About Liam

Yesterday we celebrated Dash's individuality. As promised, today is his brother's turn. Presenting...

Liam

Liam's signature look, what I picture when I close my eyes, is him looking up at me with sweet eyes and a slight smile, eager for my approval (or maybe just waiting to see what I'll do next).

He's a bit of a thief. Once he notices Dash enjoying a toy, he's gotta have it (even if Liam's current toy had been entertaining him quite well). He tries and tries to pull it out of Dash's hands and when I won't let him, he acts like I'm denying him his firstborn rights. This also means he's perfecting the pouty cry.

Liam's very free with his affection. I love watching him waddle over to me with a sloppy grin and dive into my torso for a big bear hug. He loves to be squeezed and smooched and tickled. And he's been known to take a little lie down on my shoulder. And his wet kisses will make you faint. But my very favorite is when he sneaks up from behind and hugs my back, the little sweetheart.

He's very noisy when he wakes up, jibber jabbering until I open the door (as opposed to Dash who can be quite as a mouse eating cheese).

The best way I can describe the overarching character of Liam is that he really wants to be a part of things. He's always hustling over to the action. He becomes jealous when I spend one-on-one time with Dash because he wants to join the club. He really dislikes it when someone leaves the room. He does take time to play on his own but he'd much rather play with someone else. By extension, he's an excellent copycat. He thinks anything out-of-the-norm that Dash does is hilarious, so he must do it too. And apparently a pretty fast learner.

I often find him watching me, waiting until my attention is upon him. After he catches my eye, he'll proceed to be silly or play with a toy or do some crazy feat that he was planning on showing off to me.

He's very vocal about his emotions. His frustrations quickly overcome him with a seething yell (These Legos are stuck! I'm out of blueberries! I can't pull this book out of my crib!). When he's excited about something he squeeeeeeals (Did you see that Dog?!). His very persistent grunts direct me to his wants/needs (That toy- there- there- there- now please!). And if anything hard grazes his skull, you'll hear about it.

Liam's a champion nose blower. He signals to me that it's time to grab a kleenex by thrusting his finger up his nostril.

He's a very focused boy. When he's determined, whether it be to obtain a certain toy or pull old diapers out of the pail, he's very difficult to distract. I know whenever he starts to figure something out (like how to climb onto the kitchen table), I'm done for.

Liam seems to especially love silliness. You can see it in his eyes, once you start doing goofy dances, he craves more. And he's happy to reward you're silliness with a hearty laugh (an easy thing to achieve, as he thinks almost anything is silly). He also tries all sorts of silly things himself. Gross example of his enjoyment: one day he was trying to work his way onto a kitchen chair after lunch and I guess the pressure on his belly made him throw up onto the seat a little. He stared at it and cracked up- what a silly thing to happen! Another less gross instance: every day he picks up his foot to show me his sole and teeheehee snicker snicker. I don't have a clue what that's about.

He's a collector extraordinaire. He loves to walk around with a fistful of cards. Coloring with crayons is on okay activity but it's way more fun to see how many he can hold in his grasp. Why hold one toy ball when you can hold two? Or three?

I really think Liam tries to make me smile. We look at each other and he gives me a grin, he pokes my face, he does something silly... then he waits to see what I do. He wants to see me smile, he wants to see me happy. It makes him feel oh so good.