next gen sleepsack

James has been wearing Halo sleepsacks from when he was just 10 days old.  

He's worn fleece sacks in the winter...

And cotton sacks in the summer.

The sacks have gotten bigger and bigger over the past two years- we always knew it was time for a larger size when he started to grunt and complain when he could adequately spread out his legs while sitting in our laps facing us to snuggle in the rocking chair before bed.

But finally he outgrew the largest closed bottom sack.

The next size up comes with holes at the bottom for little feet to stick out.

At first James asked me to put his feet back inside, but I told him that was the way it was supposed to be and then I guess he embraced the concept.

He also likes that they have a dinosaur on them.  

Knitting

 James picked up my knitting the other day and asked if he could knit.

 Of course I said yes!

 So he took the needles and yarn and plopped down on the couch.

 And proceeded to knit (really clicking the needles together)- while watching PBS.

 I hope that he really will want to learn to knit at some point when he is older.

 Right now I'll just enjoy seeing those dimpled fingers clicking away.

Broccoli (triumph!)

 James has decided he LOVES broccoli.  At Christmas dinner at Grandma's he was served two florets and I was astonished when he bit into one and loved it- and then proceeded to eat broccoli off of the rest of our plates.  He has been eating a lot of veggies since solids were introduced at 5 months, but even to this day most of them have been in the form of jarred or pouch baby/toddler food.  He's been getting some home-cooked veggies in sauces, casseroles and chicken and dumplings but I'd really not had any success in getting to eat veggies all by themselves (other than pickled beets which he also really enjoys).

 He is very proud to be eating broccoli 'trees'.  And I am wondering how many days I can serve steamed broccoli before he gets bored.

 But in the meantime I am going to relish the memory of him requesting several seconds and thirds of broccoli at dinner last night.

 He ended up eating an adult size portion!

BIIIIIIIIIG Tower!

 When James talks about the size of things he says big with a deep, low, drawn out voice to express its magnitude (conversely he talks about small things with a teeny, tiny voice).  Today he built a biiiiiiiiig tower!

And was a bit distraught when it toppled before he could put the last few remaining blocks on the top.

Trout fishing with Daddy

 Even though this morning only reached the lower 40s we decided that it was time we showed James a fresh caught trout.  Last night when James a protesting going to bed I told him that "tomorrow we are going to go fishing with daddy and catch a fish" but he had to sleep first and he got very excited and said loudly to me "bye!" which meant that he needed to left alone to go to sleep so that tomorrow would come sooner.

 This morning he had forgotten about our plans until after breakfast I reminded him what we were going to do.  During his pre-outing diaper change we were talking about it and I asked him what we were going to catch and he said "puffer fish" then "maybe octopus" then some other ocean life I can't recall at the moment.  And I said probably not any of those but most likely we would catch a trout.  He was equally happy with that idea. (again, this is his smiling face when asked to smile for a picture.)

 It took me a while to get us packed up as I wasn't sure how long it would take to catch the much anticipated fish- so diapers, warmth, snacks and other diversions all had to be taken into account.

 Wonderfully within 5 minutes of fishing Tim hooked a rainbow trout and James and I rushed over to take a look. (my angle with the camera wasn't so great as I had James in one arm.)

 He did a bit of exploring of Helton Creeks banks- finding the biggest leaves he could spy.

 I think I am going to be said when those toddler cheeks finally thin out!

 He also loved going through Tim's fly box- asking the names of the individual flies (some I knew, some I told him incorrectly- but it is quite funny to hear him point to a fly and say Y2K, Hellgrammite, junk fly, marauder, etc.

 He would also turn around and say "Daddy, maybe pink one, maybe white one" trying to suggest which fly Tim should try next.

 I was thankful he was willing to listen to my instruction about not removing the flies from their 'home' as the hooks might poke him.

 One happy boy, one worn out momma (I'll post at some point why this is so).