mental photographs

Sitting on the loo...

Liam: You know, sometimes I take photos with my brain.

Mummy: Oh! And how do you do that?

Liam: I just look at something and look at it... and look at it... and make it slow down really slow... and then I take a photo of it with my brain.

Mummy: And why do you do that?

Liam: So that I can take it with me and remember it another time.

A while later in the kitchen...

Liam: See! I just took a photo of you with my brain just then!

Mummy: When?

Liam: Just now when you were taking out the yoghurt. Now I can keep that in my brain and look at it tomorrow when I'm at school!

Mummy: I think that's cool.

Liam: Yeah, it is.

secrets

After singing and story-telling Lorcan and Malachy to sleep tonight, Liam remained awake. I told him he should really be able to go to sleep by himself now and he agreed. So, I kissed him, told him I love him, bade him good night and made my exit. Seconds later, he was down the bunk bed ladder and behind me on the landing:

Mummy: Liam! Why did you get out of bed?

Liam: (upset) Mummy, I want you to stay with me. Come back and tell me another story.

Mummy: You've already heard three songs and three stories. Your brothers are asleep. It's late. I'll bring you back to your bed and tuck you in, but then I have to go. I've got some work to do.

Liam: (tone of genuine desperation) No! Please no!

Mummy: Liam, what's wrong? Are you afraid?

Liam: (tone of reluctance) I didn't want to tell you because it's a secret but, yes.

Mummy: But what are you afraid of?

Liam: The nighttime. I'm afraid of the nighttime. And that's not the only secret. (visibly nervous) There's another one. (deadly serious) The second secret is that I'm just not a sleeping person, Mummy, I'm not... I'm just not a sleeping person. I'm not even tired so I think I'll come downstairs with you instead of staying in my bed. I'm just not going to sleep.

After guiding him gently back to his bed, rubbing his head, making him take five or six long, deep breaths and whispering a handfull of sweet nothings into his ear (i.e. less than 1 minute later), my sweet "non-sleeping" boy was fast asleep

:)

inheritance

*Cutting Liam's nails, after bathtime tonight, only one nail left to go, he runs off to fool around with Malachy...

Mummy: Liam, come back! There's still one nail left to cut.

Liam: Okaaaaay

*He returns

*Clip Clip

Liam: I never knew it took so long to do ONE nail!

Mummy: Ha! Where did you get that sarcasm from?

Liam: From you, Mummy. I got it from you.

*Come on, universe! He is only 5!!!

kissing

"Mummy, kissing you makes me tired"

dancing shoes

-"You know, Granny's going to buy me Irish dancing shoes so that I can dance in Irish"

Liam's first ever poem

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Eating lots of bananas,
Where do you think he put the skin?
Into the king's pyjamas!

* * *
by Liam
aged 5 years, 1 month

* * *

a poem by Liam, age 5

There was a buzzy bee
Buzzing around my nose...

(And what do you think happened next?)

He said:

"I beg your pardon,
I thought you were a garden"

* * *
by Liam
aged 5 years, 1 month
* * *

relax

After telling him off...

Liam: Well, if you love me, you should relax.

broken hearts

Overheard yesterday:

Liam: If your heart breaks that means you’re old.

Maeve: Are you still alive if your heart is broken?

Liam: Yeah, you are… but you just get a little bit old.

mummies and daddies

Liam playing "house" with his friend Maeve...

Maeve: Come on, Liam! It's time to play now!

Liam: OKAAaay... But if we're going to do that baby thing with Malachy again, can I be the Mummy this time???

cuteness

Watching a National Geographic documentary on the African Plains, after the bit about the love birds, Liam observes:

Liam: Yeah, yeah... these love birds are very cute but they can bite your finger!

forgetting again

Liam: Daddy's gone to Barcelona

Malachy: Yeah, Daddy 'don 'a 'Lalona

Liam: When are you going to Barcelona with Lorcan, Mummy?

Mummy: On Thursday.

Liam: When Mummy goes to Barcelona, you and me will sleep in Granny's house.

Malachy: Oh, wow!

Liam: And we'll take Nemo and Bob [the new goldfish] with us too

Malachy: Oh, wow!

Liam: Mummy?

Mummy: Yes, Liam?

Liam: And this time when you're all gone to Barcelona I think I'm going to forget the English words!!!

[See what I meant about awareness*]

away

Liam: I love you Mummy... more than anything

Mummy: I know you do, honey. Me too.

Liam: And if you went away, I wouldn't be able to love you

Mummy: Why?

Liam: I don't know

Mummy: You can love people even when they've gone away, you know.

Liam: Can you?

Mummy: Yeah. Uncle Eric's gone away and we still love him, don't we?

Liam: Yes... but that's not YOU, Mummy!!!

i wish

Liam and Malachy are really into the Mr. Men and Little Misses books at the moment! This would explain what he said to me on way to school this morning.

Liam: Mummy, you know if I could see one of those flowers that you blow now, I'd get it and blow it all away and then I'd make a wish!

Mummy: Well, keep your eyes peeled, there might be one around here somewhere.

[Thirty seconds later]

Liam: Mummy, mummy, look! Here's one!

Mummy: Great! Don't forget to make a wish!

Liam: Oh, oh, yeah... I wish...

Mummy: Stop, no! It should be a secret if you want it to come true!

Liam: [squinting eyes up tight and whispering] I wish there could be a Mister Man here now...!

[Mummy pretends she didn't hear at thing]

Liam: [looking all around] I can't see him!

Mummy: Can't see who?

Liam: The Mister Man in my wish!

Mummy: You wished for a Mister Man?

Liam: Yes! But he isn't here yet.

Mummy: That's probably because he knows he wouldn't be allowed into school.

Liam: Oh yeah. Or maybe it's because he's Mr. Forgetful and he forgot!

grave

At the graveyard beside his Uncle Eric's grave:

~Did he die here Mummy?

~When’s he going to be alive again?

~Mummy, I don’t think he’s really dead. He just hurt his hand and the doctor is going to make him better.

~When did he die?

~How?

~When are you going to die, Daddy?

~Will you wait until I’m a big man? And then wait until you’re really old and I’m really old before you die?

~You know Mummy, sometimes babies die. My friend T. told me that.

~Mummy, tell me about all the people here who died.

blood!

Granddad is playing Lorcan's favourite game: sitting him on his knee and letting him swing his head, leaning back and forwards. Granny gets a little worried:

Granny: Shay! Careful! Don't let him stay down there so long! All the blood will rush to his head!

Liam [Jumping up instantly and speaking in a tone of sheer morbid excitement]: Blood! What blood! Where?!!

awareness

This week our darling "Abuela" (grandmother) is here visiting from Bilbao. Liam is finding it hard to remember a lot of his Spanish and since he doesn't have the fall-back that he has with his dad (who understands English when he slips into it), he's feeling frustrated about not being able to say everything that he wants to say....

Mummy: Spanish, Liam, say it in Spanish. You know that Abuela doesn't understand English

Liam: [tone of frustration] I know!! But I can't remember all the words!

Mummy: That's ok but keep trying...

Liam: [tone of blame] You know when I forgot the words? Remember when Lorcan had the "pupa" on his lip and you and Daddy went to Barcelona with him for a long, long, long, long, long, long time? And the doctor fixed Lorcan's "pupa" but you didn't come home for days and days and days and days and lots and lots of long, long days? Well, that is when I forgot the words!!

We were gone for just over two weeks and, although he still understands Spanish perfectly and speaks quite a bit, he's right, those two weeks of unfortunate separation form all spoken Spanish left their mark :( He's getting better by the day though, thanks to Daddy, Abuela and lots of stories about "piratas", "animales", "dinosaurios" and "aventuras" of all kinds.

numbers

Liam: Lorcan is one and great-granddad is eighty-one.

Mummy: That's right!

Liam: Can we make him a birthday cake and put his number on it like we did for Lorcan?

Mummy: Sure we can!

Liam: Eighty-one is a lot of numbers. [Thoughtful pause]... And when all his numbers are gone, great-granddad will be dead.

Mummy: Um, yes... and won't we all!

family

Liam: How do we become families?

eternal darkness

Liam: Mummy, what would happen if the cock-a-doodle-doo forgot to wake up?! Would it be dark forever?

Mummy: um...

Liam: Because if the cock-a-doodle-doo doesn't wake up the sun, then the sun doesn't come up, and then it stays dark.... forever!

Mummy: um... maybe someone else could wake up the sun instead.

Liam: Like me?

Mummy: Why not?

Liam: OK!.... COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOOOO!!!!!