First Santa Visit

We were worried when we approached big ole' Santa at Plaza Frontenac that James would cry, but to our surprise he took to him very quickly. In fact, he got so comfortable on Santa's lap that we thought James might take a little nap. I framed this picture in our house and every time James sees it he says, "ho, ho, ho!"

Turning Corners

James and Pa Pa Rich hanging out. Bill and Sandy came down from MI to spend Turkey Day with us. James had so much fun with them and aunt Sarah from L.A. He was really sad when everyone left. He kept walking around the house saying, "Pa Pa?"
Quick messy face pic with mommy.
Feeling good and pigging out! James ate more today than he has in the past week!
Future quarterback???
Touchdown!
Oh, the things you get away with when you're sick.
You'll never get me, copper! Mini mobster!

Poor James has been super cranky, congested, finicky about food and just generally miserable for so long that I couldn't even remember what my happy little baby used to be like. He was diagnosed with an ear infection over 2 weeks ago, and after the first antibiotic did nothing, the doctor prescribed a stronger dose. Twice this week he was sound asleep by 5 p.m. and slept until 7:30 the next day! But then, all of a sudden he woke up happy, healthy and all the sickness was gone! Today I got a call from the babysitter saying that he had yellow puss coming out of his ear. Gross! I took him in and it turns out that his ear drum had burst and the fluids were coming out. The doctor said that the relief of pressure behind the ear drum would explain his sudden mood change. He's like a new person. And tonight for the first time in literally MONTHS he ate dinner. In fact, he ate breakfast, lunch, dinner and several snacks, lots of milk! For the longest time he's been living on practically nothing but milk, an occasional banana and goldfish. He was even starting to look gaunt and his color looked weird. I guess that built up ear infection took a major toll on his well being. But now...he's back! I'm soooooooooooo relieved.

Updates:

• James now has around 20 words and sometimes he puts two words together (uh oh baby!) (he also says: mommy, daddy, kitty, football, ball, woof, moo, shoes, papa, see, car, hoo hoo, owl, key, hi, cracker, mi mi, bye bye)
• He can sign the following (help, more, sleepy, drink, eat)
• He can also blow a kiss, dance and locate his head, nose, feet, hands, belly and hair)
• He weighs 18.8 pounds (hopefully he'll start gaining more now that he's better)
• He sleeps 11-11.5 hours through the night (usually 7:30 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.)
• He takes a 2 - 2.5 hour nap
• He loves books and will sit and listen intently for as long as we feel like reading
• Sometimes he'll sit and "read" his books alone
  
• He absolutely loves football! Anytime we're around a tv with football on he will yell football, and sometimes he begs me to turn it on by pointing at the tv and saying football.
  
• He's getting really good at puzzles.
  
• He can run now and loves to be chased in circles around the house or play peek-a-boo
• He will sit and watch a dvd when mom needs to get ready for work or cook dinner

Zombies and Firefighters

Once again, a huge group of friends and family headed down to the beautiful Sam A. Baker State Park for our annual Halloween getaway. Since this was probably the last year that we won't have issues with James wanting to go trick-or-treating, we were in the clear. It was a beautiful weekend full of hiking, laughing, eating, bonfires, and of course the murder mystery tradition. This year's murder mystery was "zombie" themed. It was hilarious! 18 of us got all done up it pretty scary zombie gear. James was close to bedtime that night, but he got a good glimpse of all of us right before bed. I just found out that 15 months is the usual age that kids can start having nightmares! Oh no! The zombie thing might be what has been waking him up the last few nights in a row yelling for "mommy!!" We were going to stay Sunday night at Sam A. Baker, but I was beat and Brian couldn't stay so we decided to head home as a family for our first Halloween in our new house. We were a little underwhelmed by the small amount of trick-or-treaters. Once again I bought WAY too much candy for the turnout. James was pretty excited to see the kids coming to the door. He wouldn't leave the door for a while in hopes of seeing another one. Finally, James had to go to bed so Brian and I waited up for more kids to come to our door. We finally had a "rush" of them around 8:00 p.m. Brian was impressed by the St. Louis tradition of having to tell a joke or do an actual treat to get candy. Apparently, in Michigan people just give the candy out without forcing young children to perform first. I think it's a nice justification for free candy! James will need to start working on his ghost jokes for next year. Now... on to the holiday season! There's a lot to look forward to!

