How true this is...

2 years, 4 months

Dear Son,

This month went a little slower than usual and I have an inkling of why. We have had days on end that all seemed the dreaded same. You are truly a 2 year old who has constant struggles testing where your boundaries lie. We never thought the "terrible two's" would catch up to us. It's a fortunate thing that you continue on with your charming ways... as heaven knows, that (and your physical cuteness) are your saving grace. That said, we really are blessed to have YOU, and no other, testing our limits. Your mildness wore off long ago, but you really are a good natured child... we are very proud of you for that.

This month you've been praying a lot with our help. It's very sweet how clearly you echo back the words we offer you. My favorite phrase continues to be "Jesus Christ, Amen" and another favorite is when we bless Grandmas and Grandpas. Your way of saying Grandpa is more like Papaw. Just incredibly adorable, Liam. I wish you could see and hear the memory of it in my mind!

You continue to learn the English language and crack us up as you try:

Caterpillar - Pattipiyar
Butterfly - Fuff-fry
Put Away - Pooway
Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner - Yunch
Button - Bunt
Fish - Shish
Mustang - Musthang
White - Wipe
Chapstick - Boop

Daddy is always testing you with funny phrases and tongue twisters. The things he thinks up are hilarious all by themselves, but to hear you repeat them always gets us chuckling. We parents, acting like kids, try to get you to make us laugh with the same material over and over. You tickle our funny bone and you seem to love to play jester for us. I have found that most sessions of laughter are found in the car when we are running around town as a family.

A big milestone this month is that you've taken an interest in your potty chair. You'll sit there before bath time and sometimes before you get dressed or pajama'd. You think you are so big, though we've had no real results from all that sitting and trying. Tonight you got one tiny drop and seemed very pleased. "Wook, Mommy, wook!"

And speaking of "wooking", you are always asking us to look, look, look! All. the. time. You'll cross your fingers, make a face or stack 2 cars on top of one another... and then the requests begin. "Wook, Mommy!" and I say "Wow, Liam, that is SO cool! Great job. High fives!" You seem satisfied and go on with whatever you were doing before the randomly showcased trick. It makes me smile and then laugh to myself. I always knew you were clever, but it's extremely funny to me that you think you are pretty darn clever too.

I have to report your eating habits the past few weeks. I am amazed and delighted that you've been eating EVERYTHING put in front of you. I cook a meal for the family AND YOU EAT IT! No back up hot dogs, ravioli or oatmeal. This fact is simply surprising and wonderful to me! I haven't worried about your vitamin intake for weeks... weeks! You'll eat most any vegetables and any fruits... and pasta and rice and meats and pickles! I only hope this isn't a phase. And if it is, can we keep it forever?

I have broken out the parenting manuals once again. This parent/toddler thing is an ongoing education of rights and wrongs. We are learning just like you and it is hard. I know you are giving us your very best and we appreciate your stage in life. I hope we can give you our best more regularly, too, this next month and throughout your life. We'll continue to pray together for patience and understanding. The three of us sure can use it. Thanks for always forgiving and loving us not matter what, kiddo. Those soft kisses (and many other redeeming gestures) really go a long way.

All my love,

Mom

We Love Uncle Drew

Drew came over to tend Liam so we could go to the Rockapella concert on Saturday. We had such a great time! The show was just amazing and we had no worries leaving Liam.

As you can tell in this photo (taken before we left that evening), Liam was beyond excited to have Drew as a play mate.

Thank you, Uncle Drew, for tending a two year old, boundary testing, spitting maniac who is mainly saved by his cuteness and small stature!

Report: Liam was put in time out 5 times in three hours, but I am sure he probably deserved 10 or more.

Yes, I said it, my child is not perfect. We need to give Drew the most patient uncle award. We are fortunate to have him in our lives... he is such the doting uncle.

Sunday Evening Snow

I had promised Liam all weekend that we would go play outside.... so Sunday night rolled around and the cold task had to be done. He was so tickled to be outside throwing snow!

Ian came out a few minutes after us and got the sled for Liam to slide down a huge mound of snow. He was so delighted!

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And that snow suit he has on? A 70's original... that was Ian's!



