More silly saying from Liam

In the past week Liam has really started to say more and more things and he is parroting what others say.

Yesterday Sariah was getting her snake out while we were moving her dresser and had the cage down, and Liam who LOVES the snakes, wanted to see it and started saying Billy (which is what Sariah named her snake). It sort of sounds likes "bee yee". Dad asked him again "what is his name?" and he said again "bee yee", and poked his belly! We all cracked up! He is associating names of things with various names for body parts! Too Funny!

O.K. so, this is how BOYS play with Barbie cars! Liam stole the cars from his sisters, sort of threw them down the stairs, and... then procedded to try to ride it around the house! what a silly kid!

Liam is talking (more)

O.K. so....... so far this blog has been mostly about Liam. Well he is the smallest and I spend more of my time each day with him... since all the girls are in school all day. So I guess it just works out that way. It's not that my other children don't come up with cute things that they do or say ever... I just don't see it all that often any more.

Liam has started talking. He's trying to say lots of words, so far mostly repeating what you ask him to say, but that is a start! He is funny though, he whispers a lot of the words he says. I don't know why, but we think it's pretty funny. he still signs lots of words, but has started saying and signing at the same time. I don't know if it helped that all the kids were around last week durring spring break or what, but he definitely had lots more interaction last week and really started saying things.

Before Grandpa got here Sariah was showing Liam the pictures on the wall and saying Grandpa, and we ended up with him saying 'papa' we liked that, so that's what we encouraged. He would say it whenever 'papa' walked in the door (which was many times a day, since they were working and would go in and out of the house to the garage 'workshop' where they would cut the wood or drywall, or whatever...). Grandpa also brought his bird since grandma was also going to be gone that week visiting her daughters in MD. so... the bird came down in the back of his van. Liam LOVED the bird! he has been signing bird for many many months now, but this past week he would sign AND say bird, as soon as he woke up in the morning or ANYTIME the garage door opened (and he would hear it chirping/singing) and go running to see the bird. At night he would constantly wan tto go see it and we would have to tell him the bird went night night! see he has a blankie on him, it's night night... be quiet so you don't wake him up.

On monday morning after 'papa' and daddy left, he asked to go see the 'Bird' and we had to tell him it went bye bye with papa... he was very sad!

I don't know how to explain the way he talks... he does't say all the extra words, but makees this noise... in a sort of sing songy way "ah ah ____" and then the word he is saying. So to say I want to go out and see the bird, he would say "ah ah bird". It generally means I want, but it can also mean where is, or any other sorts of things. you hear him say it, and then try to figure out what word he is actually saing and what it is that he truely wants to convey to you... it is definitley interesting...

Amanda started with him a while ago, saying things like can you say? "_____" and trying to get him to repeat things. Her main one is "I", he whispers "I", "Love", "_____" and then whatever name she is trying to get him to say. It started out with "Panna" (Amanda - from a little friend who she babysits and that is what Emma started calling her when she began talking, so now it's what we say at our house too). It sort of became a game, and before she could try to get him to say "Panna", I would jump in with "MOMMA"! and sometimes he'd say, "Momma" as 'Panna' was trying to get him to say her name. it was sort of a competition as to who he 'LOVED' more! so now we play this game all the time and all the girls get involved, "Nana" (Hannah), "Ra Ra" (Sariah - also a name she picked up from another little friend who started saying her name that way and now it's gone through about 4 families as her name for the little on'es to call her), "Roo" or 'Roo roo' (For Marissa Roo a little nickname we'd given her along the way), or Bekah, (pretty self explainitory, I would hope).

Then the next thing Amanda would say and try to get him to say is... "so and so, MEAN" when somone would do something to him that wasn't so nice... now, periodically when 'Panna' is trying to get him to say he loves someone... he'll say "Panna (or whoever he is talking about) MEAN!" it might not lead to good things down the road, but for now it is quite amusing.

It's Potty Time

Dana,
We should get your little man and my little man together for some fweaking potty time! ;-)Liam has some interest - o.k. most of the interest is to get nakey! and to read books! and to use T.P. to wipe (wipe what I don't know!), and throw it in the potty and flush! The big draw... flushing! He accidentally went pee pee once on the potty (or should I say NEAR the potty or in front of the potty!). he was sitting reading a book (while I had to sit in the bathroom with him), and when he actually started to pee, he had to lean over and stand up to see what was going on! I think 2 or 3 drops landed IN the potty! UGH!
He LOVES the pull ups ("Go Go's"! with Diego from Dora the explorer on them, thanks to his sisters). His Physical Therapist realized a few months back that his diapers were actually splinting his hip joint, and when it was removed he didn't have very strong muscles and would fall a lot, so we try to have him go without a diaper periodically however.. he routinely pees on the floor! then comes to tell me he peed, and runs to show me, where exactly the WET spot is! yay! I guess that's better than not telling me.
Last week he was wearing big boy underwear (training pants, they at least help catch some of the pee pee), he came running in signing 'toilet' with no pants on, so I get up to follow him to the bathroom (which we have to have a door knob lock on so he doesn't flush something BAD - he put a sheet of bubble wrap in the potty last week and started to flush! YIKES! or go fishing), and I see something on the side of his face! YUCK!!!!!!! EW GROSS!!!!!!! so then I have to FIND the mess that he took off ALL by HIMSELF! luckily the worst part of the mess was on him and not the carpet. GROSS! GROSS!
GROSS! Bath Time!!!!!!!!!! Strange the things we think of as a lucky day!
(Yesterday he tried to flush a musical intrument bell shaker bracelet down my friend's toilet... that is what we pulled out anyway, we're not entirely sure if he did actually flush something else down... oh brother!)

