We're becoming hospital food connoisseurs

James was a little sick this past week - coughing, a lot of phlegm, trouble breathing - so we took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday. It wasn't really anything too serious, but unfortunately all of the medicines that would help are on the list of medicines that he cannot take because of the heart medicine. So the pediatrician said to check James into the hospital and let them give him medicine under observation. There were no adverse reactions, and the doctor said James probably just had a virus that wouldn't last long. James was far more irritated by the monitors and the IV and the nurses waking him up every 2 hours than he was by the actual illness. So we went home the next day. James is still coughing a little, and he has to breathe in some medicine from a nebulizer every 6 or so hours, but he seems to be getting over it. In case any of you were wondering, the food at Athens Regional hospital is absolutely terrible. Getting James to sit down and eat is tough enough; getting him to sit down and eat crap is impossible. Daddy nibbled on what might have been a chicken finger, or perhaps jerky, but only because it was the only thing available. Vastly superior is the food at Emory Eastside, where James was born. The Scottish Rite is even better, so if you have a choice, aim your sick kids there and enjoy the make-your-own-sandwich bar. Hopefully we won't get to learn about the food at any more hospitals, though; eating at home is a lot more comfortable. And cheaper.

March for Babies

Today is the day we are hoping to walk in the March of Dimes 5K March for Babies, as part of Magdalena Roberts's team (http://noahandjulieroberts.blogspot.com/). We are hoping to, but the weather outside, as they say, is frightful. Lots of rain and lightning. But we've got the stroller all ready, and we're wearing our matching shirts, so we really ought to walk somewhere. Maybe we'll go to the mall and walk 5 kilometers in there. Lots of people do that anyway, we have found.

(Update Sunday, 4/25)

Okay, we did actually get to walk yesterday. The rain was fairly light for most of the walk, though it poured a couple of times. The weather was not nearly as bad as it was for Noah and Julie in Mississippi, where they canceled the whole walk. Tornados and such. Here, we just had some rain. James was comfortable in his covered stroller, and even went to sleep during the walk. He also got to play for a while in a school bus (he loves school buses) that had been converted to a mobile playground (he loves playgrounds as well) - it had gym mats, a slide, a little trampoline, and other fun things that kept James entertained and out of the rain for a while. We'll try to get the pictures from Grandma soon. And many thanks to all of you who sponsored us in the walk.

Break it down!

James is dancing to "Yo Gabba Gabba," this weird, low-budget, 1970s-looking kids' show on nickelodeon. I can't properly describe it; go to yogabbagabba.com to see the madness for yourself. The part James is dancing to here is at the end of each episode where the freakishly skinny man in the furry hat and the orange unitard (I am not making this up) says, "Can we dance? Are you ready? Well let's do it! Break it down!" Then he does this thing with his hands that James is doing in the third picture here. Other classic songs from the show include, "Don't Bite Your Friends" and "I Like Bugs" Why does daddy endure this, you ask? Because while James is dancing to Yo Gabba Gabba, he is willing to eat whatever Daddy shoves in his mouth. This particular day, he had a plate full of tortellini for lunch. We have never gotten him to eat as much as he should without a big struggle, but it seems that DJ Lance Rock can succeed where we have failed.

Along with the weird dancing, James has been working on his singing too. Mommy sings "Who put the overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder?" when giving James a bath, and he's starting to sing along. His part goes, "No! Abba na na na na na na cha-doe!" Amazingly, that is the actual harmony part as heard in the original 1901 recording:

http://www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.com/1901-edward-m-favor-and-mrs-murphys-chowder

Perhaps he'll also like "Whiskey in the Jar" and "Danny Boy."

James also enjoys songs that have a lot of clapping, such as Marc Broussard's "Home,"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWPseegaKw,

"Trip Through Your Wires" by U2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePUvdJC5xs4

and "Get Ready for the Bettys" from Phineas and Ferb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHaLWp0cac0.

If any of our loyal readers have suggestions for other good clappy songs, please feel free to send them in.

Below is a picture of James with a pretzel stick, his favorite snack. He calls them "fish," because that's what he learned to call Goldfish crackers when we first gave them to him, so now all snacks are "fish." That's fine for now, but it might confuse the lunch lady down the road. It also kind of looks like he has a stogie in his mouth, which is something we wish to discourage as soon as possible. But until he starts saying "I love it when a plan comes together", we'll be okay.

That's an "A-Team" reference, folks.

Happy Easter

James is saying Happy Easter. He looks like he's making you an offer you can't refuse, but that's just the sun in his eyes. We went to a sunrise service that was outside the church, which James seemed to like. Afterward, we went inside where James and his friend Jenna ran around and played tag for an hour or two, and everybody else enjoyed breakfast. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where James got to put on comfy clothes. That's a clip-on, by the way. A fun easter for all of us.

James continues to add to his vocabulary every day. This morning, he looked at a picture of the Lundberg family at Christmas, pointed to Grandpa, and said, "Empah." Close enough, we think. He also says "opah" every time he tries to open anything, which is often: he tries to open doors, drawers, books, bags of pretzels, cups of yogurt, and anything else that looks like it might be openable. And he has learned to count to three on some occasions. He helps Mommy make her coffee in the morning, and together they count out the scoops as Mommy puts the coffee into the filter. We count as we go up and down the stairs as well, although James doesn't make it all the way to eight yet. Throughout the day we try to find other things to count as well.

James is pretty good at throwing a ball now, as we see here. We're going to keep working on the left-handed curveball, however.