Although Liam turned 1 a few weeks ago, we decided to hold off on the party so that my Dad and Liz could come and celebrate with us, while they were visiting in the fall break. It was really nice to have my family there for his big first birthday.
It was a pretty low key except for the street hockey game in the street and a game of Partners!
I love how the cousins have such a great time together and were excited to help Liam open his presents.
Liam seemed to have a great time and enjoyed having so much attention and cake!
Liam is now 1 year old. Wow, it's hard to believe. It's so cliché to say, "where does the time go"...but man, where did our baby go??
Liam can now:
1)Walk! At least take 8-10 steps and stand up on his own in the middle of the room. I've even seen him bend down and pick something up and start walking again.
2) Points at things that he wants and says..."da"... Of course when he isn't allowed to have the thing he wants, or if we don't quite understand what he wants, he will start saying "da" louder and louder, but he doesn't really whine so much...yet.
3) Started daycare with Margit. It has gone amazingly well for him. The first 2 weeks he would cry when we handed him off, but within 30 seconds he was fine again and ready to play. The past few weeks he hasn't cried at all at dropoff and just starts playing. He seems to enjoy his new friends and eats and sleeps well at Margit's.
4) Down to 2 naps a day...sometimes only 1. Liam usually gets up between 5:30 and 6am and then needs a morning nap, but sometimes if we bring him into the living room when he wakes up early, he will fall asleep again until 6:45 or so, and then he has actually skipped his morning nap and then just slept from 12-2:30/3.
5) Wants to use a fork when eating, He will point and talk at my fork for awhile, and when we give him his own, he will try and actually suceeds many times, to pick up food on his fork and put it into his mouth.
6) Liam loves to put big and small things inside boxes, shoes, containers, etc. So for his birthday he got a big basin you can fill with balls and then in the corners there are different places you can put the balls. He loves it!
7) Tries to keep up with his big brothers more and more...wanting to be where they are, following them around and trying to get involved in their activities.
8) Turned forward facing in the car. It's cute to look back at him and the whole line of boys in the backseat. Liam still seems to be fine with driving in the car and doesn't fuss so much about it.
9) Like so be where people are, but also likes to explore on his own and now we will go into different rooms and look around.
10) On top of walking, Liam has learned to climb, on everything! He climbs on boxes, chairs - especially his high chair, stools etc. He was actually able to climb up on to the kitchen table the other day...scary!
10) Measures in at 76 cm.
We are having a bigger birthday party for him during our fall break, when my Dad and Liz are here, so we are looking forward to that. But on his actually birthday I took the day off and spent the morning playing in the living room, letting him explore and be curious. After dinner we had birthday brownies and icecream and sang to him. Silas and Benjamin were so excited to get to celebrate Liams birthday and they told their classmates about it all day!
We all love Liam so much and are so happy to have him in our lives!
I was quite insistent that Liam get his first haircut after he turned 1. He had the cutest curls above the ears and yeah, like any Mom it seemed like such a big step to cut those baby curls off. But I have to admit the final outcome looked so adorable as well! But man he looks so old now!
Wow time is flying. My baby is 11 months and I am so in love with him! Liam continues to be a really happy and content baby bringing lots of you to so many people he meets. Luckily for him, this past month has been a lot more calm and Liam is not nearly as Mommy sick as he was in the USA. He will let others hold him again, and doesn't immediately cry if I leave the room. In a few days he will embark on the life of daycare and as I write this I am tearing up. I just love spending time with him and I will miss him dearly. I feel so grateful for all the time we've had together these past 11 months and I try to remember that even though I won't be with him for his every waking hour, I will still get a lot of time with him!
Some other notable things this month
1) HE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! It was a miracle indeed. I had asked our small group from church to pray for Liam to sleep better, as I was just so exhausted and anxious every night having to get up 3-4 times a night and needing to stay in with him for long periods of time. That same night Liam slept from 7pm to 6am without making a peep. It kept up for the next few days, and then we really started to believe a miracle had happened! He is still sleeping from 7pm to about 5:30am...so this is amazing!!!
2) I installed the bike chair on my bike and Liam loves riding there when we pick up the boys from school. If he gets fussy, he likes to hold my hand and then he will just say "bah bah bah" the whole time!
3) We swear that he says "hi" when he waves...not every time, but definitely more than once!
4) Lunches are a bit challenging. Some days he won't eat anything. At the beginning of the month he didn't like rugbrød at all--I guess not having it for 4 weeks could make a difference--:-) But then we found out if we soak it in water a bit, then it is easier to eat and he can still pick it up himself. His favorite toppings are: Fig, avocado, banana, chicken salad, salami. The funny thing is though that he knows what he wants and will pick things off and leave the bread.
5) When his toys play music he starts bobbing up and down to the beat!
6) His hair has grown so much and is really long! It curls in the back and around the ears! So cute!
7) Especially at meal times we will make really high noises and point at the table until we figure out what he wants. A lot of times it isn't something he can have or should hold and then he gets really mad.
8) Everyone we meet says he looks so much like me...what do you think?
