Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Teeth trouble

Last week I notice a dark spot on two of Liam's teeth. I was concerned, so I called around and tried to get him in to a pediatric dentist. Yesterday afternoon, we saw a very nice dentist and learned the bad news: Liam has FIVE cavities!

I'm so upset. I've tried so hard to make sure that Liam has good nutrition and diet. We don't eat a lot of sugary foods. But somehow we still ended up getting some bad decay. The dentist assures me that she sees this often, but it is still not what you hope for. :(

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Worms are animals too!

This afternoon the weather was quite mild. So we spent the evening working and playing in the back yard. I started digging up an area of the back yard in preparation for our vegetable garden. Liam was having great fun hunting for all the worms that I uncovered. He was very interested in watching them move and wiggle in his hands. He also gave them rides in his toy wagon. After a while, his made the announcement "worms are animals". Sean and I were quite impressed by his observation and asked him why. He said "because they move". How astute! Of course, realizing that they were alive was not quite enough to stop him from "pulling apart" a huge night-crawler that I gave him from our compost. I felt a little guilty that he killed that worm. :( But I'm afraid that I'm guilty of killing far more worms, since digging is my profession as an archaeologist...Let's just hope that god isn't an earthworm ;). In the picture, Liam is posing with his worms and saying "cheese" - that's not a grimace.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

A Triumphant week

I turned in my dissertation draft on Monday. To celebrate, I picked Liam up from daycare early and we went to the zoo. We actually walked the entire zoo together...I think that's a first for Liam! Then we went to the playground, where Liam had a grand time climbing and sliding and screaming with all the other preschoolers (and some bigger kids too) that were there. He saw that some of the other kid's dads were climbing on the gym, so he wanted me to join in. He pulled and tugged and finally persuaded me to climb through the tunnel and go down the slide. We also played on the swings together - Liam on my lap.

The rest of the week was less eventful, but I got a bit of a breather from all my hard work. Instead of writing, I focused my energy of spring cleaning in and around the house. Liam "helped" me in the back yard, raking mulch and leaves, bagging yard waste, and digging holes in the garden.

Today we did a little of everything. In the morning, Liam colored with mommy and daddy after breakfast. Then Liam helped me in the yard for a little while. We all stopped at the park and zoo for lunch, play, and visited with some animals. After that we went to the "Bugs" class that Liam is taking at the science museum. He was pretty tired by then and really didn't want to engage in the structured activities. But once the kiddos were let loose, he had some fun. We got a call from our friends, Dan, Annie, and Aidan and decided to meet them at the Maple Sugar festival. Liam loved looking at all the turtles they had on display in the park center. Then we went for a walk and found a geocache that had eluded us before. Liam was pretty exhausted by then and rather cranky - so was mommy for that matter ;) - so we headed home for Liam to nap. A busy end to a rather good week.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Liam's first trip without me

This morning Liam woke up all excited, with the knowledge that he and daddy were going to visit grandma and grandpa's house. He was so excited that he didn't even want to eat breakfast before the left. So I said goodbye to my guys and the headed off. It was hard for me see him go without me. I was a little maudlin. But the reason that they went on a little adventure without me was so that I could finish writing my dissertation. Two days alone was just what I needed to get the job done. I finished up the last writing and editing Sunday morning! What a relief to have my draft done. I was very excited to have them home Sunday afternoon. We went out to dinner to celebrate.

(written from memory on 3/18/09)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Surrounded by Al'gators

This morning when Liam got up, he came and snuggled in bed with me as he usually does. But this morning, he told me that were surrounded by al'gators. I went along with his make-believe and we pretended that the bed was an island with alligators all around it. He asked me if the alligators had gotten daddy and I told him that daddy was too fast to be eaten by alligators. Then we talked about whether the alligators would get kitty. We decided that kitty was to mean and tough to be eaten and that he would, in fact, eat the alligators so we could get out of bed. It's so fun to play pretend with my little guy. He has such a vivid imagination!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Boats, Bunnies, and Bikes

On Friday, I had to pick up Liam from daycare, but didn't have the carseat. Since the weather wasn't took bad, I biked over to pick him up with the bike trailer. Liam was so excited to see that I came on the bike. Many of the other kids were a little jealous of Liam getting a cool bike ride. On our way home, I stopped by the park to let Liam play for a little bit. He had fun chasing after another little boy about his age.

We had another busy weekend. We spent most of Saturday at the Michigan Lightcraft boat show. It was a lot of fun to dream of kayaking and canoeing (in this cold weather). Liam was a very good boy while we were there. He stayed in his stroller. I let him hold pamphlets and stickers from the vendors.

While daddy was in one of the many talks, Liam and I visited the potty. Then we went over to the Rabbit show that was going on in the other half of the building. The show was free, so we walked around. Liam charmed his way into petting a couple dozen adorable little and giant rabbits.

(written from memory on 3/18/09)

Friday, March 6, 2009

World Day of Prayer

Well, my beautiful calendar (made for me by my mom) tells me that today is "World Day of Prayer". It just so happens, that one of my prayers came true today! I have been awarded a fellowship from the university that will put my financial worries to rest. It has been hard making ends meet while paying for Liam's full time daycare when I'm not working full time. I have to have him in daycare in order to get my dissertation done, so we've been making a lot of sacrifices just to get by. The fellowship doesn't mean that we are on easy street or anything, but it means that I don't have to fret so much over how to put food on the table for the next couple months, and that is huge for us!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Nerdy never looked so cool!

I stumbled upon this awesome Etsy page today. Her artwork is very beautiful and educational.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Flowers and Cars

This weekend was the annual MSU orchid show, which is always one of the highlights of February. My mom came up to see the orchid show too. Sean came home just as we were getting breakfast. He ate and then went to lay down after 20 hours of driving. Before mom and I went to see the flowers, we took Liam to Lowe's for one of the Build and Grow workshops. This week's project was a race car...which we couldn't miss! Liam helped build his car, but had even more fun playing with it when he was done.
The orchid show was lovely as always! It was a welcomed bit of summer here at the end of winter.

(written from memory on 3/18/09)