After Thanksgiving Weekend

Post-Thanksgiving found us relaxing. There was lots of football and hockey to watch! James has a new found hobby -- tantalizing Easton at every chance. He bee-lined over to Easton at mach-10 crawling speed to pull up and pet the puppy.

They played nicely. I'm glad we played with Easton's ears and his paws so much when he was a puppy because now he doesn't really care if they get touched.
James has a lot more hair these days, which makes bath time that much more fun for crazy hair do's! We still have him in his infant tub because he's not the best sitter just yet and he goes nuts in there -- kick, kick, KICK -- there's barely any water left in there when he's done playing around :-)

James is obsessed with people's faces -- mostly their noses, but he also insists on trying to put his hands in every one's mouths (gross considering his hands have usually just been in his own goober mouth). We try to make the "HONK" noise whenever he grabs our noses -- probably a bit too encouraging to keep him doing that to everyone, but it's so funny.Naked baby (he had just blown out a diaper - his 3rd of the day - and it was too close to bed time to run that risk again) showing us how he waves "HI" back at you...a new trick that he started on Saturday.

James showing that he's smarter than the average bear...sneaking through the exersaucer to get out of the family room to go play with the ceramic turtle (maybe turtles are his favorite, just like Mommy).Lil' peanut bear

Standing up to look outside in the sun room -- was very interesting I guess as he stood there for a few minutes.

First Thanksgiving

James began his first Thanksgiving with some busy play time and then hamming it up for the camera. We then Skyped with Pops, GG, Aunt Cassie and Sharon (Brian's mom) for a bit so we at least got to see them on a holiday :-) Technology is fantastic sometimes!

First Thanksgiving Family Photo

Good thing Uncle John had just finished dinner -- I'm not sure if James would have filled him up, not much meat on them bones.

Gma Chele and James

Jimmy told James to follow Aunt Mary Jo if he wanted to play with her -- and he did! So Jimmy picked James up and handed over to Mary Jo -- Gma got a pic for us.

We had a very good day with lots of yummy food and good people to share it! I even tried to get James in the mood with a dinner of butternut squash and corn - but he didn't like it much once I put the rice cereal in, so he didn't get too into the spirit outside of his two Thanksgiving day outfits (he did get sick on me later that night -- so that could have been why he didn't want to eat too -- poor Bug was on Pedialyte for the next day but is doing much better now and keeping everything in his belly -- must have liked the "bra" diet :-) [bananas, rice, apple sauce])...he is on antibiotics to get rid of the sinus infection once and for all, and he had a rough couple days last time he started it because it makes all the mucus come up = coughing = nastiness on Mom and Dad and his own clothes.

Thanksgiving Week

James only went to school Monday through Wednesday of this week with the holiday.
Monday 11.23.09 :: "James had a good day today. He has been able to get into a standing position and then down again without hurting himself :-)" -- a big step so his poor teachers hopefully don't have to fill out as many accident reports for the mobile lil man!
James tried apple strawberries for the first time -- good thing I start w/ only half a jar at a time because he didn't seem to want any more than that at one sitting.
James looks like such a big boy in his long-sleeve shirts -- he's pulling himself up on EVERYTHING possible -- even the diaper boxes, hehe!

James' first try at Cheerios -- WHAT AN UGLY FACE! LOL!!! Needless to say, he was NOT a big fan (I had put water on them to make them mushy thinking it would help him not choke, maybe not a good idea -- a couple days later I cut them into small pieces and let him try w/ just applesauce on the Cheerio -- still no dice, he gagged himself and threw up what was left of his last bottle -- gross)! His day care teacher had suggested trying them at home because he keeps stalking the bigger kids in his room when they are eating and his doctor gave us the go ahead (said she had her daughter on all table food by 8 months -- like steak and such -- crazy)!This house goes under the "SERIOUSLY?!?" category. I took Easton to get a bath Wednesday and I passed this house on the way and I had to get a picture. The whole yard was lined with the candy canes (which were at least 8 feet tall) and they had 4 blow-ups and a lighted manger scene) -- the best part about the whole thing is that the house was For Sale -- you'd think their realtor would have said something about "over doing it" and scaring away potential buyers.

First Trip to the Zoo

Our awesome neighbors gave us some passes to go to the zoo with them on Sunday morning. We had so much fun! James really enjoyed himself -- I think his favorite part was the monkey house because he could get out of his stroller and be carried around :-) First thing we did was take James for his very first carousel ride! He rode the dolphin so Daddy could try to get lots of pictures (does +70 count as a lot)!

Family picture in front of the sign
The sun was shining on JamesE for his trip!

James in the monkey habitat

The busy day tuckered out our Bug.

A slide show of our whole zoo adventure

Play Date Saturday

Our neighbors, Kathleen and Matt, brought Katie down for a play date on Saturday. James and Katie seem to be really in-tune with each other -- they both woke up at the same times from their naps (her afternoon and his morning) so it worked out well! Easton was waaaaayyyy too excited with another baby and adults sitting on the floor (he thinks anyone on the ground is there to play with him) so he got to spend some time in the sun room (it was a nice day out and he got a peanut butter-filled Kong treat). Katie had fun teething on James' keys and he had fun teething on her duck toy (neither of them have teeth yet at +8 months old, again, in-tune). They will still be in the independent-play stage for awhile, but they did acknowledge each other's presence every once-in-awhile :-) They really enjoyed the stacking table and knocking the blocks off it (Katie can even hold her balance for a bit already)!

James had such a great time! He was so tuckered out he went down for a 2 hour nap when they left! We've started to use one of the ottomans to block off his path from the family room to the kitchen (give him some room to play but keep him contained a bit, ya know) and he loves to stand up and use it for balance as he watches Daddy in the kitchen (Jimmy made homemade chocolate cookies, yummy)! The nap also helped Pops and GG be able to see a happy baby as we Skyped with them in the evening....technology is so useful sometimes!

First Chicago Steel Hockey Game

Friday night we decided at the very last minute (seriously, I mean at 8:15pm for a 7:30 game) to go see Uncle John work and watch some Chicago Steel Hockey.
James did awesome! Once we took him out of the bundleme from the car seat, we threw on a fleece and his puppy hat to keep him warm and he sat on my lap just entranced with the game. We both thought he was trying to legitimately watch the game -- he was definitely following all the players around on the ice (he's been really liking things that are bright white and then watching the contrasting colors on it -- ie the new Gap holiday commercial -- he stops dead in his tracks to watch it -- a sucker for marketing ploys already).

We are dreading the day that James gets stranger anxiety. So far he's only played shy a few times, especially right after waking up but he normally dive-bombs for the person standing next to whomever is holding him. He kept wanting to go to John and Bailey and her mom to play with them. I guess the game was "put my hand in your mouth" as he kept trying over and over again -- maybe he's jealous of the teeth they have and he doesn't (yet, but soon, right)! :-)

Official "Crawler"

James is ready for Thanksgiving :-)

This week's day care communication forms brought some fun updates!

Monday 11.16.09 :: James is pulling himself up to a standing position all on his own by using the furniture to help him. He has also been crawling on all fours a lot more to get from here to there :-) (on a side, at 3:55 it says "BM - Big," hahaha).

Tuesday 11.17.09 :: no teacher comments but he had 4 BM diapers and 1 wet diaper and ended up coming home from school in some of the day care's clothes because he ran out of his own clothes.

Wednesday 11.18.09 :: James is officially a crawler. He moves around the whole room by crawling. :-) (We felt good about this comment 1) because we're so proud of James' new physical milestones and 2) because we put his "crawling" sticker on his calendar for Sunday, so we were right on cue with the professionals too)

Thursday 11.29.09 :: no notes today, it was busy in the room! There were 2 other parents there when I went to pick James up -- usually I'm the earliest one there and he's the first to leave -- nice change of pace
Friday 11.20.09 :: Fire Drill from 10:00am - 10:15am. The center needs to have 1 fire drill per month to stay in compliance -- it was a nice day they got!

James also had apricots w/ mixed fruit for the first time -- he was a big fan!

11.14.09 Weekend

At day care they put Aquaphor on James' face, wrists, elbows and knees at every diaper change -- he got some of it on his hand and then rubbed his hair -- needless to say, we got a very fun hair-do out of it when I picked him up! Some people pay lots of money to get a do like this:-)

The best $3 spent -- found this toy table at a garage sale this summer...he loves to pull himself up on it and bang with the plastic stackables...he has, however, become afraid of the noises the tops make when they spin around and around (the music is kind of creepy) so we leave it turned off.

The glass coffee table started to be a teether for James -- so it got moved to the basement. James now has a lot more room to move around in the family room to play though!

As a result of learning to pull himself up, I've walked in to the room with James waiting for me (sometimes very happy, this particular time though, he was ticked). He looks like he's in jail sometimes :-) I'm hoping he doesn't learn to teethe on the railing because I don't know if we'll be able to figure out how to protect it!

Happy baby after a nap!Who needs toys when you have Kleenex (see a few posts ago) and diaper boxes? James really liked being pulled around while sitting in the box. He also liked to pound on the box to make music and figured out how to use the box as a walker.

In the afternoon we met up with Amanda and her mom at BW3s to watch the Illini football game (they lost to Northwestern...booo). James did pretty well at the restaurant -- just had to have lots of toys to distract him :-)

Family photo-op! Go Illini Go!!!

Gunnar, Ada and Davin met us up after Davin's 2 month doctor appointment...he's getting big and it will only be a matter of a few short months I'm sure until Davin is bigger than JamesE!

We went to IKEA with Amanda for some browsing and then headed over to Dom and Jen's to watch the boxing match (Pacquiao vs. Cotto). James was a trooper and stayed awake WAY past his bed time to watch all the pre-fights and the main event. I kept trying to get him to go to sleep but he wouldn't have it, he was having too much fun playing.

James looked so little in the blow-up Bengals chair -- he wasn't too much of a fan at first but Albert was quite persistent in getting him to enjoy the chair....it worked!

James getting the low-down about boxing and its greater intricacies from Albert.

James was getting tired but just wouldn't go to sleep -- even had his binkie and PJs on but just wouldn't give in to the tired bug.

8 Months Old

Our Bug is getting big!!! It is getting MUCH more difficult to get pictures of James with the paper next to him -- he LOVES paper (which, according to day care, is a choking hazard). He also loves the "spin spin a letter" wheel in the picture -- I'm excited because it was the toy I insisted that we register for because I liked it so much :-)James v. Teddy 8.0

We've Been Elfed

The only way I like Christmas music :-) I had some fun with the JibJab website using photos of Jim, James, Easton and myself. It expires Jan 15, so watch it soon!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/2XuqJH7SO6a4MZcEdplc

Month 7 Recap

Here's a slide show of all of James' pictures from his 7th month :-) Some big accomplishments this month include: helping Mommy feed you w/ the spoon; giving a "high five;" the whole family getting sick -- you and Mommy w/ the flu and sinus infections and Daddy w/ strep throat; trying lots of new foods -- avocado (only one you didn't like), sweet potatoes w/ corn, garden veggies, peaches and pears; staying home w/ babysitters (thanks Gma Chele, Laura, Jamie and Eddie) while Mommy and Daddy went out for the evening; carving your first pumpkin and dressing up as a puppy dog for your first Halloween; getting your flu shots; visiting with Aunt Kiki, Callie and Dutch one weekend then GG, Pops and Aunt Cassie the next; getting up on "all 4s" and rocking w/ a couple of crawls; pulling yourself up to standing; climbing up the stairs and getting a ride in the buggy at day care; giving GG zerberts on her arm that made us all cry because we were laughing so hard; getting a really bad diaper rash; and trying to drink from a sippy cup for the first time (you used it more as a teether though).


Here's a slide show of Halloween including Jim's pictures too (sorry, I can't get them to go slower, but you should be able to double-click to see them at your own pace).

Sliding Head First

As mentioned a few posts-ago, James has learned to climb the climber at day care...the results are him sliding head first down the slide that's attached...he slides like a little penguin, and he's never seen "Happy Feet!" His teachers said he keeps going back for more -- fearless I tell ya! I have tried getting video on my good camera (this one was taken on my phone) but he has been overly tired from all his exercise the past few days when I've gone to take him home that he just freaks out crying when I put him down...I'll keep trying though!

James Giving Zerberts to GG

Pops, GG and Aunt Cassie came for a visit this weekend. James was cracking us up as we were getting him ready for bed -- he was being a goof ball and kept giving my mom zerberts on her arm! It was hi-larious -- he had us crying because we were laughing so hard.

James kept stealing Pops' Nike hat off his head :-)

James tried pears for the first time on Friday -- he devoured them!

James and Dominic had a very in-depth conversation Friday night-- I don't know what they were discussing but I heard a lot of "da da da" in there.

Still hoping James' diaper rash goes away or that it brings a tooth soon! Poor baby's booty is all raw :-( It's gotten better as we put a ton of Aquaphor on it and change him often but it pains me to see him hurting.