Liam vs the babysitter

I dropped the kids off at my mom's house this morning so I could go work out at the gym.  Upon my return, Sonia reported that both of the kids were pretty good, although she did mention an incident with Liam.  It got too quiet in the house, and she found Liam in the living room STANDING ON TOP OF THE GRAND PIANO!  When he spotted her, he shook his finger at her and said "NO NO NO NO!"

Even he knew he was being naughty.  Oh Liam...

What do these things have in common?

rock

fork

wooden puzzle piece

sippy cup

8 loveys

straightening iron

q-tip

Kindle

plastic broccoli

flashlight

glasses

Carmex

Answer?  These are all things I found in bed with me after letting Liam get out of his crib at 6:15 this morning.  We share one big room in Tahoe, so I knew that I could keep an eye on him {sort of} while I tried to catch a few more zzz's.  Leaving a one year old to his own devices is an interesting social experiment, and I am still scratching my head over where the fork came from...

Laneyism

We were driving behind an older car today that was belching out black smoky exhaust.  Pretty soon our car was filled with the delicately scented aroma of burning rubber.  Laney asked me why it smelled so bad and I told her that the car in front of us was really stinky.  She then announced that the driver in front of us really needed to give their car a bath so it would smell better!  How cute is that??

Having 2 kids is like...

Having two children under age four in the house is like having two very small ninjas follow you everywhere you go, booby trapping anything they think you might touch.  I realized as I made breakfast this morning that I operate under the assumption that everything is about to leak, spill, or explode on me {and usually does!}  Note to whoever unscrewed the syrup lid enough to make the it fall off while I was squeezing the bottle onto Liam's waffle:  I'm onto you.  I've narrowed it down to 2 candidates and I know where you live.

Now, it's time for some wipees and a mop.

Halloween costume?????

Sadly, our son makes a fairly convincing Elton John in Laney's pretty pink heart sunglasses...

Family Elton outfits this October?  It's on the radar now!

Beautiful poem about children

"Your children are not your children.
They are sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. 
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the make upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness.
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He also loves the bow that is stable.” ―Khalil Gibran

Sayonara Paci

Success!  2 whole days of him not even asking for his beloved paci.  Ahhhhhhh.  One less thing to lug around with me while we are out and about.  For the last few days he has asked for his paci a couple of times and then rejected it immediately after putting it in his mouth.  He just can't get the same suction with the whole in the tip now.  I am so glad we stuck to our guns with this one, because P and I almost gave up 3 nights ago when Liam woke up in the middle of the night and wasn't able to sooth himself back to sleep.  Fortunately we have had to sleep train this kid more times than I can remember, and the sound of him crying lulled me back to sleep.  There were really only 2 bad nights of sleep before he figured out how to sooth himself during the night.   He has also started talking a lot more this week, communicating with us in more than points and grunts.  He tells us "I big boy", "I did it!" and today he announced "I funny."

Bonus:  after Patrick did the bedtime ritual with him 2 nights ago, Liam asked for mommy.  This probably wouldn't have happened if he had his paci to console him.  When I went into his darkened room, he said, "mommy sing?"  I cuddled him through a few of his favorite lullabies and then snuggled him into his crib.  A tiny voice in the darkness rang out:  "Mommy, I love you!"  {which actually sounds more like, Mommy? I wud doo.}  See!  Giving up that paci may have been rough for a few days, but it was worth it for our new nighttime ritual of saying I love you.  Last night after I put him in his crib I said I love you, and then he repeated it back.  We say it to each other a few more times, and after I close his bedroom door he yells, "Mommmmmmy!  I looooove yoooouuuu!"  Nothing better in the world than hearing your child tell you they love you for the first time.  Thanks paci!