ON A ROLL

Things are getting more exciting by the day around here...

James has been grabbing things left and right:

Now that he has pretty good head control, we've started playing airplane:

He's been spending even more time watching himself in his many mirrors:

He is somehow becoming even more bendy (note that the MS Mudflap is still intact, even though most of the rest of his hair is being replaced by a lighter and fuzzier version):

And last night, he finally rolled for a second time (and in the opposite direction of that first roll over 3 weeks ago)! Unfortunately I missed it, but Jay saw it, so tonight when we did tummy time we made sure to have the camera ready (you'll hear Jay on the phone with James' Grandma in the background, and I'm cheering James on as usual):

We got 3 rolls before James tired out and needed a cuddle. Now we're just hoping that he doesn't start flipping from his back to his tummy quite yet... that's a whole other worry we'd rather not have to deal with at night right now!

SUNROOM OR ZOO?

Everyone knows we've had a kitty in our sunroom for some time now. Maxine comes and goes as she pleases (we leave the door ajar most days and nights), even though she wishes more than anything to be a house cat. If anyone is looking to adopt a loveable 2-year-old beauty, here she is (and by the way, she's slim and trim now that's she back to being an indoor/outdoor cat - she had put on some serious weight after her kittens were born and she was locked in the sunroom for a couple months until we could get her fixed):
Due to our leaving the door open, our resident pair of Carolina Wrens decided to build their nest inside this year, in one of our hanging plants. So, no more closing the door at night...
Then we found a snake in the sunroom. Maxine was scared, so we don't think she brought it in. When we told my mom she asked whether we had a sunroom or a zoo...

WAKE UP MOMOMOMOM...

Oh boy is James growing by leaps and bounds these days! The past 2 mornings we have been woken up by a very content baby, happily practicing his "words". This is so much more fun than a baby that wakes up starving and yelling! Yesterday we just laid in bed listening and laughing for 15 minutes until he finally decided he was bored and hungry (his room is across the hall, but he has no door, so we can easily hear everything he does). This morning, I jumped out of bed to grab the camera and capture the cuteness on video. Sorry the first part is so dark, but I didn't want to disturb him or let him know I was watching. I opened the blinds before part two. Also, don't mind the background fuzz, that's his humidifier/white noise.

LOOKING LIKE...

Well, now that James is 3 months old, he is closer to the age that Jay and I are in the baby photos we posted back in early March. Let's revisit those photos and see who everyone thinks James look like now...

UNCLES AND NEPHEWS

Jean recently produced one of Jamie's onesies from when he was a baby, as well as a photo of him wearing it. Just for fun, we dressed James in the onesie and took a photo of him with his Uncle Jamie. And also just for fun, we thought we'd compare it to the photo of Jamie as a baby in his Uncle Marvin's arms:

THE POOPSMITH: TAKE 2

Well, James seems to be on a once every 4-5 days BM schedule now, for those who care to know (I'm simply documenting for his baby book). However, today was a double whammy. We think it's because he had his first infant massage this morning (which he loved). I went in for my Mother's Day massage and the lady who did it was the same lady who had given me my prenatal massage. She remembered us and was excited to meet James, so she decided to massage him for free and teach us how to do it at home. She even showed us techniques to help with his gas issues (hence the reason we think it helped produce an extra BM). We're planning to do the massage nightly, after James' bath, to help him relax into sleep. Here's our little Poopsmith in his Poopsmith shirt (a character from HomeStarRunner, for those not in the know):

Yeah, it's gross, but we don't care. It's amazing the weird things you celebrate when you have a baby...

END OF THE FOURTH TRIMESTER!

That's right, today James is 3 months old and he is officially out of his "4th trimester" (from Dr. Harvey Karp, author of "The Happiest Baby On The Block"). It's really quite amazing how much a baby changes from birth to 3 months... James has gone from an adorable little baby blob to a fully-functioning, highly-entertaining infant. Congratulations little man!

For instance, James now fills his bath tub. And he splashes. And licks the water as it runs down his face. Here is a comparison from his first bath (at 2.5 weeks old) to tonight's bath:

And the little man is really not so little anymore. He's grown from 8 lbs 20.75 inches to 14 lbs 24.25 inches:

Also, he is completely out of his 0-3 month sized clothes. Remember that beautiful baby blue sweater romper that was his coming home outfit? At 2-days-old it literally hung off his body. The sleeves had to be double rolled so that they didn't swallow his hands. And the matching beanie was so big that we didn't even bother putting it on him. It covered his face all the way down past his nose, even when we tried folding the brim up. Here is James the day he came home from the hospital:

Just for fun (and tear-inducing reminiscing), we dressed him in the complete outfit this morning. It fit him pretty well, though his torso length made it impossible to keep the center button closed (not sure what the crazy face is for - that's just James):

The other day I was going through photos on my camera and realized I had a couple stored in the internal memory. One happened to be from the hospital, on James' second day of life. Here is a long-lost photo of Dad and Mom changing one of James' first diapers. Why does Dad look so happy about it? Because he just loves his new grandson so much that even meconium didn't phase him, right? And to think, James has been in size 2 diapers for a month already. It seems like ages ago that he was wearing those little newborn diapers!

