Big Thanksgiving fun

Last week's Thanksgiving festivities at Grandma and Grandpa's house were lots of fun for James, as well as the rest of the family. James fell asleep five minutes into the big feast, but after a good nap, he tried all kinds of new foods. Stuffing, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes with gravy were some of his favorites. He was not too impressed with pumpkin pie, but that might be because his piece wasn't covered in whipped cream like everybody else's. His solid-food eating skills are improving, and Thanksgiving was a very good time to get some eating practice. In the week since then, he has made great strides in his ability to use a fork and spoon, take manageable-sized bites, and even drink milk from a big person cup. This last skill still needs a lot of work, however; he prefers blowing bubbles in the milk to actually drinking it that way. It does not help his progress that Daddy cannot stop laughing when James does that.

James also got a lot of attention that weekend, because lots of relatives and friends were visiting. Here we see Min giving James a ride, which James enjoyed so much that he made Min do it a few hundred times.

On a completely different topic, Aunties Erin and Kristin were commenting on our choice of terminology for James's, um, diaper fillings. Mommy uses the terms "wet" and "solid;" Daddy prefers "wetness (the noun form)" and "thunder." None of these were approved by Erin and Kristin, so we have sought new terms. Henceforth, we will use the German words for one (eins) and two (zwei) for his number one and number two, respectively. We chose German because it is unlikely that we will use German in any other way, and because much of the German language sounds kind of like words made up by a small child anyway (das ist gut, der flughafen, purpurfarbig, etc.). Hopefully we will not accidentally offend any German friends or neighbors with this use of their language.

Big little steps

Ever since James squeezed past the gate and fell down the stairs a few weeks ago, we have been working on stair safety. Since he could walk he has enjoyed walking up and down the stairs with Daddy holding onto his hands, and we still do that almost every day. Sometimes it seems like that's all we do - the Dacula park has stairs leading down to the playground, and we spend more time on the stairs than on the playground. Daddy thinks that James should learn how to manage stairs on his own, however, in case he somehow manages to get past the gate again. This is unlikely, considering the reinforcements put on the gate, but better safe than sorry. So we have been practicing solo stair descending, and James is now pretty good at it. This technique only works when there are rails available, but that's good for now. He uses the standard hands-and-knees crawling method for going up the stairs, by the way.

Buff Baby

While I am somewhat laith to put a video of myself working out on the internet, I couldn't help it when I saw how cute James was. Here James is working on his abs. He saw me doing crunches the other day and decided that if Mommy does it, surely I should too. He then sat down and began his own version of abdominal exercise. Now we just have to plan what we'll say to the doctor, who already criticizes James for being too thin, when he sees James's rock hard abs.

Our Need for Deep Carpet Cleaning Increases Exponentially

So, as you can see from the above video, James has been practicing with his spoon. He does pretty well with dipping the spoon in something he wants to eat and then bringing the spoon to his mouth. He does not always bring the correct end of the spoon to his mouth, but hey, we all have to start somewhere, right? Needless to say, this particular learning experience is taking its toll on our carpet. Alas.

James Enjoys Fall

I am not nearly as reliable as would be ideal in contributing pictures to the blog. Sorry about that. Here are some.

This is me and James handing out candy to some of the 348 trick-or-treaters that came to our house last night. James thought it was tremendous fun. He would pick up candy out of the bowl and drop it. Sometimes it landed in the baskets the kids brought, sometimes it landed on the floor, but more often I was able to catch it and distribute it properly. We made a great team, overall.
This is James in his fancy lion costume. He did not think the hat portion was tremendous fun. Therefore, it was short lived.
This is me and James playing with the parachute during story time. James also thought this was tremendous fun. I agreed.
This is James playing with this gear game thing at the park near our house. He loves this park in general. He climbs up the slide and then goes back down it for hours at a time.
This is James video chatting with Auntie Erin and Auntie Kristin. He absolutely loves this particular activity, though I think he likes the opportunity to hit the keys on the computer more than the actual conversation (sorry, sisters).

Now that I've figured out how to hook my fancy pants new camera up to my computer, I'll be able to be more forthcoming with the pictures. In theory. We do live in a constant state of chaos, after all.

Saturday Morning Play Time

Patrick and I generally take turns sleeping in on the weekend which means that I get to spend Saturday mornings playing with James. This morning we had a spectacular time. First, James was excited that I had on my Veggie Tales shirt as he is a big fan of Bob the Tomato. He kept turning me around so that he could see all sides of Bob. Then, he turned on and off all of the lights in the house repeatedly. Next, he flushed the toilets for a while, after which he ate some prunes and apples with oatmeal. Finally, just as he was winding down for his first nap, he sat down for about forty five minutes and played with the truck my dad made him. He rolled it back and forth; he put his blocks in it and then took them back out; he dumped the dumping part of it and flipped the flap at the back around in circles. It was tremendous fun. In fact, he was having such a good time that I even got a video of him without him immediately stopping what he was doing to try to eat the camera. So I thought I'd share it. :)

As nice as it is to sleep in, it's a treat for me to get up and play with James when he's at his happiest. Saturday mornings are pretty great.

Talitha's Tree

Two years ago today, our Daughter died.  Last year, when James came along, we were very happy and very relieved, but we still miss our first child.  Today, to remember her, we planted a tree in the yard.  It doesn't look like much now, but hopefully it will eventually be a pink cherry blossom tree.

The second first birthday party - wait, does that make any sense?

James had his second party for his first birthday this past weekend.  The Augusta side of the family had a party down there for him at a really fun park.  James ran around on the playground, watched some kids play basketball, and found a very nice stick, all before the party even started.  Eventually we got him to come to the table and have some cake.  He 'had' some cake; he didn't really eat it, as you can see.  

Birthday toys

James is enjoying all the fun stuff he got for his birthday.  This is one of his favorites, a stacking game from Great-Grandpa Lundberg:  

James went to the doctor today for his 12-month checkup.  Everything went well, but he had to get 5 different shots.  He was not very happy after that, so to cheer him up, we went to the park.  This particular park has a big playground, some walking trails, and a big pond where ducks and geese congregate.  James forgot all about the shots when he was chasing ducks around.  The ducks there are pretty tame and not very fast, so James could get quite close to them.  They are a little faster than James, though, so (thankfully) he did not actually catch one.  I don't know if ducks bite, but I would rather find out from the Discovery Channel. 

