Monday, June 25, 2007

Happy 20 Month Birthday, Liam!

Dear Son,

This past month went way too fast! To call you a 20 month old will be odd to me… makes you sound like you are nearing 2 years old, which you are, but you are still a baby to me.

Sure signs that you are still a baby:

You still have rights to the pacifier and the “mama drinks”

You still say “goo”

You still sleep in a crib

You still cry when you need a cuddle

You still get carried around

You still have baby fat

You still wear diapers

You still don’t laugh at your own farts (even though we do)

You still drool

You still wear a bib at meal times

You still obey most all my words

Sure signs that you are indeed a toddler:

You say “please help” ie. “pwee hop” (as you sign “help” in your own way)… it’s very sweet to have you ask so nicely.

You sign that you love me and your Dad. (Crossing your heart and then pointing to us until we touch our finger to yours.)

You eat with a spoon or fork. (Your favorite meal is oatmeal with blueberries or fresh raspberries from the yard.)

You are pulling doors closed behind you and tend to trap yourself in the closet now and then.

You say "outside" (Pronounced oud-dah) and put on your hat, find your shoes and also the shoes for mom and/or dad so we can take you out. You then wave and say "bye" to whomever doesn't go outside with us... and if there is no person, you wave to the cat, art or whatever is closest.

You run and jump and attempt somersaults. (We got the Happy Healthy Monsters DVD for you and you make sure we get exercising too.)

You grab our attention by saying "MA" really loud so we can watch whatever neato thing you are doing at the moment. (Or to be dragged by our shorts to whatever location you need us to be in.)

You repeat the word "cracker" in the most weirdly boisterous voice and we laugh every.single.time. (Pronounced CACK-ARE.)

You know ALL the animal sounds... and even know how to do an impression of our lovable friend, Grover. (My personal favorite is the horse sound because after the "neigh" comes two distinct spits just like a horse would blow or snort.)

You can do puzzles as quick as a whip. (I even brought some unfamiliar ones home from church nursery and you put them back together like you'd been practicing for months!)

You like to race your toy cars and throw balls. (You've got a pretty great throwing arm on you too!)

You answer questions by saying "no" most of the time, but sometimes you'll respond with a thoughtful "Ummm" and then say no. We are trying to encourage more "yes"'s... because the way you say "yes" is just plain adorable! (Pronounced YESSHHHHHH)

You are a mighty corn-on-the-cob eater! You whisper wildly the word "WOW" when you see an ear of corn coming your way. You eat every last kernel you can find on each ear too... nothing is wasted when it comes to corn... same goes with popcorn.

You seem to know when you have dirty drawers. The way you say poo poo is quite funny! And the way you avoid a diaper change is even funnier. I'll ask nicely if we can change your pants and you'll reply with a "no" that starts low and ends high... we love those multi-octive "no"'s.

Liam, you are a darling little boy. I love spending my time with you. Each phase seems a little better than the last. I am grateful to have you and be your teacher (and you mine). It's a rewarding job to see you learn and progress so quickly. I am proud to be in your life every day.

And, babydoll, thanks for indulging me and staying a baby a little longer. I appreciate it more than you know.

Love Always,
Mom

13 comments:

Robin said...

As usual, a beautiful birthday month post! I love hearing all the wonderful endearing details of your sweet little one's progression. It still makes me sad that we aren't able to watch eachother's children and all their growth!
ps. I got your birthday call, thank you!

Terry said...

Thats so adorable that he signs I love you!!! Thats awesome. I also love the corn on the cob story. My kids have never had corn on the cob, I guess I need to get them some. Your boy is cute and smart and amazing. But, I don't have to tell you that!

Katie said...

He's getting so big! I'd love to see some video of those sweet baby words.

D said...

what smarty pants and a total cutie! I can't wait until Kaden communicates that much. He is such a sweetheart and so well behaved. We miss him!

Ashley said...

sweet sweet :)
he and little bit have a lot of similarities:
she tells me about having "p-you-ps" in her pants :) i laugh a lot... (i don't know how to write that out to sound like she says it)
she says "no" to a lot (but she does say "yeah" more often...although, i wish it were yes ma'am)
she knows all the animal sounds and spits like a horse
she can do somersaults--just learned today :)
she locks herself in rooms
she waves bye to everyone and everything

it makes me feel good that she's keeping up w/ liam. one thing she can't do is puzzles. although, to be fair, the last time i let her see a puzzle was 6 months ago...maybe we'll do that tomorrow.

hugs and happy days to liam!

wendy said...

What a heart warming letter to your baby/big boy! He is just adorable! I love the ummmm, no. What a cutie!

utmommy said...

He's just too cute!!

Terri@SteelMagnolia said...

cute little fella...

he's really quite bright...
a smart little man...

so cute...


uh.. Matthew still not talking... *sad face*
oh well..
we go see a specialist in 3 weeks...
we'll see how that goes...

someday he'll surprise me, I'm sure...

David said...

I like when babies make horse sounds!

jolibe said...

I love your birthday posts! It's so sweet to hear about Liam's new and exciting things each month. It reminds me of my little guy too! I'm going to have to have my Liam try out some corn-on-the-cob because he is a popcorn fiend too!

Anonymous said...

I sooooo miss that darling little boy, Very nice post.

www.stepherz.com said...

He's so smart and cute and full of happiness. I love the last picture, Gina! He's such a little ham!

Heidi said...

Love that cheesy grin at the end of the post! They grow so fast! He is so smart and verbal, Sierra barely says anything and she's oblivious to her own poo.