Liam Lately

In just a few short weeks, our Baby Liam will turn two.  To me, that is incomprehensible.  That's one fifth of the way to ten!  Light speed, people.  Liam is full of energy, personality, words, humor, light, curiosity and mischief.  Enjoy a few updates on our favorite tiny dancer.  

Liam weighs approximately thirty-six pounds.  That is double...DOUBLE...the size of some of his peers. He wears 4T pants and 3T in everything else.  It's not that he's fat...in fact, he is perfectly proportional.  He looks like a normal toddler until you pick him up and realize he may be made of lead.  That's a Rawson trait, I think.  We tend to have healthy bone density.  

Some of Liam's favorite activities include anything having to do with music, practicing jumping and throwing/kicking, coloring, playing with Play-Dough, climbing up to slides but not going down them, going to the "bouncy houses"/library/zoo/park/splash pad or "sprinklers"/pool or any place involving a new adventure...playing with his buddy, Peter and the cousins, hiking, taking baths and showers, eating fruit of any variety, playing trains, playing "Mangoes" (Leggos) and reading books.  He also loves looking for animals in our yard, and sometimes we get lucky.

I am amazed at his aptitude for language.  He is at least a year or more ahead of his age group, which bodes well for preschool in a couple of years.  Everything that I have read indicates that he should be starting to put three and even four word simple sentences together.  How about, "I want mama sit down with Liam and build blocks just for a minute." Fourteen!  Seriously?  We've also heard, "I want to do dishes with dada" (music to my ears) and "I'm gonna sit down for a little bit" (he knows his limits.)  He understands more complex concepts as well, such as "I'm going backwards" and "We'll go outside later."  

Some of my favorite moments are when he's trying to recall a new word he learned and he can't quite pinpoint what it was, so he associates it with something he already knows.  For example, occasionally he refers to the library as the "strawberry," ice cream cone as "pine cone," pancake as "cupcake", etc.  There is nothing cuter, I tell you.

Call me a bad mama, but some of my favorite Liam moments are time-outs.  Our little one-year-old knows when he's in trouble and he couldn't be a cuter criminal.  We will put him in time-out for a minute or so and if anyone tries to speak to him, he'll remind you "time-out..." in a defeated little voice.  He'll stay seated the entire time and wait for mama or dada to rescue him.  We ask him why he was in time-out and let him complete our sentences, like "You were in time-out because you opened mama's (drawer) and made a mess with her (mascara) ((see below)) when mama said (no)."  Then, he'll say "I will listen.  I'm sorry, mama."  He wraps things up with the sweetest hug and kiss, it makes me want to put him in time-out all the time!  Okay, I won't, I won't.  He's a good boy!  It's hard to discipline someone who spends most of his time melting you to mush...

Sometimes we catch Liam singing to himself in his crib, usually in the mornings.  Just yesterday he was singing "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" in near perfect pitch.  I've even caught him playing peekaboo with himself in mirrors "I see you, Liam!"  He can sing his ABC's with just four hints (A, H, Q,W).  Liam is nearly ready for potty training, we think.  Twice now, he has told us "have to go potty...need to take the diaper off" and has gone #1 and #2 by his own initiative.  I don't want to rush things, but I think he's telling us that he may be ready!   

And then, when he is just worn out from a good day's play, he'll put his head down on his arm or the floor and sigh, "So tired." Could it get any better than this?  I can't see how.  We love him to pieces.  Happy almost birthday, sweet boy!  Your mama and dada are SO proud of you!