Liam's Language: a Translation Guide

I'm sure that I should be working with him more on the correct pronunciation of his letters, but really, my heart just melts when he refers to himself as "Wee-am" and I can't bring myself to correct him.  In time.

In addition to his letter pronunciation, he also has some other unique phrases.  Here is a little guide in case you find yourself confused during a conversation with him:

Last Day
Translation: Yesterday.  The day before yesterday.  Last week.  Last month.  Last year.  5 minutes ago.  It really means any time other than the present.
Example:  Last day we went to Disney World.  Also, last day, I ate breakfast. 

Sweeps
Translation: To sleep.  Sleep.  Sleeping.
Example: I have to get a good sweeps so I can play later.
Bonus example:  his use of this phrase in his favorite song, One Republic's "Counting Stars"...."Lately I've been, I've been woosing (losing) sweeps"

Well, I didn't see that one coming.
Translation: straight-forward translation.  He actually uses this in context, I just wanted to include it because I think it's funny coming out of such a tiny human.
Example:  The other day, he picked up a box that had puzzle pieces in it and some spilled out onto the floor; his response was, "Well...I didn't see that one coming!"

Beesanya
Translation: Lasagna
Example: This beesanya is really good, can I have more?

Wuv
Translation: love
Example: I wuv you, mommy.  (as you can guess, this one is my favorite!) 

What we've been up to....

Hello, end of October!!!  I'm not sure where the month went, but here we are!

Poor little Gracie has another bad allergy flare up going on right now (along with an ear infection), so she's been spending a lot of time popping steroids, antibiotics, and resting.  Oh, and getting lots of pets from Dr. Liam, who follows her around sometimes saying "aww....Gwacie, you're ok"  :)

 

Last Friday, I was able to go into Jake's classroom for a few hours and volunteer for "Pumpkin Fest".  It's so much fun to see him in his element with all of his little friends :)  I had a group of 5 kids to work with on pumpkin themed reading comprehension, science experiments, and a craft.  Here's Jake and our neighbor, Gavin, showing off their decorated pumpkins:

 

Friday night, we put the boys to work in the yard.  This happens every single year without fail, yet every single year, we are astounded by the number of leaves that fall in the yard.  And how quickly they pile up!  Brian had most of the yard cleared by Saturday afternoon; it was pretty well covered again on Sunday.  BLAH!!

 

On Saturday, some friends of ours from college came over to visit with their kids!  Whitney and Neal lived in Pittsburgh for awhile after graduation, then moved to Texas, and now they are in New Jersey.  They were in town for Pitt Homecoming, and we were happy to see them.  The kids played really well together, but trying to get them to hold still for a picture was like trying to bathe cats.  This was the best I could do:

On Sunday, the kids were all kinds of pumped up because our church was doing "Pajama Children's Church"...they thought it was the most hysterical thing ever that they could rock their PJs in church!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, but they both chose Hugh Hefner button down style jammies, which made it even better :)  Brian was heading to the Steelers game that morning, so me and the boys went down to visit GG and Pappy for the day.  They did a lot of playing, I did a bit of outlet shopping, then we all watched the game.  Oh, and Liam forced Pappy to do puzzles, of course. 

That's a wrap for now, hope you had a great weekend!!

Liam's School Progress Report

Every few months, we receive a progress/assessment report from daycare; I enjoy it, because aside from a brief conversation with his teacher at pick up, it's hard to know what he's really doing there and how things are going (have you ever tried to get a full story out of a 3 year old?  Doesn't always work out that well!)  Here is a summary of the recent progress report we received:

Personal and Social Development
Liam has improved greatly since joining the preschool room with demonstrating self confidence.  He responds warmly to the teachers' greetings and exchanges a few words when arriving to the classroom.  He communicates very well with teachers and peers during activity and free play time.  He is able to transition well from one classroom activity to the next, with prompts.  Liam shows a huge interest in learning, and will participate throughout the day in activities and he is eager to respond to questions and give comments.  He is quiet when we ask him to be, though he sometimes needs to be reminded to keep his hands and feet to himself, which is expected at this age. 

He has a great imagination and loves to play with his peers, though he is often content to engage in a solo activity as well.  He often seeks out the company of teachers instead of his peers.

Language and Literacy
Liam speaks clearly and is understood most of the time.  He is able to communicate his concerns with his teachers and peers most of the time, though he does need to be reminded at times to state his feelings toward his peers when someone invades his personal space, rather than using his hands to move them away. 

Mathematical Thinking
Liam is interested in solving basic math problems, such as counting objects and adding small numbers of objects together to get a total. 

Scientific Thinking
We are just beginning to explore different types of science, but Liam has shown a keen interest in this area.  He asks many follow up questions about science lessons throughout the day.

Social Studies
Liam is able to wait his turn during different transitioning times during the day.  He is also capable of raising his hand during group activity times. 

