Grandma Laura joins the fun

The Star Wars fun! Grandma Laura came over for dinner on Sunday and James enjoyed some great play time with her. He showed her the Star Wars books and Grandma played and was silly with him. It's such a great sound, James' laughter!

I'm so glad to get some good shots of James and his Grandma!




I really like this one! The sunlight was really bright behind them but you can sure see the fun.

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

For dinner we had Mozzarella stuffed turkey meatloaf, homemade macaroni and cheese, and salad. James refused it all :(



After dinner we headed outside again. We are so thrilled to have the warmer weather and the chance to do something other than watch TV! I mean, we play with toys and do other things than TV, but it's hard.

James WANTED to rake. We didn't make him :)





All of a sudden he stopped raking and wanted to hug his Daddy. And then he ran back to raking.


There was also more tee ball.

This first hit wasn't his best, but watch the second hit! He is really good!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Spring is here!

It was gorgeous outside on Sunday! We came home from the Eagle's Nest, ate lunch, and then headed outside. The plan was to NOT nap and wear out James so he would adjust to the daylight savings change and sleep through the night okay.

Hopscotch was first up.


I spy neighbor kids.


Yup, they're across the street. They're bigger than me. I can't play in the street yet or ride a bike. I guess I'll just throw rocks instead.




I CAN ride a bike! Okay, I can't pedal yet but I'll learn soon enough.


Tee-ball! I'm so good at it! I can hit the ball really far.


Oooh a friend! Drake from across the street just came over and started playing. He is five years old and NOT shy.






Daddy came home from grocery shopping and pushed me on the bike. I like to play with Daddy.


James is calling us Mommy and Daddy now. Most of the time. It's very cute.

Bakkos and the Eagle Nest

We met my friend Katy and her beautiful kids at the Eagle's Nest playground in New Brighton. James always loves going there, so I hoped we would have a really good time and he would play well with Esme and Owen. Esme is three too, and Owen is a very old six years old :)

James saw this climbing wall and gave it a try.


He always loves the ball pit.


At one point James flew into the maze of tunnels, slides, and obstacles. I sat down with Katy to relax and talk. I could see James up in the tunnels and I knew he was fine. He did leave my sight and all of a sudden I could hear a kid crying in the distance and "Mommy! Mommy!" I recognized that cry! I ran around the playground trying to find him but I couldn't see him. Finally we spotted him, stuck way up high, in the maze of tunnels. I tried to scramble up to the top, as fast as I could. I made it all the way to the top but then couldn't find my way to the area that James was at. It was so confusing! I started to get frustrated. I think Owen, smaller and faster, made it to James and helped him down a slide- the fast way down. I then had to scramble down and meet him, crying and clutching me.

He did venture back up, with Owen's help. Owen was so good with James! He seems like the best big brother. He and Esme are buddies, I didn't see Owen without Esme by his side the whole time we were there. Esme, that cute little girl, is so fearless. I think it's because she has a big brother watching her back!

James going down the slide.


Owen helped James go down the first few times.




Watch the difference between my mellow little boy and the Bakko kids :) Esme and Owen were pretending to luge a bit later. I didn't get that on video, but it was really funny!

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

Owen and Esme were so fast and energetic, I don't think I caught one picture of them. I caught several blurs :)


James and I left after just an hour or so but we hope to see the Bakkos again soon! I think James would really open up after a little more time.

Saturday morning

James was ready to go at 6am. I swear I can set an alarm clock by this kid!

We played quietly while Daddy slept in. It was his turn!




James is blowing me (and you!) a kiss!


Later...

Brownie needed a seatbelt.


The video below shows James and hockey. A hockey game was on TV so James was reminded of his hockey stick and puck. We had to go looking for it and then he played a very enthusiastic game by himself.

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

Grandma Rosie came over to babysit for the evening while Jim and I went out to furniture shop and also for dinner. We left and James was reading to Grandma. He sure does love his Star Wars books. He even has parts memorized! He chats about stormtroopers, blasters, R2D2, and Anakin Skywalker. I think it's Jim's dream come true- a mini Star Wars geek!



Thank you Grandma Rosie for taking such great care of your James!

Yearbook picture

My after school step group is still fairly new but we took our picture for the school's yearbook! They were so excited to be recognized as an official group. They are just too darn cute.

Blurry

I have a bunch of pictures to post, and lots to update but I just can't see the screen well. I am still blurry :(

Paragua

James' Spanish lesson today was appropriate. They talked about rain and paraguas, or umbrellas. I was home today, sick, and I enjoyed the sound of the rain melting away the snow!


I have eye infections again and will need to wear my glasses for a whole month! My optic nerves are inflamed and so I was off balance, a little dizzy. Jim laughed at me today because I pretended to be a superstar, wearing my rx sunglasses indoors. I was light sensitive and it felt so much better.

Brunswick Bowling

We called ahead and figured out that a three year old really could bowl with lots of help. Bumpers in the bowling lane, a ramp for the ball, a Mom or Dad to help carry a 7 pound ball, and lots of patience.

Look! Bowling shoes just for me! I was pleasantly surprised to see such cool shoes in Toddler size 8 and with easy to put on velcro straps!


We all have bowling shoes!


It took just a little bit to convince James that putting the ball on the ramp is way cooler than throwing it. And luckily some kids a few lanes down were using ramps too.




How many pins will go down?


Yeah, James was beating us already after the first balls.


James kicked my butt!




I had to really watch James at this part. He eagerly waited for the ball to return and I was worried about his little fingers. And his face.


Dada ended up winning but James did well! The first game went pretty smoothly.


During the second game James got a little antsy. He wanted to switch balls. So he found this pink one. (Real boys like pink.) And then he wanted to roll the balls. No. And then he wanted to roll the heavier balls (ours) down the ramp. Okay, but I helped carry the balls to the ramp. It was exhausting!


We ended the 2nd game early. James just got too fussy.

In the car I told him, "James you kicked my butt!" James got upset and said, "Mama! I not kick you!" I guess he doesn't know that figure of speech. It honestly just slipped out. So I told him that he did a good job. Haha.

I keep forgetting to post this picture that my sister Ana so generously shared with me :)


Tonight I experimented with Southwest Eggrolls. I liked that they are baked and not fried. Next time I would try the more traditional Asian filling, but they were good. It's nice to try new things. (I wish James could read that.)


Speaking of reading, I swear I have read those Star Wars books five times today. I'm glad he likes them. They just have a lot of words. I guess we're used to the simpler little kid books.

And one last thing, we are thinking James is a little moody lately. Yeah, kind of Jekyll and Hyde-ish. One minute crabby and defiant, the next minute he is going through the routine of asking me, "Mama! Guess what? I love you!" It's funny, frustrating, and exhausting all at the same time. I think he had a few time-outs today. No real nap. And then later tonight he gave his Dada a really hard time at bath time. I sat downstairs and felt sorry for both of them. I knew James couldn't help but be crabby and tired, and then Jim had to figure out how to navigate that mood. Three is hard!

Blogging on the Go

I'm just wondering how this iPhone app works.


So can I add more than one picture? Cool!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone