We are officially ONE WEEK away from Liam’s THIRD BIRTHDAY!! The excitement is definitely building around here 🙂
In honor of this most special day (and, of course, TBT), I wanted to take a look back at his last two birthday’s because ya know that’s always fun!
His 1st birthday party was a big to ‘do at our house and we opted for a “Baby Mickey” themed party. It was a very special celebration….
I was “that” mom who didn’t let him have cake leading up to his birthday, so he had NO IDEA what to do with it once we gave him his little smash cake. Hilarious!
That’s more like it 😉
This was THE most perfect birthday boy outfit that our great friend hand-made just for Mr. Liam.
Last year, for his 2nd birthday, we opted for his 1st trip to the Magic Kingdom instead of a big party. It was magical day….
**I can’t believe how tall he’s gotten since last year looking at these pictures! Wow **
He had fallen at school a few days before our Disney trip so you can see the nice goose egg right smack in the middle of his forehead for most of these picks. Oh well 🙂 …
I remember it was so hot last year trekking around the park. I don’t know if we were more crazy or brave for doing that, but we had a blast. You can check out the 2-part original post from our trip here & here.
Lots of fun is planned for next week!!! Can’t wait to share it with you all! ❤
So, we blinked & another month has gone by. Liam Michael seems to be growing by leaps & bounds here lately, so while I don’t do this each month, I thought it would be fun to give you a 32 month update with 32 fun facts about our little guy.
1. I have been taking pictures of him periodically with the same teddy bear since he was born. I thought this would be neat way to measure his growth as time went on. Enjoy this Flipogram of these pics, including this week’s picture!
2. Liam shares the same middle name as his daddy 🙂
3. He has just recently gotten interested in watching Disney movies, or any cartoon movie. I have to admit that I am secretly excited about this…even though, we are now watching the SAME movie like a broken record. His current favs are Toy Story 1 AND 2, and Frozen.
4. One of his favorite parts in Toy Story 2 is when the Toys are trying to figure out where Al took Woody. He loves when Hamm, the piggy bank, says ‘picky, picky, picky’ …. in reference to the Etch-A-Sketch drawing of Al. He giggles & recites that part.
5. His favorite character from Frozen is Olaf the snowman. I admit, as well, that little snowman is pretty damn funny. Liam really gets a kick out of the summertime song that Olaf sings. He will also give a pretty mean rendition of ‘Let It Go’ 😉
6. He has a small white dalmation puppy that he sleeps with every night. His name is, “puppy”. Daddy got it from a local drugstore one day last year when picking up a Rx for him after a visit to the Dr.’s. A very random purchase that has turned into the greatest bond 🙂
7. Current fav foods: Publix popcorn chicken, Cheez-It Snack Mix (or, as he calls it, ‘cheese crackers & pretzel & puffs’), Reese’s (special treat for going potty), french toast with syrup (P.S…this kid gets COVERED in syrup..omg! ha!)
8. Current fav drinks: water & milk are still our staples, so that is good. We did introduce apple juice because of potty training so that’s a new choice at home but I am still grateful my kid loves his water.
9. For some reason, he loves soccer balls. He has a few pairs of socks with soccer balls on them & he will always ask for them. Really have no idea where this comes from, as neither Stephen or I play or watch….but we will foster that.
10. Liam has been in sports classes at school since early Fall 2013, called Playball. They not only teach the basic concepts of many sports activities, but they also teach the kids about physical education, health, and teamwork. We really like that and he definitely enjoys the lessons. That may be where his love of soccer is coming from. He also is developing quite the little arm on him!
11. He loves our dog, Timber. He is so gentle with him and we always tell him that Timber is his big brother. He calls Timber his ‘white doggy’ …It really is the cutest thing when you hear that little voice say, ‘I want my white doggy’.
12. About 2 weeks ago, Stephen & I realized that our little guy’s toes were about to bust out of his shoes. Yeap, he’s a growing, peeps! So, we paid a visit to my fav children’s shoe store, Stride Rite, and got his feet measured — 8 1/2 wide! He picked out his new kicks. Check ’em out:
13. So, some of you know that we have camera access to him at daycare. I like to peak at him when I can to see how he’s doing. Sometimes, I catch some pretty darn hilarious tid bits. For instance, a few weeks back, it was one of his little friends birthday & the class was having cupcakes for snack time to celebrate. Yes, this may seem crazy but I snapped a pic of the camera to capture this very comical moment of my child literally shoveling cupcakes in his mouth with both hands….
