NaBloPoMo

I'm opening myself up to requests for post topics for the month of November! Either leave a comment or drop me an email (jennifer.nino, care of gmail) and maybe I will ramble on for you :)

There's a hitch to this here attempt at posting every day during November cause you see, WE ARE GOING TO ARGENTINA FOR 2 WEEKS THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!!

But I will try and get my posts in before then, if that's not considering cheating, as I don't know about our internet connection while at Matias' grandparents home.

Happy BOO, y'all!

Captain Liam the Astronaut with the Space Shuttle Enterprise at the Air & Scare event this past weekend with Dada.

Liam dutifully checking in on his space mission artifacts!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL MY LITTLE GOBLIN FRIENDS!

Interesting Tactic...

Here in PWC, VA there is a mandatory meeting tonight for child sex offenders during Trick or Treating hours & if they are not there, police will go to their house & get them to the meeting.

Also, they are not allowed to decorate, have pumpkins or have their lights on tonight.

All of which, I'm not sure I think is extreme. What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever thought of checking the sex offender registry before heading out to knock on strangers doors and ask for something with your adorable child up for their gazing & gawking?

Honestly, I'm thankful my county kind of takes care of this for me with the whole mandatory meeting sneaky sneaky business, now I feel like I don't have to worry about it myself. And that makes me feel less guilty for thinking about it. Now, I'm curious if I'll notice all the homes not participating & wonder if a child molester lives inside.

This isn't my usual fare for Liam Fellows Adventures but it is a parenting issue & I'm curious to see how y'all feel about this or if I just sent you to therapy for bringing it to your attention.

Another Milestone!

No, he didn't call the White House to lodge his complaint about insurance for all children...

Liam is now self-feeding!!!

I swear there is something in this kid that hears what I am talking about with others & then decides that this will just not cut the mustard and starts doing whatever it is I have been talking about! It was the same with sleeping through the night & I'm sure some other things along the way...

Last week, a family friend with a little 2 1/2 year old girl Ella, gave me the advice to eat along side with him, something obvious but something I wasn't doing cause feeding him takes two hands & two eyes on him so that falls solely on me BUT when I heated myself up some chicken bites he wanted them RIGHT AWAY, something he has never indicated before! So I gave him some & he ate them all by himself and attempted to use his spork! We decided that TGIFriday frozen food was not very good fare for our boy so we got some organic nuggets & he's been eating 3 of them for lunch and even added ketchup yesterday! Last night he fed himself [organic] Mac & Cheese [for about 70% of the time] - and he's so very proud of himself! It's adorable & such a fantastic step ahead :) Mama is very proud of him! He's self-feeding banana pieces also, whereas before he was eating them smashed!

I know this post is full of exclamation points but I'm so very excited about all of this! Table foods! Eating with his fingers! No more spooning purees into his chew-hole!

I think I'm done with making anymore purees too! I had no issues with doing that so although it's a great thing that he will not need this anymore, it's yet another milestone that I have to go past & say goodbye to, so it's a little sad for me here. But I'm loving the "free time" during meal time now!

He's also asking for something to drink - although not using a 'real' word for it. He will go over to the fridge & ask or go to his drawer to indicate that he would like something, please&thankyou. He's also been asking for something to drink with his meals - this is a new thing because I am a firm believer in "don't fill up on milk or you'll ruin your dinner" line of thinking so he's always gotten something to drink before dinner but now that he's eating more table foods, I agree to help him along with a little something to wash down all this chewed up food!

Now, I have to figure out what to feed him :) I'm probably just going to continue with the same foods he's been eating in the pureed form - broccoli, squashes, ground meats, all his fruits, etc. But I think I might have to come up with some more Meals, like 3 Squares a Day kind of Meals. I have the Super Baby Food book and although I really liked it, I didn't quite need to use with when I was doing purees, now I think is a good time to revisit it! I'm also going to start giving him more of what we are eating & see how that goes over too.

So YAY to Self-Feeding!

Mission Control

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Playing with leaves

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I promise, I only licked her that one time!

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15 Month Check-up Check-in!

Liam had his 15 Month appointment on Monday so I thought I would share his stats with y'all :)

Height: 33 1/4" - 97%
Weight: 23.7 lbs (need to check the % on this...)
Head Circumference: 19"

All is well in FellowVille - of course the "eating issues" have been chalked up to "texture issues" which she said were common.

