L'il Liam

One thing I neglected to mention in my last post about the weekend was our futile search for some sort of baby sign language DVD.   Why the sudden interest?  Last week, amidst my own personal breakdown, Liam had an evaluation from the speech therapist to see if he needed therapy.  At two, he probably has less than 20 words that he uses and he does virtually no two word combinations (the only one being “wa-shat?”).  It’s nothing majorly concerning and I’m not worried.  His pediatrician isn’t really worried either, but referred us out anyhow just to be on the safe side.

I’m not sure why we’re not doing Early Intervention or something would require less piling of the kids in cars and driving clear across town every week, but… whatever.  The gal was nice and Liam took to her right away.  And his stubborness to speak on command became clear right away (as did his nearly non-existant attention span).  But before our hour was up, she got him to two things: ask for an M&M (personal favorite) by going “mmm” and to make the sign for “more”.  And… well, WOW.  Kile and I are both sold.

Of course, finding a baby sign language DVD has proven much more difficult than I would have expected.  We did find a board book at Babies R Us that has illustrations of babies doing the signs.  This will give us some general signs that we can start teaching him.  Also, we discovered last night that Evie LOVES THIS BOOK.  I was looking at it while she was in my arms and when she saw what I was looking at, she about threw herself forward and out of my arms towards the book.  Her eyes were wide as saucers and she started to breathe very excitedly.  Of course, it was the pictures she was jazzed about.  But it made me realize, “Hey, just we can do this whole signing thing with her too!”

Very exciting.

I never would have imagined that Liam would grasp on so quickly to the notion of signing.  He, since yesterday, has already learned the sign for “hug” (he would request them continually after that, which was so adorable I think I died and am dead right now) and I plan to go over more of them this afternoon if I get a chance.  I really would like a DVD though, that we can look at together.  Mostly because that’s an easier format for us both to look at in case I might be tied down nursing Evie or somesuch.

So does anyone have any good recommendations?  What DVDs or VHS movies have worked for you?  Where did you find them to buy them because so far we’re coming up blank there too.  Any and all information will be greatly appreciated!  (We’re total newbies, can you tell?)

It’s days like this that make a person realize why stay at home parents aren’t paid for what they do.

“And why is that?” you ask.

And I answer: Because, there isn’t enough money IN THE WORLD to make up for all the shit we have to put up with.

It really hasn’t been a bad day in the classical sense of the term.  But, it’s been a DAY.  The sort that you rather hope ends with an alcoholic beverage and perhaps a neckrub sometime before your head hits the pillow and you are able to embrace blessed, blessed oblivion.

Liam had his 2 year old well-check appointment with the pediatrician this morning.  And, amazingly enough, I was able to get myself and the two wee ones out the door with little difficulty.  Huzzah!  Of course, I noticed a shimmy as I drove down the road (we have a slow leak on one of our tires and it needs to be aired up from time to time), plus the van needed gas.  I tend to see 1/4 of a tank as being empty and it was 1/4 of a tank.  But… no time to fill it.

Bah.

The appointment went well enough.  Liam is still our puny runt.  We got a sheet of paper with suggestions for feeding picky eaters.  The doctor approved our giving him pedia-sure and suggested that on the days we didn’t give him that, that he had some sort of multi-vitamin.  And to keep trying to get him to eat fruits and vegetables.  Especially vegetables.

The big thing was his speech.  No big surprise to us, he has a delay.  Harry did too, at the same age, and it hasn’t hurt him much.  Still, we don’t see any reason to turn down speech therapy because it couldn’t possibly hurt and could only help.  However, it would mean more driving around for me (figures we don’t have anyone around here that comes to the home, right?).  I’ll do what I have to do.

I don’t believe that this means he’ll be behind all his life or anything.  I really have no other reason to be concerned.  I know he’s a clever boy.  He just isn’t where his peers are verbally yet.  And hopefully, this will help him get there.  No pressure.  I’m not worried.

