Playmobil Kitty Names

Liam has recently been introduced to playmobil and has really been loving it.  I've been buying him pieces of the farm set and they're pretty reasonable, only about $10 each for the small sets and they get lots and lots of play.  Today he has a birthday party to go to, so when I got the present earlier this week I picked up the playmobil cat play set for him; as if he needs more toys.

But, he really, really loves playing with them.  I think tomorrow I'm going to swap out some of the toys that don't get played with so much any more, and a big stack of books, to make room for the new and to just pare down a little overall.

In the meantime, Liam has named the six cats that came with the playmobil set:

Mollie
Salad
Foxic
Japanese
Rose
Cushie

Reminds me of how he used to name all the areas in his paintings.

Pizza Friday was a success last night until Liam and the neighbor-boy just couldn't keep from bugging each other to death (including some hitting and pushing and name-calling that was really over the top).  Went from fun to not fun pretty fast.  Today we have the birthday party for one of Liam's school friends and then a mother's day tea at GG's church.  And then we clean the chicken coop.

 

Trains and Cars

We bought Liam's trains and cars set today. I had done a fair amount of thinking about what kind to get for him and settled on PlanToys. In May we got a coupon for our local toy store that had to be used by the end of August, so I started putting a little bit away each month and today was the day. He likes them already but he'll also grow into them. So far the best things have been carrying them out of the store, unpacking them with Daddy, and having the cows attack the trains and moo at them.

I imagine when he's older they'll be a toy he plays with in his bedroom and can keep all set up however he wants. As it is now, they go in a green bin in the living room when he's done playing. They are crazy expensive, so they better last forever.

Beautiful sky tonight, flat and pale with grades of color up from the horizon from orangish to purpleish to blue. An understated, summer sky. I hear Will reading Liam's new library books up in Liam's room and know exactly what they look like snuggled in Liam's bed waiting for me to come up and do the rocking to sleep, and I can just see the bats starting to come out and zip around in the sky.

I don't know why he's doing this

Liam is completely in love with these little trucks. He must have, well, many, too many. We all buy them, and we've been letting him take them to school (daycare) to help ease the transition, but then he brings them home too, so we end up with half a dozen or so around the house at any given moment. Today he decided to stack them. I'm not sure why, but he was really interested in it. . .and if he started with the right truck he can get 3 stacked up. (Firetruck = good base for stacking; tow truck = not so good.)

I don't mind the trucks, really, although I try to keep them out of places where someone is likely to step on them and go flying. They really roll great. They're made by Tonka, there are about million variations and they're pretty inexpensive.

He seems to be turning overnight from a baby into a little boy.

Finally, Liam's Shoes

We've been looking for some decent shoes for Liam. He has some nice boots for serious trips outside that my mother got him at Target, but we wanted something less bulky for every-day errands and running around. We saw our neighbor and her daughter at the park today and she recommended a store in town so this afternoon off we went. Shoes galore. Liam choose his own shoes from the selection on the table. He looked them all over and grabbed these. So, now Liam has shoes, they seem to work great, and they promise not to screw up his feet. Also, they are adorable.

Important things to have on hand when you're 14 months old and getting two molars at once...

1. Frozen fruit and ice cubes in a mesh bag for a teething Popsicle.

2. A phone that plays music and a Daddy willing to take you for walks so Mommy can finally have a cup of coffee in peace.
3. Children's' Tylenol, infant drops.

Liam is getting his butt kicked by his teeth these past few days. Last night and Saturday night he was up from about 2:30 to 5:00 (AM!) restless and crying. Finally this morning at around 5:30 I gave him Tylenol infant drops (about 2/3 of a dose) and he was able to go back to sleep. Me, not so much. Today he has been resistant to naps and alternating between fussy and over-tired wacky. Finally napping now; we pray for a solid 2 hours or so of sleep, he needs it.

