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!