Happy Birthday James!

James is a year old today!  Here are some highlights from his birthday party yesterday: 

Grandpa made James a fully-functional dump truck.  It is an amazing piece of craftsmanship, with lots of really detailed parts.

  

Grandma made Freddy, a panda that is just like the one she made for Mommy when she was a baby.  James likes it as much as Mommy did.

 

James and Aunt Kristin are playing with new toys.

His first cake (cupcake, actually)

pulverizing his first cupcake

Here are the (non-pulverized) cupcakes that Mommy, Kristin, and Grandma worked very hard on.  The animal pairs go along with the "Noah's Ark" theme of the party.  

The Noah's Ark cake

James had lots of fun at his party, and Mommy and Daddy did too.  We also enjoyed visiting with out-of-town relatives who came for the party: Great-grandpa Lundberg, Great-grandma Wallace, Papa Wallace, Uncle Dan, Aunt Cindy, and Auntie Kristin.  Min, Grandma, and Grandpa aren't exactly from out-of-town, but we're glad they came too.  And James gets another birthday party next Saturday in Augusta.  He might start to expect a party every weekend at this rate.  

Walt Roberts is here!

This morning, our friend Noah and his wife Julie gave birth to their second child, Walter Douglas Roberts.  He's a healthy eight-pounder, and he and his parents are doing fine.  There are some pictures on their blog, noahandjulieroberts.blogspot.com . We're hoping and praying that Walt will grow up as happy and healthy as James is.  

Speaking of James, he is quickly approaching his first birthday.  This Saturday, the relatives visit, and he will get to have some cake.  At the risk of spoiling the surprise, I hear there is a Noah's Ark theme.  

James continues to learn new stuff every day.  Now that the weather is better (it rained for a solid week here), we have been going outside again.  James has learned to kick a ball, which is impressive in and of itself, but it also shows how well he has mastered walking.  Here we are in the driveway, kicking the ball cousin Hannalee got for James this summer:

James also enjoys pushing things.  We went strolling around the Home Depot the other day, and James pushed the cart for me.  He couldn't reach the handle, but he pushed from the bottom of the basket quite well.  He also pushes his own stroller when we go to the neighborhood playground.   Pretty soon, we'll let him loose with the lawn mower.  

Today James learned how light switches work.  Daddy demonstrated 'on' and 'off' a couple of times, then held James up and let him try. James quickly mastered the up/down motion, and proceeded to create a strobe-light effect in the bathroom.  He would still be doing it if Daddy didn't get tired of holding him up.  James is getting heavy.  

Speaking of which, James's eating technique has improved tremendously.  He keeps things in his mouth now (he used to let about half of every spoonful dribble out onto his chin), and he is chewing quite well with his two teeth.  Meme (Daddy's mother) got James some crunchy snacks, which have helped him improve his chewing.  Now he eats them all the time, which is good, because it keeps non-food items (shoes, cellphones, the cat) out of his mouth.  We were kind of worried that constantly feeding him high-calorie formula to bulk him up would impede his normal-food-eating development, but he seems to be doing fine.  

Less than a week until James is a year old!

  

Almost a year old

James and Daddy went to the Georgia Aquarium last Friday.  James had a great time, although Daddy didn't let him run around free as much as he wanted to.  He is confident enough in his walking now that he doesn't like Daddy holding his hand all the time.  Daddy doesn't care; James has to hold Daddy's hand when we're in a big crowd.  Nonetheless, we both enjoyed seeing everything in the aquarium.  When we left, we went to the grassy area between the aquarium and the World of Coke, and James chased pigeons around.   

James enjoyed the pigeon hunt more than anything in the aquarium.  Next time, Daddy will save the $35 and just find a flock of birds somewhere.  

James is almost a year old, and we are eagerly anticipating his birthday parties - one at home and one in Augusta.  He is growing up quickly, and we will take the time on his birthday to see how much he has changed since he came into the world last October 4th.  Thankfully we have lots of pictures and videos of his first year, so we can remember, and so we can embarrass him later.  

As seen above, James is an excellent walker now.  He is steady enough that he rarely falls, and when he does, he gets himself up without any difficulty.  He also walks without concentrating solely on walking - he can pick up a toy and play with it, or drink from his sippy cup, or try to grab the cat's tail, all while walking perfectly fine.  This is fun for Daddy, because now James and Daddy can play hide and seek.  Daddy will run into the kitchen, and James will hunt him down.  Daddy will scurry off into the bedroom, and James is right on his tail.  Daddy will try to take a bathroom break, and James will ignore the game-off and chase Daddy into the bathroom.  We're going to have to work on that.  Another walking skill he is mastering is walking backwards.  The past couple of days, he has been practicing:  he will take a few steps forward, then stop and take a few steps backward, then forward again.  It kind of looks like he's practicing ballroom dancing.  

We have determined that James has started to actually talk.  He has been making all sorts of sounds for quite a while, but it does appear that he is now associating a particular sound with a particular thing.  The first one was 'mama,' which was the first sound he practiced saying over and over again.  Now he only says it when he sees Mommy, or sometimes when he's getting his diaper changed.  Not sure what that's about.  But he definitely means 'Mommy' when he says 'mama' - when Mommy comes home from work, he holds out his hands to her and says 'mama' over and over again.  Mommy likes that.  The other semi-word James says is 'cah', to identify the cat, Spooky.  He's clearly talking about the cat with this word, because he only says it when he's chasing Spooky around, trying to grab his tail.  And he says it with tremendous enthusiasm.  It's also possible that Daddy has been dubbed 'gagga' by James, because James does say that a lot around Daddy.  However, 'gagga' might also mean milk, or book, or any number of other things that James sees every day.  But it means something, that much we are sure of.   

Labor Day

Last Sunday we went to the annual Labor Day weekend family event at Daddy's uncle Roy's house.  Uncle Roy lives on the edge of Clark Hill Lake, and his yard is a perfect place for a big family gathering. It is especially exciting for eleven-month-olds who think leaves are really great toys. 