The phone and Tylenol are unremarkable. The Daddy is wonderful as has been remarked on extensively. The mesh bag is worth a special mention. This is (yet another) example of a baby item that someone gave us that I thought was ridiculous and now love. You can put whatever food you want in it and the baby can suck and eat away with no danger of choking. We use ours almost exclusively for frozen fruit and ice cubes -- it has been a Godsend for the days when Liam's teeth are really bugging him. Ours is like this, except brighter colors. Ours is an older model, but now they're easy to find, made by all the usual suspects in the making-stuff-for-babies corporate world. They're cheap and a great baby gift; I give them to everyone.

I think Liam may have too many toys. . ..

Most of these were gifts, honestly. Although I do admit to some sort of unusual and (must have been) hormone-driven buying spree shortly before Liam was born and then again right after I went back to work full time when Liam was about 6 weeks old. What a post to follow the sermon on the "Story of Stuff" from Saturday. We try, but are far from perfectly thoughtful consumers, especially where Liam is concerned. Most of the toys I bought are just now getting any play time, having been, generally, way too much for a 6 week old, let alone a newborn! Maybe I'll try to take individual photos of some of the favorites soon, if my picture taking ever gets any better.

We Love our Highchair

We live on one income, so we try to be thoughtful about what we buy. Plus, I work in the environmental field and know some of the numbers about how much better it is both for the environment and, generally, for social justice to buy carefully, keep stuff a long time, fix it when it breaks, and get thrifted or used stuff when you can. (If you want to know more about this, I recommend the "Story of Stuff." It has a political overtone that you don't have to agree with to take in the basic message which is: the money we pay for many of the things we buy and then quickly throw away doesn't even begin to cover their true cost to the planet or to the communities in which they are made. Thus ends the sermon.)

Anyway, when Liam was born we got most of his stuff used from the local craigslist or loaned (thanks Meg!) and, because our family and friends are so generous, received a lot of gifts too. But we bought our own highchair, exactly the one I wanted, and it was expensive, and I still love it. It is a Stokke TrippTrapp Chair. Both the seat and the foot rest adjust so Liam will be able to use it until he goes to college, if he wants. (The white safety rail comes off.) And, best of all, it pulls right up to the table, so Liam sits with us, and eats with us, and isn't off on his own with a tray. Find out more including where to get yours if you want one here and here. For us, it was worth every penny. Ours is wood, but in making this link now I wish for the bright green. . .oh well. Yes, Liam does have a wooden truck in his mouth in the photo. Have I mentioned that he is obsessed with the dog?

Tee-Shirt Purchase

Just purchased a tee-shirt for Will's birthday (he almost never reads the blog, so little danger of ruining the surprise). Live Life then Give Life, the UK organ donation trust (charity). Scroll down to the "buy a tee shirt" link if you want one too. Very neat. (I looked for something similar in the US and didn't find anything -- our organ donation charity offers brochures for distribution, which are nice I guess but really aren't the thing for a birthday present.) I'd like to get one in Liam's size, so on the off chance that anyone from the UK organ donation trust ever reads this blog: children's sizes, please. Thanks.

We Love our Puffs & Will Rocks

We love our puffs, we really do. It's a silly thing. We got them for Liam's first birthday, about a month ago, based on these catalog pictures that show some well behaved, VERY clean-looking children sitting on puffs at a craft table doing crafts, or practicing their alphabets, or penning thank you notes, or some other laudable thing, it's clear. We thought Liam could site on them at the coffee table and look at books or whatever. (HA! He never sits still.) Anyway, we got some and we love them. They are just the right size for Liam to pile all over. They're bright and sturdy. And, they're great for mommy and daddy to "sit" on, alleviating some of that hoisting ones self up and down from the floor that happens when playing with an (almost) toddler. They were expensive, but we love them. We got them at Land of Nod.

I'm so proud of Will today. Even though he was up half the night coughing and clearly felt crummy this morning, once he got up he got going, and got out of the house, and went to the park, and stopped by my work to say hi, and played with Liam this evening, and, in general, didn't sink into the depths of despair on account of feeling sick. It's such a hard and complicated thing this disease. A transplant is an incredible gift; and it brings a new set of challenges.