And For My Next Trick...

Jim went to check on James to say goodbye before leaving for work this morning and this is how he found James in his crib :-D What a little stinker! I have labelled the picture to show you where I put him down to sleep last night and where he ended up...seriously, he moved himself 3/4 of a crib during the night -- definitely a first here -- I guess in honor of his 7 week birthday :) That or he was really hot because the fan is down in that corner and I had set it up to blow more into the middle of his room (vs behind his dresser) because it was fairly warm in his room yesterday (especially with the door closed)! We keep a fan going to keep the air circulating in his room, just one of the things research shows help reduce the occurrences of SIDS, along w/ having a mesh bumper up (which I'm glad we put up when he started rolling 3 weeks ago, because he would have woken up with some appendages hanging out of the crib this morning) instead of the quilted bumpers that come in the sets.

He had himself all tucked up in the corner with his feet up the slats of the crib...maybe it was all the pent up excitement from the Blackhawks beating the Calgary Flames in the 1st round of the hockey playoffs -- Go Hawks!

Here James is workin' a half smile (you know, for the ladies) while on the changing table. He is 7 weeks old today and the non-gas related smiles are becoming more common (not here, this one was definitely gas related as he was 'riding the bike' like a champ for me while getting it all out before I changed him)! Some other tricks: he is much better at making spit bubbles, he is hitting the chime on his activity mat on purpose to make it ring (it looks like he is doing the elementary backstroke when he gets going on there, maybe the next Michael Phelps minus the pot drama), he can still roll from his belly to his back (thus avoiding any tummy time exercise), his neck is getting stronger and much more of his movements are voluntary, and he can make some pretty good eye contact and will find me and get that "Hey, I know you" look in his eyes and he is getting to recognize Jim too!He doesn't even cry when Easton wants to share the pillow with him!!! What a good brother! (Right after this picture, James punched E in the face and E just looked at him like "Dude, what was that for, I'm being nice and giving you more than half!")

James' Baptism

We had a great weekend! Our family and friends got together to celebrate James getting baptized. My family (sans Larry & Maddie) came in Saturday so we got to hang out a bit before things got crazy busy on Sunday. Sunday we got Jimmy to cook us some yummy breakfast and put the finishing touches on getting things ready for the after party then headed to church. There were 3 children getting baptized and James was definitely the youngest -- and the quietest ;-) I don't know how he does it in public because he certainly just cries for no apparent reason when it's just Jim & I with him -- he must be bored with us already. There are a ton of pictures in the slide show (80 I think, sorry) because I just put all my pics into an album using Picasa and I figured out how to do a slide show through that site today really fast...so you may want to scroll through quickly yourself instead of watching it play. (Note: you may be able to click in the bottom left and it will take you to the album itself and I think you can make comments, but I'm not sure). It begins with some pictures from Friday and Saturday...cute ones: Pops and James napping and James making his "O" lips old man face. The slide show finishes with the pics from the baptism ceremony and the posed pics after w/ the Godparents and Grandparents (James is uber lucky -- he has John for a Godfather and then TWO Godmothers: Kristen AND Cassie -- how can you beat that?!?) The non-church pics are still from Sunday when we were at home hanging out. Jim said the pictures of James on the changing table are 1) him "doing the sprinkler" and 2) "showing his guns"...you be the judge. One of my favs: James getting checked out by BOTH Charlie and Easton at the same time -- lots of doggie breath up in his grill :-D

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

Jen & Kennedy Visit

In a fit of baby rage (to be fair, he was losing his bink) James grabbed the handle of the frog on his bouncy -- unfortunately the music did not settle him down and he continued his snort-filled cries (so funny bc they are so cute and I knew he was just tired but fightin it -- so stubborn)!


Here is our lil man showing off his lanky legs as he was "dancing" -- at least that's what I call it when he's pulling his legs to his chest as quick as he can (probably working up a good diaper for me) and flailing his arms uncontrollably! He's still in newborn diapers (the size 1 was still too loose) and has a bit of room left in his newborn clothes... thank goodness Jen let us borrow some of Kay's gender neutral clothes or he'd be swimming in all of his outfits! Thanks for sharing! According to Wii Fit, James has finally broken the 8lb mark though :-) Woo hoo for progress!!!
Jen and Kennedy York came Tuesday to meet James. Jen got her baby time and Kay was a bit jealous ;-) She saw the baby sleeping on her mommy so she got help up on the chaise and used James' booty as a pillow -- she's such a cutie! Kay took a break from playing on the floor and pushing Easton out of the way to hang out with James and I.

Week 5

Man o man, I've gotten a little behind on the blog this week -- had intentions of getting on here to post, but kept getting distracted! It's hard to post while holding a baby that will only nap when being held (thank goodness he is sleeping well at night or I think I'd be a mess) and there were things to do around the house while I was "wearing" James in the Moby wrap, so the blogging had to get bumped. The weather was great towards the end of the week, so we got to take a couple walks w/ Jim and Easton, which was awesome.
Well, we all know who runs this house -- so Easton wants to control the TV now that his position as ruler has been taken over by a baby :-)

James & Mommy -- sometimes you just gotta sing & dance to keep everyone happy

All 3 of my boys working on "tummy time" - I think Daddy has it down pat

Side note: I believe the Blackhawks squeezed a win out for Game 1 vs. the Calgary Flames this night -- 12 sec in to OT, Havlat scored the winning goal -- James & I had just settled in for his bedtime feeding and Jimmy was letting E out and had to come racing up the stairs to see what I was yelling about -- LET'S GO HAWKS!Looks like tummy time is over if James has anything to say about it -- Easton has his so over this baby crying face on

(Focus 1: thumb; Focus 2: swirl at front of head) James started w/ the whole back of his hand in his mouth and moved to just his thumb while hanging out with Jim...I had to get a picture first bc it was so cute, then we removed the thumb (from the mouth, not totally removed, geez) in hopes that he won't become a thumber sucker bc it is soooo much easier to take away a binkie than it is to take away a thumb ;-) Gotta think long term sometimes people

This week James has become a much bigger fan of his bouncy chair -- I actually got to prepare and eat (whoa) lunch in all one swoop one day bc he was so content in it enjoying the vibrations and looking at the toys swinging along with him. He has actually hit the snail a few times too -- not sure if it's on purpose, but he always seems to be intrigued with the results :-D

...and we're out for the count
On Friday, Jamie S. came out to visit us for the day -- it was a great visit and we hope she wants to hang with us again soon when she has work off!!! ; Look! The sun was out and I got to open up some windows on the sunroom during the afternoon -- EXCELLENT!

Friday also brought a Cubbies win over the St. Louis Cardinals -- had to get some video of James and I singing for the victory! I'm hoping to sing it many more times this summer and maybe it will be his first song that he sings when he gets to talkin' -- GO CUBS GO!

Saturday was pretty low-key, just ran some errands then watched baseball. We needed salad-goods for "Girls Afternoon Out" so we had to get out of the house. Sunday the girls (Amanda, Jamie C., Lauren, Lynn and Tasha came over to meet James. We had a salad fiesta with all sorts of yumminess. Tasha brought her youngest son, Jacob, so James officially had his first playdate. He just slept and ate and Jake got more play time out of Easton (which, thankfully, Jake survived with no major injuries). Thanks for a great afternoon ladies! Also, the Cubs won again on an Aramis Ramirez walk-off homer in free baseball (extra innings) to take the series 2 games to 1 over St. Louis (Sunday's game was rained out) and the Cleveland Indians ROCKED the Yankees in their opening series in their new multi-million $$ stadium -- 22 to 4! Go Tribe! They scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning alone -- that record should stand for awhile! And more sports notes (can you tell I love my sports? I think Physical Education was a good choice)...the Hawks took a 2-0 lead over the Flames on Saturday -- very promising (and lots of singing w/ the Chelsea Digger song when the Hawks score -- dat datta dat datta dat datta da-da-da-da-dat [also from the Amstel Light commercial to go along w/ Go Cubs Go])!

Lauren C. and James during her visit last week -- she liked him so much, she had to come back for more! I think it's the swirl...that swirl will get all the ladies ;-)

Welcome Kylie!

Kylie Grace

Welcome to the world Ms. Kylie Grace! Congratulations to the Huffaker family on their newest addition. Kylie was born on Easter -- what a great holiday surprise! James better get on it, cutie Kylie is already bigger than him and he had a 6 week head start!

My Favorite Kennedy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAY!

Ms. Kennedy Alix York turned 1 today!!! She's growing up so fast, it seems like just yesterday she was just a little ladybug :) Her and Jen are coming to meet James tomorrow, we are very excited!

Happy Easter

James celebrated his first "big" holiday today -- Easter! I blew it as a mom and totally forgot to take him to get his picture taken w/ the Easter Bunny, but am not going to lose any sleep over it as a) I still can't drive and b) admit that the Easter Bunny is just plain creepy anyway.