James walked around in the leaves for half an hour, and would have stayed there all day, but we had to eat lunch.  

He was a big fan of the macaroni. 

Fun outdoors

Since we got back from the beach, James and Daddy have been trying to find fun outdoor activities that we can try, when the weather permits.  James had so much fun at the beach that Daddy figures he will probably like exploring other terrains.  Our yard is the most frequent outdoor exploration spot, and James does enjoy walking around out there.  He takes small steps, so we still haven't explored the whole yard.  For a little variety, we try to take advantage of the various parks around here.  There's a big state park, Fort Yargo, that's just a few miles away.  It's free on Wednesdays, so we occasionally go for nature walks out there.  It's a lot of jungle and swamp and not much grass, though, so James does more riding than walking there.  Close to Mommy's school is another little park (the name eludes me) that is just a few picnic tables, some trees, and a grassy hill.  James enjoys that one tremendously; the hill is not very steep, but steep enough to make walking interesting.  The pictures here are from a park that's close to our old townhouse in Duluth (the park is actually in neighboring Suwanee); it's a longer drive, but it's a great park.  The round, grassy area in the middle is bigger than a football field, so even if there are a lot of people there we can find somewhere to walk safely.  This particular morning, the park was not crowded at all; school has recently started back, so most kids were otherwise occupied.  James has continued to improve his walking ability, and he walked halfway across the park with no help from Daddy.  He stopped several times to pick up leaves, however.  He loves the leaves.  He will pick up one leaf and carry it around until he spots another good one, then he will put the first leaf down on the ground beside the new leaf, and compare the two.  After a few seconds, he will choose one of the leaves, pick it up, and continue walking.  This makes the walk across the park take a little longer, but for James, it adds to the fun.  As Tolkien said, not all who wander are lost.   What Tolkien did not say was that not all who wander wear pants.  Daddy usually tries to keep his boy decent in public, but we had a little diaper incident and had to go to the backup outfit seen here.  James did not let that spoil his fun, though; he does not share his father's need for pants.  

This is one of James's favorite leaves.  This one made it through several elimination rounds, but eventually James found another favorite.  Unfortunately that favorite was a discarded cigarette.  Daddy had to put the camera down and intervene at that point.   We (well, Daddy) decided that it was time to visit the best part of the Suwanee park, the fountain. 
This is a great fountain, all on ground level so kids (and sometimes fathers) can run through it.  I just discovered that clicking on the picture makes it bigger, which is helpful here - the camera didn't go into the fountain with us, so it's a little far away.   James wanted to go into the fountain solo, but Daddy didn't want to be left behind, so he held onto James's hand.  The spot where we are standing in the above picture is one of the fountains that goes up and down; James loved this.  The water would diminish and disappear, and he would squat down and stare at the spout until the water came out again.  Then he would stand up as the fountain got higher, and stick his hand out to block it when it went past his head.  This made water splash everywhere, which was really exciting.  James spent quite a while at this spot.  We also walked over to the big, constantly-flowing part of the fountain that is at the right edge of the picture, but it was a little too much water for James.  Sticking his hand out didn't do much to slow it down.  He will probably like it a little more when he's a bit taller, and pesky Daddy isn't holding his hand.  We had lots of fun, though, and we'll probably make this a regular outdoor activity as long as the weather is warm.  

This is not in any way related to fun outdoors, but James is having a good time, so we'll show it anyway.  I believe it is green beans that is making him so excited.  

Walking everywhere

James is walking on his own a good portion of the time now.  He will sometimes grab a helper to start out, but then he lets go and heads off on his own.  Daddy still holds onto his hand when we're walking outside or on a hard floor, but that's more Daddy's choice than James's.

What language is this?

James does this weird thing all day now. I hope it's his way of exploring his new teeth, and not the manifestation of a nefarious mutant superpower. Or he could be talking to snakes, like Harry Potter and Voldemort can do. Whatever it is, I'm getting him a costume with a cape.

Update on James

No pictures this time, because we're on a different computer. But as long as internet access is available, we will use it.

James has been walking all over the place. He prefers to walk with a buddy, holding onto their finger with one hand and carrying something to chew on in the other. We walk all around the house like that during the day, and occasionally we go out into the yard and walk around in the grass. Yesterday, we went to the Falcons training camp to see them practice. James didn't care too much about the football practice (although Sam Baker's beard was impressive), but he loved the facilities there. Beside the practice field there is a grassy hill where spectators sit, and James walked and crawled around on it for almost an hour. He would have run around longer, but the practice ended and we had to go home. Falcons practice isn't open to the public anymore, so we'll have to find another grassy hill pretty soon.

James is also improving his independent walking. Today he walked across the living room - eighteen steps - without holding onto anything. After that, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Auntie Erin sat on the floor and James walked between us for a while. He is doing quite well with his walking technique, and he has learned to steady himself with his arms. Previously he would just flop down on his bum when he started to lose his balance. He is getting more confident in his solo walking abilities, but he still likes to hold onto a finger most of the time.

A second tooth has revealed itself. Both are bottom teeth, so he's probably not ready for corn on the cob yet. But neither tooth caused him much pain when it came out, so hopefully he won't have any problems with the rest of them.

We'll try to get some pictures and videos posted soon.

James has a tooth!

James's first tooth broke through this week.  It's hard to see in the picture, but trust me, it's there.  It's on the bottom, slightly to his right side.  He has been drooling and chewing on things for months now, but the tooth didn't want to come out.  Now that the first one is here, we expect more to follow shortly.  Then we'll all eat corn on the cob together.

James has been working on his walking skills.  He is now an expert at walking while pushing his wheeled toys (he did about 40 laps around the coffee table yesterday), and is very good at walking while holding on to someone's hands (fingers, actually).  He is comfortable enough with this now that he will hold on just with one hand, and carry something to chew on in the other hand.  Daddy gets a lot of exercise (though not much sleep) with James's walking practice.  Though he usually wants to hold onto someone or something,  James has taken up to seven independent steps without touching anything.  Mommy and Daddy sat opposite each other on the floor and helped James walk between us.  One of us would turn him in the right direction and help him steady himself, then let go and let him walk to the outstretched arms of the other person.  He was a little wobbly, but he got better and better at it, finally making it seven steps without falling.  And even when he fell, he enjoyed it tremendously - he landed on his diaper-padded bum on a carpeted floor, so that was fun too.  

