in the dirt too.

However, his short attention span got the best of him and we were on to the next station! Since the whole operation had to be moved inside, an egg hunt was a no go. Instead, there was an egg scoop where kiddos got bucketfuls of plastic eggs to take home. Liam spent some time picking eggs out of the box and throwing them back in. Then he came across a plastic rake and decided to use that to try and get eggs out of the box. He played with the box of eggs for a loooong time (at least for a toddler). Other kids came over to get eggs, and a couple of times he put an egg or two in their baskets. He was in serious play mode with those eggs. He even got a little help from our Preschool Minister.

Since the event was technically over at that point and people were cleaning up, we convinced him to move away from the box of eggs. That was when he ran over to the kiddie pool filled with ducks. Since no one was there playing the game, Liam just knelt right down and stuck his hands in (got the dirt washed off!). He even managed to scoop up a plastic duck with the net.

Since it was obvious that people were wanting to clean up that station, Will picked him up so we could leave. We talked to some folks at the door on our way out. That was when Liam decided to scream, getting out his frustration over having to leave the pool of water. That's when we knew for sure it was time to leave! We were only there about 35 minutes, but it was a fast and furious trek through a lot of different activities. Hopefully next year it will be sunshine-y and Liam can really hunt for some eggs!

365: March 15-21

This has been kind a strange week around here. I've started training for a new job (work from home!), and I've been away most evenings because of that. Liam is on a delayed sleep schedule and is going to bed, waking up, and napping much later than usual. It's going to take a no-nap day to normalize it again, but I love nap time, and have needed the break everyday so far. However, we have been able to spend a lot of time playing outside this week because the weather has been great.

March 15: Unless he heads straight for the slide, Liam always heads straight for some dirt when we go outside. he loves to dig in it and pull up weeds, especially the flowery weeds. He's pronouncing the word "flowers" as "waters" these day.

March 16: Saturday morning, I thought it would be great fun for us to all go to a park together and play. We went to a park we had never been to before, but it had all the essentials. Unfortunately, it was meltdown city for Liam. He complained about everything! So, no fun was had! I do like this picture of his windblown hair, though.

March 17: We went to Trader Joe's for a few items. By some miracle, Liam sat in the buggy without a fight! In this picture, he's holding "chocs" which is his word for chocolate. Will likes their cheap, dark chocolate and he shares a few little bites with Liam occasionally.

March 18: While we were playing outside, I noticed a few dandelions. I decided it was time to try and teach Liam how to blow dandelions. He loved watching them blow away in the wind. He got the blowing motion down, but never really got the holding the dandelion right in front of his mouth and blowing part. He would hold it down near his belly and blow! He enjoyed it all anyway!

March 19: We were outside yet again! Liam was laying down on a bench with his head hanging over the side (toddler planking), so I snapped a couple pictures from below without really knowing what I was capturing in the picture. I like the trees overhead. It was a gorgeous day!

March 20: I had just changed Liam's diaper, and was washing my hands in the bathroom right next to Liam's room. When I went back to his room, he had somehow produced a crayon from somewhere and proceeded to draw all over the back of his changing pad (which is pretty much always on the floor). I had no idea there was a crayon stashed in his room. I think Liam totally had a plan to do this, though!

March 21: As evidenced by the previous photo, Liam has started to branch out when it comes to the surfaces he decides to color on. He has also recently colored on the tile in front of the fireplace a couple of times. He is seriously so fast, and it can happen if I take my eyes off him for just a minute or two. Thankfully, he is eager to help clean up and is starting to understand that he can't color on the tile. When I told him we were going to clean it up, he immediately took off one of his socks and started scrubbing it! That's why he's only sporting one sock in the picture. Then I gave him a wet paper towel and he "keened" it all up. He's a good helper!

Liam at 22 Months

March 14th totally sneaked up on me! This past month flew right by, no doubt helped by the fact that it was two days shorter because of February. I have a feeling May 14th will be here in no time, and I'll have a two year old on my hands. I've got to start planning his Curious George party!

Liam is a lot of fun to be around. He has his moments that try my patience, but overall he's a good, fun kid. He's also a smart kid. One day, I asked Will to turn on "you know what," and Liam immediately said, "George." Ha! These days, though, he's not as obsessed with Curious George as he used to be. Lately, he wants to see "Babies," which is Baby Signing Time. He finally added the signs for dad and grandpa to his repertoire, and he refers to both of his grandfathers as "Peepaw" these days, even though that's not either of their grandfather nicknames.

Liam has developed an intense love of sliding this month. He wants to "wide" all the time. Since the weather has been nice this week, we've spent a chunk of our mornings outside walking and "widing." It's handy that there's one outside our apartment door. When we get a house, we're planning on getting him a slide, especially since there won't be a park in walking distance anymore. We've also tried out a couple parks we hadn't been to before this month, and Liam enjoyed swinging (in the baby swing). However, he gets so frustrated that he can't swing in the regular swing. The kid just does not have the balance yet, plus he doesn't get the "you have to hold on the whole time," thing. When I do give in and plop him up on one, I keep my hands on him. That usually causes a meltdown because he wants to do it by himself...but he can't! So we both end up frustrated. One day, Liam, one day.

In February, Will and I spent more than eight hours away from Liam when we celebrated our tenth anniversary. It was the longest amount of time we had been together but not with Liam, if that makes any sense. It was also the first time neither of us was there to put him to bed. I had no idea how that would go, and as it turns out, it didn't go well! My parents tried for hours to get him to go to sleep. He eventually crashed on the couch about ten minutes before we got home at 11:30 pm. Otherwise, I think they all had a great time together! Liam is just very used to me being there for bedtime. Unfortunately, he even gives Will a hard time with it if I'm not there for bedtime. I've only spent two nights apart from him since he's been born, although I've missed more bedtimes than that!

