Where did March go?

I'm behind on blogging again. So rather than do many little posts I'm going to just put all of my favorite pictures from the middle of March to the end below. I'll try and comment on each picture so there's some background, but they are just general cuteness.

James "helped" me make a dessert of pudding, crumbled chocolate chip cookies, and assorted toppings (whipped cream, sprinkles).

He was very serious about his sprinkles.

His Daddy enjoyed a pudding too!


I know James is my child when he shows such enthusiasm for good food. Red grapes are the best!

We're back to enjoying bath time. What a relief!


Waiting for his two stories at bedtime.


Just playin'.

"My Mommy is the best cook!" I made James a mini homemade pizza. He took a few bites, but wasn't too impressed.

We love that James is starting to do chores and understand that he has to help around the house. Here Jim is showing James how to fold towels. He loved it!

"I did it all by myself!"

James left a Batman at Grandma Rose's house so one day we received a package with this note. I love that these are the same squiggly faces that I grew up with. My Mom is famous for her little squiggly faces! "You make my heart happy!" is a James saying. Grandma Rose loved hearing that from her little man!

Playing around the house.

One day James started to pick the flowers from my hibiscus tree. In this picture he was very proud to present me with a flower. I loved it too!

Relaxing.

Before bathtime.

I don't remember why but James is crying for his Daddy in this picture. Jim was out of town, and James was asking for him.

Jersey and hat day at daycare. It occurred to me later that it was probably Twins gear but we weren't the only rebels that day. Lots of kids were in Vikings and Wild gear, not just the Twins (that fit the baseball theme of Open House Night.)

Bounce houses are fun!

James is playing "dead" with Ethan and Russell. I dislike that word coming out of his mouth!

Cute!

James told us he was going to "work" in Daddy's office. We found that he folded all of the washcloths. Yay! Huge praise that day :)

One winter day, James and I went to the playground in our snowpants.

I hate snowpants but it was worth it to see this smile!

And this one.

And his pride in climbing to the top of the climbing wall.

And then we met the other James. Another family was at the playground and we found out that the other James was also four years old!

In the car, going back home, James told me, "Mommy, that boy was James too. He was four years old too. And he's a heartbreaker." Haha. I think James has heard others calling HIM a heartbreaker so many times (because of his beautiful eyes), that maybe he just thinks all James' should be heartbreakers!

Funny- on the potty with goggles!

I took a picture of the day's journal entry. Each day the kids practice their letter or number of the day, and their names.

Meow! Cute artwork that I've promised to Tia Kiki.

There is no such thing as taking too many pictures of my adorable son! I hope this blog entry wasn't too overwhelming.

Picnic

April 15
Jim was out of town and so I wanted to occupy James with something fun. James kept telling me that he didn't want to go outside but I packed up a picnic dinner and some toys in the wagon. I planned on walking to the beach/playground but we ran into Ali outside. James was excited to play so I set up the blanket on the front lawn and gave in. I was just happy to get outside!

Bouncing Balls

James can make a lightsaber out of anything. He has been using his electronic drumsticks as lightsabers. The bonus is that they make cool noises when we "fight".


Jim registered James for a class at the Science Museum before he knew he would be gone on his business trip. I gladly stepped in and took James to the class. I was so curious how he would do at the class. It was a class for 3-4 year olds but I just didn't know if James would participate or be interested.

I was pleasantly surprised to find James very attentive and well behaved! He sat quietly while the teacher reviewed the properties of balls.

He even raised his hand to answer "What makes a ball a ball?" (The teacher first explained that the kids should raise their hands. James was whispering answers to me and so I told him, Raise your hand!) The teacher called on him and he very sweetly said, "Balls are round!!" I was such a proud Mommy! :) :) :)

The class had several stations set up for the kids to explore the different sizes of balls, what the insides look like, etc.

James is measuring the circumference of the ball here, using pieces of string to measure it.

Dropping the balls in a pan of flour was great fun!

Jim made it home soon after our afternoon class. We met him for lunch at Key's cafe in Spring Lake Park and then went home to open the "surprise" from San Diego.

