Many Happy Returns Mr. Liam!

On July 2, Liam turned 4!  I am reminded of one my favorite quotes about parenting small children:  "The days are long, but the years are short."  How did he make four already?

A brief look at the boy who turned me into "Mama":

Not yet a month.  I loved those kimono shirts!  His all had ragged sleeves because we could only find long-sleeved ones and it was July in Honolulu.  I am no seamstress!

One year.  When he was still an adventurous eater.

Two years.  A businessman in the making.

Three years.  Big pretzel!!!

The big four-year old!  He's wearing the surfing penguin hat at Spaghetti Factory.

A few facts about our Mr. Liam:

• He's currently into Miles from Tomorrowland and Octonauts.
• He goes to the Robert L. Allen Montessori Lab School at Chaminade University, where he'll be starting his second year in August.
• At school, he gravitates toward activities with numbers and activities with colors.
• His best friend is Greta and his teachers swear they must have been married in a past life.
• He likes to play the Tsum Tsum game on all of our various devices and he's getting pretty good!
• His favorite color is pink and his favorite characters are Minnie Mouse and "Hulk Smash."
• He's shy around new people, but once he gets to know you, he won't stop talking.  At his four-year old well child appointment, after he spoke to the doctor at length, she told us, "Well, I guess I don't have to ask you about his language development!"
• He doesn't eat much these days, but we can count on him eating macaroni and cheese, poi, tofu, hot dogs, yogurt, cheese, cheeseburgers (plain, of course), noodles (also plain), and Spanish rice.
• He only drinks water, milk, and chocolate milk.
• He is currently obsessed with the Pigeon books by Mo Willems.
• He loves maps and when he draws, that's what he draws.
• He really likes to help around the house and says "I'm a really good helper, you know?"
• Songs he's taken a fancy to are "Happy" by Pharrell Williams and "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson, featuring Bruno Mars.
• Although Ewan can frustrate him and lead him to demand that he be put "in the trapper," Liam is a great big brother and can always be counted on to try and entertain his little brother when he gets upset.  Usually by lightly hitting himself in the head and saying, "Hulk smash! Ow!" 
• Liam is also a pretty loving dude -- he regularly sends me "air invitations" with hearts in them.

We love you, too, Liam!!  Happy four years old!!

It's Christmas in June!

So...not quite six months late, here's to Christmas 2014!  I actually think I'm doing better than I did last year, so...progress!

We did advent gifts this year.  I tried explaining the Christmas Story to Liam, but I am apparently terrible at it, so Liam's understanding was minimal.  But it did provide an opportunity for him to learn about taking turns and being generous, since the boys alternated days receiving gifts.  And we'll work on the story again this year.

Liam watched as Little Brother tried opening his gift.  He was very patient.

But he was only too happy to help when we said it was okay!  For the record, it was a pair of Christmas-themed pjs.

After the gifts were open, they played together.  Here, Big Brother demonstrates how to play with the car.

And in excellent, big brother style, he handed the car back to Ewan so he could have a turn.  Way to go, Big Brother!

What Was Ewan Doin' in November?

As the older brother, Liam still gets a lot of attention because he does more.  So here's a look at what Ewan was doin' while Big Brother walked the catwalk and counted sheep.

He took his first shopping cart for a spin.  And of course it was at Target--just like Big Brother.

He worked on waving hello.

He practiced his wise man look.  (At nine months, he was in the infant seat far longer than Liam was.  We got really good use out of it).

But ultimately, it was time to switch to a convertible seat.  Since Liam is still in his Britax (even now, in June), we opted to get Ewan a Clek Foonf.  I'll admit that I fell for the aesthetics, but it's actually one of the top-rated seats for safety as well.  Yay for form and function!

He worked on his utensil skills.  Not bad...at least he's got the right end in his mouth!

And he learned the joys of the printed word.  This particular one was Hippos Go Berserk by Sandra Boynton.  We love our Boynton!

Big Boy Bed

Also in November, Liam graduated from his toddler bed into a twin.  He's not actually that tall, but he was getting way too big for the toddler bed, so we retired it and took the big step into Big Boy territory.

