Liam is still tending his flock of cows. They apparently live in the park in front of our house. They eat a lot, and swing. I mentioned this to Liam yesterday. I asked if all the swinging gives the cows indigestion. He tried to say indigestion. So now when I ask, most of the time the cows are still on the swings and eating. If they aren't on the swings they are on the slide. If they are on the slide they are not eating. Why not?
Cows full.
With total clarity, Liam recalled our trip to the pumpkin farm today. We were looking at a photo of Liam with the pumpkins.
He said "Liam pumpkins."
"At the farm," I told him.
"Train farm," referring to Remlinger Farm, where we went in October.
"Yes, what else was at the train farm?"
"Car. Drive Car, Liam."
(He drove a car along a track at the farm.)
"What else?"
"D. Shannon. Brian. Mommy. Daddy. Liam. Train. Car. Fun."
I know what you're thinking, but we don't have photos of all of us there. We haven't talked about it, nor have we been there since. He simply remembered all of it like a snapshot. Amazing.
Yesterday we had another amazing conversation. I've been teaching him to say President Obama. On Tuesday I explained the whole Inaugural Process and the President's job duties on the way to school. We practiced saying President Obama a few times. I really didn't think he was paying attention. Yesterday, the radio was on and NPR played a clip of Obama saying something random. From the back seat, without provocation, Liam said Pedident 'Bama. Amazing.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New President and Conversation
Today is Inauguration Day, so we now have a new President. The first President Liam will know is President Obama. I remember learning about President Reagan in first grade. On Inauguration Day, we went to church and prayed for him to lead the country well. We did not know about what was going on in the world. Years later, I learned what happened on Inauguration Day 1981, when hostages were released. Perhaps my fondness of Reagan comes from my early understanding of the President's leadership; knowledge that the country's leader sets things right. I hope Liam learns this about our new President when he goes to school. Today we started; Liam and I practiced saying President Obama. Pededomama.
On a much lighter subject, Liam and I have had a few conversations. These are the first, where we talk about one topic for a few minutes, all on one topic. The first was about a butterfly at the museum. We were in the butterfly room at the Pacific Science Center when a butterfly grazed Liam's cheek. Not wanting him to be startled, I told him the butterfly kissed his cheek. He was unconvinced.
Later that night, as Liam was going to sleep, he said out of the blue, "Mama, butterfly." He pointed to his cheek and said kiss. I confirmed what he said and asked if it was nice. He agreed that it was nice. Then he thought for a minute. "Nice butterfly kiss. Scary." I asked if he was scared of the butterfly and he agreed. I could tell he was thinking about the conflict between liking the butterfly landing on him, and yet being startled by it coming at him so suddenly.
All those months I wondered about his thoughts. What's this little guy thinking about? Now I know.
The same night, just before bed, Liam was so excited, staring out the front bedroom window. I went over and asked him what was out there. We looked at the dark playground, swings blowing in the wind a little.
"Cows."
"You see cows?" I asked him. "Where?"
"Swings."
"You see cows on the swings?
"Yep."
I asked, not sure why, "What are the cows doing?"
"Eating."
So we have invisible cows on the swings, eating.
It gets better. He now has to check on the cows frequently.
Yesterday I asked if the cows were still on the swings. "NO mama, no cows."
"The cows are gone?" I asked.
"Cows sleeping."
On a much lighter subject, Liam and I have had a few conversations. These are the first, where we talk about one topic for a few minutes, all on one topic. The first was about a butterfly at the museum. We were in the butterfly room at the Pacific Science Center when a butterfly grazed Liam's cheek. Not wanting him to be startled, I told him the butterfly kissed his cheek. He was unconvinced.
Later that night, as Liam was going to sleep, he said out of the blue, "Mama, butterfly." He pointed to his cheek and said kiss. I confirmed what he said and asked if it was nice. He agreed that it was nice. Then he thought for a minute. "Nice butterfly kiss. Scary." I asked if he was scared of the butterfly and he agreed. I could tell he was thinking about the conflict between liking the butterfly landing on him, and yet being startled by it coming at him so suddenly.
All those months I wondered about his thoughts. What's this little guy thinking about? Now I know.
The same night, just before bed, Liam was so excited, staring out the front bedroom window. I went over and asked him what was out there. We looked at the dark playground, swings blowing in the wind a little.
"Cows."
"You see cows?" I asked him. "Where?"
"Swings."
"You see cows on the swings?
"Yep."
I asked, not sure why, "What are the cows doing?"
"Eating."
So we have invisible cows on the swings, eating.
