Tuesday, June 29, 2010

June 29

Farmers Market finds (Andover). Broccoli ($2), red onions ($1), red potatoes ($3), garlic ($1), zucchini ($2).



Monday, June 28, 2010

June 28

James and I colored and made up stories about the pictures. Easy to draw stick figures and simple animals, but then he wanted me to draw Yoda, Luke (specifically rebel fighter Luke that he calls "Lucky Shot"), R2D2, and a specific spaceship. My attempt is on the paper if you can see it.



Friday, June 25, 2010

June 25

James' lunch. I tried to make it fun because the poor kid eats the same things over and over (picky).

Octo-dog, heart tortillas and mont jack slices with pizza sauce, and strawberries/bananas on "sticks".



What's James doing NOW?

Pouting, crabby after getting up from his nap. And he peed in the bed :(







Thursday, June 24, 2010

What's James doing NOW?


He's coloring! He told me he was drawing a bald eagle with long wings. I need to see this!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Facts of Life

You take the good, you take the bad... !

We had a really fun time at Culver's on Monday night. James had a golf lesson so we went out to dinner, mostly because I didn't really plan dinner.

James discovered chocolate malts. He is his father's son!



Jim dared to take his malt back.











Another of James' favorite things- "Dad, let me smell your hair." (We don't know why.)













Oh what fun!
The fun continued at the golf course. James putted a few times before 6:15, the start of his class.




I find it funny that James knows to change his clubs between shots!







At 6:13 we started to head over to the picnic tables where the kids and the teachers were gathering. James clutched my leg and refused to stand with the kids. He then refused to follow them to the course. We told the teachers to go ahead and we'd catch up. James just flat out refused to go. He just wanted to golf.

Jim tried very hard to convince him to join the class (in the background, sitting on the grass.)

It just wasn't going to happen. Jim ended up carrying him out of the golf course and we went home. We didn't give in to "just golf".
The tantrum wasn't too bad, just embarassing. He loves golf so much but he'd rather do his own thing. He's very confusing. He loved his first two classes, was excited to go to the "golf teacher" all weekend and then when it came down to the time, nothing. Oh well.
It wasn't necessarily a BAD moment, just a rare unpleasant James moment.

Iphone update

My iphone has become my everyday camera. I use my "real" digital camera when we go somewhere special, like the zoo, museum, or vacation. I have my 365 project and for that I probably take anywhere from 5-40 pictures a day. It just depends. Actually, some days I've taken just one specific picture for the project but most days there is something that I want to remember or record.

So my iphone software was updated yesterday (woohoooo!) and one of the updates was a zoom for its camera. I think it's weird that it was able to do that, just by plugging it into the computer and getting updated, but whatever. It works. Here is an example of what it used to do (picture #1), and then a gradual zoom until the last frame which is the max zoom.










I think it will come in handy! The picture quality is of course lower in zoom but sometimes it's okay.

Cookies and Milk

This is from last week too. James ALWAYS has to have his milk and cookies before bedtime, with Blankie at his side (or close by). He used to switch between cookies and ice cream, but lately he's been all about the cookies. He also watches "just one show", usually a Star Wars cartoon. He really loves his routine!


Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

I tried to hype up "Dada's Day" with James a few days before the actual day. I remembered Mother's Day and how James wanted it to be "James Day". This time he was willing to let his Daddy have a day :)


James woke up early but I was glad because it gave me a chance to make the special breakfast for Dada Day. We started off with these Star Wars pancakes! They were not going to be a surprise to Jim because I had already revealed that I bought the molds. They were a good surprise for James though, he loved them. They would eat a few bites but then be disappointed that they lost their shape, so he would ask for another one. He ended up trying one of each character.





I had also made these Cream Cheese Cinnamon rolls the night before, they rose in the refrigerator overnight and were ready to bake in the morning. Yum.




We had a fun day planned for our family. We loaded James up in the car and set off for "the Beach". Our development has a brand new beach, splash pad, playground, and picnic area on the biggest man-made lake in the development. The beach does not have a lifeguard but it opens at 11am. We got there early (10:20ish) before the crowds arrived. The splash pad is motion activated and on a timer to start at 11am, so we had a long wait. James was happy to dip his toes in the water.

Checking it out...



"It's too cold. Let's let it 'cool off'."








A view of the beach and others hitting the water bright and early too.



We were prepared for the splash pad and swimming, not for sand play. James didn't warm up to the lake right away and then the splash pad was not open yet, so Jim went home quickly to get our sand toys, a blanket, and other things.


James waited patiently.



Sand play!












Let's check out the water! Maybe it warmed up.



The official Father and Son picture of the day. I love them both!



James got pretty brave and started to have fun in the water.
















Really brave!



He ended up getting so brave that he walked all the way to the rope in the water. It wasn't very deep. He did try sitting down or crouching, not judging how deep the water was and he swallowed some water. He wasn't traumatized or anything, but he was way more careful after that. What wasn't captured was that I sent Jim to sit on the blanket to relax (and hold my iphone so it didn't get wet) and I played with James in the water for about 20 more minutes. He had so much fun that we never did get him to play at the Splash Pad. Oh well!


(We're actually on our way to the Beach today so maybe he'll play at it today!)


We went home for lunch and naptime. Jim was anxious to try his gift from James and me- a bottle of ginger liqueur. He made a special drink for himself at noon and then relaxed with the golf game on TV. He said it was a nice way to spend Father's Day :) We also sat on the deck in the sun, spending time with each other. Nice!



At 3:00 I always get James up from his nap. I don't like letting him sleep beyond that because I don't want to interfere with his bedtime. He was pretty drowsy and crabby, not wanting to get up. He hadn't wet the bed at this point so I wanted him to get up and go to the potty. He refused. So I let him lie there and I went into my room to wait him out. Finally he got up and wanted to pee in my bathroom.





We went out for dinner to keep on celebrating Daddy. We tried a new restaurant in Blaine called Bricks Pub. It was very good! Jim got a nice beer, and James had a great time eating and playing at the table. He has also become very good about using public bathrooms :) A funny moment was when I took James to the bathroom and we had to choose between two hallways- one was towards the kitchen, one was the bathrooms. James told me, "only bounty hunters can go through there." He was referring to his SW game on the Wii- it's full of Lego characters, including bounty hunters who need to unlock certain doors. James is so funny.... and obsessed with SW!


At daycare they play with "table toys". I've come into the classroom and all the kids are sitting quietly at the little tables playing with blocks, little manipulative type toys, etc. So I had an idea of bringing some of James' Legos and calling them "table toys" to keep him busy so we can eat leisurely. Well, it mostly worked except when James dropped them on the floor :)



Happy Dada's Day!