Liam - 16 months

Date/Week: April 22nd; 16 months

Milestones: 

• Third haircut!
• He can now open doors in the house.... try keeping him out of the bathroom now!
• 31" long and 21.9lbs
• Has his first pair of boat shoes
• Loves his books and will try to read them to you
• Has started to run!
• Boy, can he turn on the drama (and he can turn it off just as fast...)

Developmental Progress:  

• If you play 'Twinkle,Twinkle' or 'Row, Row, Row' on an instrument, he will start to sing the song
• Using more two word sentences
• He loves climbing
• He helps with the dishwasher and in the garden
• When he goes to sit on the step he will back up and then sit down
• Helps to put on and take off his clothing
• Feeds himself with a spoon or fork with some help
• Says oh-oh when something drops
• Is starting to get the dogs' names down

Thoughts and Feelings? 

It has been a hectic month! Between highland exams, work, the pilot study for my dissertation, 3 weeks of dissertation workshop courses and starting a diet and exercise plan, I have had a time keeping up. I am starting to contemplate what the future may hold. I've also been thinking about what to do to rebuild my confidence level. I am sick of second guessing myself.


I am hoping the fall will bring some peace. I am hopeful that we can have a relaxing vacation - we've identified the time but the plans are still up in the air. I really am looking forward to some family time - and hopefully some celebration time if I have finished the degree!


What I am looking forward to: 


Spending time in the garden!

Liam - 15 months

Date/Week: March 22nd; 15 months

Milestones: 

• He walks more like a normal kid and less like a zombie

• Liam likes to slide down the slide

• He waters plants in the garden and pulls up weeds

• We've begun to hear a symphony of 'no' 

• Yoghurt is his favourite food

• First time joining Aidan at the front of the church for the end of the service

• Loves the local bananas that are just the right size for little hands

• will fill the basket during shopping at the farmer's market when you prompt him to pick up tomatoes, potatoes, etc

• Has learned to blow the dandelion puffballs in his grandparent's garden

• Likes the penguins in 'Mary Poppins' and many Rogers and Hammerstein songs

• 15 months and not one bottle of baby food eaten! Baby led weaning rocks!!!

• When he drops something or wants something, he says 'Ca - wol' (Carol), which is his teacher's name. Since it is also my mom's name, it gave her a real shock that he was calling her name one day (particularly since he's been getting pretty good saying gramma and grampa)

• Signed his grandmother's birthday card with blue scribble - and used both hands to do it!

• If you say 'cows go' he says 'moo'

• He eats more consistently with a spoon and is getting better spearing food with a fork

• Drinks very well from a straw (which was surprise for me since we don't use them so it must be from school)

• He plays pretty well with a ball - mostly throwing it and sometimes kicking it

• Will read to himself from his board books - turning pages and pointing at the items on the page

• When singing 'row, row, row your boat' he will start the next series of 'row,row, row' when you finish the last line

• He is trying to run! If he holds you hands or has his hands between 2 people, he will start running. He sort of jogs on his own

• Uses both baby sign language and words - but we're pushing the use of words more since we've been delinquent on learning more sign language words

• He's been working on breaking into cabinets with the child locks - the ones we purchased at the stores seem to be targets. When we use rubber bands, he finds it difficult and he loses interest.

• Opening and closing doors is his forte - gates, french doors, bathroom doors... you name it. He also plays a mean game of peek-a-boo from the other side

Developmental Progress:  

Thoughts and Feelings? 

It has been a busy month and we look forward to weekends and evenings for a little down time during play time. As we move into a really busy phase (April - July) thanks to Pipe Band / Regiment Band / my school work / our regular work, time with Liam is a light at the end of the tunnel of each day!


As for my fitness, I have had an awful month. I feel that I need to do something because I have gained weight since weaning Liam. Plus, with allergies I feel really awful so working through that is necessary. I cannot let myself fall apart!


What I am looking forward to: 


Starting the research for my dissertation because I was granted approval to do so this month!

