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!

Same look, same meaning just with more hair

Can you believe this was just one year ago?

My wee nino isn't so wee anymore, is he?

Come join me!

I've decided to commit to posting once a day during November as part of the movement known as http://nablopomo.ning.com/ :)

If anyone else feels like they would care to join me - jump on over there & sign up!

I always strive to write at least 20 times a month & I think this will be fun to be a part of, no?

See you there!

Sssssh. Don't tell.

I'm not sure if Matias would be embarrassed or not for me telling y'all (all 5 of you!) this but it's too cute that I have to share...

He has his own nickname for Liam (beyond Fellow) that just makes me smile & starts my day off right every morning. Matias goes & gets Liam in the morning (mostly cause I cannot change a diaper before coffee & walk in a straight line if I jump out of bed), changes his diaper & brings him back to bed with us to have his bottle & read some books.

Every morning when he opens the door & picks him up he says "hello Boy!" and then smothers him with kisses. I can hear this from the bedroom & I'm serious there is nothing that makes me smile wider than to hear him say that & for Liam to say "DADA!" right back at him.

The Boy makes cereal

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Wiped out

We had School today & I don't think either of us were really quite in the mood for it. Liam woke up at 8:07 (to be exact!) and so we had to rush through our morning routine to be out the door at 9am. He cried through breakfast, mainly I think cause he wasn't all that ready for food yet having just finished his bottle. Then we quickly got dressed & left.

He was a handful at class (I really, really, really don't want to have one of Those Kids) & I know part of me thinking he was a handful was cause I wasn't in the best of moods either (thanks PMS!). I was running around, sweating, chasing him making sure he wasn't touching people wrongly, not going after the newborn in their carrier, or stealing toys from people. He's also discovered that he can MOVE the little basketball hoops & that's just not something I want him doing at all. He throws the blocks, which is ok, but he has no aim & just mindlessly throws them - of course always at other kids, usually smaller than he is - but let's not forgot almost everyone is smaller than he is.

He's climbing UP the slides & usually there's someone trying to come down it, the right way. There were a TON of kids there today too which didn't make moving around them any easier on me & him.

I'm sick of being covered in sweat from our excursions to the park (over 1 1/2 hours yesterday) & our fun little classes. You should have seen him at Mr. Don's last week - the man sang different lyrics into his songs just for Liam. He's all over the place, all the time. I found myself really losing patience with him today (mentally, not outwardly) & just wanted him to sit still for once, please. I know that's not going to happen & I do not usually lose my patience with him (just my breath!) when we are out because this is exactly what he needs. It's just so draining. And with the weather kicking back up towards the 90s the past few days, that hasn't made it any easier, for sure.

Any suggestions on how to tame him? Do I even try? What good "commands" do you use to help communicate how to behave in public play places like these? I do not want to just let him run wild, but he has to to some extent (and I try to participate in activities that encourage this) but since he's bigger & more active than others his age, it's hard to communicate with him what he needs to do, you know? It's not like he understands more than simple commands or even comprehends the whys behind my requests.

And the fact that there are 3 other Liams in the class doesn't make the listening to me aspect any easier - although I've resorted to calling him Fellow so that he knows he is being talked to.

I love that he is so active & exploratory but we are also in the "low comprehension" zone so there has to be a balance that I find before I curl up in the corner & let him run loose like Godzilla.

Thought of the Day (and possibly week!)

Why do publishers not make board books of ALL the Caldecott Medal books?

I would have every single one & then buy them all again for when he can read non-board book books.

It's a goldmine & they are ignoring it.

I am going to have a Caldecott Corner in my Boys Boys Boys clothing store. Right next to the dressing rooms & belts.

Throws hands up in air

I bought 4 pairs of pants last week & couldn't for the life of me remember what size I bought...so I wanted to try them on him to make sure I had done the right thing! I did get the right size to last him through the winter (18-24 months) but upon having him do a test run, I noticed a HUGE size difference. In this picture is 3 of the pants (he was wearing the 4th) - a khaki, blue (underneath, peeking out on the right hand side) and then those brown "sweatpants". They are the same make, same size - and about two inches longer. It doesn't help our case any when this is what we have to deal with! Now we will have to roll his pants but that's better than spending more money in two months' time, you know? I also think he's put on quite a bit of weight - some of his shirts have been a little short, leaving him looking a little white trash-ish & when I dropped him on the scale it teetered around 25 lbs! AND he's now into size 4 diapers - both his Pamper overnighties & his everyday use Target brand! Tonight he's little thighs looked a little less little in the tub :)

I ended up exchanging those brown pants for 12-18 month size & picked up a adorable bodysuit, of course it's striped with those cute fake different colored long sleeves that only the young kids these days can pull off ;)

I also went to Macy*s to check out their pants selection and my god, what a disappointment. There was like (and I wish I was joking) one wall section and maybe two racks of those pre-fab outfits (jeans, shirt, jacket) & that was ALL. Not even any pajamas - all they had were for under 12 months. I went into the 2T section & found ONE cute pair of pajamas (still over $11) that was 24 months size (not 2T). Then I spent the rest of the time wandering "aimlessly" around ALL 5 sections for girls until someone asked me if I needed any help - only help I asked for was to be shown where all the other sections for little boys where...yeah that didn't go over well.

I've always been happy with everything I have gotten from Carter's outlets & Gymboree (thank god for sales & Nana & GPa's!) so I'm just going to hit them up ASAP. I found some cute looking bodysuits (my goal is to have Liam wear long sleeve bodysuits under some of his summer shirts to help extend their lifespan into the Fall) and pants at Children's Place - have y'all been happy with the quality there? If I need something to last me all season, will it?

