Trains and stuff

We met Grandma Rosie at Choo Choo Bob's in St.Paul. She sure was ready to play! James greeted her with a huge hug and "Happy Birthday!" since we haven't seen her since her last birthday. (James talked about birthdays and parties the whole way to the train store. He sure does love a birthday!)



James was fascinated with the electric trains. He kinda threw a fit that he couldn't touch them or climb up to follow them. Eventually he figured out that he could only watch.


Grandma Rosie loves her James!


Grandma taught him some new Spanish words like tren (train), cerrado (closed), abierto (open). The salesgirl was listening to us with interest and told us that she was remembering her high school Spanish. Ha.


James was showing me "all this" is trains!


I like even the smushed face kisses that James gives me!


Grandma bought James a very cute set of train letters, that spell out J-A-M-E-S!

I hope Grandma didn't mind the all organic, homemade restaurant that I suggested for brunch. We went to Trotter's, which was right around the corner from Bob's. We all had great pancakes, fresh fruit, a scone, and coffee for the ladies. All organic and fresh!

And THEN we went to Sweets for cupcakes to go. I bought a White Russian and Peanut Butter Cup for Jim, and a Triple chocolate mini for me.

Later, we tried the Wii again. This time we had a Dora game for James to try. He caught on that moving the remote to the side would move Dora and pushing a button would make her jump. Hey, its better than boxing!



I like this belly hanging out picture :)


It was a fun day. Thank you to Grandma Rosie for lots of play time and good memories :) We can't wait to see you in two weeks again!

Fight Night

This maybe wasn't one of our best parenting decisions, but we hooked up the Wii to our upstairs TV and started playing Wii games with James. The tennis game was pretty funny to watch, James couldn't quite swing the remote in time to "hit" the balls. He really just likes to swing wildly and hear the swooshing noises.

Well, and then there was boxing.


I don't think James will go away from this thinking he can just box and hit people, but he really, really loves it. He would swing himself silly and then collapse on the ground.




Dada vs. James


I couldn't believe that Dada was willing to KNOCK OUT James! Meanie :)

Dang!

I've blogged 33 times in January! That's more than once a day! I guess its because I've shortened up some of my entries. Just dang!

Tomorrow we're meeting Grandma Rosie at Choo Choo Bob's and then lunch! Yay!

Naptime

Jim went upstairs to take a shower and found James napping in the hallway. We didn't hear a peep from him! He must have just settled on the floor, watching ME watch TV. Usually if he leaves his room, we hear him.




We haven't moved him. That carpet can't be too comfortable... ? Good old Blankie is keeping him company though!

Yuck!

We're spending Saturday at home. We had a fleeting thought of going to the Mall of America for rides and fun, but it just didn't seem like a good idea anymore. Oh well.

James got up bright and early at 5:30am. He played until 6 in his room, and then I got up for the day with him. He was cheerful and fun... just for a little bit. He's been a little crabby and demanding, but its normal 3 year old stuff.

Jim spent some time cleaning the house while I played/supervised James, and so he was up and down the stairs doing stuff. All of a sudden I heard him laughing and exclaiming over something, and said you need to come up! Get your camera.

He found a booger.


James left a booger on the Mexican penguin. Why?! I don't even know when he did it. Jim was at the top of the stairs and James looked up and told him, "Dada, I put booger on penguin." Jim looked down at the penguin and was like, oh yuck!

James hurried upstairs with me, I took this picture, and James insisted on getting a kleenex to wipe it. Yeah, thanks.

Tuesday morning

My mornings are full. Today I forgot to turn on my alarm clock, oops. Without Jim at home I am rushing around (more than usual since I am NOT a morning person) to get myself dressed, James dressed, James entertained, James needs a snack- banana and milk, James wants to watch TV, my lunch packed, coffee made- very important, and then the car packed with everything. Gloves, hat, my work purse, my lunch, my coffee thermos, banana and milk usually come with us too, etc.

We appreciate Dada!

James woke up earlier than usual this morning- of course, because I had planning on washing my hair, so that didn't happen. I felt a moment of frustration but then had to laugh when I heard him giggling inside his room. I could hear that it was muffled and so I knew he was in his closet, or the "clubhouse". I grabbed my camera and this is what I found-


Blankie by his side, James had pulled all of his Dr. Seuss books off the shelf and was reading them. It was pretty cute. He was immediately forgiven for waking up too early :)

I didn't know that he liked Dr. Seuss? Well, he insisted on carrying them all downstairs to the living room, so they are waiting for us tonight. Maybe we'll have a Reading Night?

I snapped this picture of the Class Rules at daycare this morning. I wanted to remind myself that we could maybe post some of our own rules, pretty much the same as theirs I would imagine.



The "Nice Touches" have become an issue. James, when frustrated, will make a "pew pew" noise, like he's shooting! We don't know if its something he learned at daycare or Star Wars. Ooops! I did see a bunch of kids doing this when I picked James up at daycare on Monday. James and some boys had fashioned these kinda-sorta-guns out of construction toys, they looked like crude L's. They were chasing each other and making the "pew pew pew!" sounds, giggling. The teacher just rolled her eyes and laughed when I asked about it, the same reaction I had. I hate to be stereotypical, but BOYS!

We miss Dada!

It's hard keeping James entertained all by myself, but James is literally bouncing around the house and filling any quiet moments with his boyish chatter and play.

I don't remember what he was pointing to here but he was funny. He was so excited about something. Probably the TV :(










Yup, lots of bouncing and climbing. And now a moment of rest. We started watching a new TV show, one that they were hyping up so much in the last month and it finally premiered on the Nick Jr channel- Umizoomi. James just calls it "UmZoom".


James had his first fudgesicle. He loved it. I didn't love the mess, but I did ask him to sit on the chair, at least keeping it kinda contained. Next time a big paper towel or dishtowel on his lap, I think!






He really, really enjoyed it! I do too!

I went out to get the mail and had my camera in my pocket. My regular camera with the flash. The flash caught a few snowflakes coming down. It was a beautiful night.


Come home soon, Dada (aka Jiminy!)!

Ooooh I'm hungry for one!

This would be a good cupcake adventure!

We'll miss you, Dada!

Come home safe!

All of our weekend stuff

Bright and early on Saturday (ugh, before 7am) we went to Cub. We were missing the essentials- milk, bananas, strawberries, and a chocolate donut. Oh, and no trip to the store (Cub or Target) is complete without the free cookie. Man, this kid has a memory. Its really been months since he's been at a store. I go by myself most of the time now. Quicker.


We went to a 10am movie! It was our first movie with James. He went to a movie (in his youth) with Sandra and the old daycare crew last summer. We saw the new Chipmunks movie. It was awwwright. James had excellent timing. Seriously, like five minutes before the end he started to whine and ask to go home. I guess it was long enough! So we did get through to the end and we left pretty quickly.

It was all about the popcorn, you know.


Yay! We made it to the credits!


We went to lunch at Time Out in Blaine. We are still dieting so we knew we would find nice salads or healthy sandwiches. It wasn't very busy in the restaurant and we were seated next to an old couple. The man was crabbypants from the very beginning. He was upset at the waitress because the TV screens weren't playing the right hockey/basketball game. He was pretty rude, good thing we left soon after that.

Jim and I were talking about it in the car, and Jim imitated the cranky old man's voice. We heard giggles from the backseat. James loved Jim's "old man voice". So here's a picture and then a video from their exchange.

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

Jim made dinner! He followed a recipe from the South Beach cookbook- chicken in wine sauce. He improvised and added mushrooms. It was good. We usually find ways to tweak some of the recipes and we'll figure out how to tweak this one to make it really good!



I was doing pretty on the dieting but needed a treat later that night. Here's an experiment that didn't really work. I found a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mousse. Well, it was basically whipped/smooth cottage cheese with peanut butter and chopped chocolate on top. I did the cottage cheese part with the peanut butter but added grated chocolate and one of our peanut butter cookies crumbled to the top. It doesn't look good. It was just okay. I think the cottage cheese kind of freaked us out. Hey, I still ate it all.



Sunday's dinner- Tuscan Vegetable Soup. I added some prosciutto and pesto paste (new product I found).


Football night needed some manly munchies! Jalapeno thingies.