This newfound mobility means Daddy has to keep a very close eye on James now, even more than before.  Previously he was hard to keep up with, but I could always assume he was on the floor somewhere.  Now, however, he is learning to climb.  That means Daddy has to watch for vertical threats as well as horizontal ones.  We discovered his new desire to climb last weekend, when he tried to scale the wall of his kennel (see previous blog entries for explanation of 'kennel').  What he once saw as a barrier, he now sees as a challenge.  This morning, he learned how to climb onto the coffee table.  He did quite well (with Daddy spotting), but he didn't really know what to do once he got up there.  So now we are working on our climbing-down technique.  Hopefully James will learn this quickly; right now he's willing to let gravity handle that part of it.  Daddy, however, is not.  

James's tooth isn't visible in the following picture either, but it was a really good picture so Daddy thought it should go on the blog. 

First beach trip

We just got back from Myrtle Beach last weekend.  Beach week with the Lundbergs is always fun, but it was even better this year since James was with us.  He loved the beach almost as much as he loved having thirteen adults give him their full attention.  James played in (and occasionally ate) the sand, splashed in the waves, and generally had a great time.  See footage below.  

We went to the doctor yesterday for a weight check (the doctor thinks James is too skinny), and James is up to 16 pounds, 11 ounces.  That's over a pound more than he weighed 3 weeks ago.  He's also eating better; for a while there he was not happy about his food.  He has a big appetite now, however, so hopefully the doctor will be satisfied with his size.  

James's favorite activity these days is walking around.  He needs to hold on to someone's fingers to keep his balance, but he walks all over the place now.  He's fast, too; it looks like he's pulling mommy and daddy around by the fingers when he gets going at full speed.  The cats aren't too happy about his improved mobility, though - chasing them around keeps James entertained all day.  

Mommy goes back to school next week, so James and daddy will be on their own during the day.  That also means no more sleeping late for daddy.  Not a problem for James, who never sleeps late, but daddy enjoys having mommy to cover the morning shift.  And mommy enjoys the summer break, so going back to school will be painful for her too.  But we're planning some fun activities for the weekends that hopefully James will enjoy, so we have something to look forward to. 

James is Awfully Good Looking

So, you guys should all go check out James's pictures on Stylized Portraiture's website (http://www.stylizedportraiture.com/blog/).  Just scroll past their Christmas ad and you'll see a number of highlights from James's last photo session, which, I think you'll notice, he loved.  He just grinned the whole time and was a complete ham for the camera.  It gets increasingly difficult to decide which pictures we will purchase as they're all so freaking good, but, tragically, also freaking expensive.  In a week or so, Heather (the photographer) will put all the pictures up, and we'll let you know how to see those when we do.  Enjoy!  

9 Months Old!

James will be 9 months old tomorrow!  The fun thing about this blog is we can go back and see what he was like when he was born, and see how different he is now.  

For instance, he couldn't throw a ball back then.  As you can see above, he has learned how much fun it is to play catch. He doesn't release the ball at a consistent point in his swing, so the ball can go anywhere.  That makes it even more fun.  He had a few really good throws this afternoon, but of course there was no cameraman available.  You just have to take my word for it.  He usually uses his right hand, which does not bode well for his future as a left-handed pitcher for the Braves.  Sorry, Grandpa.  

James continues to enjoy walking behind his wheeled toy, and did this until about midnight last night.  His balance continues to get better, and on the occasions when he does fall down, he aims himself well enough that he usually lands on his caboose instead of his face.  Quite a useful skill; Daddy still hasn't perfected it.  The only limit to his walking fun is the small track; he crosses the room in about 15 seconds, and the horsie is quite difficult to turn around.  Mommy or Daddy do the turning, which keeps us quite busy.  We need to find a bigger runway.  

Yesterday evening, James went biking for the first time.  Daddy was actually driving the bicycle, and James rode in his rickshaw-type wagon attached to the back of the bike.  And Mommy jogged alongside.  James looked a little unsure about the whole experience, but he wasn't scared at all.  Hopefully he'll get used to it; we have a nice neighborhood to go biking in.

In another display of rare baby fearlessness, James endured two needles at his recent doctor visit and didn't cry either time.   At his 9-month checkup, they gave him a flu vaccination and then the doctor ordered a blood test to check his iron levels.  James sat (relatively) still and got through both needles without a peep.   Some adults can't do that. 

We're all still enjoying the summer, visiting the neighborhood pool often and finding fun things that James can do.  We're getting ready to go to Myrtle Beach in a couple of weeks, and we're close to a state park that provides plenty of activities for us.  Hopefully this will help James learn to love playing outside, and keep him from wasting too much time with TV and video games.  

Fun new methods of getting around

I had a big long blog about how James is walking with his toy, crawling around chasing after the cats, and playing in the neighborhood pool, but the internet connection cut out and it all disappeared.  Hopefully the neighbor we are stealing internet from will get that fixed soon.  It's quite annoying.

First Summer (Outside the Womb)

This is our first summer when we can play with James. Mommy can attest to his presence last summer, but he's more fun (and less painful to Mommy's back) now. James is enjoying his summer with Mommy and Daddy both home, as you can see. Meme (paternal grandmother) got him a pool, so we decided to set it up on the deck and see how he likes water. He didn't mind sitting in it, but he was not willing to put his face in the water - a good instinct, I think. We'll gradually add more water to the inflatable pool (it was about at bathtub level here), and eventually he should be ready for the big neighborhood pool.

With Mommy and Daddy both at home for the summer, lots of tasks that Daddy never got to finish are finally being addressed. Mommy has been working on decorating James's room, and it is almost complete. He still has his bed in our room, but all of his clothes and things are in his own room now.

