New Pillow

The title says it all. This morning, Liam was playing downstairs in the playroom and somehow the small elephant that was attached to his yellow pillow (which he carries EVERYWHERE) came detached from the pillow itself. Drama, drama, drama. Liam was traumatized. Taylor and I tried to staple it back on, but that didn't last.

Well, Liam and I decided to go out in hunt for a "new pillow." Nothing suited him at Target, since he didn't want a stuffed animal, but a weird pillowy thing that you can't find at IKEA anymore. So, off to Buy Buy Baby we went and we came up with a pillowy like animal...and it's definitely weird. I honestly didn't think he'd take to it too easily, but Taylor and I both played it up really big, telling him that new pillow as the best ever and so cool.

Here is the end result:



That's right, folks. Liam is sleeping with "new pillow" right now. We had our moments today where Mr. Man was just dying for the old pillow (and we still have it safe at hand, with the elephant still detached) but he hasn't really needed it much today. Yay! Why are we so excited? Old pillow was one that Mimi and Tooey got from IKEA years ago and you can't find it anywhere. Not even on Ebay. New pillow? There are a million of these out there, and you'd better believe I'll be back at Buy Buy Baby later this week to purchase backups!

2 Year Appointment

Since this news is a bit seperate from Halloween, I figured I'd give it its own post. Mr. Man had his 2 year appointment on Thursday. The good news (for him) was that he didn't get any shots, since he still needs to wait a few months. The not so good news is that he will need 3 more doctor appointments. He will be seeing an audiologist to check on a mild hearing loss he registered last December to make sure that improved. He will finally be seeing an allergist. And now he needs to see a cardiologist since we learned he has a heart murmur.

Liam only weighed in at 28 lbs (50th percentile) and it looks like he'll rear-face in his carseat another full year at least. We couldn't get height accurately since he was so wiggly. He HATES getting weighed and measured so they still need to use the baby scale to do both.

Therapy is going well and we really like who he has here. I really think she'll be able to help him. Other than that, Taylor and I are excited since we finally bought a sofa for our so far empty living room (we have 2 living areas in this house). Thought we'd post a picture of that:

Secret Trick or Treats

Well, Liam's 3rd halloween was a great success. Since we are never this close to family and are trying to have Liam around his family as much as possible, we decided to take the opportunity to drive down to VA Beach to surprise Mimi and Tooie (Taylor's dad). I took half a day of leave on Tuesday and we drove down to Mimi's office. She was so surprised her jaw literally dropped on the floor, I think. Afterwards, we stopped by to surprise Mommma (Taylor's grandmother). To say the least, she certainly did not expect us and Liam and Molly both had a grand old time running around her backyard and watching all the Naval planes flying overhead.



Look...airplane!!



Afterwards, it was off to Taylor's parents house for a great dinner of Beach Bully before trick or treating. Liam had soooo much fun walking around the neighborhood with Mimi and us and would talk and talk and talk until he got to an actual house. He would ring the doorbell fine, but when someone answered, he wouldn't say a word. He would however, stare at the candy and all the decorations.



After stopping at maybe half a dozen houses, the gang finally wound up at Tooey's house (Richard wasn't able to walk with us since he had just hurt his leg), and Liam was much more animated and happy to see who answered the door.



I know you!!!



All in all, it was great fun and we were so happy that we went down for the night. It was well worth the trip.

You can see Liam grasping onto a candy bar. He held it all night, even though poor little man couldn't have anything due to his dairy allergy.



BOO!!

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Liam is 2 years old now and we all had a great day celebrating. This morning was spent at home just relaxing. Taylor and I have been getting really tired of Baby Signing Times (the only thing Liam will watch and there are only 2 DVDs of it) so we decided we'd get him something new. But what to get since he doesn't watch TV, so doesn't know about Wiggles, Blues Clues, Elmo, etc. Taylor decided he wanted to get him Baby Einstein, but Liam has always hated Baby Einstein. We decided to try one, though, since it was all about things "On the Go". Well, he opened it this morning and LOVED it. So the day started off well, right there. Plus he got to have "awfuls" (Taylor and I call them waffles) for breakfast. Yummy!

Afterwards, we all drove out to a local farm to visit its Fall Festival. Liam had a blast. They had live music, hot dogs, and tons of slides (which Liam cannot get enough of). Plus, we got to go on a 20-minute hayride which Liam just thought was awesome. (It actually was pretty cool....lots of props and funky characters along the way). There were also some live animals that he got to check out. We spent most of the day there, so by the time we got home, Mr. No Nap was a bit tired. Needless to say, opening presents was tough. Daddy gave him a truck first, which took about 15 minutes to get open since it was mounted to the box it came in. Ha! Then we made the mistake of putting a CD in the DVD player for him to listen to. Liam could not understand why there were no pictures on the TV to go with the music and got royally mad! Good thing we got him a Wiggles DVD to try. He liked that since his old school in El Paso played Wiggles CDs, but mostly just listened to it while he played around.

