Who Moved My Sippee Cup?

Due to our recent move and the complete opposite directions in which my husband and I work, we decided that it was time to move James to a daycare that was a little closer to home. This was a tough decision. We got on the waiting list for the previous daycare when I was 14 weeks pregnant. It was our first choice in daycares, and had impeccable references. And it became James' second home.

Ms. Liz and her boyfriend

This last year was especially wonderful. James had two AMAZING teachers - loving, cheerful, and yet not willing to let James get away with anything. The kind of teachers you pray for. When we decided to move daycares, we simply couldn't do it until it was time to transition to the next classroom. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving those two ladies any earlier than we had to.

Ms. Jo and her sweet boy

In addition to our sweet teachers, James made his first school friend. At about 18 months, if you asked James who his best friend was, his answer was repeatedly "Wye-eet" (Wyatt). So, the idea of leaving that sweet boy was tough as well.



Buddies



We didn't just pick any school. Again - we looked around, we got references from friends. We settled on one within a short distance of home. Its got a great reputation for preparing little people for kindergarten, and several friends provided rave reviews.

The first few weeks were tough. My baby doesn't like changes to routine. Thank goodness Daddy does drop-off. Mommy attempted it one day and as a result, James ALMOST came to work with Mommy. Inconsolable crying as I walked down the hall. My heart broke. And then in week 3... one day James walked up to his classroom, walked in, and sat down for breakfast. And then today... James told us he played with "Ta-ssi" and "Raw-ert" (Ms. Tracy and Robert). My heart soared.

Don't get me wrong - we miss our sweet teachers and friends. So much so that we've already had a play date with Wye-eet at the zoo in the interim, and plans to get together around birthday time.

But... once again, our boy is amazing us with his resiliency.

Travel Triumphs and Tribulations

My husband and I LOVE to travel. We were both bitten by the travel bug in early adulthood, and if we had our way, we'd be in a plane, train, or automobile probably 50% of the time. Having James has put a serious crimp in that part of our life. We tried some mini-vacas when he was still an infant. Results were mixed. While a trip to see G-squared was a success, a long-weekend with friends in Branson had us driving home at 10pm a day early. That one was so scarring that we haven't ventured more than an hour away from the house.

Don't get me wrong - there isn't a place out there that would make me give up my sweet son, but we do miss being able to take weekend trips. So we decided it was time to give it another chance. We figured we'll never make it on a 12-hour trip to the beach next year if we can't master this road trip concept. This past week we took a two-night trip to see my brother-in-law, about 6 hours away.

So, with Explorer packed, we set out. In an attempt to stave off temper tantrums, we planned carefully our route, stopping at the 2 hour mark for some entertainment.

We settled into the car after several hours at the zoo. We'd kinda skipped naptime, so we were thrilled when James crashed in his carseat. We woke him up in time to stop for dinner, and then continued on our merry way. I'd like to say that the remainder of the trip was blissful, but that would be a lie. The use of the word "NO!" was frequent from the back seat, and the DVD player was removed when a certain size-7 foot couldn't seem to stay away from the screen. But we made it without having to pull the car over for time-out. And not to worry - we were apprised of every single truck once the pint-sized-traveler was awake. ("Tuck! Biiig Tuck!")

The visit itself was great. James loved spending time with his uncle (and his uncle's dog), and we also got to catch up with one of Matt's friends from college and his GORGEOUS daughters. Other highlights from the trip included:

* James spontaneously calling the hogs after we'd pulled up behind a Tide-bedecked-minivan.

* Many, many "bus choo-choos." (This would be a bus, but he wished it was a choo-choo.)

* Old McDonald had a sea lion?

We made the return trip about 48 hours later with similar conditions. Were it not for the need to pull over a change a tire in the middle-of-nowhere Alabama, the trip home might have even been uneventful. Again, not that it was the picture of blissful patience from either the mother or the child, but it was certainly tolerable.

Why Hello There... Tales from Toddlerdom

Seing as no one really follows this blog (with the exception of maybe 2 friends), I'm not really sure to whom I'm saying hello. Maybe to the old me who thought "But of COURSE I can have a full time job, be a mom and wife, write a blog and find time for sleep." Maybe I'm saying hello again to the idea of capturing my sweet son's milestones. Or maybe I'm saying hello to the 20 minutes I have until the wash needs to move to the dryer. But either way - hello there!

It's been so long since I last wrote, I can't imagine summing up over a year of James' life. It's been the most precious journey for his daddy and I to take. Of course, I can say that now that he sleeps almost 12 hours a night (and sometimes lets us sleep until 8 am!). So let's just fast forward from that crazy blog about ear infections and move on to what's been going on lately.

We started the family staycation week on Saturday. I've been working some insane hours at work so when I say we started on Saturday... this was truly the beginning of more than just a weekend. To celebrate, we decided to visit downtown LR and do some fun touristy toddler things. We invited some of our besties along for the morning. So three adults, two toddlers, and a newborn trekked along down the steaming streets to the Peabody Hotel for the March of the Ducks.

If you've never been, the Peabody ducks march every day at 11 am from their "palace" to the fountain in the lobby.

I think James and Jane were enjoying just being out and about, but once they saw the ducks... well, this was suddenly a new level of fun.

As if the sight of several ducks strolling down a red carpet wasn't enough, we followed THAT up with a trip up 17 floors in a glass elevator. Let me tell you, if you have a toddler and live ANYWHERE near a building with such an amenity... this was way more exciting than the ducks. Heck, this might have been more exciting than lunch with the entire cast of Sesame Street. And it was free (shh! I bet the Peabody doesn't appreciate my brand of publicity). Unfortunately, no photos exist from that portion of the day. 'Cause if the two shrieking children weren't a dead giveaway that we had no business in the very nice elevator, two moms taking pictures would have been.

However, the fun didn't end there folks. Oh no - next we walked about a block toward the car and hopped on the River Market Trolley, where adults are $1 and children of the wee variety are free. Oh wait, did I say trolley? As James later corrected me "Choo-choo."

The day was going so well and the kids were having so much fun, we tried to draw out the enjoyment a little longer so we hit the end-all-be-all, God's-gift-to-lunch-for-kids restaurant in town and indulged the munchkins in some purple milkshakes, chicken fingers and grilled cheese.

Between the ducks, elevator, trolley, and milkshake, it was perhaps the perfect day for my sweet son. He got a chance to use many of his favorite words - duck, WHOA, choo-choo, mo'?... The number of squeals of delight cause my heart to fill over and over with happiness. Sharing it with our sweet goddaughter and James'-partner-in-crime (and her mama and brother) made it even better.

Hopefully, I can capture a little bit better the wonder of my sweet son's world in the coming days. I've been a total slacker on the whole documentation aspect this last year. But when you're trying to keep up with life... some things have to slide. I'd rather it be the blog than the experiences. :)

Mean Ole Ears

James has inherited not only his uncles' height, but apparently also their susceptibility to ear infections. Boo!!

I was feeling pretty good - we made it to six months without any health issues. A runny nose here and there, but nothing crazy. Then, like magic, James hit six months and got an ear infection. Infection cleared up (after antibiotics), within a week, back at the doctor's office with another fever and snotty nose. Ear infection #2. While taking a new antibiotic for that, the fever came back and so back to the doctor's office we went. This time, they gave him the magic antibiotic shot. Poor James. Poor Mommy. It was awful.

As soon as he was off the antibiotics from EI#2, fever came back. This time, it brought not only a snotty nose but snotty eyes as well (see below). I guess the infections wanted to pop in for Mother's Day and say "Welcome to parenting!"



So James and I spent Saturday morning in the doctor's office, yet again. After another shot of antibiotics (and crying by both of us), we came home feeling better despite double ear infections. We went back for a follow-up visit and second shot Monday, at which point we were referred to an ENT doctor for a consult regarding tubes. DOUBLE BOO!

Now, I must say, James is catching on to the nurses' wily ways. As soon as two women walk into the exam room, he grows suspicious. Once on the exam table, he starts whining and talking sternly to all involved. Poor baby. He knows what's coming.

I'm kinda worried about the tubes. I know its a simple and quick procedure, but the idea of my baby under anesthesia is not a pleasant thought. Only seven months old and already needing something like this. Poor sweet baby.

Those mean ole ears!

Girls like skills...

... and boy does James have them!

We've passed the six month mark, and James is charging ahead with all the fun things he can do now. Not only am I amazed that he's been with us for six months (and survived two newbie parents), its so much fun watching all his new tricks.

He's rolling over from back-to-tummy and tummy-to-back.


He LOVES giving kisses. My sweet little boy cups your face in his hands and zeros in to plant a big wet one on you. Now, usually the recipient (me or dad) will have to wipe the slobber off our face and onto James' outfit, but still... it's so sweet.


He's started scooting around. He can't quite crawl, but I know that trick is on the horizon. Right now he tucks those knees under his belly and kinda pushes himself forward. I wouldn't say its an organized effort, but he's definitely moving across the room.

My baby's got skills!

Just right

I never really thought much about the speed at which we as humans "grow up." Matt jokes that he wants James to be potty trained tomorrow, and we both want him to learn to sleep through the night, and of course it will be nice when ____ (fill in the blank). As though we wanted him to hurry up.

I realized today that he is growing up at the speed of "just right." I can't imagine having come home with a baby that already knew how to roll from one side to the other. I could barely change a diaper without him peeing on us both. I can't imagine what I'd have done if the task had been further complicated the first couple of weeks by him rolling from side to side. And thank goodness he can't talk yet - I'm still working on controlling my speech to be child appropriate. Heaven forbid he repeat what I said in the car when I got cut off on the interstate yesterday.

Don't get me wrong - I miss the wee baby who couldn't stay awake long enough to finish eating and who fit in my arms quite perfectly. But I don't miss the total and complete sleep deprivation when he was getting up every other hour to eat.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this family is growing together "just right" - both parents and baby. And isn't it amazing how that works out?