The End

Butter licker

We met up with my great friend, Kate, on Friday night. This is Liam at Mimi's Cafe using butter as dip... he dipped his face in it a few times... and his melon wedges.

Later that night Kate came over and helped me put Liam to bed. I had to take a few photos of her reading to Liam and then she stole the camera from me. This is one of the shots she got. I thought it was random and very cute.

Cute

Last night as we were tucking Liam into bed, he asked to cuddle Daddy. Our initial reply was a big fat "not tonight, son" but Ian remembered he'd be at Klondike tonight with the scouts and wouldn't see his little boy until Saturday. So he cuddled Liam to sleep. I thought that was so sweet of Ian to spend that extra time.

This morning Miss Purr Bug was giving me some love. Liam tends to call her Orion because he plays with and reprimands Orion more. So I corrected him and said "this is Purr Bug" and he said, "oh yeah, Purr Bot!"

Made me laugh! I couldn't quite make out what he called her before today.

Another cut

Liam got another hair cut last night. He does so well as long as he's on Daddy's lap. This girl was just as impresed as the last one as to how well Liam does. He just moved his head wherever Ian put the hand mirror. Vain little fellow.

He got the sucker reward afterwards.

And I have to share this gem... We went to PetSmart while we waited for the walk-in appointment at the hair cut place nearby. Liam loved seeing all the birds, kitties and fish in the store... The gem? He was a huge help when it came time to buy the cat food. He even walked it out to the car and loaded it up. I love the joyful strain on his face in this photo:

PRICELESS!

Liam Prays

Last week I must have said the dinner prayer too hastily, because Liam seemed alarmed when it was over so fast. He refolded his arms when Ian put his food in front of him, so Ian asked if he wanted to bless his food. "Yeah, Liam pray." Ian went on to help Liam say his own prayer.

We were so proud of him!

Then Sunday, the nursery workers told me that Liam gave the opening prayer for their lesson. He kept showing me how he closed his eyes "see" and folded his arms "see." (The lesson just happened to be on prayer and they had little paper bag puppets that demonstrated how it's done.) I was so excited to hear he actually prayed with an audience! What a big kid!

Then tonight he blessed our dinner with Ian's help. When he said "Jesus Christ, Amen" at the end, I was so pleased! My heart just swelled!

Also tonight for bed time prayers, I was saying the prayer but he was whispering back ups of every other thing I said super softly. Man, he is a sweet kid!

The Letters

Liam officially recognizes every letter of the alphabet except a few mix ups.

Z and N look the same to him apparently. Understandable.

X and K look the same to him too. It makes sense.

And finally, M and W. But, I don't think it's because they are so similar in shape. I think it's because M is much easier to verbalize than W.

Oh well. I am proud of his recognition of all the other letters. Just like his animal sounds at 16/17 months, it all happened sooner than I thought and practically overnight! Go Liam!

Liam the artist

Photos here.

Liam has been doing smiley faces so well this past week. I made a stick figure for him and he made the face, facial hair, hair, ears, hands, feet, etc in green. Two days later, Liam drew his own circles and faces by himself. I found the paper the next morning and about flipped! I was so proud of him for doing such perfect circles (and faces to boot)! I have yet to get a photo of that artwork... it's on the fridge for now.

Saturday we went to PERC and then to our friend Vika's house to see baby Malik. Liam wasn't so sure about holding him, but he was sweet once he got used to the idea.

The last photos are attempts at getting a shot of the chipmunk grape cheeks. It was cracking me up! Those grapes were so big!

The Croup Milestone

Sunday morning, when we got to church, Liam's nose transformed into a faucet of snot. I was wiping his nose every 15-20 seconds for 2 hours. During sacrament meeting he'd say "boogies" real loud each time he needed a wipe. Cute the first few times, but as I ran out of tissue, my patience started to wear thin.

I wanted him to be able to go to nursery because he loves it so much, so I stayed in there with him to wipe and disinfect every few minutes while he played. I gave up at 11am when I heard him cough, so took him home.

The faucet nose didn't give up that day. That night at 1:30 am I heard a barking seal come from Liam's bedroom. I have heard stories about this sound and immediately knew he had croup. He coughed through the rest of the night. It cleared once he was up and about Monday morning, but that nose wouldn't stop.

