He seriously loves his sticks!

First graham cracker courtesy of Aunt Chelsea

 Chelsea was able to visit with us again for a few hours yesterday and brought with her a box of graham crackers left over from her training last week.

 James took to them quickly as he loves anything he can take a bite off of.

 Unfortunately his other favorite thing to do with food- squish it to pieces with one finger- didn't quite work.

 But no problem, he still got to rip a piece off with that mouthful of sharp baby teeth!

James' Bookcase- phase 5

 

 James' bookcase is almost done!  Yesterday James and Tim worked on drilling the holes for the adjustable shelves.

 Just checking to make sure it is being done up to snuff.

 Look of approval.

 A little closer supervision (and probably an OSHA hazard).

 

 Ahh, new sharp things to explore!

 Very pleased to be allowed to rummage through the drill bits.

 Gotta clean up the sawdust.

 Even the specks stuck on James.  His expression was so funny when he first felt the vacuum brush on his leg.

 In his hand you can see his new found treasure- a screwdriver bit.  Sadly he only got to hold it briefly as it is a bit too small to keep without constant supervision.
All that is left before setting up the bookcase in his room is to finish painting the shelves!

James is 10...no wait, 11 months old!

On James 11 month birthday (on Oct. 9th) we went to celebrate a friend's 3rd birthday.  Lily's party was at the local candy shop so James got attempt decorating chocolate covered Oreos.

At first he wasn't sure what to do- partly because he had just woken up from his morning nap and was in a daze and partly because there were so many other big kids to gawk at.

Eventually he picked one up and licked the chocolate, deciding he liked it and proceeded to denude half of the oreo.

The he discovered that sprinkles are fun!  Just like the dirt and crumbs he loves to pick off the floor (I'd have to vacuum or sweep 5 times a day to nip this bad habit).

Sprinkles taste good too- almost as good as grass and leaves and acorns.

This is what happens when you have drooly hands covered in sprinkles and then rub said hands in your hair and over your face.

And he looked so cute with those sprinkles that I had to leave them on until we got home and Tim could see him as well.

In his mouth are what I think are acorn caps that he found on our deck while playing outside.

Bookworm

Months ago James was into books while sitting in my lap- then he learned to crawl and his interst lessened.  Then he learned to speed crawl and cruise and his interest all but disappeared.  Not so much in books I think, but rather sitting still long enough to look through one.

In the mornings we have been putting James in the exersaucer in the bathroom with us while we shower and get ready.  Since he is so mobile he was always getting into things- not so much dangerous things but stuff like stacks of books which he would then proceed to rip into pieces.  At first he didn't mind being in the exersaucer but for the past week or two he was starting to consider it a form of baby torture.

This morning I was picking up around the house while Tim got ready for work so I was still able to keep the occasional eye on James instead of putting him in his nemesis.  I realized after a few minutes that it was too quite.

I found him in his room "reading" his books.  Nestled in the chaos of books without a bookshelf he was happily flipping through the pages.

In the first photo James didn't know I was watching him and in the second he had just looked up and spotted me.  He is finally slowing down.  Maybe he'll walk soon too!

And by the look of our messy books hopefully Tim can finish James' bookcase next weekend.

lesson learned?

Yesterday while in the kitchen I heard a gagging noise coming from the guest bathroom and then a thunk as something hit the floor.  I went to see what was wrong and found James with an unhappy face sitting on the floor by the toilet and at his feet a bar of soap.  You can see what he was up to on the end of the bar.  Lesson learned?

Fun with Aunt Chelsea!

 James got to hang out with his Aunt Chelsea- my little sister- for the second time this Saturday.  It was a short visit, just 8.5 hours long.  Chelsea is doing a training this week in Georgia for her 11-month long mission trip starting next January.  Since she flew the red-eye from her home in California arriving here at just after 6am and not needing to meet up with others from her group until 4:30pm I picked her up bright and early to come home with us for a while.

 James was still asleep when we got home from the airport but woke up shortly after.  He IMMEDIATELY took to Chelsea even though the last time he saw her was when he was 4.5 months old in Hawaii.  He was his endearingly smiling self- charming his aunt once again.

 Despite the lack of sleep a red-eye flight always seems to leave the traveler Chelsea was wide awake and ready to play.  We had blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast- James loving both.  Then we played at home for a bit before loading up James into the car to head to the pharmacy to pick up a few things Chelsea needed for her week (and I needed to pick up yet another bottle of liquid vitamins...we've had quite a few accidents with the previous bottles that greatly shortened their usefulness).

 When we got back home we went out back so Chelsea could see the workshop Tim built and see how the project Jarrett is working on was going.  Jarrett let us know that Christi would be getting him lunch at Chick-fil-A and if we wanted some as well we should let her know.  I had planned on serving homemade chicken soup and dumplings but Chelsea's eyes lit up at the mention of Chick-fil-A as the closest one to her in CA is an hour away so she rarely gets to indulge in that wonderful chicken establishment.  Instead of expecting Christi to remember all our orders- 6 in total- Chelsea and I jumped in the car with her when she stopped by.  James was taking his nap so it worked out perfectly.

After lunch we finally got to take turns watching James and showering.  Then the red-eye finally hit Chel and we decided to take a short walk to the local coffee shop to get her a caffeine boost.  The weather was perfect and Chelsea got the chance to see a bit more of where we live along with her fresh air. A mile and half later we were back home and it was time for her to repack and for us to head back to the airport so she could meet up with her other teammates.

It was a very short visit but we are hoping to see her again for another one next Sunday on her way out of town. 
We love you, Chelsea!  And an early Happy Birthday!

Monkeying around (practice)

James is going to be a monkey for Halloween.  We are borrowing the costume from Christian who wore it last year.  I tried the body of it on James they other day right after he woke up from his afternoon nap to make sure it would fit.

He loved it so much he wore it for the next half hour.  My little monkey was so happy.