Two Things!

First, Liam is actually drinking milk out of a sippy. I'm not going to say that too loudly, cause you know, he'll stop.

Secondly, earlier today, I went upstairs to change a dirty diaper (which we call Die-pees, phonics be damned), give him his vitamins & some baby oragel (hi molars!). A little while later, I bite at my fingernail & went "hmmm, that's an interesting taste..." & oh my lord, I never vomited. I'm hoping since it was sweet that it was the baby oragel. We use those qtip style ones so some easily could have gotten on my finger while wrangling with him, right? RIGHT?

WINDOWS!

Matias made & ordered this shirt for his little geek. You have NO IDEA how happy this shirt made Liam. He would look down at it & smile from ear to shining ear. There's a whole series of them up at drop shots but this one, by far, is the cutest, most edible one.

Liam at Large

Here's just a couple pictures from the park the other day - you will see how much TALLER he is than Joey.

Being very suspicious about something.

This is a good representation of their height differences & remember that Joey is THREE MONTHS OLDER THAN LIAM.

Stupid Mommy Question - Help Needed!

I am going pants shopping this coming week for our Little Liam Fellow...AND...I'm at a crossroads on the whole sizing thing. Cause you know, he's tall. SHOCKER!

But the whole height thing doesn't balance out with the weight measurements on the sizing charts & I do NOT want to be left with pants hanging off his buttocks cause he's skinny!

The 12-18 month lengths are too short (only up to 31") but the weight is right. The 18-24 month size is perfect for length but WAY OVER on weight (most starting at 26 lbs.).

I'm not going out to buy more pants. This is a one shot deal here. So do I buy the right length or the right weight? He's only about 22-23 lbs. so that is a huge difference there...

Should I get a tape measure out & see how long his legs are in case his height is in his torso?

Why are there no dressing rooms for Toddlers?

**note to self: when you open Boys Boys Boys Clothing line, make sure you have fitting rooms available**

Random Thoughts on a Friday

Just sent to a good girlfriend:

do you ever feel like you are running around trying to fifty million things before the child wakes up and you end up getting nothing done cause you cannot decide which to do first and then by the time you decide to just get up and do something he/she wakes up?

He's not THAT tall, is he?

I went to a play-date today with my Mommies Group - events I normally do not attend because they are always scheduled at the start of his nap time cause that's what works best for the coordinator (but I digress) - I went today because Liam must go outside multiple times a day & it drives me crazy with the taking of my hand to each and every door only to find them still locked (but, again, I digress).

So we went to this really cool park just about 10 minutes from home with swings & slides (which he loves - on both counts) and stuff for him to twirl & spin (also, something he loves) but EVERYONE commented on HOW TALL HE IS. And how well he walks & that he's almost running and in comparison to everyone else there he is but is he really THAT tall? Granted, he's probably 33" by now and everything but I have never had so many people (about 99% of everyone we see) tell me HOW TALL HE IS.

There's a little boy there who is 3 MONTHS older than Liam and 1) isn't walking yet & 2) about 5 inches shorter. There's other boys who are closer to two years old and barely taller than him & also not walking as well. Or talking as well. Or listening as well - when I say, "can you hold Mama's hand, please?", he does it. When I say "slow down you're on a hill", he slows down.

But I'm honestly starting to get a complex about all of this. I feel defensive when I respond about his height. I say silly things like "I don't know where he gets it from" or "but he's real thin so maybe he just looks taller". Now, reason tells me not to be defensive and maybe these women are just making small talk but it's constant, I get it everywhere, all the time. Just kind of weirds me out - like am I raising some mutant Argentine giant? Cause that one basketball player from Argentina? Yeah, he's the only one ever to exist. And it's not like my family hails from Giant Land of the Great White, you know?

Yes, I know I need to get over it but it still kind of makes me furrow my brow a bit these days.

Picture of the Day

This is called "what the...?"

Edited: This is best appreciated when embiggened :)

More at Procrastination Central!

I'm going to go on and do this 6 Quirks about Me for Liam while I'm at it :)

1) I will only drink water from a sippy cup not milk

2) I don't like the remotes to actually work, so I take all the batteries out of them

3) I will not eat while in the car

4) I have a swirl the size of a category 5 Hurricane on the top AND back of my head

5) My favorite thing to do lately is carry (a clean) trash can around & put things in it & then go throw them over the gate downstairs

6) In order to properly play with my Wheels & Gears toy, I have to toss all the Gears aside and just play with the Wheels part

Let's hear from all the other babies now!!

School Started!

Toddlin' Time was in effect today!

Continuing the conversation from the comments about clothes - Liam got complimented on his outfit *numerous* times this morning AND believe it or not, Dada dressed him up. Matching & everything ;)

Nana ~ he had on his striped Monkey Business shirt with the blue shorts from Gymboree - very cute indeed!

Now that we've gotten our First Day of School Outfit discussion out of the way, let me tell you about the class...

