Curriculum Night in Infant Room

Parents were invited to participate in Curriculum Night with their children on Wednesday evening when picking up their child at day care. I wasn't too sure what to expect for a 6-month old. The theme for the night was "The Three Little Pigs" story. I went to pick James up and fed him some carrots for the first time (it was a bit later than usual for picking him up so he could participate). Then we went outside his classroom to work on some projects together. First, we sponge-painted a picture of James' creative interpretation of the brick piggie's house. Then we moved to the sensory table -- it had crinkly string paper for the straw, Lincoln Logs for the wood house and red Legos for the brick house. James loved the crinkle straw on his feet :-) It was really fun (and interestingly difficult) to complete an art project with him -- I was glad the mess was at day care too :-)
The finished project -- abstract brick house from "3 Little Pigs."

The artist with his creation :-)

You Got To Move It, Move It!

Last Thursday James started perfecting his own version of crawling...somewhere between an army crawl and a real crawl with a flair of quick rolling. Today we put him on the floor and tempted him with his orange block (I'm telling you, it's his favorite) and he went flying after it :o)He's quick I tell ya! Some other things he's done recently include real food: sweet potatoes were begun on Saturday for dinner -- YUMMY! I started mixing them with his rice cereal today and he really seemed to like it -- he loves eating solids. He's also tried oatmeal and multigrain cereals (although they may give him gas, the jury is still out on that). He is VERY aware of Easton now -- he will whip his head around from side to side to find Easton and follow him and Easton knows to be careful if he lies down too close to James...that tail is fair game :-) James still loves his feet and he is fascinated with the sounds of pounding his hands on anything he can -- whether it be the coffee table, the den floor, his bottle or one of our faces, hehe.

Go Colts!

James is pumped for the Colts game on Monday Night Football!!!! He finally fills out the Colts onesies that Aunt Kiki got him (well, enough to wear one anyway) and was sooooo smiley -- guess he's a fan!

GO HORSE!!!

Meet Davin Robert

Welcome Mr. Davin Robert! Our friends Ada & Gunnar (Amanda's sister-in-law and brother) had their first child on Sept. 14, 2009 and we went over on Sunday so James could meet his new buddy.
Davin Robert -- 9lb 3oz, 22in long

Mommy Ada, Davin and Aunt Amanda

Ada w/ Davin and Aunt Amanda w/ James

On The Move!!!

James had a busy day at daycare Friday. They went outside to play for awhile and as the bigger, more mobile kids were crawling/walking around, James spent the whole time kicking and pushing a big ball. His teacher said he couldn't get enough -- guess it's time to bust out the athletic equipment at home :-) Thursday night James started a mini-crawl action -- it's somewhere between an army crawl and an actual full-on crawl...add that to his quick power roll and this little boy is ON THE MOVE! I think his favorite color is orange because he is always trying to move to get his orange blocks -- both the soft and hard ones -- with the red ones being a close second option if orange are too far away.

Daddy makes a good pillow when needed.

Mommy, what is this camera thing all about? Can I teethe on it? No? Then it is of no use to me!

James totally made out w/ some new clothes and toys this weekend. Our neighbors were having a garage sale and they have 2 boys (score) and there was a re-sale sale, which was basically a huge rumage sale in the community that Kathleen (Katie's mom) and I went to on Saturday. Both Katie and James got some new clothes and toys to enjoy. Katie also lent James some more boy-looking onesies that she had and the cutest pair of shoes (seen below)...the best part is a) they are Illini and Bear colors and b) the ties are fake, the shoe Velcros along the side (which took us about 3 minutes to figure out). Thanks Katie, they're great!

6-Month Dr Appt

James went for his 6-month check-up last week. We were there forever! It was about 2 hours total after waiting, talking with the dr. (we had his undivided attention for about 30 minutes, so it was good) and then waiting for the nurse to pull his vaccines and then he was starving, so he needed to eat. He is still officially our lil' Peanut -- weighed in at 14lb 4oz (5th percentile), was 25.5 inches long (25th percentile, woo hoo, back on the charts) and had a 42.5cm head measurement (holding steady at the 20th percentile there). He checked out well and is moving on up with the adventures of solid foods :-) We added oatmeal cereal to his diet and at first I thought he may have been having a reaction to it, but I think we've determined it was just prickly heat because it was quite warm outside and he spends a good portion of his day spinning around like a helicopter on his belly. The dr. asked if he was rolling over and I started laughing -- he's been doing that since he was 3 months old and is now moving w/ a purpose -- you know, Easton's toys just are not safe anymore :-) He's also transferring objects from one hand to the other (after playing with them first, of course). James goes back in early October to get his first flu shot (it's a 2 shot series), so hopefully he manages to avoid it until then! We have loved every minute (even at 2:30am on work days when I get up at 5am) of having James in our lives and it's been awesome to watch him grow and develop these past 6 months!














Hopefully this isn't practice for a future mug shot! James is bigger than the teddy bear and definitely dominates the GloWorm!

James has become fascinated with paper -- he was more interested in it than in getting his picture taken for his 6-month b-day. He's become quite hard to catch sitting still these days.

WE LOVE OUR BUG!!!

Wake up and play with me Daddy!

Before w/ all the wallpaper down

After w/ 2 coats of tinted primer and 2 coats of Chinese Porcelain Blue paint

Jimmy got the outlets replaced and covered and the vent covers up -- all that's left is for me to paint the window wood and the baseboards (may save that for gg) and then to put together the second of our new desks and arrange the room (thank you IKEA for making a desk that takes Jim 1.5 hours to assemble). Not too shabby for having a 6-month old to worry about entertaining :-)

Long Time, No Post

Many people asked me if my blogging would slow down when I went back to work -- definite answer now: YES, unfortunately. We have been quite busy in the past 3 weeks. James has been loving day care and playing with his new friends. He is watching them intently and trying to figure out how they move so quickly with that crawling motion -- he's almost there, he does a helicopter-like move where he brings one of his legs up and then spins around on his belly to go grab the toy he wants. He can push himself up really high and rolls like a champ -- with purpose. He will cross over his body with his left arm to get a toy that's on his right...then play with it and put it in his right hand (transferring objects from one hand to the next: CHECK)!

Labor Day weekend James met Uncle Mike, Aunt Sue and Dominic that were in town from Boston for the Notre Dame football season opener. We had a good time hanging out with them at Eddie & Jamie's house. That weekend also began our den/office re-construction as Jim and I started taking down all the wallpaper. Let's just say taking down grassroot wallpaper that is probably older than both of us is a TON of work!!!

Wednesday was a rough day for me as it was Parent Open House at school and I didn't get to see James awake at all. He was sleeping when I left in the morning and sleeping when I got home...such a long day and I really missed my Bug.


James was in heaven watching the US Tennis Open all weekend --- they had coverage from 10am - 5pm -- it was awesome!

He also got his first taste of Illini Football -- he'd been waiting his whole life to see them play :-) Unfortunately, they played Missouri in the Border War game and came up short (they didn't really play well) but James loved the action and getting to wear a new bib (it's the only Illinois gear that fits him -- yes, he has a warm-up outfit that is 6-9 months, but come on, the boy still fits in 0-3 pants, he's not gonna be wearing it until almost basketball season)!
Hanging out with Daddy as he took a break from working in the office.
Too bad Mommy didn't get a nap in too, she has been waiting for 5 weeks at least for a good nap.

James has gotten really good at sitting -- especially with the help of the corner of the couch.

Easton giving James some lovin' while enjoying the outdoors.

It was really hard to peel wallpaper and keep a baby entertained. Luckily, he enjoys spending time on Easton's doggie bed that we had in there. So, while it was safe for him to be in there with us, he chilled with his buddy, E.

James aka Amphibian Man -- Our Lil' Super Hero

Hmmm, James' head is still a little small for a big boy baseball cap.
James wanted to wish his cousin, Hayley, a Happy 10th Birthday! She was so awesome with him over the 4th of July, it really left an impression! Hope it was a good day, Hayley!!!