Liam - 14 Months

Date/Week: February 22nd; 14 months

Milestones: 

• Liam is walking more than he crawls! 
• Liam now has 6 teeth. the teeth on either side of his front teeth have come in. The teeth next to those are about to break so we should probably have 8 teeth in the next few weeks. 
• He has recently stopped breastfeeding. I have a new appreciation for cabbage thanks to this.
• We've been experimenting with different types of milk. He didn't mind oat milk but didn't like almond milk. Rice milk is his favourite. We're now doing a week on cow's milk to see if the congestion issues come back.
• Liam knows that the dogs get a treat before we leave so he goes tot he cupboard, takes out the treats, walks to the dog area, gets one of us to hand him the treats, feeds Bronwyn and Ptolemy, takes the back back from us and puts the bag back in the cupboard - Excellent!
• He has participated in his first PALS Walk!
• When he wakes up in the morning he turns on the music in his crib and plays until you come to get him.

Developmental Progress:  

• He is linking some words together i.e. 'dog woof'
• Liam can feed himself using a spoon or fork. 
• His coordination while walking is getting better and better. He can bend down, change direction, and even run a bit. He still keeps his hands out in front of him though.
• He does a lot of things while playing - rolling things, stacking things, pushing things, climbing on, over and up things. And he is learning to put his toys away.
• His preferred parent is 'da da' but when irritated by his dad he was follow me around saying 'mum mum mum'
• He loves trying to walk up steps with help and climb them without help (we're behind him when he does this.
• He uses baby sign language regularly to ask to 'eat', 'more' and 'all done'.
• His most used words - 'da da', 'mum mum', 'dog', 'ow', 'thank you', 'outside', 'let's go', 'duck', what's that', 'no', 'book' - there are a number of others that we're starting to hear as well.
• He is very helpful when getting dressed. He will push his arms though and try to put clothing over his head or on his feet. Granted, he is much faster getting undressed!

Thoughts and Feelings? 

We've all been through the cold that just doesn't seem to end, of which the cough still remains. In the midst of this and teething, we continue to monitor Liam's ears. His next appointment is on March 13th.


With better weather this winter, we have been getting outdoors more than at this point last year. We did some gardening on Saturday and Liam loved it. He's been playing with his plastic gardening tool and even sleeps with the hoe. I guess beach season will be fun as I assume he will  get into the sand this year - then again, he doesn't like grass so sand may be a no-no!


We're thinking about vacation 2012, which will not be happening until the 2nd half of the year. On one hand we're thinking toddler friendly activities and on the other hand we want to relax. We'll see what we come up with using those parameters.

What I am looking forward to: 


Will I get in trouble if I say July...

Someone's Walking

Liam - 13 months

Date/Week: January 22nd; 13 months

Milestones: 

• Liam is now in the toddler class at school. 
• Before he started, we had his feet measured (3.5) and got him his first pair of StrideRite sneakers. He also has a pair of 'dress shoes' but he still fits the 6-12 month size. 
• Liam's front teeth came in between Christmas and New Years.
• We've begun the process to get Liam to take his liquids from a cup - currently he goes to school with both a bottle and a cup and he has a cup with dinner.
• He LOVES his tricycle
• Liam is 10% percentile weight and 25% percentile height

Developmental Progress:  

• He has about 8 words but he copies as well
• He can stand and walk on his own but he chooses not to 
• He knows to pat the dogs/cats gently
• He is actively trying to manipulate the situation when you say 'no'
• He colours on paper a bit
• He can point out animals in his books
• He hums/sings along with 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'

Thoughts and Feelings? 


We have come into 2012 with concerns over Liam's ears. He had fluid in his ears again for his 1 year appointment and he will probably be put on antibiotics and be sent for a hearing test at his 15 month appointment if it is still the case. I expect that we will consider grommets as there are the concerns of hearing loss and slow speech development if the ear infections continue to be bad. The preference of the doctor is to let him grow out of it but we'll see if that would be best.


As for the everything else, it's a matter of developing new routines, making sure there's enough time for walks with the tricycle and playing and many, many books! I do hope that this year is as enjoyable as Liam's first.

What I am looking forward to: 


What shall we do for vacation 2012?

Hello January 2012!

Well hello there! 10 days into January and I'm just getting here.

I've been trying to see how we might use the blog in 2012. We'll definitely do our vacation blogging, even though I do not know what we'll do this year (trying to see how my dissertation is going to pan out in relation to commencement dates - I may have to walk in 2013 the way things are going). I will also probably do a monthly update for Liam now that he is a toddler. I thought about blogging my fitness workouts but since we're not working towards a particular race I think it might get tedious (plus I have been posting runs to Facebook via RunKeeper). I will however post some dissertation updates since that will be a major milestone for 2012 - and yes, I am already contemplating what to do afterwards...