There were FOUR LIAMS IN IT. FOUR. I have not ever met another Liam (since ours was born) and there were FOUR of them right there. Three of them were blond, mine is not. One of them spelled it Lliam - in Argentina his family would pronounce that Jiam. None had Robert as their middle name. They ALL responded to anyone saying Liam at any given time. I took to calling My Liam - Fellow. Only ONE Liam responds to that :)

This boy of mine? Yeah, he's "spirited". He was still the only one running around making sure they touched everything (door stoppers included) & screamed the whole time. I was told he has a "bubble-ly personality" - I think I need a Mommy Thesaurus for that one cause I'm not quite sure what that meant. He's not rough or mean or a bully BUT he is still learning his "limits" on who can be touched (not EVERY Mommy will allow him to use them to climb up on to stand up) & how they can be touched (not EVERY baby enjoys being petted like a Kitty). So I'm running after him 100% of the time. I asked The Lliam Mommy who this class really intended to give the "work-out" to at one point when I noticed her wiping the sweat off her brow too. He's sharing pretty well, as can be expected for a 14 month old so that's promising to see.

I know that they do the songs & mellow out stuff at the end to mellow them out and have a cool down period but part of me wishes they would do that first cause it's hard enough to get Liam to sit still a book these days LET ALONE after he's been running around on fire for the past 35 minutes!

He's also the tallest in the class - way taller than any of the 18 month olds. By at least 3 inches. No one could believe he was as young as he is for how tall he is & how WELL HE WALKS. A lot of kids didn't need running after cause they rarely strayed from Mommy's side - yeah not mine. Seriously, I work up sweats chasing him around just to make sure he isn't wounding himself not necessarily because he's such a FAST walker/runner but because he doesn't hesitate and once he's on his way somewhere, he's really, no fooling around, on his way there.

Of course, I'm so happy I signed him (I mean US) up for this, he loves it & I think he's going to gain some [more] confidence by using their equipment that is designed for the rough & tumble tumblings of our Little Boy.

Now, if I could convince the lady to put a safety lock on the DOOR, I wouldn't have to race him to it every time he remembers it's there!

Grumble.

I found some shoes yesterday at Target - I got the ones above, if you might not have figured that out but my Grumble is the same as every other mother of Boys. The girls had 3 end caps worth of shoes - the boys had 1 shelf. We had blue, dark brown & light brown for our choices of the same style of shoe.

It's really annoying to me, obviously as a mother of a boy, but are there not mothers of boys in this field? Can they not at least do something about it? Driving me crazy. I at least feel like I've managed to dress him cutely enough but sometimes I just don't want dinosaurs, doggies (we're a CAT family, people! Not all cats have to be PINK!) or firemen - no offense dinosaurs, doggies or firemen.

Looking for recommendations!

Fellow Mamas~

It appears our poor little fellow needs some slip on shoes - like Robeez but not that exspensive please!

He has stubbed both of his big toes on the pavement & made himself bled and scab over - yes, I know he's a little boy but he can have a little protection nowadays, can't he?

Also with the weather turner wetter & cooler, he just needs something on his little feet. I haven't looked at Target but I know they have knock-offs for newborns, I looked at Baby Depot today while accomplishing Operation Liam Locks and they didn't have anything...any suggestions would help!

I would love to pay under $15 for them :)

Bag of Tricks

Liam has added a few new tricks to his bag of Busy-ness recently. Most all of them do NOT involve his own toys...does this EVER end? I do not know how many times a day, I say to him "play with your toys" - Matias even says it - so you know it must be bad.

• He will open the Lazy Susan (child proofed!) and take out ONLY his cereal boxes. Hand them to me, I put them on the island, then he asks for them back & he puts them back on the Lazy Susan
• Carries pillows with him from wherever to wherever - especially the outdoor ones lately
• Drinks from the hose - even though it's not turned on - I'm sure I should be worried about him "catching something" but whatever. It's our hose, it's never left the backyard, I'm sure it's fine
• Takes things from the bathroom drawers and puts them in the showers (thankfully not the toilet) - it's real fun to find the Tylenol in there!
• Carrying around snow globes and shaking them up
• And just today he reached the recycling ON THE ISLAND and brought me my yogurt container that he LICKED CLEAN
• Opening the pantry (french lever door handles!) & throwing the huge pack of napkins & the air wick refill over the landing
• Giving Mystic a plethora of toys to choose from in her breakfast dishes since he throws/gives her a bunch daily. Once it was even a picture of herself - I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't know exactly what he was doing with that one
• Loves to go exploring in the garage (french lever door handles! door lock doesn't work on it!) when *someone* isn't paying "attention"
• Opens the dishwasher & attempts to grab at the utensils - if I lock it he can turn it on with the DIAL & the only way to turn it back off is to cycle all the way around giving him more "noise" to enjoy and thus creating an urge to do it again! If I don't lock it he can open it and play inside - there's not enough space between the cabinets to Liam Lock it. It's a Lose Lose here, folks.
• Opening & pulling out my extra razors from under the cabinet in a plastic drawer thingie.
  
• He loves shaking my left over bottle of TUMS around - never even has ever tried to get it open so I continue to let him play with it - he's the reason we have them in the first place!

I'd laugh if I wasn't so tired

Spirited and mild-mannered toddlers alike will experiment with ... how shall we say it? ... undesirable behavior. If your toddler indulges in fits of screaming, hitting, and biting, you can take some solace in knowing that his development is right on track. Discipline can be a challenge with kids this age, so try to build a little personal time into your schedule each week as a way to refuel your patience tank.

Well, thank god he's normal.

We have Touchdown!

I won the auction! I won the auction! I won the auction! I won the auction! I won the auction!

YAY!

We will have the cutest little NASA Astronaut EVER!

YIPPEEE!!

