Simple Recipes for Busy Living
Not long ago, I mentioned that I haven’t got any recent pictures of Liam sleeping…until now! I got these shots about 15 minutes ago at the dinner table, as we were having one of our typical early weekend dinners. Liam fell fast asleep mid-bite. I guess all the fresh air he got earlier in the garden playing with our neighbours daughter wore him right out!
Sometimes, I only wish sleep came so easily for me!
Liam has more books than most children his age I’m sure. For starters, my Mom loves buying him books. I think it must have something to do with her love of reading and her passion for writing, coupled with the fact that she has an amazing collection of children’s books of her own.
Before he was born, I also began a collection of books I thought our child would like, and by 3 days of age, we were already reading stories together daily. As the months and years pass, I am certain that his taste in literature will change and mature, but for the time being here are a few of his current favorites:
As well as “Danny the Duck,” “Junior on the Farm,” “Duck is Small,” “Baby Faces,” “Little Baa,” and “My First Book of Words.
As they get older, it becomes increasingly difficult to photograph sleeping children. For starters, the flash required for photography in dark places would likely wake them up, and by the time parents of toddlers actually get their children down for the night, about the last thing on their minds is “hey, let’s get out the camera and chance waking them.” Needless to say, I took this precious picture of my Sleeping Beauty when he was about 5 months old, and haven’t attempted to take any pictures of him mid-slumber since then.
Tonight as Liam was falling asleep beside us, with his head on my pillow, I looked at his beautiful little smiling face, and whispered “I love you”, and to my heart’s delight, he answered back “Ub-boo.” I am not sure if he even knows what those words mean when I say them to him, but hearing them back from him for the first time tonight made my heart melt. I think they were the best words I have heard in my whole life…
As a child, I watched Sesame Street daily. I loved the Muppets (and still do!) and think Jim Henson was so much ahead of his time in his progressive children’s programming.
I have to say however, that one particular skit involving Ernie and Bert in Egypt was enough to send me running for my “Mummy!” It absolutely terrified me…
And you know, after watching it again just now for the first time in years…it still freaks me out just a little! >:-)
Perhaps I am stating the obvious here, but it seems to be a commonality amongst all children that they like sweets. It appears that Liam is no exception. I recently made the mistake of introducing him to “just a small taste” of one of my worst eating habits…doughnuts! He simply fell in love with them, possibly even more than I!
The grocery store which we frequent (mosty because I don’t seem to be able to get my act together enough to make a list once a week, therefore we end up there multiple times weekly instead) has a wonderful bakery section, featuring fresh baked goodies. Liam has caught on to Mommy’s bad habit, and now asks politely as soon as we enter the store for “nuduts”…translation:doughnuts. Last week when we got home from our grocery shopping trip, Liam searched through each bag of groceries until he found the one which contained the treat I had bought to “share.” By the time I found him, he had devoured no less than half of it!
I have also noticed that any time I go through a drive-through window, whether it is Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s or the Instant Teller at our bank, the little voice in the back seat pipes up…”nuduts?” with keen interest.
As he gets older, I am not sure that his fondness for sweets will fade away, if anything, it will likley intensify. I am going to have to think up clever tactics in order to distract him in the grocery store, and while doing my banking. Too many nuduts aren’t good for you 
I truly believe that toddlers are the reason that mankind invented the vacuum!
Today was one of those days that I wish I could just “re-do.” Liam is getting more and more adventuresome and curious each day, and made his “Dennis the Menace” debut today by getting into everything possible, rattling my nerves, keeping me hopping, and trying my patience as a still relatively new Mom.
It all began this morning with a huge crash, when he pulled an entire box of beads to the floor, scattering the tiny fragments of glass in all directions. Incidentally, minutes earlier, I had just finished sorting through the beads, removing the broken ones. I brought the vacuum out after picking up most of the beads (and pieces of new broken ones) to ensure that I got any sharp bits remaining on the floor.
Later, as I was loading the dishwasher, I gave Liam a wire whisk to amuse himself with. No sooner had I turned around to complete my chore, Liam had taken the implement, and begun to dig through the dirt of one of my large floor plants. For the second time today, the vacuum made its appearance.
In a household with three resident cats, Liam’s curiousity often gets the better of him, and he likes to investigate our feline companions close-up. Two out of three are *fairly* good natured about his antics, mind you there has been the occasional scratch. Our oldest cat Beatrice, is however not such a good sport. Liam had cornered her in the Livingroom, and when I heard hissing, I came dashing in just in time to spare his little hands from a potential attack! He was trying to feed her a cookie…Where is that vacuum again?
I thought that Liam had gotten into just about everything possible, until the very end of the day when he discovered how much fun it is to shred toilet paper all over the bathroom floor. I was again, glad that the vacuum was near-by…
Days like today, I am so relieved to see my husband walk through the front door. Not that I am not normally happy with his arrival home, but days like today, I feel the need for extra “back-up” reinforcements!
The vacuum still sits in the hall, waiting to be put back into the garage. I know it will be out again tomorrow, as more cookies are crumbled, there are more spills and shreds of this and that on the floors. Maybe I should just incorporate it into part of our livingroom furniture…it would make an intersting coffee table afterall, and if not the most attractive of coffee tables, at least a very functional one in our house!
On the weekend, we took Liam to the College Royal, a traditional open-house-style event where the University of Guelph opens it’s doors to the public and features tours of “Old MacDonald’s Farm.” Liam was very interested in all of the animals he saw, from pigs, to ducks, to sheep. There were even llama’s and alpacas. The most fascinating animals by far however, were the cows! We spent several minutes looking at the cows, listening to their familiar call, and in Liam’s mind I’m sure, pure wonder at their large size! Ever since our excursion, whenever Liam is prompted “what does the cow say?” he answers an enthusiastic “Moo!”
On our morning outing to Zehrs to pick up a few necessities, we approached the dairy section to pick up milk. I stopped our cart so that Liam could have a better look at the display cow. When Liam spotted the over-sized plastic bovine perched on top of the display counter, he shrieked “Moo, Moo, Moo!!!” so loudly, that I though it best we walk away from the scene so as not to attract anymore attention. Who knew a trip to the grocery store could be such an exciting experience for a youngster. I almost think he preferred the pretend cow to the real thing!
As we set off for a walk the other day, I heard a loud and familiar sound coming from above our heads. I looked up to see two Canada Geese perched high up on our rooftop, honking loudly to alert us to their presence. The pair sat there for quite some time. Perhaps they were enjoying the view!
On the same day, we took Liam out on another walk in his wagon…since then, every time we’re in the garage he heads straight for it, and attempts to clamber in. I think he is trying to tell me something!
