Liam's photography skills

Whenever I take the camera out to take pictures of the kids doing something cute, Liam stops in his tracks and insists on taking pictures. I taught him how to use my camera a few weeks ago. And by "taught him how to use it" I mean switching all the settings to Auto, telling him to look through the hole and showing him which button to push. It's a pretty heavy camera so most of his pictures are blurry simply because his tiny hand can't reach the button and hold still at the same time. It's pretty darn cute and I kind of like some of the results.

For starters, I get to be the subject! I usually delete the pictures of myself but I liked these ones. He must know my best angles. But let's not talk about how he cropped his sister out of these.

He still likes taking pictures of her and sometimes the Auto Focus does a good job of picking up what he wants to shoot.

And sometimes it doesn't.

And most of the time, he turns to more interesting subjects like the television...

What? Why?

Liam's favorite words these days seem to be, "What?" and, "Why?" I repeat myself contantly and explain the reasons for everything I do. I have actually used the phrase, "Because I said so," this week and I have considered getting his hearing checked. My nerves are pretty shot at the end of each day and I'm so thankful that my son is as amazing as he is so that it more than makes up for how annoying he is becoming. These are some of my recent favorites.

He needs to try out every baby item I bring out for Brygit. The bumbo seat actually got stuck to his butt and he looks like an old lady when he tries to get out of her bouncer.

Occasionally, he puts other people in her baby gear as well.

I know I have talked about how Liam loves to perform shows. He will walk right into a room and start shouting things like, "How is everybody doing today?! Wow, look at all of you! Anybody want to hear Jingle Bells? Clap with me! Today, we have an elephant!" In the above photo he is shouting, "One, Two, Three, shout it out!"

His shows are often performed on a step stool.

And he must always recieve applause.

He has been pretending like crazy and he loves playing grocery store. Especially with real money and credit cards from my wallet.

While this is all going on, Brygit has been doing some pretty fun things as well. She is getting a lot better at grabbing things,

She has been rocking the Gilligan look when we go outdoors,

and she smiles some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. My babies may be growing into curious big kids who, on occasion, ask too many questions but I'm having a blast watching them grow.

Baby Dedication

Brygit was dedicated on Mother's Day. In our church we don't perform baptisms. Instead, we do dedications. The pastors say prayers for the baby and the family and then the family and the congregation vow to teach the child and raise her in accordance with Biblical principles. To me personally, it is a time for us to publicly thank God for blessing us with this child and to promise to do our best to raise her well, to love her, and to always remember that she belongs to God and it is our responsibility to help her become what He wants for her. It really is very special and we have done this with both of our children. Here are some pictures.

Liam's dedication was December 13, 2009. I didn't have the blog back then so I'm posting pictures now. I also, obviously, had a crummy camera and it was on zoom which made it even crummier.

This last one was taken at the Spaghetti Factory after service but I thought it was interesting that he was making his "teething face" when Brygit just started cutting some teeth as well. She has been a little difficult to live with lately and her bottom gums are displaying two white bumps. Fingers crossed they come up fast!

Water Balloons

Liam requests to play with water balloons every day. I wish I felt more enthusiastic about it but I really hate filling up water balloons. The first day I did it, I popped one above his head and he scolded me pretty harshly. He, apparently, wasn't too keen on the idea of actually getting wet. He just wanted to throw them on the grass and watch them pop. All that work down the drain.

 

But he looks like this after he throws them so how can I resist?

Plus, Brygit likes watching from the shade so it's a win-win.

Squinkies

Liam's preferred toy changes every now and again. I tend to think of them more as obsessions than current interests. He gets very absorbed in a certain toy and it seems like it's the only thing he talks about or plays with. This time last year it was probably his trains. Then he went through a puzzle phase where he acquired about 20 puzzles and he memorized where all of the pieces went. Currently, it's squinkies. They are these tiny rubber characters that come in little plastic balls like miniature vending machine prizes and they make them for everything. His current collection consists of 3 separate Toy Story sets, 2 Cars sets and a set each of Mickey Mouse, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. They didn't all come from us. Grandma and Great-Grandma are mostly to blame. But he absolutely loves them and they are seriously everywhere. I have been known to carry a ziplock bag in my purse filled with them. The other day I was teaching Liam how to use my camera and we took a few shots of his squinks. Enjoy.

Three Months

Brygit is going to be three months old on the 12th. She is learning so much every day and I love watching her grow and become more social.

She is now able to hold onto toys that are put in her hand and she can swat at hanging toys. She is especially good at holding onto these little maracas that were inside some of Liam's Easter eggs. He calls them her "racas."

She also has been putting things in her mouth and drooling a lot which I believe are signs of impending teeth.

Liam is still infatuated with her and he likes joining her in tummy time.

He sets up toys for her to look at, usually his "squinkies" (his new favorite toy), which I observe closely since squinkies = choking hazard.

The only problem I really have with him is that he sometimes likes to pretend he is a baby as well and he likes to kick her out of her bouncer so that he can lay in it.

He puts on shows for us and this is what Brygit looks like when she watches him.

She is all smiles and coos these days. So far, that's my favorite milestone. I like that I can just walk into the room and she lights up. It makes me feel like I'm the most awesome person in the world.

She has been sleeping very well lately. At night, she sleeps from about 9pm-5am. It makes me want to jump for joy in the morning.

At her last doctor's appointment she weighed 12 pounds, 14 ounces and was 23 inches long. She is looking like such a big girl these days and she is developing quite the personality. Brygit is such a joy to be around and she has been the best addition to our family.

Spring is in the air

Now that it's May, we are finally getting some pretty amazing weather here in the high desert. That means that Paul has been busy manicuring the lawn and dreaming up plans for the backyard while Liam constantly begs to be outdoors. We spend some time watering the plants with Liam's new favorite hippo watering can.

We spend lots of time filling up squirt guns even though nobody lets the poor boy shoot them. He mostly just squirts the fence.

Our beach toys have been getting lots of use, though not at the beach.

Brygit has been napping in her Moby in the sun.

And I have been picking up the dog poo. Grooss, I know, but this picture was pretty funny. Liam put his bucket and shovel against the wall where we keep our poop scoop. He is such a copy cat. Days outdoors make me yearn for summer.