More Milestones!!

Our laptop is broken, so the above picture was taken when he was just a few days old (and all I have on our tower).

So! Little Liam has been busy as per usual. This past week's feats include:

-pulling himself to standing in his crib! This is great because it requires him to get up on his knees which he was unwilling to do before. He was able to pull himself up if could reach something from a sitting position, but it was hard work for his little arms.
-standing for about 10 seconds on his own.
-starting to cruise furniture, as long as there is something enticing him. Apparently he has much love for the remote control.
-searching out particular books and "reading" them on his own. This kid LOVES books. I think he would sit all day and let you read to him as he flips the pages.

Liam's First Sign!!!!!

We are so excited, Liam has officially started doing his first sign, it's "more"!!!! He has been doing "milk" for a while now, but he does it sporadically when he wants something so it was all over the place. But when he does "more" there is no doubt, he wants more food. I am so proud of him, he's really communicating with us! He seemed pretty pleased with himself too.

Liam and the Valentine Thief

Liam's Tante Moni wrote this awesome and brilliant poem for him and posted it in comments. I keep re-reading it because it's so fantastic and thought it deserved it's own post. Thanks Tante Moni for once again spoiling the little man!

Liam and the Valentine Thief

Liam ate breakfast with a grumble,
a glare.
His mama made oatmeal.
Liam said, “It’s not fair!”

“I do not like oatmeal.
It’s lumpy, it’s goo!”
Mama just smiled,
“But oatmeal is good for you.”

Liam took one more bite,
then tied up his sneakers.
He ran, dashing outdoors,
yelling, “Jeepers, creepers!”

“Why must I eat oatmeal?
Why must I eat peas?”
Liam huffed and he mumbled,
till he came to the trees.

He stopped in his footsteps.
His eyes big and wide.
There were hearts hanging everywhere.
Should he run and hide?

Hearts big. Hearts small.
Some red and some pink.
Hearts hanging from branches,
Liam didn’t know what to think.

Then he heard a small chuckle.
A “Ha” and a “Hee.”
Liam spun round in circles,
to see what he might see.

And there near the rose bush,
dressed all in red,
smiling and grinning,
stood a Gnome on his head.

The Gnome laughed even louder.
Liam said, “Oh no” and “Good grief.”
For there before him stood the famous,
the legendary, the Valentine Thief!

The Stealer of Hearts,
slowly stood up…1…2…3
“Hello little Liam,
will you give your heart to me?’

Liam shook his head,
determined not to cry,
and remembering his manners,
politely asked “Why?”

The Thief was astounded.
The Thief was impressed.
For little boy Liam,
was not like the rest.

The Valentine Thief,
feeling sad and blue,
whispered “Because nobody loves me.
What else can I do”?

Liam thought for a moment.
He thought a whole bunch.
Then in an instant he decided,
to take the Gnome home for lunch.

Liam would be a friend to the Gnome.
His heart had plenty of love to spare.
And the love that he had,
Liam was willing to share.

He loved mama and daddy,
and Oma and Opa too,
and Gramma and Grandpa,
loving was easy to do!

So Liam and the Gnome,
skipped back to Liam’s house for a munch.
Where mama had broccoli
and Cheerios ready for lunch.

Mama kissed Liam’s cheek,
And hugged Liam’s new friend.
They all knew it would be fine,
The stealing of hearts would now end.

The Valentine Thief,
had disappeared from sight,
The Gnome had a new friend,
Now everything felt right.

Liam and Gnome knew that,
to be a good friend all it takes,
is love, hugs, and kisses,
and sharing coconut sprinkled lemon cupcakes!

The cutest boy in the world

Seriously, just look at this face! This is taken just after a disastrous attempt at feeding Liam some lentils and carrots.

On an exciting note: Liam's first word is: MAMA!! Sometimes is mamama, but lately it's usually just mama. He's been doing the mamama for a while directed at me, but in the past few weeks it has been shortened. He only says it when he really wants my attention, which is he usually has all the time anyways so I don't get to hear it too often. He does say Dada as well, but this also includes the cat and anything fun and exciting (can you tell Daddy time is a blast??).

He is doing fantastic, everyone always comments on how happy he is. Always smiling and laughing. He loves to eat, as long as he can pick it up himself. He is so over purees. Except for Mama's homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal that is.

He is also an avid reader, he loves to turn the pages of his board books, of which he has a library's worth (thank you Tante Moni!). His army crawl has gotten extremely efficient and he pretty much hauls ass after the cat, who is very patient with him. Once he learns not to smack her or pull her fur I'm sure they'll be the best of friends.

Bad Mama!

Yeah, I'm a little tardy with Liam's blog, but what can I say, we've been busy!

A quick run-down of what's new with the little man:

• today he just started his version of the army crawl. It involves sticking his butt in the air, getting his toes underneath and pushing off. Totally inefficient, totally slow, and totally adorable! Seriously, I'm so proud of him.
• loves kissing himself in the mirror. We get kisses too, but oh my if he sees himself he gets all smiley and smoochy. Love it.
• standing while holding on to something is another new favourite pastime. His legs are getting really strong and he tries to cruise but it's not quite working yet (legs move, arms don't, or arms move, legs don't)
• he loves walking with me holding onto just his hands. The week before he would only move if we held him by his armpits, but now he's confident enough to move with just a little help
• getting me to bite his toys. He just did this today, with his spoon at lunchtime (he won't eat unless he has his own spoon). He kept trying to get it into my mouth, and thought this was just hilarious. Later I saw him shoving one of his toys into the cat's face
• waving bye-bye. It's still hit or miss, but he does it occasionally, usually when saying bye -bye to his kitty collage on his wall
• bath time = good times. He is all about the bath, as soon as he hears the water running he freaks out. He rubber ducky is also his favourite friend right now
• He says di-di-di when he sees something he really wants. I wonder what word that will eventually turn into
• He says du-du-du when he sees his rubber duck
• I've gotten a "cuh" sound out of him a few times when he sees his kitty collage
• His Opa taught him to hit the table when someone says "bang bang bang!". Seriously, and through Skype without video on our end. The kid is brilliant.
  

And he still is the happiest, sweetest little boy in the world. I'm sure I'm forgetting loads, but I promise I will update more frequently!!

It's Christmas Time in the City

I love all things Christmas (0kay, the Christmas carols are starting to get to me a bit) and so on Saturday we headed into SF to check out the lights in Union Square.

First off, let me say that you would never know we are in a recession looking at Union Square. I have never seen so many people out shopping, not even on Boxing Day or Black Friday. It was insane. Thankfully Liam was in his carrier, so no unruly shoppers could jostle him about.

So we went into Macy's for our favourite treats at The Cheesecake Factory (1 hour wait!). Liam enjoyed hanging out in his highchair checking out his surroundings.

Then we went down to Union Square to check out the massive tree and skating rink. Liam loves looking at all the Christmas lights, and they even had the palm trees decked out in lights which looked beautiful.

On the way back to the BART we looked at the Christmas windows in Macy's, where they showcase cute little puppies and kittens waiting for adoption. So adorable!

It was a long day for Liam, and the little man fell asleep promptly in the car.

California Academy of Science

Mike's work gave everyone the day off today, so we decided to head into SF to the recently opened California Academy of Science. It was, in a word, awesome. Seriously, if you're ever here for a visit, I highly recommend it.

Liam, was fascinated. He loved watching the fish, trying to reach out and grab them. And by far his favourite was the penguins. There was one particularly friendly one who kept diving down and nudging the glass where the kids were. Liam kept reaching for him and was absolutely riveted. It was so cool!