Is it bedtime yet?

Sunday night (or early Monday morning) Liam woke up crying - inconsolably. It took three hours to get him back to sleep. Today the lack of sleep has caught up with me. I'm too fried to think of anything really interesting to write.

Dr. Suess

Liam really enjoys Dr. Suess. Allen has been reading him "Fox in Socks" every night lately. Liam gets really excited when Allen gets to the part about "Tweedle Beetles." He stands up on the bed and bounces along with the rhythm.

This next part you probably have to see to believe. I want to try to get a video of it, so I can prove it later. I've been reading "Dr. Suess's ABC" to Liam. When I read a letter and the words that go with it Liam will often say the sound of the letter. He doesn't do this for all the letters, but for a surprising number.

Standing up

Liam has been practicing standing up all by himself. I compressed this video, so if you have a Mac or Linux computer you probably won't be able to see this - sorry! I still don't know much about editing video. The upside is that it shouldn't take long to download if you have a slow connection.

Liam has also been responding to praise more, which is handing when we're trying to get him to do things like eat peas. He really gets a kick out of feeling like he's accomplished something.

Let the games begin!

Today we have three friends visiting us to play games. Rob came all the way from New Hampshire and Timothy and Thad came from Ohio and Michigan. This is a strategy game that the guys have been playing since just after lunch.

Liam thought maybe he could get in on the action. Worked fine until he figured out how to get the boxes open.

My guys

When I'm worn out (which is way too much of the time, I'm afraid) Allen does so much to help keep things running and give me a break. Here are my guys, hanging out, relaxing together. Seeing them together does my heart good.

In the right direction

Liam stood on tiptoes today. He was hoping to reach some clothes that were soaking in the tub. He also figured out how to move forward in his walker. Before he could move it backward, but rarely seemed to do it on purpose. Today he moved it both ways, and was clearly meaning to go places.

Strange questions

Now that we have a little guy with mobility in the house I find that some strange questions get asked. Like, "Why are there shoes in the bathtub?" Also, "Why is the bathroom scale in the hallway?"

Liam likes to keep Allen company while he does his morning grooming. so I wasn't paying too much attention to the sounds coming from that part of the house. But after a while I heard some grunts and then some sounds of frustration coming from the hall outside the bathroom. What was going on? Liam had managed to relocate the scales, but apparently was having some trouble getting them located to his satisfaction.

Who needs a sandbox...

...when you've got mulch! Liam even helped us out by pulling a few weeds. But he soon discovered that throwing mulch around was much more fun. Thankfully it has not occurred to him to try to eat the mulch.

We are still on the verge of having a walking baby, but haven't gotten there yet. Last night while Allen was reading to Liam he stood up on the bed and bounced without holding on to anything. He managed six bounces or so before plopping back down on the bed.

He's also imitating what we say more. When we say "tata" (as in sweet potata) he says it. He's working on saying "diaper," but it still sounds more like "diada." Whenever we laugh he laughs too - just to be sociable. It sounds more like a social laugh than his real cracked up giggle.

Another day

Well, today is another day, and I'm feeling more positive about things than yesterday. Liam was happier about playing on his own some, which helped me. Some days he just seems to need me every minute and that can be a bit much.

Today he decided that it was more comfortable to sit in his highchair if he had his foot up on the tray. Since this is not really a polite way to eat, we requested that he put his foot down. He understood this request and complied - briefly. Apparently there was some kind of magnet involved that we didn't know about.

I've started putting Liam into his new winter wardrobe. It's not really cold - sort of halfway in between. Anyways, he looks really cute in the new clothes (of course) but the pants are all too long. Some of them don't roll up too well. I may need to pin them up.

Also we discovered today that it's hard for him to stand up in the kitchen (linoleum) when he's wearing socks. We may regret not getting those socks with plastic stuff on the bottom to keep you from sliding. Or maybe not. Walking around the kitchen may not be such a good idea anyway. The part of the house that's really set up for him to play in all has carpet - for now.