Daddy has mostly been outside, trying to tame the yard. Recent rain has made the grass (weeds, mostly) shoot up, and keeping up with it has been difficult. But we had a couple of sunny days, so the lawn is finally cut. And thanks to the fertilizer spreader that Daddy got for his birthday from Mommy's family, the ant problem has been taken care of. At the beginning of May, there were over 40 ant beds in the yard, and Daddy was getting tired of attacking them one-by-one, only to have another one pop up a few feet away. But with the fertilizer spreader ( a Scotts EdgeGuard Deluxe Rotary Spreader), the whole yard has a nice layer of anti-ant protection. Yesterday I saw three feeble little beds, easily destroyable, instead of the 40 or so that we used to have. The ants probably just moved into the neighbors' yards, but who cares. They can borrow my spreader.

On rainy days, Daddy got the garage organized. Papa (paternal grandfather) gave Daddy a bunch of tools, including a table saw, a band saw, and the world's biggest drill. The garage now has shelves and some kind of order, so finding all of these great tools will be easy. Daddy's next project will be the construction of a porch swing, so all the tools will be put to good use.

Back to James, the actual star of this blog. He has reached the stage that I'm sure all parents recognize, the ' rapidly crawling everywhere' stage. He can cross the room on his hands and knees faster than most adults can on foot. And he wants to climb everything. We're trying to think of some cushiony-yet-stable objects he can climb on without hurting himself if he tips over, which occasionally happens. His balance is pretty good, however, and he doesn't fall much anymore. He can pull himself up to standing quite well while holding onto something (or someone), and will briefly let go and stand unsupported for a second or two, before grabbing his support again. He usually has his legs spread pretty wide when he attempts his unsupported stands, though. We'll probably have to teach him not to do that, though; otherwise he'll walk like a sumo wrestler. He's too skinny to be a sumo wrestler.

James is spending more time outside, now that the weather is nice. Besides the above-mentioned pool, we have been going to the neighborhood playground, which conveniently has baby swings. There was also the fun trip to the petting zoo. Mommy was a little freaked out when the deer/goats/peacocks came right up to us, but James thought it was great. We went with Mommy's coworker and her baby Kara, who is about the same age as James. We hope to find more outdoor activities as the summer progresses. There's a big state park nearby (Fort Yargo) that has free admission on Wednesdays, so we'll probably try there this week.

Last Sunday was the first time we have put James in the church's nursery - we used to carry him into the service with us, but he's getting a little talkative for that now. Mommy was kind of worried about how he would behave being around a bunch of other babies (and not his parents)for the first time. The nursery gave us a vibrating beeper (yes, like the Olive Garden) and said they would buzz us if he had any problems. But apparently he slept the whole time, so he couldn't have been too upset. He was probably glad to have a little break from Daddy, anyway.

Growing fast

James has learned all kinds of fun things.  He perfected the forward crawl just recently, as seen in the previous blog entry.  Now he has learned how to stand up on his own.  The play table in the picture above was originally much taller, but I cut a bit of the legs off to make it easier for James to reach.  At the time, he was not yet able to sit up on his own, so I thought if he could grab the top he could support himself.  Within a couple of weeks, he was not only supporting himself with it, but crawling on top of it.  Now he can stand up beside it.  Of course now the legs would be better at their original height; I hope I saved the pieces I cut off.  But James is using all sorts of other things to stand up now: the walls of the playpen, the edge of the couch, the footstool, and me if I happen to be sitting on the floor.  I imagine soon I will have to pull him down off the top of the bookshelves.  

   James also learned to play the piano.  His grandma sat down with him in front of her piano last weekend and he learned that hitting the keys made a fun sound.  Mommy has an old electric keyboard, so we got that out for him to practice on.  He's already better at the piano than I am.  

Finally, James's manual dexterity is developing quite well.  He can pick up his Gerber Puffs (little cereal-like finger foods about the size of Cheerios), although he doesn't much like the taste of them.  He can also pick up his pacifier, turn it around in his hands, and put it in his mouth the correct way.  I've been trying to wean him off the pacifier - only giving it to him when he's going to sleep - but now he can get it himself.  He likes the teething ring better, though, so maybe we can retire the pacifiers soon.  

We got James a small inflatable pool this week, so of course the weather is now unseasonably cold.  It should warm up soon, though, and then we'll see how he likes the water.  He enjoys the baths, so hopefully the pool will be fun too.  

James has mastered crawling

As you can see, James is now harder to keep track of.  

James's first march

On Saturday, we participated in the March of Dimes walk in Roswell. James led the way in his stroller, and Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma followed along. As you can see, James was fairly comfortable in his stroller. Daddy carried him for the last half-mile or so. The weather was great, and we all feel like we did quite well in the walk. We went as part of the Magdalena Roberts team, the rest of which will be walking this Saturday in Mississippi. Many thanks to all of you who donated to the March.
James continues to learn all kinds of fun new things. He is very good at raising himself up from his stomach into a seated position. He puts his hands out, pushes back, tucks his legs under, and sits up. The first couple of times he did it, he looked a little surprised at the position he ended up in. Now, however, it is no big deal for him.
James is also starting to climb up onto things. As soon as he learned to sit upright on his own, he decided he wanted to stand. He has a little activity table with buttons and knobs and lights - last month, he learned to sit in front of it and hit the buttons, and now he holds onto it and uses it to get up on his feet. He is also holding onto the sides of his portable kennel and using it to stand up:

Technically it is not a kennel, but it kinda looks like one. Mommy's friend Ann is letting us use it. It's great; it keeps the cats out and the boy in.

James has also discovered that it is fun to stick his tongue out. He gets really excited when Mommy does the same. Sitting with Mommy and making faces keeps him entertained for hours. Well, minutes, really. But it seems like a long time.

We got a call from the cardiologist's office, and they had the results of James's recent blood test (see previous blogs for details). The tests show that James does not have any of the markers that indicate a predisposition for long QT syndrome. Of course they still won't say that there's nothing wrong with him, because that would mean they'll never see our bank account again, and they've grown quite fond of it. So they want to do periodic EKGs for as long as they can get away with it. But evidence continues to pile up proving that James is perfectly healthy and that these doctors are full of crap. I say that with all due respect, of course.

Okay, time for prunes and carrots. For James, anyway; hopefully Mommy and Daddy can find something else to eat.

James Has Never Looked Better

Ok guys, two things you need to do:

1. Check out James's new pictures on

 http://www.stylizedportraiture.com/blog/ 

the blog for Stylized Portraiture.  These are only some of the pictures Heather took, and they're incredible.  

2. Sponsor Patrick and me on our walk for March of Dimes on Saturday.  We're walking as part of the team for Noah and Julie's baby, Magdalena.  You may have read about her as Patrick linked their blog.  In case you want to check them out, their blog is on 

http://noahandjulieroberts.blogspot.com/

if you want to know their story.  But we're looking for sponsors, so go to 

http://www.marchforbabies.org/jpfwallace

and sponsor us.  

And have an excellent day.  :)

Picture Pages, Picture Pages

Look at this gorgeous guy.  :)

James wears his Boyd's Bears jammies--take note, Auntie Erin!

James and Daddy Look so handsome. 

 

     Well, today was a big photo day for James.  He had his six month photo shoot with the fancy photographer (Heather Lickliter of Stylized Portraiture) at the Botanical Gardens in Athens.  He looked great, especially in his Def Leppard onesie.  The pictures will be great.  We also took some pictures of him because he's just so gosh darn cute.  

     Case in point: tonight as Patrick and I are desperately trying to get him to go to sleep, he's making raspberries and sticking out his tongue and making raspberries again.  So I stick my tongue out and do a tongue-protruding raspberry, and James tries to do the same thing, mostly just producing large amounts of spit.  So I do it again, and he tries again, over and over.  

     He finally achieved success (as much as can be expected of a six month old), and Patrick got it on video.  We all had the most marvelous time, even though we're exhausted and very ready for sleep.  Well, two of us are.  James is still wide awake and playing with Patrick's shoe lace.  

Pictures and a Brief Update

Auntie Kristin painted James a beautiful valence when she was visiting.  We'll be putting it up this weekend.

Grandma bought James a new hat, which he loves.  

The Easter Bunny brought James all kinds of good stuff.

As Daddy said, James looked quite dapper on Easter.

Looking somewhat less dapper, James enjoyed his carrots.

Not too much time to write tonight, but I wanted to post some pictures of my beautiful boy.  He's growing so fast and doing new things every day.  Today he was laying on his stomach and pushed himself up so that he was on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth and all primed for crawling.  Growing boy.  So cute!  :)

So Many Firsts

     Well, it has been an exciting few days in the life of James.  On Sunday, at six months and one day, James got his first scrape (photo to come).  Poor kid landed on his nose on the edge of my computer (Can you believe what a bad mother I am?  Someone should really call DFACS.) while he was working on his sitting up and I was working on Facebook.  His nose seems to be healing well, but there's no telling how deep the emotional scars run.  Mine and his.  

     The very next day, at six months and two days, James did his first community service.  He and I went with my mom and my sister Kristin to do Meals on Wheels, which was great fun.  James cheered some of the elderly residents of the elderly residence home where we delivered the meals.  They all thought he was adorable, so obviously they all have very good taste.  I hope they don't have very good taste buds, though, as the food didn't smell that great.  But perhaps it was delicious.  I didn't sample, so I suppose I really ought not judge.  

      After we delivered the meals, we took James to his very first tea party at this tea shop near my mom's house.  He was unimpressed and mostly cranky, though I was quite taken with the orange tea and cinnamon scone.  James cheered right up after I fed him, so I think the crankiness was primarily due to hunger and not a general dislike of tea parties.  His father might disagree though.  

     This week, he and I have been hanging out while Patrick worked for his old land lady (old in the sense that she's no longer his land lady; not old in the sense that she's some sort of geriatric person.  She's really quite spry and lively.).  It was so much fun to be able to spend the day with my little boy.  However, I'm amazed that Patrick is able to do things like laundry and dinner-making.  James is certainly a full-time job.  A fun full-time job, but a full-time job nonetheless.  I was considerably less productive than he generally is.   

     I'm quite distressed that I'll have to return to work in just two days.  It was a great spring break, and now I can't wait for summer.  I love my job, but I love my boy more. 

     We'll have some Easter pictures to post soon as my mom and sister found James the cutest Easter outfit.  I know he'll be the cutest thing ever on Sunday.  

     Right now the house sounds like it's about to collapse down on top of us as the hail that's hitting it must be the size of small Volkswagens.  James seems undisturbed, and is sitting on the floor (with tremendous skill, I might add) playing with his little trucks.  I'm going to go enjoy more time with him. 

Six Big Months

James is officially six months old!  This is a milestone for several reasons, we have discovered.

First, a lot of his toys are labeled "6m+".  He has been playing with them for a couple of months now, but today he can officially play with them without Daddy getting in trouble from DFACS.  So you know what that means: time to buy him some 12m+ toys.  

Second, a lot of baby health problems are less likely after the six-month mark.  SIDS is rare after this age, and his immune system has developed enough to fight off infections more efficiently now.  Respiratory infections and things like that are less life-threatening, too.  We still worry about him, but it's good to know that he's not completely helpless against sickness now.  

      Third, he has started eating actual foods.  Well, not actual foods like pot roast or tacos, but non-milk foods.  We have been giving him a little bit of baby cereal for a couple of weeks now, but it's mostly milk with a little bit of rice powder in it.  Now we get to try fruits and vegetables (in mush form).  Here we see the first experience with green beans: 

He was a bit confused at first, but he seemed to like it after a few tries.  He actually ate most of what was in the bowl (everything that he didn't end up wearing).  We have a couple more days with the green beans (we're supposed to stick with one food for a few days to see if he has an allergic reaction to it), then we can try other fun things like carrots, bananas, and applesauce.

A couple of weeks ago, we got a big bucket of baby clothes from a yard sale.  We're still working our way through the bucket, but it was worth the price for this one outfit alone:

It is an authentic Def Leppard onesie!  Who knew such things existed?  James can't wait to see what other treasures await him in the mystery yard sale bucket.  We're hoping the previous owners were Bon Jovi fans too. 

Auntie Kristin does not get a spring break, but she is taking a day off work to spend a long weekend here in Georgia with James (and the rest of us).  Auntie Erin was here last weekend, so James has had lots of attention lately.  Kristin is currently painting a window decoration for James's room, keeping with the jungle motif that mommy started.  Kristin also brought him a toy from her recent trip to Belgium, a little doggie that is now named Wags.

