Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Chef James?

Will James one day be a chef like this 5 year old boy? This kid has his own TV show! Here's a video:



I'm just hoping that James will one day help with dishes... it will be a sweet bonus if he can help cook dinner! :)

Here's a link to the story about Julian.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Genius!

James knows his shapes! He knows how to work his laptop and its games. Watch the video below as James follows the instructions. He is able to pick out the shape keys and answer the questions. Genius!



We had a good day today. In the morning James and I ran some errands. He hasn't been doing very well in stores lately so I was prepared with the monkey. The monkey is his stuffed animal backpack/toddler leash. Some people don't look too kindly on the leash but its necessary. James doesn't like the shopping cart and sometimes he doesn't want to be carried so we need to let him run free. With the monkey he can only run so far :) So in the stores I was actually able to browse and then pay for items, keeping him close by. He really doesn't mind the monkey because it does give him some freedom.

James had a lot of fun in the dollar aisle at Target. We picked out a mailbox (!), a coloring book, and some notebooks! The mini notebooks are Hello Kitty but in a non-girly bright red and bright green. He is fascinated with notebooks because of Blue's Clues where the guy uses a notebook to write down the clues. James can now follow along with his own notebooks, though he's been using other things as his notebook- like my recipe binder. He's destroyed it with crayon markings, but oh well.



We are trying to watch less TV here. Its hard because James will beg for Blue's Clues. It takes a lot of work to distract him and entertain him, but hopefully the TV fascination will fade away.

What's your Eco-Footprint?


Learn more about your impact on James' Earth and take this quiz.

I scored a 26- I am an Eco-Apprentice!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Christmas 2008

I took a little holiday from blogging. I think I was very busy with my family but I've also been disappointed with the pictures that I ended up with after the holidays. I think next year I need to make a big point to POSE with my families, maybe in front of the Christmas tree? Something. Well, our great holiday isn't reflected totally in the pictures but I'm glad for the memories.

Before the holidays, Bucka bowled with James. He howled with laughter. Joyful!





James loves playing with his play doh. Here he's playing with stir sticks too. No drinks for him!



Christmas Eve at Grandma Laura's. James warmed up on the piano.





Grandpa Roger. You can see James in the background coloring. Grandma Laura is smart cookie- she had a kid sized table all ready with crayons and paper!



James really got into RIPPING through the presents!



Uncle Joe got Jim, I mean James, a storm trooper helmet.



Uncle Joe helped to set up James' Thomas train set.



Christmas Day. Look at all the presents!!



I received a beautiful knit hat from Ana. I just like to wear it around the house, for real!



Wow! Jim also received a hat :)



Here is James ripping through some more presents! He is wearing his Christmas jammies. We all did.



Today we tried watercolor painting. James LOVES it! I tried to be patient as he learned how to dip the brush in the water and then the paint. He mostly likes to smear the water around on the paper. He wears a art smock and doesn't mind.







Here are today's works of art:

title: The many colors of me


title: Missing-Tia-Kiki Blues


title: Paint this!


title: I wish the sky was blue today

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Surprise!

I could watch this video over and over. Its not very often that you can make someone so happy. Thank you Kristina and Gilbert for surprising Mom and giving her so much joy :)



So my Mom had no idea that they were driving out here for a visit. We kept the secret for months/weeks as Kristina planned out everything and made it happen. *I* actually kept a secret!! It was worth it to see the look on my Mom's face :) And I love that James gets to see his Tia Kiki and Tio Berto for Christmas!!


This is my family and I like it:



Mom and Gilbert catch up.




ChaCha looked pretty darn cute in her knit hat.



James busied himself with post it notes. "Files" as someone called them.



Yay for familia!

Here is a video I forgot to include in the daycare party post the other day. Santa was at Sandra's!!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Daycare holiday party

We had a great time at Sandra's party for all of the daycare kids and their families. We got there at 5:30 and then Santa arrived at 6! James did recognize Santa and said "Ho Ho" when he saw him. James quickly sat in his Dada's lap for safety.





He didn't want to get too close to Santa but he did approach him for the gift. James received play doh and a candy cane from Santa. James loved the candy cane. I don't even think he knows that its candy, but he likes to say the word.

We headed downstairs to open presents. Sandra is the best. She had a present for each child and then a few little ones for the parents to open. One was a handprint ornament, but the hand is shaped like a Santa hat. You just have to see it :) James received GatorGolf which is perfect for our sporty little boy.









This was in the parent gift. Sandra took the kids to Santa and had their picture taken. Cute! I took a picture of the picture. I hope to scan it sometime soon.



Sandra gave each parent a CD of pictures from throughout the year. It was pretty cool to see James grow up in those pictures, and to see what he does during the day. Sandra was able to capture some incredible group pictures (how on earth does she sit 6+ kids still?!) and then some great Halloween pictures. We are still amazed that she got the Batman mask on James for these pictures. WOW! Watch the slideshow below to see the pictures.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Its almost Christmas!

Here's a public apology to Isabelle for the other day. I taped this message on the same day but forgot to post it.


I also take pictures at work. My computer has a built in camera and usually I use the camera to take new students' pictures, but some of my favorite students wanted to pose with me.



I LOVE this little girl. Her name is Pearl.



James can't get enough of crayons STILL. Artsy and athletic? Baby James has skills.





James has enjoyed pushing his big dumptruck around the living room. I caught this picture as he tried to sit inside of it and nearly fell. He caught himself just in time.







Shy on a Saturday morning.



His future is so bright, he has to wear shades.



I love his sock monkey pajamas :)



Here's an interesting video.