And that's about it...

So sweet.

I love watching Liam just sit on the couch or his chair when he is reading to himself. Often now, he reads "out loud" and it's just so sweet to watch him sit there contently & read.

Another Milestone!

Liam made his first call to 911 today!

I grabbed the phone from him when I thought I heard a voice & yes, I thought I heard that voice say "what's your emergency" but I hung up anyway. They called back, rightly so, & I apologized and told them the toddler of the house did it.

One for the baby book!

Before & After

Yesterday, it seems I turned my little boy into a little man.

Lunch time Self Feeding of Yogurt Experiment Head. It is at least plastered enough to his head that his "bangs" are not hanging in his eyes but yet you can still see The Poof in the back where the curls were getting away from us.

The After. I swear all I said was "the front & sides need a trim & the back needs some cleaning up". I think it looks adorable (and so does Matias) but it is quite a shock still!

I've put some video up on dropshots so that you can see it better & plus, he's playing a really cute new game called "knock, knock".

On Being a Fellow

Here's a few more things Liam has been doing recently - mostly they melt my little heart & I just cannot get enough of this kid of ours and the rest of the mostly is just funny to me!

1. He is slowly starting to learn to self feed! But sadly, he is choosing really hard foods to do this with, like yogurt. He is taking the spoon nicely from me & putting it in his mouth & handing it back to me when he is ready! He rarely misses his mouth but doesn't do it consistently so while I'm happy about this progress, it's still in the baby stages. He eats finger foods but only his snackies and will rarely eat real food with his fingers as he prefers to use a spoon for that. He is still not a fan of eating real food/table food, we can offer till the cows come home but he still prefers his (now lumpier) home made food for his main course. He eats mushed fruit very well, but again with the spoon and little use of his fingers save for snackies.
2. Every night after dinner he runs over to his pillows on the floor & asks me to join him, which I gladly do. I just lie there while he body slams me and brings books over for me to read to him. It's our quiet chill out time before bedtime & I love it. I especially love that he comes and gets me for it!
3. He's learning to say Grover & not call every character from Sesame Street LaLa. Grover was my favorite so I am getting a kick out of this - especially when he recognizes my Grover magnet (don't judge) on the fridge.
4. He likes to open the freezer & microwave (sometimes at the same time) and slam them shut - usually this is accompanied with a TA DA! I let him do it cause I have to be holding him for him to be able to do it so I know he won't be running amok doing it on his own. He cannot open the fridge on his own yet & I don't encourage that by letting him play with/in it.
5. He petted a neighborhood dog this morning & made his little, whisper, of a bark at him!
6. He hides his chupie in the tape deck of his ghetto blaster in his room & then closes it.
7. He loves balloons & I'm surprised at how many places offer them for free - not ever actually on the look out for free balloons in my past, I've never taken note of it before. It's quite nice, this little treat!
8. He loves to watch videos of himself on dropshots. Every day he comes over & sits on my lap & we watch videos & I MUST have my hand on the mouse or else he gets very upset at me and places my hand back on it.
9. I gave him my baby Cabbage Patch Doll so he could have his own baby doll (which I firmly believe in doing for little boys) and he will not have anything to do with it. In fact, he pushes it away & will not allow me to hold him either. He's gone as far as coming over to me from across the room & taking it out of my hands and tossing it aside to then curl up in my lap himself. You would think after this new found love of Babies that he would like this addition, but no he does not! I'm hoping he warms up to him but I'm not sure about that at the moment!
10. He sleeps with his Curious George - you just have to hand him George & say "where's George?" and he hugs him real close against his face and smiles
11. He has a little Elmo (thanks Nana & GPa!) that he now carries around and hugs - he even gives him to me to hug!
12. He's been sharing things with me - like his bottle, his chupie, his Elmo, etc. He brings things over, say his bottle, and gives it to me to drink from, smiles & takes it back
13. If you give him something that he wants, he will take it, toddle away and say "thank you" over his shoulder
14. When he makes his "birdie" sound, it's a lot like a zerbert/motorboating noise
15. He has a new found love for trees & says something that sounds nothing like "tree" and smiles - we have a wall hanging made in Argentina that we call the Dreaming Tree & every time he smiles & points at it, I say "tree. That's our Dreaming Tree" The kid is going to call every tree a Dreaming Tree, and really, I have no problem with that, I think it's a neat concept - to believe that every tree is a Dreaming Tree.
16. He puts garbage in the garbage can - you can see the obvious problems inherent in this - sometimes it's trash other times it's his teething ring or bottle that isn't empty. He loves to play with my desk garbage can which only has paper products in it so I let him take it out and put it back in to his hearts' delight.
17. He paints the glass doors with his bottle. Not so endearing & he very much knows not to do it but still...I have milked painted doors now.
18. He's learned to put things in the toilet. Thought we had lost Matias' mini reading light but it works still! I've been not wanting to get the locks for the toilets, so instead I just close the doors, that's been working but I'm not sure for how long since he opens doors...
19. If out front, he will go to the garage door that opens to the magic of his Wagon & pull on the handle to go for a ride.
20. We went out front the other day (both of us shoeless as I wasn't anticipating a walk) and he took my hand and walked me all the way to the pond and home again. I'd walk to the end of the world (or at least our subdivision) if only he held my hand the entire way.
21. He cheers & claps at the end of every song - regardless of if it's a live track or not. And he likes his music loud - he will go over to the stereo and turn it up & walk away and clap.
22. I think he's almost saying his name! Sounds like LiLi though ;) He'll say, more recently, "Mama, Dada [toddler pause], LiLi" and smile. I've always said to him, when he says Mama & Dada together, that "Mama, Dada & Liam are family, we are a Family" & it's really cute to hear him attempt it!
23. He asks for bananas after his main course - when he sees me fixing up his fresh fruit he says "bananas?????" complete with the zillion question marks.
24. He really likes the baby that is at our Toddlin' Time class but clearly does not Mama to have any part of that (see Cabbage Patch Doll)

