Liam's trees grow in Brooklyn

That is what we are calling them, Liam's trees, since he showed quite an interest in their planting just outside of our apartment windows. In fact, he had quite a blast looking at the actual planting of the trees and didn't move away from the window until it was all over.

Luckily, Liam was wearing his "construction truck" pajamas on those days.

I must say though that the overall process was quite extensive and involved heavy machinery by way of at least a handful of construction trucks. They came on three different Tuesdays for about a half hour each time. Due to alternate-side-of-the-street-parking regulations, all the prep work and the actual planting had to be on Tuesdays (on this particular street). Below is a picture story of pretty much the whole process:

This is the site of future tree number 2.

First we had two of these beauties; a real eye sore every time we looked out from any of our windows. They were make-shift "fences" to keep people from tripping over the old stumps, but honestly, I always thought these looked like chicken coops. That's Brother Herrera for you, though; always looking out for safety first.

Construction site at future tree number 1.
(Close to corner of 83rd Street and 4th Avenue.)

The tree-planting crew had to miraculously maneuver around this little black car that was not moved for alternate-side-of-the-street-parking regulations. (Yes, he got a parking ticket.) I admired the professionalism and courteousness of these "construction" guys. Not only did they not even come close to hitting or merely scratching this car, they even dumped a bucket of water on it to wash the dirt away. (Moments after the crew left, I saw the owner of the little black car scratching his head as he read the ticket. I bet he was totally oblivious, too, at what was going on with the whole planting of the trees. If he only knew, he would have come running out, practically tripping over himself with his arms frantically waving in the air, begging the crew to stop so he could move his precious car away from such a frightful scene. Even I was afraid for that little black car.)

We look forward to having our photo taken in front of Liam's newly-planted trees once we see some sign of life in them. For now, we are just glad that we don't have to look at the "chicken coops" every time we look out of our windows.

Liam's "part-time job"

Liam has opened up his circle of friends to include none other than our dear friend, Gerardo Herrera* (who also happens to be the superintendent of our building). Whenever he comes to our apartment to make any sort of needed repairs, Liam bolts to grab his own play tool set. Here he is pictured with him by the elevator, both holding their respective tool cases.

It is a known fact that Liam loves keys and cell phones and if he happens to grab hold of yours, he will never let them go voluntarily. To somehow remedy the predicament Brother Herrera has found himself in way too many times before, he has made Liam his very own set of keys with a clip and has even supplied him with one of his own retired cell phone with clip-on case that looks very much like the one he currently carries with him.

(Liam also has a set of keys that look like the ones his daddy uses at the Church and yet another set of look-alike keys for our apartment.)

Here he is waiting out in the hallway for "Adu" (Brother Gerardo Herrera) to appear. Notice the keys and cell phone securely fastened to his jeans.

He grabs his cell phone as if to answer an urgent call in the building and he's looking pretty confident that I will let him go searching for his friend "Adu".

And here he is inching his way over to the staircase wondering if I will actually let him go down (which of course I don't).


Nice try, Liam, but you're staying with mommy!


*Brother Herrera served as an LDS Bishop in the Dyker Heights (Spanish-speaking) Ward and is currently serving as 2nd counselor in the Stake Presidency. His lovely wife, Thelma was Young Women Stake President and is now serving in the Primary in the Dyker Heights Ward. They are the happy parents of Sarah and Edwin (or "Owee", another dear friend of Liam's) who are away at university in Utah.