14 Month Update

How to describe in words how funny and smart Liam is? I can't, I just can't do it. He is grasping the concept of EVERYthing lately. Because he is getting better at communicating, he is becoming a better kid in general because he doesn't have to be so frustrated. He tells me when he wants more, wants to be picked up or get down. I can ask him "all done?" and he will tell me yes or no. There was a while (and Jordanna can attest to this) where he would make this obnoxious "uh" sound whenever he wanted something. He doesn't do it too often these days and for that I am grateful.

Yesterday, Kittyama was telling Liam that she needed to take a picture of him with his monkey and that she wanted him to go and get the monkey for her. He then proceeded to slide off of the couch, walk over to the cabinet, open the cabinet, grab the monkey, and walk it back over to her. I lost it a little. Not only does he know what a monkey is, but he knows where it is and that Kittyama wanted him to bring it over to her? I can only handle so much.

In other update info, he is an excellent sleeper. He sleeps a solid 11 hours at night and takes one 2.5 to 3 hour nap with no whining. He eats like a champ, but still not too fond of veggies. Can't say that I blame him, but I know it is important so I have started hiding them in food. I can get away with broccoli and cheese quesidilla's as long as there isn't too much of the green stuff in there. He insists on feeding himself and almost has the fork mastered. He is completely off bottles and has been for about a month thanks to Jordanna :)

He talks like a maniac. He can say more, up, down, go, papa (grandpa), nana (banana), and a lot more that I can't think of right now. He also does all sorts of animal noises which I am gonna try and get on tape because it's awesome. He blows kisses and waves and says "bye, bye". Are you getting how smart and funny he is yet? See, you're not. I just can't do it justice in words so you'll have to take my word for it.

She's Killing Me!

Jordanna is killing me with these cute pics. Pretty soon I will have to get a separate blog just for her pics.

Family Reunion Weekend

This past weekend was a family reunion of sorts with my mother's side of the family. My whole family and my mother's 2 brothers and their families all met up in Orlando and rented a house for 3 days. We missed some of the other family members that couldn't make it :( but we still had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it seems like I got almost no pics of anyone outside of my immediate family which drives me nuts! Mostly we just relaxed and got reacquainted with one another. Liam was feeling under the weather so he wasn't 100%, but I gotta say he was a trooper and I think my family got to see the charming little man that he is despite his being sick.

Photography by Liam

I think it's quite good actually.

Who is this big boy?

School Pics- Fireman Style

Playgrounds are Free

Kids are not cheap. And they get bored easily. One thing you can always rely on to get them happy (and worn out) is a good playground. A good playground for Liam's current age will consists of many slides. Smaller slides that he can go on by himself are always good. Bigger slides are fine as long as they are wide enough to accommodate the mom or dad that will be sliding down alongside him. Windy slides can get tricky as they sometimes cause stop and go action for us big kids. Slides sort of loose their appeal if you have to scoot your way out of a curve half way down. Tunnels are good. Steps are fun. Mirrors, things that make noise- all good. He even loves to play in the mulch on the ground.

However, swings- not so much. He could watch other kids ride them all day long. But he doesn't seem to trust them just yet. He can only tolerate them if you are standing in front of him to push him. Even then, he laughs on the way up and cries on the way down. It's a very strange sight.

Oh and by the way, do you ever notice how Daddy O seems to be the only one showing up in all these photos? Just call me the official family photographer...

Oh yea. Did I mention Eli is 1?

Being that Eli lives in Orlando, we didn't get to see him on his actual birthday. But we did go up about a week ago and cupcakes were unfrozen and presents were opened. Let me tell you that this kid does not play around when it comes to anything edible. It was amazing to see him eat this thing. Kinda like those cartoons where they have a big bowl of spaghetti or something in front of them and they pile it into their mouths without much chewing or even inhaling. I don't know how else to describe it... is gobbled the right word? All I know is one minute, we were talking about how we should split up the cupcake so Liam could have some and the next it was gone. Two handfuls of chocolaty goodness gone in a matter of minutes. Mad respect Eli. Oh, and welcome to toddlertom.

Sloppy Spaghetti Slurpin'

Goooooooaaaallll!!!

I kid you not when I say that Liam came up with this game all by himself. Chris and I were having a conversation when all of a sudden a half and half container came whizzing by. I thought for sure it was a fluke and would've put money down that there was no way he could do it again. But he did.... over and over and over again.