The January Report

January has been a very fun month. Two weekends ago we made the trek over to Muscatine and Jamesie got to spend time with his Grandma and Grandpa Ruden and his cousin Gillian, as well as his Great-Grandma Fifi. James and Gillian played like crazy, and Jamesie really enjoyed riding Gillian's bike. Can you guess what we had to buy as soon as we got home? I tried to point out that James couldn't even play with all of his toys because he has too many, but Tom wasn't hearing that and a trip to Toys "R" Us yielded James a brand new circus train to drive around the house.

Another purchase made in January was a new lamp for our family room. We had a really nice one until Jamesie shook it so hard it tipped over. Luckily it didn't hurt him when he fell, but the lamp was a goner. It worked for a few more days, but it was never quite the same. Instead of touching it to turn it on and off it had to be plugged in and unplugged. Eventually it just wouldn't turn on at all. Mr. James isn't allowed to shake the new lamp so instead he shakes his highchair, the fireplace, the barstools, Foxy, his leapfrog table, Poncho, and the computer.

Jamesie also had his 9-month check up this month. He now weighs in at a hefty 18 pounds (between the 10th and 25th percentile) and measures a big 28 inches (50th percentile). He had to have his finger pricked which didn't seem to bother him too much, but he wasn't sure about the Spongebob band-aid on his finger. At first he tried really hard to yank it off and then he just stared at it for a long time.

There have been 4 snow days this month, and right now school is scheduled to be out June 16th. I think it's crazy to go to school in the middle of June, but I really really love snow days. I keep checking the news in the morning hoping that there might be a power outage or something that will keep us from going to school. I'm sure I'll be grumbling later, but this extra time at home with my little boy (James) and my widdle girl (Foxy) have been awesome!

Fire Fire!

These are some of my very favorite pictures...especially the one where James and Tom are looking at each other. So sweet!

Crazy James

Monday morning brought the end of winter break and the return to daycare, school, and work. James has been back at daycare for 3 days and each day when I've picked him up his babysitter has gone on and on about how different he is now than before break. I agree that during the 2 weeks of winter break Jamesie seems to have really grown up! Tom uses the word hyper to describe him and I would definitely agree with that. Among Jamesie's favorite things right now are:

• Standing up...it doesn't matter what or where, if he can grab it, James will use it to pull himself up.
  
• The dogs, but they don't love him quite as much now that he's mobile. He makes a mad dash for their food and bones every chance he gets, and it really hurts when he grabs a fistful of their hair to help himself stand up (see above). Fortunately, when they go the opposite direction each time they see him coming he thinks it's a fun chasing game they're playing with him.
• James has a girlfriend at daycare and she kisses him and he likes it!
• Cuddling with his mama-he always comes over for quick hug breaks in between standing up and terrorizing the dogs.
• Playing "bumphead" with Grandpa Dorman.
• Whispering, talking, and shouting...Jamesie has a lot to say and he makes sure we know it!
• The little boy in the mirror. Every time he sees a mirror James lights up because he's so happy to see his friend.
• Drinking water and "eating" Cheerios. Usually Foxy eats the Cheerios because James can't quite get them to his mouth, but he still thinks it's really fun. Jamesie loves to drink out of his sippy cups but he really loves to drink out of grown up cups...if you are getting a drink and he sees you, be prepared to share or face his wrath.
  
• Playing with anything that's not a toy, especially spoons, bowls, and plates.
• Playing with his cousins (even when they don't like to play with him, it's kind of like the dogs).