Dinner with Grandma Laura

Tonight Grandma Laura joined us for dinner and playtime. James was a major show-off- he played golf, basketball, read books, talked a lot, and was just pretty darn cute. I know that Grandma Laura enjoyed the time with James, she commented a few times that he's all of a sudden so grown up. He is! He is growing fast. Everyone always says that its a blur and it kind of seems true. He will be TWO this fall. Where does the time go?

A funny moment tonight was when James obviously wanted the TV on and we all heard him say clearly "Turn on." He brought the TV remote to Grandma Laura, sat on her lap, and waited. I guess he knows that Grandmas are "supposed to" spoil their grandchildren and he thought she'd turn the TV on for him! (And NO she didn't turn the TV on, we were too busy playing and enjoying his cuteness!)

I'll be sad to lose a week with James. I am leaving Sunday for a work conference in Chicago. Jim will be SuperDada, getting James ready for daycare each morning and being there at night with nutritious dinners and lots of energy to play before bedtime. They will have a great time. I hope to call and hear James' voice, hoping too that he doesn't forget me!

James is our joy!

Dada's Birthday

Jim celebrated his birthday on Saturday. It was a quiet family day :) We met Grandma Laura and Uncle Joe for breakfast that day, and really didn't do much else. We are happiest when we can be together and play. James has been a great little boy lately. He is talking a bit more, playing a lot, and following directions so well! He loves to show off the words he does know and he likes to learn other things- turning on and off light switches (when we lift him up), retrieve items from across a room ("go get your sippy cup"), and giving hugs. These are the absolute best! James put everything into a hug- he turns his head and reaches his arms around you to hug. Hugs are the best part of my day!

Please see our photos from the park yesterday. We discovered the park in Blaine. It is an older park but that comes with big shady trees! It was sweet relief from the heat! I have a feeling we'll be taking trips there often :)

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Its been a long time!

I don't know why I don't update this babysite often anymore. I guess we haven't been too busy, so well, no excuses here but I'm enjoying my time with James and that's good enough for me!

We've been staying home more often because of the heat, saving on gas and money, etc. Here is our normal schedule:

6:30/6:45 Wake up

7:15 Breakfast

7:30-9:00 Playtime

9:00 Snack

9:15-11:30 Playtime (or errands)

11:30 Lunch

11:45-12:00 Play or TV as Mama washes dishes

12:00 Brush Teeth

12:15-3:00 Naptime

3:15 Snack

3:30-5:00 Playtime

5:15 Dinner

5:45-7:30 Playtime

7:30 Brush teeth, bath

7:40 Bedtime

It seems like a lot but it flows pretty well. Though it seems like its a constant schedule of eating and diaper changes!

Some cute things James is doing now:

His new word is duck. He says "uck" when he sees a rubber duckie or even the goose prints on our wall. Hey, I'm just happy that he recognizes a duck like bird and we don't correct him that its a goose!

James understands so much! We are just amazed because all of a sudden it seems like he is following simple directions and answering questions. Like we can say, "James, do you want to go downstairs?" He will say "yeah" and walk over to the basement door. Same thing when we are downstairs and ask if he wants to upstairs, he walks over to the baby gate and waits to be picked up.

James also enjoys walking up and down the stairs. Most of the time he will crawl but he likes to hold my hand and very slowly climb his way up. It must be quite the workout for his little baby legs! And always he will stop to kiss R2D2 on the way up or down! (Please see the baby album for a picture of this!)

Some not so cute things James is doing:

Well, just one thing. He is refusing most of his usual foods. He's getting pickier and pickier. He is now refusing his chicken nuggets (really his only meat), his peas (his only veggie), waffles, bread, sometimes bananas. I'm still sneaking in protein in his mac n cheese, but I need to find a way to get some veggies in this boy!

Later

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James, the flower child

James and I had a lovely morning, while Dada worked at home cleaning the garage and other things. We headed to the Mill City farmer's market in Minneapolis. I had read that the market has almost all organic and natural products. We bought: raspberries, cilantro, green onions, zucchini, spinach, and the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. I also tried some fair trade, organic coffee from Guatemala. I bought Jim a coffee chocolate brownie (mmm) and some homemade caramels. James was the hit of the market and received many compliments because he was so cute holding a zucchini with its flower still attached. It was a great, natural toy :) I was surprised to see my former Mpls principal at a stand. His wife has 90 garden plots throughout Mpls and has a booming business at the farmers markets in the area. He was the one who gave James the zucchini, and then we had to buy some more :)

Oh, I also bought some homemade organic soap and some facial cleanser with olive oil, lavender, and rosemary. It smells heavenly!

So I am trying this whole "green" thing out. I don't want to be obsess over it, but I have been wanting to change to natural cleaners and beauty products. I worry about all the chemicals (especially around James). So I'm just changing just a few things- like soap, some organic foods, and recycling.

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Sentences!

Our genius baby is now making two word sentences! He started with "ByeBye Dada" but I thought that was just because of how I taught him to say goodbye (constantly to Dada as he left for work, or as we left for daycare). Now he says "Up Momma!" This would be fun if it wasn't constant! Haha. I'm trying to wean him of his need to be picked up constantly. A little tough love, as I said to my sisters. I don't want him to grow up spoiled and demanding. So far, so good. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a better day. I kept him busy or I would distract him when he would make that particular demand. It seemed to work well.

We had a crazy busy week with Tia Kristina here for her visit. The Tauer/Hullett/Kolden/Esteves 4th of July weekend was great fun. Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Larry came for a visit and Grandma successfully had James calling her "Grandma"!! She was so proud! Tia Kristina hadn't seen James since last year and she insists that James has her chin ("Its like looking in the mirror!") Tia Ana and Tio Rich had James rolling around in laughter, as usual. Tia's little "Nugget" loves her :) Tio Rich had James in hysterics as he pulled him around in a "beer truck". You had to be there :)

The most fun for James was the new pool that Tia Kristina bought for him. It has a fish/bird that sprinkles water, and a slide! James is going to have so much fun in that on our hot summer days this summer! Thank you Tia!

Yesterday James and I did a good deed. We helped one of my (former) students get her drivers license! We took her to the DMV for her behind the wheel test. Her family does not have a car for her to practice with or use for a test, so we gladly helped her with that. She passed her test! Yay for Catherine! James really enjoyed meeting her and her family. James was his usual charming self- laughing and smiling most of the time. The only drama was when James had the HUGEST poop at the DMV. We took care of that quickly and were on our way :)

Today James is at daycare, giving this Mama a whole day to herself! I am not cleaning or doing any "work". Just relaxing. I have my work friends coming over during lunch and we will either go shopping or play our Wii game system. I'm just excited to hang out and have fun with them. Dada Jim is picking up James at daycare so the fun is not interrupted later in the afternoon :)

Please see our videos below. They are old, I forgot to post them last week. The Star Wars video is pretty long and not very clear. I took the video at the Star Wars exhibit, during the Millennium Falcon simulator. It was pretty dark and hard to focus.

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