Online shopping

I just ordered the party supplies for James's birthday online (because they don't carry them in the stores) and I have to say that it is the easiest thing ever! So much easier that loading up a screaming child (because he now hates to get into his car seat!) and drive all over town to find everything I need. I think I could get used to this!

AAHHHHH!!!!!!

James decided today that naps were entirely overrated!!!! Unfortunately, Mommy did not get the memo and was really hoping for a few minutes of peace and quiet today. Let's just say that our two schedules for the day did not meld very well! It went a little like this... James went down for his first nap around 10am, after 20 minutes of playing and fussing, I decided that maybe he wasn't very tired so I let him get up. He was thrilled and we had a great time playing! He did agree to a short snooze for 20 minutes in the car on the way to Rocklin to take pictures with our other 1 year old friends at Target. (While at Target, he helped me clean up our stuff by putting his brand new water bottle bought this morning in Violet's stroller. Luckily, Violet's mommy found said water bottle and we should be getting it back next week!) James fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got home from Target so I tried making the quick switch to the crib (worked for me last week and for Auntie Michelle yesterday). Not so today, that resulted in an hour of crying in the crib. So, Mommy finally decided that a walk will put him to sleep so we took a 45 minute walk... James sat bolt upright in the stroller and enjoyed watching every plant and rock we passed! And never took a nap!!! That means that we got 25 minutes of napping in today... not good. Surprisingly, he didn't melt down completely and fell asleep tonight in about 5 minutes. I don't get it!!! At least he is sleeping now and will hopefully sleep through the night well! I am thinking that his top left tooth may have broken through today and that may have had something to do with the complete lack of sleep!

My other suspicion is another cognitive growth spurt. This morning we were making brownies for Joshie's softball game tonight and James would not give me the lid to the vegetable oil. When I finally gave in, he tried putting the lid back on the bottle himself and put it in exactly the right spot. Josh also mentioned today that it has been difficult to get James's shoes on because James's hands are in the way as he is trying to do it himself. James's attempted nap this afternoon was pantless because he took them off and threw them out of the crib. In addition to all these new wonderful things he is discovering, he has also discovered that he doesn't want Mommy to leave his sight. This is so fun!!!! I am just hoping that it is short-lived!

Guess that's about all for now. I am going to try to get a little 1st birthday planning done before heading off to bed. Love to all!!!!

More teeth

James got his first two teeth at the end of November and nothing since then. People are constantly telling me that he must be teething because he drools like a faucet but only those two teeth after about 9 months of drooling... until now. James has been a little fussy, clingy, and sucking his thumb like crazy the past few days. I figured he must be tired, not feeling too well, or maybe teething but didn't do any teeth checking because he has been sleeping well at night. Well, tonight at dinner he opened his mouth and leaned back and... lo and behold... there were new teeth up there! After doing a little more investigating, I learned that his top right tooth has come in and the top left one should be making it's appearance soon! It looks like we can stop saving for the baby dentures we thought we were going to need! My only worry... if he ate as much as he did with 2 teeth, what is going to happen when he gets more???? So much fun and this mommy is very happy to have a baby sleeping through teething!!! Yeah!!!

What a weekend...

Oh my, what a weekend we just had!!! Our one night trip to Arnold turned into 3 nights before being "rescued" by Mom, Jill, and Mike! I need to get to bed now but more to come soon hopefully!!! I hope everyone is surviving this weather! My co-worker is talking about building an ark... sounds like a great idea to me!

Food!!!!

At the end of my lunch hour today I got an email from Desiree (James's daycare provider) which said "How are you going to afford to feed this boy as a teenager?" Let me just tell you that he is feeling much better and making up for not eating much while being sick last week. I thought that was the funniest email ever! Just had to share it with everyone!

Healthy!!!

James is finally healthy again (I think and hope!) His poopies are back to normal and he hasn't vomited in a few days (I know, TMI but it all comes with having a baby!) But more importantly, he is back to his happy self and eating again. I am hoping that the return to eating also means return to sleeping through the night because James has a tired Mommy and exhausted Daddy (who has been turning his alarm off instead of hitting snooze for the last two mornings accidentally!) It was so wonderful today to have my happy little boy back and my eater back! I missed him so much! However, my "grown up" little boy wants to do what he wants to do and let's me know about it! Diaper changes are NOT okay, all cabinets and drawers should be fully accessible, and EVERY meal should consist of blueberries and bananas! Oh, the joy! My friend, Jen, informed me that it only gets better and better, meaning the opinions get stronger and stronger. Fun!
My "grown up" little boy even wanted to put the cap on his bottle himself this evening. He was sucking on the bottle nipple while I was mixing the water and powder in the bottle. I then asked him for the nipple to put on top of the bottle, he refused to give it to me and instead reached down and tried to put it on the bottle himself. It shocked me that he knew that and made me so proud!
The other "first" today..... James made his very first "brown trout" (as Josh called it) in the bath tub! Unfortunately, it didn't stay as one so James made a very quick exit and the bathtub got it's very own little bath! (Josh usually does baths but had to work late tonight so Mommy got bath duty, lucky me!)
Other quick side note, I love it when my patients get better! One of my patients at work is a young woman with a severe brain injury who typically spends her therapy session yelling at me. Until today... she had a wonderful day today! She had one of her best days yet in all of her therapies. It is just so great to see her get so much better and I am so hopeful that she continues to heal so her little boy can have his mommy back. Unfortunately, her insurance company doesn't see it and wants her to leave since she isn't getting better in their eyes so we are crossing our fingers for her and continuing to celebrate all of her successes! This is why I love my job!
Okie dokie, off to bed for me as I cross my fingers that James decides to sleep through the night. Your mommy and daddy could use it little guy!

Update

I know it has been forever since I have blogged which means we have been very busy having lots of fun! Unfortunately, I am too tired and there is too much to do to blog much tonight but I will do a quick update...
- Most importantly, James went to the eye doctor yesterday and everything came out great! We were a little concerned about James's eyes because of Josh's eye problems and because James's pupils reflected back white in a few pictures at Christmas. The eye doctor said that the white pupils were just due to the angle at which the pictures were taken. As far as Josh's eye problem, James is looking good so far but we have to do another check-up in a year. Also, any children we have should have their eyes checked at 2 years old because of Josh's eyes.
- James continues to grow like crazy!!! He is about 31 inches tall now and weighs in at about 23 1/2 pounds fully clothed. He has already grown into 18month pajamas and we are about to do the switch to 18 month clothes too once I find the time to go through all the hand-me-downs and get them washed. Have I mentioned that I LOVE HAND-ME-DOWNS!!!!!!!!!!! I could not imagine having to go buy all new clothes every few months!
- James is talking more too! He is constantly babbling! But, he has several words that he can say too, including "da-da" and "mom" (kind of), but his favorite is "dog". He recognizes every dog, his stuffed animals, the statue on the porch, dogs on cards, Captain, all of them. What impresses me the most is that he will say "dog" when he hears Captain barking outside!
- James continues to love "opening and closing" but he is starting to discover "in and out" and "on and off". James loves to turn the lights off for me when we are leaving a room (which comes in handy quite often). He is also discovering the joy of putting toys in and out of the toybox and other containers. I was amazed this evening because he was playing with a toy that consisted of a yellow container with a red lid that has three openings: rectangle, triangle, and circle, then lots of similarily shaped blocks to put into the openings. James started by putting a circle into the circle opening, then taking off the lid to make sure it was in there. He then tried another circle but it wouldn't go in so he took the lid off and put it in. This continued on for several blocks but I was quite impressed that he seemed to match the shapes with remarkable accuracy! He usually needed a little help to get them lined up correctly though. It is such fun to watch him discover new things and learn everyday!
- James has also become quite helpful with the trash cans. We try to put the trash cans away on Tuesday. My hands are usually full with James in one arm and pulling the trash can with the other so James knows that it is his job to pull the little white string on the fence to open the gate for me. Never to young to learn how to take the trash out!
- James and Captain are becoming little buddies too! It was so cute to see James playing with Captain's ear tonight and Captain was just lying there enjoying it/tolerating it (I'm not sure which). I tried to get a picture but James must have gotten some of his Uncle Doug in him because he took off before I could get the picture.
- James is being such a good boy with bedtime. Tonight I was rocking him and singing a little song to him (don't laugh!) and enjoying snuggling for a minute. James knew that it was time for bed and was tired so he pointed to the crib and starting leaning over towards the crib. As soon as I put him down, he layed his head down and fell asleep. Such a good little boy! Let's just hope he stays asleep now!
I think that is about all for now. We have been doing a ton more fun stuff that I need to put on here but I need to go eat! Hope everyone is doing well. Love to all!!!