CALIFORNIA WRAP-UP

Well, we ended up with a bunch of great photos that didn't make their way into any particular blog post while we were traveling, but rather than let those photos go unseen, I'm creating this special post just to showcase a random assortment of fun from our trip. Without further ado...

James thinks Grambot serves up the best solids:And he thinks that Grandpa does a lot of interesting things outside those big glass doors:

His Great-Grandpa was very patient with his in-your-face explorations:
He's really learned to ham it up for the camera:Here's my Dad teaching him the squinty-eyed cheezer "smile" (I caught James off-guard):Taryn and I with our little men:Eli can pull-up to standing (and he's a big fan of that green circle - carries it everywhere with him, with his finger hooked into that little hole):
James posed with his Great-Grandma while playing with the inchworm she got him for Christmas:

He thought he was HILARIOUS playing Peek-a-Boo behind the blinds with us:
Yet another interesting yoga pose... He does this pretty often when playing with his toys (or plastic lids, which are just as good, if not BETTER, than actual toys):James playing Sesame Street Peek-a-Boo with Grandpa:And getting some snuggles from his Auntie Taryn:Goofing off with his Uncle Davey:

Coach Rap stopped by for a visit: We went to visit Kelly's new baby boy, Max, and got a photo with her and her mom:

Mom and Cathy managed a very cute photo with their boys (and their coveted whisks - such a favorite "toy" that we had to bring 2 out of the cabinet to avoid fights):

It's a face-off with Cousin Eli over the new pop-beads:

Grandpa with his boys (both sucking, or chewing, on their thumbs):

Posing with Eli and his Grandparents late on their last night together:

It really was a wonderful trip. Low-key and relaxing, yet long enough that we still saw so many of our friends and family. We'll miss you all until we visit again...

JUST LIKE GRANDPA

Back when James was still REALLY little (like, 2 or 3 months old), we noticed that he has the same quirky habit as his Grandpa: tippy-tapping his hands and feet, and rubbing his hands and feet across different textures, over and over and over and over... Cute, right? Sure, when the BABY does it! We've tried and tried to get video of it, but we can never seem to capture the moment.

Then, while we were visiting California, his Grandpa taught him a NEW trick:

Throughout the morning and afternoon, Jay and I were CONVINCED that something was wrong with James. He kept making this crazy face at random times and we had NO idea what he was doing. Then, that evening, we saw my Dad make the face at James (sort of a cheezer smile with the eyes squinted shut), and he copied him immediately. Ah-ha! Our baby's not crazy after all, he's just like his Grandpa...

Now anyone can get James to make this face (as long as he's in the mood). We're looking forward to teaching him lots of new things this year, like clapping, waving, and blowing kisses. Impressionable babies sure are a lot of fun!

HANDS AND FEET

The more I see James and Eli together, the more different they seem to me. They have different personalities, different strengths, and different physical characteristics and abilities. Back when he visited us over Thanksgiving, I was really surprised by the little differences. Just by looking at their hands and feet I could tell how different the boys were. I had meant to take comparison photos then, but we were all having too much fun and I forgot. However, even with Mommy Brain AND Pregnancy Brain, I remembered on this trip to take the photos.

Can you tell which hand belongs to James?

How about the foot?

BICOASTAL CHRISTMAS

We sure missed Jamie and Jean this year over the holiday. It's not easy being a bicoastal family... Luckily, they had lovely weather at the beach to offset the gloom of not having James (and us, of course) around to play with:

JAMES' FIRST CHRISTMAS EVE

James had a GREAT first Christmas!

Here he is with his Grambot after his breakfast: Sporting his "Christmas Red" Little G-pants (for his gDiapers - perfect for daycare AND travel):
James and Eli in matching (borrowed) pajamas (for photo op ONLY):

James learned to crawl yesterday. REAL crawling, with his belly off the ground and everything! Here he is on the move:

Caught with his hands in the presents:

Auntie Taryn makes cool bows:

James received one of Eli's favorite toys for Christmas from his Auntie Taryn and Uncle Davey. The boys "shared", sort of...

James LOVES wheels! Every toy he gets with wheels, the first thing he does is flip it over and spin them with his index finger. It's awfully cute:

Jay helps Eli open one of the gifts we gave him...

