Darling Wee Liam,
You are seventeen months old today! And, in typical monthly update fashion, I am shocked that another month has passed us by! You are becoming such a big boy and we (and, you too, for that matter) are so very proud of all that you have already accomplished in life.
You have decided to master walking this month! Yay, Liam! You had been taking a few steps here and there but adamantly refusing to either walk, or let us help you walk. Then, one day you just started walking. And didn't stop. I think this is typical firstborn behavior, you didn't want to do it until you could do it well. And, well you do, my dear! You are practically running, you can even turn the pages of a book while walking around your toy strewn room, quite impressive.
Not much has changed in your eating or sleeping habits, so I won't dwell on those. Except to say that you have had a lot of sleep interruptions this month due to your molars that are still plaguing us all. One of the four has broken through, and the other three look like giant blisters about to burst. I know that they must really hurt you but, as always, you are a trooper. We give you tylenol, teething tablets, oragel, and popsicles for your teeth and you seem to enjoy all of these, especially the popsicles.
We took you to the doctor last week to make sure your cold was just a cold and for a flu shot booster and found out that you weigh 26.2 pounds! This puts you in the 75th% for weight, so wonderful! Your little rolls are still quite delicious and you are rapidly outgrowing your 12-18 month clothes. I don't know how long you are, but your pants are getting shorter by the minute, or so it seems.
This month we have been working a lot on discipline and getting you to listen when we tell you "no" or ask you to come to us. Previously, you have loved tearing everything out of your changing table; cloth diapers, burp cloths, wipes, etc. So, we set to work teaching you not to do this. You still love to run over to the changing table in an attempt to tear diapers out of their cube and toss them on the floor, but you will step back when we say, "no." Depending on your mood, you either run away giggling or look at us with puppy dog eyes and begin to cry--life with a toddler. But, you are learning to obey and that is the goal.
Liam bird, you are such a fun little lad. I love watching you play! You squeal and dance and jabber along to yourself. You have started "driving" all of your trucks and cars around. You especially love to drive your cars across your tummy and have mastered a sweet little humming car sound that you make while doing this. It is precious. You balance on your tip toes to turn the lock on your bedroom door and love nothing more than to let the water out of the bathtub, I am continually amazed at your attention to small details like latches and buttons. If it moves, you will figure out how to make it do so. One of your favorite things to do is read. You will sit for a long time flipping through your books and reading them out loud to yourself, but you also love for us to read to you. You lay back in our laps and alternate between watching the book and watching our lips move as we read to you. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and "The Little Blue Truck" are your very favorite books. You will search them out and bring them to us very insistently. I hope you always love reading. Besides reading, your second favorite thing to do is to watch videos of yourself on my phone. You think that baby is so funny, I'm still not sure if you know that it's you!
Sweet boy, you are so very loved. We were reminded this week just how short life can be and my momma heart longs for you to know how treasured you are and just how much you are loved by us and by your Father in Heaven. As much as it makes me want to sleep in the floor of your room and never let you out of my sight, I know in my heart that you don't belong to us. If we do anything right in raising you, let it be to teach you that you are loved and that this earth is not your home.
Love you forever, and ever,
Momma
p.s. I thought last month we talked about you sitting still and smiling for all of your photos? Hmm...
