My little man

Just a few pictures of Liam, since I haven't been keeping up with things. He is awesome. A pain at times, but awesome. He is great with Maia, and loves to get her laughing. She loves him. And he's smart. And loves to drawn pictures apparently.

My little man, looking so snazzy. (Thanks to Thomas for allowing Liam to try on the hat)


Here is Liam trying on the headpiece of Maia's costume...which was HIS costume when he was a baby. A bit small for him now.


This is a family picture that Liam drew. From left to right: Liam, Maia (in her car seat), Mommy, Daddy.





Here are a bunch of sibling shots. God, I love them! My kids, that is...not the pictures...though those are nice too.

Halloween Parade and Halloween

A quick post with pictures from Liam's Halloween Parade at Daycare, as well as a few good shots of him in his costume.








And here's Jack Sparrow! Totally awesome costume, huh? We got a lot of "things" to hang on it, to look more like Jack Sparrow and not just some random pirate. He had belts and sashes and a compass and even a "chicken foot" that Matt made for him out of black wire/twisty-tie.

Our Family

While at Daycare, Liam drew a picture of our family. I didn't actually realize he could draw something that could be identified as a person. Probably because I have never asked him to draw stuff like that while at home. Shame on me. But after seeing this, I totally want to see him draw more pictures.


Anyway, this is a picture of the four of us. Can you guess which one I am?
(Hint, I am not either of the two little ones...Liam and Maia...nor the one that is supposed to be Matt on the far right...heh)

All Pirate, All the Time

Couldn't help sharing this picture of Liam...he totally loves pretending to be a pirate. And not just any pirate, but one of the big ones from "Pirates of the Caribbean"...any of the movies. Usually Davy Jones, but also Blackbeard or, as pictured here, Captain Jack Sparrow. Occassionaly Barbosa, but he specifies "Barbosa with the peg leg". He's got a thing for peg legs. Ha.

Pre-K

Another step was made in Liam's journey through life. Today he left his preschool class and moved to the classrom next door. Today he got new teachers. Today he starts a new chapter in his life. Today...he started Pre-K! A precursor to Kindergarten. And while I know it's not as big a milestone as Kindergarten, it's still a big step. He is one year away from "school age". My Liam...my little baby boy, not so little and babyish anymore. Not that has has been a baby for a while. But still...
The note in his cubby said to include a folder for homework. HOMEWORK. Wow. I know it won't be a huge deal, but it's still the beginnings of having work to do that he brings home. And he is to bring in a coloring book to keep him busy when he doesnt nap...which means that he is getting old enough that they don't enforce naps anymore.

Its crazy, I tell you, this growing up thing. Of course, how will I feel when he goes to Kindergarten next year. Eep.

Awesome Little Boy and Big Brother

I haven't posted about Liam in a while...just too much going on. And there are so many awesome little things going on with him...it's hard to put it all into one post. You kind of have to be around him. The things he says, the ideas he has, the conclusions he draws, the movies he acts out, the people he pretends to be, the awesome big brother that he is.

He loves being around his baby sister Maia, playing with her and taking care of her. He often wants to hug her, to kiss her, to show her toys and how to play with them, to talk to her. He seems to have gotten even more close to her these last few weeks, more loving. It's so wonderful to see. He likes taking pictures with her. Here are a few:






He LOVES pretending and imitating. He often pretends to be a pirate of one sort or another, usually from any of the Pirates of the Carribean movies. He has a few pirates costumes that he likes to make use of when he remembers he has them.


He also likes pretending he is an insect, USUALLY a spider. He was amused when I showed him the orb weavers out in the garden, and the spiders that make little tunnels in the bushes. This is him pretending he is an orb weaver spider with a tunnel, that just caught a fly.


Here, Liam is wearing his sunglasses Guy Fieri style. I had pointed this style out while watching "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on TV, and Liam found it amusing. He often puts on his sunglasses in the back and declares himself to be like Guy. Heh..


During a summer BBQ at my parents place, the weather turned wet and drippy. Liam and my Dad had been enjoying Liam's little pool, but the rain chased them out of the pool and under the umbrella to dry out...

...well, at least for a while. Then Liam totally got into splashing around on the patio, in the rain drops, getting completely soaked. I swear he was more wet in the rain than he was in the pool. He had so much fun jumping around, doing little dance moves, and going crazy.



And finally, a picture of Liam with his pirate Mickey, because Liam asked me to take one with it. heh.