...musical instruments (percussion, of course)!

I had to get a photo of me and the boys in our PJs:

And here's one of James just being adorable, to end this Christmas post:

Hope you all had a great holiday as well!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE GIRLS

We went over to Nicole's house for a quick celebration on Christmas Eve. James enjoyed Jagger's big-boy toys:

I showed off my "Mama's Boy" (a new development over this vacation):

And we managed a group photo of all the girls (though not the babies, who were being uncooperative):

Always great to see you ladies (and your families)!

A BLESSING IN SURPRISE

That's right, we're expecting a new baby in this new year!

Jay and I were shocked to discover the news on October 25th, after taking a pregnancy test that we both fully expected to be negative (I was only testing so that I could continue my daily coffee consumption without guilt). I had been taking a test every couple of months since James was born, just to check, and the past 3 had been negative as expected. So, I literally walked out of the bathroom holding the positive test at a distance with my mouth hanging open, and Jay just got this huge grin on his face. Since James happened to be in bed with us (we'd all been awake, reading stories and goofing off, for about an hour already that morning), we told him the news right away.

Not that he has any idea what's going on, but doesn't he look a bit surprised in this photo?

For those of you who remember such things, this was the same day that James got his first tooth. So, in actuality, you've all seen this photo before... it was just cropped so that the pregnancy test was excluded! (We had to keep our hands on the test for the photo because every time we let go, James tried to put it into his mouth, which is just gross, even if it was closed up and rinsed off)

So, I suppose I should answer some of your burning questions...

NO. This pregnancy was not planned. At all. But yes, we are VERY happy and VERY excited. And a little nervous, we admit.

YES. We have had our first appointment and ultrasound, back on Veteran's Day, when neither of us would be missed at work (we're so sneaky)! And we brought James with us to the appointment. My doctor said to her head nurse "Her baby isn't a year old yet, is he?" and her nurse said "Oh nooooo, he is NOT!" Yeah, that's how we felt about it at first too. That shock melted into pure joy pretty quickly when we saw and heard that little itty-bitty beating heart though... And we were awfully excited to find out the due date via the dating ultrasound, since we had no way of knowing otherwise (if you know what I mean).

YES. We had every intention of giving James a sibling sometime around his 2nd birthday, we just hadn't planned on that sibling arriving quite this far in advance of that milestone! Our new baby is due on July 2, 2010. This will make James exactly 16 months older than his younger sibling. Happy 2nd of July! YES. I'm still nursing James, and I'm still hoping to make it through his first year. Now you all know why I had to start supplementing with formula though... once the new pregnancy kicked in, my milk supply started to drop and there was nothing I could do to bring it back up. I tried. However, breastfeeding is not an "all or nothing" venture, and some breastmilk is better than none (especially during the cold and flu season), so I'm just doing what I can.

YES. So far, this pregnancy is very similar to my pregnancy with James. No morning sickness (though the nausea seems to have been more frequent), extra tired, and early sciatica. Another thing I'm noticing really early this time? The round ligament pain. And I wasn't expecting that...

YES. Everyone in our families know. Even most of our friends and coworkers are in the loop. We started out with our parents (of course). We figured we'd let James break the news, and since he can't talk, we bought him a fancy "I'm going to be a BIG BROTHER" onesie. Jean had arrived at our house to travel with us to Memphis to watch James during the conference we attended, and when she woke up Saturday morning, she played with James for nearly 5 minutes before she finally read his shirt. It was a slow-motion realization... "I'm going to be a..... Big Brother? Big... Brother...? BIG BROTHER?! You're pregnant? You're having a baby?!?!" If only we'd had a camera rolling to capture the moment... She was happy for us, of course, but just as shocked as we had been the month before when we first found out. And as soon as we knew my parents would be awake on the west coast, we called them and got them to Skype with us. We lured them in by saying "James has something he wants to show you". They thought that he had started crawling (which was the intended effect, though, no, he was still not crawling at that time). So, of course, we turned on the video and started him off on his tummy. When he didn't "crawl" after a couple minutes, we sat him up facing the camera and my mom noticed the shirt immediately. She yelled "AHHH, CONGRATULATIONS!" then called my Dad to come in and hear the news. I had thought for SURE my mom would think we were crazy, but she's excited as can be. Here is James that morning, reaching for the proof of Baby #2, or BLT (short for Baby Lindsay Two), as we are fondly calling him/her until we learn the gender (so YES, we are finding out again - of course!):