As for teeth, this month has been all about molars. The bottom right molar is mostly all the way in, and the upper molars are both breaking through the gums. That makes teeth numbers 10-12. Those are his one year molars coming in, and for now, the incisors have been skipped.

 I know this will obviously just keep getting better and better, but Liam has definitely improved his communication skills this month. He's starting to get really good at making known what he wants to do or doesn't want to do. He says yes and no appropriately and usually with emphasis. "Do you want to go outside?" "YES!" "Do you want to get your diaper changed?" "No!" He has also started saying, "Mmhmm." He does a ton of babble-talking these days with real words thrown in. Three word sentences are common from him, though, and one of the new ones is, "I did it!" The most common phrase I hear from him, though, is "Wow! Cool!"

He has gotten better with napping, although he will occasionally still skip a nap. I think we've been able to play outside every morning this week, and he has napped every day. I just have to wear him out so he'll sleep!

Liam is still loving letters, coloring, and stickers. Stickers are all over this place. It's ridiculous. But it makes him happy, so we oblige. If we don't, a fit is usually thrown. He's had a lot of fits this month, but I do think this is one of those frustrating ages for him. I refuse to say he's terrible or call this period The Terrible Twos. That's mean. He's being completely normal for his age. Although he's getting better at communication and coordination all the time, there are still many, many things he wants to say or wants to do, but he can't yet. So a frustrated scream and occasionally some overly dramatic falling to the ground has to do the talking for him. I'm trying to take it in stride, especially when it happens in public.

It seems that lately, Liam is not happy in public places unless he's allowed to run free. We made the mistake (we didn't know it was a mistake at the time) of letting Liam push the buggy around a very empty Target one day last month. Well, since then, he thinks he ought to push the buggy every time. A scene occurs if we try to get him to sit in the buggy. This is typically fine if both of us are there. It's much more difficult if I'm by myself with him in a store. You should've seen me trying to get him in a buggy in Sprouts a couple weeks ago! Thankfully, it happened in the very back of the store outside the restrooms where no one could really see us. I eventually won. I had too. That store had way too many people in it to allow him to push the buggy. I don't remember the last time Liam was in a stroller. He probably wouldn't get in it if we tried. It might be time for a leash (sorry....tether) soon. Meals in restaurants are usually spent trying to keep Liam in his high chair. We haven't gone out to eat much at all lately!

Liam had a brief obsession with washing his hands this month. He still likes to wash his hands, although it usually turns into a frustrating situation these days if I try to help. But he doesn't really wash his hands if I don't help, he just plays with the water.

These days, Liam also likes to lay down on his toys, especially his Legos. I think he's trying to duplicate a ballpit situation. He experienced his first ballpit last month, and spent a lot of time just falling down on the plastic balls. Unfortunately, Legos don't have quite the same effect. Ouch.

Finally, Liam continues to love dirt. He has no qualms about getting dirty. When we're outside and not sliding, we're looking for dirt. When we find some, Liam spends a lot of time playing with it. We sat in front of someone's house for twenty minutes yesterday playing with a small pile of dirt. Pictures are below!

Up the stairs to the slide

To my dismay, he discovered the part of the play equipment that has one side open to the ground four feet below. 

"Water!"

Strolling the neighborhood

Obligatory walking away from me picture

He always stops to pull up the weedy flowers

Concentrating on the dirt

We sat in this sunny spot about 10 minutes while he dug in the space between the sidewalk and grass.

Then we found this dirt spot about twenty feet away.

He's happy if there's dirt on his hands.

Still occupied after 20 minutes! I had to literally pick him up and carry him away down a different street.

Decided to feel the breeze on his belly. He loves showing off his belly these days.

Walking in the sun.

Watching cars go by.

365: March 8-14

This week has been extremely uneventful. That's not a bad thing, but it makes it hard to remember to take pictures. I actually forgot to take any pictures Sunday. Oops. The weather has been nice this week, especially the second half, so Liam and I have been spending an hour outside in the morning sliding and walking around. Then Will takes him out again in the evening while I cook dinner. Daylight Saving Time isn't so horrible after all!

March 8: We are in the process of buying a house, and the inspection was Friday afternoon. It got started late, so Will didn't get home until almost 10 pm since he was there for all of it. Liam and I snuggled on the couch some in the evening (watching Curious George) waiting for Will. However, Liam was in bed by the time Will got home.

March 9: We decided to go to Home Depot to look at home stuff since we are trying to get in to the mortgage-paying club. Unfortunately, these days Liam pretty much REFUSES to get in a buggy. There was a small scene trying to get him to sit in a buggy at HD, and he did sit in it for awhile. The complaining eventually worked, though, because we let him walk around some. Of course he went straight to the table saw area.

March 10: This was the day I didn't take any pictures. So you get to see a picture of some kale and Brussels sprouts I sautéed for dinner last night. Eat your greens!

March 11: Liam doing his best Earl Hickey while playing in his room. He specializes in making messes at lightning speed.

March 12: Liam insisted on taking this tennis ball outside to play. It made climbing up to the slide a little more difficult, but he persevered and held on the tennis ball the whole time. Dedication...or stubbornness, one of the two.

March 13: This is one Will actually took of Liam on their evening walk. The sprinklers were on at a house in the neighborhood. Will said Liam just stood there getting soaked and saying, "Water! Water!" He was a fan.

March 14: We took a walk around the neighborhood this morning, and I took some pictures of Liam for his 22 month blog post (coming in a day or two). I don't think I ever succeeded at getting one of him actually looking at the camera. To me, this picture doesn't really look like Liam. He's making a face he never makes, but I somehow caught it on camera. Again with the closed eyes.