James: 11 month

James is 11 months old!

 I can’t believe we are one month away from his first birthday. This year has blown by! I blinked and all of a sudden my little baby is a big boy.

 This month has been all about movement. Baby brother does not want to be confined for one minute (which made for some fun car trips and airplane rides, ha)! Changing his diaper and clothes has been quite challenging. He is crawling everywhere and getting in to everything. 

He mostly crawls on his hands and knees, but sometimes he gets up on his hands and feet and does a bear crawl, especially if he’s on a hard/rough surface. 

He is also pulling up on everything and cruising along the furniture. One of his favorite things to do at my parents' house was push one of their kitchen chairs around while walking behind it.  

He had fun climbing over the bottoms of the bar stools and kitchen table at my parents’ house too. He had a little circuit he would do and we called it his obstacle course. Maybe he’ll follow in his daddy’s footsteps and be a hurdler?? 

I can just tell that he wants so bad to be able to get up and run around with his sister, but he’s not quite there yet.

James is quite verbal, babbling when he’s happy and screaming at the top of his lungs when he wants something or doesn’t get his way. He’s been doing a lot of mimicking too. There have been a few times that he has said “hi” or “nigh nigh” after we say it, but I think it’s mostly coincidental. Oh well, I’ll write it down anyway and pretend that our little guy is a baby genius ;) He also mimics things like sticking his tongue out, making smacking noises with his lips, etc. And he learned how to do “So Big” this month too.

He is a great eater and has a huge appetite. He is eating all table foods, no more purees, and we haven’t found a single thing he won’t eat. 

Just like June at this age, he can’t seem to get the food in his mouth fast enough and screams when he wants more. He knows the sign for “more,” but still screams while signing it. He is also still nursing 3-4 times a day.

He sleeps about 10 hours at night (8pm-6am, however he is currently going through a phase of waking up at 5am. Ugh) and he takes two naps a day (9am and 1pm).

James is such a happy, sweet little boy. He loves to give us big hugs and open-mouth kisses. I just love the way his whole face lights up when he sees me, Paul, or June. He is very emotional and you can see exactly what he's feeling just by looking at him. He is just so full of heart and seems to already have a zest for life! 

We just love this little guy to pieces! Happy 11 months Jamesy!

11 MONTH STATS:

weight: 21 lbs.

height: ?

diapers: size 3

clothes: 9 month in shorts (he has a tiny waist) and 12 month in everything else 

eyes: blue

hair: blond

teeth: 7

nicknames: Jamesy, Jamesy Boy, Jame Jame

likes: swinging (he laughs hysterically when we push him in the swing), playing with June (she gets him to laugh harder than anyone), baby elephant, climbing everything (especially the stairs)

dislikes: being confined, hungry, tired, or itchy (his poor eczema has been bad this summer)

James: 5 months

James is 5 months old! 

Ugh he KILLS me with that smile!

This month James really turned a corner. He was so much happier. His tummy seemed much better and   I finally figured out a sleep/nap routine that worked well for him. Up until a month ago, he was just kind of falling asleep in my arms randomly throughout the day at which point I would put him in the swing. But then around 4 months he started waking up and crying every single time I tried to put him down. And trust me, I would love to hold him for every nap, every day, but that just doesn't work when you have a two-year-old running around. It was kind of a nightmare. And the thing I realized about James is he goes from happy to over-tired in a matter of seconds. By the time I realize he's tired, it's too late! So, I read a book on sleep that helped me figure out a normal sleep/wake pattern for babies his age and what sleep cues to watch for. The key is to put him down to sleep before he reaches that over-tired state and so far, it's working! We also moved him into his own room this month, but he's still sleeping in the swing. That's the next hurdle to tackle. 

He's pretty good at sitting in the bumbo, but he really doesn't like to. In fact, he hates being in a sitting position, even in my lap. He arches his back and tries to completely straighten his body and let me tell you, he is strong! (side note: when he was born, the nurse in the labor and delivery room warned us how strong he was and told us to be careful because he had almost kicked himself right off of the scale when they weighed him :) He's tried to fling himself out of the bumbo a few times, so now he has to be closely supervised when he's in it haha. 

Sweet boy adores his sister. He completely lights up when he sees her. It's like he knows that she's on his level. And the the feeling is mutual for her. They have their own special little thing going on and it's so cool to watch. 

James also had his first taste of food this month (two days before 5 months). 

We decided to just give him a chunk of banana. He absolutely loved it! 

And then at the very end of the month, James was baptized.

We were touched to have so many loved ones there to witness this very special day in James' life: Grammy and G-Daddy, Hammy and Grits, Mimi and Grandpa, Uncle Buzz and Aunt Ashley, Aunt Jane and Greg, and Aunt Pat, Uncle Mike and their boys. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day. It's my Grammy holding James who is wearing the baptismal gown that all of 5 her children (including my dad) and 7 of her grandchildren wore. James is the first great-grandchild to be baptized in it. 

James William truly is a gift from God and we are so blessed by him. He is such a joy! 

5 MONTH STATS:

weight: 14 lbs 9 oz at last weight check (4.4 months)

height: 24.5" at last appointment

diapers: size 2 

clothes: 3-6 and 6 month 

eyes: blue

hair: he doesn't have much! seems blond?

nicknames: Jamesy, Jamesy Boy, Jame Jame, Buddy/Bud

likes: itsy bitsy spider (with hand movements) the paci, the car seat, the swing, baths, and big sister

dislikes: being in seated position 

James: 4 months

James is 4 months old!

I mean, just look at this little guy.

He is SO smiley! 

One of my favorite milestones happened this month-James laughed for the first time. He is actually a very ticklish little baby. Nothing melts my heart more than the sound of a baby laughing. 

James also learned how to grasp toys this month.

And this is what happens when we do tummy time-big sister wants to do it too and likes to coach James ("C'mon, roll over Jamesy Boy."). He has only rolled over a few times. He doesn't love being on his tummy, but he doesn't hate it like June did. 

This month was a busy one with James' first Christmas...

and first plane ride.

We flew from Sacramento to Richmond with a layover in Houston and James was an absolute prince on both flights (despite his face in this picture).

We spent 10 days at Aunt Sara and Uncle Jeff's house, including Christmas. 

Cousins! 

I think everyone had a good time in Richmond except James. I'm not quite sure why, but he was so cranky the whole time we were there. He wouldn't sleep unless he was in my arms, didn't really want to nurse, didn't want to be held, didn't want to lie down, nothing would make him happy. Well, I take that back, Hammy (my mom) discovered one thing that calmed him down a little…the pacifier. We had been trying for months to give him the pacifier and he would gag on it and spit it out. But then all of a sudden he kept it in his mouth when my mom gave it to him and he has been hooked ever since. 

When we got back from Richmond, I took James in for his 4 month check up. His doctor was a little concerned because he hadn't gained any weight from 3-4 months and his eczema was really bad. She thought the poor weight gain and crankiness in Richmond could have been from his reflux, so she told me to get him back on the Zantac. As far as his skin, she recommended that we only bathe him once every 3 days, with no soap, and cover him in Aveeno lotion followed by Aquaphor 4-6 times per day. She scheduled us to come in for a follow up appointment two weeks later. 

When we went back in, his skin was looking a little better and his weight had come up, so she said she she didn't need to see us again until 6 months.  

Poor Jamesy had a bit of a rough month! 

We just love him so much!

4 MONTH STATS:

weight: 14 lbs 3 oz at 4 month appointment, then 14 lbs 9 oz at weight check

height: 24.5"

diapers: ?? I don't remember! 

clothes: 3-6 and 6 month 

eyes: blue

hair: he is losing some hair and its lightening up

nicknames: Jamesy, Jame Jame, Buddy

likes: the paci, the car seat, the ergo carrier (but only when facing out and it's short-lived), baths, and big sister

dislikes: sleeping anywhere other than mama's arms, nursing on my left side (he has come to really prefer my right side to the point where my left makes half as much milk as my right).