uh oh! spaghetti!

It must be fall because Dad and Linda made the trip big city a few weekends ago (you know who doesn't leave DL in the summer). We had a family dinner at Maggiano's in Edina on Friday night. This is a great family restaurant and perfect for crazy toddlers. It is very loud and the servers were so taken by Liam and Eli's cuteness that they didn't care about the mess that was left on the floor after we were finished.

We ordered a family style meal that included two selections each of appetizers, salads, pastas, entrees, and desserts. By the time the pasta came the table was full, and a pasta bowl ended up right in front of Liam. We gave him a little bit on a small plate, but as you will see, that was not enough for him. He had to have the entire bowl.


Here he is just kind of playing with the spaghetti



And then he started to shove handfuls into his mouth


Next he learned to slurp it


Finally, as happens at every meal, we have spaghetti hair

scottsdale, az

Highlights from our Labor Day weekend trip to AZ (started this two weeks ago but couldn't get my pics loaded- darn technology!). This was Liam's second plane trip. He was an angel and, as usual, charmed all the ladies sitting around us!

Fountains at Kierland Commons

He had a fit when we went to leave, but ice cream solved that problem!

Ice Cream!

Giant golf ball at PGA Tour Superstore

Big or small, he likes them all!

Thomas the Train Set

Peek-a-boo

The carousel at McCormick- Stillman Railroad Park

With Nana and G-pa Dan at the house

More ice cream!

Throwing rocks in the pool

Posing on the big cat statue at DC Ranch

look who's walking now

Our Little Man is on the move...finally!!! I should clarify that he has been able to walk for a few months, he simply chose to crawl. Until last weekend. He's now a walkin' machine!

oh (expletive meaning poop) moment

A few days ago Phil and I had our first "Oh Crap" moment as parents. Actually our first two- and I'm not talking about little things like forgetting to bring a bottle when you are going to be away from home for six hours or leaving an entire can of formula in the grocery cart only to realize it when you are already home. These are scary "something really, really, really bad could have happened and then the whole world would think we are horrible parents" moments.

Liam uses a booster chair and has decided that he no longer wants to eat his food off of the tray. It has to be on a plate, and the plate has to be on the table. Great, he's learning to eat like a big boy.

Yes, that was really great until he decided one night that he was done eating, kicked the table and fell backwards still strapped in the chair. We have an entire wall of mirrors in our dining room (it's very 70's retro) and his head missed that wall by about 1/2 of an inch. Oh, Crap (the other word sounds much more natural for this situation, but I'm trying to keep it clean!).

Lesson # 1: Don't put the booster chair in front of a mirrored wall.

Our second "Oh, Crap" moment came a few days later. Liam loves to play knock-knock on the storm door because he can see through the window to daddy on the other side. It's soooo cute...he even knows how to say "knock-knock."

The other day Liam scooted over to his books behind the chair. I didn't think much about what he was doing because this is his typical after day care routine- find the "But Not the Hippopotumus" book and make mommy read it eighteen times before dinner. Not that day. That day I heard him playing knock- knock on something that sounded like fragile glass, not sturdy window glass but fragile, breakable, dangerous glass.

See the glass china cabinet in the background that is full of glass stuff? THAT is what he was playing knock-knock on...with a metal container of lip salve (where he found it, I have no idea!). He threw a knock-down, drag-out toddler fit when I took him away. It was a really fun moment, let me tell ya. And that leads to....

Lesson # 2: Dispose of all glass objects in your house when raising a toddler.

Something, some day will get broken. I realize this. But these two little instances made my heart pound because Liam could have been seriously hurt. I am usually pretty careful about watching what he is doing, but this just proves to me that I cannot even turn my head away from him for a few seconds.

These occurences reminded me of two little boys who made my mother utter the phrase "Oh Crap" more times than I can remember. I am pretty sure that my little boy is following in the footsteps of his favorite uncles- Oh Crap!