Duck tub

James had his first bath in the "big boy" duck tub. I've been giving him baths in his baby tub, over the kitchen sink, until last night. We put this duck tub in the regular bathtub and it worked well. I can see why you shouldn't EVER leave a baby unattended. He was slipping down often and I had to reposition him each time. I don't think he minded the different tub. He's not to the point of splashing around yet, but he will be soon!

I was a busy girl last night: I made dinner, I premade breakfasts for all of us (egg bakes), I made baby food (butternut squash), and I gave James a bath. It felt good to be productive and get a lot done. Kind of like getting up early in the morning this week has been productive. I feel organized. I guess Motherhood requires that!

James and his Tia Kristina had a good day yesterday. Kristina reported that James was a little fussy at his naptime but it didn't bother her. I think James is always a little fussy when he's overtired, so no big deal. He was reallly pleasant last night so I was glad to see that he's a happy baby :)

James & his Tia Kiki

I left James with his Tia for the first time this morning. I was surprised that Kristina was up and wide awake at 7am! (She's not well known in our family for being a morning person- like myself! Haha!) I feel so good about leaving James with his Tia, I just worry that he'll cry and be fussy. Well, I'll see them at lunch time. I'm sure everything is fine!

A teacher at my school gave me an article that she clipped from the Duluth newspaper last week. Here's a link to another Lisa Tauer giving birth in a car! The teacher said she did a double take when she saw my name but realized it couldn't possibly be me!
http://tinyurl.com/2afacj

Jim said his new job is going well. He has a jam-packed week planned out for him, which he likes. I'm glad its going well :)

All is well!

Lots of news

Jim starts his first day of work today! I'll be home today with James so I'll get to send him off. I hope he likes the job and everyone is nice to him :) How could they not like him?

James rolled over!!! We were doing tummy time and the next thing I knew, he was on his back! He leans over and slowly rolls over. There's a video of him attempting to roll, but not actually rolling. Of course I didn't capture it! He did it a second time, later in the day, and Jim was able to see it too. It was pretty exciting for us- our little baby is becoming a big boy!

Grandpa Roger was in the news! Check out this Pioneer Press article about the Washington County Reserve Deputy Academy: (you'll probably need to cut and paste this link)
http://www.twincities.com/washington/ci_5512192

Tia Kristina comes today! We're picking her up at the airport this afternoon. We prepped the house for Tia and the cats. We hope it will be a happy home for all of them :)

We had a pretty good weekend. Tia Ana and Uncle Rich came over on Saturday night, bringing yummy food to grill. We had a feast :) I could hit myself because I keep forgetting to take pictures when family visits.

This upcoming weekend: Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Larry are coming! Jim and I have a "hot date" and they're coming to help with James. We arranged this before Kristina was coming but I know Grandma is still anxious to come! Also, to see Kristina.

And last, James got a new toy yesterday. His Daddy bought him a Jumperoo so that he can wear himself out :) No, really, it looks fun for him. There's toys surrounding him, with flashing lights and music. So far he likes it pretty well! He hasn't outgrown his swing or his play mat, but sometimes he prefers to be upright and on his toes. This is perfect to get those chubby thighs in shape!

New pictures and videos! And a new Baby Ticker below.

Like Father, Like son

The picture is James with his own Polo shirt, like his Daddy! When I first met Jim, he was always wearing Polo shirts. Grandma Rosie gave James this Polo onesie, its a little too big still, but we like it :) I think Jim should get a matching red Polo shirt and they should take Father/Son pictures!

Today is Jim's last day with James at home! Jim starts his job on Monday. I think its a little sentimental for Jim, realizing that he won't have all day with James anymore. He'll see him plenty at night and on the weekends, but its not the same. I felt the same way when I returned to work. I miss James so much, but I keep myself busy during the day and it goes by fast.

Tia Kristina is coming! Tia Kristina is coming! Tia Kristina is coming! She's arriving on Monday! I'll take Monday off to take care of James and to pick her up from the airport. We're pretty excited that she can help us out. We were so worried about putting James in daycare but also because he would only need to be there for two months and then we'd take him out for the summer (since I'll be home). This way we just wait on the daycare until September. Yay!

James slept through the night last night. He did go to bed a little later than usual (9:30pm) but woke up early. James was awake when I left the house for work, at around 7:20. He's such a good little boy. He gave me the biggest, sweetest smile this morning :)

We love our Baby James! I hope Jim has a lot of fun with him today. I know they're going for a walk since the weather will be nice! I also have a late work day today because I'm meeting my coworkers for a happy hour. Its going to be a busy day before that though!