We Are Virginia Tech

Before going into the show

Liam enjoying the John Mayer set

Mama & Liam walking around the drill field after visiting the memorial

Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing's gonna be alright

(more to come on this most fantastic FIRST DMB Concert for the Fellow but I just wanted to get these pictures posted quickly as Nana is off to Montreal tomorrow!)

Houston, we have lift-off

disclaimer: If I find anyone who reads this & bids on it I will hunt you down & do very bad things to your baby's lovey. Unless of course you are buying it as a gift for Liam.

I have found the astronaut costume on ebay. And I have started my bid for it. Matias' exact words when I sent him the link were "oh, and about that auction. please win it".

I really, really, really want to win it.

Boys of Summer

Yesterday was the last day the pool was open - where on earth did the summer go?!

We went to the pool in the evening & since the sun was behind the clubhouse, it wasn't too warm - we didn't get to stay very long cause Liam started to get cold quickly!

But...

...we did DUNK HIM UNDER!!

He didn't even freak! Was just a tiny bit shocked but handled it all really well - there's video on dropshots :)

Snot Report 2007

Our little Liam Fellow has his 2nd cold - ever. He's doing really well with it & of course, hates to have his nose wiped but it gets done anyway!

The first night it hit, he didn't sleep well at all - up seven times that night - we didn't know he was sick until that morning arrived. He's pretty much been his busy, normal, happy self with just a snot trail every once in a while :)

It's fun trying to beat the hand to his nose after a nose - I'm sure it only gets worse/quicker as he gets older though!

I've been running his humidifier during naps & nightnight sleep, I'd like to think that has been helping as he doesn't wake up a snotty mess. He's got a little cough though that kicks in around dinner time - I think it just comes on at that time because he's had a long day and he's ready to start winding down, you know?

Mama & Dada caught the cold, slightly. It's not a horrible cold, but it's there. And the first night we came down with it, neither of us could sleep either - I totally knew how the little guy felt when I woke up that morning!

Don't believe the hype

I laugh at the 'no-spill' labels on bottles, sippy cups and such!

I'm about to get on my hands & knees to scrub up all the milk spots from the so-called NO SPILL MY ASS bottles & sippy cups.

Not one of my favorite things to do - close second to peeling banana chunks off of the floor & highchair.

Question!

What melts your little mama heart more:

a) hugs from your wee one

OR

b) having them hold your hand while walking

I'm still deciding over here...

Really, really want this.

Every since Liam started mixing things in his kitchenwares, I've jones-ing to get him a play kitchen but I did not want something huge. I think I've found the perfect one, plus through the www.sb-kids.com catalog site, it's almost $10 cheaper than Amazon (need to check shipping though!) & just confirm "approval" from Daddy-O.

MY FIRST KITCHEN
By Little, Little, Little Toy

A perfect first stove for small fries.

Smaller than a microwave, but big fun for little hands. This interactive kitchen lets you push down the toaster for a zany BOING! when the toast pops up. Place the frying pan on the burner and hear it "sizzle". Push a button and the clothes spin in the washer. Close the oven, and the timer starts. Also includes spatula and salt and pepper shakers that rattle.

Isn't it adorable? Not too large but does enough "things" to keep him really engaged. All the other ones I checked into are well over $50 and take up too much space - I think I could even put this where the stools should go under the island if we had more than one stool without it crowding up the kitchen. I'm sure he'd love to cook with Dada & maybe even leave me (and the dishwasher) alone long enough for me to do something without risking an emergency room visit!

He's a busy boy & I would like to encourage him to be busy but with the proper things. I don't want him to think that nothing is for him to play with especially when he has a great number of fabulous toys that he does enjoy daily!

Be careful, it's a big world out there!

Someone has learned how to open the front door. On his own. Reason #63596036 to attempt to get a certain Dada to keep the door locked.

Thankfully, it's on the ground floor, where most of the rest of the house is not, so he doesn't spend much time cavorting down there, unless he's playing games with Dada in his office.

It's one thing to open sliding doors, it's another to open the kind of door the front door is...the handle with the thumb-knob-push-it-down kind. He can also open the veranda door which is a french lever kind. And he gets the lazy susan open even though it's got a child lock on it.

And the dishwasher...it's better to keep it locked although that means you can turn that neat little knob to turn it on because otherwise he can open it up and climb inside and play with knifes and not-for-bebe stuff. It's the little trade offs that make it so much fun :)

I'm telling you the truth when I say he will NEVER EVER KNOW that the TV stands have drawers in/on (?) them. He will 18 going to college (UVA naturally) and be in utter shock when we open them up in front of him. Same goes for the ottomans. May he NEVER EVER KNOW that there's a neat little space in there.

Ahem.

Toddlin' Time

I signed Liam up for a 6 week session at our local Toddlin' Time (think Little Gym but WAY WAY WAY cheaper!) and then took him to the Open House this morning to see if he in fact would enjoy himself.

He did. He Fat Person Waddled around screaming almost the entire time when he wasn't actually playing with the toys and, of course, the speaker cord, door handles, speakers...

Then we proceeded to WIN a FREE SESSION! Since we already paid for the upcoming one, I'm going to hang onto it & use it for the winter session when I'm sure we will be out of the house a LOT since this little one LOVES to be outside (we have to spell it already...).

A few of the Mommies from my Mommies Group where there - Lisa with her little girl (same bday as Nathan) and Lauren with her mommy Julie - so that will be nice to be able to "connect" with them more. Lisa is one of my CM customers so I know her already but meeting other mommies is always good.

Thankfully, the class is between his breakfast & noni time so we rush home to jump into bed - hopefully for a nice long nap!

I really like the price of this place - under $50 for 6 weeks, where compared to Gymboree which is $70 a session with a minimum of 3 sessions (!) AND a registration fee...you really cannot beat this with a stick. Although, I hope beating things with sticks isn't part of their curriculum ;)

AFTER First Haircut

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Liam got his FIRST haircut today! It wasn't bad at all! He sat very still, taking in all his surroundings & checking all the action around him and not every much attention to him. Dada held him on the little plank while Mama took pictures & fought back tears. They nearly came though when the hairdresser (women are hairdressers, men are barbers) next to us winked & smiled at me - then I had to choke the tears back. Twas the nod of understanding between two mothers, you know?

We went to this barber shop down the street that my Mommies Group recommended & we were in & out of there in under 5 minutes. No kidding. He looks really good with it all cut & trimmed up - nice, straight lines & still some curl in the back!

Of course, I saved some hair & thankfully Matias had a static bag in the glove box because I forgot to grab one of my little envelopes from CM that are made especially for things like this! He didn't really get all his curls cut off cause there is an issue with a "bald spot" in the back that would have been revealed if we truly cut all of it off in the back! No mullet though!

There are more photos up at dropshots, of course :)

First Haircut

We are going to get Liam's hair cut today. His first :(

I'm not really ready for this yet but he is - his bangs are hanging in his eyes & I have to suck it up & just let it go.

I no longer have a baby. I have a toddler who gets his hair cut at a barber shop.

Maybe I'll leave some little curls in the back though without making it too mulletified.

Expect pictures.

Thinking of Halloween already

We saw this costume at the Smithsonian store while waiting for our flight at National & knew this was what we wanted Liam to be for Halloween!
Isn't it fantastic??!

Putting himself to sleep!

I do believe we can consider it Official now since he put himself to sleep for his nightnight sleep last night WITHOUT A PEEP!

He cried when we left the room, after going through his routine of getting his chupie, his pillow & turning on the music but that was the only sound we heard out of him!

Matias, I think, is having a hard time with this also - he said "what am I going to do now?". This was also his "special time" with him after work & possibly not seeing him all day...so there will be some adjusting on both our behalf's occuring here.

I'm really not all that shocked that it's happened so quickly - when Liam decides he wants to do something, he really just kind of does it. End of story.

It is an end of an era though. Progress though, for sure, but sadness for Mama & Dada who really love(d) this special time with him.

Is it bad when...?

...your child is being unusually quiet & just sitting there actually watching his DVD or playing nicely with his toys & you automatically think something is wrong? Maybe you should take his temperature? Does he want his teething ring?

Dude!

For the record:

Toddler HUGS are the best!!

Go on & get yours today!

Taking after his namesake

Well sorta. But not really. ;)

Liam Robert was named, partially, after Nana's father - Robert William Gardner (we didn't know his middle name was William until after we picked Liam...) - and he LOVES to play in the "garden"!

He waters the plants on the deck, multiple times a day with the watering can :) Talk about cute toddler behavior!

He walks around to each planter with the watering can & "waters" them & then toddles off to the next one.

I got some video of it last night but it's not the best example of him doing it...

Last night he was opening the cooler, putting the watering can in it & trying to scoop up the water that is still in it! GENIUS!

Not so genius is his need to go mess with the recycling bin - I'm looking at you Grandpa.

Last night Matias & I were talking about how cute it was that he really enjoys going around & watering the plants and when Matias said, "he's a natural born gardener...", I couldn't resist by responding by "yes, yes he is!".

It's [possibly] Official!

Liam has not been going down well for me (and only me) for naps lately so I've been putting him down on his own. And he does it!

Secretly, I think I'll miss rocking him to sleep more than I missed the nursing sessions. I loved being able to nurse him, do not get me wrong but when he decided he was done with that, I had no choice but to move forward. There was no time to mourn during weaning, it was a quick & clean operation on his part but this is different for me, I think. Possibly because the rocking has lasted longer than the 7 months of nursing...but I suspect it's the actual act of watching him fall into a nice, deep, safe slumber in my arms/lap that I will miss.

So good for him! He's a big boy who needs no rockin' from his Mama!

But I just might cry a little through the smiles.

Possible "duh" moment

We have honestly either been on the road or had company for the past month - between birthdays & friends visiting, Nissan & Grandparents uprooting camp and replanting themselves here for FellowSitting duties - it's been a whirlwind of activity.

All of this is good - no offense intended - we love traveling & we love company. But I think that might have been what messed with Liam's sleep schedule. Or nap schedule to be more exact.

For the past two weeks or so, Liam's nap schedule has been up & down. It first seemed as if he was transitioning to the Big Sleep of One Nap but with the catch of it only lasting under two hours. Which...sucks.

It was really Heads & Tails and we couldn't make sense of it - one day it was Heads and the next day he would have us on our Tails - with no second PM nap - we were really hurting. He would usually nap from around 11 - 1 or if we were really cruising for a bruising from 1pm (or later) till 2pm. Total suckage. And he would stay up to his 9pm nightnight time. Nothing was getting done, it was way too hot outside to spend too long out there - even a trip to the pool didn't induce a noni. Then some mornings he was waking before 8, sometimes before 7 and then the erratic nap pattern. BOO!

But Tuesday, the Grands left (no offense!) and Wednesday he took two naps - each about two hours at his regularly scheduled time and his regular bed time. Just like that. Tuesday, I tried giving him his dinner early & putting him down early - which worked so I was going to repeat it Wednesday when his nap schedule went back on track.

