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.

Visiting with Grandparents

The past couple of weeks have been really busy. School has started for me, so all three of us has started to see less of one another :( The good news is that we've been able to visit with lots of family. Last weekend, Grandmichaele and Papa came down. We went to DC for the day, which Liam seemed to really enjoy. We visited the new WWII memorial as well as Liam's future residence:



We also went to the Holocaust Museum, which I would highly recommend to anyone. It is an extremely humbling and life-altering experience. Liam was so, so good and after viewing the exhibit at a more rapid pace with Grandmichaele, was very patient hanging out in the lobby with her while Taylor, Papa, and I took a bit more time.

This weekend was spent down at VA Beach, visiting Mimi, Pops Basye, and Momma, who has come through two surgeries in the past week. We had a lot of rain on Saturday, so the day was spent indoors...something that just about kills Mr. Man. He did find some ways to entertain himself though. He took his cool ride for laps around the downstairs:



and managed to check out Momma's cool new toy (she let him borrow it):



While Taylor and Pops Basye were busy running errands all day, we were able to gather the Basye men together for a quick moment:



Last, but not least, no day would be complete without a bath and snuggles with Mimi:



Today was much nicer and Liam and Pops Basye especially took advantage of the great weather. After a hearty breakfast of Mimi's french toast:



Mimi and Pops Basye showed Liam the train set that Taylor used to play with when he was little (yes, they kept it, along with many of Taylor's other toys. Pretty neat, actually):



Liam really enjoyed it:



Afterwards, Pops Basye took Liam to play in the park for awhile in a wagon that he acquired for Liam. Liam had never been in a wagon and loved it! After their trip to the park, they spent some time in the backyard picking up leaves:





All in all, a great time was had. Being out east has been so great so far. I think one of my favorite things is that Liam is finally able to spend a lot of time with his family. He is such a sweet little boy and I hate having him miss out on so much when we live far away. We are taking every opportunity of this move to allow him and us to be with family and are really enjoying it. As you can tell, Liam is adjusting well and loves all his family members.

Mr. Smartypants

Well, I started back to work this week so have hardly seen my little man. :( Therefore, not much to report. However, I did get to spend the entire day with him yesterday while Taylor was at his orientation. While shopping at a teacher store, I bought Liam some bean bags that came in 8 different colors. Mostly just bought them to toss around. When I pulled them out later that day, I was surprised when he told me the colors brown, red, and yellow all on his own without me even asking him!!! This totally came from his new school since we haven't worked on colors at all. We usually focus on other things with him. I was so excited to see that he has been learning some things and in only 2 weeks. His interest in reading books has also skyrocketed since starting at his school and his vocabulary shows. He is trying to say sentences, but mostly comes out in a jumble of words. It is so super hard to be away from Mr. Man so much, but I'm happy to know that he's having fun and learning too. I can't wait for the year to start so I can be home a bit more. Promise to take some pictures this week. We are heading to VA Beach at the end of the week to see Mimi and Pops Basye!

Mr. Talkative

Liam has really taken off with his verbal skills. He picks up new words everyday. Unfortunately, they do not always come out the same as how we tell him. For example, Jonas is "Dory." And the newest one is Uncle Bryan, who has been named "the Bunny". For whatever reason, Liam hears "Bryan", but says "Bunny." It's pretty cute, actually.

The past two weekends have been spent visiting with family which is AWESOME. He seems to love getting to know everyone and knows most names, even if he can't say them exactly right. The one member he still hasn't shown much interest in is his cousin Ben. He knows Ben is a baby, and will point at him and say "baby" every now and then, but mostly just ignores him. He will, however, take the opportunity to utilize all of Ben's cool toys:






We were able to go visit with everyone and have a barbeque at Aunt Katherine and Uncle Judd's house last weekend. Unfortunately for Liam, this visit resulted in a swim in their fish pond in the backyard. While patting the water, he fell head-first into the water and made it in waist deep until Taylor grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out. At this point, Liam seemed surprised, but happy (he LOVES water) and just kept saying "I sorry."

This past weekend, we took a drive up to NJ and visited with everyone there. As mentioned earlier, we were able to go visit Bryan's house, which was a lot of fun. Liam had a blast watching Mama, Daddy, Jason, Mike, and Alex play horseshoes in the backyard and cracked up with every throw. Who know horseshoes was so hilarious?! Most of the rest of the weekend was used for some much needed relaxing. Liam spent much of his time rocking and coercing anyone and everyone to take him "outside."



I am back to work this week, so Liam has started at a new preschool. While we've had a bit of a rough start with the school, the principal is awesome and is quickly getting things in hand. She is new and also not happy with all of the staff and is replacing those who do not have degrees with teachers that do. Liam, of course, is having a bit of a sad time being dropped off, but overall seems happy. He is in the two-year old room already so he doesn't need to be moved again in two months and keeps up fairly well. When we went to pick him up today, he was sitting happily on the carpet with the other children listening to his teacher read a book. I think in the end we will love the school as we do the principal, but is both sad and exciting to see my baby in an actual preschool. They are even switching to uniforms in a couple of weeks!

The other big thing that we've learned is that Liam did, in fact, qualify for therapy. We have been told that he has a sensory integration disorder which accounts for many of his delays (most of which are becoming minor). He will start therapy next month with an OT and we are excited to be getting help. Our little boy is so sweet and it is so nice to see him get the services that will make his life easier.

Apparently, I'm in the wrong

So I thought that Liam's tantrums were a bit uncalled for, but apparently, I'm mistaken.

Today's horoscope for Liam:

"You've earned the right to be unreasonable once in a while. Loved ones want to please you, but they don't know how until you dare to ask for what you really want."

Hmmmmmm.....