. . . Liam lately (19 months)

Another month gone by, and Liam is growing mentally, physically, and developmentally right before our eyes. It truly is amazing watching this person grow . . .

I was able to take Liam to the consultatiebureau this month and his stats are:

Weight: 13.8 kg (30 lbs. 7 oz.)
Height: 84.5 cm (33 inches)

This was the first time they measured him differently . . . before, they weighed him on a bowl scale and measured his height by laying him in a cradle-type thing. This time they had him stand on a floor scale for his weight and stand against the wall to measure his height. Because of this change the nurse said some numbers might be a little off, especially his height. On paper it doesn't look as if he's gotten much taller in the last few months, but she said it could be because measuring him in the cradle before might not have been as accurate. Oh well, he's growing and that's what matters!

Liam is wearing size 18 month clothes, along with some 24 month/2T shirts thrown in (euro size 86). His shoe size is staying around size 4-5.5 (euro size 22/23), and he wears size 6 diapers. It's nice when they are slowing down their growth a bit and wearing clothes for longer than two months at a time, which I felt like Liam did the whole first year of his life!

Liam's eating habits are still the same: breakfast around 8:30/9:00, lunch between 12 & 1 o'clock, snack after nap around 3:30/4:00 and then dinner at 6:00 pm. He is a pretty decent eater, though I am starting to feel stuck in a routine of feeding him the same things throughout the week. I need to branch out, which means we also need to change our eating habits so that we are branching out and eating differently! His favorite foods this month are yogurt, apples, and raisins. He still loves beets and anything Italian! And as far as teeth go, he still has 16, but I think his 2-year molars may be arriving soon because he can't keep his hands out of his hands lately.

We are having a blast listening to Liam "talk" to us everyday. Now he's doing a lot more gibberish with some understandable words thrown in, and it cracks us up! It will sound something like this, "Mooshi bite bite di di di ess Dada MoMo nose?" If we look confused or don't answer him, he will repeat it perfectly, "Mooshi bite bite di di di ess Dada MoMo nose?" It's a perfectly clear sentence to him and he can't figure out how we don't know what he is saying! Haha!

He definitely is saying more and comprehending TONS -- it is so cool to witness. One time this month I was upstairs blowdrying my hair while Liam was downstairs with Keith. All of the sudden Liam shows up in the bathroom and says "stuchubuapebowel!"

Now, being his mother, I semi-understood him . . . "You want a paper towel?"

Liam: "Yes!"

Mom: "What for?"

Liam: "Mak! Uh-oh!"

Mom: "You spilled your milk?"

Liam: "Yesh!"

Mom: "So what do you need?"

Liam: "Bapkin!"

Oh my goodness -- priceless! I couldn't believe he had a full conversation with me, albeit a jumbled, not perfect one, but still! He is becoming so hilarious while talking to us, to himself, to Murphy -- what a fun age! And I know it will just get better as his vocabulary and annunciation improve.

Liam's personality definitely borders on "firecracker" some days. He can be a very calm, quiet little boy some days, and a loud, terrorizing, maniac on other days! He is at the stage where he loves friends but doesn't always love to share, which is frustrating for both him and me. One day he was pitching a royal fit about something and Keith said "I think we've hit the 'twos' early . . ." to which I replied, "If you think this is the terrible twos you're in for a rude awakening -- this is nothing compared to the drama we're going to see!" I can only imagine! Liam can be stubborn, but if we are firm and remind him who's boss, he usually backs down.

The week before Liam turned 19 months we were given a potty training toilet from a friend -- I figured we could get Liam used to seeing it and become familiar with it before we officially start potty-training. Well, Liam LOVES it. He wants to sit on it all the time -- either with or without clothes on! What's funny to me is that he wants to sit on it immediately after he has already gone in his diaper. Ah well, baby steps, right??

At the Gravensteen Castle in Ghent, Belgiuim

AND . . . he's done!

In the last month we have been trying to do a few day trips here and there after discovering that we would be making our move back to the States sooner than we anticipated. One weekend we went to Thorn, NL for possibly the snowiest, windiest day on record! The pancake house there made our 45-minute drive worth it though -- YUM! We spent another Saturday in Ghent, Belgium exploring the Gravensteen Castle and surrounding town. We also saw some more snow this month -- however, this much snow in one winter is unusual for the Netherlands. I think Liam has seen more snow here in two years than he will the next ten in Georgia!

As odd as it is to say, next month will be Liam's last monthly update from the Netherlands. We only have about 6 more weeks (approximately), so we will try to do as much as possible here until that date arrives! It's been an incredible 19 months so far, and I am blessed to be this boy's Mama. :)

Love you, Liam,
~Mom