Chatterbox

James loves noises of all kinds. He jabbers and screeches constantly but he is starting to make more sounds that can be translated into words. Animal sounds are a big favorite currently. He can tell you what a monkey, dog, and cow say. Sometimes he will do the lion, also.

Lately James has found a new fascination with cabinets. (Don't you love that cheesy grin?)

On Wednesday we put him down in the snow to crawl around while we shoveled. He had fun cruising all over the snow-covered front yard.

James is a VERY energetic little boy. Thankfully, he sleeps pretty well because he has to re-energize. Here is a picture of my sleeping little angel.

Because he sleeps so soundly and has a full head of hair, he often wakes up with crazy new hairstyles such as this one. :)

10 months of pure joy!

Happy 10-month birthday to my sweet little James! Our lives have been made so much richer by the addition of James to our family.

I think the last month has been full of more "firsts" than any other month in his life so far. James is learning new things every day and we are having so much fun watching him grow into his own little person.

* He experienced his first Christmas and New Years holidays this month.

* He learned how to clap and point.

* James has begun copying sounds. When we say "uh-oh" he says "uh". He also growls and makes other various noises when prompted.

* Can you believe that he now knows how to whistle? I've never met a 10-month old who could do that!

* He loves to open and close doors...everything from real full-sized doors to little doors on his toys or even flaps in books.

* Sadly, James had his first experience with antibiotics this month because he had an ear infection. We found out that he is just like Rod and I were when we were little...terrified of taking medicine. Thankfully he will take it by eating bread soaked in Amoxicillin. At night I add the medicine to his bottle and he doesn't seem to mind.

* When it comes to eating, he is all about the independence. He likes things that he can pick up and eat by himself. He refuses to eat off a spoon. Right now James' favorite food is string cheese.

* I still can't get him to drink out of a sippy cup. He likes taking sips out of regular cups but he makes a huge mess.

* Although he doesn't often smile for strangers he loves to be out in public. We make an effort to get him out of the house at least once per day.

* It is amazing how he recognizes the people who care for him daily. He can definitely pick them out of a crowd! Right now he stays with my Mom on Mondays, me on Tuesdays, Rae (my sister-in-law) on Wednesdays, and Rose (my mother-in-law) on Thursdays and Fridays. We are so thankful that he gets to stay with people who love him!

* James still thinks that the world revolves around Rod. Every evening when he sees his Daddy walking up the sidewalk he gets the biggest smile. When Rod enters the house, James wants to be held by him for no less than 15 minutes. He looks at Rod and smiles then looks at me and smiles. He sticks his finger in Rod's mouth and makes this "shhhh" sound that means he is happy. It's pretty cute!

* Our cats bring James lots of joy and entertainment. One time this month he got Beesley cornered and ended up getting scratched on his face. This has not deterred him from chasing the cats every chance he gets.

* I really need to get a good video to show you how he can "shake his booty". He loves music and shakes his head back and forth as his way of dancing. Even when music is not playing, I can say, "shake your booty" and he will shake his head.

* Size-wise he finally reached the 20 lb mark and continues to be in the 95th percentile for height. He wears size 12 month clothes.

The remainder of 2009

Let's see if I can remember how we spent the last couple of weeks in 2009.

On December 17 our friend Lenny's mom died. He stayed with us for a few days which absolutely thrilled James. He enjoyed having the attention of another adult! We also got snowed in with Lenny during the huge snowstorm on December 19. That was James' first real experience with snow!

On December 23 James went to the doctor's for a checkup. They said he is growing well. His stats were: 30 1/4" 19lb 15oz and his head circumference was 18". He remains at the top of his class for height...I think he was in the 95th percentile.

Of course December 25 was Christmas! We had numerous Christmas celebrations to attend. James enjoyed the people, but got overwhelmed with all the gift-opening chaos. He whined and cried some of the time but we tried to keep him happy and quiet by rocking him or letting him have his pacifier. Considering the circumstances (no nap and lots of people) he did pretty well.

During the last two weeks James has had the privilege of staying home with his daddy during Christmas break. He absolutely loves to spend time with Rod. It doesn't matter if they are apart for two minutes, the second James catches Rod in his sight a smile immediately overcomes his face.

So, that's what has been going on around here. Thanks for following our blog and we hope that you have a Happy New Year!!!

9 months old

I know that I'm getting bad about blogging but I am really trying to keep up with it despite my crazy schedule. Can you believe that our sweet baby James is already 9 months old? He is just as cute as ever! Over the past month he has met several milestones:
* He now has EIGHT teeth!
* He is cruising along the furniture as fast as his little legs can go.
* In addition to mama he now says byebye and dada (more like "blabla").
* Our long-legged boy is wearing 12 month pants but he can still fit into some of his 6 month shirts.
* James has become a daddy's boy over the past couple of weeks. He is happiest when he is playing with Rod.
* He shakes his head a lot. I'm not sure exactly what it means because he does it while eating, whenever music plays, and sometimes when he wants to get our attention. Whatever the case, it gets a laugh almost every time!

3 milestones this week

James started 3 new things this week and I have to blog about them so I don't forget to inclcude these milestones in his baby book.

First, he started waving last weekend.
On Wednesday he got two new teeth for a total of 6 little chompers!
Yesterday he waved to Rod and said byebye. It was actually more like "buhbuh".

New camera = new pictures to blog!

James loves to watch his Daddy play instruments. He likes to touch them, listen to the different noises they make, and try to play them himself.

"Is this how you do it, Dad?"

Cuddling with Daddy after an instrument lesson. :)

Always a happy boy!

Chillin' with Dad on Thanksgiving. Don't they look cute in their festive hats?

EIGHT months old!

James has reached many milestones this last month. We are so proud of our sweet little boy!

* He now has 4 teeth.

* He finally learned how to sit up this month.

* As you saw in my last post, James began crawling last Thursday.

* He is starting to pull himself to a standing position.

* James still needs a lot of sleep. He typically takes 2 2-hr naps and 1 1-hr nap every day.

* He usually gets up in the middle of the night for a bottle. I think we could probably wean him off this habit, but I like it because when he drinks a bottle at 2 he sleeps at least until 6:30. If not, he will wake up between 5 and 5:30.

* He says "mama" a lot, but I'm not convinced that he knows what it means.

* Learning is clearly something that he absolutely loves. It is so much fun watching him explore his world!