Liam's lunch

Verbatim lunch list from his father's email:

Milk

Applesauce

Tangerine

Lots of crackers and hummus

String cheese

Bowl of cereal

Slice of cheese

And currently going to town on his 2nd bowl of cereal and asking for birthday cake. 

For context: the child weighs 27 pounds, and his stomach is about the size of a grapefruit. Maybe he does have a baby elephant in there, after all. 

Conversations with a two-year-old

Two-year-olds are insane. A few highlights from my favorite Liam conversations from the past two weeks:

Mommy and Daddy's names

Liam has been learning our names. Daddy's is easy, John but sounds like "Yon." But Liam is struggling with the idea that I have a name. The other day I asked him three times and got three different answers:

John

Monny?

Lisa

The last one was while we were walking side-by-side across the street. When I said, yes, Mommy's name is Lisa, Liam turned to face me and said, with an expression that mixed shyness with daring with maybe a dash of teasing, "Hi, Lisa."

What's in my belly?

Liam is working through the idea that he'll have a little brother in two months. Lots of his processing relates to the baby in Mommy's belly. First, Liam had a baby in his belly (then Daddy and Rudolph had one, too). Then a baby doggy. Then an elephant.

Elephant? "Honey," I said. "Think about how big an elephant is, then look at  your belly. An elephant wouldn't fit in your belly."

He looked at me like I was dumb. "Mommy, a baby elephant."

Shadows

Liam is pretty intrigued by his shadow. We were standing in the late-afternoon sun the other day and I pointed out how long his shadow had gotten. "Look how big your shadow is!" To which he immediately replied, "Where'd the little one go?"

Cuddle

Yesterday Liam took his big teddy bear and put his two little dogs on the bear's lap and said, "cuddle." Yeah, just a teensy bit cute.

Yack or eat?

Always a tough question when you're pregnant.

Oh, baby

Oh, new baby. You're only five weeks old. That's only true by doctor math. Actually, you're more like two or three weeks old, and the size of a poppy seed.

I'm so scared, baby. Your father and I were so excited -- and fearful -- of the last pregnancy. Sure, we had been trying to conceive. For about 10 seconds. And then the baby miscarried at 10 weeks and six days. So I'm not really going to feel great until I know for sure that you're real.

What are my hopes? That you'll be different from your brother, because I can't imagine anyone competing with that child's spunk. That you'll have different qualities that I'll love just as much.

Frankly, I hope you'll be a girl. I'd really love to have a girl. If not, a really adorable, cuddly baby boy. That would be pretty nice, too.

That you'll be healthy and strong. That you'll be very, very close to your older brother. After all, your parents won't be around forever.

That you'll sleep through the night at six weeks of age. Is that really so much to ask?

That you'll be born.

Long-overdue update: I just discovered this old blog 10 years later. The baby was born, and a very cuddly little boy--the cuddliest and most adorable--and wouldn't you know, that little mf slept through the night BEFORE six months of age. He slept all the time.

So I guess if there is a god ... thanks! I owe ya one. (Although I think I already paid it back). 

An update on Daredevil Liam

What's Liam's favorite new bike trick? Riding it down our neighbor's steep driveway into the street. Backwards.

Also: spiders. More specifically, picking up daddy long legs and trying to hand them to me.

Favorite Liam quotes of the past month

So, I've been pretty bad about writing down all the great stuff. Here are a few recent favorite quotes:


"People. Scared. Thunder. Boom-boom!" (my favorite part is his super-wide eyes -- and the best part is he doesn't know what thunder is. Also, the adorable way he pronounces "scared": sceered.)

Then he follows it with: Thunder BITE you.


Me: "Did you have fun with Grandma?"
Liam: "Grandma. Bike ride. No, no!"


"Dogs bite? Cows bite? Sheep bite? Cars bite? Binkies bite?" (that last one is a flash of his soon-to-be trademark humor)