Exploding Diaper

Probably not how I should spend 5 minutes updating my very neglected blog, but it's funny.

James' diaper exploded overnight, it must have had a tear in it or something. What a crazy mess. Those polymer crystal-things were all over his front, with a similar amount in the rest of his PJ's. And I couldn't just pop him in the bath, either. I didn't want that stuff clogging my drains. It took at least 10 wipes to pick them all up and get him clean. And I am SO glad his jammies are zip-ups and he can't get inside. Jeez!

Ok. Here are some other pictures from the past couple of weeks (poor Maggie - with her being in school I don't take quite as many photos of her anymore. I will remedy that this weekend with her 6th birthday)

Here's James drinking from a bottle. He's very proficient now. We're moving on to sippy cups.

 We had to install gates both upstairs and downstairs last weekend. Mr. James likes to make a beeline to the stairs as soon as no one is watching him. They are a hassle but worth it.

 And when people aren't looking he likes to eat shoes. All kinds: mine, Tyler's, Maggie's, clean, dirty, new, old, slippers... It's a gross habit we're trying to break.

 And the tupperware cabinet. He's found it and loves it. It still is not quite enough to keep him from fussing when I'm making dinner, but it does provide a couple minute's distraction at least.

And I noticed that my iPhone pictures are quite red. Not sure how to remedy that.

James - 10 Months

What a cutie! So we've made it to 10 months. I say it every month, but James is such a happy baby boy! He can feed himself finger foods, does well with a sippy cup, can hold his own bottle, army crawls all over everywhere, loves his Allistair the alligator, LOVES his mama and reaches for me when other people hold him, did really well at Christmas with all kinds of new faces and places, can play the recorder and duck call (thanks, Poppy!). Let's see, what else... When he is near chairs he can pull himself back up to sitting from being on his tummy, but hasn't sat up on his own in his crib. I've heard that bigger kids take a little longer to get their full mobility because they have more mass to move, and I believe it. However, James' army crawl is really fast, you can't turn your back on him for a second!

He is REALLY LOUD. I'm not surprised, really, but sometimes I think he is going to pop my ear drums. Happy noises, crabby noises, they are both quite voluminous. No words yet. He's got a lot of consonant sounds he can make, but doesn't really put them together. I had hoped he was trying to say "mama" - but that's died out mostly.  I weaned him over Christmas, and that's gone fairly well. He's STILL not sleeping through the night, mostly because I am a softy this time around, and haven't had the heart to really make him cry it out (although this morning at 5a.m. I did let him cry for quite a while before I got up and got him a bottle). I'm not sure what he weighs at the moment, but I'd say hefty is a good descriptor. His 12-month pajamas are stretched to the max, length- and width-wise. I put him in an 18-month outfit yesterday and they were none too baggy, and the PJ's he has on above is an 18-month size.

Still in love with my little man. And he's giving me big kisses now which make up for all the hair-pulling that goes along with said kisses. I love those slobbery kisses!