For a dew days we got some warm weather - and we enjoyed every minute of it. Went for walks, played fetch with the dogs and didn't have to layer up to go outside. It was awesome. James loved not having to wear socks constantly - so much so that when the weather got colder again he refused to wear socks. He would patiently let us put them on him and then work like a mad man to get them back off.

And when he cannot get them back on, he just runs around the room with them - because what else should he do with his socks!

And just one more shot of baby feet because I can - all too soon they won't be small and cute but big and smelly so I'm gonna love on them now!

When you are talking to me on the phone and I'm with James - this is usually what's going on. You will be on speaker and James will be holding the phone. He will randomly hang up on you (sorry Amanda!) but he loves it and will talk and babble - he is like my own little personal hands free phone. Who likes to add his own back ground baby talk and chew on it...

Every night John and I watch Jeopardy. Yes, go ahead, get your laughs and old people jokes out of the way now. Are you done? Ok good. But James loves it too. He loves the music and all the different sounds and the monotone voices. He will sit next in between us on the floor watching with us - Its has become our family time together before James goes to bed. And usually its really relaxing and full of cuddles and hugs. Ususally. Except on nights when James looks right at John, gets the giggle fits and then takes off - like "catch me Dad!". And John of course goes stomping after him and picks him up, throws him around and tickles him mercilessly. And then they do it all over again. While Im in the background, trying to stay out of the way and straining to hear Alex Trebek.

 

Just a few pictures of James walking - he is really starting to get good now! A lot less falling and more landing on his bum.

 

 

As you can see, he always has something in his hand - he is a constant source of energy and always getting into something. I have heard many comments about how its unbelievable he takes 2 naps a day (for an hour or more) and then will still sleep a full 12 hours at night. If you saw how hard he played, you wouldn't think it was unbelievable at all. Little Dude is nonstop!

 

He has this toy truck that makes a popping sound when pushed and he cannot get enough of it right now.  He will push that truck all over the room and back again. Its great because I always know where he is!

I try to read the news every day (and not just the gossip section!) but its getting to be overwhelming, and not in a good way. Before I was a mom, I would read articles and think wow that's sad or wow that's just unbelievable. But now that I have a child of my own - most of these stories really shake me up. Today I read about the fire in PA that took the lives of 7 children - I did not get through half of it before I felt like I needed to run and grab James, hold him as close as can be and never let go.

And once we got home, that's exactly what I did. I held him and smothered him and didn't let him go until he fell asleep... and even then I didn't want to leave.

Bumps and Bruises

This walking thing is hard! Friday night James got this huge bump on my head from falling and now its turning yellow and growing even bigger. This picture really does not do it justice.

So for now instead of letting him run around the kitchen like the crazy kid he is, he mostly stays in his pack and play unless we can watch him. He is way too daring and not nearly cautious enough. I was worried he would hate being confined but he loves it! He run in circles around it and bounces up and down. Its really the funniest thing - he is a very laid back happy baby, but I really did not think that this would be as big of a hit as it has been.

I think it's time for our first haircut... its getting a little out of control!

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

Fast food

John is out of town tonight - which means I'm not cooking. I really try hard to stay away from convenience food but on nights like this a frozen pizza is just way too easy to pass up. Over the weekend, we picked up these Gerber toddler meals for James. They looked decent, have all his food groups and nutrients, and since hes supposed to be off of baby food completely in a month - we decided to try and see how he likes them. And tonight seemed like the perfect night to try it out.

He took the first few bites and then it seemed to hit him that this was not mom's cooking.

And then he started to throw it on the floor.

 

Which wasn't nearly as fun as painting the wall with it (and this has taught me to move his high chair next meal time)

I gave up telling him no at this point. He obviously was not going to eat it so why not play with it.

But then one of the pieces on the wall looked good, so he picked that one off an ate it. 

James is very good at telling us when he is done eating, he just takes off his bib.

And then throws it on the floor.

I think parents who do not have dogs spend way too much time cleaning the floor. 

Anyways, I think he made his point - he did not like dinner. Duke and Bronx sure did though!