Cute Cousins revisited

My parents have been in the area this past week and this past weekend Heidi and Sierra were able to join us. We stayed in an Ogden hotel together and hung out with life-long family friends from Maryland that are all in the area as well. It's been a wild adventure and there is much to report, but zero time to do it right now.

All I have time to post is footage of the cute cousins playing together (and Liam splashing with Grandpa in the pool).

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Friday Night Fun

In which he plays dead...

The other day Liam came into the room "shooting" his empty squirt gun with his very cute sound effects. He insinuated that he wanted me to join in his battle. I shaped my hand like a gun and did my own shooting sound effects. Liam immediately acted like I had wounded him and fell to the floor like a natural movie star would do. I figure Liam's 5 year old playmate, Jacob, might be to blame for this behavior. As cute and as funny as the acting was, I am not sure how I feel about Liam playing guns and actually pointing it at folks and shooting. It will be a few years before Ian can take Liam shooting for real and teach him the proper respect for a gun. In the meantime, I guess I will play along with the pretend shooting.

No more mama drinks

Well, Liam hasn't nursed since Sunday morning, so we are on our 4th day of no "mama drinks." We are both okay with it now, but last night around 11:30 Liam woke with a cough and some congestion. We could tell he didn't feel well so we brought him in to cuddle with us. I could tell that it wouldn't hurt Liam's feelings if he had some nursing for comfort. I felt sad that I couldn't oblige him... we gave him some medicine and as soon as it kicked in, he slept until 7:30 this morning. This weaning thing is making him sleep longer. Miracle of miracles! And he wakes up in a more cheerful mood... YAY!

And here are some photos from Sunday that I haven't posted yet. Liam playing in his box of balls and coloring with Uncle Drew.

A Daily Raspberry Harvest

The past month or so, Liam and I have gone out to the front of the house and picked raspberries. We have a small harvest each day. Usually around 5. One day I think I found about 20 ready to eat and Liam ate every last one of them.

Yesterday morning Liam woke at 5:30am and for some reason I felt rested enough to get up with him. At 6am we got our shoes on and went outside to play in the front yard in our pajamas and find any ripe berries. Here he is holding one up high and quickly popping it into his mouth.

Also yesterday, was Liam's first morning without being nursed. We are in our second day now and tomorrow is our third. I am anxious today, Liam was anxious yesterday and I am hoping we are both fine with this end-of-an-era tomorrow. I had no idea "bittersweet" would be this emotional.

On the Lake

We took the boat for a test run tonight. Ian and Uncle Drew have been working on it for over a month and are anxious to take it out fishing. Sadly the motor still needs some work. Thank goodness for a back up motor.

Liam enjoyed the fresh air and being on the water. He thought it was cool when Uncle Drew let him drive. He was very fond of his new little life jacket too. When it was time to go home, he wouldn't let me take it off him.

Here are some photos of my boys... Aren't they the cutest?

And I got a self-shot in-your-face photo of me and Liam. Isn't he just a doll baby?

Our 2nd 4th

We didn't leave the house to celebrate our independance. No, we stayed home and were lazy all day long. It was great. Ian and Uncle Drew tried to go fishing in their "new" boat way early in the morning, but mechanical problems arose and they came home to us at 10am. We were happy to see them. They made us sausage and eggs for breakfast! Liam chowed down, even though he had already had his first breakfast of cereal and bananas.

Liam took a great nap and so did Ian. I stayed up and worked on a photo book for Liam.

When Liam woke up, we got the play-dough out along with lots of molds and cookie cutters. Liam was in heaven! This is the first time I've attempted to do this activity with him. He was amazed with the action of pushing on the dough and making dents and also making impressions with the molds. The banana mold was his favorite one. I would think so, when he asks for a banana ("nah-nah" and the sign for it) at least 3 times a day this week.

The play-dough was a hit longer than an hour. We even packed up all the tools in the bucket and he dragged it upstairs to show Daddy (ie, wake Daddy from slumber).

