The terrible twos are a-brewin'

These days Liam will eat just about anything you put in front of him.  As long as that anything is chicken nuggets.  When we first started Liam on baby foods, life looked promising.  Carrots, garden vegetables, sweet potatoes, spinach and potatoes, etc.  He ate all of it will little to no complaint. One could even say that he ate with gusto.  So I guess I took for granted that when it came time to move to actual solids, that he may not be as...open to new foods.  But ever since he sprouted his first teeth, it has been incredibly difficult to get him to try new foods.  And I am not talking about strange items.  I am taking about mac and cheese, spaghetti, fish sticks.  The things that kids are supposed to love.  It has really only been during the past several months that we can even get him to eat foods like chicken nuggets and pizza after multiple failed attempts.  Lately he has even taken to refusing common staples like Goldfish, bananas and pancakes. 

What is a mom to do?  There are truly days where I wonder how he survives on a handful of Kashi crackers and an apple, and other days where he eats so much that I wonder whether I need to be concerned about childhood obesity! I hear from other moms that this is common, and it may have something to do with the three new teeth that he has sprouted in the past few weeks.  And the teething may also have something to do with why he has been so darn fussy lately.  I am not sure if this is a preview of what we should expect heading into the terrible twos or whether this is related to teething, possible virus, time changes, travel, etc.

Part of Liam's fussiness may stem from his inability to express his frustrations and desires right now.  Because of Liam's past experience with meningitis, he will probably need a few more hearing exams than other children.  Before he had tubes put in his ears in October, his pediatric ENT ran a brief hearing test to have a basis for comparison after the surgery.  Because of the amount of fluid in his ears, they were not able to get a good reading.  Six weeks after the tubes, we went for a follow up and another hearing test was performed. The individual who performed the exam had some concerns about the tones that Liam was responding to, so in December we had to have a sedated ABR exam performed.  The anticipation of the exam made me a nervous wreck, and I often had to be reminded not to get too ahead of myself on the potential results. 

Fortunately, the results came back fine and Liam's hearing was deemed to be normal.  But because some of the concerns about his speech development, we were referred to a speech therapist.  We have been taking him twice a week for a few weeks now, and have started to notice an improvement in the words he is starting to say and even the gibberish that he uses.  But because he doesn't have a large vocabulary, I think that he gets frustrated with his inability to articulate his wants.  One of the words that he has just started using with consistency is "Hello."  It tickles him to grab my cell phone, open it up and start saying, "Hello" followed by gibberish.  He loves this game so much, that he has started to meltdown when he sees me talking on my phone and I won't let him "play along." 

He is usually such a sweet boy, but today alone he had too many meltdown to count.  For example, he would throw a Goldfish across the room and then cry because one of the dogs ate it.  He would laugh one moment and then cry the next.  I am not sure whether this is a fluke or a glimpse into what to expect as we head into his terrible twos. While Eric and I realize that all kids go through this stage, today we definitely earned our "parenting stripes."

A healthy amount of narcissism

Babies love mirrors.  And the makers of toys realize that.  Which is why there are so many products out there for babies to glimpse their cute images: rattles, tummy time mats, mobiles.  It is part of the way that their development is bolstered.  As a baby, Liam was obsessed with our chrome trashcan because he could see his face.  As a germaphobe I had to let go of the fact that my baby was going to occasionally lick the trashcan.

What I didn't realize is that Liam's love of mirrors would extend well into his toddlerhood. In his younger toddler class he earned the name "The Little Prince." The two teachers fawned over him and let him get away with A LOT. They would tell me that they used to set his naptime cot in front of the classroom mirror (the kind that they use in dance classes) because he was comforted by his image and would talk himself to sleep. And for some time now, when we give him his nightly bath, he uses the chrome bathtub fixtures to check himself out. He has even been known to kiss his image in the drain.

Every day when we pick him up from school, we get a detailed report showing us what he ate, when he napped, when he had a diaper change, etc.  There is also a comment section which lets a parent know what the child's favorite activity of the day was.  I have taken to saving a couple of these recent reports that I felt were "cute."  However, I have started to notice a pattern.

"Liam had fun running around looking at himself in our room."

And on another day, "Liam was looking at himself in the mirror and

running away from himself laughing!! It was so cute!!

We have always thought these acts were adorable. We have even taken to consoling him by taking him to one of the mirrors in the house and letting him get a good look at himself.  But at what point do you start to wonder if your son will be the kind of man who will check his image out in a girl's sunglasses during a date. I can imagine him fixing his hair in a nonchalant way while his date discusses the merits of the Geneva convention. Surely the love of his reflection is something that will wane in the years to come.

Back to the Burque

For the long holiday weekend Eric, Liam and I made the trek to Albuquerque to visit family and friends. As always, we did more eating than anything else! My best friend, Stephanie, and I had the opportunity to spend lots of time catching up. We have been friends since we were twelve years old so we have been through a whole lot. This past weekend marked the first time that I was able to meet her sweet baby, Annabelle. It is really amazing to think about our evolution as women. When we first met we were practically playing with dolls and now we are mommies!

On Friday we went to the St. James Tearoom for afternoon tea. This was my second time to go to the tearoom and it was a blast. I love using the delicate china and eating foods like scones with lemon curd and fresh cream. Yum! I did NOT love the salmon puff pastry, but we make concessions.

