Standing at the Window, Watching Daddy Mow

Mommy:  "Look Liam, Daddy is riding the mower."

Liam, signing:  "More"

Just Keep Swimmin'... Just Keep Swimmin'...

Whew, it was hot today - 89 degrees! The sun was out and the sky was beautiful blue. After all these cold, rainy, stormy days we've been having it felt wonderful to spend time outside in the warm sun.

And the day wore on, and it began to get HOT.

Daddy was making a trip to Lowe's. (Uh, make that a second trip.) Mommy and Liam tagged along and bought Liam...

a SWIMMING POOL!

"Ooooh, it's a little chilly, Mommy."

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout;

Here is my handle, here is my spout..."

"You're doing it wrong, Mom.  Get out of the pool!"

Table Prayers

I think the baby just folded his hands for table prayers at breakfast.  It was fleeting and it was awkward, but his hands were clasped.

Liam is a Bed-Hog

Apparently a king-size bed isn't big enough for Mr. Liam...

Wives' Club

Sometimes being a stay-at-home mom really bites.  Spending all day, every day, with a small, demanding, irrational person can really make a mama want to tear out her hair / runaway from home / do a desperate outrage to herself (name that play!)

A couple weeks ago Daddy was on travel and I had reached the end of my rope.  I needed to talk to someone - an adult someone - about... well, anything.

(We've never really had friends - you know, outside of work who are also local.  I have friends from Otis, but other than a standing Friday lunch date, we don't find the time to get together, sadly.  Where do you meet people, anyway?  It's a conundrum.)

So Daddy was out of town for a week, and I was about to lose it.  I thought of how much fun I'd had at Kenzie's bachelorette party, just hanging out with some cool Crane wives.  A couple days and several emails later, the Wives' Club began.  We've met each week since Easter.  We've watched movies, and made and shared dinner, and gone to a jewelry party, and chatted, and laughed, and...

I am thankful for my lady friends, Laura and Kenzie.

Tonight I just got back from an evening with the girls and I feel refreshed.  Recharged.  Ready to spend another day with this Kid.

Oh, and here's a bonus: while I was gone, Daddy washed dishes, put away clean clothes, and picked up toys.  He is officially The Best Husband Ever.  You are all jealous.  And if you aren't, you should be.

A List for Long Days

It has been a long day.  Not particularly difficult, just... long.

The following is Liam's attempt to list things for him and Mommy to do on long days:

1.  Visit the library.  Make sure the library is open.  (Unlike today, when we got there 20 minutes early.)

2.  Go to Flatwoods Park.  Walk the trail with the wagon.  Play in the sandbox.

3.  Visit Petsmart and see the fish, birds, and rodents.

4.  Play in the backyard.

5.  Ummmm...

6.  What else could we do outside the house to keep this baby busy?

Grayson Nicholas

Liam has a cousin!  Grayson Nicholas was born at 2:22pm on May 10th, 2011.  He was 9 lb 8 oz.  Yowza!

Yesterday after church Liam, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa D, and Memaw all drove to Aunt Lauren and Uncle Nick's house to visit Grayson and bring everyone presents.

Ahhh, gotta love that new-baby smell...

Hard to believe Liam once fit in this same bouncey chair...

Yeah - you're a little too big now, Kid.

"Look, Ma! A baby!"

"I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him."

Welcome to the family, Grayson!

The Inner Monologue is No Longer Inner

These videos are from a few days ago. Daddy had to go on another trip and didn't get them posted before he left.

Liam has suddenly decided he has a lot to say....and he wants to make sure that everyone knows what he thinks. So without further ado, here are Liam's thoughts on life.

Apparently, when you go a whole year without speaking, you have a lot to say. Liam's soliloquy lasted all through bathtime and dinner. I don't know what he is talking about, but the topic is clearly something he takes very seriously.

I don't know about you, but I think he is a shoe-in for captain of the daycare debate team.

It's Forkin' Bananas!

This week we are practicing with UTENSILS!  As in, FORKS and SPOONS!

It's all very exciting.

Oatmeal is a favorite practice medium for the spoon, as it stays on generally well.  Yogurt tends to end up all down Liam's front.

While Daddy was gone, Mommy showed Liam how to spear his breakfast bananas with a fork.  It takes some severe concentration to line them up.  Then come the mad coordination skills to flick the wrist and unstick the banana from the tray.  But we don't stop there, because we also have to get those wiley bananas into our mouth!...



Or we could just pick them up and eat them with our hands.

Parenting Tip #83

For future reference, a thorough tick check includes inside the belly button.

The Baby Likes to Play Outside

Waiter, there's a fly in my soup...

And he's doing the back stroke!

You just can't get good service anymore.

I'm taking my business elsewhere!

Oh look - a flower!

Bounder, will you be my Valentine?

A Real Grown-Up Boy

My little flower of a baby has blossomed this week.

He now consistently signs and says "cat."  In fact, today he and Daddy were reading a book with a cat in it, and he was yelling "kitty cat!" over and over.  "GEE GAA!  GEE GAA!  GEE GAA!"

We're actually expecting this baby to start talking in complete sentences next week.  Daddy will be posting a video or two soon, and you will see - you will see - that this baby will just Not. Stop. Jabbering.  He walks around talking to us, talking to the dogs, talking to his lovies, talking to that baby who lives in the mirror...

 

Question of the Day: So, what do you call a baby who is not a baby anymore?

Daddy Went to Yuma, and This Is What We Did...

Daddy traveled to Yuma, AZ last week for work.  He left on Easter Sunday and didn't come back until the following Monday.  That was a long time!  Per the usual, Liam and Mommy found things to do while he was gone.  Unfortunately it was raining most of the week, so a lot of our projects were indoors.

For example, just like the dogs, Liam likes to stand at the front door and watch the cars driving past the house.  We have had foam weatherstripping around the door frame because the door is a little drafty in winter.  In fact, one might be able to see daylight all the way around the door.  Well, it must have looked tastey, because someone (Liam!) was started nibbling away the foam.  Some of it he picked off with his fingers...

Then he decided that was too much work?  Too slow?  So he ate it straight from the source.  He really is a brilliant child.

"Blue" the Great Blue Heron also followed us from Florida.  Here he is, hanging out in our creek:

And Liam decided he likes his Bumbo again.

This is just a little selection of photos of him hanging out in the Bumbo.

He can get himself into and out of it... now that is pretty funny to watch.

Oh, and!  And!  The baby is finally starting to sign.  We got a baby sign language video from the library the other week, and last week Liam started signing "cat."  However, unless you knew what you were looking for you would miss it.  It just looks like he is grabbing at the hair over his right ear.  It helps that he also says, "kaaaa."

Then this morning we were watching the sign language video and he signed "more" along with the other babies.  He hasn't signed that one again yet, but it's a start.

Scout

For his birthday, Liam received Scout the puppy.  Liam loves Scout very much and often plays with him before falling asleep or when he wakes up in the morning.  (This is much more pleasant than when he cries himself to sleep.)

Scout has lived with us for over a month now and we FINALLY have connected him to the computer to add Liam's name and his favorite animal, color, and food.  The following is a song that Scout now sings when you squeeze his paw:

I'd like - A CAT! - please; it's my favorite animal.
I'd like it to be - RED! - please; it's my favorite color.
I'd like it to eat - MANGOS! - please; it's my favorite food.
And I'd call it - LIAM? - just like you.

 He also tells Liam he loves him:

I looove you, LIAM?

Scout is pretty cool, and Liam will have fun playing with him, but the manufacturer could have worked a little harder on the audio integration (yeah, totally made up that VERY technical term).