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.