It's not easy being a Fellow but it sure does come naturally to love the stuffing out of him.

Again with the sizing issues.

[Edited: Would it help if I told you that the jacket in question is the Lands End Squall jacket? And that there is a $20 price difference when you bump up to 2T?]

Alrighty, folks. I'm scouting out winter coats for the Fellow - now, please understand that we do not need anything too heavy since we don't get a lot of snow and it does get cold, rainy, freezy & windy.

I've found the jacket that I want & Matias likes it too but now after looking at sizes, I'm debating between the 12-18 months & the 2T.

Here's the size chart, y'all can decide for me :) I would like it if he could possibly fit into it next year also. And if we go with the 12-18 months I am getting him the Admiral Blue and if we go 2T we are getting the Canyon Orange. He's at least 33" right now & 24 lbs.

	Newborn		19" - 22 "		6 - 9 lbs.
	0-3M		22" - 25"		9 - 12 lbs.
	3-6M		25" - 27"		12 - 18 lbs.
	6-9M		27" - 28"		18 - 20 lbs.
	6-12M		27" - 29"		18 - 23 lbs.
	12M		28" - 29"		20- 23 lbs.
	12-18M		29" - 31"		23 - 26 lbs.
	18M		29" - 31"		23 - 26 lbs.
	24M		31" - 33"		26 - 29 lbs.

	2T		33 - 35		20		12 1/2		27 - 29 lbs.
	3T		36 - 38		20 1/2		14 1/4		30 - 33 lbs.
	4T		39 - 41		21		15 3/4		34 - 38 lbs.
	5T		42 - 44		21 1/2		16 1/4		39 - 44 lbs.

Trying to find a "work around" while using his Nana as an accomplice, plus blowing kisses!

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Too soon to tell BUT

I have been watching the Baby Einstein DVD with Liam (thanks Nana!) - the My First Signs one.

And I think he's learning something, it's hard to tell BUT I've been signing & saying "eat" to him since we've been having eating "issues" and he actually pays attention, watches what I'm doing and then EATS.

The signs are helpful & I am trying to remember them while watching & not just zoning off thankful for the minutes of sitting down BUT I still haven't found the signs for "you touch those computer cords again & I'm going to taser you" or the ever popular "get that out of your mouth, you got it from the garbage!" so I'm still a little skeptical about all of this.

I've asked Matias to "get" some Signing Times episodes for us to watch & I'm hoping they have more "useful" words & phrases in them ;) I've been using the sign for "milk" (which, hello, does it have to be UDDERS?!?!), eat & Mommy and Daddy quite often so we'll see what happens!

