Short and sweet

This picture is from Sunday, after James and I snuggled in bed and watched golf. He snuggled in his chair, with his old favorite blanket from Grandma Julie.


James and I went shopping tonight. Jim was at pool. After browsing at Herberger's we went to Bacon & Eggs to play. James then rode on a duck.




James and I enjoyed the sunset.


I didn't even notice it until I saw James staring out the window. I stepped outside to take a picture and then looked back to see this face...


Wow, I love this face!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

a quiet Sunday

Today's news: James did something really cute today. I was clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper at the dining table. James ran over to his toys and found his doctor's kit. He grabbed the play scissors from there and came to the table too. He sat on his Dada's lap and studied my use of scissors. He pretended to cut the newspaper too. Its amazing how he is trying to imitate us!

I had a cute moment with James after his nap. I was napping myself when I heard him wake up, and so I thought maybe he'd be content to lay on the bed with me and watch TV. He cuddled right next to me, laying on his own pillow and pulling up the blanket around him. We watched a bit of golf on TV. I look forward to lazy Sundays in bed with Jim and his Dada! Up until today he's been too anxious to explore and bounce on the bed. It was nice to relax with Baby James!

Also, right before bed tonight we decided that James will help us clean up the day's mess. So I asked him to put away his books, put away the play scissors, put away his golf clubs and balls, etc. He knew exactly where everything went. He put the scissors back in the doctor's kit, the balls in the baskets, and the books in the bin. I had to move things along but he did well! Jim said it was probably a good habit to start :) Right again, Dada!

I keep thinking of things to add. One last thing before I head up to bed! I just remembered that James did yet another amazing thing today. Twice today he told us he pooped. He would suddenly say, "Uh Oh! Da poop!" and grab the front of his diaper. We would check and sure enough POOP! Seriously, I need to read up on potty training. He's very aware of being clean in general so I think the poop is something he wants taken care of ASAP.

Another amazing day with Baby James!

A dreary Saturday

First, some videos from earlier in the week.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

James before we left the house this morning:

Despite my lingering cold and Jim's bad allergies today, we wanted to get out of the house. James does so much better when we are active and having new fun! So the clouds and possible rain kept us from the apple orchard, our original plan. We went out to breakfast at Carol's. James did so well! He had crayons to play with, his beloved strawberries and yogurt (yo-yo), and he even tried a pancake. I'm so glad James is back to eating well at restaurants.

So we made the decision, coming out of Carol's and looking at the sky, to not go to the apple orchard but instead to go to the Mall of America. Jim needed a few work clothes and shoes, so it sounded like a good plan.

James helped ME look for purses at DSW:


James did well! He was curious about everything, sat pretty well in the stroller, but then would be excited to explore when we let him out of it. We shopped and walked around (including the Nickolodeon park) until lunchtime. This picture is from LegoLand. We saw a birthday party in progress there while we were visiting. It looked so cool! What a great idea for when James is a bit older, probably not until he's 6+ though.

We ate at the new restaurant Cantina. Again, James ate really well- in part because we packed really well for his meal out. We were prepared with all of his favorites. I really liked my food but an hour later I was sick to my stomach. Jim was also not feeling well (but because of his allergies), but then we looked down at James and he was napping in the stroller. So we shopped some more, giving him some time to nap. We bought a new coffee maker! Jim is thrilled with his Grind and Brew. Heh.

Here's James wearing the antlers from a Moose mascot thingie. I think it was advertising the mini golf course at the mall.

James napped some more during the car ride home. We got home around 3:00 and the boys realized they were missing the Twins game! So while they watched, I went to Target for some quick groceries and triangular crayons for James. We realized during lunch, with the triangular crayons they provided, that they work so much better. They don't roll off the table! Again, Jim and I weren't feeling the best so we rested up, played with James, and ate a simple meal.

James was the best little boy all day. He was so happy!
And some new words:
golf
sorry (he actually said sorry to me when he dropped his spoon and I had to get up from my dinner to help him- said "soowwwwy")
out (not really new, but I keep forgetting to add it to the list)
down (again, not really new)
yogurt ("yo-yo")
cookie ("cook")

Its so nice that James has his expanding vocabulary. He's now able to ask for specific things, like food- a sippy cup or yo-yo.

I do have one concern. James is a bug killer. I've watched him kill a spider (okay by us!) but the other day he was walking down the driveway and purposely stepping on the small bugs. He ground his foot and really, really killed them well! I hope he's not one of those boys who pull off the wings of flies/butterflies!

Random

So we've added a few words again:

walk (going for a walk)

tree (teee)

choo choo (train, car, truck- any vehicle)

sun (points to the sun in a book)

I might be missing a couple words.

I had a busy, social week! On Monday night I reconnected with my high school friend, Becky, who lives in Blaine too. She is a new Mom and we met for coffee. A Mama break of sorts!

