James 11 months

Jamesy has three teeth now. two on bottom and one on the top. He stands unassisted, and walks holding with one hand. He has taken a step on random occasions when he doesn't really know what he's doing. He can say the same words he could last month, and loves to play any form of peekaboo. We've tried giving him cheerios on several occasions, but he spits it out and is not interested. However, whenever he sees anyone else eating, especially one of his sisters, he crawls as fast as he can to reach her and try to grab the food out of her hand. I'm not sure what he would do with it once he got it, but it's very funny to watch.

Sometimes we forget how difficult it is to take our whole family out and get crazy and go for ice cream. This is a little place called Floyd and Blackie's that serves ice cream and coffee. The girls love it. There's a big park we can walk to from there if the weather is nice.

click on the title at the top left of the video to see the whole view.




Getting ready for bed takes about an hour to bathe everyone, brush teeth, get all pieces of pajamas on, and then sing and pray. Meredith and James are playing in Caroline's room while the other girls are in the bath.


Baby James loves blocks. He also loves to carry around a toy in his left hand and play with his right. Usually, he ends up hitting something with the toy, and everything turns into a drum.


This chase game is so typical. Especially on wintery days/nights when it's difficult to get outside. Barak loves to come home from work and just get them going.

Laney had spirit week at school this past month. One day was "sports" day. Luckily, we have a cousin who goes to Virginia Tech. His mom sent all the kids some outfits from the school. We aren't really into sports. At all. It's kind of impossible with all these kids/babies. 

Sometimes it's like Barak has a kid magnet. They just gravitate to him and climb all over him. We have all this room in the house, but they all want to be within a foot of everyone else.

Snow day

After a morning of waiting for James to take a nap, 45 minutes of getting everyone suited up, and about ten minutes of them running around the house waiting for me to get my coat and hat on, we ventured out!

It was super windy and snowy/rainy/sleety, so when they wanted to make snow angels, they were pelted in the face by the precipitation. They quickly turned on their bellies and made "upside down" angels.




It was so fun! Everyone was so happy and excited.




Meredith kept giving us a play-by-play like she always does - Mom, I stomp it. Mom, you take a picture? Oh. Mom, It's snow! You said snow? Oh, Caroline, Mom said snow.




The sand buckets came in really handy, since the snow castle was something they could build without much help. A snowman was proving to be something I did one handed (I can only find one weather-proof glove for myself) while they watched. They were so proud of their creation! Later, they went inside and replaced the stick with a carrot for a nose.




I was watching the roads all day for Barak, who was at work and is expected to be at work no matter the weather, since, of course, electricity doesn't care about inclement weather.








We tried sledding in the pool, but it wasn't sliding, and again, I only had one warm glove to pull or push with. The snow at this point was pretty slushy and powdery.  The second day was much more icy. But cold and we didn't stay out long before they wanted to come in for hot chocolate and cartoons. Ruff Ruff, Tweet and Dave trump a lot these days.

Christmas

Meredith finally got up and we started opening presents.

James got a remote control with buttons on both sides from Allen and Donna. His favorite toy. He "talks" to it every time he plays with it.

The girls got a huge Barbie house from Nana and Papaw! I would have died to get this when we were small. Yes, it's fun for me too.

We opened James' gifts after everyone else. The girls helped.

We started the day with pancakes and french toast, Barak made a great feast for lunch, and Jesse, Alicia, and Lincoln came over the next day.

James 10 months

James has two teeth, his top left and bottom left. They haven't come all the way through, but they are out, so the pain isn't as bad for him. He walks along the furniture while holding on, and climbs up on the window sills to talk to the outside. He loves rolling around on the floor with Laney, crawling around with Meredith, and peekaboo with Caroline. 

Meredith made a crown in Sunday School a while back and wore it non stop (even during her nap) until it tore apart. I know this was just some "busy" work her teachers gave her, but she adored that thing.

James' new hobby is watching the clothes washer. He can crawl to and pull himself up to watch it all by himself, and it keeps him entertained for most of the cycle. (Meredith still goes to sleep with her "blanky" - a footie pajama that she pulls over her limbs and sucks her thumb). James goes to sleep after I sing Night Night to him while he sucks on the back of his hand. That's something he started when his teeth were hurting him.

Best part of making cookies is eating them.

Laughing at made up knock knock jokes.

While the girls are eating, James usually crawls under the table and stands in the middle, holding on to the beam. He can say Dada, Mama, Nigh nigh (when he's sleepy), and he also says it when he's hungry. He'll say Baba and Vava when he's playing.

"Hide and Sleep"

Who says you can't play in the pool in January?

The year started with a trip to the ER for Meredith. She was the happiest baby with croup, ever.

Orange smile