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.