I know it's probably too much to ask but I really want a way for him to communicate with us about things he is feeling & doing not necessarily signs about nouns - he's pretty good on that front, I just need to him to express other wants & needs and for ME to be able to communicate with him in a way he understands and trust me, he understands "milk" and "mama" & "dada" (thanks for the retarded looking sign for that one, I'm sure in some other languages it's a not nice word)...

And I know a lot of my frustration comes from him pushing his limits cause he KNOWS what I am saying and he is trying to find work arounds and loopholes to those limits I am setting. And I know that's normal, it just makes me want to pull out a taser :)

The Sleeping Through the Night Thing

I was sitting on my couch watching Dirty, Sexy Money & for about the 5th or so time recently, it dawned on me how much I REALLY like this sleeping through the night thing.

And not for entirely selfish reasons since Liam never really woke up at weird middle of the night hours but rather at precisely 11:19pm each and every night - thus not cutting into my sleep time but more cutting into my Me Time. And the peace of mind that comes along with it - I'm finding that I'm more relaxed at night now, not always clock watching until the Shakespearean into the Forest Gang Roll Call arrived & that's a soothing feeling for me!

But to be serious, it's not like I just tune out his stirrings & rolling overs & coughings, I just feel assured now that he will not fully wake up & thus need to be rocked back to sleep for whatever reason and that's a good thing.

I think it was harder for me when he was waking up & we were still up doing Adult Activities or I feared that our Adult Activities, such as TV watching or wine drinking, would wake him up & our shared Me Time would be cut short and since this is no longer the case, we are both able to enjoy this time together in a much more relaxed atmosphere. Thankfully!

Liam Fellow Catch-up

Things Liam can do now

I’ve been very remiss about chronicling Liam’s progress lately, I’ve just been too busy keeping up with him!

But tonight after a very tiring & button-pushing dinner, I feel I need to tell you all the glorious things he is doing these days – plus the nice wine & seltzer is helping the love return.

Tonight our neighbor (real, next door to our house, neighbor) was coming home from work & we were playing on the front veranda and she said to me “I cannot believe how big he has gotten!” & it struck me both really sweet & a little strange at the same time as these are the most words we’ve said to each other in over a year. I’ve got nothing against this women & it was me who last spoke to her about something but it made me stop & wonder (in a nice way) how she “knew” Liam had gotten so much bigger, you know? And he was waving to her the entire time – little big boy he is!

Also since he broke his Beatles CD he is no longer going to sleep with music – only thing for me to point out is that I no longer have to endure Yellow Submarine day in and day out.

I think I’m going to have to cut this to a Grocery List of Things Liam can do now, hope y’all don’t mind!

1) Blow kisses – he uses the back of his hand to do it & makes a nice smacking sound while doing it

2) Calls out for you when he wants you or cannot find you

3) WALKS UP SLIDES and then reluctantly sits down upon my insistence to slide back down them

4) Drinks milk from a sippy cup

5) Requests songs that he wants sung to him during meal time – this just started last week but it is really too darn cute. His favorite right now is London Bridge & if you happen to sing the wrong song he makes that face Nathan makes. And then pulls his ears or sticks his fingers in them. Row Your Boat is also a close runner-up recently.

6) Calls every character from Sesame Street LaLa, although I think something close to Grover came out today.

7) Is going to need his 2^nd haircut within the next two weeks for sure.

8) Can go down stairs quite confidently now although I’m not too confident about it

9) Is just about running. RUNNING, people.

10) Says Thank You at the right times

11) Grew a molar & I think there are at least two more teefies coming in!

12) Discovered a new way to “tuckle” – he curls up against you & then tucks his arms underneath his torso and puts his head on your shoulder. It’s really cute & can last more than 4 seconds sometimes!

13) Appears to get carsick – you really do not want to know how we discovered this

14) Calls out Mama when he wakes up from his naps

15) Is afraid of getting off the beds by himself – he reaches out for our hands & will then slide off

I’m sure there’s much, much more but alas, this is all that is coming to me at the moment!

I’ll try & be much better for everyone’s sake about updating his going ons!

When Zombie Astronauts Attack!

It's a little frightening to me that Liam looks so much like a little freaky little wax baby doll/zombie getting all ready to eat his Mama up in this fun little out-take picture!

Cuteiest Astronaut out there!

Got to love the 95 degree weather in October! Poor little guy was sweating his tukus off with his costume on, thankfully, I didn't leave it on for long!