Mmmmooooo!!!!!

More Mommy bragging!!! It seems like James is doing something new every day and it is so exciting to watch!! I had a wonderful time just sitting on the couch watching James and Josh playing tonight. A few highlights...

- James brought a book over to Josh then ran over to the couch and starting hitting the couch to inform Daddy that he needed to sit on the couch with James and read the book. So cute except for the fact that it only lasted for about 2 pages before James was off and running again!

- Josh was trying to get James to say "mmmooooo" for the cow sound and James said it!!! It was darling! (Even cuter was Josh saying, are you going to put that on the blog? You need to put that on the blog. Then reminding me again tonight to tell everyone that James said "mmmoooo" tonight!

- James helped me build a tower with the mega lego blocks. So cute!!!

I guess that is about all for tonight! Josh and I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for a trip to the cabin this weekend! I just don't feel like getting off the couch!!! I will keep trying! Love to all!!!

The Mysterious Missing Water Bottle

The story of the missing water bottle... I hadn't seen James's dinosaur water bottle since our kayaking trip on Sunday. Since I had last seen it when kayaking, I looked in the truck... on the floor, under the seats, in the carseat... no luck. So, I stood on top of my car to look in the already hung up kayak... no water bottle. Checked James's backpack... not there! Where could the water bottle have gone??? I finally mentioned it to Josh and he informed me that it was in the fridge! No way! So I opened the fridge door, moved the orange juice aside, and, lo and behold, there was the mysterious missing dinosaur water bottle! Who would have thought that I put it back where it belonged!?!?! Moral of the story... I think I need to go to sleep early tonight!

Baby Monitor

Side note... Couldn't find the baby monitor tonight... finally found it in the most logical of places.... in the corner behind the dog toys and under some half-deflated 1st birthday balloons!!! Logical because James had to drop the monitor so he could pick up the balloon!

Additionally, James used the house phone to call Daddy all by himself today!!! He must have somehow gotten into the recently dialed numbers. James also called G.G. with my cell phone on Saturday! Oops!!! I guess James doesn't get to play with phones anymore because I don't want any calls to 911!!!!

Love to all!!!

Swim lessons!

As I mentioned earlier, James and I are doing a gymnastics class at Tricks Gymnastics in Folsom. Well, we have missed a few classes due to traveling or roseola so we got to make them up with swim lessons (they have an indoor pool). I thought that James would love the pool because he loves baths... come to find out, James loves water in small amounts! We got to the class today and James was not feeling it! James gave me his scrunchie nose face and clung onto me like no other... so we took it very slowly and gradually got used to the idea of being in the pool. I was very proud of my little man because by the end he was happily going to the teacher and loved sitting on the edge of the pool and letting Mommy pull him in by his hands (with his head staying above water). He did take one dunk under completely and was great! He came up with a look of surprise but realization that it wasn't so bad and that he survived! I don't know about him, but I think I am ready for the summer now and lots of swim parties hopefully!!!!

James also had his one year check-up today! (I know, a little late, but he had just gotten over the roseola when his previous appointment was scheduled so we postponed a little.) James did a fantastic job at the doctors yet again! The doctor walked in and said, "Well, we know that James is growing well!" That's for sure.... he was 32 inches tall (90th percentile), 25 lbs. (75th percentile), and 75th percentile for head circumference too. (All I have to say is thank you to James for that... he was 25th when he was born and has slowly grown to 75th. I am just thankful that his head wasn't any bigger when he was born, a 9 lb. baby was big enough, at least he had a small head then!) The doctor also said, "James is probably bigger than most of the kids he plays with." I responded by saying that "He is the same size as most of them but most of them are 3-10 months older than him!" Anyway, the rest of the appointment went well and the doctor is happy with how he is growing and learning. I was so proud of James because he had to get a TB test and chicken pox vaccination at the end of the appointment. For the TB test, the doctor held his forearm, I held his shoulder/arm and looked away, and James sat there and watched the doctor give him the shot!!!! James didn't wimper or say a word, just pulled his arm away when the doctor was done!!! I couldn't believe it, he is much braver than I am!!! As far as the chicken pox shot, James wimpered for about 5 seconds and was over it! So proud of my little man, he definitely didn't learn it from me!!!!!!

The day was finished off with a baby shower for my co-worker, Whitney, who is having a little boy at the end of next month. James was a good little boy but Mommy has to say that it is hard to chase a little boy around a crowded, non-baby proof house! We survived though! Cute story... I had just gotten a plate of food and James saw something on it that he wanted. I kept offering him different things but definitely wasn't offering the correct thing. I finally let him just take it off of my plate... it was the strawberry! He realized that I only had one so he then went over to my co-worker, Jen, and "sweet talked" her into giving up her strawberry too! He even crawled onto her lap to finish off the "heart-melting"! So cute to watch!

James has gotten very good with his baby signs!!! "Food", "more", and "all done" are used daily now! When we were "jumping" into the pool this morning, James kept trying to figure out the "again" sign but not quite getting it right. At least he knows the concept and I'm sure he will get it soon!

Okay, it's getting late so I am off to bed! Someday I will actually learn how to go to bed early, it rarely seems to happen though I say almost every day that I need to! Hope you all have a great rest of the week! Love to all!!!

My son... the engineer!!!