It gets better. He now has to check on the cows frequently.
Yesterday I asked if the cows were still on the swings. "NO mama, no cows."
"The cows are gone?" I asked.
"Cows sleeping."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Back to School
Liam is really cute these days. Though don't get me wrong, he has his moments.
He went back to school on Monday. His teacher, Mrs. Ally was very happy to see him. He was supposed to start in the two-year-old room, but he's not happy there yet. So he goes back to Mrs. Ally's room for most of the day. Devin is at home -- he's not feeling well. I hear he has pinkeye and a sinus infection. We're keeping our distance.
Since we have been home, we have started watching the old Pink Panther cartoons. They each last about 6 minutes, which is the perfect length for Liam. I don't know if he gets all of the humor (some of it is absurd, which he laughs at) but he LOVES watching "Pink" as he calls it.
Liam also now counts. He likes to count steps, up to four. We are convinced that he understands numbers, but I know children can't usually do this until after two. He also has a thousand words; some are big words for a little boy. He puts them together in Liam sentences: out cold in hot (means he wants a jacket or he wants to go inside), car mama drive no Liam (which means he wants to drive the car instead of me). He learns a new word every day. Sometimes he even uses the new word correctly. So yesterday's word was crash. As we drove by the trains along C street, he asked if trains crash. Then later, watching Pink Panther, he saw a crash and used the right word.
He also has new friends. Big Penguin arrived as a Christmas gift from Devin. This bird is as big as Liam, but it goes everywhere with him. He 'teaches' Big Penguin about trains and outside and the dog. Zoe sat on the floor ripping the head off her stuffed duck, which was her Christmas present. Liam sat beside Big Penguin, at a distance from Zoe, instructing Big Penguin: 'no, no, No, NO Dog'.
As mentioned, we're going through a stage where he's so cute most of the time. But he's starting to test the boundaries. At the grocery store, he neither wants to walk or ride in the cart. He'd prefer to ride on the front, which he can't do for very long. So then he falls off and gets run over. Obviously, he doesn't like that for very long either. It's a challenge.
We also struggle with bedtime. He won't sleep in the crib, won't even look at it. But there's too much freedom with the toddler bed. He's like a jack-in-the box; up every ten seconds, standing at the door, like maybe we changed our minds and now we WANT to play with him for a few more hours. I know these are good problems to have, but still, it balances the wonderfulness of the almost two stage.
More soon, as always.
He went back to school on Monday. His teacher, Mrs. Ally was very happy to see him. He was supposed to start in the two-year-old room, but he's not happy there yet. So he goes back to Mrs. Ally's room for most of the day. Devin is at home -- he's not feeling well. I hear he has pinkeye and a sinus infection. We're keeping our distance.
Since we have been home, we have started watching the old Pink Panther cartoons. They each last about 6 minutes, which is the perfect length for Liam. I don't know if he gets all of the humor (some of it is absurd, which he laughs at) but he LOVES watching "Pink" as he calls it.
Liam also now counts. He likes to count steps, up to four. We are convinced that he understands numbers, but I know children can't usually do this until after two. He also has a thousand words; some are big words for a little boy. He puts them together in Liam sentences: out cold in hot (means he wants a jacket or he wants to go inside), car mama drive no Liam (which means he wants to drive the car instead of me). He learns a new word every day. Sometimes he even uses the new word correctly. So yesterday's word was crash. As we drove by the trains along C street, he asked if trains crash. Then later, watching Pink Panther, he saw a crash and used the right word.
He also has new friends. Big Penguin arrived as a Christmas gift from Devin. This bird is as big as Liam, but it goes everywhere with him. He 'teaches' Big Penguin about trains and outside and the dog. Zoe sat on the floor ripping the head off her stuffed duck, which was her Christmas present. Liam sat beside Big Penguin, at a distance from Zoe, instructing Big Penguin: 'no, no, No, NO Dog'.
As mentioned, we're going through a stage where he's so cute most of the time. But he's starting to test the boundaries. At the grocery store, he neither wants to walk or ride in the cart. He'd prefer to ride on the front, which he can't do for very long. So then he falls off and gets run over. Obviously, he doesn't like that for very long either. It's a challenge.
We also struggle with bedtime. He won't sleep in the crib, won't even look at it. But there's too much freedom with the toddler bed. He's like a jack-in-the box; up every ten seconds, standing at the door, like maybe we changed our minds and now we WANT to play with him for a few more hours. I know these are good problems to have, but still, it balances the wonderfulness of the almost two stage.