Fall Funzies

We've had so much fun doing "fallish" things with James lately. Last year at this time James was way to little to enjoy it so we are taking full advantage this year. Poor guy was super sick all last week, but I'm so relieved to say that he has made a full recovery from the upper respiratory infection that took us all out this week. Lots of lost sleep and plenty of tears, but we made it! I hope he doesn't get sick again for a LONG time!!
Playing with the baby goats at Grants Farm. The goats really liked eating Brian's Rams jersey. Maybe that's why they lost today!
Hold on tight! James riding the horsie at Francis Park.
Our little vampire.
James' first hayride!
Corn maze in St. Genevieve, MO with the Menees Family.

The Very Busy Baby

We have had an exciting couple of weeks!
- James got his first big boy hair cut. (see video)
- My cousin, Amy, had a new baby, Zane (see pic above...newborn in middle, baby Sierra on right)
- My other cousin, Nikki, and her 8 month old came for a visit.
- We did the Memory Walk in honor of my grandma Doris and James was able to walk on the field of Busch Stadium.
- James can climb! Scary but true. James can get on top of furniture before knowing how to get down.
-and for the BIG news! James started walking yesterday! He has been taking a few steps here and there, but yesterday he just busted out of his shell and started walking. Even though he can walk perfectly well, he is still crawling the majority of the time...but he CAN do it! I have to get a better video of it. He's already got great balance and agility. He doesn't really have the "drunkard" wobble I was hoping to see. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm SO glad that the crawling days might be behind us. Now we can go for walks outside and he can walk in places where it is totally gross to crawl! My baby is growing up so fast!

13 Months

James' first "real" trip to the St. Louis ZOO


James' Latest Stats:
- 18 pounds 9 ounces (2nd percentile)
- 29.75" long (36th percentile)
- Took 4 STEPS today!
- 1 nap a day (usually 2 - 2.5 hours)
- 12 hours sleep at night
- Finicky eater (drops most food on the floor, spits it out, shoves it into diaper)
- Loves turning lights off and on
- Words he understands (that I know of!) cat, Grizzo, doggy, ducky, froggy, hug, purple cat, drink, book, Elmo, milk, daddy, mommy, grandma, grandpa, up, walk, fish, block, baby, pee-ka-boo, uncle Paulie, Aunt Maureen, night night.
- Claps hands, waves bye-bye, cracks up when mom dances (understandably)
- Loves to dance! Breaks out into dance immediately when he hears music
- Loves books (he will bring one over to us to read to him)
- Loves to give hugs to Elmo and people
- Gets into EVERY thing now. Flushes toilets, digs into trash, opens all cabinets and drawers, pulls out pots and pans, unravels toilet paper daily. I never get a break unless he's strapped in his high chair
- Enjoys watching Sesame Street videos occasionally
- Enjoys car rides now since he can face forward
- Can still only say a few distinguishable words (momma, mommy, dad, daddy, turtle, pa...the rest is babble)

Farewell to Long, Lazy Summer Days

The birthday boy enjoying his first taste of cake!
This cake was delicious and so awesome looking.
James helping Uncle Paulie steer the boat at Houghton Lake.
James and Grammy Sandy enjoying the Hammock at the cottage.
First boat ride!
Looking out onto the beautiful lake.
Hanging with daddy at our pool.

Tomorrow marks the end of summer fun. Teachers return, James heads to baby sitting. It was a busy, BUSY summer. We moved, I finished my masters, we traveled, we had a first birthday for James. I thought I wouldn't be upset about returning to work, but I find myself very sad tonight thinking about all the fun we had as a family home this summer. I'm going to miss our morning walks and long, lazy days hanging out by the pool. James has grown up so much in the past few months. He's a little boy now. He has become very attached to me over the last few months so I'm worried about how he'll do at daycare. He loves his baby sitter and so do I. Luckily, my mom and dad will continue to watch him two days a week so the transition won't be so hard. I'm sad that his cute little tiny self will be so much more grown when we come around to this wonderful time again next summer. I wish we could freeze time right here for a little longer.