Helping with the kitties

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Liam is a really big "helper" when it comes to feeding the kitties! He loves to rush over to the pantry (the Forbidden Zone) & opens up the containers, grabs a bowl & the cup that I use to scoop their dry food and then proceeds to toss the cup full of dry food over the baby/cat gate!

This was the one time, the ONE time, he had a captive audience & he proceeded to EAT a piece of KIBBLE! Actually, he ate two. But at least he was hairball free!

New Trick!

In the past few days, Liam has started to POINT at things!! I was "worried" [with a lower case w, not upper case W call the doctors our son is damaged worried] about it a little since he wasn't pointing at things BUT what he does do is actually go get the thing I've questioned him on...

Example - "Liam, where's your bottle?" ZOOM!ZOOM! over to his bottle & brings it back to Mama.

Example - "Liam, where's the phone?" ZOOM!ZOOM! over to the phone to bring it back to Mama.

Nothing wrong in that, right? In fact, quite genius level comprehension, no? :)

But the other day, he "pointed" to something he wanted - at first, I mistook it for him reaching for that item but nope, it's just First Time Mommy Retardedness kicking in there - his full hand reach is actually his Pointing!

We are slowly working on encouraging him to Full Hand Point at things but sometimes he just goes & gets them...

Example - "Liam, where's the Monka Kitty?" ZOOM!ZOOM! over to extract 1/2 of Monka Kitty's winter coat from his backside. I'm sure Monka Kitty will appreciate the encouragement of the Full Hand Point as much as the next Monka.

So it's rather cute now to watch him Full Hand Point to something & then of course, go retrieve it :)

Mish Mash, Hodge Podge

Liam has been experiencing so many new things lately that I'm just going to write quick blurbs (with full sentences!!) about each thing before they become passe!

Teefies

I mentioned earlier that he is starting to cut an upper (left upper to be exact) teefie! I wasnt sure where the tooth would actually come in - if it would approach from the rear, come straight down OR the thing I wasnt expecting come in from the front of his gums! Low & behold, there it is, surging to get through! He looks so cute with his emerging teefies but definitely takes away from his remaining ounces of Babyness. He "chews" his lip & you can see him working his little gums against the teefies! He also puts things in his mouth to feel them against his teefies - you can hear it scraping over them - something I are NOT used to hearing from my recent teefie-less Little Big Boy!

This "On The Go" Business

Liam is into EVERYTHING these days & I do mean EVERYTHING. If he's not racing after the cats to beat them to their food dishes, he's opening & closing doors, turning light switches on & off, opening kitchen drawers (while standing) with the latches on them - if he's not doing all these things then he's slamming the dishwasher drawer open & closed OR he's beating me to the toilet bowl, standing & thrusting his hands into it. I am inclined to believe that this toilet business is a little earlier then expected, or at least I thought it would not start until he was a toddler for some reason or another. This happened 3 times yesterday! The first time he was up & standing with hands going in before I had even finished doing my pants up (sorry if that's TMI), the second time, I thought I was being wiser & had flushed before standing but he was still there while the flushing was still occuring. The 3rd time we were in the master bath while Mommy was getting freshened up & he was playing with the ThwackThwack Thing on the back of the door when it got really quiet...I went back there & he was standing with his hands going down towards the bowl when I realized with HORROR that Daddy had not flushed the toilet that morning (again sorry about the TMI) & I was able to get the lid down & flushed before anything disgusting happened. So now, for the first time in my life I have to live with the lid down. Being the youngest I never had to deal with this issue before so it's a learning curve for me as well!

The Cats

Liam LOVES himself some Mystic & Monkey kitty. He chases them around - literally - ZOOM!ZOOM! he's after them - and they just are not quite sure what to make of it! Poor Monka Kitty has even started to meow (something he normally does not do during daylight hours) when he gets close to him. I'm trying to warn them but sometimes they are not very quick on the up take with my attempts. Mystic is being REALLY good with him & has yet to swat at him (her warning before biting) but I also try & stay between them and only let him at her if I can control his touching. Usually I just bellow "Run, Mystic, Run" a la Forest Gump. The other morning there was some horrific banging around upstairs & I hollered at Matias to stop stomping around - he came down to tell me that it was Liam chasing after Monkey. Sounded like an elephant to me! His love for the Kitties is only second to his love for the Kitties Food - he's only beat me to their bowls a handful of times & since their food is usually empty it's just water I'm left soaking up. The figuring out about what to do with their bowls is an evolving thing so far with me but I think I've got it all figured out! Sadly, I thought the cats would fit through the banister railings to the downstairs but Mystic's shoulders get stuck - as I found out trying to "show" her how to go through so we cannot keep the gates shut all the time. I've been putting their food on the steps after their "meals" so that they can still graze & I'm not constantly running after Liam as he ZOOM!ZOOM! towards disaster!

