April Update - 24 Months

They say that time goes by fast when you have a baby and truly it does! Hard to believe that this past week we celebrated Liam's second birthday, he really is a little boy now. On Tuesday 21st, we dropped him off at daycare with cupcakes for all the kids and they made him a "Liam is 2 today" hat. We celebrated with a big pasta dinner (since "noodles" as Liam likes to call it) is his favourite and ice-cream cake which resulted in him zinging around the house until 10pm. Granny, Grandpa and Aunty Caylin spoiled him with a fire truck, dinosaur fork & spoon and a proper wheel barrow for the garden, while Aunty Jo bought him a ton of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff including train sets and acd which he went nuts for. Now when we're in the car we sing Thomas all the way to work. From Mommy & Daddy Liam got an outdoor climber and slide and a 6 kid Thomas tent which he had a great time in since he LOVES Thomas and LOVES tents.

The following Saturday was his birthday party and the theme was fire engines. We decorated the house and deck with red & yellow streamers, balloons and banners and put all sorts of riding toys, slide and the Thomas tent (also filled with balloons) out on the deck so the parents could enjoy drinks while the kids ran around and burned off some toddler energy. The weather turned out to be nice so everyone stayed outdoors and the kids had a ball. When it was time to sing "Happy Birthday", the kids crowded around the table oggling the cake while Liam's buddy Kai started picking off the smarties off and eating them. By then Liam had caught on to "blowing out the fire" and blew hard at the candles (with a little help from Gabby). There was total silence while the kids devoured their pieces of cake and then it was gift opening time. Liam got thoroughly spoiled with lot of reading and sticker activity books, a kite, a train whistle and more! That should keep him going for at least a few weeks.

Liam is talking like a two and a half to three year old in long sentences, his average is about 5-7 words long. It's amazing to hear him express himself or join in a conversation in his adorable hight pitched little voice. He'll say things like "I want to have that piece of cake" and is really into his "please's" and "thank you's". If you ask him to say please he says "PLEEEEEAAAASEEEE" really loud. It gets him what he wants most of the time, although he tends to know it and will say please if he wants something he shouldn't have. Then I feel guilty for not giving it to him when he's been so polite! He is also really into his singing, especially with nursery rhymes and Thomas, we'll hear him singing random exerpts from various songs and will join in like an off tune choir. I don't think I've sung songs on such a consistent basis since my school days. It's a great stress reliever (except when an encore is requested ten times for "Happy Birthday"). When we drive to work in the morning we have to play the Thomas CD and if it's not loud enough or we start talking Liam will say "louder" until the volume is to his satisfaction. 25 mins of Thomas every morning and every afternoon. No wonder I can't get the theme song out of my head!

This month we said a sad goodbye to our daycare lady Emily and Liam started his new daycare downtown. The first couple of weeks went fantastically as he was so stimulated by his new environment but now we are going through the "novelty is over, I'm going to scream my head off if you leave me" phase. Fortunately dropping off is Daddy's job so he has to deal with the trauma while I get to do pick up at the end of the day. Apparently it only lasts for a few minutes but it doesn't do much to calm Daddy's nerves. Since I did it for a year with Emily, I figure Daddy is due. Hopefully we'll get out of this phase soon for his sake and sanity!

This has been a busy month of celebrations with Liam's birthday and also Easter. Easter morning we heard a knock on the door and we we opened it there was an empty basket and a trail of eggs leading up the stairs to Gabby & Papa and Aunty Caylin's house. Since Liam had been exposed to chocolate "eggies" (as he likes to call them) from his outdoor Easter egg hunt with the daycare at the parliament buildings a few days before, he was ready & willing to pick up the eggs and stash them in his basket (at the same time requesting to eat them!). By the time all the eggs had been found his face was covered in chocolate and he was zinging around the living room. I think chocolate is by far his favourite food, he just LOVES the stuff! I can see Easter as being top on the favourite holiday list in the future.

