Signs of the Times

A couple months ago, we started teaching Liam some sign language.  He's really started to pick it up recently and its been great.  When he wants something or is interested in something, he can communicate a little better than just pointing and grunting.  I got the camera out today and asked him to say "more" (which is putting both hands together - above).

Then I asked him to say "eat" (which is putting your fingers to your mouth):

Finally, I asked him to say "cat" (which is the most difficult one for him because it is an "OK" sign that you slide from your mouth to your ear - representing whiskers).  After looking around for the cat, he figured out that I just wanted to see the sign:

  

 
He's gotten the sign for milk (squeezing your hand) and dog (patting your thigh) mastered and is working on light bulb (looks like holding a piece of paper in front of your face and letting go).  We can certainly tell that he understands a lot now.  If we ask him where something is (socks, a toy, the light, etc.) he looks and points at it.  I'm excited to teach him more signs and communicate even more with him :) A video would capture these better... I'll have to remember that next time.

Standing tall

About a month ago, I turned my back while Liam was just waking up from a nap. When I turned around, he was standing up and laughing at his new accomplishment. He still doesn't pull himself up very often. He seems to have a smarter way to approach such things--Find a person who is mobile, say "Ba" and point until they bring you to the item you want. He has also found his own method of communication: "Da" is "this is fun", "Ma" is "I don't like this" and "Ba" is "I want." What more could a baby need?

Snow Day

Liam had his first "real" snowfall this week and it trapped him inside for a couple of days. We used the time to play with all of his toys, practice his sign language and we didn't worry about getting out of our pajamas.

He observed the older kids in the neighborhood having fun on the ice covered lawns and street.

How big is Liam--SOOOO Big!

Give Daddy a high five!

Even though we really don't watch TV with Liam around, he quickly figured out what the remotes were for. In a couple of years, I am sure that this will be done on snow days.

Baby "Proofing"

As Liam gets more mobile and curious, we've had to start trying to baby-proof our house. We plugged some of the outlets with little stubs and put up a gate at the top of the stairs. The gate is really nice, was fairly easy to install and works well.

However, most of our other attempts at child proofing have failed. We've had to return over $100-worth of various cabinet locks, door stops, and other little devices because they didn't fit our cabinets etc. We had to return another gate because it didn't work. So, we're on round 3 (at least) of buying baby-proofing stuff. Which is why it was particularly funny when - one day after installing them - Liam figured out how to take off the cabinet locks we got yesterday!

I guess we'll just have to try harder next time!

9 month stats at 10 month birthday

Liam hit 10 month mark today and I realized that we never posted his 9 month stats. At his last check-up, the doctor pronounced that he "is one of the healthiest babies at the practice." He weighed in at a slim 23 pounds (90th percentile), was 31 inches tall (95 percentile) and I can't remember his head size, but it is big (97th percentile).

One of the more common questions I hear is "Is his Daddy big?" Actually, both of us were big babies, so it is hard to tell if he will take after his dad in the height department. So far, with his coloring and cheek size, he seems to resemble me a little more, but you can definitely see the Luke in him. Here are some baby pictures of us around that age (I will try to find a close up one of Steve and post it later on).

The Life Aquatic

Liam had his first "swim lesson" on Thursday.  We weren't sure whether he'd love it or be scared.  It turned out to be somewhere in between.  Throughout, he was cautious, but not scared, and enjoyed certain aspects of it.  This was his first introduction to water deeper than a couple inches, so he might get more comfortable in time.

We were pathetically ill prepared for the experience in general: we left the house hoping to remember how to get to the pool, with no towels, and a bag too small to contain our stuff while we were in the pool :)  Fortunately, we found the pool, the hand/hair driers in the locker rooms dried us all off well, and we didn't lose any of our stuff.  Next time, we'll know what we're doing.

We all three got in the pool along with about 5 other babies and moms (only one other dad) and an instructor who had laid out groups of pool toys along the edges of the pool.  We played with the toys and did things like the hokey-pokey in the shallow (~4-feet) end of the pool.  As we got ready to leave, we saw some of the next-level class for kids over 1 year old.  They were kicking while holding the ledge (with parental support) and looked like they were having fun.  Sitting by the pool afterwards was one of Liam's favorite times as he watched everyone else enjoy the pool from the safety of the dry deck.

Overall, it was a fun experience and I'm glad we're introducing him to the pool.

A New Year

Liam had an exciting and busy holiday season. For his last day of 2008, he learned to push himself up into a sitting position from lying down, how to feed himself Teddy Puffs and how to operate one of his toys (he had to squeeze a lot in before the new year). He's transitioning from a helpless baby to a toddler who knows what he wants and is getting more and more capable of getting it - either under his own power or by directing his servants (viz. us) to get it with pointing and grunting.

We're looking forward to a great 2009 with lots of new surprises from Liam.