November 27

James picks out a book at naptime. I've been loving the great picture books and pop-up books lately. No more baby board books! He has quite the library...and what a cute tuft of hair in the front!

November 23

ECFE preschool/kindergarten screening. Developmental, height/weight, and then vision & hearing. Rough, uncooperative beginning but then he aced his assessment. I'm glad they didn't just see the mute nosepicker from the first five minutes! ROTFL!!

November 21

Dinosaur cookies.

November 20

Curious George Live!

November 18

4 year wellness check. James lost his 'tude with the doctor and ended up cooperating and even smiling. Well, at least until the shots. Oh and then he threw up all over us at the restaurant but we're still calling it a success.

November 17

Since writing on Tia ChaCha's cast James has loved to outline his hands. He drew this at daycare and presented it to me. It is proudly hanging on the fridge now (:

November 16

Happy with a Happy Meal.

What's James Doing NOW?

He's chillin'.


He had a rough night, lots of crying and waking up. Thankfully all five times were before 10pm. We ended up giving him some Motrin when he complained of an earache. He's also pretty sniffly, so we scrapped our Children's Museum plan. Snotty kid = not a good museum guest. We wouldn't want to spread germs on all the touchable/interactive exhibits.

Getting Ready for Christmas!

We've already been making calls to Santa (thanks Grandpa Larry!), reporting James' good and naughty behaviors. Thankfully almost all good :)

I can't wait to show this video to James. I think he'll laugh.

4 Year Wellness

James had his 4 year wellness check this last week. He really dreaded going to the doctor. We brought it up a few days in advance and he was pretty anxious about it so we didn't bring it up again until that morning. The whole way to the doctor he kept saying, "I don't want to go to the doctor." Like three hundred times, enough to drive a person crazy :)

The first person who had to deal with us was a nurse who tried to take James' weight and height measurements. No cooperation. So we had to use the baby scale and lay him down on the changing table for a height measurement. Stinker. He is at 36 pounds and 41 inches. This makes him at the 50th percentile for weight and the 65th percentile for height. Normal.

We had a few minutes before the doctor came in. James was pretty hesitant to respond to her, as nice as she is, but soon enough he was quietly cooperating and then even smiled and laughed once.

I don't know what is happening here, but it's a funny shot-





Dr. Keis looks a little crazy in this picture but I assure you she's nice and normal.



The camera adds ten pounds. Don't judge.



Good reflexes.

Everything was nice and normal. We didn't have any real questions or concerns. It was nice to get James to the doctor and be assured that everything is good.

The doctor's sheet.

Well, after the doctor saw us the nurse had to come back in for some shots. It seems so barbaric to hold him down for a shot :( He had a nasal flu spray and then a shot in his thigh. Some vaccine that I don't remember.

James went to daycare after the doctor's appointment and we didn't hear any report that he was feeling "off", always a concern after shots. We picked him up like normal and decided to go out to dinner. Fine. Yay. We could tell that James looked a little groggy/sleepy. He even said that and leaned against me in the booth and then suddenly BLECH! He vomited all the chocolate milk that he had just drank, all over the restaurant booth, on his legs, and a little on me. YUCK. We moved quickly to clean up the mess and get James out of there. Hardly anyone noticed in the restaurant. I told the waitress to cancel our order and then paid for the drinks we barely touched. (Alcohol abuse!) Oh well.

>James was pretty normal once we got home. Jim called a nurse line to make sure this was normal (and it was) and we watched him for the rest of the night. He slept normally and woke up just fine.

I forgot to blog about last month's parent conference. Here is the sheet that Mrs. Kathy went over with us. Again, normal, normal, normal. Of course I think James is above average and very smart. I am amazed every day how much he really does know. Lately, his favorite thing to do is ask us, what letter does _________ start with? Random words. Usually p-, m-, and s-words. Pumpkin. Mommy. Snake. Scissors. I love that he's showing an interest in words, reading, and writing.

I'm bringing this daycare progress sheet to our appointment on Tuesday. On Tuesday we have an appointment at the Early Childhood & Family Education Center. It's James' preschool assessment through the Spring Lake Park school district. They recommend that you bring in your child at 3 1/2 plus years old. There is no rush since he doesn't start kindergarten until 2012! It seems so far away. Wish us luck. I am not holding my breath that James will cooperate with complete strangers. He gets shy. Well, I hope though.

November 15

Our bedtime routine. Bath, brushing teeth, books (cool SW pop-up books from ChaCha, or "poppies" as James calls them), and then quick cuddles before we kiss and say "I'll miss you, see you in the morning!"

November 14

The boys at work.

November 13

"Mom! Look at all the snow!!"

