So much to say!

Liam is a chatterbox! He has always had a lot to say in his cute little baby language.

His receptive vocabulary is also outstanding; he can understand almost anything you tell or ask him. But back to talking...so far, he has a few intelligible words--Dada and Momma are the most prominent, and "ba" when you ask him what a sheep says, and his newest word "ball" (as of yesterday!).

Otherwise, Liam communicates most effectively with sign language. He has quite a few signs now. I've decided to take an inventory of Liam's "words" and "sentences".

-milk
-apple
-banana
-fork
-cheese
-pizza
-play
-book/read a book
-bath
-home/go home
-hungry
-food
-dog
-please
-thank you
-hot
-cold (otherwise known as his funny face)
-help
-cookie
-pear
-Daddy
-music
-Liam
-all done
-crayon/draw
-broken
-I like...
-I love you

(Hm. A lot of food words. You can tell what holds his interest!)

Anyway, I predict a boom of verbal language in the next couple of weeks. He's thrilled that he can say "ball" now and will flip through his books to find pictures of balls just so he can point to them and say, "ball". :) He has been trying to say book and dog today, too. He watches my mouth and purses his lips and tries so hard. He's gotten them a couple of times each, but he's not yet consistent with his accuracy. It will come! But until then, he picks up his sign language really quickly and it helps him communicate and keeps those nasty tantrums at bay (hallelujah!). For example, a light burned out in our kitchen and I told him it was "broken" and showed him the sign for broken (like you are breaking a pencil in half in front of you) and pointed to the light. Well, he pointed to the light at least 30 times today (not an exaggeration!!) and I had to tell/show him it's broken and I'll fix it. Eventually. I promise. Jeez. Quit nagging. ;) So, now he can also do his own sign for "broken" (as he points to the light yet again...)

Smartypants.

love,
b

Happy 15-monthiversary Baby!

The Screamer

Liam has been practicing his scary look for Halloween...

Happy 14-monthiversary, Liam!

Sitting on the couch (heck, *sitting* anywhere!) with Puppy for your monthly photo has become blase. Thus, we need to improvise (ie find somewhere where you are strapped in and cannot run off, bribe you with food and then scootch Puppy in beside/behind/around/in the same room as you. :)

Mission Accomplished.

Happy 14 months, baby!

love,
Mommy and Daddy

...ahem, until you realize that Puppy is horning in on your food.

And then it's "Back off! Get your own cheddar bunnies!"

Oh, poor little Pups!

But we still love you, Puppy.

Kisses!

You're such a ham!

The Change We Need

Today, Liam and I went to the rally at the Indianapolis Fairgrounds to hear Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama speak. It was a neat experience. Click on the video to watch the complete rally (25 minutes).












This video is of Senator Obama taking the stage. It's a bit wiggly because I was rocking Liam and shooting the video at the same time. Just sway along and you won't get seasick. :)



Here are some pictures of us at the rally.

Liam and the big American flag:

Senator Barack Obama speaking:
Liam and I with the throngs of Obama supporters (over 10,000!):

The car ride home, after a long day of being a good little American:

I wanted Liam to witness this piece of history--kind of like his very own JFK moment. A woman we met today said that even though she was a product of the 60s, she has never experienced anything like the rally we attended today. She was happy to have been a part of it. I told her that I wanted that for Liam--to be here during this historical event in his country. She said, "When he's 8 years old and Obama is leaving office, he will be able to say that he was there right from the beginning."

What a wonderful day!

Now if only our little baby Liam could vote...

Liam's purty fleurs

Okay, I know that this is my 5th post in a matter of days, and I haven't yet done the birthday party posts, but can I help it if my child is just so. fricken. cute? :)

I've got so many other things to get done, but sharing Liambytes is more important than cleaning bathrooms or picking rocks (Seriously. I have to go pick rocks. Where am I?).

Remember, it's important to stop and smell the flowers sometimes. (um, and with your eyes closed, please, because they smell oh so much better.)

love,

b

Playing soccer