14. Apparently, Liam picked up on me telling him that I am not happy with him at times when I felt he was misbehaving. I say this because now when he knows he has done something he is not supposed to do, he will look at me and say, “Soooo, you not happy with me right now??” ….I almost cracked up laughing the 1st time that munchkin voice spit that out….where do they come up with these things?!?! …oh yeah, from us!! LOL
15. A few of his fav phrases right now: “I do it myself” ; “Five more minutes” (response to anything when you tell him it’s time to stop doing something, go to bed, eat, etc.) ; “I want a snack”
16. It’s pretty much amazing to me that you can now have a full out conversation with Liam. I love to ask him questions about his day at school and see the responses he comes up with. Really hilarious sometimes. I hear about reading stories, finding frogs on the playground, how funny he thinks he & his friends are (literally, he says that), and that he thinks a few of the girls are beautiful (aww!).
17. Potty Training — we are in week 6 now of this lovely process. I stand by my previous comments and will still have a separate post about it SOON. I will say this for now, though, I think Liam has done amazingly well and we are still diaper free!
18. Anytime Liam sees crumbs in the car or his car seat, he always tell me that we “gotta vacuum” …without fail, I get told that…basically, mommy, your car is dirty & you should clean it.
19. Yesterday, we got out of the car and Liam saw that our driveway was covered in the pieces of pollen (we have FOUR oak trees in our front yard). He looked at me and said, “We gotta clean up this mess. Daddy needs to mow.” LOL!!! I about died laughing!! Where does this little person come up with these things?!?!
20. He ate his 1st bowl of cereal on March 23rd. In my book, this was a momentous occasion, as he asked for cereal with milk. I don’t know why, but that just seemed like such a big boy thing. So, of course, I took a picture 🙂
21. The boy LOVES music, dancing, & singing! Here he is belting out “Let It Go” in the car with Daddy …or, maybe eating the air conditioning…I’ll let you be the judge.
22. We are in a comfortable size 3T clothes now with a mix of some 4T here & there.
23. Liam is starting swim lessons on Monday and we are VERY excited for that. More details & pics to come in future posts!
24. He is a pro at turning the speaker bar on & off for the TV. I think he thinks that’s one of his little jobs because we always ask him to do it now. He can also turn the TV off if you ask him.
25. Gone are the days when we can pick out any outfit we want for him. He is a mini fashionista and already has to have a say in what shirt & shorts he is going to wear. Not to mention, his socks and undies…hey, the patterns, on those matter, too, ya know?!?! It even goes all the way down to his shoes….Tonka Trucks, Captain America, or Lightening McQueen? 🙂
26. He is very independent when out at the stores and is hard-pressed to ride in the shopping carts anymore. He “wants to walk”.
27. He is a little bookworm. Can’t get enough of his books!
28. Thomas the Train is one of his favs and we are slowly building quite the collection of the wooden train cars. He loves learning all the names of the different engines.
29. He has always had the most pleasant & mellow personality, but we are definitely starting to see small spurts where he tests us to see what he can get away with. Very interesting how quickly their little demeanor can change when they aren’t getting their way.
30. His fav place to eat / snack at home is his picnic table…Timber’s fav place to sneak is underneath it!! ….no crumb is left behind!! Dangerous duo, those two!
31. He is learning how to brush his teeth on his own. He likes to watch himself in the mirror while he does it. Of course, we brush for him 1st or after, but he likes to try & it’s good for him.
32. Last, but DEFINITELY NOT LEAST, Liam is THE MOST loving child EVER!! If I’ve said it once, then I’ve said it a thousand times….we are blessed!! Nothing is better than those little arms going around your neck and getting a hug & a kiss. He will often ask you for a “big hug” 🙂
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Whew!!! Are you still with me?!?! Did you make it ’till the end? Kudos to you, if you did. That was a lot of writing! Hahaha!! Well, I enjoyed bragging about our little guy for a bit, so if you are reading this, then I hope your enjoyed reading it just as much!!