Apparently Wags is quite tasty:

We go to the doctor for the 6-month checkup and immunizations on Tuesday.  He's probably not going to like that.  Hopefully it won't be too bad, though.  Mommy is on spring break, so she can go with us.  Everything is a little easier when Mommy is there.

James is still not exactly crawling, but he is rolling around like crazy.  He can get into the crawling position pretty well, but he just pushes himself backwards.  He sits up completely on his own now, and he stands up on his own with a little help balancing.  One of Mommy's friends came to visit last week, and she brought her one-year-old daughter.  Seeing her run around everywhere was a good indicator (and warning) of what we can expect with James in the next few months.  I think I should start baby-proofing the house now; hopefully it will be safe by the time he can scamper freely.   

We've almost reached 6 months

James and Auntie Erin (sorry you're sideways)

James and Grandma


James and cousin Jeffrey (sideways again; sorry)

Supermanning with Daddy

Cousin Jeffrey, James, and Cousin David

Sorry there has not been a blog entry in a while. We don't have internet at the new house. Occasionally Mommy's laptop can pick up a wireless signal from somewhere, but it doesn't always work. We're trying to come up with a better plan.

James is sitting up on his own pretty well now. He has also learned how to pull himself up to a sitting-up position, if he is on a slanted surface (like a lap). He can't quite lift himself up from a completely flat surface like the floor, but he has the idea. He has also decided that whatever position we hold him in is the wrong position, and he will squirm constantly until he finds the correct position. He has not found it yet.

In a continuing effort to pay off their student loans, the doctors have decided to do genetic testing on James, to look for the long QT thing again. They'll have to take a couple of ounces of blood and send it off to some lab somewhere. We have a pediatrician visit coming up, so we'll try to get it done then.

James got to visit new relatives last week, and he also got to see auntie Erin. Mommy's uncle Danny and Aunt Lisa brought their sons David and Jeffrey to town, so James got to hang out with them for a couple of days. He especially liked their dog, some kind of poodle hybrid that looks like a muppet. Mommy and Daddy got to play some football with the visiting relatives, and Erin carried James around so he could watch. Then while Daddy was at the Home Depot, the rest of the family toured the Mayfield Dairy, conveniently located just minutes from our house.
Daddy was at the Home Depot instead of the dairy because 1) Daddy doesn't like wearing hairnets, and 2) the house still needs a good bit of work. But progress is being made. We have successfully cleared out a play room for James on the second floor that the cats are not allowed in. So James can roll around on the ground freely without Daddy worrying about him ingesting cat remnant. We also purchased a small lawn mower and received a weedeater from Grandpa, just in time to tame the lawn before the homeowners' association got impatient. The yard is still not great, but at least it looks like someone lives there now. I wonder if Google Earth can do another pass and update our image now that I've cut the grass. It's terrible when your yard looks crappy from space.

James has gotten too big for his bassinet, so he has moved up to the full-sized crib. He has also outgrown some of our favorite outfits, but thankfully we have lots of bigger outfits that we have been eager to try on. We're also trying to find more advanced toys for James - things that help him learn more motor skills. The aforementioned Aunt Lisa sent us a good suggestion for a play set that allows him to sit up while playing with it, which I think he'll enjoy. We might also look for things that he can lean on while trying to walk, because he appears almost ready to walk. Baby toys are a lot of fun, so Mommy and Daddy will enjoy the shopping. For James's benefit, of course.

Picture of James sitting up that I mentioned in the previous post

This is James almost sitting up, almost on his own.  Read the post right before this one for more information.  

Congratulations, you're five months old! Here, have a bum rash.

Yes, I know that's a cat and not a bum rash.  I'm not about to post a picture of my son's bum rash on the world wide web.  The picture merely shows how excited James is about the cats.  They've been here for several days now, but the trauma of moving has kept them huddled up behind the dryer most of the time.  Only recently have they come out freely into the rest of the house.  James saw them a few times when we were all living at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but he was unimpressed then.  But now, wow, they are enthralling.  He watches them intently whenever they come in the room, and tries his best to grab them when they come near.  That, of course, makes them run away.  He has actually made contact a couple of times, but the aforementioned rash appeared shortly after his first feline contact, so we thought maybe that wasn't such a good idea.   But the rash is apparently just a run-of-the-mill baby thing, and not some cat fungus.  Still, Daddy thinks the cats would be better off in the basement away from James's things, but we all know it doesn't matter what Daddy thinks.  

     James has been a bit uncomfortable lately, and the doctor says it is because he will soon have teeth.  Last night he (and therefore all of us) slept very little and cried a good bit.  We went to the doctor this morning, and he said that teething would cause some discomfort, but it was nothing to worry about.  Hopefully he'll be finished with it soon, though.  He rarely cries, so it must be bad for him to make him cry like he did last night. 

   On a happier note, James is able to sit up almost on his own.  He can sit up and play with toys and books for a long time with a little assistance, and can hold himself up on his own for a few seconds.  He has sufficient strength to hold himself up longer, but he forgets he has to balance himself, so he falls over.  A little practice and he should soon be an expert, though.  We have a semi-good picture of him sitting up; I'll try to figure out how to upload it here soon.  

Snow Day!

Great news: Mommy gets to stay home tomorrow!  We had a (relatively) big snowstorm, and Jackson County schools are cancelled tomorrow.   The local weather people said that about 4 inches fell - not a terribly impressive amount for you folks from Minnesota or Colorado or London, but that's pretty big for Georgia.  Enough to bring the public school system to a screeching halt, at least.  But Mommy gets a snow day, so who cares if we fall behind the Japanese.  

   This morning, James went to Church.  We went with him, of course.  There was a nursery for kids his age, but we decided to keep him with us during the service to see how he did.  He was doing pretty well at first, but then he got hungry and wanted to tell everyone about it.  Daddy got up and headed out to the hall to give James his bottle.  It was a bit of a long way.  Mommy's friend had invited us to sit with her in her normal spot, which is at the front of the church.  I'm pretty sure if we had been sitting in the back,  James would not have made a sound the whole time.  But since we were up in the Amen pews, we had to skip out early.  That's okay; it was the "financial responsibility" sermon.  Daddy can recite it from memory.  We'll try again next week from a more James-friendly location (i.e. the back row).