Ian offered to come home before noon so I could go to work. He tended Liam and I appreciated it so much! I came home from work and Ian said he didn't have symptoms most of the afternoon. The nose stopped. There was no coughing that night.

All seemed back to normal Tuesday morning and I took him to the sitter. His nose runs a little bit, but he seems well. I am so grateful this wasn't another 2 week illness. And I was so grateful Ian could tend Liam on Monday so I could go to work (as I have already used 2 sick days in January alone).

2 years, 3 months

Dear Son,

Another month slipped by. It's been a good one. You've been so darling, even with that little attitude you let peek through pretty much daily. We usually understand where you are coming from, but you've learned very well where the time-out step is at the bottom of the stairs. Sometimes you go there with assistance, and sometimes you go on your own and stay put until you can be nice again. We think it's pretty great you understand discipline and how to correct yourself by saying sorry. You really are a well-behaved boy.

In other news, I was on the phone with Daddy this morning and you were standing in the kitchen near me. Next thing we knew, we heard squawking and then saw Orion pushing his way through the cat door with a pigeon size bird! The squawking was so loud and I was starting to freak out on the phone, so all you could think to do was start crying with fear. I stayed on the phone with Dad as I whisked you up the stairs. I shut all the doors and put you in your room, with Dad on the phone so he could calm you while I went to de-bird the house.

Almost 10 minutes later I was able to contain the bird in a towel, set him free, then come back upstairs to you - still talking to Daddy. I was impressed the two of you kept a conversation so long. I got on the other phone to talk to Dad as you wouldn't let your phone go. I went downstairs as I was talking, leaving you again and started cleaning up the attempted murder scene. I said good bye to Daddy and thought you'd just be left with a dead silence. A couple minutes later I went back upstairs to find you talking to Daddy again. Apparently you redialed him because you weren't done talking about that scary bird. Daddy was darling to accommodate your need for him.

This evening Daddy said to you, "Thank you for calling Daddy today. Why did you call Daddy?" Liam hesitates and says, "Well... birdie scary!"

We seem to be laughing a lot with you lately. We love hearing you use your versions of the English language. Your gummy multi-vitamin is a "Pooh tweet" (it's a bear shaped head) and your pretzels are "preb-ples." When you ask 'what is this?'... All that comes out is "wha-shiss?" So you are saying "wha-shiss?" a lot when you want us to name whatever you are pointing to. Your thirst to learn (and to test our knowledge of things) is endearing.

This past month you've shown greater reverence during prayers. You are extremely good at dinner and at bed time now (folding your arms the whole prayer). It's gratifying for us as parents that you've learned one of the first signs of respect to your Heavenly Father. After family prayer we cup our right hands together, raise them up, then down to let them fall apart and say "sure love ya!" It was a family tradition since I was a little girl. You picked up on this when we were at your grandparents' house for Christmas. So to have you requesting it, shortly after we arrived home, was really neat for me.

We are so proud of you, Liam. You are learning too much to report here and, in turn, teaching us daily how to be better parents for you. It's a blessing to have you in our home, to share in your special spirit and to have the close bonds that we do. You get cuter and smarter by the day. You knock our socks off with your wit and antics. You haven't slowed down in any respect of your life. I have to savor these moments! You are a joy!

Love you always,
Mom

Swimming last night

My partner in crime, I mean good friend from work, Deana, invited us to go swimming with her and the kiddos last night. She and her hubby own a condo complex and have access to the pool anytime they want to swim. We've been meaning to go the past couple months, but the stars didn't align until last night (with some coaxing from Deana).

We had a great time! Liam was in heaven. His giggles and squeals were echoing like crazy in there!

He remained on the first step for about 20 minutes and then he slowly branched out the second and third steps. He was so brave! I'd let him play and just stay near to see what he'd do.

Since the other kids were playing in the pool, there was a small current. That current would make Liam lose his balance every now and then on that third step (ie, water to the chest level on him). At one point that current pulled him off the edge and on his way to the fourth step (over his head) and he panicked and started swimming to keep his chin above the water. I was right there to help him but I was so proud of him for trying so hard on his own to get back to that third step. I thought he was pretty freaked out but he went back to wading and splashing as if nothing happened.

