Two months ago... whoops!
At least we celebrated his birthday on time! We had an All Saints Day/Construction themed party mash-up.
From left to right: Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. Joseph, and David.
Later St. Joseph went from 1st century carpenter to a modern construction worker who was too busy to stand very still for a picture.
Once everyone had a hard hat we moved outside to crack open geodes. Notice the impressive mix of costumes combined with the party hats. So random. So us.
Daddy's birthday helper.
I made this icebox cake (with the homemade wafers) and I was thrilled with how it turned out... despite the achy muscles from hand-whisking that much whipped cream.
And it must have been a hit, because the rest of the family has requested it for Michael's birthday party in a couple weeks. We shall see; so far Michael's requests for birthday food have been ice cream, ice cream cake, and corn on the cob (?!). Come back in March when I finally get around to blogging about Michael's birthday, just before it's time to celebrate John Paul's birthday. Hmm... I'm sensing a pattern here.
Back to this guy!
Two is both my favorite and not-my-favorite age. There is a generally delightful abundance of communication and an often frustrating lack of reason. Liam is talking up a storm, and I absolutely love it. Right now everything is "dat's siwwy!" He and Michael got a talking Spencer ("Sodor's sleek silver bullet," for those of you not up on your Thomas and Friends) from Cici for Christmas, and one of the things it says is, "I'm Spencer the Grand!" When Liam is playing with it he always repeats, "Pencer da Gwand, dat's siwwy!" Spencer also says, "Out of my way, slowcoach!" and now Liam can often be found running laps around the house yelling "Ow da way, so-hoach!"
Partially inspired by Spencer the Grand, we've started calling Liam "Liam the Agreeable" because his answer to almost any question is "Yeah," regardless of his actual opinion or intent. Alex and I joke that he is the second son from the parable in Matthew 21:28-32. Liam is the one to immediately and docilely answer "yeah" or "o-hay," and then run off and do the opposite of whatever we asked (or forbade).
He is constantly following and mimicking Michael. I hope Michael loves it as much as I do. Liam repeats whatever Michael says, mimics whatever he does, follows wherever he leads. If Michael is sent to timeout, Liam will go along and sit down next to him. But he is also totally his own little person, with his own sense of humor and mischief. He is also a wonderful big brother, incredibly sweet and affectionate to John Paul... except when he is (not infrequently) stealing his toys.
My favorite is when Liam prays. He make the Sign of the Cross (more or less... most days a little less than more) and prays with us before meals. He sings and prays along in Mass. When he hears the bells at the consecration he always whips his head around and whisper-yells, "Jesus!" and it always melts my heart. He has established his own little litany of patron saints when we pray together as a family after Mass, and it goes something like this: "St. Thomas... St. James... St. Henry... St. Percy..." Okay, so maybe he's a little confused about differentiating between saints and trains, but in his defense Thomas, James, and Henry are all saint names, and there is a Bl. Thomas Percy. I love how proud of himself he is as he announces each name and waits for the rest of us to ask their intercession.
Oh Liam Roderick, you are a joy and a handful. We love you so dearly and we are so thankful for you!
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