Happy day!

Tia Kristina...

is coming! We're working on getting Tia Kiki out for a visit and to help with James and his daycare. She sounds very excited to spend mucho time with James. We'll be glad to see her!

James is working on apples right now. He's not liking them. He actually pushes the apples out of this mouth and makes the cutest, disgusted faces. One more try and then we'll go back to oatmeal for a little while. Next: butternut squash!

I was a little worried if James was having a reaction to the apples because he had some red spots on his face, but he tends to get these every couple of days. So its not caused by the apples. Actually, at his 4 month appointment the doctor noticed the spots/rash and said it was probably from sweat! We think it could be from drool or formula spills.

We went to the mall last night to shop for work clothes for Jim. James was very cute in his stroller, but was noticeably grumpy. A teenager was standing behind me in a line and said, "He's cute but he looks grumpy." Haha.

I don't have any new pictures right now. I'm sure there are some on the camera but I haven't uploaded them yet. I will soon!

Have a great day!

A Day in the Life

We went to Joe and Kathy's house for dinner on Sunday night. It was James' first visit to his uncle and aunt's house and it went well! He sat at the table with us and was pretty good :)

Here is a look at what Baby James does during a normal day:
8am- Wake up, Sunshine!
9am- Bottle
Playtime
10:30am-11:30am Nap
12pm- Bottle
Playtime
2pm-3pm Nap
3:30pm- Bottle
4pm- Mommy comes home!
4pm-5pm Playtime with Mommy
5/6pm- Dinner at the table
7pm- Bottle
7:15pm- Nap
Playtime
8:30/9:00 Bedtime!

The times vary day to day. Sometimes his naps are earlier, sometimes the bottles are spaced further or closer apart. You never know what the day will bring!

Family news

ork out the details.

James and I went to my friend Tatiana's house for brunch on Saturday morning. He was so well behaved. I was really afraid that he would cry again and not let anyone hold him. For the first 10 minutes or so I let him look around at the house and the new people. After that, he was playful and friendly. Yay! (There's a picture of the "girls" in the Baby Album, "March" but not with James. He was taking a nap.)

A little James news- he's losing his hair!! Over the last few weeks he's been shedding a lot of hair! I don't think he'll be a bald baby, but his hair is not as thick and long as it was before. Right now he has the beginnings of a mohawk :)

We are on our third day of oatmeal. There are some pictures of James' oatmeal face in the Baby Album "March". He tolerates the food, makes a few faces, but he does eat it. After today we're moving to either apples or sweet potatoes. I'm thinking sweet potatoes because it won't be as sweet as apples. We've only been giving him food at his late afternoon feeding, and only a tablespoon at a time. Its a good start!

The picture above is James and his beloved blanket (from Tia Ana). He loves it! Lately he's been trying to eat it, but I'm quick to give him his teething beads or another object to chew :) Oh! There's also a new video called Peek-a-boo. This is the new game I play with James and his blanket. He giggles! He became self-conscious when I started to videotape the game, because usually he laughs a lot more. Its still very cute!

Thursday

I finally did take some pictures last night and put them on this babysite. Its so hard to sort through the pictures that I take and then delete the repeats. I feel badly deleting ANY picture of James but I think I have plenty :) Just last night I took 30 pictures! Okay, most of them were the same pose or turned out blurry but he's always cute!

James woke up at 5am this morning for a bottle. He did not sleep through the night. I asked Jim if he could get up, and he did, but then he ended up staying up for the day. When I left for work at 7am, Jim was downstairs playing pool! Daddy Jim has lots going on today, some job follow-ups.

James hasn't been too enthusiastic about his new foods. He hasn't necessarily rejected the carrots but he doesn't enjoy it. I think Jim is going to try to give him baby oatmeal today, and then after that we will try apples or some other vegetable this weekend. Maybe sweet potatoes?

Warm weather

a bit, crying out and talking in his sleep. The baby monitor is right by our heads so we wake up with his night noises. At 3am I did think he was really getting up so I got up to prepare his bottle. By the time I got to his nursery, he was asleep again.

The lastest James development is his fear/anxiety with strangers. I would think this is normal at his age, but it seems to have developed suddenly. When I've taken him to visit my work, he cried with anyone who tried to hold him (besides me). Again, when Grandpa Roger was over, he wouldn't let anyone else hold him. I've been showing him Grandma Rosie's picture, so hopefully he'll recognize her when we see her at the end of this month! She would be devastated if he didn't let her hold him!!!

