make-up and la abuela

Too cute. Yesterday morning Liam was up while I was getting ready and says "wuss dat?" Make-up. "Cam I put on da make-up too? Weeum make-up?" So I took my older blush brush and swiped it across his face. "Dat tickles momma!" Then I brushed his hair with my big paddle brush (which is like as big as his face) and spritz him with a little hairspray. "All done mommy!" Ummm, I do think this kid is either destined for theater or drag (he also calls himself a "pwincess" when he grabs the laundry from the hamper and puts it up to himself). Either way; that's cool with me.

We also went to the park after dinner. He was running around in diaper and t-shirt and suddenly said "I puddon da sand-do-does. I go to da park." Do you want to go to the park? "YES PWEEZE!" So I let Jon stay home and relax since both boys had been up since 6:15am and I couldn't get home until after 5pm. I put Colin in the carrier, grabbed a sheet and the boppy, a juice cup for Liam and the Yam (yes, he did put pants on). He had a grand ol' time. I took him to the park instead of the elementary school across the street. It was a toss up really. The school means i can let him run around a little more since it's fenced in and only across the street in case of boo-boos. But the park has equipment more his size. I chose the park. While crossing the street, I was singing our little "hold hands, cross the street" chant and a sheriffs deputy stopped and said to me "you got your hands full there" before he continued into the intersection. :)

There was a little Mexican girl (maybe 2 years old) and her grandma getting to the park just about the same time. Thee little girl was quite the dare-devil. Yeah, my son will go down slides by himself even if no one is watching, but she was sliding down the tall, bumpy slide backwards and on her belly. Wow! It took about an hour before Liam went down that slide at all, but he loves the twisty slide there. When the street vendor came by with his cart, the little girl and her grandma got some Mexican junk food (those pork rind things that look like rings and a shaved ice. Liam whined once about wanted some "ice cweem" but yo no tengo dinero, so sorry buddy. It turned out not to be a problem because he was really too enamored with the playground equipment to mind. And then, the little ol' abuela started offering Liam some of their snacks. Wow, how nice grandma. I made sure Liam wasn't too much of a pest and that he said please and thank you. He and the little girl ran back and forth along the wall. They went down slides. He got so overheated that his little pale anglo-nordic cheeks were bright pink. He was hot and sweaty and very sad when I finally put the kybosh on park time and we headed home.

Considering he hadn't taken a nap and had been up since 6am, I wasn't surprised when he drifted off to sleep easily after his bath...I only had to read 5 Thomas stories and 1 animal book :)

I Fuffoo

That's Liam's "I love you."

Liam is doing a great job showing love and affection for his little brother. This morning, I've only been awake for about an hour and already he's melted my heart again. Colin was fussing while I had Liam on my lap (we were watching Toy Story 3) so I had to put him down and pick up the bairn. Then I asked Liam if he still wanted on my lap and he replied he did. There I was, sitting with both my lads on my lap, and I took Liam's hand and had him hold Colin's hand (it was the part of Toy Story 3 where the toys are just about to be incinerated and they all hold hands - that part makes me tear up every single time I see it!). Anyway, Colin immediately grabs Liam's finger and just about bending his hand backwards. Liam turns to Colin and says, "I so much Cow'n. I SO much Cow'n." There was so much gentleness and genuine affection in that voice. So what that he missed the Fuffoo part. The fact is he said he loved Colin so much, to Colin, without prompting from me or Jon. Oh my, I'm getting teary just writing this. Can't believe my sweet little guy, my Smoochie, is gonna be 3 in two more days!!!

so far this morning

Liam: Momma, putda sunskeen on Weeum arm. Pweeze!!! Weeum wan peeut butter...peeut butter pop. And watermelon. I hungee hungee patterpillar. I hun-GEE! Dat's Momma's coffee. Weeum mess. Baby Cow'n's forehead! I found my twuck! Hanny Manny missing and da wheel!!!

He's just such a chatty Cathy in the mornings it drives me crazy with cuteness. - Yes, I put sunscreen on his arm even though we're inside and it was only 8:30a, he got a "peanut butter pop" (peanut butter on a spoon) with raisins, stuck his finger in my coffee, drank my cereal milk (that was the mess). Who knows what the deal was with Colin's forehead. He's obsessing over the fact that he can't find his Handy Manny figure or a wheel off of Handy Manny's race car.

All this while he's intermittently singing all his thoughts to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Old Mac Donald." Yesterday he decided I was the giant from Jack in the Beanstalk and he kept running from me screaming "Fee fi fo FUH, I smell da inchaman (Englishman). Be 'wive or be dead, grinda bones make da bwead!" Then he would hide under his green ghost on the middle of the bed while I "searched" his room or our room for him. Then he yells, "hidin' unda da bwanket!!!" That kid just doesn't know how to play hide and seek properly yet.

And of course we can't forget his "sand-do-dos" (sandals), especially his "cwokeedile sand-do-dos" his new crocs.

or happy? or sad?

I forgot to add last night the funniest, cutest thing that Liam said yesterday. I went into Liam's room and gave Colin to my hubs (who had spent the better part of an hour trying to get the toddler to nap). When I unlocked the door (yeah that's right, I said they had been locked in), the room smelled distinctly of poopie diaper and Liam said proudly "Weeum diaper is full," and he ran to his changing pad. This is a good thing because it's part of his Good Boy Chart and he gets to have pizza for dinner when he gets to 10 informs on the diaper - which means we all get pizza for dinner :)

When I came back into the room from the trash can, Liam was looking at Colin who was propped on his belly by Jon's belly. "Is Baby Cow'n happy? or sad? or happy? or sad?" Then Colin smiled a huge smile for his brother and then let out a little baby guffaw. "I fink he's happy!!!" Ahh, shot through the heart with cuteness. I also love that that was Liam's first time saying "I think." Man he's getting more and more language in these weeks before his birthday.

Before nap: Momma, Weeum have a beiber.
No you don't. You're cool as a cucumber. 98.2.
Weeum sick. Come in Daddy. Need med'cin. Yeah, purple med'cin.
No sweetheart. You're fine.

After nap: Mommy, Weeum hot. Too hot. Weeum tired. Ouch.
OH! 101.8 Time for medicine and juice.
Night night Baby Cawn. Weeum go back to sweep.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

funny things they say

I wanted to just take some time to mention the funny things Liam has been saying recently. I'm really excited about his language growth since he started school in May. He's stringing together phrases and he's also able to tell us thoughts he's had out of his own brain (don't get me wrong, he's also still doing a lot of mimicking . . . actually, he's doing a ton of it and we've had to curtail our swearing - oops) without us doing any prompting.

My mom is now "Mannam" which is odd but I like it better than Nana. Visiting Mannam and Granny is one of his favorite things and after we do, he'll insist on going to see them for days afterward. "I get onda shoos and go see Gwanny an' Mannam."

He likes to wear his "sand-da-das" [sandals] and he's very excited when "shoos go inda cubby Daddy." Thanks preschool for teaching Liam where to put some stuff away.

Lily tries to run outta the house when we take him to school in the morning. If she manages, he runs after her and says, "d'ere she goes." Then he's actually able to catch her; lucky me.

We are now insisting he ask politely to be excused from the table at dinner. "Pweezegetdown!" (all run together).

While he was "napping" yesterday, I made him a tracking chart for good behaviors. When we showed it to him, he stood there studying it for awhile, stating what each task was and saying "check!" after each one. I had drawn pictures next to all the behaviors so he could conceptualize them. No Tantrums was difficult because how do you draw a tantrum? Well, I drew a kid on the floor crying and shaking. Liam didn't quite know what to make of it and came up with "Man fall down? Check!"


This morning, when I came out with him to get the day started, he said "I hungy Momma." So I said, "let's go find some breakfast." "Bwekfast, where are you?" And then when I brought him his milk, he sat down on the couch and said "I sittin' in mah seat."

Oh the precious things they say.

Edit 10:58pm: Just had to add the hilarity that came outta his mouth at dinner (which he didn't even taste so no sticker - sorry dude). He was putting his fork in his mouth with just ketchup on it and Jon and I were continuing to plead with him to try some salmon. The he just looked at Jon so matter of factly and said, "whutso funny?"

Father's Day 2011

Today is my husband's third fathers day. We probably won't do much. We were pretty lazy for mothers day too. The weather is supposed to be great, but knowing my man, he won't want to go outside. Oh well. I'm planning on making a lemon cake for him today. Maybe a nice chicken, potato, salad type dinner. Speaking of that cake...I should probably get to it soon. No gift for him today. But he got a tablet PC just recently and that's holding him over. Besides we're trying to not spend too much money since we need money in the bank for the home purchase and I only got paid $32 in May (since I took the whole month off for maternity). That's a pic of us for Liam's first portrait session. Look at that loving daddy!!!

Colin is 12weeks old as of yesterday and is thriving like crazy. He coos and is just on the verge of giggling. He's been grabbing a lot more and has started to intentionally bat at hanging toys in his baby gym. Diaper changes have gotten increasingly more difficult as he's also found a newfound wiggly-ness. He's a super smiley happy boy. Sleepy Daddy and wide-awake Colin.

Liam is doing wonderfully, although he is milking the cold thing since he still has quite a lingering cough. "I soooooo sick." Also, he's been saying the most ridiculous things lately which just proves what we've always thought; Liam is very smart and very imaginative, he just didn't have the ability to express himself. Yesterday he told us he wanted "ambooger, chicken nuggets, AND fwies" for lunch. Ummm, okay?! He's also pretty polite most of the time. "Yes pweez," in a sing-song voice is probably one of the cutest things we hear, and we hear it often which is wonderful. If Lily escapes the house when we're heading to school in the morning, he calls out "dere she goes," runs after her, and catches her for me (while she's distracted by eating grass). Last night, he put my old Freddy Bear on his head at bedtime and asked "whaddya tink of mah hair?" Where does he come up with that stuff?! He also has developed quite a funny run; it has a bit of an antelope leap in it and on really good days he runs around the daycare center barely touching the ground. He's a dancing fool and a singing machine.

