James has just danced out the door with his daddy, who is taking him out on his dump runs. Melted my heart to see James running with his daddy's hand in his yelling "Blue Car!!!!" and his dad looking so happy. Happy trails in the Jetta, dudes!
Last weekend they came back with a car that needs to be thrown. It then talks to you. Could it be any more perfect for a little boy? He has been throwing it allllllll over the house, crowing and laughing his adorable chuckling laugh.
His sister, meanwhile, is reclining on the sofa with a fleece blanket, schnuggling with the cat, who is very relieved that the noisy little guy has gone. I am working on mug #3 of coffee; James woke me up at 5:30 for a diaper change this morning. Ouch. We are snorting over Phineas and Ferb.
James is starting to call me "Mom," because his teachers at school prompt him to "say 'bye to mom!" at the morning drop-off. Luckily, he still says "Mommy? Mommy-mommy-mommy!" when he is excited about something at home.
Thank goodness it is not raining this weekend. last Saturday, he went out back with me ... and immediately found all the biggest puddles to splash in, then went swinging on his tummy on the swing set, dragging his feet and legs through the muddy pond under him.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Friday, May 08, 2009
Hungarian Folk Dancing at its Finest
James had a good SHAPE session this morning, but was a little hotter than normal and a bit fussy afterward. So I ditched the plans to go to the gym and instead got him hydrated and then down for an early nap.
He woke up feeling so much better. He and his sister are both playing with each other. I am trying not to breathe too much and enjoy it while it lasts. The are playing hide & go seek and chasing each other through the house ... and the classical music station is playing the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (forever immortalized as the dueling duck pianists scene in Roger Rabbit for me).
Their door closings and shrieks are a wonderful punctuation to the music!
He woke up feeling so much better. He and his sister are both playing with each other. I am trying not to breathe too much and enjoy it while it lasts. The are playing hide & go seek and chasing each other through the house ... and the classical music station is playing the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (forever immortalized as the dueling duck pianists scene in Roger Rabbit for me).
Their door closings and shrieks are a wonderful punctuation to the music!
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Snuggle Time
Mornings are snuggle time around here. It used to be with my daughter. But she has discovered the joys of sleeping in. Besides, James gets up before she does 99.8% of the time, and she's in no rush to see him in the morning. La princessa takes a while to wake up.
So that leaves James and I. And he has become quite the snuggle bunny. Quite a turnaround from about age 2-3! This morning he got on my lap while watching a Disney Singalong tape, and asked me to sing "When you Wish Upon a Star" to him. How perfect is that? I felt thankful for my wishes for James that have been already come true. He is talking, better at walking, and is interacting more with people. And he is still his sweet, sunny self.
I used to wake (BK -- before kids) at the crack of noon. Not any longer, babe! As soon as I hear Mr Rise&Shine in his room (usually around 6-6:30) I am up. If I don't he has gotten into the habit of ripping aside the curtains and blinds (which, BTW, has destroyed the blinds) and standing up on his window ledge, so that everyone passing by our house gets a great view of him spread-eagled, standing up. Goooood Morning, Amsterdam!
Yikes.
And there's a lot of him to see. James has grown some more. 5T in shirts and 4/5T in pants; 10 in shoes. He is two months past four and is taller than half of my daughter's kindergarten classmates.
So that leaves James and I. And he has become quite the snuggle bunny. Quite a turnaround from about age 2-3! This morning he got on my lap while watching a Disney Singalong tape, and asked me to sing "When you Wish Upon a Star" to him. How perfect is that? I felt thankful for my wishes for James that have been already come true. He is talking, better at walking, and is interacting more with people. And he is still his sweet, sunny self.
I used to wake (BK -- before kids) at the crack of noon. Not any longer, babe! As soon as I hear Mr Rise&Shine in his room (usually around 6-6:30) I am up. If I don't he has gotten into the habit of ripping aside the curtains and blinds (which, BTW, has destroyed the blinds) and standing up on his window ledge, so that everyone passing by our house gets a great view of him spread-eagled, standing up. Goooood Morning, Amsterdam!
