Monterey

Monterey is a darling little beach town, but looking back I wish we had spent less time there and more time in Carmel.  Monterey is very touristy; Carmel much more upscale (and Clint Eastwood used to be the mayor!)  Still, I was loving my camera (and subjects) in both locations...

Sometimes you just need to stare out at the ocean and reflect on life.

Liam: "I mean, yeah, I could definitely live here."

We Are Travelers.

This past week, Wes, Liam and I bit the bullet and flew to the Bay area to stay a week.  The last time we embarked on a major trip, I swore I wouldn't repeat the experience until Liam was a teenager, but we decided to give it one more shot.  To our great delight, Liam slept twelve hours per night and took three hour naps every day.  He was an angel child, from plane to pier to pack-n-play.  Perfect, except for the first morning he woke up in someone else's house...I dare say he was a bit disoriented...

We are eternally grateful to the Jensen family who put us up (and put up with us) for the entire week.  I should've known better than imposing a toddler on nearly-empty-nesters.  Even though Liam was heavenly, I think we'll fly solo next time around.  

One of my good college buddies, Eliot Davidoff and his girlfriend Amalia joined us for a little weekend toddler time.  Liam got to ride the Redwood Valley Railway steam engine train at Tilden Park, and was in heaven.  He kept repeating "choo choo!" over and over throughout the evening, and also "moose!" inexplicably.  We did not see any moose on our ride.  Maybe he missed Park City.

We enjoyed a beautiful San Francisco sunset from just outside Tilden and the Lewis Hall of Science. 

Naturally, I took about five bazillion pictures on our trip, so I will be dividing them into several posts.  

Liam Lately

Liam is truly his own person.  He has definite opinions, and expresses them openly.  It's going to be a long road teaching him that you can't always get what you want... With that said, he's pretty much the sweetest one year old I've ever met.  Ask him for kisses, and he will smack his lips together in an instant.  Ask him for hugs, and prepare yourself for a painful but loving head-butt.  He's an excellent helper to his mama, and will put toys away on demand, sometimes just to get them out again seconds later.  Hey, it's the thought that counts.  When we ask, "How big is Liam?", he loves raising his arms high to show us "SO Big!"  

He has about twelve teeth with more coming in rapidly, but this doesn't mean that he's willing to move onto big kid food.  If the texture isn't just right, watch out for half-chewed table grub landing on his lap.  He can't get enough whole blueberries, cheese, peas and eggs, but his favorite snack might be whole wheat bread topped with peanut butter, bananas and a dab of honey.

His favorite activities include dancing, playing piano and guitar ("tar") and listening to music, cooking with his own pots and pans, helping dada fix stuff with tools ("tooz"), unraveling rolls of toilet paper, NOT playing in the snow, watching big kids play, snuggling his bear, greeting people repeatedly with "Hi!", and reading.  He's very well-rounded, and I don't mean in the cheeks.   

Liam has quite the vocabulary.  He can say and recognize the following words: Dada, Mama, Papa, Mimi, ball, bear, plant ("pant"), tree, snow, moose, fan, bus, train ("ten"), hat, shoes, boot, duck ("duht"), belt ("bet"), shirt, brush ("bruss"), yes, no, bye, hi, banana ("nana"), berries ("biss"), tools ("tooz"), bottle ("baba") and my personal favorite...please ("piss").  We know that he understands many more than that.  He'll pretty much say anything you ask him to on demand; he's an excellent mimic.  We read recently that most fourteen month olds only say about three words.  Is it too early to assume that he's a baby genius?  

Wes and I couldn't be happier parents.  We both agree that we couldn't have got a better baby.  You know you love someone when you miss them while they're sleeping.  Just one question: What does it mean if Wes and I occasionally find ourselves watching Sesame Street without Liam?   Should we be concerned?