Bird

James pointed at a magpie today and said "bird". We were reading a book with a picture of a bird last night, and I kept pointing to the bird and telling him what it was. Today, Dawn, his teacher said that when they were playing outside and he saw the bird, he got really excited and pointed and said bird.

Smarty-pants.

Catching Up

Ok, so I know it has been to long since I posted anything. And for that, I say..Sorry. It has been a very busy couple of months. We have been going full tilt trying to keep up with work, the house, James, and our sanity, as well as trying to enjoy the great summer weather that is finally upon us. So, what is new you ask.... lots. I'll try to catch up with a list:

• James broke his first molar on June 16
• His second molar broke on Thursday (July 16-wow, didn't notice it was a month apart!)
• As of the last week in June (I wrote them all down) he had 22 words: I am guessing there is about 30 now
• He loves to say "touch" and then touch stuff with a sweeping motion
• He also still loves to rub his hands together and say "wash" as in wash his hands
• He runs everywhere now, walking is so two months ago
• He gets up and down stairs great
• Outside is the only place to be, and he whines, crys, and throws a tantrum when he can't go out
• Dogs are the only animal out there, with the exception of a cat: All large animals are dogs, small are cats (even chickens are cats)

Overall, James is still very pleasant. He has a pretty even disposition, but is full of energy, and loves to have his own way. In the past few weeks, he has really become a toddler. Every day, he is a little bit less of a baby. And lately, he is all about dada.

He still loves school. He also loves cars and trucks, his shoes, animals, laying on the ground, bananas, blueberries, cheese (all food is cheese, with the exception of fruit and veggies, and bread), outside, coolers (especially ones that roll), balls, and hoses. He also loves camping (thank god). He hates mac and cheese (good boy). He loves running errands, and going out to dinner, and going to the awesome new dinosaur playground. Any playground for that matter. He loves to eat raspberries out of our garden and like to pick the strawberries out of the plant and eat them right up. He also loves little girls. He is really a first class flirt. So cute to watch.

We are having a great time with him. Yesterday, we went to the county fair to see the animals. It was a blast. They had a great petting zoo. We have been camping a few times in our new camper, which he loves. He especially loves to hide get out of his bed, and whip the curtain back and laugh hysterically at how slick he is. So funny.

It's been hot here the past few days (high 90's, low 100"s) so we took James to sushi to beat having to heat up the house cooking on Saturday night. He loved it. He just loves people watching.

Virginia came to visit on July 3 and stayed for five days. It was so great to be able to have time with her in one big chunk. We went camping for 4th of July weekend, and had a blast. James and Liam loved each other. Liam is so great, and so smart! What a ham! When they left, the next day James kept screaming and going into the spare bedroom looking for Liam. He was so upset that he was gone! It was great in a way, to know that our boys really loved each other. They had a ball playing and talking together.

I promise to do more updates from now on.

Surgery Day

Today was the little guy's surgery.  We had to be at the hospital at 6:30. We were so lucky that James woke up this morning in a great mood, even though our normal morning routine was way off.  We could tell that he was hungry, but he still was pleasant.  When we got to the hospital, he enjoyed checking everything out and playing with the really neat forehead thermometer. He did great.  When it was time for the procedure and they took him to the OR without us, he didn't cry at all.  The doctor said that he was amazingly good, and just looked around and was very well behaved with no crying or whining.  The ear tubes procedure went fine, as did the double frenulectomy.  He was pretty upset though when he woke up from the anesthesia.  Man was he screaming.  But he brought it down to whimering in about 15 minutes and we were released just before 9am.  

Once we made it home, he was still sad, and probably hungry, so we made him a smoothie, and he played for a little bit before going down for a nap.  Once he had a nap, he woke up in a great mood.  Although his ears are discharging  bunch of bloody goop, and earlier his mouth was bleeding like crazy.  He is in a great mood now.  He just fell asleep for his afternoon nap.   I am really glad that we made the decision to do this.  The Dr. reported that he had a bunch of really thick fluid in his ears, that would not have passed.  In addition, he also reported that James' tongue- tie was pretty tight, and that his upper lip attachment was very thick and attached, and he probably would not have grown out of it.  Glad to know that we did the right thing.  

So now we are on the mend, and can hopefully move forward this summer with no more ear infections!

Rough week

This week was a rough one.  We found out that James has allergies, and has to get tubes in his ears.  Additionally, he is teething with a vengeance, and was sent home from school on Thursday for biting.  He is having ear tube surgery on Wednesday.  So, since they are going to have to put him under anyway, we decided to go ahead and have his tongue-tie and lip attachment fixed as well at the same time.  So he is also having a double frenectomy.  Poor little guy! He has been on he pretty crabby and whiny side this week.

On the up-side though, he is such a ham.  He is communicating pretty well these days.  Even if that just means pointing at stuff and whining that he wants something.  He is really into graham crackers and watermelon.  I think he likes the watermelon because he can gnaw on the rind, and it feels good on his teeth.  The other night, he took over Maggie's slice of WM and had a death-grip on her hand so she couldn't take the piece away.  Super funny.  He is also way into frozen blueberries.  

New Stuff

James is a whirlwind of new stuff these days.  He has all sorts of new words, and movements.  This week he figured out how to bend down and pick things up from standing, and can really stand up on his own now.  He loves to walk around swinging his arms.  It is so cute.  He also loves to "dance".  To him, this means, when he hears music, he swings his arms from side to side with limp wrists and bobs his head.  It is a total riot.  He just yesterday did this while standing.  So cute!

James learned how to say no today.  I think that is all I need to say...