Here are some random things about him I love:
- He loves being the bad guy from pretty much any movie. If a new movie is on, he quickly establishes who the bad guy is and pretends to be that person.
- He says "Willy Wonker" instead of Willy Wonka. heh.
- Everything can be a pirate ship or a spider web in our house (and outside it).
- He tries to tickle Maia by just barely touching her, as if he is afraid to hurt her.
- He loves Davy Jones and Blackbeard almost as much as Captain Jack Sparrow.
- He has a great giggle.
- He likes being helpful.
- He is good about cleaning up his toys, especially the ones in the living room, and he often does it without prompting.
- He pretends to be a "baby" something (spider, bird, seahorse, mouse, etc) and I am the "mommy" something.
- When he pretends that we are all pirates, Maia is never a pirate because "she is too nice".
- He has a desire to please us in a task. For example, when he eats all the food on his plate, he loves to show us.
- He also likes to "win" at eating...meaning he finishes eating first. (sometimes this comes in handy in getting to eat something)
- He has any number of swords and such that he shoves into the band of his pants, pretending they are in a scabbard. OR finding something that acts as a scabbard that he then shoves a "sword" into and puts all of THAT into his pants.
- He picks out his own clothes sometimes, and really likes picking out his own pajamas (although sometimes it means going through a new one every night)
- He puts his pajamas in the hamper without being told (though he tends to do this after one night of wearing them, so again, he goes through them quickly).
- He loves lighting touching Maia's fuzzy hair (it's just growing back in), and exclaiming about how soft it is.

I just realized that I could go on and on and would still forget a lot of stuff, and you still wouldn't get the complete idea of who he is, what he is like. God, I love him!

Drink up me hearties, Yo Ho!

This past Friday, Liam got to do something he always wanted to do...

...ride on a pirate ship!


(Liam isn't smiling here, but that's because he was too enraptured by what else was going on and I couldn't get him to smile. He is thrilled to be on the pirate ship, and is seen here in front of their emblem).

Quick info...we went on a pirate cruise down in Wildwood, NJ, on a ship called the Dark Star. Young "pirates" get to take a one hour cruise out onto Sunset Lake (not out that far), and participate in some pirate-y fun. On the way out there, some local scurvy dogs attacked with water-laden projectiles (water balloons thrown from a passing motorboat), and the young pirates fired back with the ship's cannons (water was pumped into aim-able "cannons" on the side of the ship, allowing the kids to spray enemies with water). There was a duel between the crew to settle an argument about looking for treasure. A few enemy pirates attacked from their ship (another motorboat, but more pirate-y, with pirates on it spraying the kids with big water guns) and once again the young pirates had to shoot their cannons at the enemy vessel. The first encounter caused the enemies to drop a map to the buried treasure, and a second encounter left us with the treasure (fake jeweled rings). After that, the young scallywags got to enjoy some Dark Star Grog (root beer) in their pirate mugs. Totally fun.

So...
Captain Jim and Wet Dog (one of the deckhands) are seen here dueling, fighting over some dispute about the treasure they were off to find.


Bloody Mary was the other crew member, in addition to Terrible Tim who was steering the ship, and she helped rally the volunteer crew (that would be us and our kids) to help fight the attacking pirates and keep a sharp eye out for treasure.


Captain Jim addresses the younger part of the crew, making sure they are fit to sail on his vessel. Liam is happy to be among them.



The young pirate helpers are gathered around the Captain to take a look at the map (see Liam to the right, in the pirate hat), to figure out where to find the treasure. This was after the first encounter with the enemy pirates.


Everyone is excited to look for the treasure and lets out a cheer.


Pirate Cole the Drooler joins in on the excitement, with MadDog PopPop. (yeah, I made those up myself...shush)


The two youngest scallywags on board (and their mommies). Heh.


The youngest pirate got tired out and sought her favorite position (Maia wasn't very happy with the loud noises and such by the end of the cruise).


And for a perfect ending to the pirate cruise, Liam scores a picture with the Captain.

Awesome Liam

I haven't posted in a while, so figured I would throw up some pictures and a few updates.

This was Liam at the local Toys For Tots event we had. He was pretending the playset was his pirate ship. That's what he does all the time... pretend he is a pirate and that he is on a ship. He is often Captain Jack Sparrow or Davy Jones. Sometimes he is Barbosa or Blackbeard. I am often Elizabeth Swan, but sometimes I am one of the other characters. It's very cute. Exhausting at times, but cute.




This is Liam in Daddy's hat...but he calls it his "Barbosa Hat". *grin*


Liam is an awesome big brother. He oftens gets down on Maia's playmat and interacts with her. I came down one morning to find the two of them there, with Liam chattering away at Maia, and Maia making her own "talking" sounds now and then, with Liam then responding to them as if she had said something. "That sound? Oh, that was the door opening." "No, it was a door upstairs, not down here." Heh.

He also insisted on reading to her, running upstairs to get one of his favorite books, "Peter Pan".


I haven't weighed or measured Liam in a while, but last time I checked he was 36 pounds. He feels like a lot more when I lift him, though...very solid. He is probably at least that much in inches, but I guess I really should measure him.

(okay, I am out of time and will have to post more at a later date. I really do need to post about him more...but so much time is taken up with the baby...I feel bad).

Berry picking

We took Liam (and Maia) to Johnson's Corner Farm for some Cherry and Strawberry picking. As it happened, Blueberry picking had just started up as well, so we got lucky there.
We rode the wagons out to the fields (Maia slept).



Where we picked cherries.

(Maia continued to sleep)


And then rode on to pick blueberries.




We were a bit too tired (and it was getting late) to do strawberries (at the third stop), but we were all pretty happy with the spoils.


And dude...check out the size of some of these blueberries! Ginormous!