Now it's bath time. Here's a post-bath picture. It wasn't taken today, but everyone can use another baby-in-a-towel picture, I think.

And the Mommy of the Year Award goes to...

Not me! I think that the highlight of my day today was probably when Liam took a three hour nap. Two of those hours I spent napping myself. One I spent playing a computer game.

That's not to say that I haven't changed Liam's diaper, fed him, nursed him and sat on the floor and played with him. I've sang with him, danced with him and even complained with him. I've cut his finger and toe nails.

It was a beautiful day and it would have been good for both of us to take a walk, but I couldn't get myself to get that far from the computer. I'm tired and want to escape and it's my out. So I made the excuse to myself that Liam needed to poop and probably wouldn't do it if we went for a walk. Then he pooped but it was a small one, so I thought, well, maybe he will poop again.

Not that it's terrible. Just wishing I had a little more energy and motivation.

Today

Today Liam squatted down, picked up a toy with both hands and stood up - without holding onto anything. He also took the battery cover off the remote control, but did not attempt to eat it or the batteries.

"Repitition with variety...

is essential to learning." That's one of my dad's favorite quotes. Maybe if I give you a taste of what I've been repeating lately you'll have an idea of what Liam's learning. Here are some quotes from my "Mommy script" - in no particular order.

• "Leave your diaper on please."
• "Don't bite/scratch/pinch Mommy. It hurts her."
• "What are you eating?"
• "Who love you? Say 'Mommy love me.'"
• "What does the doggy say? Woof Woof!"
• "Where's the baby? There he is!"
• "Are you hungry?"
• "Are you sleepy?"
• "Do you want a drink?"
• "Can I have a kiss?"
• "Good job! What a good boy!"
• "It's sleepy time."
• "Where's your doggy?"
• "Do you want to go in your jumpy seat?"
• "Do you want to go for a walk?"
• "Who's here? Is it Daddy?"
• "What do you have?"
• "Mommy needs that. Can you give it to Mommy?
• "Are you helping Mommy with the laundry?
• "Be nice."
• "That's very loud."
• "You're funny."
• "Bonk!"
• "Are you having fun?"
• "Wow!"

Some things (hopefully) don't get repeated often. Like, "Why are you bringing groceries into the living room?" Although to tell you the truth, it was clear that the reason he brought them in was, well, that he had a secret mission to perform. Thus the camo. The can ended up under the magazine stand - briefly.

Black Swamp Arts Festival

We went to the festival this afternoon. We drove down, then Allen drove half-way back home and parked the car while Liam and I waited. Then somehow we missed each other and he walked way down and then back. Finally we found each other and got to looking at the booths.

Lots of people. Loud music. Cigarette smoke. Lots of pretty and interesting art and other stuff for sale. We found a cool set of wooden semi-truck with trailer and cars for Liam. We didn't have enough cash, but the vendor said we could send him the rest. We just forgot that sometimes you still need cash these days!

If you want to find out more about the festival, try their website: http://www.blackswamparts.org/index.html

Growing more confident

Liam's journey toward mobility is continuing. He is now comfortable with sitting back down after he has stood up. He's also more confident about his ability to hold on with one hand, which is helpful in his quest to handle, taste and possibly break everything in the house.

He's even moving around more in the bathtub. This can come in handy for washing his little bottom, but is a little scary for me as I can picture all kinds of catastrophes. The first time he stood up in the tub (last night) I asked him to sit down and he did. Later he got up on his knees in an attempt to get a bottle off the low shelf. When he slipped and slid face-first toward the water I was right there and could catch him before he actually face-planted. After I managed to get him sitting up again he had a good laugh about it. I'm glad he's not afraid of water...

Liam likes beets

Please don't tell him they're good for him. He thinks they're great! He also likes making silly faces with Daddy. I think he will also enjoy the bath he takes later. For him it's a win-win-win situation.

