Because I'm a sucker for celebrations and Joshua is a sucker for cake, we celebrated James birthday again while Grandma Chisholm was visiting. My parents came over and we all had dinner and cake. All the pictures of the grandparents caught them in less than flattering angles so I'm sad to say that I'm not going to share those pictures here.
Updates:
- James is shaping up to be such a happy little toddler. He is constantly walking back and forth in the house with a big smile, a toy (balloon, book or drum stick) and usually a wild laugh of joy. He loves watching Alma dance and will start doing his own squatty dance with spins whenever he hears a beat he likes. He also still loves to be held -- both to give a sweet hug (head on our shoulder while he sucks his fingers) or to get a better view of the action. His love of books rivals his sisters and he can spend long chunks of time sitting on the floor pointing and "talking" to the imagines.
- His first words seem to be "Simon", "cat", "Shanti" and "sister". (Joshua and I are obviously chopped liver around here -- ha!) He can also sign "milk", "more" and "all done". And he certainly knows the word "bath" as he usually drops whatever he is doing and starts crawling up the stairs to the bathroom as soon as he hears the word from Daddy at 6:30 every night.
- Our weekday schedule has adjusted a bit since Alma started at her new preschool and we are still figuring out the best way to do things. We went from her gone two mornings week to five mornings a week. Previously, on the days when Alma didn't have preschool, after James's morning nap (10-11:30am) we would go out for a walk before coming home for lunch and Alma's 2pm naptime. But now, since we have to leave the house at 11:30 to pick Alma up from preschool, I'm often waking him up from his nap, bundling him up and putting him in the car. We come home and the kids eat lunch. Then James joins Alma for her afternoon nap. So by the time they get up from their naps around 4pm, we are getting into our dinner routine which runs into our bath and bedtime. Occasionally we can squeeze in a walk before dinner, but not always. This schedule change, along with the bitter cold weather, has made it more difficult to get outside time. While James seems okay with this, I'm feeling a little trapped by napping kiddos and looking forward to warmer days.
- At night, he sleeps from 7:15pm - 7:30am but I go in to nurse him at 6am every morning. He also wakes up and cries for a bit around 3am and 5am. I would love to cut out all night crying and nursing but it seems like it will be a gradual adjustment. Just last month I was still nursing him 2-3 times a night, so this is an improvement.
- James is still a good eater. No longer interested in mushy food, preferring instead sharp cheddar, homemade bread, peas, pears, apples, carrots, rice, kale, Cheerios and pretzel rods. Although, honestly he will eat anything after a proper introduction.
- His hair is still incredible blonde and his eye lashes are long but so lightly colored they are difficult to see. This is the opposite of Alma's which are dark and short.
- James is loving his swim class and can go under like a champ. My favorite thing is seeing how he closes his eyes and mouth when being guided through the water.
- James loves his baby doll, who Alma named Baby Beau Beau. Whenever he sees the stroller, he puts the baby inside and walks him around the house a bit before taking the doll out to give kisses. Then he usually offers the drool-covered doll to me for kisses.
- Speaking of his walking, James is ultra steady for his age. The dog rarely knocks him over, he can walk briskly when especially excited to get to a toy and even his dancing includes arm movements like a ballerina at times. It's been fun taking him for walks outside because he is so keen on crunching leaves under his feet and if he sees something interesting (balloons or a flag) he will stand there and point at the object indefinitely.
- When tired, sad, bored, snuggling, falling asleep or relaxed (most of the time he isn't walking or eating), he still sucks his middle and ring fingers with his right hand and twiddles his earlobe with his left hand.
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