All Boy

James is still obsessed with anything that has wheels, and the way he expresses his excitement over spotting a bus or truck or the like is getting more and more dramatic. It is no longer "Truck!" it's "TRRRRRRUUUUCK!!!!!!" with a little bit of a low growl in there, often with his whole body bouncing or jumping. Example:

I have another video I'm trying to get uploaded...hopefully soon.

These are a few of my favorite things

Well...life has gotten away from us a little these last few months! Here are some pics to update you on the life of our little man.

James LOVES trucks. It's the first word he says every morning. No joke. Kirk took him to the fire station the other day to see the trucks! Is this a greeting card or what?



He likes to help us feed Oso


Our tomato plant out back has grown out of control and James picks the green tomatoes and eats them like apples! Why not?


We enjoy story time at the downtown library often, this is his favorite exhibit in the kids section,

A new convention center, the Music City Center, is being built downtown, and we drive by often. This is his new favorite place! We have stopped a couple times just to stand at the fence and watch the trucks do their work. It's not scheduled to be done until 2013 so we have some good free entertainment for awhile. I'll take it!

I'll try to update again soon!

Art project

James is 16 months old now and I know I say this every post, he's at a really fun age. :) He loves to read, to himself or with whoever will read with him. He mostly loves to point out animals or objects he recognizes. For example, we have a book of "rainbows shapes and colors" and he will speed through until the orange page just so he can point to the fish and say "shish". He loves discovering new things and is always picking up new tricks from friends. He's a good observer. He learned what a Cow and a Duck say, thanks to the book "Moo, Baa, La La La", so cute.

yesterday he got two shots a the dr, and didn't even flinch! The nurse was a little shocked, as was I, but we were both thankful! I think it was the toy truck waiting for him on the ground.

here is our first art project attempt. pudding paint!

Well just when I think James couldn't get any cuter, he does things like point out the banana on every page of the book "Goodnight Gorilla", or run to the freezer and try to open the handle on his own after hearing me say the word "popsicle", or run to the door giggling the minute his Dad walks into the house after a work day. He is at a seriously fun age. He seems to be understanding everything and I already find myself spelling out words if I don't want him to hear me say things like "blueberries" or "blankie" or "yogurt" or "bottle". His only real consistent words right now are tractor, truck, and soccer (which sounds a lot like tractor). Just this week he used the word "No" for the first time, when I was trying to change his diaper. For some reason this kid thinks having his diaper changed is torture. Which is why I try to have a good truck book handy for him to look at while I get the job done. He loves books and turns the pages like an adult reading the newspaper.

I love these pictures from the other day, taken right when I walked in to get him from a nap. Have you ever seen more fabulous red hair?? As you can see, he's a late teether and is still chewing on everything!

High Five

Hi!!!

James is starting to communicate more and more which is so fun. His newest thing is waving and I'm loving it! he definitely has a separate wave for hello and goodbye which is adorable. Here is a short clip from earlier today when we went swimming with some friends. At one point Kirk was circling him around the pool and every time he came around and saw me sitting on the edge he waved his little hand hello! So cute. He loves being with his papa in the water!
-sorry about my loud talking at the end!

Walking & Talking

I promise he wasn't walking two days ago. He has been taking a few steps here and there for the last few weeks or so but suddenly this week he has decided he's gonna give it a shot! He's still sort of wobbly but the biggest change, as you'll see on the video, is that when he stumbles he stands back up instead of defaulting to a crawl.

He has been talking for awhile now, and mimicing what we say often, however he doesn't keep words very long. For example, he was saying Oso very clearly for awhile and now I don't remember the last time I heard him say it! Every time someone new watches him they always have a list of words that they swore he said! I don't know, I think he's just really good at mimicing whether we are paying attention or not. There are, however, a few words that he has started saying without any prompting or reminders at all. On the video, you'll hear me say it first but that is just so I can be sure to get in on film. The words are Truck, Duck, and Soccer! His word for soccer doesn't really sound like soccer but he's trying really hard and we're pretty sure that is what he's saying. Since the main balls he's played with for the last few months were in fact soccer balls (and that is what we called them) he thinks that all balls are called soccer balls. We don't really mind, and with it being world cup season and all...we're letting this one slide. :) He's also been saying Mama and Dad-dyoo (that is what it sounds like) and is starting to say them more consistantly at the appropriate times.

side note:
James started a mothers day out program this week and went yesterday and today. This will hopefully be when I co-write, although this week it didn't line up and instead I did a lot of running errands, cleaning the house, and working on songs in an empty house (gasp!). It was lovely. He has done GREAT at MDO and his teacher enjoys him already. He's been so exhausted from his lack of naps though that he went to bed tonight at 5:35! Which is why my kitchen is clean, I have a coffee cake in the oven, and I am blogging! I look forward to a less cranky James tomorrow though after he gets some good naps in. I'll stop blabbing now and let you watch the video. It's pretty cute. :)

Coffee and Trucks

James and I enjoy our days together. I am songwriting (on average) 2 days a week and get to be home the rest of the time.

Although I look forward to one day having another baby, I am savoring these days of early motherhood when I get to have James all to myself. The other morning we went to my favorite coffee shop and sat on the front porch overlooking a busy road that leads into downtown. James loves to watch big trucks drive by so this was the perfect outing for us. I drank my coffee while James stood on the bench, taking bites of his muffin in between truck sitings.

“Trut!” he would say and point to the roaring vehicle driving past. Every now and then he would bounce his knees up and down in excitement, and then pause in apprehension when something unfamiliar drove by, like the city bus which doesn’t drive down our street as often as the big trucks (which actually do drive by often due to some sort of waste and recycling facility at the end of our block).

There we were, both of us enjoying some of our very favorite things in the whole world.

It was a good morning despite the pink cheeks our little redhead had later in the day. Who knew even the 8 am sun can burn such fair skin?

I know that mornings such as this will be harder to come by with multiple children. I am asked often these days when we will have another little one. And...It might be soon, it might be another couple years. For now, I am enjoying being the mommy of one very lovable little boy whose first words include “truck” and “soccer”, who crosses his little feet when he is eating, and whose left eye is a little more closed than his right.

Rocking out and bumping heads

Who says you can't rock out to Mary had a little Lamb and Yankee Doodle? James likes to think you can. Make sure and watch this whole clip- the poor guy gets a little bruise at the end, but don't worry he was just fine. :)

Fun with James

James is at a really fun stage. Last night we spend about 30 minutes sitting on the couch playing games. One game where James would pull himself up to standing on the back of the couch and we would say "Up!" and then he would plop down on his bottom and we would say "down". He would do it really fast and thought it was hilarious. He's also figured out how to slide off of the couch without our assistance so we would set him on the edge and he would wiggle his way down till he was standing on the floor and would look back up at us SO proud of himself. When he gets really excited he flexes his whole body and shouts out at the same time and if we happen to catch him doing this when he's naked, well... it's pretty hilarious to see those little buns flexing. :)

James really wants to talk and loves jabbering. He is starting to say "mama" and "papa" or "dada" at appropriate times, like yesterday when I got home from working and he wrapped his arms around my legs and said "mamamamama.." I about melted right there! He also says "Oso" and something that sounds like "this" or "touch" when he wants something. He's recently started using objects as phones and will hold a toy up to his ear and talk like he's on the phone, he must have gotten that from cousin Avery!

James loves to be outside and we spend a lot of time in the backyard in his swing and playing fetch with Oso. We have a hammock set up as well and if we catch him at a cuddly moment he will hang out with Kirk and I while we swing in the hammock together. Those are particularly magical moments that I am trying to take in fully when they happen. This past sunday James hung out with us for probably 20+ minutes while we read some books and just swung together in the afternoon. We have a wonderfully shaded backyard that I am loving even more now that James is here.



and here is one in the backyard of J wearing wearing uncle Neals hat! SO cute!

