Sunny days...

We were blessed with beautiful weather this past weekend. It was our little taste of summer. That's one of the hardest things about living in Ireland- the weather. It has gotten worse in the 8 years I've lived here and shows no real sign of improving. May and June are generally nice, but July and August are always a washout.
So we put the housework on hold and ran out to enjoy the glorious sunshine. I had Liam in about 5 different outfits trying to get a few uses out of shorts he's only been able to wear once or twice. Here he is enjoying the sunshine out the front.

After Liam awoke from his nap we headed to Lady Dixon park. It's only a short drive from our house. Boy was it busy! We stayed in the playground for about 20 minutes because it was too hectic and there are so many lovely areas to explore. Here's Liam enjoying a 'poke'... wee cone with vanilla ice cream. He had more on his clothes than in his mouth.

Lady Dixon park is huge and known for its Rose Gardens. We explored some of the well maintained gardens and stopped for a picture here and there...There are big huge trees and lovely frog filled ponds. Couldn't resist a good photo opportunity high in the trees.Liam was all about walking everywhere. He wanted to walk up high and down low and sideways and upside down. Thankfully Daddy was on hand to escort... We were all officially exhausted at the end of the day and Liam slept until 8:30 on Sunday morning (good for me since I was on 'early shift').

On Sunday we pottered around the house getting floors and windows and clothes all cleaned. In the afternoon we headed over to Great Aunt Annies house for a run about her garden and to see our old cat Cleo. Liam was on form that day. Running around and exerting more of his independence. Did I mention his new favourite word is no? That and sausage. I forgot my camera so these are off the iphone. Looking super cute... Getting ready to mow the lawn...

He ran around the front and side and back gardens getting all tuckered out. He was doing loads of singing and dancing and eating and talking back. I made beef stew for the boys on Saturday night (for use on Sunday). Not exactly the most appropriate food for the warm weather, but whatever! He really enjoyed it, had a lovely bath and went right to bed. He certainly got a lot of activity this weekend!

So how's our boy doing? Next check up won't be until his second birthday, but my scales are pretty accurate and he's topping them at around 32/33lbs. He's really tall, but won't stand still for a measurement. If I had to guess, I'd say he was around 34" maybe 35". He's starting to get too big for his US size 6 shoes and the 2Ts are getting a bit short. He is constantly talking... except for the first few minutes when he meets someone new. His vocabulary continues to expand and he is able to repeat most words we say. Yesterday our friends Conor and Siobhan were over and he said Conor to me. He has started calling his classmates and minders at daycare by their names. He doesn't say Liam. When you ask him what his name is he says 'me'. Two word phrases are coming along... 'daddy gone,' 'all done,' 'bye bye, see ya' are favorites. No 'I love you' yet, but we have time for that. He has a great appetite and is still sleeping like a dream. The only issues we are having are with his daily tantrums and saying 'no' to everything. This doesn't provide too much hassle as with gentle persuasion or simply ignoring the screaming and thowing himself on the floor he tends to stop/ listen. He's getting the 'blue steal' look down for photos. I'll have to take one of us doing our 'looks'. He's just so cute and adorable. Everyday we continue to be amazed at how quickly he learns. We have to keep buying 3yr+ toys and puzzles because he figures everything out so quickly. I bought a huge roll of paper from Ikea (he'll be getting an easle for his birthday) and some crayons to busy him while I'm tidying the kitchen or cooking lunch. He loves scribbling away.... have some pictures on my camera that I'll put up soon.