Aunty Caylin is a HUGE Twilight fan and so Gabby & Papa took her & a friend to Forks, Washington (where the movie was filmed) for a weekend getaway. Along with the Twilight paraphanalia, they picked up the most adorable fireman rain jacket for Liam who wears it constantly. He loves anything to do with clips and straps of which the rain jacket has three so it kept him occupied for quite a while. Bonus - a jacket that entertains!

March Update - 23 Months

This has been the month of big changes. I have survived my first month of being back at work 9-5 and Liam has survived his first month of full-time daycare. All in all it has been a big success. Not only do I love being back to a more normal schedule but Liam is loving his time at Emily's and has an absolute ball. He doesn't enjoy getting up early (like his Mommy) but still wants to go to bed really late. Hopefully this will change at some point as it would be nice to have some time to ourselves in the evenings, but since he consistently sleeps through the night I guess I can't complain too much!

I know I keep on saying every month how Liam is talking so much more and how his vocabularly is leaping and bounding, but we have really noticed a BIG difference this month, especially in the last couple of weeks. He is talking like a 2.5 year old with his average sentence being 5-7 words long. He says things like "I don't want my pants on" and " I don't like the cheese" or "I want the yellow playdough". When Ian tries to wake him up in the morning he'll say "go away Daddy, I'm still sleeping". It's just adorable hearing all the funny things he comes up with. he can now say the entire alphabet and count to twenty without a hitch. I've been teaching him how to spell his name and simple words like "cat", I bought him some alphabet letters that stick to the walls of the bathtub so we spell while he's having a bath. he totally loves them. We've also been learning how to count to thirty. At this rate he'll be reading by the time he's three.

Potty training has become a challenge as Liam is interested in the toilet and talking about pee and poo, but still won't do anything when he sits on his seat. He does however enjoy taking off his diaper and throwing it onto the ground saying "I don't want my diaper on, take it off". I had draw the line when he made a number two and then proceeded to rip off his diaper and chuck it. That was not fun cleaning up! While Ian grabbed our brown child and madly scrambled for the shower, I scrubbed our beige carpet ten times over. Potty training when you have a beige carpet is not the best combination.

Liam has fallen in love with Thomas the Tank Engine, mostly due to the Thomas toys his buddy Easton has at daycare. We have gone off Noddy at bedtime and are now reading Thomas books. We also got him a Thomas train that sings the theme song and a Thomas set from the toy library. I can see the dollar signs flashing before my eyes. Thomas is a very expensive hobby! Good thing Thomas train tracks are compatible with oh so much cheaper IKEA train tracks. Bonus!

I have started party planning for Liam's second birthday which will be a Fire Engine theme. I ordered invitations and supplies from a store upisland that had all fire engine type paraphanalia so we will be set when the big day arrives! As an early birthday present (and due to a 50% off sale), we got Liam's first present which was a tiny tykes climber and slide. He went nuts over it and did about twenty slides in a row! Good for burning some late night energy. We have given up on trying to get him to bed early, he simply will not do it. Only problem is that he's super tired after daycare and gets really really cranky so it's a few hours of screaming and crying before he finally calms down and goes to sleep. Makes for a bit of a frazzled evening for us but what can you do! Napping on the weekends has also gone out the window. While nap time at Emily's is a total breeze, we have to go for a drive to get him to conk out. Then one person does shopping or errands and the other drives around in circles for an hour and a half. Bye bye free time!

So this is Liam's last month of being a one year old and we are definitely entering the phase of the terrible two's. It's like a switch suddenly flips and your sweet & innocent child is replaced by a Tasmanian Devil. Liam has a fiercly independent streak and will do the complete opposite of what you want him to. There is no way to reason with him and bribery does not always seem to work unless it involves chocolate. He loves chocolate! Almost as much as he loves saying NO! If he gets mad enough he lies on the ground and screams his head off or drags his feet so we both have to hold onto him to walk. Looks rather interesting when you're on a busy road. On the flip side he is a very funny little boy and says things that make us just howl. Plus he loves to dance and will turn into the boogie king when music comes on that he likes. Yes life is a constant up and down roller coaster but it's all worth it when Liam comes to me, gives me a big wet kiss and says "I love you Mommy"!