First, he helped take the toddler bed out of the bedroom.

Then, he tested his new bed's firmness.

And of course, he had to see if he could still roll from his bed to ours.  No problem!

On the Catwalk, Yeah!

In November, Liam was asked if he wanted to take part in the annual Nordstrom Kids' Fashion Show.  It's really a money-maker for the store, but we got some good clothes for a discount and Liam got a chance to do something fun.

He was excited at first, but then as things began to seem more real, he got a little nervous.

He took Penguin with him on runway for moral support.  Unfortunately, I don't have digital photos of him on the actual runway -- but he did pretty well!  He didn't want to walk at first, but once he got out there, he wanted to stay!  It was very cute.

But in the end, I think he's happier behind the camera.  (Thanks Grammy, Papa, and Grandma Sharon for coming out to watch!)

And thanks, Grammy, for turning the abominable snowman shirt into a short-sleeved shirt so we can get more use out of it!

Giving Thanks

2014 was our first Thanksgiving in Waikiki.  We don't believe in shopping on Thanksgiving, but it was lots of fun to walk around and take in the fresh air.

Ewan looked dashing in his orange, hand-me-down shades

Of course, Liam needed some eye protection, too.

Then, in the afternoon, we had Thanksgiving lunch at Uncle Kev and Aunty Cathy's house.  It was great to see everyone and spend some time together.

Ewan observed the living room proceedings with his back to the wall.  Smart move for the budding warrior.

Liam, of course, went straight to play room and straight for rubbish truck!

Some of the kids colored the Turkey placemats Aunty Cathy so generously provided.

Then we feasted!  Thanks for modeling Aunty Kellie!

Once we got home, it was time for another walk because Liam, in standard Liam fashion, decided he was not going to nap.  So mama took him on a journey around Kapiolani park.  We got a nice view of Diamondhead!

And the walk did the trick!  Stroller sleep is not the best sleep, but it does help stave off punkitude.

That  night, bath time afforded us an opportunity to try out a Pinterest project -- shaving cream bath paints.  And they were a success!  Liam had a great time with them and there was nothing, really, to clean up!

What a bounty of things to be thankful for!

School Days

Liam started preschool in November.  We waited until the last possible minute because he needed to be potty-trained and he was just having none of that.  Until he decided he would have all of that and was fine for both daytime and night all at the same time.  That's just how he rolls.  So we were good for preschool just in time!

We opted for the Montessori Lab School at Chaminade University.  I was pretty certain that I wanted to send him to a Montessori school, so I was really pleased that we found one that's affordable.

Liam refused to let me take a picture of him on his first day.  His face, here, says it all.  "Seriously, mom?"

The cool thing about his preschool is that they have a portal we can access where they put up all of the activities and developmental skills he's working on so we can see what he gravitates toward and how well he's doing, even in the important things, like grace and courtesy (still practicing those things).  They also take pictures during the day and post them to Liam's online file.  We can look at them to get a peek at what he does during the day (since parents are not allowed in the classroom--that's the kids' space) and download the ones we want.

One of the first activities he did is called "sink or float."  What kid doesn't like water?

Speaking of water--painting a turkey with watercolors.

He was really proud of the bracelet he made, though I'm not sure who it would actually fit.  He made one the next day for Aunty Lani!

Practicing the tongs by picking up rats.  

Working on the color box.  I think when they get more advanced, they're supposed to arrange the colors by shade, but I thought that it was pretty cool that he could do this.

This is the number bead activity.  They're supposed to hang the correct number of beads below each number.

And one of my favorite parts of the Montessori classroom -- practical life!  Here he is scrubbing his cubby.  I swear I think we're a little too chaotic for him.  Lately, he's been talking about how we have to clean because things are dirty.  They're not dirty...they're just part of our organized chaos.  Yeah...we have to work on that.

And finally, here's Liam exploring a sea urchin on their field trip to the catamaran.  He had such a great time, and I'm really glad that he was willing to touch the urchin!  Yay for school!