Jimmy gave this outfit to me for Christmas because we knew we wanted it for James to wear on Easter and it was a MEGA favorite of both of ours and we were afraid the Pooh Bear outfit would be changed out from Target by the time James actually got here (I believe it was purchased in Nov at least). He looked soooo handsome in his dress shirt (it was actually a onesie, smart idea), blue vest and khaki corduroys (that were WAY too big still so it looked like he was saggin')...he was definitely the hit of the day, getting all the attention ;-) Gma Chele made him an Easter egg with his name on it and we even got a half smile for the picture (they are still gas-related smiles, but I think he's getting the hang of it -- and he's becoming much more vocal w/ the and cah's). We web-cammed the Gross fam in the afternoon while they were eating lunch, so we got to see 'em all, even Maddie and B.Rosie (holla!) -- it was almost like we were there except I didn't get any ham (yummy, I LOVE ham that way)!


Family Photo Op










I don't know who is more cute here -- but it must have been a pretty rough afternoon for both James and Jim as they nap during the Blackhawks game (they're currently winning 3-0, Go Hawks, what a way to go into the post-season beating Detroit twice!). Easton actually joined them later on but I didn't get a picture of it -- so precious.

One Month Old

James is officially "One Month Old" today! How time flies when you're eating, pooping, sleeping and crying :-) We had a photo shoot to commemorate the event -- he was actually quite cooperative for it today too.



He self-posed himself for the pic below -- so proper!









So inquisitive -- especially when it comes to shadows

Daddy surprised Mommy with some sushi for Good Friday lunch (YUMMY - I haven't had any since before James was born) and then hung out with James for a few minutes before he had to leave to go back to work.

Rollin' On Over :-)

Our big strong 4 week old just rolled himself over today -- TWICE! GG put him in his crib to keep him busy while I finished getting ready and had him looking at different stuffed animals and things in his crib while doing tummy time (he actually did 10 minutes of it today w/o tears)! Anyway, he was on his tummy and my mom told me he was about to roll over bc James had his little legs going -- so I went in to the nursery and sure enough -- he did a half-roll right then! We both got to see it and thought that it would be a one-time deal but wanted to try again and see if we could get it on video (figuring it was just wishful thinking)...then about 3 minutes into tummy time he got that leg going again and FLIP, he was on his back -- this time it was all on video though! So exciting!!! He's only 4 weeks old -- do we need to go through and baby-proof the house already? I hope we still have some time left before I have to chase him around all day :-)

Activity Mat Fun Time

GG took Easton to the vet to get his "green" eye checked out -- ends up it's conjunctivitis like we get pink eye and all allergy related so he's on eye drops 3x/day for a week, omega pills and Benadryl both 2x/day until the first frost (HOLY COW that's forever)! Hey, if it keeps him off steroids this year, we'll try it and I'm sure he'll be happier not dive-bombing in to the ground to itch his eye or biting his leg off from the itching of his allergies!

When she got back from the vet, James was just finishing his "pre-dinner" meal and was actually awake, so she entertained him on his activity mat for a bit. He actually lasted almost 10 minutes before there were tears shed! I know he's supposed to be doing "tummy time" but he gets so mad w/ it bc he wants to see what's going on everywhere and just screams...his neck is getting really strong from holding it up on his own and checking out his world while he's being held and tummy time will get better with age, I'm sure. It was cool to watch James on the mat today, he was actually tracking some of the toys while we moved them for him -- he really liked the purple hippo that shakes and a dinosaur toy the neighbors got him that plays music :-) Here's a short video of James enjoying his time on the mat!

4 Weeks Old!

Last night was much better than Saturday or Sunday night! I didn't have any dairy ALL day (woo hoo, good job me) and James was able to settle down for bed much easier than the past few days (it still took almost an hour to get him to sleep, but it was progress people). I found his Cubs booties (they were well hidden under some Winnie the Pooh shoes)and made sure this was the first athletic apparel he wore in his lifetime. You can't tell from the picture, but it was pretty funny because they were 3-6 month size and, thus, a bit big for his little feet :-)

Today James is 4 weeks old! I was sad bc I couldn't say he was a month old yet, that has to wait until next week. This pic cracked me up bc it looks like he's shading his eyes from the mommy paparazzi or something -- maybe he's destined for fame?

James and Mom chillin' during the day

Look at Mr. Too Cute!

I decided to be a nice wife/friend and put James in his White Sox sleeper that Aunt Amanda bought him last season when her and I went to a game -- of course, he wore it after wearing the Cub booties ;-) I'm pretty sure he didn't like being dressed in White Sox gear though, sorry Daddy, Amanda, Mikey and all you other south side fans, this boy may be cheering for the north side (we practiced singing Go Cubs Go last night after they beat the Astros). I took him out of the outfit though bc he bunched his feet up and was stretching it out, so that way it can still fit him when he gets a little bigger (and Daddy puts him in it). Alas, James did see the White Sox win today as Jim Thome (we like him) hit a 2-run shot in the 8th to take the lead.

Followers

WOO HOO -- we officially have double-digits in the "followers" category! Nice to know people are keeping up with James' progress and can stand my crazy long run-on sentences :-) We aim to please ;-)
Haha, VP Joe Biden threw out the first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles game (he did a decent job) and he's hilarious to listen to talk as he's being interviewed by the espn crew -- you just never know what he's going to say! He just said "hell yeah" twice -- that's a down to earth politician, hehe.

Play Ball!

YEAH FOR BASEBALL!!!

I have been waiting patiently for baseball to start again (I miss it sooo much) and it's finally here! How relaxing to hear Joe Morgan and Jon Miller calling a game :) I wanted to get James in the spirit of the season and dress him in some baseball gear, but I couldn't find his Cubs booties (I think Daddy may have had something to do with that) and he's still in NB sizes but all his Cubbies clothes are at least 3-6 months, so he'd be swimming in them and end up just stretching them out w/ his crazy busy kicking legs. I am not putting this child in White Sox grub unless they are actually playing and it's the only sleep 'n play left in the dresser (which may have to happen tomorrow since they wussed out and cancelled their game -- yes, it's very cold but they could have gotten the game in as there isn't too much snow or rain today as expected -- and the dresser is getting bare) and he doesn't have any Indians sportswear (although they are having a rough start to the season down in Texas as Cliff Lee got rocked today)...so James ended up in his "Make Way for Ducklings" (<--pretty cool teacher website link) onesie and a layette that has red/blue/white fire trucks and puppies on it to get close to Cubs/Indians colors :-)

On a non-baseball note, James had us up until 3am again last night. We think the lil guy may have an intolerance to lactose and he was pretty miserably gassy as I had some cheese yesterday :( Poor guy and all Mommy's fault :( So I'm going to try and cut out the dairy too. Add it to the caffeine, which I was already doing during pregnancy and that wasn't so hard, and tomatoes, which I'm slightly allergic to also, so no biggie -- but dairy! I have been loving my cereal lately and we just bought some yogurt and cottage cheese that will sadly go to waste now because Jim won't eat it. I hope this works and helps his belly out because we need to sleep! He won't sleep for more than 10-20 minutes if he is lying down alone unless we put him down around 3-5am. Needless to say, that doesn't make it easy for us and we're getting frustrated at night. It's amazing how much easier it is to deal with a screaming child when there is daylight outside! I actually had to have Jim get the Moby wrap from downstairs so I could at least hold James while I sat in the glider and rocked him. Of course, he fell asleep quickly and after rocking for 2 hours and figuring he was sound asleep, I tried to put him in the cradle and PRESTO! within 5 minutes, waterworks (well, no water yet as his tears haven't come in fully, but screaming none-the-less). So Jim took him to change him and give him a bottle (don't worry, it was not formula) while I caught a few minutes of shut eye and he ended up rocking him from 3-5am and then James finally slept in his cradle while we both got to sleep. 5 hours of broken up sleep is rough -- this infant stuff is not for the weak of heart I tell ya! We thought we had it good last week when he was actually sleeping from 12-5am...hopefully the growth spurt will finish just as the lactose is out of my system and all of this will be resolved!

Back to baseball: I'm in heaven, 5 games on espn and espn2 today! Sorry 'Nati fans, but I just watched the Reds lose to the Mets -- good game though and I love watching Brandon Phillips...now it's Yankees/Orioles time -- always hoping for a Yanks loss (sorry Sheryl). Cubbies game time in less than 2 hours -- LET'S GO BIG Z!

First Week All Alone

As I'm typing this blog, it's snowing outside. That's right, I typed SNOWING! Did Mother Nature not get the memo that it's April? She can be so downright moody sometimes I tell ya! I'm so over it and am contemplating trying to talk my family into moving someplace with a more stable climate -- San Diego anyone?
James and I were on our own this week (above is a pic Gma Chele took of us - very good one of James, me, not so much)...scary to start but we made it! The mornings are always interesting because I have to time out feeding him with a shower as he naps and then we have to go downstairs for the day. I'm still limited on the amount of trips I can make up/down the stairs, so we must plan ahead (which isn't always my strong point)! Needless to say, there were definitely a few days where I didn't get to eat lunch until almost 3pm -- someone feels the need to be held constantly and I can barely get anything accomplished (i.e. making lunch) before he starts to cry again (it makes for a bit of a long day). I did get something to help though :) I had ordered a Moby wrap from Target last week -- you essentially "wear" the baby -- and was set on having to wait until late April to get it because it was on back-order and a 2-6 week delivery...however, the UPS man was our prince in brown shorts and delivered it on Thursday! Woo Hoo! Once I figured out how to get it on properly (it's prolly 10 ft long all stretched out) and get James in it safely it was game on. Only problem is he falls asleep in it (good) but has super radar as soon as I try to lie him down in his pack n play for some shut eye myself (bad, Mommy needs naps too).
Wed. night we took James out of the house somewhere other than a dr. appt. - very exciting! He joined us at St. Matthew's as we had to attend a mtg. to be able to get him baptized (which we wanted to do before U. Larry gets deployed). Visitors this week included Gma Chele, Aunt Jen K. and her momma & grandma - it was a busy Thursday! Then on Friday we took James to see Jen's new house and watched some Blackhawks hockey (they cliched a playoff spot - stellar) with her and U. Dominic.

James has been very fussy this weekend & I feel like I'm always feeding him & that my body can't keep up (I know it will though)... hopefully it's just a growth spurt and not the start of colic (keep your fingers crossed for us). I'm excited to introduce my love of baseball to James this week as the season officially opens Monday! Let's get a Cubs-Indians World Series for him
now :-) GG is coming again this week for a few days over her spring break -- can't wait to see her!!!

Three Weeks Old

So like babies tend to cluster feed, I tend to cluster blog. James was 3 weeks old on Tuesday! It's fun to think of what he's accomplished so far in this little amount of time: starting to find his fingers/thumb (although I'm not convinced he knows they are his just yet); blowing spit bubbles with milk he stores up in his mouth, spitting up that milk if he's not blowing bubbles with it; he's become miles better at breastfeeding, but still needs some work from the bottle (Jim gives him a bottle at night while I pump because it goes much faster and I can barely function at that time at night - we think he drools/spits up more than he actually eats); a "coo" here and there, but very rare; he gets too bored with tummy time to go for long, but his neck is really strong for the most part and he holds it up for extended periods of time when we're holding him; he loves to follow the shadows/light patterns on the ceiling, especially of the fan and he's actually making some eye contact with us! It's interesting because the dr. asked if he startles easily (to check for hearing I'm guessing) and our answer was No because James doesn't seem to startle when the dog barks or there is a loud noise (I'm guessing he's slightly de-sensitized from all the yelling I did at school and from Easton barking his head off at me while James was in-utero) but he will startle and throw his arms out when a glass clanks or the dog shakes really hard -- such simple noises startle him but the big loud ones don't..hmm, strange to me, but hopefully indicates he is hearing well!

No dr. appt. this week to check his growth, but James is catching up in length to his teddy bear that GG bought him for when he got home from the hospital. Here is a 3 week picture to compare James and the bear.
Look at those long legs! Almost as big as the bear!!!

Here is a picture of James doing some tummy time work...he kept wanting to check out the shadows on the ceiling from the fan in our room...he kept tipping himself over but would keep his eyes up to watch those shadows move.
You would think an activity mat w/ no tools needed would be easy to assemble -- this actually took us almost 20 minutes to figure out! We know he can't really see too far yet and that babies James' age prefer black/white contrast (thus, the obsession with shadows) but this play mat is just too cool to not have out as a play option. I figure, the more exposure (within reason) he can handle the better so he can learn to interact in different surroundings

Random note: Bonnie Hunt had breaksk8 on today -- a group of 6 guys from IN/IL who break dance on quad roller skates -- very cool to watch, but they also go around teaching kids how to skate and how to make good life choices as they grow up and run into tough situations.

"Real" Bath Time

Fully healed umbilical cord = fully submerged bath time! I freaked out when I went to get James ready for a bath last week and found his cord had fallen off - I screamed and ran to the other couch and made Jim go get it and throw it away like it was a spider or something (which is funny for two reasons: 1) Jim sometimes makes me squish the Charlotte's in our house when they're too big and 2) all pregnancy Jim was the squeamish one about the cord and I was all "ah, it's nothing" and when the thing fell off, the roles totally flipped). I'm pretty sure this picture is well-edited for public viewing and we kept his goodies hidden (which has already been a discussion him and I have had numerous times). You can't tell from this snapshot, but James actually really liked getting a bath in his tub! Our kitchen sink is a pain in the booty to give one in (I would love to remodel if someone else wants to pay for it) but it seemed to work out OK and served its purpose. Daddy gave the bath, Mommy was the photographer that stayed far away ;-) I hope him liking the bath translates to him liking the pool when he gets older!