Liam Jude: 11 months

Say it isn't so! Liam will turn one next month? Time sure is flyin' by. It is crazy to think that last year at this time I was in the last month of pregnancy and hadn't even met Liam, let alone knew the gender of our second baby. Now he is here, crawling at full speed. He is pulling up onto everything, including pulling things down on top of himself. He loves stairs and will make a bee-line to them if they are ever in his sight. Another new favorite thing to do is open and close doors, trying to climb into the shower and refrigerator. He says a few words now, in addition to mama and dadda, he has added ball, bye-bye and an occasional hi. He is obsessed with balls, so we spend a lot of time rolling balls back and forth and chasing them. It's funny how with the second child you seem to skip a lot of phases. Right now, Liam plays with all of Braden's toys too. So, at 11 months he can put cars down ramps and throw balls just like big bro. Forget the little plastic baby toys that entertain them in the first year!

Everyone that meets Liam says that he is full of personality. He looked exactly like his big brother from birth to at least the first half-year of his life. Now, Liam is starting to take on his own look- maybe a little bit more like Mom than Dad (at least Mom's baby pics). He does have more hair than Braden as a baby. Liam has two teeth (bottom). He loves to eat, swim (or splash I should say), and loves watching and learning from his big brother. Liam is full of energy. He is very expressive and vocal - making noises all day long and shaking when he's excited. He doesn't want to miss a thing- lately it takes him 30-45 mins to fall asleep at night and he plays in his crib (no matter how tired he is.) He is all smiles and is very silly. He is already wrestling (or flinging himself on you if you are laying on the floor), dancing, waving, pointing and loves learning and seeing new things everyday. Current favorite sights are waterfalls and windmills. He also does not like to be out of sight of me- which means it's difficult to use the restroom or take a shower as he freaks out if there is a door that seperates us. I am sure that is just a stage, Braden went through that too.

We can't imagine what life was like without Liam, it feels like he was always here. We look forward to celebrating the big "one" next month!