Ian got up and Liam stayed on the bed playing with his play-dough tools for another hour or so. We kept putting them away and he'd dump them out again.

After dinner, I took him outside to run in the sprinkler. He loves stomping in the puddles created on the sidewalk. I love how he stomps on the water and swipes it with his hands. He cracks me up!

Later on, Dad and Drew got out the fireworks and gave Liam a little daybreak show since Liam's bedtime is long before nightfall. Liam liked the parachuters a lot and absolutely LOVED the pops. He didn't have much success when throwing the pops, he was better at stomping on them instead. He was delighted each time one popped or if he got multiples under his foot and a big pop would happen. Such a great way to say good night to the Dad and Uncle.

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Liam slept all the way through the night. I was so grateful and surprised at the same time!

Idaho Falls - The Photos

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The weekend trip

Friday, June 29th, we hit the road around 4:50pm for Idaho Falls. I was impressed that we got the tent trailer and all our junk packed up for the weekend trip so quickly. We gassed up and were on the freeway at 5pm... an excellent start!

Tid bits from the 4-5 hour road trip TO Idaho Falls:

After finishing dinner at Cr@cker B@rrel, Liam had to rock each rocking chair on the veranda as we made our way to the car. Sometimes he would stop and check that the rest of the chairs were rocking before he went to the next chair.

While driving along, Liam started saying his high-pitched "poo poo." I said, "Liam, did you go poo poo, do you need me to change your diaper?" He kept saying it and Ian looked back to see Liam pointing to his "boo boo" on his knee and puckering up to kiss what was just barely out of reach. Oh those dang car seat straps holding him back from kissing his own boo boo...

After a 1.5 hour nap, Liam awoke with smiles. He didn't miss a beat to start groovin' to Dad's country music playing on the radio. It was the cutest car seat post-nap dancing I've ever seen.

We pulled into Snake River RV Park a little after 10pm. Liam ran wild while poor Dad set up the tent trailer by himself with minimal help from me. (And as usual, I am of little help for guiding large vehicles going backwards into a specific spots as well.) I was so scared I was going to lose Liam in the dark so I kept close as he darted to and fro.

Once we were settled and ready for bed, Liam wouldn't be left in his porta-crib. Uh oh. We fought him for a long time climbing all over us and such. Ian decided he would take him for a drive at around 1am. Apparently he fell asleep, but when Dad tried to transfer him, he awoke. Ian and Liam snuggled and he finally settled down. I think around 3ish he woke again and I resorted to nursing him and I slept in those awkward ways for fear of moving and waking him.

Liam woke us up early. We lay there and let him crawl all over us for awhile... We finally sat up and said, "What a great night of rest!" [hardee har har]

We got showered and/or freshened up and made our way to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple things and then we were on our way to the family reunion at Tautphaus Park. We found a couple people we knew, chatted and ate lunch. Liam found some folks to entertain and got a few people laughing as well as himself. He is such a clown! Not long after that, went to the Zoo located there in the park.

It was Liam's nap time, but he had a blast at the zoo even as exhausted and hot as he was feeling. I can't say what animal was his favorite. He thought the Lions were cool, the goats too. It was his first time in a petting zoo type of setting. He thought it was fun to brush the goats and he even tried brushing two at once! He liked pretty much everything about the place! I look forward to taking him to Hogle Zoo later in the summer.

We got him loaded in the car and not 2 minutes later he had his hat down over his eyes and he was out like a light. Completely ZONKED.

We drove around for a bit, got some treats at a drive thru and headed back to camp. Liam slept in the car with the door ajar as we sat at our picnic table and enjoyed our eats.

After Liam woke from his nap we went over to the pool and had some fun. Liam was so excited about the water! Dad was his favorite toy as usual. I jumped in a couple times, but I got a chill pretty quick and got out and dried off to take more photos. Liam was shivering by the time I got out and we tried to get him out to warm him, but he was too anxious to get back in with Dad. I love how he clung to Ian. It was very sweet. It was also cute when he'd jump off the edge into Ian's arms.