After the appointment, we were all starved for lunch.  We headed to the university to eat there, as is the custom.  Lunch was good and I had food that was decidedly unhealthy for me.  It was delicious.  But then it was time to go home.

So many things went wrong from there.  Liam fell asleep in the van, which as you mothers of toddlers know, that just completely fux’s with the whole nap schedule.  Evie screamed in the van at first, before settling down.  She commenced screaming again as soon as we got home.  I carried Liam in, still sleeping, and put him up in his crib.  Back downstairs, I let the dogs out and noticed that Beetoe (I could call her something really, really bad right here and not have a lick of guilt) had torn through a bag of garbage and strewn it everywhere.

I then fetched Evie out of her seat and set her on the changing table.  She had just had a monstrous poop and the clean up was about as much fun as you’d expect.  Meanwhile, I can hear Beetoe losing her shit out on the back step because, “OMG, I’m OUTSIDE.  And it’s above 70 degrees!!!  I’M DYING!!!”  Evie doesn’t settle down as I clean her up, and instead ramps up her displeasure.  My blood pressure starts to do scary things.

I set her in the bouncer seat so I can clean up the mess Beetoe made.  Of course, Evie is still going thermonuclear and Beetoe is now flinging herself uselessly at the sliding door.  Everything gets cleaned up, the dogs get let in and I pick up Evie.  Seems all is right with the world, right?

I settle her down and we go upstairs to lay down.  Which, you know, sorta works for a while.  But Evie starts to get restless and as we STILL have no monitor, I’m reluctant to leave her upstairs unmonitored so I bring her downstairs.  She falls asleep in her bouncer.  I had opened Liam’s bedroom door in the hopes that some of the cool air coming from the a/c unit in our bedroom would waft into his room which gets really hot in the afternoon.

This worked against me because he woke up.  I then made the collossal mistake of handing him his sippy cup.  This only made him mad because he recognized I was putting him off.  I came downstairs and sorted through the clean cloth diapers that came out of the dryer that morning, listening to Liam cry.  I start to think that the door being opened is making him upset.  So what do I do?  I go up and close it.  Which pissed him off again, but then he was already pissed.

Now, he has been crying and sleeping in 5 minute intervals.  It occurs to me that perhaps his leg is bothering him where they gave him his shot.  Perhaps I should have given him some Motrin before laying him down.  Which, you know, I WOULD HAVE, had he not fallen asleep in the van on the way home.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there you have it.  That’s my day so far.

Do you know how RARE it is to have something on your parents that you can guilt them about?  At least around these parts, it’s pretty hard.  Mostly because it seems our parents are professionals at making us feel guilty without having any backsplash on them.

BUT NO MORE.  Because the next time one of us does something to cause them to try to guilt us, all we’ll have to do is say, “Oh yeah?  Remember when you forgot LIAM’S SECOND BIRTHDAY??”

It’s like “Sixteen Candles” all over again.  Although, admittedly, it would have been a lot more traumatic for Liam if he had been sixteen years old and not two.  As it was, I don’t even think he really understood that it was his birthday yesterday and if he did, exactly what having a birthday entails.

BUT STILL.

What are the chances that BOTH sets of grandparents will forget a birthday at the same time?  I feel like it’s the start of some “Twilight Zone” episode or something.  We called both sets last night just to make sure someone wasn’t languishing in a hospital somewhere (hey, it’s happened before).  And both sets were suitably shamed by their indescretion.  No real good excuses, just forgot.  AWESOME.

Meanwhile, let’s have a look at some of the pictures from our low-key festivitiies last night.  It was just the five of us, and we tried to do all things that Liam enjoyed.  We went to dinner at McDonald’s where he scored his very own Happy Meal (but Harry accidentally drank his chocolate milk), came home to open presents and then finished off with cupcakes and ice cream.  Liam had a great time.  Especially with the ginormous rubber “Go, Diego, Go” ball that “Evie picked out for him”.  LAUGHED HIS FOOL HEAD OFF.  And he really enjoyed the cupcake (almost didn’t wait to blow out the candles to take a bite) and got a kick out of spooning his own ice cream.  Messy?  Yes.  But worth it.

