Cheeks galore!

So, I've been informed that Buggy's cheeks are always red. Not so. And since I snap about a billion pictures a month, for this Thursday 10, you get the pleasure of 10 pics of the Bug Man. 9 are "redless" and 1 is red, for comparison.








The next 2 I included to show you all how he's starting to try and get into things. He was a good 2 feet away from this table. NO idea how he managed to get here since he remained in the sitting position the whole time and still can't crawl.


In this one, his initial position was facing the camera, in front of that book. He somehow dragged himself over to the entertainment center where he proceeded to yank on the handles. But look how proud he is of himself!


Poor little dude has serious sensitivity issues and eczema. Because of that, if he gets hot or irritated, his cheeks get red. Like this


And that is our little cheeky guy, whose big jowls sometimes droop. Everyone comments on those cheeks. And it's not because they're red. It's because they're so darn irresistible.

9 months old, already??

Tip of the day

Actually, bunnies don't like carrots. They only like apples. So it's ok to throw apples in the yard cuzin* we need to feed them.

And really, when it comes down to it, how can you argue with a face like that?


*cuzin- also known as because.

Monday Map

I don't know if I mentioned it, but J learned to float in swim class last week. I use the term "learned" loosely, of course, as it's hit or miss on whether or not he actually will float. But he did it once. And we made a huge deal out of it, so I'm hoping that gives him the confidence to keep on trying!

He's fearless, as I've been told countless times by the owner of the place. Given that we know someone who almost drowned, at a similar age to J's 3.5, fearless has me worried. Fearless is just one tiny step away from falling in the pool, or perhaps even jumping in, when someone has their back turned for one split second. So every Thursday we have swimming, and he definitely looks forward to it. He's in the class with 3 of our playgroup friends who he has known since they were all infants. They get along well and it really helps to keep them interested.

So....I got sidetracked. Back to that floating day. Swimming is 45 minutes long and O had fallen asleep. I moved closer to the small pool that J was in, in order to get a seat with a back (as opposed to the bleachers, which are the antithesis of comfortable anyway, but especially when holding a child). I settled in with O draped against my chest, snoozing. I can hear most of the conversation going on in the pool.

The instructor, Miss Kristen, had to repeatedly tell J to keep his hand on the wall. Paying attention to safety isn't exactly his strong suit. Then came his turn to practice floating. Up until that particular day, floating was the one thing that made him nervous. He'd scrunch up his legs instead of stretching them out, squeeze his eyes tightly shut, and try to grab onto Miss Kristen. The owner happened to walk by and said "make sure he opens his eyes and relaxes!" J was instructed to do so. I'm assuming it worked (forgot to mention the lattice blocking my view!). Then the owner instructed Miss Kristen to make sure J's ears were under the water. I could hear him yelling "but I can't HEAR!" He was instructed to relax, yet again.

They sang the ABCs to keep them calm. And that's when Miss Kristen let go. And J floated.

Proud does not begin to describe his face when he first walked out to tell me. That shy little smile curving up as he said "I floated by myself." High fives and clapping abound, with the owner lavishing on the praise. A lollipop rounded out the lessons, making the whole day just amazing for him.

Ok, the whole thing may not have been quite that dramatic. But it certainly felt monumental to me. And probably to him too. The thing is, everything he learns still feels monumental to me. It's so amazing to watch him soak up new knowledge. Their brains are like sponges, paying attention to every tiny detail, sometimes even the details you don't want them to notice. So I shouldn't be surprised about what happened at bedtime last night, but I still was.

I mentioned above how he didn't like his ears under water since he couldn't hear. I figured he didn't much pay attention to the ABC song. I didn't pay attention either because I had no idea Miss Kristen sang it differently.

Last night we were reading his Curious George book. It has an ABC section in it. He touched every letter as he sang the song. He gets to the end and says: Now James knows his ABCs, next time won't you float for me?

He smiled up at me at the end, looking for approval. And it took me a minute to figure out where he had heard that. So he can hear under water! I smiled and told him his song was perfect. Next week it's back to floating!

Funny Friday

Last night, at bedtime, I told J he could have 2 minutes of snuggling. Snuggling rounds out the very elaborate bedtime routine. Ok, I take that back, one last kiss/hug, one more sip of water, and one last trip to the potty round it out. But snuggling is supposed to be the end.

I cuddle in with him and rub his back for a minute. I start to pull away.

Mama, that was just 1 minute. Now we need the second minute. This is just the second minute starting, ok??

He certainly knows how to delay!

Thursday 10

From Matt regarding O-man....


His center of gravity is jacked because of that bottom.

Sweet baby, er, big boy James?

At bedtime, I always sing a song or two for James. Typically, it's Twinkle, Twinkle as he stares at the most amazing invention for getting kids to sleep ever, his twilight turtle. Tonight he also asked for "that cowboy song", also known as Sweet Baby James.

He has heard this song probably a million times, for obvious reasons, so he's no stranger to the lyrics. Tonight, he stops me mid-song "no Mama. I am not Baby James. I am Big Boy James. Sing that!"

Wordless Wednesday

Tips on Tuesday

You don't have to wear sweatpants in the snow. You can just wear reg'lar pants. 'Cept if you wait till it gets really cold and really snow, then you can wear sweatpants.

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You can't let milk get cold. You need to freeze it so that you can drink it later.

A Day in the Life....

of us!

For my first Monday Map, I am cheating. I thought it might be fun to show you what a day in our life is like.

My day starts at 6:45 when J wakes up. He climbs in bed and pretends to go back to sleep. Usually this means a bit of thrashing about, lots of talking, and questions about watching TV. On this particular day he fills me in on a bizarre story:

"I forgot to get a Barbie for Emmy. I just needed to get one, but I forgot. And Emmy really likes Barbies. Plus, Buzz Lightyear Big is not here. Just Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and the Zurg. But not Buzz Lightyear Big. He's just not anywhere. Do you know who I am, mommy? I am Buzz Lightyear. Then I'm Jamers. But really, I'm just Buzz Lightyear"

This is all said within about 1.2 seconds, with no breaks in between, making it really hard to keep up. And where did he learn about Barbies??

We get dressed and go downstairs for some breakfast. Since it's a school day he won't eat much. He gets too excited to go to school. But on a normal day, he loooooooves breakfast.


8:40 and it's time to wake Buggy. I hate this part, and here's why....


It's a cold day, so I bundle them up and load them into the car.


Time for carpool.


By 9:07 I am out of the carpool line on my way home. I feed the Bugster, eat my own breakfast, and we play.


At 10:30 Buggy takes a nap, while I work a bit. He wakes around 11:40 and it's time to go get J from school.


We get home about 12:15. On the drive home, J fills me in on his day. Apparently someone threw a block at him. Then it's time for lunch (yes, that's a pickle with a PB&J...my kid likes strange things).


Followed closely by naps.


I work while they nap. This is followed by an impromptu grocery run, as I've found a recipe online I want to make for dinner. Yes, we've just been to the grocery store the night before. But I am so not good at thinking ahead. I'm pretty sure we single handedly keep this particular location open. No adorable pictures of the 2 of them in the shopping cart because, well, I have enough trouble keeping track of my purse. So instead you get a boring picture of the grocery store.


I would like to take a moment to gush about my love for my van. I am able to fit sooooo much in there. And the kids are nice and cozy!


Daddy gets home and J has a snack (he mostly never eats dinner), while mommy reads the internet recipe and cooks dinner.


The boys all play in the dark (?) office. I'm pretty sure it involved the use of a flashlight and lots of yelling and running around.


Then it's that blessed time of night.....bedtime!

And that's a typical day! Sometimes more exciting, and surprisingly sometimes less.