Happy Birthday Daddy!

Memorial Day is a busy weekend, but not too busy to say "Happy Birthday Daddy". Liam is celebrating here with a cupcake. As you can see, he definitely doesn't enjoy chocolate.

Liam gave daddy a card with daddy and a baby bear (the "little man") mowing the lawn. He was so proud of it. He said, countless times, "Daddy, you like your card?".

Happy Birthday Daddy.

Big Boy Bed

Last night Liam made the transition from his crib to the big boy bed. (It's actually a toddler bed since we weren't fully prepared to go out and buy a new bed plus an entire new bedroom set. Hopefully it will be a bridge for a short period of time!) We attempted the move a few weeks ago with both the crib and bed in the room, but it didn't work; Liam wanted to read books in the bed and go to sleep in the crib. So, we "pulled off the band-aid" and took the crib apart before bedtime. As a surprise (and incentive), Liam got a Lightening McQueen fuzzy blanket from mom and dad and a McQueen pillow from Grandma and Grandpa. It was a hit. Liam did a fabulous job sleeping in his new bed - without once getting up. When asked if he had a good sleep, he answered with an emphatic "YEAH!". Liam loves his new "big boy crib".

Liam's Priorities...

Liam is learning boundaries and "self-expression" at school. When someone is doing something wrong or when they are invading Liam's space, he says "walk away". See what happens when daddy interferes with food...

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What's Daddy teaching Liam?

I found this as I was (finally!) going through videos. Who do you think would have been blamed? Now we know the truth for future incidents...

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Liam, Santa. Santa, Liam.

Merry Christmas!!! We can't believe it's that time again. Wishing you a safe holiday and a healthy, happy 2011.

Liam met Santa for the first time this year. Waiting in line for about an hour was a hoot, with Liam dashing off to "ride" the escalator. As you can see, it was a thrilling moment for him! Maybe next year, when he understands a little bit more, it will be a larger event.

Basement Remodel

As promised a long, long time ago (September maybe?!?!)... our Basement Remodel! After lots of painting by Bill and my attempt at organizing an awful lot of toys...

Liam is very excited to have all his friends come over to play!

Here's a before picture... the picture is actually from TWO owners before us, so when we inherited it, it was much, much, much worse. But this should give you an idea:

Halloween 2010

Happy Halloween everyone! Continuing on his birthday theme, Liam donned a very warm monkey costume for the event. We thought Liam would be interested in 2-3 neighboring houses at best, but it turned into 25-30 visits around the neighborhood. About 1/4 of the way through, he figured out that he could have mom carry him to the next house, put him on the doorstep to ring the bell and say "trick or treat" and, once the door closes, have mom pick him up again. Lots of exercise for mom... a good excuse to partake in the candy provided!

ESG Halloween:
Halloween night:

Liam's 2nd Birthday

It's hard to believe Liam's already two. Seems like yesterday he was just a "tiny" 8.5lb little baby (yeah, OK, he was never really that tiny). Time flies! Liam had a monkey theme for the day (seemed appropriate as he is now climbing up and on everything) and celebrated with lots of family and friends. Thanks for coming everyone!

Mom's attempt at a monkey cake:

Liam digs in: