Liam Update: April 2010

Liam, as you all know, has finally launched himself into the world of mobility. He is relatively laid-back about his movements, however-- even though he can drag himself anywhere his whimsy draws him, I don't feel that everything in the home is in danger of either being utterly destroyed by (or utterly destroying) my new little quadruped. Here's a little of what's been going on with our little angelito.

Here he is, grinning at Daddy from his walker in the kitchen. He loves his daddy; in fact, I'm pretty sure that when he says "dad" he knows that it signifies the nice man who takes care of him in mommy's absence.

Examining the camera lens. Liam is very scientific in his approach to life, cautiously exploring everything he encounters. He spent a lot of time playing with the shadow of his hand in a sunbeam one morning. He loves to try things over and over again: "If I do this, what will happen? Will it happen again?" He likes to do this with Soren, who freaks out and screams every time Liam touches him. One morning I was holding both my boys in my lap and Liam reached over and very softly touched Soren's arm. "OUCH!" screamed Soren. Liam laughed, then did it again. "OUCH!!" Liam laughed some more, then tried touching him a little more firmly. Soren started wailing, so Liam, still amused, started touching him more. It was all I could do to keep from laughing myself.

Smiling at Mommy's fascinating rending of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." Liam loves being sung to and really loves watching dancing. Auntie Hillary tells me that he laughs and laughs when she belly dances for him in the kitchen.

Engaging in some sort of exciting game with Daddy's weighted medicine balls. Here's another funny Soren/Liam story: Liam and Soren were playing with blocks together in the front room. The adults of the household were enjoying this rare moment of brotherly peace, so we were in the kitchen eating dinner. Soren ran in to make sure I was still there, and after a few minutes, I told him we should go check on Liam. Liam, in Soren's absence, had crawled over to Soren's toy train and was examining it. When he looked up and saw Soren, however, he startled-- and started to grab at another nearby toy. I could practically hear him saying, "I wasn't playing with your toy! No siree! Not me! I was just sitting here looking at this....um...at this here block! Yup! That's what I was doing all the while!"

All that drag-crawling is exhausting!

Liam has a fantastic fake cheesy grin.

I always put Liam in bed with daddy before I leave for work in the morning. Liam LOVES having a grown-up to cuddle with at sleepy time.

Enjoying a piece of Soren's "Diego" puzzle.

Getting a leg up on his crawling skills. (Heh heh.)

Liam's been big on throwing stuff lately. Anything within reach, he'll pick up and hurl, like the Duplos above.

Liam is a quirky little guy. He can whistle a little. He also enjoys rocking himself back and forth vigorously, shaking his head compulsively, and thoroughly examining the carpet. We've been able to get him to eat a little more solid food throughout the past month, but it's scary to give him anything too chunky because he'll put a bite of food in his mouth and then start rocking hard against his high chair. He was doing this one evening and I asked him, "Liam? Do you WANT to choke on that?" Liam paused, looked at me, blinked three times, and then returned to hurling himself against the hard plastic seat back.

Liam is still our little sunbeam. He has a light in his eyes that literally shines. He is a marvelously sweet and calm child-- except at night when he wakes up instantly furious that a bottle hasn't already been brought to him. He'll scream with all the fervor of his being until the sweet liquid refreshment has been put to his lips. In just minutes, his little face will have grown splotchy from the exertion of all that screaming, but he'll be able to shut off his rage instantly after his bottle has been brought to him.

Liam's best friend, Bahbah. I finally weaned him this month. so he's really taken a shine to his bottle.