Bruiser

Last Tuesday, in the middle of my 2nd reading group, I heard my cell phone ringing in my purse. A few minutes later my classroom phone rang, and I thought, "Oh, shoot." There's only one reason for my cell phone and classroom phone to ring within minutes of each other, and I knew it was not a good one. Of course, it was Jamesie's babysitter, and of course, she didn't have good news to deliver. Instead, she had a very puzzling message for me. She asked if James had fallen down at home this morning or done anything else to hurt his legs. I told her I couldn't think of anything, and she responded by telling me his knees were turning a very ugly purplish color. She said the bruises were getting steadily worse and were much darker than they had been this morning. Immediately, all kinds of horrible thoughts started going through my head. I was picturing my little buddy in terrible pain and racking my brain trying to remember something that may have happened to cause his knees to bruise. When I couldn't think of anything I started imagining all of these ridiculous scenarios: is there something wrong with him to make him bruise easily? is he being abused at daycare and this call is a cover up? I told his babysitter I would call back if I thought of anything, and to call me back if they got worse. 15 minutes later the phone rang again (in this 15 minutes the kids in my class had assured me that the babysitter thinks I'm beating James and she's going to call "the people" on me), when I answered it was the babysitter again, and she opened the conversation with, "I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot." She went on to explain that his legs were indeed turning purple, but it was because the jeans he had on were rubbing on his legs, and the color from the denim was staining them. We both breathed a huge sigh of relief, and I assured her that I would much rather have her call than not call. Better safe than sorry. As for me, maybe I'll start listening when tags recommend washing before wearing :).

This outfit is the culprit. Doesn't he look cute though?

These pictures really don't do it justice. He was PURPLE!

Video a la Tom

Here's a flashback movie from Jamesie's first 9 months...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEgIczKpbHw&feature=channel

(Just click on the writing above to watch it.)

Hard Headed

We were eating dinner last weekend when Dennis said, "I swear James just crawled over to the heater vent, looked at it, and then banged his head against it." He sounded very concerned, but Tom and I just looked at each other and said "Yeah, that sounds about right." Our little guy loves to bang his head on things. He headbutts the heater vents, the floor, the dogs, furniture...just about everything. So, if you're ever holding James and he gets a really intense look on his face, watch out!

Here are some pictures of little stinker boy. The first and last really show off that serious look you should beware of:



P.S. Just as I was typing this I heard a loud noise and turned around to see James headbutting the fireplace.

Mama's Little Helper

How did I ever get anything done without my little assistant?

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).