He has a real eye for photography.

So we were lucky enough to have breakfast for dinner tonight.  Mommy and Liam made lemon poppy seed pancakes.  Liam is starting to become a pretty good helper.



 First, you mix it all together.

 Then you stir it.

 And stir it some more.

 MMMMM...those look yummy!

Hi Mommy!

 Liam REALLY liked the strawberry topping Mommy made!

 After dinner, Liam practiced for his future job in Mommy's cafe, and poured us all some coffee.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the photographs that Liam took this afternoon.

 Ha "eye" for photography! Get it?

 Ode to sweatshirt.

 Blue carpet in afternoon light.

 Smelling smelly dog.

 One blue left, one brown right.

 Who needs focus?

Cheese!

That's all the art for now.  Tune in later for more work from a future master.

Climbing the Monkey Bars, Part II

We had two more break-outs today.

Any suggestions for keeping him contained?  We want to keep him in his crib as long as possible.  Or is it just time to try a big kid's bed?

Climbing the Monkey Bars

Liam is sick this week.  Or rather, he has a snotty nose and is generally in a tired and crabby mood.  I put him in his crib this afternoon and he spent a good 20 minutes screaming and crying to be let out.  Ok, so I'm a sucker and let him out.

But only for a little while!

After his break from the pokey it was time to go back and try again.  Sometimes we get lucky and he lies right down.  Not so today.  More crying!  More screaming!  Oh, the humanity!  "Mother, life is so unfaaaaairrr!"

Meanwhile, I retreated down the hall to give him some time to settle down.

And then he settled down.  No more crying.  No more screaming.  "That was fast," I thought to myself.

But wait, what is that noise?  Breathing?  In the hallway?  Did he...?

And then a little head peeked around the corner.  He smiled a sheepish smile as if to say, "Heh.  Hey Mom.  Guess what I just did?"

Yup, our kid monkeyed his way out of his crib.

I took him back down the hall and put him in his bed.  He pointed at his book - I gave it to him.  He pointed at his water - I gave it to him.  He pointed at his babies, his tractor, his blankets - I gave all of these to him (all of which he threw out of his bed 10 minutes earlier, by the way), and he lay down and closed his eyes for a nap.

I shall never understand this child.

I Hope You're Not Allergic to Peanuts...

Although if you weren't before, you may be now:

Well, at least he cleaned his plate...

...with his hair.

Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  Liam went to play school in the afternoon, had a V-Day party with his friends, and came home with a bag of Valentines Day cards and treats.

We looked at the cards again this morning before breakfast.  Liam sorted out and lined up the three Winnie-the-Pooh cards, then pointed out that they all had a Piglet on them.

Then he put a whole package of gummy bears in his mouth at once. It's ok! They were organic! That means they're HEALTHY, right?! No? Oh well. Daddy's not home, so we're going to do whatever we want.

Liam would like you to know he got a "beu monter tuck."

 "Hope you had a MONSTER of a day!"
 *groan*

Happy late Valentine's Day!  Now I'm going to go eat some chocolate as a replacement for my absent husband.  It's not really a fair trade, but we don't have any beef cakes in the house.

Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone

Daddy's gone this week.  AGAIN.  This week is going to be the longest he's been gone, as he flew out Sunday night and doesn't get home until Friday.  Today is Monday.  We've got a lot of time to fill.

And here is what we did today:

Put cereal up our noses.  Ok, actually only Liam did this.

Cleaned out the kitchen cupboards.  Don't YOU like cooking in an obstacle course?

Baked whole wheat pumpkin muffins and bread.  Which turned out really short because half of the batter was in the muffins.  Liam is getting much better at being an assistant though - he only put his hand in the batter twice!

Ok, this wasn't today - it was a week or two ago, but it was really really good.  It was a BLT with a fried egg (I die!), avocado, and chipotle mayo.  Oh, man was it ever good....

Dr. Teeth

Liam hates to have his teeth brushed.  I mean seriously hates it, with the fire of a thousand suns. 

Our bedtime routine includes toothbrushing, and he will only willingly put the brush in his mouth long enough to suck off the tiny bit of toothpaste we grant him.  Then he proceeds to brush the pillow, or little lamb, or one of his books.  But not his teeth.

We beg and plead and definitely give him a chance to brush his teeth peacefully, but this struggle usually devolves into one of us laying him flat on the bed, and straddling him in order to pin his arms down.  Then the other one holds his head still and together we try to pry his mouth open and sweep the brush quickly over his teeth, all the while trying not to get bitten.

It is awful.

Today I took Liam to his very first dentist appointment.   I expected the worst, and for good reason, obviously.

This child - THIS CHILD - made a complete fool out of me.  He sat in the big chair all by himself.  He opened his mouth wide.  He let the dental hygenist put a mirror in his mouth.  He opened his mouth wide and let her brush his teeth - ALL of his teeth.  For a good two minutes.  He let her floss his teeth. (HE FRAKING LET HER FLOSS HIS TEETH. ARE YOU EVEN KIDDING ME?)  He let her brush his teeth again.  And he didn't make a peep. 

I sat there, aghast, thinking I had perhaps stumbled into a parallel universe where my child was actually well-behaved and cooperative.  It was confusing and wonderful.  I want to go back to there.

Then the dentist came in and he freaked out.  "That's more like it," I thought.  Until he settled down and let the dentist stick another mirror in there.  Let him stick his fingers in his mouth and poke around (and DIDN'T bite him).  Opened and closed his jaw on command.

Who was this kid!?

They sent us home with a new toothbrush and some dental floss.  I told the hygenist we expected her at our house at bedtime, because she is apparently magic.  Also, I'd like to keep all my fingers.

Ridiculous.