And it made me realize - hey, what if all these [wonderful, loving, fantastic] visitors caused him to throw his routine (and part of our sanity) out the window? And I feel like a moron not figuring this out earlier but he's never reacted like this & well, I don't know maybe, I just wasn't really paying attention to the obvious. I kept looking for teefies, thinking of the Big Sleep of One Nap, and not focusing on the environment changes...

Long story short - he's back to 2 two hour naps at his regularly scheduled time and a 9pm nightnight time. And I cannot see the nose on my face.

What sound does an airplane make?

Liam will mimic the airplanes going over head (hi! Dulles landing pattern!) by making a "swoooooosh" sound - just like the engines preparing for landing :)

Working on the "woo-woo" that a train makes (hi! VRE station/CSX tracks down the street!) - it's coming to him slowly!

Pretty sure he "meowed" yesterday but the jury is still out on that one since he could have just been over excited while tackling his PIC (Partner in Crime) to the ground.

Last night in the bath, I hummed a gibberish song to him while I bathed him & he started humming back. He's mastered the "la la la" sounds & we are now working on the "ba ba ba" sounds. Matias just looked up at me, with this wonderment on his face when Liam would repeat back to me the stanzas I had hummed to him. Sometimes we do that while he's playing or eating - he hums something to me & I repeat it back, and so on and so forth. I really enjoy doing that with him for many reasons. One, how cute is a humming Toddler? Two, it means he's listening. Three, it means he's paying attention to what I'm actually saying. All of those things are really cool to me & I try to encourage it as much as possible. Nothing he utters or hums goes unnoticed (or at least I try to notice it all) because at this point, beyond his actual vocabulary, this is he sole means of communication & to ignore that, I think, would be a determent to his speech evolution.

Another "cute" thing is that whenever anyone gets their purse or something out of their purse he immediately thinks we are going in the car. And then proceeds to ask to go "car?" and goes over to the gate and sometimes he even goes and gets his diaper bag. Like a dog, you must sometimes spell the words (ALREADY?!?!) for "go out", "car" & "walk" so that you do not give Liam the wrong impression that we are actually, at this exact moment in time, going out to the car to get his stroller to go for a walk.

He has also started doing more than just clanging the pots & pans around - he now "stirs" things with spoons & dunks bottles and such into his pots & pans! WAY cute! So now, I'm on a mad search for nice, cheap, play kitchen (I think I found one, just need to "justify" spending the money for it...) to entertain him so that I do not have to clean up His Drawer 45279064 times a day. How cute is this imaginary play business?

I also chase him with his giraffe from his train set he got for Christmas...and he LOVES it. He will now go and get the giraffe & bring him to me then take off at full speed to get away from the giraffe. My son will be the only one afraid of giraffes at the zoo.

But he will also be the only one meowing at the monkeys.

New nicknames!

Here's a sampling of the names that float around the house on any given occasion -

• Mr. Destructo
• Stink
• Bebe

I'm drawing a stupid blank now - I planned to write about this a while ago & just got the chance to do it now & now I'm blanking!

I'm sure you can discern why we would call a budding Toddler Mr. Destructo...he is like a hurricane, this one. Part of me loves it cause he's active & exploring & having a grand ol' time but then, after hours, part of it cannot stand it cause someone has to clean up the path of this Mr. Destructo. We've become our own FEMA.

One really funny thing he does (to which I call him my Sea Otter) is he takes the remotes off the area rugs to throw them against the hardwood floors, thus making it easier to get the blasted batteries out of them! GENIUS! But, oh so annoying!

Can you say "hands full"?

Mr. Destructo would also much rather toss his Gears & Wheels toy on the ground scattering the wheels this way & that instead of sitting nicely and playing "proper".

Mr. Destructo would also much rather throw his wooden stacking 'parts' behind the laptop/stereo entertainment center than stack them on the proper poles. Although, in all fairness, he has started to actually stack them this week.

Mr. Destructo would also much rather pull his entire basket of books off the ottoman rather than take one out at a time. I've tried to put the basket on the floor but that only encourages him to make a mess on a consistent basis rather than just when the wild hair is up his butt. I'll deal with the wild hair moments, thank you.

He is now saying "bebe" so I will continue to call him that along with all the other bebes he finds and points out to me.

Stink usually is a prelude to Mr. Destructo - it's like that little devilish behavior is just building up & not quite ready to morph into full on hurricane force destruction - call it a tropical storm, if you will.

Monkey takes the brunt of Mr. Destructo (quite happily, I might add) while Mystic takes the hit from Stink (not as happily, I might add). In fact, Mystic gets hissed at by Stink, while Monkey gets laughed at (or with, I cannot decide).

When does Hurricane Season end for Toddlers? October, right??

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

...be back on Sunday evening!

We are going to Deer Creek in Indy this weekend for the final shows of DMB at that venue.

Wanted to let y'all know that I will be back sometime next week & hopefully back to my regular programming :)

Nana is FellowSitting with Grandpa this weekend so he is in GOOD hands, but he will be missed. I almost nearly had a little tear appear when saying good night to him this evening since I will not see him until we get home on Sunday.

Alrighty, enough of that.

I put the video up on dropshots :) Tell me that kid just doesn't get about 5 months older looking every time you see him???

Chau!

Animal Crackers in my Soup

We have our first Official Animal Noises emitted from our favorite Fellow!

1) SSsssssnake - I hiss ssssssss sounds at him before pointing to snakes & he has finally followed suit along with making sssssssnake ssssssounds when discovering new ssssnnnaaaaakes in his other books!

