Friday, January 25, 2008


Liam, the happy boy, is almost 17 months! What a fun and busy holiday season he has had! He is such a good little helper lately for MaMa and DaDa. He has learned how to turn off the light in his bedroom (it's on a cord) and then come over to Mommy in the rocker for night time rocking before bed. Now she doesn't have to do anything but get him dressed and brush his teeth. Brushing teeth, by the way, has been going over lately as well as a lead balloon! As Grandpa Lance, the dentist, says, "All the baby teeth fall out anyway!"
Mommy was spoiled again the other day by Liam when she prepared a cup with ice in it so Liam could play with the ice. Instead of playing with it, he went over to the cupboard, stuck a straw in the cup and brought it back over to Mama, so she could have a tasty beverage. Ahhh...after all this time waiting on him, he returned the favor!
Read on to see what Liam and his family have been up to the past two months.

Horray! Our first snow on January 20th. It was just enough to make our lawn look a little white.

Here's Liam posing for the camera and his first snow of the season. He was so cute, because I showed him where to stand and he walked over there, posed for the camera, and then after it flashed, he came over to see what it looked like.


Check out this funny video where our little man is cracking up over Mommy shaking a towel while folding laundry. Ella, on the other hand, is completely freaked out.

Liam and Daddy checkin' out the new cars at the Car Show at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Liam loved to press all of the buttons and then climb in the back seats. His favorite one with fancy buttons was the $110,000 Mercedes. Here he is in the Subaru Tribeca.

Because Liam didn't get his nap in before the car show, and he couldn't nap there with all the excitement going on, he finally passed out around 4:30, clutching his Saab business cards and sporting his Scion sweat band. A true car show junkie!

"Mr. Jefferson, is that you?"

We took another great trip to close by Williamsburg and Jamestown. This time, Nana was with us. It was a beautiful day, and Nana really enjoyed seeing the history there. Here is Liam with Thomas Jefferson in the town center. Liam finds out that Mr. Jefferson has the same birthday as Mommy.

What nice weather we have been having! 70 degrees and sunny. Nana, Mommy and Liam took a trip to the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Here is Nana and I in front of one of Norfolk's many mermaids that they paint and put around the city.

Whoa! Hold on tight Liam!

Afterwards, a stop at the grocery store to get some groceries and my free cookie that the bakery always gives me. This one was chocolate chip and it did not leave my mouth since the moment it was given to me until Mommy so meanly took it away.

Hey, what is this? Daddy's X-Box controller? It looks like a toy!

BUBBLE!! Two of my favorite things right now...bubbles and sticks.

Man! All this holiday action, I am pooped! I literally passed out as I was eating my lunch, a bagel in each hand and a yogurt mustache.

So long Uncle Brendan! Thanks for coming to visit us for Christmas & New Year's. Good luck next semester at Gonzaga Law. Your girl, Ella, will miss you.

Here we are at Mt. Trashmore on New Year's Day. Yes, just as it sounds, it is a mound of trash...a dormant landfill that has been made into a park. It is the highest point in Virginia Beach. It was very windy that day, but mild in temperature. We can't complain. After all, it is January

Here is Mr. Liam on the playground at Mt. Trashmore. With the help of Daddy and Uncle Brenny, he has learned to go down the slide on his own, over and over again.
Happy New Year 2008!!!
We spent a fun New Year's playing Trivial Pursuit 20th Century and watching Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest's Countdown. Liam spent it happily snoozing away...zzzzzzz...

On new year's eve, we went down to the beach, where Liam had a "ball."

It was all we could do to get the little guy away from his new friend, Mr. Smiley Face.


More balls! Or "ba-ba" as Liam calls them. Nana, Uncle Brenny, Mommy and Liam at the beach.

I'm on the move...don't stop me now!

Nana & Uncle Brenny
Congrats on passing your first semester of Law School, Brenny!

My new fascination...boxes, just big enough for me to squeeze into. Here I am, one fine case of beer!
Pop! Out I come like a jack-in-the box. I decided that this box was the place to be for 45 minutes!
Liam really enjoyed his second Christmas. He spent it this year with Uncle Brendan and Nana at home. He still hasn't grasped the concept of "Santa" and gifts. Mommy & Daddy took advantage of that this year and took Liam along with us when we went shopping for him. He didn't seem to mind. Although he received a bunch of gifts, he was happy with just one!
Here he is with his magnetic fishing game. (The first gift he opened...this one got a smile:)

Then Pound-A-Peg

Then Chicken Dance Elmo (thanks Aunt Cil and Uncle Armand).

Ohhhh! What's this? RoboPanda and his "teddy." Thank you Grandpa Hanrahan!
Liam appreciates all of his gifts:) Thank you.

These guys have so much fun!

Liam loves his duster! It has so many good uses, like harassing Ella with it. The best part about his new attachment is that he likes to help Mommy dust.

The poor angry Redskin fan! Don't worry Liam, there's always next season.

Liam and Mommy went up to Grandmommy & PopPop's House for a pre-Christmas visit. Liam loves his new crocs!

Daddy & Mommy took little Liam with them to celebrate their4th wedding anniversary. We all had a good time and good food at Capt. George's Seafood Buffet. Liam's favorite was the crab claws. He was not sure that they were actually food. Liam also really liked our cute blonde waitress and kept laughing every time she came by.

Here he is, Mr. Bean! Liam has a great goatee, mustache, and beard of black beans!