He jumped off the edge into my arms 3 times and I'd let his head go under each time. He didn't seem to mind as if he'd held his breath anyway. What a water baby he is!

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Snot and Stamps

What a combo!

I got out the rubber stamps for Liam last week as he was still recovering from his runny nose. You gotta love a resourceful child who wipes his nose on the right sleeve of his thermal. Lovely.

But isn't he so cute concentrating so hard on his color choices? Let me tell you, blue and red didn't cut it. Purple was his result on most of the impressions he made on those two pieces of paper. It certainly wouldn't make sense to only use one of the two ink pads at a time.

This art lesson gave me some insight as to what painting might be like. It will be awhile until I get this kit out again... and a longer while before we explore painting. I'd hate to stifle his creativity though. Maybe some Saturday we'll cover everything in newspaper and give it a go.

Liam loves puzzles

I have to brag (because that is what I do here).

Liam is really good at puzzles, shapes, putting things together, etc. I think he'll be an engineer some day with the crazy mad skills he has for memorizing shapes and how things fit together. He has always been advanced in his motor skills, from day one practically.

Over a week ago, we were sitting in Stake Conference with the below pictured puzzle we picked up from PERC. (There are shapes cut in half, cut in odd ways so it's hard to tell what shape it will result in. It was kinda tricky for me the first time.) My darling son put it together with little or no help the first few times... then would do it on his own to test his memory of how the pieces fit together.

Fast forward 30 minutes. There was a 3 and 5 year old sitting next to us... they had a hard time putting it together. They worked together and they worked separately. Still not as good as Liam.

I was smirking.

Liam talks to himself

Things I overhear:

"Blast off!" (from the living room - Little Einsteins)

"Oh Toodles!" (from the living room - Mickey Mouse Club House)

"Oh hot! I bow!" (from the eggs on the kitchen table - gotta blow on them to cool them off)

"One, phree, sik, seven, eight, nigh, ten!" (from the all over the house and in his car seat)

"Dah-ee, cuggle... peez? Dah-ee... cuggle!" (from the crib after putting him to bed - needing cuddles)

"Down kitty!" (from the kitchen - he gets the cats off the counter or table)

"No crying!" (from all over the house - telling our meowing cats to simmer)

And on Saturday, we were driving to PERC and Liam says, "Liam karp... Mommy karp!"
It took me a second to realize he was saying we both have scarves on. He loves that we both wear a scarf when we go out in the cold. That and we both put our "coke" on too.

Oh and one more thing! Driving along in the car, Liam says "M" as we pass by the big yellow M that is McDonald's. I was so proud. He doesn't do well with the alphabet and I was so so so impressed!

Sledding

We were finally able to take Liam sledding over the weekend. Only a year after his first time.

(You can see my breath swirls framing them.)

We took turns riding down the hill with Liam. He was having so much fun! He loved every minute of it... and he didn't even mind how slowly we went going back up the hill to do it again! Boy was it slippery in spots!

He looked so cute bundled up. He looked even cuter being toted around in Ian's big sled. Of course the cutest moment was when he'd peek out of the tunnel that Ian bore for him. What fun!

My boys are so handsome! Little snow bunnies is what they are! They can't get enough of the white stuff!

And those big wooly socks that went up to his knees... DARLING! He loves those socks! He'd wear them for pants if he was allowed to.

You can see all the photos HERE.

Random Things

Since the first of the month, at bed time, we've been reading books by the light of Liam's new lantern. That first night, Ian came in and started doing shadow puppets. The dog is amiably named "woof" by Liam. That dog nibbles on Liam's toes, give kisses and makes him giggle. We love having a pet dog that lives in the wall and only visits a few minutes before bed time.

Liam has a boot fascination. He has a pair of snow boots, as does Daddy and he loves to put them on and try to walk in them. We love how he can keep himself busy and make us laugh!

The other night, I was following Liam up the stairs patting him on the bum all the way.
I said, "Liam, you are so cute!"
He said, "Yeah! I cute!"
(I just wanted to hold him and squeeze his cuteness forever!)

