11.28.10 ~ Cousins

Liam Hetzner

Sydney Hetzner

11.28.10 ~ Birthday/Thanksgiving/Baby/Illness Extravaganza

Liam’s birthday (which was also Thanksgiving Day) was wonderful. We began the day at my parents' house, went to Nana and Grampa’s and then on to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Angela’s. They hosted the dinner that Jason’s Dad (Granddad) usually has at his house since they have a newborn at home. We all happily plowed through Turkey and birthday sweets until we were stuffed. The highlight of the day, though, was when Liam announced at the dinner table that he needed floss because there was “chicken” stuck in his teeth. A two year old asking for floss…. Yeah, he’s never going to live that one down.

This year it seemed Liam sort of got the concept of his birthday. He understood that something special was going on and it had to do with him. This especially sunk in for him when everyone stood around him, look at him, and sang him happy birthday. And Liam CRIED. Apparently this runs in Jason’s family as Liam’s uncle Jeremy used to do the same when he was a child.

This was also the first time that Liam really got into the spirit of opening gifts. After the second gift he opened, he got the hang of it and diligently worked to get the wrapping paper off. The reactions he gave when he saw the things inside were really priceless. Lots of “Wow! Cool!” He was pretty excited about everything he opened, but the Thomas the Train stuff really got a lot of hype. “THOMAS!!!!”

Liam and I had been in Baltimore for a while before Thanksgiving because we came down for Sydney and Owen’s arrivals and then just decided to stay through Thanksgiving. However, during that time Liam managed to bring along a stomach bug and an upper respiratory thing from school and pass them around Baltimore. And while we were all hunkered down trying to get well so that we could see the new babies, we watched a lot of Thomas and Friends on Demand.

Angela and Sydney

Emily and Owen

"Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to youuu,

Happy Birthday dear Liammm....."
"Whaaaaa!"

Better.

Liam kicked off his birthday by eating marshmallows. Before breakfast. On the floor.

Klaus got out the old Power Wheels Jeep that my siblings and I drove when we were little. It doesn't run anymore, but Liam loved it anyway.

Even though it needs some serious repairs.

Now we’re back in New York and gearing up for a busy December. We unpacked and promptly set out to build a really loopy and complicated train track with all the new train gear Liam got for his birthday. Hours of fun for the whole family! Thank you everyone for the great gifts! Liam is one lucky kid!

11.25.10 ~ Our Little Two Year Old Turkey

Happy Birthday to our sweet little boy, for whom we are so thankful.

Thanks 2010 from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

11.19.10 ~ Babies!

Liam has two new cousins! Liam hasn't met them yet, but I have. And in my opinion they are two of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.

Sydney

Owen

11.13.10 ~ Pretend Play

Lately, Liam has really gotten into pretend play. As a developmental psychologist, his daily development is really exciting and so interesting to watch unfold. As a mother, it’s just plain cute.

Yesterday morning Liam asked for milk for Monkey (one of three things he sleeps with…Bear and Blanket are the other two). He then fed milk to Monkey from his sippy cup. As Jason was getting Liam dressed, Liam asked for clothes for Monkey. Since all of Liam’s clothes are way too big for Monkey, another poor doll had to give up his pants so that monkey could be dressed. Then Monkey and Liam sat down to have breakfast together. When Liam got a bib, Monkey did too. Cuteness overload.

11.10.10 ~ Whoa, cool!

Liam got to open one of his birthday presents early....... thank you Nana and Grampa!

Whoa, cool! from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

11.9.10 ~ Our Little King

I just want to say that today Amanda (Liam’s teacher) pointed out to me that he’s speaking in sentences. And sure enough. He is. Suddenly he says things like “I can’t reach it” and “Mommy, sing gondola car song” and “Mommy try it” and “Bump your head”. I also realized today that he can identify a circle, a square, and a star shape. And he can count to 15 and no longer skips the numbers 7 and 8. If he’s going to be bald forever, he’s either going have to be really smart or really cool to make up for it. So far so good.

This picture makes me laugh. It shows perfectly how Liam is the king of his class right now. But next week begins his transition to the Toddler Room, where once again he'll be at the bottom of the barrel.

10.29.10~Happy Halloween!

Liam attended his first Halloween party today. He dressed up as a train engineer. When Jason saw the costume this morning, he said it looked like I didn't even try. I blame Liam for not wanting to wear his accessories.

Here is Liam holding his hat:

Here is Liam holding his scarf:If he had worn his accessories he would have been a very cute train engineer. Instead he was just a very cute kid in overalls.

10.27.10 ~ Pumpkin Painting and Oktoberfest

It’s lame for me to keep saying it. But here goes. Liam’s little blog is getting neglected because I’m a mother, a wife, and a grad student. I’m effing BUSY! And I’m not going to pretend that juggling these things is easy. Mothering and working really don’t go together well. Both take a lot of time and concentration. And the transition from managing temper tantrums and playing trains on the living room floor to data analyses and academic writing is a tough one. Each time I switch back and forth, it takes me a bit to adjust before I can get back into the role at hand. And when I’m in the middle of building the most loopy and intricate train track with Liam, I can’t imagine wanting to sit at a computer and look at data. On the other hand, when I’m sitting at my desk and am rolling with my dissertation analyses, I can’t imagine cutting my work short to pick Liam up from school and then explaining to him 650 times on the way home that he shouldn’t throw his blue car on the subway floor because it’s very dirty down there. Anyway, work/family balance is on my mind all the time. Even more now that I’m rounding the final lap of my dissertation and will soon have to make real decisions about my career.

Despite all of the dissertating, tax consulting, and train track building going on in our family, we still manage to have some fun.

Here are some examples of fun from the past few weeks:

A few Saturdays ago, Rachel, Chad, and Lynda came over for some fall/Halloween activities with Liam and Simon. We walked to the farmers market, picked out some big and small pumpkins, and then let the kids go to town on them with finger paints. That was Rachel’s idea…. and it was a pretty brilliant one. As you can see in the pictures, Liam and Simon took their painting jobs very seriously. Unlike Liam, Simon did not choose to basically bathe in his paint…. but the end result was the same. We had four very messy hands and three very nicely painted pumpkins.

Have I mentioned we didn’t have any heat until this week? It’s ok. We’ve been getting by:

Last weekend we were in Baltimore for Oktoberfest and Klaus’s 60^th birthday.

Here’s Liam playing soccer with the big boys.

Soccer with the Guys from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

What Language is THAT? from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

Only I would have a two year old that WANTS to clean (the outdoors).

Sweeping the Outdoors, like Klaus from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

And here is Liam with his buddy Mason at Oktoberfest. The two of them partied harder than all of the adults at the party combined. Their energy level just seemed to keep going up with every hour that they were up past their bedtime. Mason is coming over for a sleepover tomorrow night. Rewatching this video just scared me a little. Jason and I might be in for a wild night.

Crazy Kids from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

And here are two videos from tonight. He’s cute when he’s being silly, isn’t he?

Running Sprints before Bedtime from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

Now that's just Silly from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.