James has had a lot of "firsts" already... first car ride, first stroller ride, first plane ride, first bath, first photo shoot, first smile, first church service, first babble, first roll from tummy to back (still just that one time though), first family holiday, first trip to a big city, first time in a huge crowd, first day at daycare, and even his first real laugh last night, induced by the antics of his Daddy (he laughed, we cried - it was a good time). It's really been a great 3 months, and we're already looking forward to all the firsts that are sure to come in the next 3 months! This boy of ours is bound to keep us on our toes... when he's not sleeping:

Now, for your viewing pleasure, here are a couple short videos. The first is of James demonstrating his core strength. We were hoping to catch a roll on video, but he has yet to do it again since that first time (although he is now attempting to roll left in addition to the right), so you'll hear Jay and I incessantly cheering him on:

This second video is from tonight. We were trying to capture a giggle on video, but were only partially successful. His laughs from last night were the real deal, but what we have from tonight is just plain funny:

Happy 3-month Birthday James! Mommy and Daddy love you!

FIRST DAY AT DAYCARE

Jay and I woke up this morning with a new routine to follow. No longer could we get ourselves ready for work, grab some cereal, and pass James off to his grandma in whatever state he was in (awake or asleep, dressed for the day or still in his pj's, clean diaper or not). Nope. No more. James started daycare this morning and that meant that he had to wake up at a set time and get ready for the day, the same as us. Luckily, we packed his diaper bag the night before. We gathered the required packages of diapers and wipes. We pre-made his bottles. We laid out his clothes. And we even set an alarm (previously, we had just been getting up whenever James woke for his first morning feeding, whether that be 5am or 7am). Then the real "fun" began... Here we are ready to leave the house with everything a baby needs for a week at daycare:

James did great when we dropped him off and we were really proud of him. He snuggled right into the arms of the daycare director, but was also busy checking out his new surroundings with a concerned look:

Jay held himself together fine, although he was understandably a little nervous. I, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. My little baby is grown enough to start daycare, ready to spend an entire day outside the house without his Mommy or Daddy! It was rough on me, but I only cried a little, and not until I was walking out the door. In fact, I had my composure back by the time I buckled my seatbelt. That's not so bad, is it? And I was very productive at work until about 11:15am when the daycare called... Don't worry, it was nothing serious, just gas issues. I had to explain to them that Mylicon drops do nothing for our boy - his gas is just loud and stinky. Sorry. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get there at noon for his lunchtime nursing session to check on him myself though!

They had rocked him to sleep while calming him during the gas episode, but he woke enough to eat well, then woke up completely to play with me for a half hour before I had to go back to work. He was all smiles for me and his new caretakers (there is one lady that exclusively watches the infants, one lady that takes the lunch hour shift, and the director - who checks in throughout the day). They all told me what a joy James was: an easy and happy baby. He spent the morning watching the other infants in the nursery, swinging in the swing, and kicking around on the floor and in his crib. He even took an hour nap after his 9am bottle. Go James!

There are 2 other infants in the nursery, both girls, 12 and 13 months old. In fact, James is the only boy even when you include the toddler room next door (the 1-2 year olds). What a lucky guy, eh? Maybe tomorrow we'll take him to daycare wearing the onesie that his Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn bought him, which says "Lock Up Your Daughters" (hee hee)! Here is our big boy at the end of the day, happy, but tired from 8 hours of exciting new experiences (he could barely hold his eyes open, but he fought sleep all the way home and didn't pass out until I'd walked him around the neighborhood): Here is James' first "report card" from daycare - I told you he was a good boy!

Tomorrow is another day, and we're hoping that we all settle into more of a schedule this week. Maybe even an earlier bedtime for James (due to exhaustion from playing with his new girlfriends all day)? We can only hope...

BELLY BUTTON FUN

For months Jay has been saying that James' belly button looks like an anchor. I agree, but I really think it looks more like my wedding ring. What do you think?

JAMES AND...

James met a LOT of people on his trip to California. Here is a summary of his introductions...

