Nightmare

Liam had his fist nightmare during his nap yesterday, at least the first we know of. He woke up from his nap screaming. When Mike entered his room, Liam said, "Where'd go?" Mike questioned and he replied, "Where'd tower go? Libby knock it over!" All the while crying, sobbing really. It was so sad.

Lancaster clan

It is great to be surrounded by family. I grew up with a lot of siblings and enjoy the chaos of the holidays. This past week our house was bursting at its seems, in a good way, with an additional three people. Linda (Mike's mom), Jeff and Rachel (Mike's brother and brother's girlfriend) came to stay with us and celebrate Christmas early.



We saved going to see Santa until Mimi came. For the entire morning I kept telling Liam that if he talked to Santa, he would give home a gift (the Santa we were going to see hand been handing out coloring books for over a week). Well, Liam kept up his end of the deal but Santa had nothing in return. Liam even walked over to the big red bag and peered into it. I felt bad and am banking on the fact that he won't remember next year :)




Rachel brought along some cookie cutters because she was so excited to make cookies with Liam. Liam had a lot of fun making cookies, especially the eating part! In fact, he wanted one so bad that he commanded us all to pray then after his, "AMEN" he reached for a cookie while smiling and shaking he head yes. Mimi couldn't resist the sweetness he oozed and gave in. When he finished the cookie, he asked us to all pray again. We didn't fall for it, although I think Mimi wanted to ;)



We think that Uncle Jeff was most excited about the gift he gave to Liam. He spent a lot of time and energy constructing train tracks whose infrastructure was rather questionable at times ;) Liam misses Uncle Jeff's expertise with train track construction and is rather bored with the circles and bridges I put together!



We look forward to seeing them again soon and hope that next time Aunt Karen may decide to come along!

The Big One

Liam has learned two new words, one is really a question though. Yesterday as Liam was heading up the stairs with a toy in hand and Mike asked him to leave it downstairs. Liam responded, "Why?" Both Mike and I froze. It is too early for why to start, isn't it? I mean, he JUST turned two! Later at dinner we had a side dish (from a neighbor) of marshmallow fluff with strawberries that Liam loved WAY more than his chili. He politely asked for more pink and when I responded, "Take three bites of chili," his response was, "Why?". OH MY GOSH! He asked twice more at dinner. So it is official, we are in the Why phase.

This morning I made potatoes in my new cast iron pan (thanks Mimi!). Mike was eating a plateful and gave Liam a bite. After he finished them he said, "mmm, delicious." Liam ran into the bedroom where I was and repeated his new word, delicious. He also used it at lunch as he ate his turkey sandwhich. It seems like such a big word for a little boy!

We've gotten very little snow this year but we are hoping for more so that we can enjoy some sledding and CC skiing. And now we have a third person to help with our shoveling!




Mike's family just left after we celebrated an early Christmas. Post and pictures from their visit will follow.

Another go

I will try even harder this time around. This time with Liam in mind. Knowing that one day I can just print the blog and give it to him is great incentive! Right now I have some memories from his first year in a special 'Baby's First' calendar, some scraps of paper, old Facebook posts, a different calendar, on my phone's calendar but I have no idea where to consolidate it all. Enter, this almost defunct blog. That incentive along with the guilt trip my sister is giving me should do the trick!

Year in Review

Free picture collage created with Smilebox

So it has been almost a year! These pictures tell the story of the year, take a closer look at them if you can and Liam will practically grow before your eyes. Along the way I have collected some memories that I'll share the highlights with you:

1st birthday
Our little house was packed to its rim with family and friends. Liam loved his monkey cake and really loved all the attention. When we first started to sing Happy Birthday he was a little nervous but then his eyes lit up when he realized everyone was singing to him! Liam has a special guest all the way from Alabama, his beloved Mimi.

Christmas
Liam enjoyed opening gifts, the wrapping paper was great. He got one big gift, a four-wheeler from his Aunt Nicole and Uncle TJ! He rode that four-wheeler throughout the summer and always with his helmet on.

Mother's Day
About a month before this Liam had weaned himself from nursing in the morning and then a week or so later from his nap times. Mother's day was the last night I nursed Liam before I put him to sleep. It was a little sad but he was ready. Now Mike gets the fun of putting Liam to bed most nights and really enjoys that time with Liam to recap the day and cuddle. It seemed like such a big step at the time and still does. He went from being a baby to a boy in my eyes, I'll cherish all the time I got to spend with him while nursing.

