Busy Busy

Liam continues to be a very busy little boy and is finding new ways every day to learn and explore. Sometimes dangerous... often funny.

In the dangerous category... trying to climb into his highchair. He's very persistent!



In the noisy category... our little drummer boy:



In the funny category... swiffering the floors! Daddy is thrilled-- surely this will translate perfectly into Liam's first chore, right?-- but I just think it's funny. He really likes anything that he sees grown-ups using and quickly assumes they belong to him. Trust me, don't even try to take away his Swiffer or his broom! He walks around and around the downstairs, pushing them-- often with one in each hand.



Liam likes to find where stuff is hidden in little spaces (such as cracks in the sidewalk) and to figure out how things work (guard your phones, remotes, etc.!). On a recent trip to the park, he was way more interested in the little groove between the rubber playground turf and the sidewalk, where he discovered some new pet rocks!



He has also moved beyond that sticky anteater in his rainforest book and now shows us how everything works! Here he is "teaching" Daddy how to make the Elmo door open on his Sesame Street toy:

Liam's 15-month check-up is coming up next week, and then it's off to Washington DC for Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all our family and friends who are moms and moms-to-be, Happy Mother's Day!

Liam had a bit of a rough night's sleep on Friday night thanks to a little bug he came down with (poor guy!). He was all of 2 grapes into his lunch on Saturday, and while I was making him a sandwich, I looked over and there he was, sound asleep:



I tried to wake him, but he was O-U-T.

So after his nap and finally some lunch, we got on the road to York to visit Nana and GG for Mother's Day. We went straight to GG's house and enjoyed some playing and dinner. Liam had a blast getting wheeled around in GG's little cart:




"See GG? This is how you make noise with a spoon!"



It was pretty chilly on Sunday, so we had to move our cook-out indoors. Mommy and Liam (who was taking his time waking up from his nap):



Liam loves the pianos at both his Grandma's and his Nana's house (especially since it's the forbidden fruit at Miss Doreen's!), so he was thrilled to get some time to listen to Nana play-- and even "help" her with a song or two. His favorite tune is definitely the "Happy Birthday" song, which we sang to everyone in the house (although it was no one's actual birthday). Four generations:



Liam has really been amazing us with how much he is growing and learning. He has this great Touch and Feel book about animals in the rainforest, and whenever we read it, I take Liam's finger and put it on each of the different textures so he can feel the different plants, animals, birds, etc. His favorite page has a jaguar, a monkey, and an anteater with a long sticky tongue, and Liam loves it when you put his finger on that sticky paper and slowly pull his finger away (it makes a funny *phlip* sound!). About 2 or 3 weeks ago, we were reading that book, and when we got to the anteater page, he grabbed my hand, pulled out my finger, and stuck it right on the sticky paper and slowly pulled it away just like I always do for him. It was the first time I noticed him showing empathy! Who knew such a little gesture could be so amazing and sweet? Seeing that kind of thing develop in another person is truly the most special privilege of being a parent.

As for the other stuff? Yes, Liam is The Biter at daycare, and he is learning to throw a temper tantrum with the best of 'em (which is a whole other, rather hilarious, story for another time), but I wouldn't trade the experience of watching him become his own little self for anything.

Yep, He's a Boy

Just in case anyone was wondering...



Case in point!

How did this come about?! I was holding Liam, who has been dealing with some annoying seasonal allergies, and he started rubbing his face on my shoulder (I think because his little nose itches so much!). He was doing this for several seconds and must have exhaled at some point while he was buried in my shoulder, because "the noise" ensued. He started giggling, and it all went downhill from there!