He's all boy! or is he...

So, from pretty much the DAY he was born, people have been asking me if having a boy is different? At first, he was a baby, what's so 'different' about a baby! I mean, they each have their own little personalities, but what is 'BOY' compared to 'GIRL' when they are still so itty bitty!

The first definitely BOY thing I noticed was the day he grabbed a Tupperware Lid (flat), and was crawling around pushing it across the floor. He did the whole crawl on the floor with one knee down and one knee up pushing that lid across the kitchen floor! I told Bill that Liam NEEDED some CARS to push around. So for the next few weeks, I felt like I bought him a new little car nearly every time we went near a store! (that didn't' particularly make dad happy, but they were little inexpensive cars...). He pushes them around and makes noises, that, truth be told... the girls NEVER did in that way! His first word was BALL, and then CAR... So there, yes he's a BOY!

However, people are still constantly asking if he's 'different' than the girls were?!? I don't know how to answer that! Sometimes I even think I try to answer with a no, not so much answer, just because I don't want to put too much stock into the boy, girl thing... My girls were pretty adventurous, and I have had some climbers!

When Marissa was little people used to tell me all the time, she was my 'boy' (like, since I'd had another girl I must have been trying for a boy, why else would you have 5 children after all, and so as a consolation prize, she was pretty rough and tumble...)! At 2 she would climb up onto the cross bars of the swing set just to get to the trapeze swing thing and swing for all she was worth! I told her once, "You Scare Me!" Her reply??? "AAARRRGGG, I a MONSTER!" see she scared me!
One time she was jumping off the top of a little tykes playground caste slide thing, and the little boy (5 or 6 yrs old) couldn't let a little 2 yr old girl beat him (on his own playground), so he jumped off too, and broke his leg, just before summer and he couldn't swim!!! I just didn't watch her when she was little, as well as now, when she would do her crazy things! I would be all in a panic watching her climb, etc. but if I didn't watch I was fine... and IF she fell or hurt herself in some way, it was just easier to pick up the pieces afterward - usually a kiss and or a band aid or ice pack would do the trick just fine! She frequently has some cut or scrape and bruises galore! She has torn off her end of her toes more times than I can count. She has bumped, bruised, herself in ways that amaze me... I just chalk it up to, 'that's Marissa'!

When we built our playground, Bill put in an 8 or 9 ft. climbing wall, he thought he'd positioned the grips far enough apart so that 3 yr old Marissa couldn't do it for a while until she got bigger... NO problem, she was up and over the top in no time flat! She climbed on top of the crossing bars and would go across them that way. When we got a Basketball hoop thing a couple of years ago, she would shimmy up the pole and grab the rim with the net and scoot hand over hand to hang from the outside edge of it! Like I said, I just don't' watch!
Really, it's better for all of us, that way!

O.K. so back to the BOY...
Last week he picked up a baby doll and a little blankie to wrap it in, and took that and his 'CELL Phone' (up to his ear and talking the whole while), with him in the car when we went some where. Then the other day he was playing and brought me a doll sling his sisters had been using the day before and a baby doll for me to put it on him. I did and he was so cute, then he disappeared upstairs, and when he came down the stairs, obviously one of his sisters had helped him out because he then had two baby dolls in the sling, (one in front and one in back) AND he was carrying three more baby dolls. He was so happy with himself. Of course he rides in my sling lots, so that is a normal thing for him, and he was so cute with his arms and sling full of babies. I of course made him stand still so that I could some pictures (o.k. so I tried, but some of the pictures are of him running past me and then running away). I just thought how sweet! What a good daddy he will be one day!

The next day (Sunday) I had gotten most of the kids bathed and we were all (most of the girls) in my bathroom getting ready for church, doing hair, etc... I was on my way downstairs, and when I walked past the little girls bedroom door, there was Liam, sitting on the floor, with the play MAKE UP, just getting himself ready as well! Poor kid! he sees a LOT of Hair and Make up and purses and pretty shoes at our house! He Loves them all!!! O.K. so it may not be an inherent love as much as the example he sees pretty much every day, all day long... so yes in some ways he's ALL BOY or so they say... and then there are the days he plays babies, make-up and carries a purse over his shoulder. I think all in all, he'll be just fine!

And one day when I get some help with the picture problem I'm having... I'll post some pictures of him with his babies, and putting on the make-up. He'll hate me for it one day, but he's little and cute... so it's o.k.!

More silly words

Today, Liam wanted some 'O's! As he has recently started calling Cheerios. So, he's going through the house saying 'O's, and pointing to his NOSE!!!!! Too cute!