After getting changed and freshened up again, we headed to the mall to see if we could find a better pair of sandals for Liam. We lucked out at P@yless Shoe Source because they had a safety recall on the @irwalk (croc look alikes) and we got Liam new $14.99 shoes for 2 bucks because we got a refund for his old shoes. SCORE!

We found a couple shirts for Liam at Old N@vy and then got in the car to find a place to eat dinner. There were 3 BBQ places listed in the visitors guide we had. While at the gas station I rolled down my window and asked a local guy what restaurant of the three were best. He said Bubba's BBQ. Boy am I glad I asked! Those were some awesome baby back ribs!!! Even Liam chowed down on them! He also had bread and corn on the cob. We stuffed ourselves and our small boy.

We found ourselves back at the camp site trying to get Liam to go to sleep for the night. I thought after the long day outdoors he would zonk out pretty easily. I was wrong. He fought for 2 hours. He even got out of his crib and opened the camper door to sneak a peek at what we were up to. I had walked over to the park store to get us some ice cream on a stick and I came back to Liam in Ian's arms watching Baby Einstein outside the camper. Ian relayed how the camper door slowly opened and he saw a smiling Liam peering through. Cute, but infuriating at the same time.

Minutes later our new next door neighbor drove up and parked his old clunky SUV WAY too close to our car (he had to hold the door sorta closed as he squeezed out of the car). They had set up camp while we were gone earlier in the day, claiming our picnic table and setting up a couple feet from our camper (they had a TON of space on the other side, but decided to cramp our style instead of spreading out a bit). Little did they know they'd have a crying baby keeping them up in the night. I wish we could have stuck around to teach them a lesson, but with oblivious neighbors and a relentless toddler, we decided to NOT stay the night and started the long trip home after 10pm.

Ian and I had to switch off driving duty way too many times. We were so exhausted. We rolled into our hometown at 3am Sunday morning. I was so grateful we said a prayer before hitting the road. I prayed a lot as I was falling asleep when Ian would take the wheel too. Both of us would wake if the other would hit a bump or swurve just a little too much... "Are you okay?" We were scared to death that sleep would take over us as we traveled in the night.

Sunday was a TOTAL day of rest. Liam allowed us to sleep in until 9:30am. Then when he took a nap at 12:45, we both went down for naps too. Liam slept for 3 hours... Ahhh! We didn't start unpacking the car until close to bed time. The camper is still waiting to be unloaded... ;)

Liam Takes the Wheel

Since Liam could walk and meet his dad in the driveway when he gets home from work they have done this. Daddy opens his car door for Liam and Liam gets on his lap to "go for a drive." Ian humors our boy by going up and down the driveway 15 feet back and forth for a few minutes. Liam gets the biggest kick out of it, but I think Daddy does too! Such simple pleasures...

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

Blah photos

We went to Kiddi3 K@ndids on Tuesday night. Mom has been wanting to get a portrait done of Liam the whole time she was here, but the poor kid always had a bruise or scrape on his face. This week his face was clear, but his legs were still a little battered looking.

We couldn't get a short notice sitting anywhere but Kiddi3 K@ndids, so we went and dealt with the waiting and slow "photographer" who missed any possible good shots. Here is a sampling of what we got:

Mom wanted shots of his bare feet. It cracks me up that he has the exact same feet as Ian. I call them paddles because they are so square!

This is a photo of a photo... Cute little legs, but no smiles. He is cute no matter what though.

A Mighty Fisherman

I found this fish game and puzzle online at pier1.com. Liam is loving it! Though it's quite the advanced puzzle! I can barely get it back together. I had to print off the photo on the website and tape it to the back so I have a cheat sheet!

I bought him a few other things too.

P.S. I just noticed this is my 304th post. Wowee wow wow!

A Small Tale

Once upon a time there was a tiny boy who always woke up in a cheerful mood in the mornings. He loved to wake up around 5 or 6am each day. He was unfortunate enough, though, to have mother that was extremely fatigued at that hour of the day. She would nurse him and pray he'd fall back asleep, but alas each time it would somehow provide more pep to him instead of the sleepiness that she had hoped for.

After about an hour of climbing all over his sleeping mommy, this small boy would take her hand and lead her to the kitchen and show her the sign for cereal or banana or sometimes he would just bellow "CRACKER" really loudly. His foggy eyed mother would then proceed to make this sweet child his blueberry oatmeal and possibly hand him a banana to tide him over while the cereal cooked.

This boy was

...so smart that he would listen to his mommy's words of "please go sit in your chair" and run to his chair.

... so agile that he would climb all the way into his chair.

... so patient that he would let his mother buckle him in and put a bib on him before being served his meal.

... so reverent that he might even fold his arms so a prayer could be said over the food.

... so ravenous that he would scoop each spoonful of berries and oatmeal into his tiny mouth as fast as he possibly could.

... so polite that he'd push his empty bowl towards the middle of the table and show the sign for drink so his mother would hand him his water cup.

And this boy was so MESSY that he'd hold out his mitts to be washed so he could go play.

Life is just a bowl of cherries

We had a pretty nice weekend. I haven't posted since Tuesday and we've had a pretty nice week altogether. I will just list the things we did because I don't have time to compile a montage or even post all my favorite doings this past week.

Things we've done, in no particular order:

Liam found a way to distort his face.

Liam successfully took off with Daddy's glasses. Something he's been working on since day one. Congrats, Liam!

Snuggled Mom in a new way while watching cartoons one morning. (He leaned on my shoulder for a long while as he was sitting sort of behind me on the couch.)

Grandma made a play house for Liam in 10 minutes flat (while Ian and I ran to Home Depot for seriously 10 minutes).

Liam built one of the tallest block towers yet.

We went to visit Rose across the street and on the way home, Liam played in the water. Notice the pine cone in his little hand.

He found a glass of water outdoors and played in that water too (looking over his shoulder at me with grins to see if he was going to hear a "no" from me)... then dumped it all over himself. I say go crazy when it's minutes from bath time, little buddy.

He helped Grandma peel potatoes... well he watched and then stole a potato and took a big bite!

We took Liam to the aquarium and he had a ball running around and letting us lift him up to each tank so he could point and "count" all the sea animals. (I'll have to get video of Liam's version of counting. He does the inflection with his voice, but doesn't say the numbers... just goo, goo, goo... each goo a note higher than the last.)

Liam has eaten like 100 fresh cherries we got from a friend's cherry tree. He wouldn't stop eating them! I just kept pitting them and he would down each one in seconds then "please" me for more!

Liam was kissed many times this week... as usual, but I have photos this time.

P.S. Liam and I were in the car running an errand (and I tend to sing to him now and then to keep him smiling). On this occasion we sang Popcorn Popping. And when I say "we" I mean it. He would repeat the following words in bold and on Que. He also would make the popping motion with his fists/fingers. I was so proud of my smart little boy!

I looked out the window and what did I see...
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise.
Blossoms popping right before my eyes.

I can take an armful and make a treat.
A popcorn ball that would smell [sniffing sounds] so sweet.

It wasn't really so [waving his finger], but it seemed to be...
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Botanical Lover

In the past month Liam has learned to say "flower" in his own way. When asked to say "flower" he responds with the sniffing sound one would make by actually sniffing the scent of a flower. It's adorable and evokes laughter out of me every time he does it.

Here he is sniffing Grandma's flowers that Grandpa sent to her last week.

Liam also enjoyed going to his Great Grandparents' house on Sunday evening and sniffing all their roses. He also liked keeping an eye on the bunny roaming around in the neighbor's yard.

Need a Laugh?

Weeks ago I found some dog goggles at Target and bought them for Wyatt (since I've seen Drew put his own sunglasses on him). Is this not one of the funniest things?

Then if that isn't funny enough, Liam wanted to try them out... and we all laughed our heads off. Look how the strap pulls his ears down. Our own little Yoda.

And here is something more to chortle at. Liam dancing the other morning to his little kid tunes. I think he picked up a deeper interest in dancing since he met Kaden.

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