We love summers around here and I'm excited to see everything through James' eyes. Besides spending time in our backyard swinging and (very soon) splashing in a pool, we live close to some very fun stuff. Some friends of ours got us a year long pass to the Nashville zoo for J's birthday! Yesterday he and I went for the first time and loved it! J's favorite things were the birds and the fish. It takes less than 10 minutes to drive there from our house so I think we'll probably spend a lot of time there in the coming months. We live blocks from the Sounds stadium (our minor league baseball team) and every friday night there is a home game they set off fireworks that we can see from our front porch. I can't wait to take James to a game! We can also walk to the fairgrounds from our house where once a month there is a great flea market and once a year there is the state fair. If you take away the noise from the racetrack that is also on the fairgrounds, we love our neighborhood! While we're on the topic, check out a non-profit community development ministry some neighbors of ours run called Harvest Hands. We love being a part of what they do whenever we can. check out their website to learn more. You can also order coffee (it's GREAT) from the neighborhood boys who have started a coffee roasting business.

moral of the story, we're counting our blessings these days and looking forward to more fun with our sweet little boy this summer!

Birthday Boy!

We've had a couple fun filled weekends celebrating our sweet little James! Grandma & Grandpa Dahlgren were here last weekend and this past weekend Grandma & Grandpa Rogers came down. James got a lot of love, thats for sure!


Here is James' applesauce cake which tasted more like a healthy muffin with frosting on it. :) I just couldn't bring myself to give him anything too sweet.


He's good at sharing. :)

James got a lot of really fun gifts, but his favorite of all is a simple plastic soccer ball! He loves it!


You are one loved little boy James and we are so thankful that God gave you to us!

year 1 through the eyes of an iphone

On saturday James will be one! I've been thankful for our iphones that have captured some really fun pictures when the real camera was out of reach. Here are some of my favorites from the year. (actually one of them is from uncle Scotts phone, thanks scott!)

Up and Down

Spring!

As I've said before, we are SO glad that spring is here! James has loved being outside better than anywhere else ever since we brought him home from the hospital last year. I think I see some family camping trips in our future! Right now his favorite things to do outside include watching the trucks and cars drive by, picking up new things likes rocks and leaves and trying to eat them, and swinging in our backyard on the new swing daddy put up this weekend!
(have you ever seen such chubby cute feet??? It's no wonder no shoes fit him!)

We had a fun, full Easter weekend and were so thankful for the nice weather. At the end of last week a good friend of mine, Calais, was in town and we got to spend some time in a local park with James. There is a great mexican popsicle place where we were and James got to taste his first avocado popsicle! He loved it!

On saturday after a trip to the farmers market Kirk and I planted a garden in the backyard. We planted some blackberry bushes last year and to it we added tomatoes, broccoli, basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a couple flowers. I've only ever done potted herbs so it will be fun to see how a mini garden in the yard will work out this year. While we worked in the yard James took a THREE hour nap!! I don't remember the last time this happened, it was miraculous. :) We spent most of Sunday with our good friends here in town and their two kids. We had a blast feasting together and enjoying a laid back afternoon. We even got to play part of a board game while the kids all took naps (at the same time, another napping miracle!)

Here are some pics of James on Easter morning. He looks so grown up in his cute shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Dahlgren! (side note: he also does this funny tongue rolling thing that you can sort of see in this picture)

It's hard to get a picture of James when he's not on the move, most pics look like this one!

I don't know what this face is but I have a feeling this won't be the last time I'll see it!

A rare picture of the 3 of us from sunday afternoon,

some fun pics of James and Kirk in our front yard by the Cherry tree that blooms so pretty this time of year. I just love James' pale pink skin next to those flowers! I found a flower petal in his mouth during his bath right after these pics were taken!



I also have a fun short video of James from yesterday that I'll post later.

11 Months

James is 11 months old today. I said that aloud to someone earlier and couldn't believe how old it sounded! I can't believe his birthday is only a month away. I have officially given up on the official monthly pictures. The only time he sits still long enough for me to place something numerical next to him is when he's got one hand wrapped around his blankie and the other in his mouth. Or in this case, one hand on a tractor.

we were in Iowa for a wedding last weekend and enjoyed spending some time with the family! We even got to play outside a little bit, which turns fussy james into happy james quickly. Spring is VERY welcome this year!



James! Avery! Look at the camera!



More updates later...