More soon, as always.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
From Sand to Snow
Yesterday was our first day home. Liam woke up at 3AM, which was only three hours after he went to sleep. And once he saw that it was snowing, there was no getting him back to bed! We waited until the sun came up before we stepped onto the porch. The falling snow was so pretty. It reminded me so much of the places I lived before where a heavy snowfall was only remarkable if school was closed, or if it happened in June. Liam waited patiently until 8:30, when it was late enough to call next door to see if we could borrow Devin's snow pants. But when when we finally went over to get the snow pants, Liam gave up on playing the snow; playing at D's house was much better.
After a while, we took both boys outside to build a snowman. The grownups did the work, but luckily Brian and I are both snow experts, having grown up in the midwest. Lester said he was used to smaller snowmen with only two segments. Shannon admitted she didn't really know where to start, having grown up here. But Liam and Devin were somewhat amused with the snowman, once he had a face and hat.
Liam is now totally confused about sand and snow. He interchanges the words, and he acts the same in both contexts. In sand, he was always trying to brush it from his feet. He was scared to walk on it at first, and he wouldn't touch it for an even longer time. He behaved the same with snow, except for being bundled up instead of stripped down. We played in the sand on Wednesday and in the snow on Friday. Tough life I guess.
It's good to be home, though waking up at 3am is tedious. I feel like the day is half over by the time the sun comes up. Liam made the time switch so quickly in Florida. It was like he has an internal clock that wakes him at 6:10 am every day, regardless of time zone. Anyway, I better get to unpacking. Photos soon.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Last Day
After three long weeks, we're starting to pack up. It's the last day of vacation, and the last day of 2008.
Today we will go to the park and the beach for the last time. The weather has cooled into the mid 70s, but it's still sunny and dry. Yesterday we met the "Greats" for lunch; Liam was especially excited to see his "Pa-Pa" as he calls him.
After lunch, we found the Tampa Zoo (Lowry Park Zoo) and we were surprised to get in for free with our Point Defiance Zoo membership. This zoo was excellent, just as good as the Brevard Zoo. The difference is that the Tampa Zoo has rides for the kids, and there were many more people there. The best part was at the alligator area. I asked Liam how many alligators he saw. "Four Chomp" (his word for gators). Then he added "Three Caw" (his word for birds). I don't know how this is possible, but he got it right. He can count to four!
We have photos from the zoo (and the whole trip), but they will have to stay on the cameras another day or two until we get home.
Goodbye 70-degree days and warm, sandy beaches. Next stop, Seattle!
And Happy 1st Birthday Kaile! See you soon!
Today we will go to the park and the beach for the last time. The weather has cooled into the mid 70s, but it's still sunny and dry. Yesterday we met the "Greats" for lunch; Liam was especially excited to see his "Pa-Pa" as he calls him. After lunch, we found the Tampa Zoo (Lowry Park Zoo) and we were surprised to get in for free with our Point Defiance Zoo membership. This zoo was excellent, just as good as the Brevard Zoo. The difference is that the Tampa Zoo has rides for the kids, and there were many more people there. The best part was at the alligator area. I asked Liam how many alligators he saw. "Four Chomp" (his word for gators). Then he added "Three Caw" (his word for birds). I don't know how this is possible, but he got it right. He can count to four!
We have photos from the zoo (and the whole trip), but they will have to stay on the cameras another day or two until we get home.
Goodbye 70-degree days and warm, sandy beaches. Next stop, Seattle!
And Happy 1st Birthday Kaile! See you soon!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Bean's Second Christmas
Merry Christmas from Florida! It's Liam's second Christmas, and he's happily sleeping in his bed. This morning Santa arrived, bringing him a Blue's Clues DVD, which is exactly what he has been asking for. Every morning he asks to watch 'Blue' as he does at home. But it isn't on TV here. So now he can watch whenever!
We went to church after opening presents. Liam behaved though most of the service. The rest of the crowd went to the beach after church while Liam took a nap. We will eat dinner in about an hour.
Thomas was excited to see a dolphin swimming not too far from shore while we were at the beach. But then again, he was also excited to see Santa getting arrested (in the back of a police car) on the way home from church. They head home to England and will be missed by all of us, especially Liam.
We went to church after opening presents. Liam behaved though most of the service. The rest of the crowd went to the beach after church while Liam took a nap. We will eat dinner in about an hour.
Thomas was excited to see a dolphin swimming not too far from shore while we were at the beach. But then again, he was also excited to see Santa getting arrested (in the back of a police car) on the way home from church. They head home to England and will be missed by all of us, especially Liam.
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