Random Pictures of James

A few pictures of James.  Here he just wanted me to take his picture. 

I was sitting at the computer trying to blog.  He saw the camera and insisted I take his picture.  In the next two pictures, I think he was watching Toy Story and eating Oreo cookies.

He climbed up into a camp chair and made himself comfortable.

I came down stairs and found James like this.

He had been playing when I walked up stairs.  I was not gone that long, but I do not think he has been feeling really well. 

He has been hit hard with seasonal allergies this year.  Poor boy!  I think it is more than grass that is giving him problems this year.

More Sliding

James is getting more daring on the slide.  Here is a great video of him playing on the slide.

I love that he says, "Cool," when he gets to the bottom the first time down.  He loves going to the backyard and playing on the slide.

Plan For Me

James brought home a mobile from nursery.  He had not colored much of it while in nursery, but wanted to color it more at home.  Here is a video from him coloring and "reading" what it said.

Now, he runs around the house dragging this project and calls it his kite.  He is quite the character!

Our Weekend

We had a fairly busy weekend.  Friday night, we went to a pizza party with some of Jon's fellow residents.  I did not take any pictures, even though I brought the camera.  James had lots of fun in Chris and Lauren's backyard.  There was a small fish pond, which he loved.  Sadly there were not any other kids there, but James made friends with most of Jon's classmates.  He loved trowing the helicopters (maple tree seeds) and sticks in the air.  He even picked some tomatoes, but we stopped him before he picked all of their tomatoes.  He laughed hard enough to throw up a little.  He was exhausted when we got home and went right to bed.

Saturday was our ward's Pioneer Day celebration.  We made it in time for lunch.  We were actually able to sleep in which was really nice!  There was good food

and a big toy for James.

James played the whole time we were there.

He loved the slides.

Even when he fell of the end of one and landed on his face in the mud and bark he got back up, spit out what got in his mouth and went back for more.

There was also a water balloon toss.

Is started to rain on us, so we left, and then James wanted to eat lunch.  All the food was put away at that time and everyone was headed to their cars.  It was fun to hang out with some of the people in our ward.  James had lots of fun too.

When we got home, James had to had a bath because he was filthy and wet.  Then we gave him some lunch.  He crashed for a nap pretty quick after that.  For dinner, we got take out from the Twisted Rooster.  With a name like that we had to try it.  They have an interesting menu.  Check it out.  Their fried pickles were really good, and so was the mac and cheese.  There are a few other things I would like to try, so we will likely go again.  After dinner, I cut James's hair(s), so he got another bath.  I am glad he is liking baths again!

On Sunday, James had a hard time in nursery.  I think he was tired, and maybe he realizes a change is coming.  I had to go in there for a little while with him, but was able to go back to Relief Society eventually.  I hope he will do better this next Sunday, because Jon will be working.

Our New Zoo

James and I went to the zoo one day last week.  The John Ball Zoo is really nice.  It is not as big as the Toledo Zoo, but there were a lot of different animals.  We were not quite able to get through the whole thing in just an hour, but we will go back again.  Here are a few pictures.

Looking at the pink birds.

Pink flamingos.

What is that?

I think this is some kind of ant eater, but I never saw the sign.  It was probably before we saw this animal.

Cannot really see them here, but this is grizzly bears. 

When we first got there they were sleeping, but before we walked away the woke up and growled.  Not a sound I would want to here in the wild, but it was cool to hear it at the zoo!  Here is a picture from the turtle exhibit.  It was fun to see how many we could find, I think I counted 9 (not in this picture though).

We saw other animals.  These were just the ones I took pictures of.  We saw a bobcat, cougar, sleeping lion, jumping monkeys, ducks, camels (with camel rides), goats, bald eagles....  I think that was all.  James also got to pet a turtle, which he thought was really cool.

More Backyard

Here are some more random pictures from the evenings we have spent outside.  Throwing chalk.

Yes, this is a favorite thing to do currently.

Not the best quality picture (taken on Jon's iTouch), but funny to see James's head just over the hedge.

He is sitting on a rock next to the bushes.  He did not want to come inside.  Please, ignore the massive weeds seen in this picture.  We finally talked him into coming inside.  Climbing the stairs to the deck.

It was cool enough one night that we needed jackets outside.  Going inside by himself, without screaming!