2) Monkey sounds!!! You say monkey (the REAL kind, not the feline variety) and he goes "oooh oh oooh" - you understand, right? It's too cute :) My mom just called him a little monkey and he responded with his new noises!

Also, he is indicating to us that he wants us to do something or that he wants something he has his own little question phrase that he uses...sometimes a little more aggressively than I would prefer, so we are working on "please" to possibly calm down his request :) It's quite a cute three whine request! My mom plays this little game with him & his hands and he will hold his hands together and do his little three whine request.

OK I just took a video of it :)

Nana!

Our little Liam Fellow has taken to calling Grandma "Nana" and I do not think she minds one teeny tiny little bit.

It's really quite adorable to watch, not only Liam, but Nana react to this new development.

We have two new C words added to our vocabulary - corn & cough :)

LeNelle & I taught him how to do the Warehouse Woo with your arm raised like Stefan's & we worked on the two arm raise for Stay like in the video - really, it might be a little wrong how much we enjoyed doing this :) also came really close to teaching him the Louie, Louie portion of Warehouse...

Astronaut Liam Blast Off cake

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Made with love by Auntie Leanne

I put some MORE pictures up on dropshots from July so click on the July link on the left hand side under 2007 & scroll. The pictures are approximately on July 4th, July 7th & July 21st & 22nd...

We just got Matias' mom's pictures this weekend hence the reason I put MORE up and just wait cause I've got a diaper load more to come when I get my mom's & sister's :)

We've been house-locked due to the 110 degree heat but today we are going to get his water table cause all the boy wants to do is go outside & play. And we need something for him to play with when we are outside in 110 degree weather. He is beginning to think that ALL doors open by an adult putting their foot on it, so many times he will pick up our foot and put it on the door - poor little guy. Smart! But sad, sadness about not getting the doors open. He knows how to open & close the screen door so that's always an exciting adventure ;)

He's saying "down" almost regularly now & we are still working on "up"!

Wow. Totally making myself a liar.

I didn't think we had any more FIRST Birthday pictures to share, I thought they were all taken on other people's cameras...turns out Matias had some from his Mom's camera that we NOT in the correct location on our drive so I didn't know they were here until I went looking for cute pictures I might have overlooked. And SURPRISE, I found some :)

Liam loves his Gears & Wheels (I don't know if that is the name or not but it is now!) that he got from my friend Jen & her daughter Mia.

Ms. Nikki - here he is with the book you sent him!

LOVE the expression on his face!

I don't think I've ever been around a happier baby. He just loves everything he does! It's so fun to watch & be a part of :)

P.S. Rach, I'm sure my mom/sister have pictures of him with your outfit (adorable, btw), I just don't have them yet!! I'm still not even sure where these pictures came from!

P.P.S. I put more photos on dropshots under the July 22 date - I don't like changing the dates up since it might/could mess some people up looking at them, you know? So anyway, go over there & scroll :)

Sidenote: I still haven't been able to get all THREE videos up there, 2 and 3 are but 1 will not load. It isn't as funny without all three :(

Last one! (for now)

Cousins!
There's Ms. Alexis (all 5'8" of her!) the day before she went back to CA at Camp Carolina with her baby toddler cousin Liam.

Again with the pictures!

I swear I thought I posted this one on dropshots (but I'm not talking to them at the moment...) but I don't see it so I have to put it here...phew...

We got a huge ass gate for the dining room/living room area - two reasons - one being the Fellow can unlock the china cabinet & two so I can stop worrying about Ms. Mys misbehaving in there. The opening is different than our other gates - no foot pedal to begin with & also, as you will see in the picture below, a little more "wiggle room" to get in trouble.




He climbed up there all on his own & then couldn't get down. He got stuck an inch off the ground. But let me ask you...you think I've got a climber on my hands?

Think he likes it?

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We got Liam a Radio Flyer Wagon (the one with the seatbelts & storage) for his FIRST Birthday Present - here he is with Luccia cruising up & down the block :) He LOVES it! Just sits back & chills. He even watches Dada cut the grass and water while sitting nicely in it & not clambering all over himself to get out!

How to do this quickly...?

LIAM IS WALKING. I REPEAT, LIAM IS OFFICIALLY, FULL-ON, WALKING.

Right now, it's at about 75% of the time that he walks over crawling. The extreme long distances are still accomplished with ZOOM!ZOOM! but otherwise the Fat Person Waddle (TM Matias) is in effect. Very, very exciting!! There's a video on dropshots of him taking a handful of steps at Camp Carolina - he has taken more steps than that but it's the best video I have of it :) So far. HA. Yesterday he walked while he drank. Blows my mind. He can also turn around, pick something up while squatting & stand again to continue walking, and take a poop while standing without holding onto anything.

Also, he's clapping :) And actually making a CLAP!CLAP! sound with his little tiny, toddler hands while doing it & it's so damn cute I could almost cry every time I hear him do it. And let's not forget to mention that he CLAP!CLAP! to Michael Buble on TV the other morning - with NO prompting!

Milk, it does a Fellow good

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The Citizen of Fellowville is not happy.

We are currently in the midst of Round 40597 of Surge of the Teefies.

Same old signs as last time - no good sleeps, early rising and not going back to sleep for hours (I'm talking 4am here, folks), and general crabbiness from my little Cancer.

Not fun. And when the Fellow ain't happy, ain't no one happy.

Again the one nap for the day took longer to get him to take than the actual nap itself, which was less than an hour. And getting him to nightnight took over an hour also, but we started earlier cause the boy was pooped & simply fighting it.