Yikes.
And there's a lot of him to see. James has grown some more. 5T in shirts and 4/5T in pants; 10 in shoes. He is two months past four and is taller than half of my daughter's kindergarten classmates.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Birthday Boy!
We have been celebrating James' 4th birthday and we have had so much fun! He had muffins in the morning. You can get him to do almost anything for muffins. Then we opened presents and he played with them all. 
His dad got him a trike and he rode it in the house. This is exciting because he's not doing it at school and his teacher has told us it's an important activity for him because it helps him integrate portions of his brain, as will improve his hand-eye coordination.
Both kids helped frost and decorate his cake (he chose vanilla all the way) before we left to set up in one of the two rooms at our local pizza place. It was our first attempt to have a party for James with his friends from school, and we were a little nervous about how it might go with a group of special needs kids without teachers on hand; it ended up being so much fun. Three boys from his class (and one sibling) came. The parents were so happy their kids were being asked to a birthday party and all the adults really liked having other parents to talk and touch base with.
The kids liked playing with James' indoor bowling set. They were not really into Pin the Tail on the Donkey but hey, we tried. I brought a CD player and used the Express Train music from their classroom and that seemed to help the kids relax a bit.
The big hit was the stomping rocket that one of the parents loaned us. That and my husband getting all the boys to play with him using their noisemakers got the party going strong! The rockets are all foam and lightweight plastic, and are powered by stomping on on a little plastic pillow thingie. The parents even gave one to James for his birthday present -- oh yeah, we'll be playing with that in the park. Big grin.
Well before the party's end, the boys were rolling on the floor under the tables, laughing & blowing noisemakers, taking turns running & stomping on the rocket launcher, and asking for second helpings of cake. We had carrot sicks and corn tortilla chips in addition to pizza and everyone seemed to have enough to eat.
On the way home, James seemed lit up, he was so happy. We are so glad we could do this.
His dad got him a trike and he rode it in the house. This is exciting because he's not doing it at school and his teacher has told us it's an important activity for him because it helps him integrate portions of his brain, as will improve his hand-eye coordination.
Both kids helped frost and decorate his cake (he chose vanilla all the way) before we left to set up in one of the two rooms at our local pizza place. It was our first attempt to have a party for James with his friends from school, and we were a little nervous about how it might go with a group of special needs kids without teachers on hand; it ended up being so much fun. Three boys from his class (and one sibling) came. The parents were so happy their kids were being asked to a birthday party and all the adults really liked having other parents to talk and touch base with.
The kids liked playing with James' indoor bowling set. They were not really into Pin the Tail on the Donkey but hey, we tried. I brought a CD player and used the Express Train music from their classroom and that seemed to help the kids relax a bit.
The big hit was the stomping rocket that one of the parents loaned us. That and my husband getting all the boys to play with him using their noisemakers got the party going strong! The rockets are all foam and lightweight plastic, and are powered by stomping on on a little plastic pillow thingie. The parents even gave one to James for his birthday present -- oh yeah, we'll be playing with that in the park. Big grin.
Well before the party's end, the boys were rolling on the floor under the tables, laughing & blowing noisemakers, taking turns running & stomping on the rocket launcher, and asking for second helpings of cake. We had carrot sicks and corn tortilla chips in addition to pizza and everyone seemed to have enough to eat.
On the way home, James seemed lit up, he was so happy. We are so glad we could do this.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
New Power Word: "NO!"
Portrait of a nearly 4-year-old boy:
Do you want some more water? Time to go to bed! Come here, please ... these are all met with the same answer: "No!"
There is no "yes," there is only "okay." Maybe. Sometimes.
James is so excited to have his big boy bed that he has decided to really be a big boy. He has not been taking naps these past two days, and he found the big boy underpants that we put away a few weeks ago and brought them out to me, so we are starting potty training afresh.