Opened, Closed

Liam is really good at opening & closing all the doors that he happens upon & I'm curious as to if he learned that from us doing it OR if since he has a door on his house if that has taught him...it's really cute though & keeps him nice & busy whilst I am able to do other things, like pee or brush my teeth. I'm sure I sound like a demented parrot though constantly saying "Opened...Closed". But like the article Ms. Christina posted, telling your bebe what is happening with a constant running dialogue is best for them so - demented parrot it is! At least it's not demented PARENT. At least not yet :)

No More BEEP!BEEP!

Liam has not been using BEEP!BEEP! anymore - I believe it can be considered Officially Retired. He's all about the ZOOM!ZOOM! now & turning himself around and ZOOM!ZOOM! the other way, if that's what is needed! What he is just gaining more confidence with is his Cruising...he's mastering that quite quickly & I fear one day he will just RUN...I fear this is going to happen QUITE SOON! I really think he will be walking before 10 months. And my word, I do NOT think I am ready for that! Forget baby proofing the house - you have to baby proof YOURSELF! He just started crossing his hands over when Cruising around the ottomans too - it's really cute to watch him figure out just what needs to be done & then doing it! But more on this "On the Go" business - this stage is BY FAR the most tiring YET. That newborn stage? Cake! This mobility business? Cow Pies! My back is killing, I'm exhausted by days' end, I sweat my tuckus off chasing after him & barricading his way. People with newborns or non-"On the Go" little ones - RELISH IN IT WHILE YOU CAN!

Nursing

I believe the Pimp Juice is about near done. One new factor into this equation is the Teefies. He bite me multiple times yesterday (one stung for about 10 minutes after) & my telling him no in a stern voice did nothing but illicit grins & giggles from this little twerp. I'm also only nursing him about once a day depending on his sleep schedule & what he demands during the night & at what time. My supply has decreased to the point where I only have enough to nurse him once during a 12 hour period. In fact, today I am wearing a NORMAL bra for the first time in years, it seems. I might even go a little wild and NOT WEAR A BRA TO BED tonight! I know, talk about crazy! And he seems to really love his Ba. He smiles & nearly claps his hands every time he sees me shaking it up for him - so he's happy, my Pimp Juice "goblets" arent bleeding - I think we can call this a Good Thing.

And since he just woke up from his nap & we must get ready to go get his 9 Month Pictures taken, I'm going to take this as my cue to wrap it up - plus he's discovered his monitor and just pulled it down from the window sill! OH JOY!

Baby Proofing

The baby gates are up after having to make a trip to the store to get those blasted extenders...which cost just shy of 1/2 the cost of the gate! What a racket!

I love them so far though because they didnt take any tools to install, and I did it with limited curse words & of course, because they function properly.

The cats are having a few issues - Monkey stalked the gate & tried to get through, under, over, around it multiple times (this is the one going upstairs) until I couldnt take it anymore and just shoved him through the banisters. Mystic watched the whole time from the dining room table so I'm assuming she took notes & will have no problem with going through the banister rungs...I REALLY dont need her trying to jump it.

I also put the socket covers on the other day - who knew we had so many outlets. Dont get me wrong, I know Liam would find them quicker than we would! And I also bought the cabinet locks for the kitchen. I'm not installing those though cause I just think they look like a pain in the ass & I'm not about to struggle with that :) I've put his Office, House, and gates together with no help, I think this is a good time for someone to do something on *their* own, dont you think?!

And sadly, I do think the best way to figure out what exactly needs baby proofing in your house is to just let them go for it - hear me out - you never see things the same way as a baby & what's interesting to them, you've probably been blind to for decades! Now, I'm not saying he's a walking crawling (BEEP!BEEP!) crash test dummy but it sure helps to see what he's going to go for & then just take care of it :) Like all those silly tags on those plastic pouches your sheets come in that state "this is not a toy"...who would have guessed that out of 5420375 toys in front of him he has to BEEP!BEEP! crawl and find the one thing that's not supposed to even be out. So I didnt let him put it on his head. I gave it to Monkey to play with. And then I wonder why he cant figure out how to get around a gate.

My three boys

Family Portrait