The Morning Of ...

James woke up 3 times after 3:00am, asking if it was Christmas. I finally had to tell him Christmas started after 7:00 am. He played a few games while waiting for teen sister to awake. Both kids settled on the sofa to open their stockings over croissants and morning beverages. Then it was present time!

Many rippings and exclamations of excitement later we are enjoying the warm house on a frosty morning. The kids have swapped videos to their satisfaction and James is watching his long-desired Cars DVD -- without scratches! I can hear him jumping up in down int he next room with happiness.

Happiness Is ...

Finding and playing with all our pals from Peanuts.

While we don't have a warm puppy, we do have two sweet cats!

Peripherally Compatible

There is something relaxing about working on my laptop in the kitchen with James perched on my right, playing Angry Birds on his iPad that's propped up on the kitchen counter. He's checking out my blog post, I'm watching him explode through levels of Angry Birds.

Music is ELO through my online music account. We're all going through the cold now, and semi sleep-deprived. But we've nowhere to go and chores have been done. Rain is dropping fitfully around the county. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon. I'm doing stuff, but there's no big hurry. My buddy's by my side and we're hanging out together.

Who Needs an Alarm Clock?

Between the neighbours who gun their cars at 5:00am, and their cars' noisy engines, which in turn wake James, I will never need an alarm clock again.

Fortunately, I have had a constant presence of cats in my life. Over time, they trained me to early morning wakings and corrected my habit of sleeping in.

Even more fortunately, James wakes up happy. He is infectiously gleeful, almost instantaneously upon waking. There are worse ways to start the day.

Attitude on a Monday Morning

I am trying, trying, trying to wake up and find my get up and go this morning; from behind James' bedroom door I can hear him yelling happily "Yahoo! Wahoo! Hooray!!"

Forget the coffee, I want some of what he's got.

Special Exp. / Wordless Wednesday: First Lost Tooth

... and he swallowed it while at school. Just like his mom.

The Tooth Fairy found out anyway!

For more great images or to join in the fun, Visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.


and ... Wordless Wednesday

Daddybration

Last week we celebrated James' Daddy's birthday. I was looking at the pictures and one caught my eye:

James in the past has not been able to successfully blow noisemakers or get enough air into one of the party blowers to straighten it out ... until recently. In this picture, it almost looks to me like he's trying to figure out just where his mouth is and priming it for party noise use. It tickled me to see how excited he got, making them work properly.

Of course, he wasn't the only one getting into the noisemaking act. He had some company:

And oh how he likes being able to keep up with Big Sister. How we loved seeing them showing their love and excitement for their Daddy.

Special Exp. / Wordless Weds: Simply Happy

I try to get James out in social situations and not let things keep us in the house. Last weekend, we went to our first swim meet as a family, to cheer our cousins. Sometimes the noise and crush of a crowd of people does James in. He is getting better and better at not letting it get to him. In fact, in the midst of all the cheering, splashing, electronic starting noises, blaring music, and PA announcements, he found several ways to just be happy. I love this guy!

For more great images or to join in the fun, Visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.



and ... Wordless Wednesday

Five 'til Midnight: Favourite Things

The airport, airplanes, and helicopters are all still favourite things and destinations for James. We are lucky to live near a small regional airport that allows us to easily watch aircraft take off & land. Sometimes we watch from the car. Other times we check out the action from just outside the airport itself. Other times ... we head to the museum that is located right down the street:


James loves bike riding. He has outgrown 2 trikes at home, so finding out that the second preschool has not only larger trikes but a large riding ring around the playground has filled us all with glee. James at times cannot contain his joy -- he must howl!


Water. Rocks. Add James. Prepare for a long afternoon of rocks being thrown in the river, with intervals of James wading in the river to find more rocks. Lather, rinse, repeat. Hey -- he's looking like a southpaw, suddenly!

SOOC Saturday: Alight

At first I was bummed this photo was not in focus. But on second thought, it's a good capture of James in the moment. Alight, laughing, playing, and moving too quickly to remain in focus.

While the Mom in me sighs and thinks that remaining in focus (for school, tasks, etc.) will be an ongoing challenge for James, the Cheerleader in me is yelling support for the boy who is opening up and engaging with his world with play and exploration.

I see this at his second school program, where he plays with others in the classroom and on the playground, and the other kids yell greetings to him with true friendship.

I see it as he and his sister turn to each other for extended sessions of playtime in our home. I love it when he is singing. He comes alive with music and singing!

SOOC salute to Melody at The Slurping Life. Best wishes for the little one who is coming your way!
  

Sweetness

I got James up from his afternoon nap and his face lit up and he leaned in to hug me, then pulled pack and kissed me before hugging me again, patting me on the back.

He has never done this before. Awwww, James! I am a big melted Mommy puddle.

Good Morning, Son-shine!

James got me up at 2 this morning with "Go potty, Mommy?"

He wears a diaper during the night, but he hates to wake up and find it messed. Okay so this is good in a way; we do the bathroom thing and I tuck him back in. He thinks if he's cute enough it will be morning. NO!!!! Took him over an hour to settle back down and this morning I had to wake him up.

That cracked me up because I went in to wake him up and asked him "Do you want to get up?" Usually he just about flies into my arms and yells "YES!!!" right in my ear. This time he rolled over, eyes tight shut, and smirked into the pillow "NO!"

He made the bus. He was so happy. I am so glad he has that attitude -- it will carry him through so many hard things.

Better

This week, James is our $6 Million Dollar Guy. He is stronger, faster, bigger! Than last week, that is.

Around Wednesday he was well enough to go back to school and start up SHAPE again. As we took our regular stroll around the block, I noticed that James looked seriously taller and that I hadn't had to roll up his pants. He ran most of the way. It was like he had springs in the bottom of his feet, and he ran with joy. This made me very happy!

He is full of preferences and tells me about them all the time: *red* po'sickles, *my* b'ankie, *more* (Curious) George, and chi'n ta-ta (not "sham'ich"). He wants "Maisy" as his goodnight book. Still not interested in potty training though. Ah well, there's always *next* week!