February Update - 22 Months

I am enjoying my last month as daytime Mommy - I accepted a position with my company at one of our sister recreation centres as supervisor of the staff starting March 1st. Liam will be going to Emily full-time for March and then starts at his new daycare April 1st. Lots of transitioning for him (and for me) so hopefully it will go ok! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a tad anxious about the whole thing but I know often times it's harder on the parent than the child, especially when I've been with Liam every day for almost two years. I won't miss the late nights and exhaustion though and Ian is super excited about having me home in the evening and on weekends. All in all it will be a very positive change for our family.

Liam is taking off again in the vocabulary department and is really starting to put together his sentences, mostly 3-4 words at a time. Some things he may say is "no like that", " where's my sucky"or "Daddy is funny". We have been reading longer books at bedtime including Noddy which is his favourite (same as Mommy). The drone of my voice seems to put both Ian and Liam to sleep, usually after about 10 mins Ian will start snoring. Liam has almost mastered the alphabet, missing only a few letters here and there and recognizes all the letters thanks to the help of the alphabet book I've been reading him and his new wooden puzzle. He is also almost at 20 in the number department, impressive for a not quite 2 year old. Shapes have progressed from squares and ovals to crescents and octagons and colours now include black, white and purple.

We have noticed more interest in the potty world but Liam seems to think of his expensive singing potty as more of a toy than a place to deposit so I gave in and got him an inexpensive "fit on the toilet seat" potty seat that he has far more interest in. Go figure. One afternoon after I sat him on it he said "bye-bye Mommy" and made me walk out of the bathroom so he could have some privacy. So I sat behind the wall and listened to him singing songs for about 10 minutes before I came back in and was promptly told to leave again. Gotta love the independent streak.

Liam's love of wheels has expanded to include garbage & recycling trucks and there is the beginnings of interest in trains. We went to the beach one day to play at the park and see the ocean, another interest. Thinking I was clever, I dressed Liam up in his waterproof Elmo suit, thick socks and boots and let him splash at the edge of the ocean. Sure enough after about a minute of splashing, he decided to wade further out to see how deep he coud go and lost his balance, falling right into the water on his bum. Ice cold ocean water seeped into his pants and down inside his boots, absolutely soaking him. This prompted screaming and a quick as a flash change into warm dry clothes. Mental note to self, buy a wet suit or wrap him up in plastic before attempting ocean exploration again. It's just not the same as the Caribbean. Luckily Mr. Miserable was instantly distracted when a giant recycling truck showed up the parking lot. Forget the playground or the ocean, hello big truck! The truck driver was super nice and let Liam sit in the driver's seat, the look on his face was priceless! The grin was like the Cheshire Cat, ear to ear. We spent about 45 minutes hanging out before a second truck arrived. It was recycling truck heaven. Liam was most upset when we had to leave and screamed harder than the ocean incident. Such is life!

January Update - 21 Months

2009 has started with another nasty round of the flu bug. This past week we took an overnight trip to Vancouver to watch a hockey game - Liam had been coughing slightly with a runny nose which took a sudden downturn to violent coughing coupled with vomiting. On our ferry trip home he decided to upchuck all over the cafeteria and Ian’s work outfit. While Ian tried to calm him down I grabbed napkins and starting wiping his shoes and the floor – definitely not the highlight of my day. To top it all off he went for round two and barfed all over his car seat while we were driving off the boat. This upset him so much he screamed for 15 minutes and then promptly passed out only to be woken up 20 minutes later to go to the doctor’s office. At this point I was feeling immensely frazzled and Ian had to go back to work so I was left to deal with my screaming, vomit covered child wrapped in a blanket outside the clinic. The doctor felt so sorry for me that I got in to see him right away and it turns out that Liam has a double ear infection and fluid on his lungs so he’s on antibiotics for a week three times a day. Poor little bugger. After getting his prescription at the pharmacy (where Liam got mad at the bubble bath bottles and smashed one on the floor) we finally made it home, drugs and broken bubble bath bottle in hand. What a week!