We employed the shirt again the following weekend when David and Taryn and Eli arrived for their week-long visit over Thankgiving. I picked them up from the airport, never saying a word about the news. We chatted even more when we got home. Then, right before Jay finished breakfast and called us to the table (they had an early morning flight), I announced that James needed a diaper change and asked his Uncle Davey to do it (supposedly so I could show him how to work the cloth diapers he'd be dealing with all week while babysitting). James was still in his PJs, so when Dave went to unbutton the diaper area, the "I'm going to be a BIG BROTHER" popped right out. Dave said to James "What does your shirt say buddy?", then he read it aloud, realization hit, and both he and Taryn were up and hugging us and giving us the congrats. In fact, I believe Taryn was jumping up and down. See BLT, you are so loved already. Never fear, we will not let "2nd child syndrome" set in around our household, ever. I promise! And we will stop calling you BLT just as soon as we know your gender... which won't be for another month.

After the joy of telling my brother in person, we decided we wanted the same for Jay's brother. Problem is, we had to wait another 3 weeks before we were to see him at family Christmas... When he arrived that evening at the cabin, James was still napping, but I brought him out to Jamie anyway. Jamie just held him and stared at him for the longest time. Finally, Jean couldn't take it any more and gave him the hint to read the shirt. I believe his reaction was "Big Brother? You're Pregnant? Again?" He is very happy for us as well, but we understand the shock. It IS awfully early, after all. We also told the rest of the Waddell family that night... They didn't catch the flash of shirt in this photo... ...so we ended up parading James around to Grandmother and getting her to read the shirt. Once the news was out, the congratulations were flying. Some were shocked, some were not, but all are very excited for us:

The rest of MY family had to wait until we made it out California for our Christmas vacation to find out the news. I know that was a VERY long time to expect my Mom and Taryn to keep a secret, but they did it. Good job ladies! We didn't get to experience those in-person reactions when we announced James' impending arrival, and we were addicted to the thrill this time around! So, we told my grandparents over lunch, straight from the airport. I had slyly included BLT's due date into our annual family calendar (the one I make everyone for Christmas every year) to pass them out to the rest of the family, but the "secret" made it out before the calendars did!

You've really GOT to love those disbelieving looks that turn to surprise, then happiness. This is all too much fun! Time to CELEBRATE! Happy holidays everyone!

TO THE ZOO!

That's right, we went BACK to the zoo, a mere 4 days after Zoolights. This time we visited during the day so that James could see more of the animals, and we brought along Taryn and Eli, Cathy, and Nicole and Jagger. And James' Grambot, of course. It was a good time, even though it was cold and VERY windy!

Here are Taryn and I with our bundled babies:

I LOVE this photo that my Mom took of Eli and Taryn. He is such an adorable cheese:

All the new mommies lined up: Nicole with Jagger, Taryn with Eli, and me with James. You can see the boys were not too happy about sitting still in the cold for the photo...

James had a good time. He didn't get to see the "cat" because the mountain lion had been moved and a snow leopard was in it's place (and the leopard was hiding in a corner). I tried to call the Gibbon over with Jay's call, but the Gibbon was more interested in hanging in the one corner of it's cage that was sunny. James giggled at me though. He did get to see the spider monkeys and all the lemurs. And the tortoises. The kid was pretty worn-out by the end of our tour though:

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

We spent a great day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the Bacons. Here are Taryn and David with the boys, getting the tour started:

In front of the big wave window:

James with his grandparents enjoying the view from the back patio:James watching the anchovies swim in circles with his Daddy:And the jellyfish float around:And being a goofball looking in at us from the patio:
A couple of devoted dads in the seahorse exhibit:
We had to get at least ONE silly posed shot (though James wouldn't cooperate and look at the camera):And finally, posing with Kelly in front of the Hopkins Marine Station (where he works):