At the tearoom, they assign you a personal server who brings in platters of treats and different types of teas to go with each dish.

You also get to choose your own hat to wear from among the St. James collection. Steph opted for the J-Lo inspired wide-brimmed hat. I chose a vintage brown felt hat from the 1940s.

Among our teatime treats: Cheddar & date tart, cucumber sandwiches, almond cream with amaretto peaches, chocolate pecan caramel tart, and lemon bon bons. All I gotta say is thank God for sweater season.

The next day Steph and I once again met up for a spa day. As a side note, I also spent time with my family...I promise! I just don't have many pictures of our time hanging out! We went to the Garden Gate Day Spa in Los Lunas for the "Adore My Body" package. As background, this spa is known as one of the top green spas in the country. The package included a 30 minute massage, back scrub and hydrating paraffin hand wrap, and champagne glass of sparking cider. But is also included a day pass for use of their facilities including hot tub, mineral pool, sauna, steam room and rain showers. You can also order lunch and have it brought to the aromatherapy room where you are treated to your choice of teas. And the best part: It was $49 for the whole day! I had the best massage therapist and I am convinced that a good 30 minute massage is better than a sub-par one hour massage. By the time we left, I felt like the most pampered girl in the whole world!

This was the first time we introduced Liam and Annabelle. Liam was not so interested in his new little friend. He was, however, interested in all of Belle's toys.

We were lucky enough to have our trip coincide with Eric's Dad being in town for business, so the boys had several opportunities to spend time together. The day I went to the spa, Eric and Liam had some good bonding time.

Liam and Grandpa Ron. This was the best of several pictures that Eric took. Several of them included a very blurry Liam who did NOT want to be confined for picture taking.

This was one of my favorite pictures.

The large crow in the backyard is always a source of curiosity for Liam.

Grandpa Ron was a great baseball player when he was younger. Here he is showing Liam a thing or two about the game.

Saturday night we went over to the Baca's house for some good ol' fashioned fun, including a game of Beezerweezer, beer and Dion's pizza and salad. Stephanie and I decided pretty early on, that if our friendship was to stay intact for the remainder of our trip, that we should probably be on the same team. We are very competitive and sore losers. We are also terrible winners, complete with matching victory dance and "in your face" winners remarks. Such sore winners are we, that after we won one of the rounds, we decided to try to lap a second round around the board before the guys had even gotten around the first time (this was very much against the rules BTW). As a reminder to my fellow teammates, the American flag only has 50 stars.

For some time now, I have been wanting to get Liam baptised in the church where I grew up. We also have plans to have Liam dedicated in our current home church in the spring. The day of the baptism was significant because it was also my grandmother's birthday. My grandmother was like a second mother to me, and when both she and my grandfather passed away six years ago, I felt like I had lost a part of myself. So needless to say, this day had multiple special meaning to me.

It is important to both me and Eric to raise Liam as a Christian and to provide the best example we can for him. We are committed to helping him develop a special relationship with God and to filling his life with family and friends who also share this commitment.

Liam wearing his little pinstripe suit.

Hamming it up with Uncle David.

Trying to determine if he should alert anyone to the fact that Annabelle's vision has been impaired by a rogue headband.

This is a horrible picture, but it reminded me one of those "write your own caption" photos.

I was curious to see how Liam did with me doting on another baby. At first he didn't seem to care, but when he saw me loving on Belle, he had the most sorrowful meltdown.

Sweet Baby Belle

We had a memorable time this day, shared with family and friends alike. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of pictures of the actual day.

Another beautiful New Mexico sunset. Every time I see a breathtaking sunset here in Texas, I get a little ache in my chest for my home state.

We had a really wonderful time and feel very blessed to have spent so much time with our family and friends. We look forward to catching up with our family in the months to come!

Jump!

Today we went to a birthday party for two of Liam's friends, Charlotte and Levi. It was the most fun I have had at a children's birthday party! They had it at a place called Bounce Town. It was this big warehouse filled with inflatable bounce houses, slides, mazes, etc. This was Liam's first time to jump around in a bounce house.

Being the neurotic mom that I am, I was a little nervous that some of the bigger kids might trample him. Or that he might fall out and hurt himself. Or that he might barf everywhere. But he had the best time! In fact, he pretty much left the place kicking and screaming. Since the place has "an open gym" time every week for a low cost, I don't think that it will be our last time there.


It took him a little time to adjust to the mazes, but pretty soon we were chasing after him, struggling to keep up!


Parents could go in the bounce areas too. Although since most of the kids were a little older, there weren't that many in there.

If you have never seen a kid learning how to jump, it is hilarious! Liam couldn't quite figure it out at first. He would bend his knees and expect the ground to give.

Slam dunk thanks to Daddy's efforts!

Liam wanted no help going down all the slides.

During the birthday group photo, Liam decided that he would no longer sit down. Not while there were slides to slide, bounce houses to bounce in.

Allison and Raelyn made these super cute headbands for the kids to wear.

Princess Charlotte, the birthday girl.

Liam's dinosaur headband.

Adorable cupcakes!

Sitting like such a big boy eating his cupcake and drinking his Capri Sun. I didn't even know he knew how to drink a Capri Sun!

And just because I could!