In some ways things are so much easier now and in others so much harder. Taking Liam to grocery stores or other places of the shopping kind is always a challenge. We have become the type of parents that bribe in order to keep him happy – to the point now that he knows that a grocery store trip equals a cookie. Recently he’s taken to pushing around the kids sized shopping carts which keep him occupied – only problem is that he is still learning to steer and prefers to crash into the sides of the aisles taking out products along the way. Typically you’ll find myself running around after beans and his tiny cart picking up items off the floor while Ian madly grabs things we need. Eventually we’ll learn to have one person go out and do the shopping.

We have been teaching Liam to say his name – at first he would say “Nemo” if you asked him what his name was, but over the course of the month he is now saying “Neeman”. “L’s” and “R’s” are the hardest syllables for him to say so it’s a good thing we didn’t name him Larry or Leroy. His communication skills are amazing and it is so nice to be able to ask him a question and for him to answer back. He consistently speaks in 3 to 4 word sentences and a couple of days ago said “no thank you” when I offered him a snack – what a polite little man! Well polite to Mommy anyway – Daddy tried to get his hair cut a few weeks ago and when the hairdresser came towards him with the scissors he pointed his finger at her and said “don’t!”. Most of the time I can understand what he is saying to me, and if I don’t I’ll ask him to show me which helps. Sometimes the things he comes up with are too funny – the other day Daddy was talking to him and apparently he wasn’t in the mood for listening as he suddenly interrupted him and said “too loud Daddy”. Another time we were walking down our street and he was going up and down the neighbourhood driveways saying “up goes Boo Boo” and “down goes Boo Boo”. Yelling is a favourite and he likes to yell “mooooommmmmm” and “mommmyeeeeeee”. Daddy gets the yell too. The funniest thing is to hear him yell out when he counts – he starts quietly at one and by the time he gets to six he yells out at the top of his voice – “six!!seven!!eight!!” - makes me laugh! Other words that are cute are “abudah” for ambulance and “helicopet” for helicopter.

In word world we have been working on letters and Liam can recite almost the entire alphabet – gets stumped on “LMNOP” and “QRSTUV” but otherwise can say all the other letters. He also recognizes almost all the letters when you point to them and will say them out loud. I think his magnetic fridge phonics have also been helpful as he plugs a letter into the phonics base and a voice says the letter and how to say the sound. This coupled with the animal farm phonics and it’s enough to drive you batty. Not only that but Liam is in full throwing mode lately and everything gets chucked everywhere. Once again I spend more time with my face close to the ground than not. If you’re back doesn’t give out carrying your heavy bundle around everywhere for the first year, the constant picking up of tiny objects will get you.

Now that Liam is older we have decided to start looking at going back to the regular 9-5 Mon to Fri work schedule and have some semblance of normality back in our lives. We accepted a spot starting in April in the toddler program of a really nice daycare that has a wonderful arts program and lots of great activities for the kids. Liam’s big brain would definitely be stimulated all day and Mommy & Daddy would be happier with evenings and weekends off together. So I’m putting out my feelers and we’ll see how my work situation goes.

Since my New Years resolution was to “preserve our memories” I have been working away like mad and so far managed this month to create 3 albums of our recent vacations as well as a first birthday book for Liam. My biggest project is his storybook which will take me all of February to complete. In addition we finally got to see our professional photos from our shoot back in November which are amazing. I’ll be dropping some big bucks for the prints for sure! The goal is to have all of the albums, storybook, photos and baby book done by April 1st – no pressure! Now if only I could find time…….