So other than that, 2012 may (or may not) be the year where we figure out what our 'regular routine' may end up being once all of the unusual stuff is over and done with. There are projects we want to accomplish (the apartment), initiatives we want to start (perhaps formalising some of our activities as small business operations) and a Highland Games to put on (the dancing competition is officially registered!). So 2012 promises to be an adventure! I'm looking forward to it!

Liam's 1st Birthday and 2nd Christmas

It has been a hectic week. First Liam had 24 hour stomach virus that got him kicked out of school on Wednesday. Thankfully he made a quick recovery, enabling him to go to school on his birthday. He wore his birthday shirt and had little goodie bags for his classmates and Christmas presents for his teachers. They also had a little party for him and Liam enjoyed a cupcake.

Unfortunately, Liam passed the virus on to my mom (and a few hours later, my dad) when she had him on Wednesday so his party  that night consisted of Aidan's parents, Aidan's grandfather and us. We enjoyed soup and fresh made bread for dinner and then sang 'Happy Birthday' to Liam. He had fun opening presents and we were appreciative of the lovely gifts that he was given. His favourite gift is a xylophone from his Uncle Brendan and Aunt Suzy. We also put aside a gift that will go to charity (it's a habit that we want to make a tradition and therefore decided to start from the beginning).

On December 23rd, Liam spent the day with my parents. I went to work but was suffering the effects of the stomach virus. It still was a great day, seeing friends such as Josue and I was even a witness for a wedding! Aidan ended up dealing with the virus in the evening, which made for a very low-key night.

By Christmas Eve we were back to normal in the Stones household. Aidan and Liam treated me to a morning at the spa. It was so very relaxing and I loved every minute of it. We then went home and had lunch.... with a glass of champagne! We spent the balance of the afternoon playing, watching Doctor Who and eventually wrapping presents when Liam went to sleep. At 10.30 we bundled Liam up and headed off to church. Aidan played the clarinet for the '9 Lessons and Carols' before the Midnight Mass. Liam woke up during the rehearsal and stayed up the entire time. He was really good considering how tired he ended up getting. Aidan played beautifully. It is really wonderful to hear him play the clarinet and he enhanced the carols.

We slept in a wee bit and then Liam experienced his first 'stocking opening in bed'. He was so excited to see the lion and loved the books. Aidan seemed surprised by some of his stocking gifts (i.e. the 'Book of Mormon' CD) and Aidan made a fun stocking for me (I love the post-it notes that Aidan gave me - both novelty (pre-printed complaints) and fashion (Kate Spade!)). We then met up with my mom at St. John's to put flowers on family graves. After then going to the graveyard in St. Georges, we headed to my parent's for breakfast. Liam opened his gifts and gave us a good laugh with his shape sorter. After examining it, he pulled the top off of it and put the shapes directly into the bucket... oh well! He also received a gardening set that included a lawnmower!

Next stop was Aidan's parent's for lunch. The food was lovely and the pudding was eagerly anticipated as usual. Liam was much better at opening gifts and we enjoyed watching everyone open theirs. Liam was awed by Benjamin who was in the bouncer and experiencing his first Christmas. After lunch we went home and organized the house for dinner while Liam had a nap. My parents came up for dinner and we again enjoyed the food. Liam opened his gifts from us and then sat with my dad who read from Liam's new bi-lingual book (guess we're all learning Spanish). After my parents left and Liam went to bed, Aidan and I exchanged gifts and then watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Liam was up a few times because he is cutting his two front teeth - guess we should have been singing that to him over the last few weeks!

Boxing Day was relaxing. We all slept in! We then watched Season 2 of Glee. And then we went to Aidan's Parent's for the Boxing Day lunch. It was good to see everyone and Liam was spoiled by Aidan's Aunts and Uncles. He had fun playing and ate lots of turkey, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts! We then went home and played until his bedtime. We finished up watching Glee and went on to Season 3 of Fringe.

So it's relaxation time for the rest of the week. Aidan is putting together Liam's tricycle and we'll go out for a walk with it later today.

We hope all of our family and friends have had a lovely Christmas and that you have a safe and prosperous 2012!