We are really enjoying the weather and our shaded backyard in the evenings.  I hope we do not see any more hot, humid days this year! 

Outside

Since we have been spending more time outside, James has been enjoying the slide in the back yard.  Here are some videos of James playing on the slide with his egg-shaped chalk.  The first he tells all the colors of the chalk.  He mixes up blue and purple all the time.

He likes to throw the chalk down the slide too.

I am glad he figured out how to go down the slide by himself!

We love our backyard!

Backyard

Since the weather has been cooler again and the humidity low, we have been spending more time in the back yard.  It is really nice!  Jon has been told that this weather is more normal for August in Grand Rapids.  I hope that is true.  Here is a video that Jon took of our back yard.  We just got a weed whacker so it was the first time Jon had trimmed along the fence.

So our yard goes almost to the trees that you can see on each side.  It is not just the length of the brown fence across the back.  Since we are at the end of a cul-de-sac our front yard is really small, but the back yard has lots of space.

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN!

At the Doctor

Here are the pictures of James at my doctor's appointment.  He really wanted to sit on the circle chair.

He sat reading his book for a little while.

Here he is pointing at the numbers for taking blood pressure.

He seemed to enjoy going to mom's doctor, but I do not know that we will bring him again, if we can avoid it.

When Dr. Jelsema came in, James did move to Jon's lap, but I've noticed that the doctor rarely sits on his chair.

"Clean-up, Clean-up....

...Everybody everywhere."

James has been a big helper recently with house work.  He will put the clean silverware away in the drawer, and most of the time he gets spoon, knives (butter/table knives) and forks in the right place.  He picks up his food when he drops it.  He helps sweep and mop.  Recently, he even help scrub the crayon off the walls after he colored there. 

Then, he wanted to scrub all the walls. 

He walked around with the Magic Eraser most of the day looking for "smudges" on the walls.

Good News!

Thanks so much for all the prayers this last week!  I know it helped!  I had an appointment yesterday, and it went really well.  Numbers are back where they should be, and the baby is no longer showing signs of anemia! 

We brought James with us so he could see his baby brother.  He was really excited, until they turned the lights down for the ultrasound.  I forgot about that part.  James still tends to be afraid of the dark.  He freaked out, so he and Jon went into the hall during that part.  James did well the rest of the time.  Jon took some pictures of James sitting on the doctor's stool reading a book, but they are on Jon's iTouch and he doesn't know how to attach them to an email to send them to me.  I will post them when I can.

Now that I will be 32 weeks on Friday, I get to start going in twice a week for stress tests.  An extra precaution to make sure the baby is still okay.  I will also still have an ultrasound every two weeks to watch for signs of anemia, and my blood drawn once a month to make sure my antibody levels do not go up.  Lots of doctor visits in the near future.  The good news is that Jon works mostly half days this month, so if I can get my appointments in the afternoon, he can come with me or watch James.

I am so grateful for all of you and the support you have been to us through all of this.  Saying thank you never seems like enough, but Thanks to all of you!

Tie

We go into the doctor later today for another ultrasound.  Hopefully all will go well.  I will try to post something about it soon.

Totally different subject, but James again insisted on wearing a tie yesterday. 

It was party because I forgot to put his tie away after church on Sunday.

He does kind of match too.  Sometimes he really makes me laugh, but I am glad he likes to wear ties instead of always pulling them off.

Surviving Summer

Wow!  It is already August!  I cannot believe it!  On Saturday, Jon's program had a "Surviving Summer" party.  One of the attendings had the party at his home.  He has a swimming pool,

barn with an owl who lived in it, basketball court, and large yard.  It was fun to get out and get to know some of the people Jon works with.  There was also lots of food, water balloons, and a few games.  James was scared of the pool, which was better than him running and jumping in.  He also did not want to touch the water balloons.  He loved to look at them and watch other launch them at new comers, but he did not want to throw any.  James loved the bean bag toss,

 and ladder golf,

and basketball.  Jon and I even played ladder golf with James. 

We do not know the rules or scoring, but it was fun to throw the balls and see if we could get them on the "ladder."  James also likes this exersaucer,

even if he was too big to sit in it. 

He insisted we put him in. 

It was warm, but it was not as hot and humid as it had been.  We bought James his own camp chair.

He liked to have his own chair.  It was a fun party, but we did not stay the whole time since James still really needed a nap.