Mr. Independant

James is suddenly becoming quite the big boy. He now has the beginning of 2 bottom teeth and he can roll over all by himself. I captured his first roll on camera yesterday and since then he's literally been on a roll. Today he laid cozy on the couch with Aunt Maureen watching Michigan State (woman's) basketball which was pretty cute and fun. One thing that we are struggling with is swaddling. He's getting stronger and can easily break out of the swaddle that he's been sleeping so nicely in since birth. When he breaks out of it he wakes up, but when he's not in it he wakes up every 2-3 hours. I read that you can begin weaning from a swaddle by leaving one arm out. We tried that and he woke up about an hour after going to bed and his poor little hand was freezing! If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this transition, please let me know. I'm feeling pretty clueless at the moment. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the only way to wean is to just endure some sleepless nights until he gets used to his new sleeping arrangements.

James' First Christmas

Our trip to Michigan this year was much different than years past. This time we had to rent a SUV to haul the massive amount of stuff a 5 month old needs to live a week away from home. The trip up to Michigan was pretty seamless. We left at 10 p.m. Tuesday night before Christmas and Brian drove us straight through the night. We stopped only twice for gas. James slept the entire trip! However, upon our arrival, it was morning for him and bed time for us. Luckily aunt Sarah and grandma Sandy were ready to step in so we could get some much-needed shut-eye. We had so much fun this year playing with James and showing him off to all the family members on Brian's side who had never met him. As always, we relaxed, ate yummy food, played Wii fit and DJ Hero, and stayed up late into the night. The ground was covered in snow the entire time. Christmas was really fun. James' sat on grandma Sandy's lap during gift opening. Spontaneously through our gift exchange, he started laughing and laughing. He had fun and was in a great mood the entire morning. He received so many fun new gifts. He got a Red Ryder wagon from my parents, an excersaucer, clothes, books, toys, and tons more from the Rich Family. Aunt Maureen and Uncle Jeff got him the cute little santa suit that he wore on Christmas day. Brian and I got him a door bouncer that he's probably going to enjoy when he's a little bit bigger. It was sad to leave our winter wonder-land and the entire Rich clan to return to Missouri, but James has proven to be a very easy traveler thus far.

Here are some 5 month updates:
- Eating rice cereal
- 2 lower teeth have popped through the gums
- Can now sit up and stand up with assistance
- Rolling over and spending much more time on belly
- Loves to be read to, sang to, and carried around
- Hugs us tight when around other people and doing a little shy look away thing when approached by strangers
- Noticing the cat and petting him when he comes by for a visit
- Sleeping most nights through the night still (but did not the entire visit in Michigan - probably because of the teething)

Merry Merry

Lazy Sunday

We have had a lovely weekend of (almost) doing nothing but sitting around the house. Brian has had a fire raging in the fireplace since early Saturday. This is the first weekend in a long time that we haven't had tons of places to be. I feel a little guilty that I'm still in my P.J.'s and it's well past noon, but oh well, who cares? It's freezing outside, but nice and toasty inside. We've had tons of fun family moments in our house. I put up the Christmas decorations on Friday. James has lots of eye candy in the house now. He loved the Christmas lights. It's so fun to watch him experience all of this for the first time. Oh, and I actually heard a real laugh for the first time on Friday. Brian and I couldn't stop laughing at it. I keep trying to get more laughs out of him, but it's not happening. He's still smiley and happy. Hopefully full-on laughter is coming soon. I did accomplish one thing this weekend: Uploaded Photos.

Fun Visit From Aunt Sarah

Wow! What a fun and busy Thanksgiving break. It all started with Aunt Sarah arriving on the red eye Wednesday morning. She "worked" (but mostly played with James) from our house all day and then that night we went to a fun party at Hacienda where we saw The Fontanelle's (my brother-in-laws band) and DJ B Rich. Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister's for brunch and then my aunt's house for dinner. After gorging all day and night we were pretty tired so we crashed kinda early. Friday we had a happy hour that lasted until 3 a.m. at our place. It was fun catching up with Kristyn (from L.A.) and Joel & Alicia (from NYC). Saturday we had my BFF, Anna's bridal shower, Turkey Day celebrations at my aunt Susie's house and then that night an 80s themed bachelorette party. It was a blast from the past. Here's a group shot. Anna wore a full on tacky 80s wedding dress and all the girls wore 80s style prom dresses. It was so much fun. We stayed out until 2:30 a.m.! Sunday was low key for me. Brian and Sarah went to the Rams game (Sarah won tix the first night she was in town). Then we chilled out and watched a movie together. It was a FUN break! Thank goodness Christmas break is only 22 days away...James misses his Aunt Sarah!

Our Little 4-Month-Old (Hawaiian) Turkey

Aunt Sarah just arrived from LA with a gift for James! She recently went to Hawaii for her birthday and picked up this Big Kahuna number while in Kona. James is having SO much fun with his awesome Aunt. She has already taken 50 pics. Let the fun begin! Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Our Little Wild Thing

It's been a while since I've posted some of James' new talents:
1. Smiles all the time
2. Has started to scream with excitement (very loud, but very cute!)
3. Puts hands in mouth and just about anything within reach
4. Can now roll to the side and back again
5. Can sit up in the Bumbo chair
6. Sleeps 11 hours straight through the night (God LOVE him!)
7. Has discovered that bath time can be fun when you splash and kick (I must post a video of this soon)
8. Can see much farther distance now and has recently discovered Grizzo, the cat
9. Notices himself in the mirror
10. Has lots of conversations with us (still says "Laaa")
11. Starting to laugh (it sounds like a cough, it's so cute!)
12. Growing very quickly these days (had to put away all newborn clothes because he has outgrown everything) mostly in length, he's still skinny
13. Can put all of his weight on his little legs and stand with help for a long time