JUST THE TWO OF US

Jay had an overnight work trip yesterday, so it was just me and James last night. Although Jay has had to take two other work trips since James was born (back when I was still on maternity leave), I was lucky to have Robyn and Jean visiting those weeks to help me out. Not this time. This was my first overnight alone with James, and we both missed Jay. We stuck to the evening routine though: playtime, nursing, story, dinner (for me), more playing, bath, bottle with vitamins, and bed, and James did great! Asleep by 8pm as usual. After James dosed off, I spent the evening cleaning house. I figured since I didn't have the fun distraction of Jay, I might as well make more fun time for us over the weekend by eliminating some chores. Here are a few pictures of the fun we had yesterday afternoon/evening...

Hanging out on his quilt while I organized his closet (and all the new hand-me-downs we've received - Thanks again Birdsongs and Coles!):

He likes playing with his washcloth now:

The rest of the night didn't go so well though. James is getting a cold. Or else he's just teething and/or experiencing growing pains. Who knows? But it was a rough night. He woke up at 10:15pm bawling. I tried everything, even suctioning his nose (since he sounded a little congested to me), which he HATED! A sad James makes for a sad mommy:

After about 30 minutes I gave up trying to soothe him back to sleep and let him play downstairs. Then he was happy. And wide awake (seemed like a repeat of Saturday night...) I bet John and Betsy recognize this little fireman outfit:

By 11:30pm, he was still awake and playing, but I'd had enough, so I figured a nursing session would relax us both. Near midnight, he was finally drowsy enough to be put back in his crib without a fight. Success! But then at 1:45am, he woke up crying again. This time I only gave it 15 minutes or so before I gave in and brought him to bed with me. Another nursing session calmed him down and we were both asleep again shortly after 2am. Fast-forward to 3am. Same deal. Except this time it was short and he fell back asleep without needing to nurse. Every time I scooted him away from me, he'd scoot right back in, turn in toward me, and put his arm up on my chest. It was so cute, but made for some uncomfortable and restless sleep for me (as if 4 hours was going to do much of anything anyway). He slept sweetly until 7am and was his usual happy self this morning.

Still no fever, but a little sniffly with some coughing, so I decided to call the pediatrician. I guess we're dealing with his first cold. Not a first you look forward to, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. Hopefully some nose meds will help. Here he is saying "Mama, I want to go to school naked, let's skip the diaper and onesie today!"

Speaking of "school", I'd like to mention something fun that's been happening at daycare lately. For the past couple of weeks, James has been showing his loyalty. When I show up at lunch to nurse him, and after work, he'll whip his head around and look for me as soon as he hears my voice, no matter who is holding him or what activity he's doing. Unless he's asleep, of course (he often takes late afternoon catnaps). And if he sees me before I start talking, he just gets the biggest smile on his face! Now that's love! Hopefully this loyalty won't cross over into the stranger/separation-anxiety realm, since we're getting to the age when that phase starts for some kids. I doubt it will though, at least not with the daycare ladies - he definitely knows them all and likes them.

At the daycare, their big welcome board has a new display with a school bus designating each of the 4 classes (Infant, 1K, 2K, and 3K). James is at the head of his bus (of course, he WAS there first, and he IS 1.5 months older than the other little boy, so he has seniority). I just thought it was such a cute idea I had to share: