Itsy Bitsy and So Grown Up.

OK, this really needs a video.  Soon I should have the skills to create and attach such a thing.  In the meantime, you'll just have to use the powers of mental visual imaging...

We've been singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with James for a while.  A few times in the last weeks, I've seen him do the motions for the rain falling down.  Well, on Friday morning, we were having our morning snuggle time all together in bed.  James was sitting up, and I suddenly realized he was doing the spider motions with his hands.  He was looking at them himself, very deliberately.  I started singing, and Dan joined right in.  James proceeded to do the motions for the entire song!  SO EXCITING!  We gave him quite an ovation.

I was so delighted that we had gym class later that morning (it had been snowed out on Wed.).  Usually we sing "Itsy Bitsy..." during circle time.  Wouldn't you know that we did NOT do it this week.  Boo.  The class still had some great moments, however.  

There were NINETEEN toddlers there (which means 20 adults-- the teacher & the guardians) since the Friday class is already pretty big and all the Wednesday crew was there too.  Well, James was not deterred by the crowd.  He spent lots of time in the ball pit as usual.  He also danced to the music and then hit the two slides.  (This, by the way, is his normal gym class routine.  He has become more and more skilled and independent in this play.)  

After the free-gym-time, we have the aforementioned circle time which includes singing and parachute play which is followed by bubbles then a goodbye song.  James, like many of his classmates, tends to run off during the parachute business to try to get in a few more rides down the slide.  Well, he was half-way up the stairs to the slide when the bubble machine started.  He looked over, said "bubbles" and practically leaped off the slide!  (I caught him.)  He then ran over to the center of the crowd of kids & bubbles and shouted "bubbles."  So cute!  He was so enraptured that he actually tipped over (it was pretty crowded).  

When the teacher told them to come get clappers for the goodbye song, James got so excited.  There were lots of kids between him and his teacher, but he was not deterred.  He mapped out a course and took off running to the side and back that got him right up front in a jiffy.  There he stood eagerly reaching up for his clapper.  I wish I could have videoed this moment.  It was amazing.  

More Teeth, Less Hair

Well, last week we discussed that James really needed a haircut.  Dan thought we could do it ourselves: either trim the edges or take the clippers (with the longest guard) to him.  I know that it is hair, and it will just grow back, so even if we screwed it up, it wouldn't be a big deal.  However, I thought that we should go somewhere professional to get it done.  My thinking was two-fold: a) It's his first haircut; I want pomp & circumstance. b) Once we saw how they did it, we might do better on our own.

So, we finally decided to go for it.  Pomp and Circumstance, here we come.  We got an appointment for Saturday afternoon at the nearby children's hair salon.  Oh man, it was a madhouse!  One kid was wailing through his entire haircut.  There were kids wandering around.  Hairdryers blowing.  Videos playing at each "chair."  James kept his positive, social spirits happily going into the arms of the receptionist.

He was assigned the Jeep chair right up front.  His hair dresser turned on a Calliou video that James ignored.  He thought the giant stuffed giraffe was more interesting.  Oh, by the way, there's no seatbelt/strap in the Jeep seat, so he slipped right down into the hair

y floorboard.  Nice.  The stylist wet his hair and snipped away.  No tears until the hairdryer came out.  He received a diploma and a little baggie of his hair.  Oh and lollipops for Mommy & Daddy.  The whole thing took about 15 minutes.  It was bizarre.

We'll be trying it on our own next time.  We'll see how it goes...

Meanwhile, tooth #5 has erupted.  It is up top, next to the left front tooth.  

Also, James has at least 20 words in his vocabulary!  Mommy, Daddy, ball, see, balloon, bubbles, hat, chilly, cold, hot, banana, boot, baby (pronounced day-dee), stinky-dinky, door, no, hi, vroom, truck, sweep,...

PS  I know this post obviously needs photos; I'll add some soon.  He does look handsome!

Happy Snowy New Year!

So, almost a month ago, on New Year's Eve, we had a baby playdate. This is the group of moms & babies that James & I have been hanging with for a year now thanks to the breastfeeding support group that our hospital sponsors.

Anyway, it was great fun. We counted down until noon for the new year. The babies/toddlers were all looking at us like we were crazy. "Please, Mommy, just give me my lunch." They did really seem to enjoy toting around the sparkly metallic horns that one of the moms brought, however.

It was snowing pretty hard all morning, so after lunch we bundled up the kiddos in their snowsuits, hats, mittens, boots, etc. and headed outdoors. So fun! Someone brought a baby sled (it has a seat with straps to buckle the tot in place), so we all took turns pulling our loved ones up and down the hill in the backyard.

Let me just say, James was much more interested in the slide on the back patio than he was the snow. Once he got his turn on the sled, he was won over! He was laughing the entire ride! When I forced him to let a playmate have her turn, he became James, the Arctic Explorer. He was crawling all through the snow, carving out new paths. It was REALLY cute. Well, up until the point at which his increasingly snowy mittens lost all traction, and he ended up doing a faceplant into the snow. Not so nice. There were tears, but a quick recovery.

We've been fortunate enough to get more snow throughout 2009, most recently last weekend when Nana & Pops were here. Of course, we could not keep Nana indoors. She was outside helping Daddy shovel then making snowballs and a cute snowman right away. James was a bit more wary this time around; he seemed to prefer standing on the deck and looking out at things, but he did enjoy finding a little "cave" in the bushes with Mommy and riding on the sled.

New Year, New Skills

Happy New Year.

James is definitely a toddler now. No more crawling for this boy. He can turn, walk without holding items, walk without looking like a drunkard. It was his movement of choice today. We're off to Stride Rite tomorrow for big boy shoes!

He's also building his vocabulary: hi there, yeah, see, ooh, oh, nana (banana OR something that looks tastey), vroom, tree (we think), boo (moo-- what a cow says)

He loves to dance to music. Today he danced when a TV program was turned on at the New Years party. Most often he dances to the tunes played by his toy soldier Christmas ornament from Nana & Pops or to the singing birthday balloon from his friend Cora. His dance moves are pretty cute-- rather bouncy.

James picks up remotes and holds them to his head and says "hi there." It is pretty funny. He picked up my actual cellphone and did it; when he did he pressed a button. It made a noise, and he was quite intrigued!

A couple of days ago he climbed atop the ottoman and stood on it. Somehow I kept my composure and caught him as he lost his balance. He cracked up and climbed on and off for quite a while thereafter!

Of course, we're very pleased that he continues to sleep well at night. Alleluia! I've put him to bed several nights this week-- go me!