Wow! A treasure chest! It is a sort of snow globe but with fish, shells, and bubbles. He loves it :) Thanks Daddy!

Lotsa snow

Jim is snowed in! He tried leaving Pennsylvania yesterday but his flight was canceled. He had a whole big ordeal trying to find a hotel and a ride to the hotel. Pretty much the whole area was shut down, not knowing what to do with so much snow! Poor Jim. Stuck out of town for an extra day. I hope he makes it on the flight tonight. He has boarding passes, so it looks good.

James and I are surviving well enough but we miss Jim terribly. I haven't been sleeping well because I imagine strange noises throughout the house, like its getting broken into or something. I was awake at 2am, 4am, 5am, and then finally giving up at 5:30. James asks for his Dada and I'll tell him he's on a trip, and James will say, "Oh okay. He on a plane." He'll be very happy to see his Dada though!

I don't think our snow compares to the East Coast's load, but I've needed to shovel our driveway twice now because the snow plow has piled it up at the end of the driveway. It's not easy to shovel when you have an active 3 year old in the house. I left him for a few minutes at a time to shovel, peeking in at him as he was content watching his show. He was fine, of course!



I haven't had too much trouble with James. He really only whined/misbehaved one night when I was on the phone with my friend Erin. Erin laughed because she could him in the background saying something like, "I don't like that Mama!" I think it was because I denied him cookies for dinner. Silliness.

Some really great things that James has said or done-

He recited the entire alphabet in Spanish to Jim over the phone last night! I was truly amazed. He's done this a couple of times, but not on command and not with whatever little song at the end. I didn't catch the words but I'm anxious to see if I can get them from the Spanish teacher.

Yesterday morning James was looking out the car window, on the way to daycare, and he told me, "Mama! I build a spaceship and go to the moon!" I love that he dreams big :)

This morning James told me, "Mama! Look at the beautiful colors way up high!" He was showing me a beautiful sunrise. I'm so glad to see these things, probably something that I would have missed because I'm so one-track in the morning, getting James to his daycare safely and then myself to work on time. Its a wonderful thing to see the world through his eyes.

Last night James peed again on the potty! "Just like Arthur", he told me. I love that Arthur! James' sticker chart is filling up! The Elmo sticker at the very top was last night's addition.



Speaking of Arthur, one day I picked up James from daycare and I was talking to the teacher. I saw that a little girl named Daria was following James around on the playground equipment and I asked her, who are James' friends? She said that during the day you just don't see Daria, James, and Arthur without each other. It's either two of them together, or all three doing their thing. This morning James was chatting about his friends in the car and I asked him about his "best friends" and he told me that they are Arthur, Daria, and Russell. So cute.

And last, speaking of friends, James has a bunch of Valentines all ready to be delivered to his friends at daycare. I spent a little time last night addressing them to all the kids in his class and attaching Star Wars pencils and Hershey's kisses! I kind of dread the amount of candy that I think will be coming home with James on Friday!

Vegas

I took these few pictures before we headed to Vegas for our anniversary trip.


James being dramatic on the driveway. He just laid there, not hurt or anything, but just to see what I'd say?


James has been great about helping me to water my flowers.


Grandma arrived on Saturday to play with James and then to take him for the week. Look at the mess!


We owe a huge THANKS to Grandma and Grandpa. I can't think of anyone better to take care of my little boy. Who else has so much love, enthusiasm and energy than this Grandma?! I knew we'd come back and James would be well fed, happy, and spoiled rotten!! I know that he already misses his Grandma because he told me so and he keeps calling me Grandma by mistake! I take it as the greatest compliment though :)

I put our Vegas pictures in a slideshow. I wish I could have taken more pictures!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We brought James a small gift from Vegas. He has been asking for a guitar and when we saw this one at FAO Schwarz, we knew we had to buy it! I forgot to upload the short video I took of James receiving the guitar, which is too bad because he was pretty damn funny! He did like the guitar and got right to playing :)