Rock Star

The rest of the week since James' doctor appt has gone really fast (as it feels all weeks are flying by). We had him and Easton in the car together for the first time -- very interesting, but we know we'll be able to travel with them both now :-) Easton had to go get his yearly check-up and get his Bordatella (Kennel cough) vaccine and Rabies vaccine...both are necessary to go to Doggy Day Care and get kennelled when we go on vacation. He checked out well -- all "A"s and one "B+" on his puppy report card :-) so funny! We are going to try and take E to Doggy Day Care one or two days so he gets practice in that setting and can be kennelled w/ his cousins when we go on vacation in June w/ my family -- hopefully he passes! Jamie S. and Gma Chele visited on Thursday afternoon. Jamie joined James and I while we shopped for Jimmy's birthday -- James just slept away as Jamie pushed him in the cart (the cart motion rocked his car seat) -- it was nice to get out of the hizzouse! Today Laura S. came to visit for a little bit on her day off work -- too bad it was raining and we couldn't go outside.

This picture is a favorite of mine.

****ROCK STAR****

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly and in what funny positions babies can fall asleep -- looks like he got KO'ed here -- just a milk coma though :-)

James LOVES being on his changing table from his Pack'n Play -- he prefers kicking/punching/shaking on it over actually being in the play part -- he usually starts crying within 2 minutes of me taking him off of it. Here he was dancing to Pink's "So What -- I'm Still a Rock Star!" as she was singing with Ellen on her show :-) (I think he likes that song because I sang it A TON when I was pregnant). He also LOVES when the artists come and sing on the Today Show -- he kept turning his head to watch Jennifer Hudson this morning -- better join his en tourage now, hopefully there is some space for his parents! He was smiling lots today but I didn't have my camera at that time (of course)! He's getting much better at "responsive smiling," but it's usually in the morning after a good night's sleep! He's really good at mimicking me when I do a noise that ends w/ my tongue sticking out -- so cute!

James likes to check out his Daddy when he gets home from work -- he looks so small and like his Peanut-self when Jimmy is holding him

Easton cracks me up -- falls asleep anywhere and in any position -- just like James!

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 ;-)

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!!!

Family & Canines

This weekend Aunt Kristen and Uncle Larry came to visit James! It was sooo good to see them and have them around for the extra sets of hands. Larry is a master "swaddle swinger" (we are working on the patent on that one) and Kristen loved to hold her nephew -- which meant Mom & Dad got some much needed extra zzz's :-) Thanks you two!!! Larry is going overseas to Afghanistan in July, so we need to get some more QT in soon with them!One of the many "James" faces we've come to love...usually his lips are a bit more together, but it's so funny, he can get a perfect circle almost...it's one of his "thinking" faces I believe.

Kris and Larry brought their two dogs, Callie and Dutch, with them this weekend, which made Easton EXTREMELY happy -- finally someone here to play with him! The three of them had a ball chasing/pouncing/smelling each other all weekend and Easton slept all day Sunday and Monday after they left from all the hard work of entertaining his canine friends!

Corey and Jenny also visited James on Sunday. I didn't get a picture of Jenny holding him (who had baby custody most of the time) but I did get a good one of Corey *maybe* practicing for herself one day (*maybe*). It was great to see some friends from work and hear about my students (for the first time in 5 yrs of teaching, I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 of my classes I taught -- maybe that's bc I usually teach 5 classes/day, but I like to think it's because of the smaller class sizes and that I've changed as a teacher -- hopefully for the better)! Sorry about the run-on sentences, I do teach Physical Education, not English, so I just go with the flow as I type and use lots of "...."s to continue thoughts ;-)

Hospital Visitors

Peanut had his fair share of visitors in the hospital and when he got home!

Aunt Jen and James

Aunt Amanda smiling at her Peanut

Uncle Dominic checking out the big guy

Great Uncle Ed had his magic touch to get James to sleep

Aunt Cassie could hardly contain herself

Cousin Jamie cuddled right up

Cousin Laura came to see James twice