This boy....

For a scrapbooker/obsessive documenter such as myself, I am horrified at how quickly my babies change when I have no time to record it. Of course I remember Liam's first year but do I remember exactly when he spoke his first word? No. When he started to wave 'bye bye'? Nope. When he stopped calling himself 'Miami'? Again, no. Does it matter? In the big picture, I guess it doesn't. But it makes me a little sad, and that's why I've been trying to take a little snapshot of Sarah's monthly milestones. Which doesn't do Liam much good. (If he is ever jealous I only have to point out that the 'baby's first year' photos are about 300:1 in his favor! First-born sydrome....) But even though Liam has passed all those really early milestones he is still an ever-changing and surprising little guy. So here you go: Liam at 2 yrs, 3 months......

* his vocabulary has exploded and he speaks in full sentences (at least most of the time).
* his favorite word is "poop" and I can tell by the twinkle in his eye when he's going to say it before it comes out of his mouth.
* still sleeps in a crib because he seems happy there and because I deeply value uninterrupted sleep.
* still sleeps with a soother for the above reasons.
* has an affinity for cute, 20-something blondes as evidenced by his flirting with waitresses and the playschool teacher he adores and hugs at the end of every class. She's not even a good teacher. And yes, it makes me a little jealous.
* totes a stepstool all over the kitchen so he can watch what's going on up on the counters. Moves the stepstool every time I move to the sink, counter, stove......you'd be surprised how much moving takes place to make noodles but he doesn't want to miss a thing!
* can now play quietly with Lego for 10 minutes or so while I put Sarah to bed. This may not be a big deal to Liam but it is a huge deal for me!
* has inherited my sweet tooth:
* loves to "skate". I promise I will get some video of that on here soon.
* does not want anyone to know when he's hurt. If he falls and I ask if he's okay he'll shout "NO!", smack a wall and run behind a chair to be alone. I wish he wasn't quite so 'brave' yet.
* loves to take showers and will inevitably shout "Naked Boy!" at some point during the process.
* is (finally) emerging from his "no no no" phase. At least most of the time.
* is a free spirit at playschool, but gets super shy at music class and curls up on the floor with his head in my lap. Surely he's not embarrassed by my singing?!
And the little anecdote that prompted me to write all this down.....
* During Matt's most recent work trip we spent a night over at my Mom and Dad's house. I let Liam sleep in the 'big bed' with me for the first time because the room we were sharing was really cold. (Ok, I woke him up to snuggle. Whatever.) In the middle of the night he started chatting to me about how he was rude to the ladies at the grocery store the day before and how he shouldn't say 'no no no'. Random, I know. Not wanting to encourage conversation at such an hour I kept my responses limited to "mmm hmm's" and after a few quiet moments I was convinced he had gone back to sleep. Then a sleepy little voice said "I miss Daddy." It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard, especially from a 2 year old just learning about emotions. I said "I miss Daddy, too" hugged him a little tighter and promised myself that I wouldn't let that sweet moment blend into all the others.
On the downside, I'm sure that sweet little sentiment is going to have me sobbing with mommy guilt at the boarding gate when Matt and I go on a little trip of our own in the near future. It's just what I do.
One more picture that is still making me laugh a few days later......Liam and I had a special outing just the two of us on Tuesday. We rode Skytrain and took the Seabus over to Lonsdale Quay, just for fun. We got some gummy bears while we were there (see sweet tooth note above!). Apparently he saved one in his pocket and fished it out in the car. When we were almost home he squealed and said "Mommy, look!".........


(If nothing looks unusual to you, click on the picture and look above his ear).