Everything, Nothing, and I'm a Middle Child

Liam is almost two years old.

And while he can whine and tantrum with the best of them, there is plenty to love about him, too.

Here's a taste:

1. Some of my favorite versions of words à la Liam:

'napeg' - napkin
'mugan' - music
'Mee-um' - Liam
'hijk Elmo' - h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o

2. Liam has picked up the word 'now'. Most of the time, it's pretty amusing, though I still try not to respond to him in a 'now' kind of way, as I don't want him to get in the habit. On the other hand, he's clear it's a demanding word.

3. He can also be super polite: he frequently will say "thank you, Liam" or "thank you, Daddy" to thank, oh, anyone for anything.

4. If he sees a car, truck or airplane, watch out for your ears. He's liable to tell you about it - with vigor.

5. If you want something to become his favorite, call it 'cozy'. Cozy slippers, cozy coat, cozy blanket ... whatever.

6. He loves rubbing his cheek against our cheeks.

7. He can count to two. He can say numbers higher than that, but he can actually identify two things and count them - one, two, two feet! I think that's cool.

8. He's got rhythm. Some who know me from workshop days may not believe my son capable, but his father was in show choir. This stuff is innate in him and it's really cool to watch him boogie - and keep time.

9. We've recently discovered that there is a whole host of songs that if we stop in the middle of them, he will quietly fill in the next word. Very cute.

10. He loves to sing. He sings all the time - totally random stuff. I know it's a normal phase or whatever, but it is so much fun to watch him do it. And he does it totally unabashedly, as if no one were paying attention to him. It's almost as he zones out while he does it.

I've hit ten. That's enough for right now. If we ever upload photos again, I'll share them.