The rest of the week was uneventful but then on Friday I left to meet up with friends again- dinner, drinks, and lots of talking! I saw my other friend Elizabeth, another nearby Mama that I don't see often enough.

On Saturday my Sister Ana took me to the Little House on the Prairie musical at the Guthrie. It was AWESOME! I love LHOTP! We were so impressed with the actors, the music, the beautiful backdrops. And Melissa Gilbert was in it too! Yay Ana for such a great early birthday gift!

On Sunday we spent the day at home but then went to Uncle Joe and Aunt Kathy's for dinner. Grandma Laura was also there. James did very well- he played outside, ate well, and didn't run around too wild. Its sometimes exhausting taking James to another person's house (usually not babyproofed) but maybe he's listening to "No" a bit more or he's just controlling himself :) Or maybe I'm just more relaxed about letting James explore and be a toddler. Probably the last!

Well, I may be fighting off a cold or something. My throat is scratchy and I'm coughing a bit. Wish me luck that I don't end up sick!

Please see our videos below. The second video really amazed me. I found James playing independently and you see in the video what he did. He might be a genius baby that knows patterns already.

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

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New words!

James learned a few words over the weekend:

poop (he will also grab the front of his diaper if you say, where is the poop?)

butterfly (must have learned this one at daycare, Jim and James saw a butterfly on their walk last night and James was able to say “Fah Fly” or “Bah fly”)

black (as in black crayon)

tree

Blues Clues (wooo wooo, with hand motions like on the tv show)

Chip (potato chip)

Yo Yo (yogurt)

Home Run! (as he hits a ball with his bat)

MMM Num Num! (while eating enthusiastically)

“Dun-ah” or “Dunna” – everything else. Jim wonders if he means “don’t know.”

We were able to visit Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Larry at the borrowed house in Northfield. It was a long drive to the country :) James played very nicely in a strange house, and even though it rained we managed to play outside a bit and admire the lake. Grandma Rosie had a few gifts for James including a tshirt that says "What happens at Grandma's, stays at Grandma's" Ha!

Are you ready for some football?

Most of the Tauer household is ready. This Mama is not!

Lucky for us that the Vikings game was an early Monday night game. James was able to see the kickoff and watch some of the game before bedtime. Actually, he was very busy playing basketball and drawing most of the time. He rediscovered his Aquadoodle drawing mat and has been very interested in drawing with the water pens. I'm a little glad of this because it has distracted him from his obsessive love of crayons. It was so bad that we couldn't mention the c-word in front of him without James begging to color.

In other news, James has started throwing tantrums. The worst tantrum was on Sunday. James has been throwing fits for unknown reasons and he started that one right before lunch. We could not console him and he ended up going to take a nap without lunch :( Afterwards he had a large snack and then was fine for the night. We haven't been able to figure out what triggers the tantrums, but we're hoping its a phase or explainable, like because of his new molars. We shall see!

James has added a few words to his vocab rotation:

buckle (seatbelt, highchair belt, etc)

cup

aaaa-choo! (sneeze)

Hey you!

awesome

book (he says it more clearly)

cook

Very cute!

Recovering

James is on the mend. He had a fever starting on Sunday. We had a great day at the Children's Museum and then later that day James felt hot. He didn't have any other symptoms besides a slight fever- well, maybe a little crabbiness. His temp was never more than 102 so we held off on the doctor. Finally on Tuesday (my first day of school) we did take him to daycare and Sandra reported a temperature again so we did go to the doctor. The doctor ruled out ear infections and strep throat. She said a fever is the body's natural way of fighting off illness and it seemed that James is winning that battle.


I knew that James was feeling okay because at the doctor's office he was playing "ball" with another little boy. It was too cute! I was unprepared (no diaper bag, food, or toys) so James made his own "ball" out of a crumpled magazine page. He threw the ball to a little boy- he was probably around 3 years old- and the boy started throwing it back. James laughed. The other boy pretended to hold a bat and James pitched to him. This went on for a few minutes until the other boy grew bored with the game. We were called in to see the doctor so I thanked the boy for playing with James. Very sweet.

The newest pictures are of James and his Dada laying on the couch. James was a bit crabby and at his sickest, which wasn't too bad. We knew something was up though because James rarely lays down or sits still! I thought they looked very cute so I snapped a few pictures. The last picture is from this morning with James styling his new Star Wars tshirt and his new big boy shoes (size 6 1/2!)

James may be feeling better but he is not sleeping well. He woke up several times in the middle of the night, crying in his sleep. I did not sleep well either then. At 5am this morning James woke up for the day. We were going to let him fuss so we could get more sleep but Jim gave up the fight. He got up with James at 5:20am. Ugh! I woke up soon after to get ready for work. Not fun.

Here's hoping for our happy little boy to return to us!