The conquest of stairs

Liam has no fear of our stairs. He can climb ours pretty darn quick, sometimes to follow one of us, sometimes just to have fun. Another degree of freedom for him, and one lost for me...

Still no walking. He can stand unassisted and took two steps for Shanna a few weeks ago, but I have yet to witness a repeat two-step performance.

He has taken to drawing. He knows how to draw on the magna-doodle board (but not erase). At this point the drawings are nothing more than lines. We lov'em.

And no baby food. Liam now eats pretty much what we eat for every meal. We take care to ensure things are chopped up small - no choking allowed. His fingers are adept at picking up tasty morsels off of the tray, but not so good at getting into his mouth. The percentage is slowly climbing. Formula is no more, he's all about whole milk now. It is still delivered in a bottle, he's not too keen about sippy cups.

Liam's 1sr Year Checkup

This morning was Liam's 1st year checkup.

Weight: 23 lbs 13 oz
Length: 30 1/4 inches

All is good. And he is ahead of the developmental curve in one very important category - he gives hugs!!

Baby steps

No, Liam isn't walking. His cruis'n is becoming more confident. There are occasions where he will stand, unsupported.

I'm talking about Shanna completing another semester. It'll be another 2 1/2 years before she's done, but at least this semester is over. One step at a time.

Thanks dear, hang in there.

Daddy, what's dammit?

Opps, another new word assimilated and repeated by the sponge. It started with a potty break.

Galen had gone to the bathroom to potty. When he finished, with his underwear around his ankles, he said that the wipes needed water. He picked up the box and tilted it, and water poured out. He had already "watered" the box. As I was retrieving the box, Liam was taking advantage of my distraction by splashing his hand in the toilet water - which hadn't been flushed yet. I picked him up to wash his hands, and Galen, being uncooperative, was playing around. Liam was placed in the other room and I returned to herding Galen. Again, Liam took advantage of my distraction by splashing in the toilet that was miraculously still unflushed. Galen was still traipsing around with ankle-rider underwear, unraveling the toilet paper. Oh, and I forgot to mention that he had pooped. So while Liam is trying to play with the floaties, Galen .....

About this time I said "dammit Galen." Not with anger, not with a raised voice, but with a voice of frustration from a circular activity that was neither preemptive, preventative, or having any sense of closure.

"Daddy, what's dammit." Exactly.

Hand in hand

Preschool wasn't open yet when we went to drop off Galen. Another parent-n-child was waiting, Galen had a chance to play with a friend before the start of school. She's younger than him by 6 months, physically they are the same size. And she has bright red, almost orange, hair.

They held hands almost the entire time. I smiled and my heart grew three sizes...