Before long, he was just too wiped out so it was off to bed. He still has a few presents left to open, so there will be more fun tomorrow. Plus, Katherine, Judd, Ben, Mimi, and Grandpa Basye are coming over tomorrow for a brunch. Should be tons of fun.

Liam, we love you so so so much, baby boy. Daddy and I wanted the day alone with you and it was so special to just have so much fun with our little family. Every day with you is such a treasure and I can't wait for millions more days with you to come!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Pants. :)



*you can click photo above to see more pics from today

Time is running out!

That's right. My baby turns 2 on Saturday, so I have just a few more days to post about my "baby." This past weekend, we had a very rough time on Saturday. Liam is still struggling with his sensory integration and is cranky and upset/crying every single morning. It usually dies down a bit as the day goes on. Unfortunately, Liam cried literally nearly the entire day on Saturday. Fun, fun!

Sunday was the complete opposite. It was the first day in a loooooong time that Liam woke up happy and stayed happy until his nap. This NEVER happens. We played around a lot and went shopping - a word that Liam knows well. He loves to shop. Sunday afternoon, we went for a walk in the National Park that is nearby. We brought the Mountain Buggy thinking that he would need to hop in at least for the ride back. However, he walked the entire 1.2 miles all on his own (and yes, we had to push the stroller the entire time...ugh!). Of course, pillow and paci came with us.





Not much else going on right now. Liam's therapy should be starting up again soon...thank goodness. He does use his tent now and then when he gets into his meltdowns. Other times, it makes for good snuggling with the moose, turtle, and crab that habitate there:




On Saturday, Taylor and I are going to celebrate Liam's birthday with him since Taylor was gone last year and I had to work all day. We are taking him to a fall festival to pick out a pumpkin and have some fun. Sunday, Taylor's parents and Katherine, Ben, and Judd will be coming down for brunch. Hopefully, Liam won't be in this mood for that morning:

Fun at the Aquarium!

Work has really been taking a toll on both Taylor and I, so we made a point to have some good fun away from work with Liam this weekend. On Saturday, we relaxed in the morning. Liam loves to copy Taylor. Each morning, Taylor and Liam sit in their respective chairs and watch Discovery HD. Well, on Saturday, they decided to relax on the floor:




Later in the day, we took Liam up to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was raining a bit, so the aquarium was a bit crowded, but Liam seemed to have fun. His favorite part were the Sting Rays and the Australia exhibit. He kept saying, "Ray, ray". Too cute. At one point, he just decided to sit down, relax and watch all the fish and turtles swim around.



Liam also seemed to enjoy watching the boats in the harbor, so we will definitely need to return to Baltimore on a sunnier day.



After the aquarium, we headed out to Aunt Katherine and Uncle Judd's house for a visit with them and Ben. In the past, Liam has generally paid Ben very little attention, but this time, he took a lot more notice. He showed Ben how to play one of Liam's favorite games: "Go Night Night":



He also would walk around the house and bring Ben every toy that he owned so he could play with them. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we really enjoyed visiting with all of them since we are so close now. It is a lot of fun to see Liam and Ben growing up together and will be interesting to watch how they interact more.



This week is not too eventful. Liam's new school is closed tomorrow, so it's a day home with Daddy. This probably will include some playing out in the backyard and maybe a trip to Petsmart with Molly. Good times!

Emotional breakdown...my "baby" is almost 2!!

Okay, not handling this one well. While I'm loving how much fun Liam is at this age, I cannot believe my baby is almost 2 years old!! It shows so much, too. It really hit me tonight when he was standing at the fridge, playing with his Leapfrog letter game and he asked for the letter "m" and pointed at it. He already knows all his colors, is HUGE on books right now, and is picking up on letters now. It's almost more than I can take.

Liam had his second day at Kindercare today. He had a very easy transition and was very happy both days, so Taylor and I are feeling like we made the right move. We really like it there and he has adjusted so easily. He is in the young 2s room and fitting right in. He drinks out of an open-top cup now and is getting really good at cleaning up after himself (there is a video posted of this on his video site). He is also able to open all the doors now and can climb up on Taylor and my bed (which is really high, actually). He is so sweet and loving and gives Mama a "bye bye kiss" when she leaves for work every morning.

In a few weeks, he will be 2 years old and we are getting him excited about it. He LOVES to hear that he is going to be 2 and asks us to help him hold up two fingers (he has a hard time doing it on his own still). We look forward to a quiet weekend home with him coming up and will post more pictures then. Until then, here's a couple of my little man.