And the "Firsts" go on...

So, last night, on David's watch mind you, Liam took a fall. First of all let me tell you about his painful occurrences within the last two weeks. A couple Saturday mornings ago, David and I were desperately trying to ignore Liam's yelling wake up call to sneak in a few more minutes of shut eye. Well, finally, David gave in and went to get him out of his crib. When he opened Liam's bedroom door....Liam was standing at the door! He pushed David aside and walked on out! Somehow he figured out a way to escape the crib. Later that morning, evidence of the fall appeared in goose egg form right on the top of his forehead. Poor guy. Needless to say, his crib is now on the lowest setting (which should have been done a while ago!) Along with his crib fall, Liam endured his 15 month check up and shots, blood work at the lab, and his first dentist appointment (all in the same week).

So, as I was saying earlier, last night came another fall (did I mention that it was on David's watch?). I got home late last night from a womens ministry meeting for our church. David gave me the schpeel as to how the evening with Liam went. All sounded great until he prefaced something with "Ok, so, don't hate me....I'm not a bad parent.....and Liam is fine.....Don't freak out!" With these words he had me worried and about to freak out. He then told me that he and Liam were hanging out downstairs when David got busy working on something. Liam decided to venture over to the stairs (which he does all the time). Mind you, he's really good at going up and down the stairs, but we're usually right there watching. This time no one was watching. After David heard 5 big thuds, he ran around the corner of the family room to find Liam finishing out his nasty trip down the stairs. Fortunately the screaming only lasted for about 30 seconds (or so I've been told) and before too long David had him distracted and laughing at a flash light game in the dark. Needless to say, he's fine. He has a bit of a rug burn on his forehead but amazingly no bumps or bruises. Oh, and the whole reason the flash light game got started was because David got them out to test Liam's eye responsiveness......checking for a concussion . David's a great dad and I, oddly enough, didn't freak out or blame him at all. Just like everyone has told me, it was only a matter of time before he took his first spill down the stairs. Liam's had a lot of "firsts" this week. Hopefully there will not be too many "seconds".

The Dental Excursion

Liam had his first dentist appointment this morning. First of all, the dentist's office is adorable! We went and saw "Dr. Dance." If that's not the cutest name ever, I dunno what is. I'm glad he didn't have the name Dr. Cutting or Dr. Payne like some of the other doctors in this area. The office was brand new and bright and cheery. White wainscoting adorned every wall. There was a video game room, a big blue tunnel slide and a train table to boot. I was wishing they would accept adult patients: it was that inviting.

Liam was leery from the moment we walked in. He curiously played with the train table while I snapped photos the whole time. Once the paperwork was filled out, he walked on back when they called his name "Lee-an". I quickly corrected them.

The doctors office got even cuter as we went further back.....so cute. Dr. Dance was very friendly and, of course, had perfect teeth. Liam's dental hygienist tried to get Liam interested in a Diego toothbrush in hopes that he'd flash her his pearly whites, but no such luck. His lips were tightly sealed the entire time!

Long story short, I had to hold his arms while the Dr. peeked in with his little mirrored wand and brushed his teeth with fluoride. Liam screamed through the whole ordeal....but David got pics of it all! Yay....time to scrapbook.

Dr. Dance said his teeth looked great and was happy to see how BIG his front four teeth are (thanks to David's genes).

The appointment ended and we were almost out to the car when I decided to let Liam go down the big blue tunnel slide before we left (I was only thinking of the perfect photo op). It started out all cute, until I let go of him. As you can see, it ended in tears and we were leaving as a big-bullying -obsessed-with-taking-random-photos kind of family. At least we don't have to make this outing for another 6 months. Maybe they'll forget our faces.

Finicky Schminicky

I have yet to master the fine art of getting Liam, (15 months), to eat normal food. He loves dinosaur chicken nuggets from Costco, loves any/all pizza, loves applesauce, yogurt, animal crackers and waffles. I attempted carrots last night smothered with butter and brown sugar hoping he would find them tasting like some kind of dessert (I found them to be quite delightful). However, it turned out to be a big war. As he gave me a hideous look and pushed my hand and fork out of his face he later dumped his entire dish in protest, calling it quits. Mission candied carrots: failed.

Dinner tonight: spaghetti. In the earlier days of experiencing new foods, he loved spaghetti! But tonight, not so much. Not only does he make an awful face when he sees or touches a food outside of his box of typical toddler grub, but he also gags when he pokes it with his tiny index finger. Amazingly tonight he spent the entire dinner wiping the palm of his hand back and forth over his plate of spaghetti, flattening the noodley mush down til it was smooth. He then proceeded to wipe the spaghetti up onto his arms and all over his chest every time he randomly signed "please." I must say, I was a little relieved that he was at least touching the food and was somewhat enjoying the texture. On a more positive note, Winston, our yorkie, was getting a scrumptious dinner as noodles, meat and sauce were falling to the ground and flying across the room every few minutes. Along with flinging spaghetti everywhere he also squashed every green bean between his fingers, but, somehow Liam managed to inhale a breadstick and a half (the only thing he would eat!).

Meal times cause me anxiety. The uneasy feeling I get every time I prepare something for Liam that seems well-balanced, frustrates me beyond all means and gives me this hopeless feeling like I am failing as a mom. I am sure that every other mom out there has dealt with or is currently dealing with a a finicky toddler at the table, but, if you have any solutions, let me know!

New Kid on the Blog

Ok, so, this is brand new to me....I finally made the plunge into the blogging world. After spending many hours on end looking at total strangers adorable blogs, I decided to attempt one myself. So, what better post to start out my new blog with, than one about me starting a blog. So original and interesting. :)