He will sit on the potty at home, but only the big one that his sister uses. He does not like the underpants with black -- he wants the ones with blue or red on them.
He does not want his mommy to put him to bed -- only his big sister can do that now. I'd cry except ... I am really tired by then, so I slink off to the next room and go "ahhhhhhh!" and wait for my chance to give him a good night kiss, tell him how proud I am of my big boy and that I love him.
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
Do you want some more water? Time to go to bed! Come here, please ... these are all met with the same answer: "No!"
There is no "yes," there is only "okay." Maybe. Sometimes.
James is so excited to have his big boy bed that he has decided to really be a big boy. He has not been taking naps these past two days, and he found the big boy underpants that we put away a few weeks ago and brought them out to me, so we are starting potty training afresh.
He will sit on the potty at home, but only the big one that his sister uses. He does not like the underpants with black -- he wants the ones with blue or red on them.
He does not want his mommy to put him to bed -- only his big sister can do that now. I'd cry except ... I am really tired by then, so I slink off to the next room and go "ahhhhhhh!" and wait for my chance to give him a good night kiss, tell him how proud I am of my big boy and that I love him.
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
Monday, January 05, 2009
I Heart Play Doh
We are wrapping up a 2+ week school break and the weather has turned cold and nasty outside. The kids brought all their school germs home and fell sick, but not too badly. Oh what to do when they are recovering, but still not completely recovered?
Play-Doh! Good enough for a Mommy sanity break. Fun for them, plus I feel like James is still getting a little OT in. Ooh, and vocabulary, because he'll talk about the colours of Doh that he is using, and the names of the shape cutters he likes best. Better add in social skills, because he plays (and occasionally shares) with his sister at the table. She can talk a mile a minute, so he's getting some cognitive time in there too.
Play Doh is the best! Especially when properly corralled on the kitchen table.
Play-Doh! Good enough for a Mommy sanity break. Fun for them, plus I feel like James is still getting a little OT in. Ooh, and vocabulary, because he'll talk about the colours of Doh that he is using, and the names of the shape cutters he likes best. Better add in social skills, because he plays (and occasionally shares) with his sister at the table. She can talk a mile a minute, so he's getting some cognitive time in there too.
Play Doh is the best! Especially when properly corralled on the kitchen table.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Giftulation!
Despite colds and a bit of GI bugginess, we had a great Christmas and quiet New Year's Eve.
Before I even opened one package, I had my best Christmas presents: watching the kids' faces as they opened their stockings and presents. Especially James. Two years ago he was so disinterested in the whole event that we just stopped opening his presents. It made me cry. Last year he was politely interested. What he really liked was playing with the tissue paper: Wheeeee!
*This* year, he ripped those wrappings and got into what was inside. Sounds awful to say this, but my heart sang. Because he was engaged and right there with us. Best gift hands down!!!
He loved his laptop toy so much he wouldn't put it down ...
... until his dad helped him open his bowling set:
Which encouraged him to open his toy stick/wand that makes things slide, twirl, and make noise:
He got a Leapfrog fridge Word Builder magnet set from his Nana. He and his sister have been playing with that, and his laptop. On his new bed. And they play really well together. THANK YOU!!!
Before I even opened one package, I had my best Christmas presents: watching the kids' faces as they opened their stockings and presents. Especially James. Two years ago he was so disinterested in the whole event that we just stopped opening his presents. It made me cry. Last year he was politely interested. What he really liked was playing with the tissue paper: Wheeeee!
*This* year, he ripped those wrappings and got into what was inside. Sounds awful to say this, but my heart sang. Because he was engaged and right there with us. Best gift hands down!!!
He loved his laptop toy so much he wouldn't put it down ...
... until his dad helped him open his bowling set:
Which encouraged him to open his toy stick/wand that makes things slide, twirl, and make noise:
He got a Leapfrog fridge Word Builder magnet set from his Nana. He and his sister have been playing with that, and his laptop. On his new bed. And they play really well together. THANK YOU!!!
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