"Happy One Street Birthday!" Part One

I admit that I had to squeeze John into the ONEsie on his big day.

 So, this post is LONG overdue, I know.  My sweet little John is already over thirteen months old, and I still haven't posted about his birthday!  By the way, James (who is reading everything he can get his hands on) reads "1st Birthday" as "one street birthday," so he was constantly enthusiastically wishing his little brother a "Happy One Street Birthday!"  Hilarious.

Back on January 29th, John turned a year old.  It was a Tuesday, and we had the luxury of having Daddy home all day since we were getting the trees taken care of that day.  We started the day with a festive birthday breakfast of blueberry muffins.

Happy Birthday to you!

Jolly John enjoying his breakfast (as ever).

In the morning, John had his one year doctor's check-up where he weighed in at over 20 pounds and was 30 inches long.  He was given the green light for cow's milk and got his shots.  The highlight of the visit was when the doctor walked into the examining room and greeted us by asking me if we had shaved John's head.  Seriously.  In her defense (which she also stated), it *is* a tradition in some (not ours) cultures.  But no, our baby is naturally bald.  Hilarious.

After spending the afternoon watching the "tree show" and going to Cherubs (where John got to see his BFF Mr. Peters), Grandma joined us for a special birthday pasta dinner.  Both boys thoroughly enjoyed their meals...

...and then it was time to enjoy some delicious and beautiful cupcakes from Baked in a Cup!

Oh- that's like my breakfast muffin, but with frosting?!

This looks interesting!

Mmmm... delicious!

Wah! It's all gone!

When we'd finished our dessert, it was time for gifts!  

James had wrapped some of his old puzzles and toys to give to John, which was very sweet.  John was delighted and we all had a fun time working on the puzzles!  Grandma brought the birthday boy some adorable new clothes and a "bike" which he found very exciting.

It was a fabulous day, and the fun was only beginning.  A few days later we had John's party!

Awesome Day

This morning James, John and I went to the PBA's pumpkin hunt. It's a lot like an egg hunt-- just plastic pumpkins full of treats instead of eggs. And the kids wear costumes. They had face painting (James wasn't interested) and decorations. There was coffee for the adults (nice!), and some "special guests" arrived via police escort. James had fun filling his bag with pumpkins and enjoyed the company of some of his new friends from school. Mommy had fun with some of her new mommy friends too. Added fun-- we walked through the woods to get there, and stopped by a garage sale on the way home. Croquet set (minus one mallet) for five bucks!
We played a quick round after wheeling it home across the street.

James sang me a song during acorn making. It was "Your Personal Penguin" from the Sandra Boynton book, except he changed it to, "I want to be your personal Jamesy," instead. Too cute.

Oh- this morning, John had cut his foot on a random shard of glass (yes, I'll be accepting my Mother-of-the-Year award later). Dan and I cleaned it up, but later in the morning James randomly said to me, "Today is the saddest day ever." When I asked why, he said it was because John got hurt. Sweet big bro.

John and I just finished sweeping and mopping the kitchen (which should now be shard-free). John rode on my back in the Beco. Thanks, Aunt Ali! So comfy for Mommy, and he seemed quite happy as well. Should have made the switch to the back sooner!

James just geared up (goggles and ear protection) to "assist" Daddy with leaf blowing. On the way out he said, "Mommy, when Daddy's done blowing the leaves, let's play croquet. It's my favorite game."

Morning Dialogue

This morning at the breakfast table, James and I had the following exchange:

James: Mommy!  You and John have on the same outfit!

Me: Yep.  We are both wearing dark blue.

James: But his has little white guitars on it, and yours doesn't.

Me: True.

James: And John has a bib necklace, and you have a gold and Tinkerbell necklace.


**Tinkerbell is a Jamesism for diamonds.  Because they cause "Tinkerbell" to fly around a room with their reflected light.
And I looove that he called the ever-present bib a "bib necklace."
Love. that. kid.

February School Art

James told us this heart person is stern. He then added, "But he has a little bit of love." (note the hearts)

Welcome to the family, John Patrick!

We are so happy to announce that John Patrick Lepori was born at 4:51 PM on Sunday, January 29th.

He weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

James insists on calling him Dutch. Or Brush. Or Dutch-Brush.
In fact, on Monday at the hospital, the conversation went something like this:
"Your brother's name is John Patrick."
"No, it's not!  His name is Dutch."
"Well, his nickname can be Dutch, but his real name is John Patrick."
"No, his real name is Dutch.  His nickname is Brush."
A little later he consented, "His name is John Quincy Dutch Brush Lepori."


Yesterday, after school, James came in and kissed him and said, "Hello, cute little Dutchy."

We are so happy!