The Arts
Liam shows much interest in this area as well, he enjoys every art project that we work on as well as music time.  We recently had an "American Idol" game, where Liam was willing to sing a song in front of the whole group, something that he has shied away from in the past.

There you have it, all seems well on the preschool front.  And because what's a post without some cute pictures, here are some shots from this week after school....he had been wearing his beanie cap outside and suffered a bit of hat head when we got home:

A Halloween filled weekend!

Halloween is creeping up on us, and we were ALL IN this weekend to do some pre-celebrating of the holiday! First up Sunday morning was Zoo Boo!  It was pretty cold there most of the time (especially when we first got there...BRRR!) but it felt good to walk around and seek out the sunny spots!  GG was able to join us again this year, too!

 

 

After much contemplation, the kids had settled on being Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and a ninja :-)  They looked super cute!

The only good thing about a chilly day at the zoo is that the animals tend to be a bit more active. For instance, this snow leopard, who, of all the times we've been to the zoo has never been doing anything but sitting in a tree or napping:

Many of the others were up and about, too:

It's hard to tell in these pics, but the orangutan was hanging out right up against the glass, and even put his hand up a few times and was just staring at the boys..it was the cutest thing ever!

Jake was all about posing as a ninja for much of the day....

And we ran into the State Farm bear, so you know our "Jake from State Farm" was super excited!

We ended our visit with a walk through the aquarium before eating lunch and heading home:

After a very, very brief stop at home, we headed out to the next Halloween activity....Trunk or Treat at church!  This was our first time going, and it was a really cute little party!  They had the whole gymnasium area filled with tables that the kids could walk around to....some of the tables were just passing out treats, while others had arts and crafts and games.  There was even a bouncy house outside!

 

Jake's 1st Basketball Game!

Our house came with a basketball hoop, and if Jake is outside playing he is almost always shooting some hoops out in the driveway.  He started asking last spring if he could join a basketball team, so we found a fall team for him to join and he started this past Saturday.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics or video of him playing (I promise to do better for the next game!), but I can assure you he had a great time.  He looked so serious out there on the court, trying his hardest to do what the coach was telling them to do.  Since it was the first time, they did mostly practice/drills, with a little 15 minute scrimmage with another team at the end.....the scrimmage was by far, the best part...it was hilarious!  Sheer chaos, but tons of fun to watch :)  The best part about it for me?  It was INSIDE!! :) 

Looking forward to seeing this little guy continue to learn on the court!

Favorite Finds Friday

Linking up again over at Friday Favorites....

Favorite Find #1: HGTV Magazine

My mom got me a subscription to this 2 years ago for my birthday, and I'm still loving it.  The magazine itself makes me happy even before I open it...the cover is always so bright and cheery and glossy!

I love that they always have a splurge or steal section for household items, handy tips about everyday issues that you can easily take care of yourself with the right directions, and of course, tours of other people's gorgeous homes (which is right up my alley, I love being nosy and seeing where other people live, haha!)

Favorite Find #2: Croft and Barrow Sole (sense)ability ballet flats

I was in Kohls over the summer and as I was getting ready to leave, something caught my eye on a clearance table.  It was a pair of ballet flats in a nice neutral/metallic color, with a cute little buckle on the top with a darker toe.  I turned over the shoes to check out the price....$9!  And I had a 15% off coupon...score!

I didn't wear them over the summer because I tend to stick to open toed shoes, but now that fall is here, I wear them nearly every day to work.  They are SO comfortable.  They're not super thin on the bottoms like some other ballet flats that I've had.  I'm that person who wears a pair of sneakers into work, then changes shoes once I'm at my office if said shoes are not 100% comfortable....but no changing is necessary with these, I wear them for the commute.

Lovely carpet in my office, yes?? :)  I can't find this exact pair online, but they have others that are similar in the same brand here: http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-946386/sole-senseability-flats-women.jsp 

Favorite Find #3: Friday Night Lights (the real thing!)

Last Friday, Brian took Jake to our local high school's football game!  Our neighbor has been helping Brian out with some yard work and lawn mowing since his shoulder injury, and he happens to be the captain of the football team this year...Jake loves to go outside when he's working in our yard and ask him football questions and hear him talk about practices and games :)  So needless to say, Jake was super pumped to be going to see him play in person!!

All up in a snuggie.

 The game didn't start until 7:30, and Jake had been up late the night before at the Light the Night Walk....but that didn't stop him from making it to the very end (and he got to see them win!)  Brian said about an hour in, he was looking like he was going to fall asleep, but kept insisting that he was "wide awake" and wanted to watch the end.  (kind of sounds like me at night when I'm struggling to stay awake and watch some of my favorite shows....) 

What's a post with a reference to one of the best shows of all time without some quotes from the show?  You're welcome.

image courtesy of 5minutesformom.com

image courtesy of invyn.com

Texas forever, ya'll.