What are all these toys?  For me?  NO WAY.

Mmmm…  chocolate.

Bad sign: He had the wild look in his eyes BEFORE he ate the cupcake.

We had to actually prevent him from faceplanting in the cupcakes and start monching.

All in all, a good time was had.  And today he gets to play with all the toys, so you know, less time spent pestering me!  Yay!

It’s Liam’s birthday today.  Can you believe it?  Two years ago to the minute, we were hoofing it over to the hospital from our doctor’s office, getting checked in at the admittance desk and waiting for a room to open up in Labor and Delivery.  It was real and it was happening.  FINALLY.

It’s strange to think, that two years plus one day ago we were still a family of three.  We got very used to it just being the three of us.  And Harry was getting older and more independent.  We had left the baby years behind and now, fast forward to today, we’re hip deep in baby.

UNBELIEVABLE.

This last year was a rough one.  Not that it wasn’t a good year, because it has been fabulous for us.  But there has been an awful lot of upheaval that we never saw coming at this time last year.  No, last year it was All Liam, All the Time.  And he, naturally, loved it.

Since he was born, Liam has been referred to as “The Golden Child” around here.  He was our miracle baby.  And watching him grow up through his first year and then his second one has been nothing short of a treasure.  He has such a personality and in this last year, it has just blossomed.  He charms everyone with his wit and antics, twinkling eyes and engaging grin.  And did I mention the antics?

Last year we didn’t know Liam would have a baby sister.  But it wasn’t too long after his first birthday that we found out.  And so, predictably, a lot of this year was filled with baby preparations.  So the focus was diverted somewhat off of Liam, but if you knew Liam, you would know that we couldn’t divert it for long.  Watching this child grow and learn actually became a great distraction from obsessing about the baby growing within my belly.

He has such an adventurous spirit.  I know a lot of you who have toddler boys are going, “Uhm, DUH?”  But if you had known Harry was a toddler, you would understand.  He was perhaps the most cautious child in the history of children.  He never took a chance and was the rare sort of child that if we told him “NO” then he actually would not do that anymore.  Yeah, Liam is not that child.

We were so nervous when Evie was born.  We worried that Liam would be jealous of the baby, that he would act out against us and against the baby.  And we were so surprised when that didn’t happen.  In fact, he hardly noticed her at first.  There was interest, sure.  But he couldn’t be bothered to stop in his playing to throw things at his sister.  He was too busy having fun.

And now here he is.  TWO.  I have a feeling that Liam will be redefining the Terrible Twos for us (Harry didn’t have them at all).  He’s not talking a whole lot, just his regular Liam gibberish.  I can understand a few things he says (the other day, he was playing under a blanket fort with Harry and Harry farted and Liam didn’t even miss a beat, saying, “Uh oh… wa-shat?”  I about bust a gut laughing), and know the rest will come.  His big brother was a late talker as well.  I’m not worried about him.

He doesn’t walk when he can run.  That pretty much sums him up to a t.  Liam moves fast and surprises us with how fast he catches on to things, learns, immitates and acts on his impulses.  He’s quick to anger, but also quick to forgive and quick to give hugs.  He loves hugs.  But maybe not as much as he loves to run.

We’re not going all out for a party this year.  Just the five of us here at home having cupcakes and ice cream.  Everyone has picked out a gift for the little guy and we know he’s going to be in hog heaven.  I can’t wait to see the look on his face (I gotta make the cupcakes first, though!).  Most of all, I can’t believe he is two years old already.  I find myself looking ahead and wondering what this year will bring us.  Chaos, of that I’m sure.  But if I know Liam, it will also bring lots and lots of fun.  Happy Birthday, monkey boy!