I don’t know about you, but the weather here in our neck of the woods over this past weekend was gorgeous!! Makes coming back into the office a little blah today….
So, with that, here’s a little fun from over the weekend to hopefully make you smile on this Monday!
We shopped around over the weekend for a new kitchen faucet. I was in love with the one we had installed almost 6 years ago when we bought the house, but time & local area construction (that’s our guess, anyhow) caused excessive calcium deposit buildup & it became just too yucky to deal with anymore…..so sad. I didn’t remember how expensive these little suckers are, either…yikes!! We ended up picking a different finish from the previous one we had (oil rubbed bronze) & opted for brushed nickel this go around. Stephen did a great job & I think the new one looks great!
The BEST part was that while Stephen was hard at work, Liam wandered into the kitchen & snatched up part of the old faucet. Here is what transpired next. I think it’s one of his best performances to date….
…And, there you have it! Liam’s original version of Itsy Bitsy Spider while using the faucet head as a mic! Hilarious!!! My fave part is about a minute into the video.
Happy 2nd Birthday, Liam Michael!! In lieu of a big party this year, his Daddy & I chose to make a very special trip ….his very 1st trip, in fact, …to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It really was a magical day and one that we will remember always! I tried to take lots of pic since Liam probably will not remember this trip so one day he can look back on this day and smile …However, I think I am safe in saying he had a pretty fantastic time meeting his pals & taking in the sights 🙂
When we 1st got to the park, we stopped by guest relations, to pick up these snazzy buttons that we attached to Liam’s stroller (aka, birthday chariot). It was really sweet that the girl who wrote his name did a little Mickey Mouse head for the dot on the “I” of his name! I got to give credit to Disney and the cast members because they do it up right….as we walked around the park, they ALL noticed Liam’s buttons and SO MANY people were saying, ‘Happy Birthday, Liam’….at one point, I looked at Stephen and said I could have teared up because it was so cute! Yes, that was my sappy mommy moment of the day. Liam’s classy shirt is custom & hand-made courtesy of Personalize It By Jackie, The Boutique Mommy …LOVED it!!
Liam’s fav Disney characters right now are mickey & pals from the clubhouse. It was perfect timing that when we first arrived down Main Street, there was the Street Party Parade. We were just feet away from the float as his bestest pals went by. I wish you could have seen that sweet boy’s face as he waved and said hello….it was awesome!! I tried to catch a pic below.
The first ride we tackled was Dumbo. I rode it with the Liam…super fun! This little guy wasn’t scared a bit. He was actually ticked off at the end of it because he wanted to play in the water that you see under the elephants…that’s our boy! 😉
In the new Storybook Circus area…posing with Pluto, the Wonder Pup! Oh …by the way, if anyone is wondering (because I know you can see it in several pics) …Liam took a bad fall at school on Monday on the playground and had a huge bump right smack in the middle of his forehead…he’s perfectly ok, though.
It’s a Small World ….classic!! So much to see…totally reminded me of Disney as a kid 🙂
Here we are at the end of Small World….not the best pic, clearly but had to do it…shows how hot we were but loving every minute of it!!!
Two of my favorite pics taken of the day. From the Philmar Magic Show, which is 3D, hence the glasses. This was the only ride/show that Liam kinda got scared in because there were small parts that went completely quiet and dark.
It’s kind of funny that Disney does SO MUCH with all the princess stuff but nothing for the boys with prince things or anything like that. Anywhoo…This pic is from the carousal and I think that my Liam looks like a little prince on that big horse…very regal!! He loves horses and thoroughly enjoyed this ride!! He waved at everyone the entire time he was on this….it was adorable!
This is from one of the shows in front of the castle. Liam spotted Mickey & Minnie up there before we did!
At this point, Liam was tired of us and all the pics, so he left us and was cruising around the castle…KIDDING!! 🙂
All in all, we had the most wonderful day ever! Even despite the incredible heat and crowds…which, neither, we amazingly seemed to mind. As I close this post out, I want to share a special video we took of our little guy on the way to the park.
The rest of our birthday celebrations with our special guy are coming soon in part 2…there was too much fun to fit in one post! Until then….
Casa de Murphy 