November 12

James took this picture of me with my first school-made necklace (: It is a necklace of painted dinosaur teeth!

November 11

Playing with birthday toys. We have been introducing one new toy every day or two. Seriously, who needs Christmas when you have a November birthday??

November 9

Uh oh. James has a new girl. He likes those blondes I guess! (James and Olivia say goodbye.)

November 6

Happy Birthday James! The day finally arrived (: It was a crazy busy day. He is so LOVED!

November 5

I snuck away from work for a quick bday party at James' daycare. I loved that he felt so special (:

November 3

"Bingo!" I mean, Zingo.

What's James doing NOW?

Playing with a Happy Meal toy!

October 29

I don't want to ruin the big Halloween picture but I don't think I'll get this kind of shot on 10/31. James was the only kid at daycare that had a costume that hid his identity. I don't like that you don't see his cuteness but you do see his beautiful eyes at least (:

October 28

Mommy and James project. Spider cupcakes just like in his Backyardigans book! (I admit to "cheating" with a cake mix and a tub of frosting.)

October 26

Life's a blur lately (:

October 24

Star Wars rooms are nice!

October 23

My birthday! One highlight of the day was James calling me from Grandma's house to sing to me (: Here he is burying Bucko (Grandpa) at Sever's Corn Maze. It looks like a big sandbox!

October 22

James spent the day with the familia- Tia Kiki, Tia ChaCha and Grandma Rosie. James signed ChaCha's leg cast with the outline of his hands. "The Healing Hands of a Child" as my cousin Cesar said that will provide love and good energy through her healing process (:

October 21

Grandma Rosie and James! Spoiling a grandson is hard work, I suppose.

October 19

Can you tell what this is? I could and right away! A ghost! I was very impressed with his fine motor skills of drawing facial features and a belly button (:

October 17

Birthday brunch for Grandma Laura.

October 13

Daycare surveys- further proof that James is my son. Fave candy? Chocolate! What do you love about Halloween? Pumpkins!

October 11

Golden boy. I taught James how to blow dandelions.

October 10

I forget that letting him make his own lunch is a good way to get food in his belly.

October 8

Legos are still cool.

October 7

My boys at the restaurant, or "rastronaut" as James says.

October 4

Daycare art. Pig fingerprints. I love it! This ended up going to Tia ChaCha.

James is FOUR!

We taught James this morning that he is one-two-three-four years old! He counts on his hand and gets excited. I love this boy!

He helped me make his party cupcakes this morning. I could tell, from that, that he is indeed a big boy. He accepted my explanation that the cupcakes were for later and he was okay with that. The younger James would have wanted a cupcake NOW! He was so helpful. He helped me place the cupcakes in the cupcake transporter (this huge wonderful contraption) and then he supervised my frosting. (He may have dipped his finger in a cupcake or two, and licked off the frosting. Sorry if you happened to eat that particular one. It was too cute and I ended up giving him a small spoon to lick so he wouldn't keep putting his fingers in :)

And then the party! I was so anxious all day because we counted the people we were expecting and realized it was much a longer list than we thought before. We had some last minute RSVP's, which was cool. We had plenty of cupcakes, favor bags, and cookies but we were worried about the space. It ended up just fine. Phew!

I would describe it as happy chaos. Lots of little kids running around, waiting for that sugar high, and anxious to get to playin' at the playground. We had cupcakes and ice cream and then released the kids to play. Phew.

James waits patiently for cupcakes.

We all sing Happy Birthday to James-

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

James' teacher Mrs. Kathy with Caleb on her lap. Mrs. Kathy is wonderful. She babysits during some weekends and she brought two of James' friends to the party. And her 8 year old son, he loves to help with the little kids.

I didn't get ANY pictures of my family. WTF? Kiki, help me out. Did you?

So finally the kids go to play.

Here's Josh Q climbing.

James joins Russell and Andy in the ball pit.

And then back to the party room for presents-

LOTS of presents. We were overwhelmed and thankful for great friends and family!

Russell was just as excited about the presents as James. I had to politely ask him to sit back a few times and let James open the presents. His Mom didn't say much, but helped hold him back occasionally.

After presents we scrambled to get cleaned up, hand out the party bags, and thank everyone because we had to be out of the party room exactly at 4pm.

The party favors were a hit. They were these little lightsaber Chinese yo yos. The kids had a great time whipping them across the room. I'm glad we handed those out at the end of the party, they would have drove me CRAZY. Haha. My friend Kim told me that her two kids had a great time swinging those lightsabers during the car ride home. :)

Wow, that's a lot of presents. And Christmas is next month?? Whoa.

Thank you everyone! We love you!