Happy Father's Day!

Liam had a random 24-hour fever virus last Thursday into Friday, but by Friday evening, he seemed back to himself again. Not sure what was up with that! On Saturday, he slept in a little and then was raring to go. This kid bounces off the walls if you don't let him out-- early and often! All Daddy wanted to do for Fathers Day was go to the Zoo, so we went for a couple of hours in the AM before it got too hot. There, Liam discovered a new thrill: the carousel!



Liam and I drive past a train yard every day on our way home from Miss Doreen's, so he was pretty excited to see a kid-sized train at the zoo.



Later that afternoon, we went over to Tom and Mollie's to celebrate Caitlyn's 8th grade graduation (congrats Cait!!). It was hot out, so Liam took a little dip-- and showed Daddy how to splash!



Liam makin' eyes at the graduate:



Saturday was also Grandma's birthday. We wish we could have been together to celebrate! Happy Birthday, Grandma-- we love you!

On Sunday, we met Nana and Grandpa for a Dad's Day picnic at Long's Park in Lancaster. It was lots of fun! They had lots of space to run around and a fun playground for climbing.



Dad, Liam, and Grandpa:

Lots of love to all you dads!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend was a great mix of fun with both friends and family. On Saturday morning, we met up with Mommy's friend Jen and her sweet daughter Amelia. Liam and Amelia spent many days together as newborns when their moms were on maternity leave together, but the little ones hadn't seen each other in almost a year! We had such a fun time feeding the ducks (and shooing away the giant geese) at Haverford College's pond.




Later that afternoon, Aunt Jackie came to visit (Uncle Tim's friend had his bachelor party in Manayunk that night, so he joined us on Sunday). It was great to have them in town! Liam had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Jackie, but he knew when it was time to buckle down and get some work done:



On Sunday, we went to our little township farm down the street to see the animals and get some ice cream... and witness a stare-down (which was actually more of a nuzzle, but amusing nonetheless):



Liam with Uncle Tim:



Scoping out the chickens with Aunt Jackie:




It was absurdly hot that day, and although it didn't stop Liam one bit, we couldn't wait to get back inside to the AC. We convinced Liam it was time to go-- which was the right call, considering he could sport the sweat-hawk:



(which on other days is the "Ryan Seacrest"-- this is usually a result of him eating dinner with his fingers and then rubbing them in his hair. Yummy.



Either way, it calls for Super Liam to hit the bath! He loves his super-hero towel from Cousin Jacie and Grace!

Uncle Tim deploys soon to Kyrgyzstan... please keep him in your prayers. Tim, be safe and we can't wait to see you in November! We love you!

Liam in Action

Me: Liam, where's your belly?
Liam:



"Um, excuse me Mom... I'm working here!"




Reading a bedtime story with Nana (and someone had a case of the sillies):




Me- cooking dinner
Liam- catching up on some reading

The line has been drawn...

Let's Go FLYERS!!!

Memorial Day Weekend Trip

Happy Memorial Day, everybody-- and happy start of summer! We celebrated the long weekend in Old Town Alexandria, VA, with Nana and Grandpa. With the exception of some weird sleeping (or lack of sleeping) issues, Liam was a lot of fun and we all had a great time.

We arrived on Friday and went straight for the resort pool. It had been almost a year since Liam had been in water deeper than the bathtub, so he was a little freaked out at first. Thanks to some splashing and water-squirting from Grandpa, though, he got over it pretty quickly! He especially liked being thrown in the air by Daddy and Grandpa (this was the closest I could get on film):

On Saturday, Liam and I met up with one of my college friends Melissa and her ridiculously adorable son Henry (7 mos) at the waterfront. Henry is such a happy and easygoing little guy! The last time we were in Alexandria was for Melissa's wedding, so it was great to see them again and meet their new addition.

On Saturday evening, Liam got to play with babysitter Julia (who was wonderful... but Liam was a little traumatized. Stranger anxiety at its worst!) while the rest of us went to see a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion out at Wolf Trap. It was awesome! Us picnicking on the lawn (definitely the best place to see a show):

Garrison Keillor-- who left the stage and joined us on the lawn for a song:

On Sunday, after Liam forgave us for leaving him, we went down to the waterfront to watch the street performers and run around a little:

We also took a water taxi over to the National Harbor. At the dock getting ready to board (Liam was way more interested in a water bottle than the camera):

On the boat with Grandpa and Nana:

Us at National Harbor:

Best part about National Harbor (for Liam, anyway)? The giant "sandbox" at the waterfront! Yesss!

Liam has spent many hours in Miss Doreen's sandbox, so he was totally thrilled with this little beach.

"Ok... how do I high-five this one?!"

After a great weekend, we loaded everything up on the luggage cart (and I mean everything!) and headed back home to Philly.

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.