Meet "Dutch"

In the last few months, James has started naming his "pets" (um, yes, he calls his stuffed animals pets).  Of course, his train engines have always been referred to by name, even those that aren't officially from the Island of Sodor, but rather are the faceless type from Ikea.

Well, he did name Burnsey the Duck sometime last winter or so, but then stopped talking about him so much.  (I think maybe that was around the time Ezra was born.  I do recall that Burnsey was treated like a baby; James rocked him, swaddled him, put him to bed...)
You can see Burnsey (from behind) in this photo from the summer of 2010:

But the more recently named pets include Knuffle Bunny:

and Trixie (both of whom owe their names to Mo Willems).  Here Trixie is sleeping in the Pack and Play (which we had out when some friends were visiting with their one year old).

There is also "Grown-up Trixie" who sometimes even is said to have a baby in her belly.

Of course you know Woody, but James has taken to calling him "Tootsies" recently.  You can see him hiding behind Zumi the puppy here.

Speaking of Zumi the puppy, he went by the name "Puppy" for quite a long time.  Then last month when we were in Greenville, he was "James the Puppy" (not to be confused with James Lepori or "James the Grown Up," mommy's cousin, shown holding him below).  Not long after arriving back in NJ, he became Zumi and has been so consistently ever since.

And here are Gretchen, Frank and Ezra M'Jen.  Ezra M'Jen is waving the checkered flag, and I believe Frank is telling Gretchen that her helmet is not on properly:

It may be worth noting that these three were named almost immediately upon James receiving them as a half-birthday/baptism anniversary gift from Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston.

Oh, and there's Marie whom you may recall was named after James saw "Aristocats."

And also Murdoch the cat, whom you may remember if you're my facebook friend.  James said that Murdoch would be a "real pet" if we colored him with chalk:

But, this blog post is titled "Meet 'Dutch'."
Where's Dutch?
Right here!

Breakfast at IHOP

yummy! We dropped Daddy off at the train and came to the "pancake house" for a fun start to our day.

***Update***
At dinner tonight, Dan asked James where he and I went for breakfast.  James enthusiastically replied, "The Entire House of Pancakes!"

Where's James?!

Perhaps you've been looking for James?
Or maybe you've just given up after so long without a blog post. . . (two months-- for shame!)


Well, summer is in full swing now, so hopefully my blogging will pick up, and you'll find what you've been looking for!


(by the bye, James LOVES to hide from Mommy and Daddy. And often his hiding consists of covering his face. Solely.)

James the Speller

(This happened back in March.)

We were here at "the new house," and James found the alphabet magnets in some box or bag we were unpacking. He wanted to put his name on the fridge, so I had him tell me the letters he'd need. "J.....A....M....E....S!" He was quite proud.

Then he said, "I want to spell 'funny James'." So I gave him the letters for "funny", one by one.

Then he'd take them down and put them back over and over.

Now he's been able to spell "funny" on command for about a month or so!

Thanks for the deposit, Blitzen.

James LOVES his new back yard. Lately, every time we head to the new house, that's where he wants to go (even today, with a high of 30 degrees).

Last weekend, I spent lots of time out there with him playing funny games like stand-atop-a-boulder-then-run-to-another-one. Well, at some point James says to me, "Look at these things I found, Mommy." I look down, and he's moving some little objects from one spot to another....

"James, put that down! Don't play with that! Yuck! That's poop!" Yep, folks, deer scat. (Understandably, it looked like little marbles to Jamesy.)

James said, "Who pooped in our yard?"

"Some deer."

"Why did the reindeer poop in our yard?"

"I don't know, James. They don't have a potty. Now, let's go inside and wash your hands."

And, every so often this week, James will ask again, "Why did the reindeer poop in our new backyard, Mommy?"

Spring?!

It is snowing right now.

It snowed Monday as well.

However, there are some early bulbs coming up in the yard. Last week, when they were just tiny green sprouts, Dan pointed them out to James.

"Look, James! That's spring!"

A couple of days ago as we were walking up the steps to the deck after school, James noticed one of the bulbs had sprouted much more. "Mommy! Look! Spring is getting taller!" he exclaimed. "I want to go check the others." And back down the stairs he darted to check on the others. "Look, Mommy! This Spring is getting taller, too. And this Spring. All the Springs are getting taller!"

Recent Jamesisms

Dan told me about this exchange this morning:

J: Why isn't Mommy taking me to school?

D: She had to go to work, but it's my pleasure to take you.

J: Why isn't it Mommy's pleasure?

As we were eating sushi for supper:

J: No rolls tonight! No dumplings tonight! Just these!

Some favorite words and phrases of late:

• perhaps
• chuffing
• pump your pistons
• sure
• yes, please
• no, thank you
• lackadaisical (they learned that one at school)
• I'm not feeling very well.
• I'm a baby.

Unfortunately, there's been a lot of whining lately as well. And emphatic declarations of, "I don't want to!"