I love getting to watch James discover the world and see his mind spinning when he is introduced to new things. I love that when we go somewhere new, he will stay close to me and just watch what is going on and take it all in. A few months ago we went on the carousel at the mall with G-ma-ma and James watched the gears go up and down, up and down as we went around and around. You could just see his mind thinking, how is this working? Then at gymnastics (both last week and this week), he took a little break from jumping on the trampoline to go over to the edge and he was looking at the springs. I actually had to run over so he didn't get his little fingers pinched! Again, you could see his little mind thinking, how is this working? He did the same thing with the motor-powered Thomas the Tank Engine car today. I just love getting to watch him discover his world and learn about everything going on around him!!!!

James must have just gone through a HUGE growth spurt last week. He was sleeping like crazy... at one point I was wandering around the house looking for something to do because he had been napping for so long! Well, this week when I measured him he had grown almost an inch and a half in length since about a month ago!!!! (We get the official measurement at his one year check up tomorrow! Send good thoughts his way because he gets more shots too. :-( )

He also understands SOOO much more! The other day we were reading an animal book and every time I did the elephant sound he put his hand up too (I do that with the elephant sound). Now, whenever he sees an elephant (or rhino because they kind of look alike) he puts his hand up. I guess you would say that his hand up is his sign for elephant! It's so cute! I also learned in the past few days that James can point to his belly, head, eyes, nose, and mouth when asked!!! He isn't 100% accurate but he is relatively accurate. He even pointed to my nose when I asked him to today!!!! I am also learning that often times James protests things (diaper changes, getting in the car, etc.) because he doesn't know what we are doing. I find that if I tell him where we are going and how long we will be in the car or if I ask him to get in the seat himself, that he is much more willing to get in the car seat. I tried the same theory for diaper changes today... I told him that I needed to change his diaper and asked him to lie still for me and that I would go as fast as I could... well, lo and behold, he laid right there and let me change his diaper every time today!!! (Usually it is quite a wrestling match and I have to chase him around the room to get a diaper changed!) Let's just hope that it works again tomorrow! I am such a proud mommy!!!

James has a new favorite book!!!! He has a small board book with baby's first words. The book lives in the car because it makes car trips much easier. I love looking back in the mirror to see James studying the book like he is studying for the LSAT! He is so intent and focused on each picture that it amazes me! Taking the book out of his hands when we get out of the car is quite a different story... it makes for an unhappy camper!!! He also loves a large board book (almost as big as he is) full of animals and will carry it across the house to ask me to read it to him. Two days ago, as I sat down to read it to him, I asked if he wanted to sit on my lap or on the floor and he crawled up onto my lap. My heart melted!!!! Then, yesterday, he handed me the book and sat down on the floor ready to be read to! So cute!!!!

Today, our friends, Lynette and Allison, came to visit us for a few hours. It was so much fun to catch up with Lynette and watch Allison and James play together. I think it was the first time that they interacted and played together which really made it obvious how much they are growing up. Having Allison here reminded me of James 10 weeks ago... it is amazing how much James has grown and learned in the past 10 weeks. I can't wait to see them continue to grow, learn, and play together in the coming years!!!!

So, basically, we are just having a WONDERFUL time!!!!!!! Love to all!!!

Timeouts and Balls

Two quick cute stories before I go to bed...

So we have been doing timeouts on Mommy or Daddy's lap for a few months now. James hates them and cries throughout timeouts usually. Well, G-ma-ma came up to visit yesterday and today and thought that James may be old enough for timeouts sitting by himself. It was successful! So I gave it a try tonight when James pulled the vacuum cleaner plug out of the wall while I was vacuuming. It was the cutest thing ever!!!!!!!! I could hardly keep myself from laughing!!!! He sat there and played with his toes and kept saying "hhhhhi" to me! I almost wanted him to get in trouble again just so I could give him another timeout. "Unfortunately", he was good the rest of the day so no more timeouts! I'm SURE I will have plenty of opportunities in the coming months and years!

Second story... James LOVES balls!!! He loves to throw balls, play with balls, and say "ball"!!! Well, James got a 15" diameter yellow bouncy ball from the Pearts for his first birthday which is the "coolest" because it is the biggest ball he has right now. (This does not mean he needs a bigger one!) G-ma-ma got him another ball the same size but red at Target today. (Which Josh says that it should have been blue so James's big balls were blue and yellow - Go CAL! - and that red is not allowed in our house - Stanford - but either school is great for me!) Anyway, tonight James walked out into the living/dining room (aka James's playroom) and saw both balls sitting there. He stood there for quite some time looking from one ball to the other and back again. He took a few steps and looked back and forth again. He finally walked over to the red ball, picked it up, took it over to the yellow ball, and placed the red ball right next to the yellow ball. He then leaned down and put one hand on each ball as if he was going to try to pick up both balls. It was darling! He quickly realized that it would have been an impossibility so he just picked up each ball and threw it! Luckily Josh came to play with him at that point! It was just so cute to watch him ponder... which ball do I want, then maybe I can get both at once!!! I love it!!!

Hope everyone has a great week! Love to all!

He's back!!!

Goodbye roseola, hello James!!! My little boy is back!!! I loved having my happy little boy with his healthy appetite back today. He woke up from both of his naps happy, never would have known that he was up if I didn't have a video monitor to see him! After his bath tonight, he was running around the house giggling!!! It was so cute! He even began blowing kisses while talking with Grandma and Grandpa on Skype! Such a wonderful day but now that he is feeling better again, it's back to daycare for James and back to work for Mommy for 5 days but I can't complain after having the past 11 days off!!! I hope everyone else had a great day too!!! Love to all!!!