Liam has been saying "dop et" a lot lately to both me and Ian. At the beginning of the week I had ignored it hoping he wasn't saying "stupid"... I mean, who taught my kid the word stupid?!? But I later figured out that he has been saying "stop it"... the very thing he hears from his mom quite often. I am glad he doesn't know the word stupid, but I've realized that I need to say less of a couple other words.

Liam has been helping me with the household chores:

He has been throwing his own diapers and other trash away since he was one, but he can open the door to the pantry himself this past year and that makes it nice because I don't have to get up to help him.

He feeds the cats. I hand him a scoop of food, he dumps it in their bowl and then puts the scoop back in the bin.

He vacuums! I give him the tube and he gets down on the floor and sucks up each and every crumb, piece of lint, dust, hair and whatnot. Cracks me up how thorough he is. He gets upset when it's Mom's turn. And even more upset when the vacuum gets put away.

He does laundry. I sort the whites and darks. He gets his stool and puts it up to the side of the washing machine. One by one he'll put each thing in. I let him do his thing while I go and do something else. He also helps me put things in the dryer with much satisfaction.

Oh and he puts the dish washing tablet in the dishwasher and starts it.

First Professional Hair Cut

Last Friday (1/4/08), Liam got his first hair cut. We've cut it in the past, but it was due time that we get his hair done by a professional. He didn't want to sit in the barber chair by himself, so Daddy got set up to hold him. They both looked so cute with their drapes on.

Liam made funny faces as the stylist, Kimra, did her work with the trimmer and scissors. She gave him a mirror to hold so Ian could move it when Kimra needed Liam to move his head. She was impressed that he was sitting so still and cooperating so well. So were we, praising him all the while. She did her work extremely fast! (Ian was so impressed that he went back the next week to get his hair done there.)

I was tickled at how grown up Liam looked with his new cut. I took photos of him once we got in the car. He had a cold and is coughing, but it looks like he's posing for the camera like a little model! So funny!

More doings in Indiana

The day after Christmas we met up with my close friend, Kelley, and her family. (Kelley and I have been close since we were 14 years old.) We went to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. I've been wanting to take Liam there. It's a place I loved going to as a kid, so I knew he would LOVE it!

Kelley's family has season passes and they got us in as their guests for free! We were grateful because we knew Liam would only last a couple hours at best, and this is a place you can spend 8+ hours and still not see everything. We'll have to take him back each time we are in Indiana so he can slowly see all the exhibits. Kelley knew what ones he'd specifically enjoy at his age, so we first went to the Dinosaur Exhibit where the kids learn about fossils and can become paleontologists digging up bones.

After dressing up as an egg stealing dinosaur, we moved on to the trains! Besides tons of model train exhibits, they had a real train that you could go inside! The windows were actually flat screen TVs and there was video of scenery passing you by. When I stepped in there, I thought we were moving and lost my balance!

Next was the featured exhibit, Dale Chihuly's blown glass! They had metal frames and glass-like plastic bulbs for kids to make their own sculptures! There was a revolving circle of chairs that you could lean back and stare up at the Fireworks of Glass sculpture, the largest permanent sculpture of blown glass by the renowned artist himself.

Next was a HUGE playzone for toddlers. A big river water table, a sand table, play houses, etc. It was so cool and I wish I had more photos. My camera's battery was dying so I would open it once for each exhibit and get maybe one photo.

After the playzone we went to stand in line for the carousel ride. This is an old fashion classic carousal that I remember riding as a kid. The classic music was booming and I was enjoying myself... Liam, on the other hand, was not too happy about the ride. It was too close to nap time and he didn't want to be on the non-moving horse we were instructed to put him on.

After a stop to the ice cream shop where the kids can pretend to serve up ice cream to customers and enjoy a fake sundae, we headed to the holiday alpine slide. I didn't get a photo of Liam on the slide since we went down from the 2nd floor to the 1st as a family. Liam loved it and we loved watching/hearing his reactions. Here is a photo of the boys standing in line.

We said good-bye to our friends so we could deliver Liam to nap time. He fell asleep within two minutes of getting out of the parking garage. We made it back to my parent's town and kept on driving around so Liam could rest. Ian remembered seeing a beloved White Castle on our way to/from the hotel pool the previous night, so we made our way to the healthiest (snort) burger place in town. (We had to get our fill of goodness we can't find in Utah.)