Touchdown!


Yay!


The game is still going on. James started watching it but lost interest.

Tonight's dinner

Asian marinated flank steak
Sauteed mushrooms (in Smart Balance)
Grilled asparagus with olive oil, kosher salt, fresh pepper

I love my grill pan!

I also love that my husband works at home and can start dinner! Sometimes he even makes the whole thing! Yeah! Today he made the marinade and diligently turned the meat in the refrigerator.


Makes me want to sing, Whatta Man, Whatta Man... Whatta a might good man! (SNP, 1980's)

If only we could get James to eat exactly what we're eating.

James' meal:
Banana
Peas
Fish sticks with sour cream and pizza sauce (few bites, even though the other day he chowed them)
Grapes (didn't touch these)
Milk
We do try and give him little bits of our food. It doesn't usually work. SIGH.

"Bye Friends!"

I found James in the bathroom when I went to pick him up this afternoon. He was just finishing on the potty. He was about to wash his hands when Russell came over. James then got the idea that he needed a cup. So both boys giggled and started to practice spitting. Nice...! I only encouraged it because James needs to know how when he starts fluoride toothpaste. (His toddler stuff doesn't have fluoride yet. He can swallow it safely.)

Here's the series of pictures that I took of the goofy boys. Just imagine lots of giggling!














Ms. Sheana told me that Russell is like the Class Clown of the group. I just think it's lovely that James likes his friends. Whenever we leave I tell James to say "Bye Friends!" He will yell it out as we leave the classroom and it's so cute!

Jim, the Baker

We are dieting. Well, I think I am more than Jim. I fell off the wagon over the weekend so I started the South Beach Diet, phase one on Wednesday. Yeah, Wednesday. It was hard to start on Monday because of MLK Day and the inevitable diet fail at Old Country Buffet. And then on Tuesday we didn't have the right groceries in the house and I was feeling SICK. So on Wednesday we started. No carbs, no fruit, no alcohol! Ugh!! Its only for a week. You just HAVE TO have carbs in your diet, they just need to be whole grain or healthy. I'm also a firm believer that you need to treat yourself once in a great while. My treats will hopefully be small and not very often. I just don't think you need to deprive yourself of ANYTHING. That's not a lifestyle, that's setting yourself up for a possible failure.

Before the South Beach I was just watching my portions, slowing down my carbs, and counting calories. I lost five pounds that way but now I'm only down to three. I think a person's weight just naturally fluctuates. And then that ice cream cone with James on Tuesday night probably didn't help :) (Funny- he totally busted me. He told Jim the next day that he had an ice cream cone... Mama too! Its not like I was hiding it. I did feel some shame when it was announced though!)

Well, anyway. Its going well. I was ridiculously hungry on Wednesday. I was snacking. I was doing everything right. I think my portions are smaller, which is good, and I just was feeling that. I drank lots of tea that day, more water than usual, and had healthy snacks. Twelve almonds just doesn't seem like much when you're STARVING.


Last night's dinner: Grilled chicken breasts with Asian grilling paste (Target brand, surprisingly low fat/calories and full of natural stuff- nothing I couldn't pronounce!) and sauted vegetables (red onions, asparagus, squash, zucchini, bell pepper). Yum.

For dessert Jim made cookies! Yup! Jim bakes too. He has his special South Beach cookies that have always helped with our sweet tooth(s). They are made with just natural peanut butter, Splenda, and one egg! They are crumbly and delicious. I even think so and I HATE Splenda.


What's all this diet stuff doing on James' blog? Well, we are doing this for him. His Mama and Dada will be healthy and around for a long ass time!

Photographer

James can be my new photographer. He loves to look at the pictures on my iPhone and so when he saw me actually taking pictures yesterday he said, "My try!" So I showed him how to press the little camera icon to take a picture. I held the camera out and let him focus on my face. Here's the picture he took.


I'm scared to let him run around with my phone or even hold the thing, so I won't be encouraging the photography quite yet. Maybe I could give him an old camera and see what he does? I know they also have cameras for kids (Fisher Price) but I'd have to wait and see. I think he's still too young. (So don't get any ideas, Grandmas!)