I'm sorry there are no new pictures. I may have pictures on my camera but I haven't had a chance to transfer them to the computer. Maybe I'll take some tonight?

Happy day!

Happiness

Happiness is a smiley baby in the morning. James smiled at me this morning and was happy to see me. Its a great way to start any day!

I forgot to write yesterday that James did sleep through the night on Sunday night. AND last night too! I don't want to credit the solid foods (rice cereal and carrots) but we'll have to see if this keeps up. I'm going to give him carrots again today but we'll switch back to rice cereal for one day, and then start with apples! I think he'll really like the apples- they're a smoother texture and sweet :)

We finally live in a grown-up house. I mean, our house still has baby items in plain view, but we've organized ourselves with dark brown wicker baskets for storage. Our diaper changing station is in a basket underneath the side table table in the living room; rattles, toys, and burp cloths are in another basket on top of the same table; and then our cameras and other electronics are in a basket underneath the TV. The ottoman (coffee table) is clear of clutter- but appropriately enough we have baby board books for our coffee table reading :)

Oh! I also forgot to mention that Uncle Joe came to visit on Friday night, and Grandpa Roger and friend came over to visit on Sunday night. Everyone was amazed with how much James has grown!

Thanks for reading this! Sorry there are no new pictures but the old ones are fun to look at too.

Carrots!

Baby James has advanced to carrots! He didn't do as well with them as the rice cereal, but he may have been too frantic for his bottle. I tried to give him his bottle first and then go back to carrots, but I think the moment passed. I will try again today and if it doesn't go well, we will go back to the rice cereal for a couple of days. OR I can mix some formula in the carrots to soften/familiarize the taste.

The picture above is from the carrots adventure. I have to give a big thank you to Grandma Laura for the full body bibs! They are brilliant. I've been stripping James down to his onesie (just in case) and putting the full bib on him. Now *I* need a bib because I get James' food on me!

James and I ran some more errands yesterday, just to get out of the house but also to get his carrots and apples. I made his homemade baby food and I think it turned out well! I put the pureed carrots and apples (separately) in ice cube trays so that when we need a serving I just have to pop out a cube and defrost it. Very handy :) I hope I can continue this ambitious effort of making James' food. I think it will be a great, healthy way to get his vegies and fruits.

Please see the Baby Album "March" for the newest pictures, including some very cute pictures of James in his new baby hat.

Also, wish Jim good luck today- he has a 2nd interview this afternoon!

Saturday errands

We were off and running by 7:30am. We went out to breakfast at our favorite spot, Carol's. "Everything" omelets, thick wheat toast and homemade jam, and coffee...mmmmm.

After that we went to Michael's, Old Navy, the library, Linens n Things, Panera for lunch, etc. It was a fun, busy day with Jim and James. Jim gave James an "A+" for behavior- meaning he didn't fuss, he napped, he ate okay, and he was just so darn cute in his stroller.

We returned home from our errands with a very fussy James. He FINALLY fell asleep in his swing. I think he was just exhausted from crying.

We retired the bassinet to our storage closet. James has been too big for it for a while now. The bassinet served us well- James had many, many naps in it, he loved the vibration and sounds, and in the beginning we used it in our bedroom as he slept beside us. Okay, that didn't last long because James grunts and farts a lot in sleep, but its now a fond memory :) (I don't know if Jim would agree with that statement. It was definitely a hard week!) (Thanks Grandma Rosie for the bassinet! We didn't think of getting one but luckily grandmas know best :)

Well, I'm off to relax after a long day. Jim and I were glad to get out of the house- it was a beautiful, sunny day! I think the entire city of Blaine was out doing the same- parking lots, restaurants, and stores were crowded.

Four month doctor appointment

James is in perfect health! Dr. Kuku commented that he is a "big boy". He weighs 16 pounds, 5 ozs and is 25 1/4 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for both measurements. His head circumference is 42 1/2 cms- 50th%. James did get his 4 month shots, two shots in each thigh! In one of the pictures in Baby Album "March" you can see the band-aids on his legs. Poor James! He screamed for about a minute but fell asleep in the car. He's been fine since then, maybe a little fussy, but he was like that before the doctor's office. Just one of those "off" days.

