13 Months 2 Weeks

When little James started walking, yay James!!!! I love the toddling stage with the arms up for balance.

Yo

Is a nickname for Yo-yo, according to Ellie.

Uh Uh

I think James thinks the bathroom is called the "uh uh" because I always try keep him out of it. Now he crawls up to it or in it if he's fast enough saying 'uh uh, uh uh, uh, uh"

One Year Old

We have a one year old!! The cake was an bit of a let down, James wasn't overly impressed and ate it with little fanfare. He is obsessed with his solid foods now and happily kicks his feet while he's eating. I love his cute words: na-na (banana) Mum mum (mom) da da (Dad) na na na (NO NO NO)
His best skill is waving hello and goodbye and knowing when to do it. He waves and makes a noise that sounds a bit like haaaaaa. When you put his jacket he waves or if the door opens.
He can stand and cruise around and lets go for 10 seconds or so but not quite ready to go. Speed crawler!!!!
No more formula! He has en ear infection and is getting better thanks to Zithromycin, the only medicine that seems to work for him. He weighs 22 lbs.

Stuck Plane

I told Eric and Ellie that they wouldn't see Grandmom tonight because her plane was stuck in North Carolina and she was going to be 5 hours late.
Ellie said "What's the plane stuck to?"

Tea

Today we went to the Four Seasons for tea to celebrate Mom's birthday. Ellie, Mom, Julie, Lindsay and I went. We had tea and pastries and Ellie dressed up in her beautiful dress. My favorite part was when Ellie said "Is this what real princesses do?"

Ellie's Wish

"Star Light, Star Bright... I want the wish I wish tonight. I wish I had no brothers."

More of Eric's Religious Ponderings

With the discussions about James' baptism, Eric would like to know "why did God give his baby to Mary and Joseph?"

Finally

James can sleep through the night!!! 11 hours straight woo hoO!!!!!!!

Diginal Camera

I know when the kids get bigger I am going to forget their cute baby ways of saying things but I just can't get over how Ellie says "my diginal camera" She got a pink one from Santa.

James at 9 Months

20 lbs 1oz. 29.5 inches! Perfect!!! He is doing so well. Crawling (sort of) and standing. If he wants something he has his own method of rolling/dragging/crawling to get it. Still up at night at midnight and 5am... will it ever end!

Eeeeww

So today on the radio we heard "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" and Eric said "Who would kiss Santa-he doesn't even have a mouth!"

The true meaning of Christmas

Grammy gave Eric and Ellie a little manger and all the little figurines to put inside. Eric set the whole thing up and thought about it for a couple minutes and then said "well... where's God?"

Apples & Oranges

These kids never cease to amaze me. In thinking about how Tina and I differ, I guess I can understand. Tina can draw anything, and I couldn't even write my name so you could read it. Funny how I see that in Eric and Ellie. Little science guy and budding artist. Both smart but in different ways. Just really good kids I enjoy being around. When I m able to drop everything including my crazy thought process, I start to appreciate just how far they have come in a couple years. Reading, learning, and remembering everything reminds me of me. So does stubbornness and nosiness. But hey, as long as we can help them grow up and be a part of it every day, they'll be fine.

Ears

Eric "I'm lucky, I have tubes in my ears... all Ellie and James have is ear wax."

James's First Ear Infection

Poor James has his first ear infection. Runny nose, very fussy, won't sleep at night. He has a look on his face like he wants to be happy but can't. He is taking amoxicillin. At the doctor's he weighed 19 lbs 1 oz.

Naked Heart

Today I took off James' shirt while he was playing because he was drooling through everything. Ellie walked in the room and said "Mommy, why is James naked around his heart?"

Awww....

Tonight Eric told me "I have the best life ever" (must note this was in response to me organizing a playdate with his buddy, and driving our neighbor to school with us)
Ellie fell asleep reading without her binky and never mentioned it.. we have a big girl now!

Trick or Treating... again

The kids are obsessed with trick or treating. Ellie asked if we could go trick or treating again on Thanksgiving! Then they were amazingly playing together dressing up in old costumes and going around the house pretend trick or treating. It was nice to see them playing together with out fighting. Ellie did fall down and Eric screamed "Ellie bumped her head and I didn't even do it this time."