Walking and talking!

A few weeks before J left for Alaska, Liam took his first steps! He took 3 steps from me to J and again from J to me. While J was gone, I didnt really work with Liam on walking, and when  I would try, he wasnt interested. That was when Liam was 8 months...almost 9 months old. He started saying mamamamama a few months ago as well, but then learned how to say dadaada and has yet to say mmamamamama again. He doesnt really know what he is saying, of course, but he says it!

Now Liam can say (mostly when prompted):
Da Da
Ma Ma (tho he pretty much refuses this one lol)
Hi (waves)
Uh Oh
By by (waves)
Dog comes out every once in a while - might be by accident but it does come out clearly as dog!
Once I was talking about his "bo bo" and he repeated it...but he hasnt said it since. hahaha
At times, it sounds like he is trying to say "daddy" but we arent sure bc he says so much that we dont understand. He is very political when he talks. Almost like he is demanding your attention with hand movements and all! hahah Its so cute.

This week has been pretty big. Liam is now walking several steps every time he pulls up. We have seen him take as many as 12 or 14 steps across the room. I have short video of him walking from J to me in the living room. I was in a hurry to get it filmed so it isnt great, its from my phone and it doesnt get his whole body...but you totally can see that he has checked this step off his developmental list! :)

He has now started figuring out how to get to standing without needing to pull up on something. Today has been the most productive for that...the most we have ever seen him try and succeed anyway. With all this new movement, comes a lot of falling of course. He falls all the time, but the bumps and bruises are starting to show. He hit his head on the coffee table while visiting Nean and Pa the other day. He hit his head on his rocker and the back of his noggin on the tile floor...not to mention several other busts, but these are the only visible falls so far. LOL If you look up close in this picture you can see a bruise in the center of his head from the coffee table and a red line on the left side of his head from the rocking chair.

Some of the smaller developmental things he has been doing are pointing his finger, clapping, high five, turning off lights, trying to climb on things and pushing cars around on the floor (or boxes...whatever is available).

He had his 9 month check up (even tho he was days away from turning 10 months old). He started walking a few steps in the waiting room, then when the doctor entered the room, he told her HI.  She was soo excited. She could not believe he actually said HI! He weighed 23 lbs 9 ozs and is 30.5 inches long. He is still on the top end of the percentage scale and it shows! The whole check up went great and she is impressed with how great he is going! That is.....until she checked his ears. :( Liam has had chronic ear infections and he never shows all the symptoms. He just gets the cold stuff, then I take him in and boom...ear infection. This was number 5 (diagnosed). We feel he has had a continuous ear infection, but it only counts if the doctor sees him and diagnoses it. For whatever reason, we cant kick it. After this one, its off to see the specialist. Tubes will be the probable action...but we hope he doesnt have to have them. Either way, getting him relief would be great. Hearing loss is a huge concern to me if these infections continue, so we are working hard to get rid of them. As of today, we have 2 more days left of antibiotics and if this clears him up, we dont have to go back to the doctor until he is 1! Sadly, he started getting congested last night and had a runny nose all day today. I hope it passes, but only time will tell. If it isnt gone in a few days, I will take him back to the doctor. They know us well....