Father's Day
We had a fun morning, out for pancakes and other fun then home for nap. Both Mike and I were wiped out so we were also looking forward to nap. About 30 minutes into nap Liam started talking then fussing then crying. I walked into his room to find him in his crib with his diaper around one ankle and poop EVERYWHERE! At first I was repulsed but after clean-up of the room, a quick bath and putting Liam back down for his nap, it was HILARIOUS. Just days before I had warned Mike not to use the velcro diapers because Liam seemed to be figuring out how to take them off, Mike didn't make that mistake at nap time again (neither did I)!

Vacation
This past July we spent four days with some family on my step-brother's farm in NW IL. We had a lot of fun going for hikes, bikes rides, even mom got to ride a horse! The highlight came through a boat ride on the Mississippi River. Liam was a little unsure at first but ended up really enjoying it. He even liked watching daddy get pulled behind the boat on an inner tube.

Sprint for Spina bifida
In August we spent a morning walking in Milwaukee to support a cause very dear to us. Liam's cousin, who is only 3 months older than he, has spina bifida. You can see a picture of Liam with two of his favorite cousins (Aleria is the one on the left of him). He spent two nights at their (my sister's house) in October and didn't want to come home!

Pee on the Potty
Liam was very excited about his first time peeing on the potty, so were we! We have went through one potty already because it was too hard for him to get on and off of it - which made aiming very difficult. Liam is getting a little better about aiming while he is seated :) He continues to go each day the the potty but nothing that dependable.

Halloween
This year Liam went as an octopus, a very cute one! He was pulled from house to house by me, the moon, in his wagon. Just as the moon controls the tides, I controlled the wagon - decorated as the sea ;) He enjoyed getting candy from everyone he knew and also enjoyed handing out candy at home. He learned very quickly that to get candy he needed to say "Trick or treat" and when he gave candy he said "Happy Halloween". Interesting how candy makes learning happen so quickly! While handing out candy, he was scared by a trick-or-treater in a mask. So he also learned what it meant to be scared. Every so often he will say, "Liam scared" when something startles him - it is really cute.

2nd Birthday
We hadn't really talked about Liam's birthday but the week before with Mike in India (that's right - India) I got bored and a little lonely so I started planning a little party! It was a bit smaller than his first one, but if I'm honest our house is so small it can barely fit many people :) He told me that he wanted a green and yellow dump truck for a cake and that is what he got! Next year, I'm gonna try for the 3-D cake, I think I have the 2-D down ;) He enjoyed the party thoroughly.

That is all for the year in review!

Embarrassed

It has been a while and I could go through all the excuses about why I haven't posted, let's just say I've been busy! With that behind us, I'll dig in :)

In less than a week our baby will be 1!!!! I really can't believe that it has gone by so fast. He has went from a small helpless blob to a little boy who is learning to walk and talk. Speaking of those things.....he is so loud! Mike and I are pretty low key people, but Liam seems to have gotten both of our talkative genes. He is always blabbing and yelling! He yells at the floor a lot, I'm not sure if he is bored with talking to me or if he is mad at it.

Our most recent fun was halloween. Liam went as Tigger and was adorable! We attended a small gathering of neighbors and we ran into Eeyore - who wasn't too happy about his costume.





We wanted to attract some trick-or-treaters, so we carved a pumpkin to put out front. Liam was a little unsure about all the goo, but liked working along side his dad.




Right now he is hard at work with learning how to walk. He has taken some steps - all with dad and none with mom - so I am wondering if Mike has made all that up :) I will post a video to our youtube channel as soon as I can catch it myself!

We will be celebrating his birthday with Saturday with a few family members and a couple friends. I know the party is mostly for the adults, but I am trying to make a monkey-shaped cake. I found the perfect fall cake and perfected a frosting for it - so cross you fingers it all comes out the way I'm hoping! Look for pictures in the next week.

If anyone is still reading this, thanks for not giving up on me. I promise I will get better! (Especially now that I have at least one nap I can count on.)

Big Boy

One thing is for sure and that is Liam is growing up really fast! One thing he has done is rollover! He has only done it twice from tummy to back - but he has done it once for mom and once for dad. Most recently for dad, I was in the kitchen when I heard a little thud and a cheer from Mike. I ran in to find Liam on his back with all fours in the air and a very surprised look on his face. He has also starting to eat like a big boy - he likes both squash and cereal mixed together. He is able to sit up on his own - always supervised but all by himself. He likes it so much that he thinks he should sit up all the time, even in his bathtub and in his bouncy seat. (Mo's Flickr has pics)


Night times have gotten a bit better the last couple nights. I've gotten up twice instead of four times! He has other sleep improvements but I don't want to jinx it so I will stay quiet for now!