Clean Puppy Dawg

Easton is loving his newly groomed self :-) Such a handsome dog when he's all clean and brushed (or it's just the super hero bandanna, not completely sure). James had to get a picture of him with E since Logan got one the day before :)

Puppy Love

Easton :: ah, man, the other one is mobile now too!?! Logan is now hearing "gentle, Logan, gentle" a lot :-)

Apron Art

Enjoying some art time at home with Mom
He had missed making an apron at school, so his teacher let us borrow the fabric paint to make one...gotta give his teachers credit, it was not easy to set up, coordinate so as not to have a huge mess, and then clean up with him running around -- and they have more 2-year olds running around at once! He used his fingers and then a popsicle stick to decorate.

I got out the hose to clean up afterwards and James loved it...so much so that he was soaking wet and screaming when I made him put it away to go eat lunch :-) He even accidentally sprayed himself on the head a few times and didn't freak out -- Easton got to cool off, too!

"Easton! Hug!" Very demanding hug giver

Back Home

James was excited to see Daddy -- and Daddy was thrilled to see his bug and bud (Easton)! July 20 -- James was happy to go back to school. Later that day we went to Stonewood Ale House to see Gma Chele before she left for Utah for her birthday weekend -- Uncle John and Aunt Bailey met us there, too. July 21st was a big day for James -- his school had their annual Birthday party in the parking lot. James actually got in and "jumped" around in the bounce house! There was a petting zoo, face painting and balloon animals too but James was really not too interested in them. Daddy met us at school for some yummy dinner.
James and his girlfriend, E, enjoying some delicious watermelon. He said "Mmmmm" every bite -- I think he's become a big fan of watermelon :-D

James is in a very affectionate stage (which Mommy and Daddy love). Easton may not be such a big fan of the stage, but James has become much much more gentle with him for the most part (although he thinks it's hilarious to pull Easton's tail and to try and touch his eye balls)...but Easton is often the recipient of James' love hugs (especially when Mommy and Daddy encourage it). There's just nothing like a big hug, with his head down on your shoulder as he pats your back and a big, open mouthed, sloppy slobbery kiss (the best are the ones where he goes for your mouth, haha).

Sorry if the video doesn't work, blogger changed it up a bit and I'm trying to figure it out because it shows me the first frame but won't let the video play....working on it!

Our Little Monstah

"Sorry, Mom, I can't talk right now, I'm on a very important phone call"

James squirmed himself into Easton's cage to play -- I guess the animals on the onesie was a good choice for the day :)
What's up, Bug?!?

James checking out his 1st Birthday present from Mommy & Daddy -- a new convertible car seat! He's getting big and will need it soon (was 20lb even w/ all his clothes on at his 2/26 dr. appt).

Sporting his "Little Montstah" t-shirt that Aunt Sue & Uncle Mike sent from Boston -- such a fitting shirt, too :-)

Easton & James checking out what was happening in the kitchen

So this was attached to the gate we bought for the top of the stairs -- wonder how many inquiries the call
center got before they added this to the packaging?

Look at my big muscles -- I can dump all my blocks on top of me!

James with his new friend, Jeremiah -- he's the 3rd son of our friends, Mark & Tasha. They met when we went to the Liszka's 30th Birthday party.

John & Lynn Liszka blowing out the candles on their cake -- welcome to the new decade!

Week of 2.1.2010

Monday 2.1.2010 :: "James enjoyed the company of his peers today as they explored the climber and refined their going-up-the-stairs skills. He also manipulated "Math Counting" books."

Tuesday 2.2.2010 :: Happy Ground hog's Day (he didn't see his shadow, 6 more weeks of winter, surprise, surprise)! "James had fun around the climber, he practiced coming down the stairs using his large motor skills." Can you tell he really likes the climber? He often climbs up the stairs and stands on the loft area, talking to anyone who will listen and trying to shake it or teeth on the railings :-)

Wednesday 2.3.2010 :: "James has been a very busy person. He moves around the room quickly exploring everything in sight. James also climbs up the steps to the loft area where he stands and makes lots of noise. When he is done, he goes down the steps carefully on his belly face down :-)" He also actually tried some table food at school today (he usually just tosses it on the floor) -- pears, Spanish rice, taco meat, cheese and tortillas at lunch time and tried some pretzel bread (he has never liked it) at snack time.Thursday :: James did not take his morning nap at school (he's been refusing it a lot lately -- he just wants to play play play). Needless to say, he was extremely tired! Fell asleep sitting up in his high chair. I gave him some Puffs while I washed up his dishes and turned around to see him snoozing :-)
Jim held him for a bit and then we put him on the ground to sit and try to wake him up since it was close to bed time -- he just rolled over and fell back asleep on the family room floor -- poor guy, but Easton enjoyed the company :-)
Friday 2.5.2010 :: No teacher notes but James was so tired that he refused lunch but perked back up at snack time when they celebrated one of his friend's birthdays! They brought Puffs for everyone to share (totally gonna steal that idea) and they wore party hats as they sang Happy Birthday to her (she's the one in the picture of James and her looking out the classroom window into the pod a few posts ago).

Above :: James' new favorite instrument to play is the washing machine. He likes to come "help" me do the laundry by playing me some music on his bass drum :-) He just loves music -- anything he can do to make a beat -- he figured out his friend Katie's xylophone on the first try, likes to use blocks to make noise, loved the wooden spoon and pot to bang together...research shows it helps with brain development, so PLAY ON, little man!

Below :: Jim caught a picture of James trying to play with Easton (who wasn't really interested in playing)

Playing with blocks for the first time at home. We took James to his friend, Mason's, 2nd Birthday party and Mason's Lego's were in the living room. We ended up making most of the figures and James just smacked them together, but we decided it was time to bust his out of the toy chest :-)

A video of James using the garbage can as a walker -- he just wants to go fast and is smart enough to know he is much more sturdy while holding on to something :-) We have to keep a close eye on him though because he knows how to open the can to get to the garbage..yuck! He also loves the "try to get into the cabinets" game...he's obsessed with opening and closing the doors and trying to get the pots/pans/lids out. We finally broke down and bought some of the locks because the game was getting pretty old and telling him the cabinet was "all done" wasn't really working effectively anymore :-)

SUPER BOWL 44 WEEKEND :: LET'S GO COLTS!!!

Easton vs Speaker Wire

We woke up Sunday morning in Indy to Easton throwing up. I thought he was just hungry, so I gave him a small portion of food. It lasted him about 2 hours and then he was getting sick every 20 minutes or so and couldn't keep anything down in his belly -- gentle rice or water. Poor puppy was feeling awful so Jim and Pops took him to the emergency vet -- x-rays showed that Easton still had some of the speaker wire in his belly from a couple of weeks prior (we thought he had thrown it all up or maybe lost it out the other end since he hadn't been sick). So the vet gave Easton a shot for the nausea and vomiting and we hurriedly packed and drove straight to the ER vet up near our house. They did emergency surgery and went into his stomach to remove the mass -- it was being suctioned in to a part of his belly where he couldn't throw it up or poop it out. He did really well and they had him out of surgery around 7pm. They called the next day and said he was doing fantastic and we should come get him that night. We were very excited to see our puppy but I think it would have been best for him to stay one more night there -- he just moaned/whined/cried all night and didn't even want to lie down. Tuesday, Jim took Easton back to the vet so they could check the incision and Easton came home with a supplemental pain pill (helped a ton and he slept much better) and an antibiotic (didn't think there was an infection but wanted to be sure). Easton is recovering slowly (he had massive stomach surgery) but is by far better than the beginning of the week. He is actually wagging his tail and barking and lying down with ease again.
Above :: James found that he can use the garbage can as a walker on the hardwood
Below :: our puppy patient made it through the emergency surgery (there was about a 3-4 inch long and 1-inch wide/round piece of speaker wire in there)...he has to wear the cone until he gets his stitches out in 10-12 days from surgery (one week from posting-date).

Our Reindeer, James

I'm pretty James would let Rudolph play in Reindeer games :-) Gma Chele made James some antlers when she visited the Lincoln Park Zoo and brought them over for James to try on (thus, the HS graduation blackmail pictures). He does make a cute reindeer!
Below :: Gma Chele is a cute reindeer too

James getting a piggy back ride on Easton-deer

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.

With the weather getting colder, day care asked that we bring a hat for James to use to go outside. We had to try them on to find one that fit his melon and the green one w/ the froggy won :-)

Monday was waaaay too windy and cold for a walk -- there were +40mph winds and tornado warnings (yuckies). So I bundled James E up on Tuesday and we took Easton on a nice long walk to burn off some energy.

James tried out his high chair for the first time on Friday night. It leans back, so it made it easy to feed him since he's still not so steady while sitting up (they have a "respect" policy at day care where they don't put children in positions for them, which is great but I think it also doesn't let them develop the muscular strength to do certain things). He tried peas for the first time -- which I thought would be bad, but he was a big fan :-) He got some homemade squash, too - yummy yummy.

Saturday James crawled into the kitchen from the family room while I was doing the dishes. Jim got his camera out and started shooting because, as you can see, James (aka Trouble) definitely has Easton's bowls in his sight.Maybe Mommy won't notice if I just slip this ceramic bowl away from her feet to play with it?
Ah, I've got it! Now what?

Now I will stick my hand in to feel the sliminess of Easton's bowl (they are disgusting, even after washing them numerous times - dog slobber is gross). Good thing Easton demolishes his food in less then a minute from when we put it down or James would be feasting on dog food himself!

This thing is too heavy to hold up while I sit, so I think I'll play while laying down -- it makes cool noises when I let it fall back on the ground :-D

Easton and James found something interesting to watch in the kitchen -- when will one of them start doing the dishes? I can't wait for that day (I think it was me they were looking at -- they are more than welcome to join in the dish washing fun anytime)!

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!!!