All Grown Up!

Okay, so maybe it is a bit of a stretch to say that Liam is all grown up, but that is somewhat how I feel today. Yesterday, my little boy turned 2 years old. I just cannot believe it. It seems like just not too long ago I first found out that I was expecting. I remember how excited Matt and I were - and terrified too! Then, 9 months later (to the day - Liam was born on his due date!) I found something that my mom had told me many times, as well as other women, to be true. And that was this - that the second you lay eyes on that little, screaming baby, you "fall" madly in love with them! How true that is! I think that is something that you cannot truly understand until you experience it yourself! And I can honestly say that I love Liam even more today than I did that day. What a joy he has been to Matt and I! We thank the Lord everyday for His goodness is "loaning" our children to us. I say loan because we know that Liam and Leila are really the Lord's. We have given them back to the Lord. We just have the blessing and huge responsibility of raising them!

I have found myself reminiscing lately about these past two years, and I must say, I feel somewhat spoiled. Liam is what I would call an "easy" baby. He never really cried much, even from the beginning. He took to eating right away - no problems there! When I first gave him the bottle, he drank it no problem. Almost every new food I gave him he ate like it was nothing new. I can even remember almost wishing he would make a funny face or something to make us laugh! Even now, he is still a good eater. When we switched him from his crib to his "big boy bed" I fully expected him to be up and out of bed all night, or to cry, or something! But nope - not Liam! He went to sleep in his bed as if nothing was new! And now, just this past week, I have taken away his Nuk (pacifier), and he has done well with that. He has asked for it a few times, but we just tell him, "No, Nuks are for little babies. You are a big boy." Oh, and I know what some of you are thinking - "What? He is almost 2 and you still let him have a pacifier?" And to that, I simply reply - "Ya. What's it to ya?" Actually, for the last year he has only had it at sleep time. But, the other day I just decided it was time to get rid of them, and they are now in the trash! But he is doing so well - much better than I thought!

He is talking so well too. I think every day he comes out saying new words and phrases. Like yesterday, he woke up from his nap crying, so Matt went in to see what was wrong, and Liam just said, "I miss mommy." Awww... so precious! A little while later he went up to Matt and said, "We obey the penguins." :-) Maybe he is a little confused on that, but we will work on it! He loves to sing, and is constantly singing the ABC's, Lord's Army, Old MacDonald, and his new favorite, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (which sounds more like 'Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Star.') I love to hear him sing, and I LOVE to hear him say, "I wuv you!" and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear him pray. He repeats after us before his meals, as well as at bedtime and it is just so precious. Sometimes even just at odd times throughout the day he will come up to me and say,"Pray?" and wait for me to lead him in a prayer. It is so precious. Then, I think if it is that beautiful to my ears, how much more is it to God's?

Well, I will stop bragging about Liam with this. He is a 'wonderful good' boy, but he is also far from perfect. We are definitely in the "terrible twos" (and have been for a couple of months), and there are some days that I am so exasperated that I just want to scream or cry, or both. But it is then that I look in his precious, big, blue eyes, and remember what a treasure he is, and it all seems to be better. As I have found already, time goes by way too fast. I want to cherish these moments while I can. I thank the Lord everyday for Liam. I have enjoyed so much these last two years with him, and look forward to as many more ahead that the Lord allows us to have together. Now, it is on to new adventures! The next one coming up - Potty Training!