James' turn on the recorder

James got a hold of Maggie's recorder, and figured out how to make noise on it! He did really great before I got out my phone to video it, and then he needed a little help to do it again.

Mini Concert

Maggie was listening to some Christmas the other night, and started hooting on her recorder. James pulled two cups from his toy bin and started banging them together to join her. We got a short clip of them playing together. We tried a couple times, and every time we started the music and Maggie played, James would, too. He's so little yet, and I forget that they are really learning so much so quickly. It was really fun to watch!

Nine Months, are you kidding me?!

James is 9 months now. I can't believe it. In 12 short weeks he'll be a year. Gotta get started on that party!

He babbles with lots of consonant sounds, says Mama like "ba-bma", army crawls, claps, waves, greets everyone with an upturned hand, is learning to feed himself. He is so happy, it's wonderful.

His 9-month check up was Monday, 12/5. 22 pounds, 15 ounces, 29.3 inches. Still at the 90th percentile for height,  a little below 90th for weight. He is wearing 12-month stuff just about exclusively still, some 12-month pants are too short or too tight.

Thanksgiving 2011

A little late, but our Thanksgiving was really great!

Maggie's school had a kindergarten Thanksgiving program (because, you know, they AREN'T having a Christmas program). She's a turkey, 3rd in, bottom row at the lower right of the picture. 

 Here's our little turkey!!!

 And Bubby trying to take off her turkey hat.

  

I actually decorated for our Thanksgiving this year. I found some super-cute printables off Pinterest. It was fun to get all gussied up even though it was just us, Seth & Dixie and our munchkins.

And the table setting. I pulled out the china. It's pointless to have it be dispayed in my hutch if it isn't going to get used.

Right here is a picture of the BEST TURKEY I have ever made. I brined it overnight, and roasted it, UNSTUFFED, upside down. It was juicy even after it was all carved up and on the platter through dinner. Delicious!

Our happy little buddy ready to chow down on his first Thanksgiving. And boy are we THANKFUL for him! Just a joy to have in our lives.

Dinner ready to go. Turkey and gravy, stuffing, CHEESY green bean casserole, Dixie's rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato and apple bake and salad. Amazing. I think we've got our Thanksgiving menu nailed and perfect.

The drumstick was a big hit with James!

Lots of great supervision of the little boys going on here.

Tyler was sleeping so hard he didn't even wake up when I took the picture.

The girls are big enough to play on their own, but I had a Thanksgiving craft ready for them, too, while we prepped dinner. On each feather they had to write something they were thankful for.

And little Zeke settled down for a while that night and cuddled with his mama. It was really sweet!

And here we all are.

The Army Crawl

My life is about to radically change. James has started army crawling. I was hoping to put off his mobility for a little while longer, but excited to see him grow, too.

The Car Cart

This happy situation lasted until James thought it would be fun to lean into Maggie and bite her on the arm and stomach. So much for keeping them contained!

8 Months

Last Thursday James turned 8 months. Haven't weighed him lately (but my right bicep is sure looking awesome from all that carrying), but he's in nearly all 12-month clothes now. 9-month pants and onesies still fit, but the arms and legs are a bit short. 12-month jammies are maxed out! I love my little man in his jammies. So cuddly. He is not crawling yet, but rolls all over and pushes himself backwards. Loves to play with his toys sitting up, but sometimes gets excited and throws himself backwards - so he sits with a pillow behind him to keep him from cracking his skull open. This month he's really started to wave at people, for "hello," "good-bye" and basically to get your attention. Mr. Spaid is definitely my (Melissa's) child. His volume goes to 11! Has discovered his outdoor voice and utilizes it OFTEN! The boy will not stand to be ignored or put off; I can't wait for him to understand the concept of patience - everyone's ears will appreciate it. Especially in the car in the afternoons when I'm stuck in the carpool line. It's rough!

He tricked me into thinking he was going to sleep all the way through the night at the beginning of the month. Slept through the night for about a week. Now he's back to up once or even twice at night. I'd ignore him and let him cry it out, but James is quite strong-willed, it turns out. I'm pretty sure if I let him go he'd cry from 2:30 until 7:00 when it's actually time to get out of bed. So, pretty much every night I get up for a middle of the night feeding. It's not that bad - he cuddles with me before I put him back in his crib, so I get a little extra love in there.

