Go get it!

We have taught our dog, Makoto, 1 trick: You tell him to stay, you throw his toy and then he will wait patiently until you say, "go get it!" Upon that command, the dog will jump into action and retrieve his toy. We have just now introduced Liam to this and he seemed a little perplexed, but also eager to get in on the action. You can tell in the video that he is wanting to be the boss and tell the dog to go get it. Now, we just need to teach Makoto to respond to "BUHHHHHH".

Favorite Things

Liam definitely has preferences now.

He enjoys banging on laptops

The swing is great fun

Peek-a-boo is still a favorite

He loves the cat, but I am not sure the cat returns the sentiment.

Walking

These are some of Liam's first steps on his own! (We hadn't gotten the camera out yet for the first few steps).

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

Has it been a year already? You so recently were a precious, helpless little blob in my arms, now you are getting to be a curious big boy with your own wants and desires…but no less precious. You are not quite walking yet, but I think you are going to love the freedom to explore that it will give you. You use your fire engine and shopping cart as mini walkers and you squeal with glee every time you make a long journey down the hallway. Your passion seems to be watching the kids in the neighborhood play basketball. I wonder if that is something you will enjoy when you are older. You also have really taken to the animals…especially Yuki. You love to tackle him and feel his fur on your face as you flatten him with your body. The other day, you stopped me in the store to point at a sign with a dog on it. Then you did your sign for dog. You seem to be getting smarter and more communicative everyday.
A few months ago, you seemed to eat whatever we put in front of you, but lately I fear that you have inherited your mom’s sweet tooth, preferring yogurt, cookies and cereal over veggies and protein. I was surprised to find out how much you disliked your healthy birthday cupcake I made for you; you found the smell distasteful and didn’t even smash it like most babies. Maybe next year we will try butter cream frosting.

Part of me is sad that you are growing up, but part of me feels happy that I get to watch you learn and explore even more. You are so interested, so curious, so in awe of the world around you. You have also developed a sense of humor, finding certain things like me trying to put your hat on funny. I am delighted to be a part of your world. Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

One Year

One year ago today, at 12:34, Liam was born and life hasn't been the same since - in a wonderful way! We threw a big birthday party for him today and had his friends and relatives over for a big celebration. We went whole-hog on the pi day connection and put up a "Happy Birthday Q T 3.14159" banner, several of us wore our "simple as 3.141592..." t-shirts from Mental Floss, we ate pizza pi(e), mixed-fruit pi(e), muffins in pi-formation, a big cookie with pi icing, brownies and cookies shaped like the pi symbol, and showed some pi(e) charts about Liam (like % time spent sleeping, eating and playing).  You might also notice that the fruit and pita dishes spell Liam's initials (LOL).

Many of Liam's friends from his "mommy and me" group were there to share in the fun and that created a really energetic and fun atmosphere.  Albert Einstein was also born on March 14th, so we put up a poster of him and added some captions wishing Liam a happy birthday.

We put together a movie of some pictures of Liam and a couple videos set to "Birthday" and "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles.  We put the pictures of Liam in chronological order and it was amazing to see how much he's changed over the past year.

Liam enjoyed the big get together and was thrilled with all of his new toys and clothes.  His aunt Michelle also gave him a framed version of the poem she wrote for him when he was born.  We really appreciate everyone joining us for the occasion!  A special thanks to my mom for helping us set everything up the day / evening before.

Purr-fect Fur-niture

Our cat (Yuki) has been very tolerant of Liam's recent affection for him in the form of full-on tackles followed by using the cat as a pillow. We had a cozy little snuggle on the couch yesterday during our weekend sick-in.

Yes, unfortunately, we all felt under the weather this weekend to varying degrees of severity. Everyone is feeling better now though - I think the weekend of lounging around the house helped :)

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.