Boxcars and one tired little bean

 This past Saturday the 1st Annual Madison Avenue Boxcar Derby race was held.  The starting line was one house down from us, so we got to see all the cars parked in front of ours while they waited for their turn.  I didn't take many pictures as it was much nicer to just relax, but did get a few.  We invited all our friends with children who we thought would enjoy seeing the cars and races.  Everyone brought some food and we had a picnic on the front lawn. 

 Even though James thought the shark car was great he was still more interested in his beloved rocks from the neighbors driveway.

 We set up Jarrett and Christi's sunshade for the moms with small children as our yard doesn't have a lick of shade.  The weather was perfect- a just warm enough mid-60s. (New baby Aveline is hiding there with Christi.)

 And because we were able to drop Timber at Christi's and Jarrett's house to play with Merckx we were able to leave the front door open for both kids and adults to wander in and out to grab food and drinks and play with toys in James' room.

 James was also thrilled that Tim opened the den window and ALLOWED him to climb up onto the table underneath the window for a better view out (still trying to convince James that was a one day thing and not to continue).  Normally I don't open the windows too often as we seem to be a fly magnet but as the door was open so were the windows - and boy did the flies find us!

 James' high chair was enjoyed al fresco by Sofia.

 And I made the decision to not put James down for a nap as the races were starting around 1pm.  So by the time they ended and he had his bath before dinner he was extremely tired.  I put him in front of Wallace & Gromit so that I could pull his dinner together and he would be otherwise occupied as opposed to fussing at my feet.  He rarely falls asleep other than in his crib, stroller or car seat.  I think this is the first time he has fallen asleep on the couch.  The video below shows that even when his brain is fried- he is still craving fried...you'll see, just watch to the end.

First stubbed toe

 Today while running outside on the sidewalk with bare feet James' foot fell behind his ability and resulted in his first stubbed toe.  It was one of those falls where as a parent you wince wondering what your child has injured and how they will react.  Amazingly despite the sound of his hands and elbows whacking the cement (I thought at first it was his chin) he popped right back up without a peep and kept on running.  I thought 'wow, I guess nothing was hurt!' and then a few minutes later I noticed the trail of red behind his footsteps. He didn't even notice until I pointed out to him that his toe had something unusual going on.  I don't think he's ever bled enough to know what blood is and he has yet to get a bandaid for any scrapes (I really don't want to start that trend as I know some kids will then demand a bandaid for even bumps).  He looked down and touched it, it got on his fingers and then from there onto the rock he was holding (he is ALWAYS holding a rock while outside) and then he dropped the rock when he realized it felt weird...slimy.  He examined the rock and was more interested in it being wet than he was the bloody toe.  Finally I managed to coerce him inside to clean it up a bit as it was coagulating already.  I wet a paper towel and at first he resisted until I told him we'd 'hide his toe in a blanket' (his favorite idea these days to contemplate and practice is hiding) to he let me wrap the toe up a bit and then he did it himself.  Enough blood came off that it wasn't going to trail around the house but his nail bed has a nice crust of it still. 
On a slightly different note- I asked him what color was on his toe and he said "green"...I am 90% sure that he is red/green colorblind from color practice over the past few weeks and this was just one more time where he is certain that red is green.