First stop on the trip was Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn, and cousin Eli. Dave told us that James has the best smile he's ever seen, a grin that lights up his whole face. We can't agree more. Dave also thinks that James is as loud as his daddy. Again, I can't agree more! Here are Dave and I holding our nephews the night we met:

James thought his Auntie Taryn was a lot of fun. She spent a lot of time shaking rattles at him and dancing around, getting him to smile. But she was also a great place for a nap. Here they are together, James looking about as comfy as a boy can get:

We're not sure what Eli thought of James, but he did give him the once-over a few times while they were together. Whereas James tends to glance all around and try to take in everything at once, Eli is much more focused. We're not even sure if James recognized Eli as another human (i.e. someone he can be social with), or if he just thought he was a handsome doll, like that baby he keeps seeing in the mirror... Regardless, they were adorable together. Here is Eli checking out his cousin, while James is busy smiling for the camera (don't mind the blur, babies move fast and their eyes aren't flash-friendly):

James also got to meet his great-grandparents. Here he is playing with his Great Grandma:

And here is James with his Great Grandpa, just chillin' (a rare occurance):

We took a 4 generation photo - James with his Grambot, Mommy, and Great Grandma:

James met his Uncle Jamie (also his Godfather) on his graduation day. The look on Jamie's face was priceless, and the photo is irreplaceable. (side note: I lost my camera at the graduation, and even though Jay, Jamie, and Jean searched for an hour, it was nowhere to be found - turns out that someone from administration had found it shortly after I dropped it running down a hill, and when they looked through the photos, they saw the one that Jay had taken of Jamie's thesis defense announcement, and were able to Google his name and find his phone number, and it was happily returned - amazing, eh?) Jamie thought James was awesome! He loved holding him, feeling his bones and muscles move. He told us that James is very fluid. Here is Jamie in awe of his nephew:

Next up were Michelle and Nicole. James had no problem breaking out the smiles to wow the pretty girls that were holding him, but we didn't capture any on film. He looks content none-the-less though:

And while this wasn't an introduction, I have to share this photo of James with his Grandpa because it captures his voice, which is something my dad hadn't really been introduced to yet. You can almost hear James demanding something, can't you?

James was also introduced to live music on this trip. Here he is listening to his Uncle Davey play the guitar while his Auntie Taryn was singing. They learned a couple of Pearl Jam songs just for James. Well, more for me I suppose, but I fully intend to convince James that Pearl Jam is the greatest band ever. He looks fascinated with the show, don't you think? His Grandpa had a hard time holding onto him because he was straining so much to get a good view:

Maybe I should break out my old flute one of these days...

MASTER LINDSAY

James spent today in the big city. San Francisco, that is, for his Uncle Jamie's graduation from SFSU, with a Master's in Philosophy. James was very proud of his uncle for accomplishing such a feat, even though you can't tell from the photos (he slept through most of the pre-ceremony party, and all of the ceremony). It was awfully cold in the city that day. Here are a few photos from the big day: Willie Mays spoke at the graduation and received an honorary degree: Jamie is on the big screen!

That is one proud mama!

Congratulations Jamie! And good luck in New York!

THE ROCK

Growing up, I lived near the Bay Area for about 20 years. Jay and I have been visiting Jamie in San Fran for about 8 years. And yet, somehow, until this trip, I had neglected to take the time to visit The Rock. Jay had been once before, on the night tour, and we decided to take a break from parenthood for a few hours and go on an adventure together. Not only was it a good idea that we left James with his uncle and grandmas due to the weather (Alcatraz was COLD - the national park service uses the famous quote, usually attributed to Mark Twain: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco", to describe the island), but it was great for Jay and I to have some time alone. It felt like we were dating again, off exploring the hidden wonders of a national park. We lagged behind the tour guide, birdwatching, taking photos, smelling the flowers (San Francisco has AMAZING flowers), and just enjoying each other's company. We skipped the audio tour and just wandered the dark prison, reading the placards and whispering to each other. We loved that everyone else had on headphones for the audio tour though... with probably 300+ visitors in the prison, nobody but us said a single word! The best part (other than the birds, of course) was the old hospital wing. It's only open for a half hour on the night tours, the lights are kept low (lanterns mostly), and many of the rooms are closed because they are falling apart. Such a creepy feeling in that part of the prison, but so cool to experience. After we made the rounds, we ran downhill just in time to catch the earlier ferry back to the city. Like I said, it was COLD. And we missed our boy. Here are a few photos from our adventure at The Rock: Brandt's Cormorants and Agave dominate the eastern end of the island: D Wing, where the worst of the worst were kept. You can see "the hole" cells in the background: