Swimming with the Grandparents

GG and Pops were able to go swimming with us at Gma Chele's house before they left to head back home. I have been trying to get this to happen for 3 summers now as one of my dad's wishes for getting his kidney transplant was to be able to go swimming with his grandchildren. FINALLY :: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Even Cash got to go swimming :-)

My Momma and I

Silly James had to put on the goggles like his Daddy :-D

Great picture with Uncle John

Getting water dumped on his head....could have been a disaster....

...but he was a good sport about it (considering he was dumping it on every one else before this)

Giving GG kisses before she left -- we love when they visit!
Some loving for Pops to take home with him -- we'll see them again soon though to meet their newest grandbaby!

Swimming Day

The summer sure is heating up! We took some weekend time to go for a swim and cool off.
Jimmy got out the underwater protector for my camera -- pretty snazzy look at our swimming Bug.

The best "family" shot in the pool that we could get out of James. Note :: I'm only 1 more week pregnant from the last bathing suit shot -- look how that belly has shifted and popped out more (I'm seriously questioning how much more my stomach can handle, forgot how crazy the body is)!

Uncle Ed, I want to go back in the pool. No, I don't care that my lips are blue and I'm shivering beyond belief, please take me to the stairs.

Getting a shoulder ride from Daddy was pretty much one of the coolest parts of the day

Last Swim Lesson

James' first swimming lessons have ended :-( We are so proud of his progress! He went from screaming for the better part of his first lesson to pretty much swimming around by himself at the sixth and final lesson!!! It is so fun to watch his gross motor skills in action -- truly amazing!
James really loved his one-on-one pool time with Daddy

Look at our lil' fishie -- he swims like he runs, FAST!!! He told his teacher, Mr. John, "Look at me!" and was giggling the whole time :-) Now he screams when we make him get OUT of the water!

PS -- this is my 301st posting -- what a milestone! Thanks for reading :-)

Singing Happy Birthday

Swimming with Daddy
I caught video of him singing "Happy Birthday" to himself :-)

First Swim Lesson

Time for swim lessons! I want James to learn to swim the proper way, so now that he's bigger and can grasp concepts better, we decided swim lessons were a good way to learn how to swim properly and water safety so Grandma's pool is more fun for James and less stressful for me (kids with more exposure to pools have greater risk for drowning, certified lessons help reduce this risk). The first lesson started with SCREAMING for the first 15-20 minutes. He calmed down and actually started to enjoy himself when I sat him on the side of the pool and had him kick water at me :-) Thanks to Daddy for being our photographer!

Each lesson since this one has gotten much better!

Lesson 2 :: James used a bucket to dump water on Mommy and even let me dump it on his back and would throw his shovel in the water and then "jump" to me and kick his way over to get it Lesson 3 :: Daddy got in this time and James was thrilled to dump water on him and swim after the shovel again -- he let Daddy pour water from the bucket on the back of his head (side note: baths have started to get a bit less traumatic again about this lesson)

Lesson 4 :: James and Dad did about 50 laps back and forth in our section of the pool after the sprayer -- lots of kicking practice for James -- James even put his mouth in the water to blow bubbles a couple of times!!!

Separate story :: Cash got his first phone call on Memorial Day :-) James "answered" the phone in his kitchen and then placed the phone up against my belly saying "Baby!!! Baby!!!?!?" Yeah, pretty much as adorable as it sounds :-) James loves babies right now and says "Hi, Brother" (when he doesn't insist 'No, Sister') as he pushes through my belly button and gives him kisses -- hopefully it continues after Cash actually arrives in our house :-)

Rest of Weekend

Sunday we went swimming at Gma Chele's in the morning. James went in his float for the first time -- we were very surprised that he took right to it and enjoyed being somewhat independent in the water! Of course, he had to take the paint brush with him for safety :-)
He's now posing for pictures :-D

G-O-O-F-B-A-L-L!!! Our little shepherd was entertained for quite awhile (again, with something on his head)

He saw my camera and kept saying "cheeeeee" and posing for me, haha. We Skyped with GG and Pops on Tuesdsay, Aug 3 and James said "GG" a few times and pointed at her!!! He loves to talk to Pops too, but is still calling him "Dad." He read them a book and blew them lots of kisses.

Lying on a pillow with Daddy after a long, busy day at school -- James went back full time on Monday to get prepared for the school year ahead (BOOOOO, but I do have a job, so I'm thankful there). When I was getting him ready in the morning, he told me a cat says "ooowwww" (he misses the "me" part)

In the video, James shows us his lightning speed of climbing up onto the couch and then says "cheeee" for a picture.

OK, and I'm finally ALL CAUGHT UP for July blogging -- WOO HOO -- gotta go get my Bug from school now -- I'm interested to hear their story -- supposedly the toilet in between the toddler rooms "exploded...just blew up" today -- and James was the last one near them -- why am I not surprised?!?! t-r-o-u-b-l-e-m-a-k-e-r :-)

4th of July Weekend

We had a busy busy 4th of July weekend here at the Montalbano household! The week started with James finally getting a new tooth :-D #5 came through the bottom left while he was napping at the Wehrle's because we still didn't have any air conditioning in our house (I believe the final tally was +18 hours for two people to do the install, 3 overall days). They got our siding finished on Friday, so we didn't have to worry about it raining over the weekend (whew). Friday we went to Gma Chele's for a 2nd of July pool party and fireworks. James loved both! He had so much fun playing with Vince, Tom and Dominic -- they were troopers to entertain him. On Saturday, James attended his very first parade! It was an hour and a half long but he had fun watching the floats and playing with Abby and Bella. His favorite things were the marching bands and the truck and "choo-choo" floats. Sunday brought another first for James -- a trip to Arlington Race Track to see the "shoes" (as James called them). That night we saw some more fireworks with the Wehrle Family. I guess the fireworks got his blood pumping, because James decided to wake up at 4:15am on Monday (so not cool) but I still heard some fireworks going off then -- crazy people, GO TO SLEEP! We met up with family again for some yummy Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza -- YUMMY! What a fun, family-and-friend-filled holiday weekend -- wish they were all 3 days long :-)

Pool Time 2010

Friday I took James to the ENT (hopefully last dr. appt until mid-July re-check at the allergist) to finish up with the last doctor to check out his whole airway/breathing issues. He had been really good for about a month and then picked up a cold and got all runny nose/congestion again but not too horrible (he's also probably teething to compound it all). The doctor didn't see anything going on in his area of expertise -- even did a nasal scope to go look at his larynx and make sure no swelling or redness there -- looked good! So now we have three doctors that all think James may have reflux + not eating much or keeping it down this weekend = James gets to try some Prevacid (just like Mommy again, poor Bug). So we're going to give this a shot and if it that was the issue, he'll start to feel better, start eating more and start to gain some weight....and, eventually, come off the Nebulizer/asthma-preventative meds (woo hoo)! After the ENT, we stopped by Gma Chele's for James to eat and we went in the pool for the first time this season. James loved painting the ground with the water and paint brush (just like Daddy did when he was little and played at this same pool with his Grandma)!

Above :: Baby Picasso

Above :: Enjoying some splash time with Gma Chele

He was a really good kicker, which surprised me, but is a great skill to have for when he learns swimming strokes! (Note he still has the paint brush).

James and Mommy -- he won't keep his sunglasses on (they go on-off-on-off to check and make sure the sun is still there or something) but he's been pretty good and patient with the floppy hat (fits him much better than last year)!

It's always funny for him to stick his fingers in other people's mouths (and we wonder how he picks up every cold and virus).

He loved the water bottle that Gma Chele got to open "magically." What a great smile -- this picture lets me hear his giggle and shrieks of joy and excitement :-D

He didn't really enjoy being on the mat even though the water was warm, so he spent most of his time on the stairs.

Hopefully all this pool time leads to him liking water play more at school! He's a boy, he's gotta get down and dirty (although climbing and driving cars is a very boy thing to do, too).

Pool-tastic Weekend

James and I spent a lot of time at Gma Chele's pool this past weekend. Friday we went over with Jen K (soon to be Jen G, can't wait for August 22nd) and then after Sunday full of yard work for myself (mowing) and Jim (putting lava rock around the plants) we went to crash Uncle John's pool party!

Hmmm, toes or pool?

All dressed and ready to go -- the floppy hat is still big, but you can't put sunscreen on them until they're 6 months old, so ya gotta do whatcha gotta do!

James and Daddy ~ Jim had much more luck on day 2 with getting James farther into the water (much better than his first attempt on Father's Day). We found using the mat is good because it's easier to hold James up and the water gets warmer for him to stand/sit/lie in.
Fresh air + fun in the sun = sleeping baby boy :-) He conked out on Jen -- so sweet!

Pamper me (and I'm not talking about a new diaper)

Having fun with Mommy and Gma Chele

Why James isn't allowed to hang out with Uncle John on his own until he's 21...maybe 25 :-)

First Trip to Gma's Pool

Gma Chele got a still picture of Jimmy putting James in the pool for the first time...here is the result of the Daddy Dip...not such a happy camper! The water was 78 degrees -- I'm with James, chilly! You can see Easton in the background mid-jump -- he was having a ball :-)

Mommy had a happy baby before hand though -- even with the floppy hat that's way too big on to protect his pretty face. There should really be a sunscreen safe for babies under 6 months - seriously, this is 2009 people, get on it!

I've titled the below picture "Mommy, just give me the bottle and I'll do the rest." James has been holding up his bottle by himself for a few weeks now...you have to put it in his mouth and help when it's almost empty, but he does a good job and definitely knows that he wants what's in there!

PS -- Sorry Sheryl, I forgot to change the picture upload size this time...I'll remember soon, promise!

Father's Day 2009

James helped Jimmy celebrate his first Father's Day :-) We had some homemade (by Daddy) waffles for breakfast and then took some much needed naps! We got ready for the day and headed over to Gma Chele's for James' first trip to the pool. He screamed when Jim put his toes in...I'm guessing it was a bit too chilly for him :-) I got video of it on his video tape but will have to get still pictures next time. Now, Easton, on the other hand, had a blast!!! Last year it took us the better part of the summer to get him to really enjoy the pool. We had to keep telling him to "leave it" to keep him out yesterday.

Jim helping James play in a blanket fort as E keeps a watchful eye as guard dog for them.

James got Jim a vanilla reed aroma dispenser, a hot pink iPod portable speakers dock (it was all the store had left and I really wanted to get him one), part of his bday grill, and an 8x10 of the photo below that my friend, Kasey, took of James when he was 3 months old on our trip to Indy (isn't it an awesome picture?!? It was so hard to pick which picture to get printed in the big size bc she does such a great job).

Telling the Grandparents-to-Be

The first weekend of August we went to Indy to tell my parents the good news and then told Jim's mom when we got back. Above is the baby's first picture at 7 weeks. Gma Jan got a stack of old pictures I found with the baby's 1st ultrasound pics included in the middle...she asked "Who's baby is this?" when she saw it and just kept saying "Really?" over and over again when told it was ours :-)



Pops got a poem (that's kind of his thing) about Baby Monty coming to visit him in mid-March...he was a bit stubborn about actually reading it because he was too worried about which order the dogs were going to eat in the morning, but I got him to cooperate finally! Then he was finally able to bust out his Crown Royal from 1972and share it with everyone there (I had a celebratory shot of water for the occasion).





For Gma Shell, we put all the ultrasounds on one sheet of paper and told her we found something she may want to see. When she opened it up, she said "Oh, Jim's colonoscopy" (referring to Grandpa Jim, whom we all miss very much)...we responded then with our "Reallys?!?!" as we almost lost it with laughter. After a little prodding she figured it out and was so excited about the good news all she could do was shed some tears.



Another great part of the weekend was that Uncle John finally got Easton to go in the pool and swim without being afraid!!! We were getting kind of worried about our lab that didn't like the water -- now we can barely keep him out :-)