Child's play

They say that babies learn by playing. If so, Liam is working hard to make the most of his education. He really likes to play. He doesn't always pick actual toys to play with though. On Monday he discovered that he can play "Where is Mommy?" by covering my face with my hair and then moving it away. Yesterday he decided to play with some baby clothes hangers. He found this frustrating, though. I'm not sure what he was expecting, but I think he thought that there must be some trick to the hangers. I finally hung them off each other in a kind of mobile and he thought that was funny.

The top sheet on our bed is another favorite "toy." He likes to try to uncover Daddy when he (Liam) wakes up in the morning and Daddy is trying to catch a few extra winks. Liam also likes to arrange and rearrange the sheet on the bed. He seems to have a goal when he does this, but I haven't been able to figure out what it is.

Of course Liam does sometimes actually play with his toys. He seems to be getting quite fond of his "doggie." Sometimes he actually pets it on the face. Other times he tries to balance other toys on it's back. He really enjoys it when I pull the dog in a circle around me or him, but hasn't tried pulling it himself yet.

A wonderful day in the neighborhood

Our house is not a newfangled "snout house" with the front of the house at the back. It's fifty years old and the front windows are in the part of the house we spend the most time in. So we often see what our neighbors are doing. I'm not saying that we spy on them, but Liam has been known to stop mid-bite to check on the family across the street getting into their car.

The other day we looked out the window and saw the spectacle in the picture below. We didn't have our camera ready, but Allen did manage to grab it on the return trip. This is the ultimate in modern efficiency!

So many firsts

Liam is changing so fast right now. It seems like every day he does at least one thing he has never done before. He pulled up on everything he could find this week. He got "stuck" in some pretty interesting places. I usually gave him some time to figure out how to get down by himself, but that wasn't the kind of help he wanted.

OK, I have to admit that Liam was not sleeping in this position. He just blinked when I took the picture. He was standing up holding on to the ottoman.

Here are some things that Liam did for the first time this week:

• Stood up in his crib.
• Drank cow's milk.
• Made the sound that a doggie makes (or something close).
• Crawled away when I offered to pick him up.
• Wanted to drink water from a sippy cup instead of nursing.
• Shredded the paper on the doctor's exam table.
• Just in the past couple of days he has started "cruising." He is taking steps and moving from one piece of furniture to the next.
  

Some news

We took Liam to the pediatrician yesterday for his one year check-up. He's fine as far as height and weight go and in every other way they checked. He's up to 21 pounds and 30 inches.

He's been pulling up on all kinds of things this week and taking small steps to get from one object to another. He is pretty hesitant about this, though and always makes sure he's holding on to something. He can get back down on the floor after standing up, but if I'm nearby he prefers to get help.

His new words are "hi" and "wow." He's very cute when he says wow and will repeat it back if someone says it to him. He's also taken to yelling loudly (no words, just noise) when he wants something. This is usually accompanied by hand flapping, which obviously has a specific meaning in his mind, but I just have to guess what it is.

Today we went shopping and bought him a winter wardrobe. For some reason you have very few choices on jammies for 18 month olds. We're going to have to improvise.

Titus' Baptism

We went to Columbus on Sunday for Titus' baptism. We were running a little late, but managed to get there just as the baptism was about to start. We were happy to share this important moment with Titus. Since Granny and Grandpa, Aunt Maralee, Mom and Dad, Isaac and Cindy and baby Benjamin were all there we took the opportunity to get a family picture. (Titus goes to a Vineyard Church, not an Anglican church. They are just using that building.)


Afterward we went to a park and had lunch. Pate, Mary Elizabeth and Jonathan joined us. We ended up eating right next to some friends of Isaac and Cindy's so they got to show little Benjamin off some more. He slept through almost everything, only waking up occasionally to eat or protest that he wasn't being held snugly enough. Mom wanted to get in some quality time with him, since they are about to go to Asia for two months, but I managed to hold him a little.


We also took the opportunity to see Isaac and Cindy's "new" house, which we hadn't visited before. It was a long, but fun day.