Happy birthday, Liam!

Here is Liam on his first birthday, having a fist full of cake, and his first taste of chocolate. I made a practice cake to make sure the Winnie the Pooh mold would work out, and then he had some on his real birthday, since we weren't going to have a party until Saturday.

My parents, sister and her family all came up for the weekend to celebrate. We had a brunch on Saturday at our house. The kids had fun playing together with Liam's new toys, particularly the train that a toddler can ride on or push, and when it moves, it makes a chugging noise. Liam also received two telephones: a play cell phone that can record a short message and play it back, and a replica of the original Fischer Price dial phone that Will and I both had as kids. I don't know if Liam understands pretending, but he is delighted when we pretend to talk to someone on the phone, and he holds it up to his ear and chatters.

For me, the highlight of the weekend was doing projects with Dad. The big job I needed help with was replacing a window sill. We bought a plain board and used the router and chisel to get all the right notches in it, and then Dad sanded and stained it, along with the other trim pieces that go around it, and we had it in place by Saturday night. We also adjusted and/or replaced several latches in the kitchen, so now all the cupboards close, including the one next to the back door. It has been held shut since 1975, I kid you not, with a green Tinker Toy. Five minutes with a screwdriver and the Tinker Toy became obsolete, but it will live on in the family legends, I assure you.

Dad also took some time out to educate Liam in the finer points of home repair.