    Tonight, none of us are (is that right?  Or is it "none of us is"?  Chalk it up to the illness) at our personal best, health-wise.  James has been extra fussy since after church, Mommy hurts all over (like the aches that come with the flu), and Daddy seems to have a stomach bug.   If we can get James to sleep, Mommy and Daddy will work on doing the same, and maybe we'll all feel better tomorrow.   

Up to His New Tricks

     About ten minutes after I posted the last blog entry, James wowed us again with his many talents.  He proceeded to kick himself clear out of his pants, which is only slightly different than what he had been doing.  When he wears a onesie and pants, he will sometimes pull the pants down while he's playing with his feet.  In an effort to keep his legs warm, Patrick dressed him in a full-body outfit that snaps all the way up.  James would have none of that, though, and figured out how to move his legs up within the outfit and then kick out so that all the bottom snaps come undone.  Which he proceeded to do.  Repeatedly.

     Also, after weeks of trying, James finally managed to get his toes into his mouth.  He was ecstatic.  Patrick managed to get that on video, so that will be a good one for posterity.  :)

     Then, to top it all off, James slept all night last night.  Well, technically, he did wake up one time to kick around a little and make some noises, but he went back to sleep before I woke up to feed him.  This morning I had to wake him up to give him breakfast before I went to meet our movers.  

     Which reminds me, today we had all our furniture moved in, so we'll finally have somewhere to sit other than the floor.  Not that it's not a great floor, and we're making do with what we have, but I am really looking forward to sitting on a couch again.   Also, much as we appreciate my work friends lending it to us, Patrick is really sick of the air mattress.  I kind of liked it, but I imagine that's because it's been so long since we had our actual bed that I've forgotten how great it is.  

     Well, I probably ought to get James up from his nap now.  It's kind of late for a nap, and I'm afraid that now he'll be up all night.  Alas.  

James is a genius

So, James had quite a day today.  He began by learning how to roll from his back to his stomach.  He'd been rolling quite successfully from his stomach to his back for some time now, but the other way involved an awkward arm placement that kept thwarting him.  However, he overcame that obstacle today by learning about momentum.  He swings his little legs to the side and rolls right over.  He can now roll like a barrel around the living room, which means that we need to buy one of those gates for the stairs.  

On top of that, he also learned how to use the flaps on his book about body parts today.  He has liked turning pages for some time, but he doesn't really get that books go from left to right, so he hasn't been overwhelmingly successful in that particular arena.  The flaps have no such rules, so he does quite well with those.  The book is basically big drawings of babies in various outfits that cover specific body parts.  You then lift up the flap and see that particular body part.  James's favorite body parts were the tongue and the fingers, mostly, I think, because those flaps lift downward, which seems to be easier for him than the ones that lift upward.  Unfortunately, with the enthusiasm he's now showing for the flaps, they will probably not be long for this world.  But that's ok.  I'm still awfully impressed with him.  :)

Moving In

Well, the move-in is going well but taking some time.  On Monday, my mom was off (this is Melinda, by the way.  Patrick is out doing general maintenance on our heating unit and asked me to do an update) and helped Patrick get enough stuff here that we could start living in our new home.  Of course, it's a bit of a camp out now, as most of our stuff will not arrive until Friday.  Naturally, James has everything he needs, and Patrick and I are doing fine with what we have for now.  Patrick has been back and forth to the storage unit several times a day to pick up what he can since we have to pay the movers by the hour on Friday.  I'm off on Thursday and Friday for winter break, so I'll be of more assistance in the house set up bit then.  I can attest to the fact that it was absolutely wonderful to leave my house at 7:15 this morning and arrive at work fifteen minutes later.  

The neighborhood seems great.  We all three did a stroll yesterday and saw all kinds of neighborhood things.  The pool and tennis courts look really nice, and as I have been typing this (possibly five minutes), about a million kids on bikes have ridden by.  I think this will be a wonderful place for James to grow up.  Once we get some stuff set up inside, we'll post some interior pictures for you guys to see.  Right now, I have no camera.  It's somewhere in storage.  :)  

And by the way, Uncle Dan, the "guy" in the red shirt in the last picture was me, thank you very much.  Sheesh.  A girl gains a few pounds while she carries around a whole nother person, and this is the kind of comment she incurs.  

We're no longer homeless!

Today we finally closed on our new house! We've been trying since December, but it was in foreclosure and we had to sit around and wait for some bank in Baltimore to sign off on the sale. The bank had several thousand foreclosures to deal with (thank you sub-prime mortgage lenders), so they took a while to get around to ours. But the closing went fine, and now James has a home. We'll try to start moving in this weekend. The process took a lot out of Melinda, who has had to fight off the sniffles while faxing and emailing several thousand documents this week, so hopefully she can also get some sleep this weekend.
Melinda did a lot to get our house, but Bob Bailey, the world's greatest real estate agent, did even more. We had just about given up on selling our previous house in Duluth, but Bob got it sold. It is terribly difficult to sell a house these days, and it took a lot of work by Bob to find a buyer. Then once we sold it we thought the hard part was over, but we were mistaken. There are so many houses on the market right now that finding the right one is like finding the proverbial needle in the proverbial haystack (Barrow County has many actual haystacks as well as proverbial ones). One was really nice, but the "as-is" status was worrisome. Another one would have been great except that it was in a completely empty neighborhood. Then there was the house that was already inhabited - by roaches. Melinda really wanted that one. Then we found the big winner seen above, only to discover that it was set to be auctioned at the Barrow County courthouse in five days. Bob got it off the auction block just in time, and kept working furiously until we got it. We have no idea how much work it took, but we know it was not easy. So if anyobody needs a real estate agent, you should call Bob:

Bob Bailey
Prudential Georgia Realty
Roswell/East Cobb Office
3775 Roswell Road, Suite 200
Marietta, GA 30062
(770)973-8822
http://www.BBaileyProperties.comrbailey@prudentialgeorgia.com