Okay, I should be getting to that cake now while all the boys are still asleep.

singing foo'

In all the high stress and chaos of the previous week, I completely forgot to mention that my big boy has started singing on his own. Last week, during my holiday, he busted out "Twinkle Twinkle" and can get through the whole first stanza without any help. He can do the whole things if we prompt him. The best part is he'll grab sheet music for the piano and pretend to read it while singing "twinkle Twinkle." Oh so freakin' cute!!!

Liam also sings the "ABC Song" if we help him. Yes, I know it's the same tune as the star song.

This morning I got up when he woke up and, while I was changing his diaper, he started singing "I'm So Sorry" from Yo Gabba Gabba. It was totally unprompted and he was totally in key. "I'm so, I'm so sorry." It's so cute.

morton salt (when it rains . . .)

Today my day began at 4:15. . .

Liam woke up in a crazy mood and Jon went in to calm him but didn't stay in there long. Consequently, Liam woke up shouting for us. This time Jon was angry so he went in and scolded our son who then screamed for 20 minutes. So at 4:45 I got up with him. After rocking and going out to the living room couch, he finally calmed down enough and I was frankly shocked that he went to sleep again. I actually heard the alarm in my room when I put Liam down, so I just stayed up and made sure to have an extra cup of coffee.

I look like crap. I felt so unattractive today (not that I'm trying to impress the 12 year old boys). My belly really popped last week and it's getting so much colder. But none of my sweaters are long enough to cover my belly. My work maternity shirts are all hotter weather shirts. I felt too casual and frankly I thought I looked worn out and frumpish. If I hadn't been taking my zoloft regularly, I might have dissolved into a puddle of tears when I had to change my pants last minute because I wasn't wearing a belly-panel pair and my naked belly kept peaking out. Alas, there is no money for buying maternity sweaters or blouses or slacks. And Christmas is too far away (in my whirlpool of sorrow). I actually had to wear a dress shirt of Jon's and looked like I was wearing a white tent.

I planned to take my popcorn popper because I had 4 classes who had earned some free time for scoring well on the 100 Facts Quiz. I took the whole she-bang. Popper, oil, salt, mortar & pestle. When I got to school, I realized I forgot the actual popcorn!!! MF! I also rode in the carpool today so I didn't have a car to run to the grocery before school started.

My students are so lucky they didn't try my patience because some heads would have rolled. As it was, they were pretty good today.

I got home and my hubby made some comfort food for me, but Liam (who had not napped all day) chose 10 minutes after I got home to throw his first tantrum of the whole damn day. Bless Jon's heart, he made tollhouse cookies and even made me a half-dozen without chocolate chips.

I took Liam into the shower which was a great chance to try to wash this awful day away. Liam threw a fit getting out.

When I was reading a book to Liam tonight, he was yawning so much we only got through one book (he chose Cinderella and said "pwincess" when I asked him who she was). But rocking wasn't getting him to sleep; Jon came in to ask him if it was time for going to bed. One second he was playing with his blanket, I hugged him closer and got a kiss, he said "nye nye" to me. I tried to get an "Ifuffyou" [i love you] out of him but that next moment he was passed out. Seriously, we were both shocked. Jon put him in the crib, we snuck out, and

. . . that (+ a cookie) made my day better.
:)

words and noises

Liam has a new favorite word, CAR. He brings us his cars, he says car.
It's fast out-pacing Elmo.
Even cuter? His new noise, vroom-vroom.
Vrooming whenever he plays cars.

theme song

Liam sings now. He dances too.
The Kid's got rhythm.
He sings the theme song to "Dinosaur Train" on PBS.
Of course he can't sing words, but neither did dinosaurs.

Word Milestone

Got home tonight and Liam followed me to the baby-gate.
Thought he said letter M; says "mmm-ma."
It became "Ah-mmee" and "um-mmee."
I picked him up and cried and laughed.

word count

I know words only count if people outside of the household understand.
Liam's word count (to us) is now up to eight:

• Hiya
• Shoe
• Go
• Oh No!
• Yes
• Nose
• Elmo
• Dada

Muddy buddy

Looked at potential rental, Liam played with ad hoc babysitter Victoria. He discovered the leaking sprinkler with requisite puddle. New thrift store vetements on the way home for Muddy Buddy.

letters & numbers

Another tub-time feat:
letters and numbers are a treat!
Liam identifies and calls them out,
whether we hold them up or he grabs them with a shout.
Fun foam letters!

R, E, L, V, A
3, 5, 2, 8

language = 1

What could that be? A word?!!! We both agree Liam finally said "hi" and meant it. He walked in the room, said HIYA. He chased the cat, screaming HI!

Achievements

Liam's productive weekend:
successfully postponed nap time until after 2pm,
finally cut 4th molar,
spilled gallon of humidifier water on carpet,
went for sunny ride with new wheels.
Said "hiya."

19 months old

My toddler struts by with a cough and cup. Today he's nineteen months and he's babbling up a storm, yet nary a word do I comprehend. Mom, you never understand!!!