James will still eat pretty much everything I've given him in the way of solid foods, and we are working on thicker/chunkier textures and seasonings and flavors now. Any foods we eat that aren't highly allergic he gets a little bit of at dinner, and he really likes it. He's not quite at the point where he can feed himself chunks, but is getting better at pinching puffs between his fingers and getting them to his mouth. One of his favorite things is a strip of bread, or chunk of roll. Those 8 teeth are quite fun to use, I think. We are working on a sippy cup, but haven't had a lot of success with it yet. I think I need to get a different type.

And, we discovered this month he as a HUMONGOUS underbite (think a bulldog's jaw). His bottom teeth come completely in front of his upper teeth with space to spare. I sure hope that self-corrects, and now I wish he sucked his thumb like Maggie, it might actually have corrected the problem. Oh, well. Head-gear at 12 anyone?

Here are his monthly boppy pictures. Such a happy little buddy!

See! So happy!

And here we introduce his lovey, Allistair the Alligator. And James' sucky-lips and doe eyes. He sucks on his tongue when he's tired, or cuddling with his mama, or holding something soft. Like Allistair. He's SO sweet with those eyes and lips. Makes me melt every time.

Halloween 2011

Tyler and I headed up our church's Fall Festival this year. It made for a very busy October for me, but it was a lot of fun. Tyler and I went as the King and Queen of Spaids. The playing card fronts were made by his mom when she and John were first married, so there's some history there. We were joined by a bumblebee fairy and Charlie Brown. I didn't want James in a hot costume, and Charlie Brown was good and easy.

Zaylie and Maggie.

The King and Charlie, waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

Parlor Tricks

James learned a new trick at the fall festival!

Best giggles ever!

Enjoyed a sunny moment at the park

I'd say day at the park, but I don't have that much free time right now! We stopped after some errands at a local park we hadn't tried out yet. Maggie ran around with some kids she met and I popped James in a baby swing. He loved it! And I am loving his chunky thighs.

In this one you can see how much hair he's getting! He's going to end up a toehead like his sister, but his is coming in a lot quicker than Maggie's did!

You can see his bottom teeth in this one. He's got the 4 up top to match, too!

I am loving his Halloween PJ's. Having fun this morning playing with toys. 

Annual Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

This morning we took the chilluns to the pumpkin farm. It was fun to be there this year - it was the perfect weather, not too hot, and James got to sit in a stroller instead of in my uterus (TMI, sorry, couldn't resist).

Maggie enjoyed playing in the corn bins again.

Here's the little man.

 I see TWO turkeys in this picture. 

 The lighting isn't great here, but the sheep eating out of her hand tickled something fierce!

 James playing sack of potatoes.

 Tube slide.

 Corn maze.

All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

Friday after school Maggie asked me rig up another floss slip-knot so she could yank out her loose tooth. Several tugs and a plea for floss removal later, she gave it one last try and her tooth came out! And once again I couldn't keep it together and cried for just a minute over my baby growing up a little more more.

7 Months and Fantastic

Monday James turned 7 months. He is sitting up pretty well, rolls over and over and over and over, turns and twists, smiles, laughs, babbles, blows tons of bubbles with slobber, and as of today (Saturday) has 7 teeth!!! Here's his boppy picture from Monday.

 Same day, Maggie feeding him some baby puffs. Do they look related?

 And here we have the two most beautiful children I have ever seen. GOODNESS SAKES!

 Same day, riding on Daddy's shoulders, a favorite place to be.

On the flip side of all this happy, there has been a LOT of crying this week with two teeth coming in. I have to constantly remind myself that at some point in the very near future he will be like Maggie who is losing teeth and this is just a phase. Tyler took care of a frazzled Mommy with a date Friday night!

Tyler Had A Visitor Labor Day Weekend

 I can't believe I didn't post these already. Labor Day weekend Tyler's male soul mate, Josh, visited. I took a cue from my friend Niki's husband Greg who corralled their kids all weekend so I could enjoy Niki. So Tyler and Josh had uninterrupted time together. And let me tell you, those boys enjoyed themselves. Additionally - I think Josh does not eat regularly when he's home. He ate and ate and ate while he was here. Tyler didn't say, but he may have had to purchase a 2nd seat on Southwest for the flight home.

  Josh is a big turkery hunter. So the turkeys that visit our yard were a real treat, as was this huge flock down the road from our house. We parked and watched these turkeys for a good 1/2 hour. So much fun!

 And Maggie also enjoyed Josh. I don't remember why she needed to have a pitchfork on the front porch, but she was embarrassed I took her picture.

James Thinks Torture By Sissy Is Fun

Sitting Up - We're Growing Up!

James is sitting! Can't pull himself to sitting but can now sit up for several minutes on his own once I sit him up. We've entered a new exciting phase- gonna need some new toys. Our address is... Just kidding.