Pee!!

After a long day of teething (STILL working on molars and bottom K-9s) Liam ended the day on a high. We were in the middle of our normal bedtime routine watching Sprout and Liam grabbed his diaper and said ,'pee.' He then jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Since we aren't really working on potty training very much, I thought he was just playing. As I was taking off his diaper he started doing the 'potty dance' with that hurry-up-woman! look in his eyes. I sat him on the toilet and low and behold, he peed. He was thrilled when he learned that after that he could pull off toilet paper without getting in trouble. Cheers and giggles followed.

Tee!!!

Drinking 'tea' is now one of Liam's favorite things. Nanna and Poppa starting giving him 'tea' at their house. Now every morning when he sees my tea cup he starts yelling 'teeeeeeeee'. Yesterday I decided to let him have some 'tea' (diluted orange juice) with his breakfast. He managed to drink very carefully the first few sips. Then he got excited and turned the cup before it was at his mouth. This picture came after the spill, thus the reason for the bare-chested boy.

I tried to find Tobias' childhood mug for Liam, but it must be hiding somewhere in a cabinet out of sight. Yesterday I gave him Tobias' childhood cup.


This morning's tea. Liam handled the mug well. Mommy was wiser and started him with a bib!


This is what happens when Liam realizes we have the camera out. He wants to look at the pictures as soon as we take them.

Der Apfel faellt nicht weit vom Stamm

Liam LOVES technology. He can't get enough of our iPhones, iPad, computer, etc. This is a rather long video but it shows that even a 2 year old can work the iPad. Liam loves the Starwars Lightsaber app. He starts by playing with that, then moves into watching his favorite videos. Enjoy!! (Click on the button of the four arrows at the bottom right to view in Full Screen mode.)

Say it ain't so!

Liam is in another phase of rapid development. In the last week he has started using his first two-word sentences. His conversations usually happen over breakfast because he wants more food. He asked Nanna last week for 'more eggs'. When she asked if he wanted more eggs, he said 'uh-huh'. This morning he asked for 'Eier' (eggs in German). Then when he got some he asked for 'mehr Eier.'

He is also picking up more German words. This week he added 'Hocker' (step stool), Brot (bread) and Loch (hole).

Additionally, his clothes are getting too short in the legs again. Guess he is getting close to the 24 month clothing size . . . but only in length. His stomach still fits 12 months! Good thing the store is selling Dapper Snappers; it looks like he may be in the them for a while!

Perhaps the biggest change has come to Liam's bedtime routine. In the past we always rocked and sang to him for 10-15 minutes after brushing teeth to help him settle and get ready for bed. For the past 4 nights he has not wanted to do that. As soon as he has seen his crib he has said, 'Bett or bed' and reached to go right in. On one hand it's nice that he is going right to bed, but I really miss the time we used to have of rocking and singing. We'll have to see if this new routine is going to stick or if he will want to spend some quality time together before bed in the future.

And finally, Liam is definitely acting like a 2 year old. There was a very cute conversation between Tobias and Liam yesterday. Liam was throwing a little tantrum because he decided he did not want to eat any yogurt. He began to scream and cry. Tobias calmly said, 'Liam, Du kannst nicht gewinnen. Du bist 2 und ich bin dein Vater. Schrei so lange du willst. Du bleibst sitzen, bis du deinen Joghurt gegessen hast.' ('Liam, you are not allowed to win. You are 2 and I am the Dad. It is time to eat your Yogurt.) After a few minutes Liam then stopped crying and ate all of his yogurt . . . which he feeds himself these days.

Drinking from Papi's 'big boy' cup.

Liam, the builder

We are nearing completion on the bedroom renovation. Things should be all finished in about a week. We were finally able to finish the den and get the TV back up. Of course, Liam had to help!!

Liam loves screwdrivers!

One busy week

The store is finally Open To Buy and we have all nearly survived the week. Since our contractor got 4 weeks behind on a project which was scheduled to take 3 weeks, we ended up coming down to the wire on opening. The store passed final inspection the day before we were supposed to open. The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy getting the store ready to open. We always knew this was going to be hard work, but now we are really feeling the reality of it. The days are long and being on our feet 16+ hours a day is taking a bit of a toll. We just need the strength and energy to get through the first three months. By then the staff should be settling in and we will have more freedom with our time.

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Some little helpers who came to assist with cleaning

Danke, Mami, fuer der/die/das Putzmittel

Mom helping with the endless
task of hanging apparel rods
(For once she was not watching all the kids!)

Tobias assembling fixture number 57 of 65

What Tobias looked like most of the week when he was not
assembling fixtures. He ran over 1,300 feet of wires!!

Aisle flags going up

Tobias training the staff on how to assemble cribs.

Starting to look like a store

Tobias cutting down the Open Soon banner Tuesday morning

Finally Open To Buy!!

Patsch! Patsch! Patsch!

You may remember back in June 'Tante Christina' taught Liam how to tenderize meat. This morning he walked over the utensil drawer, grabbed the tenderizer, and started banging the counter. If only he had some meat . . .