I had bought him a new teething ring & he really worked on it this evening so I'm going to offer it to him more tomorrow, I hope that gives him some comfort cause gnawing away on his fingers cannot be much fun.

Last time this type of reaction only lasted about 1 1/2 days so I'm crossing my fingers in hope that this round will last the same amount of time.

I've been lacking in posts because of my extended holiday to Camp Carolina & upon my return a lot of CM work to do (that's a good thing) and now teething...

But to keep you current on our schedule we will be out of town this weekend for Cousin Luccia's 1st birthday, then LeNelle returns on Tuesday for house scouting & job searching, my parents arrive on Friday to start their round of FellowSitting because NISSAN is on Saturday!! Then my mom stays in town because Mama & Dada depart on Friday morning for Deer Creek sans Fellow - first time that BOTH parents are away from him!

I do want to write about his FIRST Birthday Party & post more pictures but a ton of them are only on my mom & sister's cameras & I'm waiting to get those on CD from them...and of course, I have to write his Thank You cards & mail out his 12 Month Quarterly Update after I pick up his 1 Year Picture tomorrow :) All of this would be much easier to accomplish (or just plain old get it done) if the boy would take a nap for his Mama.

I have no idea if & when I will write a 12 Month GushFest for the Fellow, I'm sure I will, lest the guilt overcome me...but right now, I don't see getting around to that until he is at least 15 years old.

It sure was thoughtful of Liam though to wait & have his little Insurgents attack until I was alone with him for the first time in about 2 weeks! Although there isn't much anyone else could have done for him, it still sucked having to call Matias & ask him (at 5:30pm) when he might be coming home cause I needed the relief pitcher to make an appearance...I really hate clock-watching and I feel like I haven't really done much of that since his Fussy Hour days, usually I'm just curious to know when I might expect dinner to be served ;)

I've got a REALLY funny video on the camera that is sitting upstairs on Liam's dresser...but be warned, Dropshots has changed their platform & is running wonky at the moment...so be gentle with it! I'll post more pictures tomorrow, as soon as I can get him to sleep more than 20 minutes :)

I'll leave you with the clues that the video has to do with his [MINE] Pillow & the proper place to keep your [MINE] Pillow. Even when feeling lousy & in possible need of a cuddle.

ONE YEAR Checkup!

Just a quick run-down of stats from Liam's ONE YEAR Checkup!

Height: 31 3/4"
Weight: 21 lbs. 8 oz - YAY!! A gain of 1 lb 5 oz since his 10 month Anemia check
Head Circumference: 18 3/4" - check out the big brain on Bob
Hemoglobin: 12.3 - YAY!! above average of 11.9 - ALL DIET!!

3 shots - he actually screamed which was not pleasant for Mama at all.

He opened the door to the room (he was on the inside) - it was one of those "french door levers" and the doctor turned and said "he shouldn't be doing that until 18 months..."

She very pleased with his vocabulary - to which, this week, he has added a two word sentence of "go down" & "kitty".

I think that's it for now...I'm wasting time as I wait for the dropshots pictures to upload...then I have to go through & label/caption all 68 of them just from our camera alone!

Birthday Boy with Cake!!

Auntie made him his own special cake for his actual birthday on Friday - this was his first TASTE of sugar :) He was a little tentative at first but then torn right into the icing (didn't much care for the actual cake!) & then at one point just about threw the whole thing overboard!

He had icing everywhere! In his ears, up his nose, all through his hair :) Even got it all over Mama & Dada as he wasn't too sure about it all and needed some reassuring hugs throughout the "ordeal"! I felt like I was covered in icing too - only to find out that I WAS! I had icing in my ears, across my forehead, in my hair - but it was too cute to watch him have this experience!

I have some more pictures to share, of course I just need to gather them all together :)

Thank you everyone for your very special birthday wishes to our Liam Robert - I really appreciate it!!

I'm going to upload a bunch to drop shots later so that you don't have to be bogged down here with a ton of pictures :)

Happy FIRST Birthday, Liam Robert

Happy First Birthday, Liam Robert

Please click on the above link to see what I quickly threw together this morning :)

At this time last year, I was being wheeled into the operating room, fully ready to meet our Bebe. Little did we know, that our Liam Robert was awaiting us.

I didn't put much time into this, actually just grabbed the pictures in my desktop folder but I wanted to test it out to see what it was like, so excuse the gaps & holes in his past year but you get the idea :)

Happy Birthday my little Star of Wonder. Mama loves you.

A Year Ago Today

I was in my 15 hours of labor only to end with a c-section & two doctors' hands "all up in me" undoing Liam's feet from my ribcage only to miss the 7.19 deadline by 20 minutes.

Tomorrow is my son's FIRST birthday. Liam Robert will be one year old.

...the best is yet to come...

Another Twist on an Old Game

Yesterday Liam started (and let me try & graphically describe this properly...) adding a new twist to peek-a-boo (aka Where's Liam?)...

Now he covers his eyes completely with his hands, palms turned out towards us & squints his eyes closed BUT he does peek every now & then to see if we are playing along!

At first, I thought he was rubbing his eyes cause he was tired but then he would whip his hands away and make a BOO sound & smile aplenty - only took Mama about 2 times to figure out it was a new variation of an old game :)

He had Naked Dinner last night because he leaked through his clothes right before meal time & I wasn't about to feed him with some clean jammies on since it's been getting a little messy these days with all the attempts at self feeding!