We also got the okay to start solids, starting with rice cereal. Of course I picked some up on the way home so that we could try it out ASAP. You can see one of the pictures on the main page. The cereal was a bit runny for the first time, probably to get him used to the taste. We plan on making it thicker for the next time. I have to look up how often we should be doing cereal. I don't believe its at every feeding. But it was a messy experience and now I've learned that I should strip James before feeding him. There was cereal on his shirt sleeves, his front, his pants, everywhere! A bib and a diaper next time :)

Before the doctor's appointment, we stopped at my school to say hi to the staff. The ladies there have asked to see James so it was a good day to bring him. But James was NOT in the best of moods. He was in one of his rare crying, fussy moods and didn't want to be held by others. Finally he did let Beth & Julie hold him. They have the magic touch!

Please see the Baby Album "March" for new pictures of James and his cereal, etc. Also, there is a new video in My Baby Video Clips. You can see the cereal experience!

Four Months Old!

James is four months old today! He is a strong, healthy little boy. We have our doctor's appointment on Thursday so I'll update the blog then with weight, height, and general health news.

What's going on in James' world? Well, he likes to sit upright constantly. He's become a bit fussier when we attempt to put him down for naps or just to set him down out of our arms. Right now he's content and munching on one of his teething toys. I actually just spoke too soon because he just started to cry- wanting attention! He definitely loves to be the center of attention; he's such a happy boy when his Daddy and I are fussing over him :)

James still is working on 6 ozs for each bottle, approximately every 3-3.5 hours. He's sleeping pretty well- from 9pm to 4 or 5 am, when he has a bottle, and then he'll sleep for another 3 hours. Its not a bad schedule but we get so happy when we wake up realizing he's slept through the night and we didn't have to wake up for the early morning feeding. I still can't figure out why he sleeps through the night on certain days and not others. Babies are a mystery :)

Jim's been on several interviews and we are waiting to hear from them. We are waiting to figure out the daycare situation until then.

Please see the new pictures in Baby Albums "4 Months Old!" and "March". Also, there is a new video and web links in "My Favorite Links".

Please sign our guestbook- we'd love to hear from you!

Our GOOD baby

James was very well behaved last night for his Tia Ana. Ana spent the day (and night) with James and I, while Jim and Crazy Uncle Rich went out to play poker. I know that Tia Ana had fun holding Baby James, playing and reading books, and so on. We had a feast of King crab legs, mashed red potatoes (with cream cheese and chives), and sauteed asparagus. Mmmmm.

Today's plans: Not much! I'm sure Jim will go grocery shopping. James will play and nap. I will relax and do some work from home. Yes, work. I am behind on some "paperwork" and I really want to start the work week off right- especially since I'll miss a morning because I'm staying home with James (Jim has an interview).

I see the weather forecast says that later in the week it will be near 40 degrees. I can't wait for warmer weather to take James outside for walks! Even if its warmer, we still have lots of snow to melt before sidewalks would be clear enough for the stroller.

There are some new pictures in Baby Album "March". Enjoy!

Tia Ana is coming over!

...and Crazy Uncle Rich!

Jim had to shovel more snow this morning because the snow plow pushed a whole bunch more on to our driveway. The piles of snow are as tall (or almost) as Jim! It looked like heavy, exhausting work. Poor Jim!

James is in a great mood today. He's taking a nap before we expect Ana and Rich to visit. Ana will hang out all day with us (yay!) and the boys (Jim & Rich) will leave to go play poker or something fun like that. I can't wait to show off James and all his skillz.

Happy Saturday!

New pictures in Baby Album "March"- including a snow picture. I think the grand total from the last storm was 18 inches!

Snow day!

They announced last night that my school district would be closed today due to the snow storm. Yay! We slept in until 9am, even James! He didn't sleep through the night, but almost, waking up at 5am for a bottle.

I've spent my morning cleaning. Jim made a big breakfast of eggs, waffles, and bacon. Yum. He just put James down for a nap because he's been pretty fussy. Cheer up James! Both of your parents are home today :)

When James wakes up he's going to have a bath and then the afternoon is open. I'll probably concentrate on giving him some tummy time and playing with him.

Let it snow

We're expecting another big snow storm, but school is as normal. MAYBE there will be a snow day tomorrow.

James slept through the night again! He drank plenty of formula yesterday, more than usual, so maybe he didn't need to get up in the middle of the night for more.

I don't know when this started happening (last week?) but James is now able to grab at things and direct them into his mouth. His favorite thing to chew on lately is his own bib. We've been keeping a bib on him during the day to catch his excessive drool :) and he chooses to chew on the bib. I had to change the bib twice last night because it would get soaked with drool! I think we'll have to buy him some more "chew toys" to keep him busy.

Well, with the snow Jim postponed one of his interviews and he probably won't go to his pool league tonight.