news from chicago: 7 months, Thanksgiving and Florida

First things first, Happy 7 months James!!!!

Our little family took our second airplane trip and we left the house at 5am!

We arrived safely in Florida. Grandma and Grandpa Sennott were there at the airport waiting for us and were so happy to see us, especially James.

The flight down to Sarasota was definitely one that will be hard to forget. For 2.5 hours, two little children, one behind Doug and one behind James and me, screamed and shrieked and cried. Needless to say, our little one did not sleep on the flight. It was so bad, the person in front of James and me ordered a glass of wine at 7am! As soon as we got in the car, James was in la la land.

We had a fantastic time in Florida and James just loved the ocean. But, not at first, here's the reaction to the first ever feet in the ocean. Priceless.

Every morning after James had his bottle, we would slather some 55 spf on James, get him in a little outfit, with hat, and take him for a walk down by the ocean. The first day, he was a little apprehensive of the ocean - it's really loud and big and new - but by the second day, he was leaning down and wanting us to put him in the sand. Sand gets everywhere - fast. We just put his feet in the sand and then a minute later it would be on his face! Look at these cute little feet!

Walking on the beach together as a family was such a nice treat for us. We had so much fun together watching the waves, picking up shells and just being together.

During our vacation, we had lots of firsts happen. James went in the pool! He didn't even cry! James loved when Mom and Dad would swoop him through the water like Superman. He even splashed a little bit too. It was so much fun. James also learned how to put his tongue in-between his lips and blow bubbles. It was hysterical. Dad ran and got the video camera to capture the event - it was 20 minutes of bubbles - we were laughing so hard.

And then we had a not so fun first. James was not eating and sleeping like he normally does and he just wasn't acting like himself. Mom called his pediatrician's office here in Chicago and the nurse told her that if he keeps the pattern of behavior up to take him to the ER because it might be an ear infection. Wednesday morning, after two feedings and hardly any bottle drinking, Dad and Mom drove in the pouring rain to the ER of Sarasota. James was seen immediately and sure enough, had an ear infection in his little tiny right ear. Poor guy.

***UPDATE***

On Sunday morning, we decided to go to walk-in hours at the doctors' office because James still wouldn't take his bottle. We just got back and James has another ear infection - this time the left ear. We have a new antibiotic too. We go back on Thursday for round 2 of the flu shots and the nurse practitioner will check his ears again. Fingers crossed and praying for a full recovery.

Okay, back to happy stories. James also had his first visit to Mote Marine Aquarium! James saw seahorses, lots of fish, huge lobsters, jellyfish, sharks, turtles and almost made it to the manatees and dolphins but he was getting cranky and to avoid a nap time meltdown, we left. Mom and Dad go to Mote Marine every time we're in Florida and could not wait to take James. We had a blast. After the aquarium, we met up with Grandpa at the Dry Dock for lunch and it was delicious as always.

James also met Dad's cousins and his own cousins! James met Garrett who is 5 and Emelia who is 5 months. Garrett is Dad's brother's son and Emelia is Dad's cousin's daughter. The first time James met Emelia, he reached out for her little hand and then held it - it was adorable. Then, he tried to eat her hand ... he's too cute. Like we said, James would love to put everything in his little mouth. As a side note, we bought him a shirt at Mote that has a shark on it and says "I chew on everything." :o) James and Garrett had a lot of fun playing with the train set and Garrett gave James lots of nice hugs. It was a great time.

We also got to go with Grandpa to his breakfast hangout and meet 'the gang' - all the waitresses at The Blue Dolphin just doted on James the whole time and James loved every minute of it!

James also got to see his first sunset in Florida. I know most of you are saying, "What? He's 7 months old. How has he never seen a sunset?" Well in Chicago, we live in the city and have east, north and south views. When we look west, we see buildings. Let me tell you - this sunset was gorgeous and Dad got some magnificent shots. We all felt blessed to witness it. The sky was just beautiful.

We had a safe flight home and thanks to infant motrin, James was able to sleep for a little bit of the flight and not be in too much pain. Our first morning home, James woke us up with adorable little coos and our family got to watch a glorious sunrise together.

Now, on to the cute little stories of month 6-7. As we said, James can now blow bubbles with his tongue out - it's really adorable. Sometimes only half of his tongue comes out and just to the side. James is such a comedian already. When we ask "Where is Mommy?" or "Where is Daddy?" James will look at us. It's awesome. James now does little back bends when we hold him on our laps - this makes Mom really really nervous because he's sitting there and then all of the sudden, just pushes right off. We really have to hold on! He also loves it when someone hides around a corner and then jumps out - like a suped-up peak-a-boo. He just laughs hysterically. James is also now making the 'da da da de de de' sounds and a little word that we love to hear, 'mim' - we like to think that he's named us da and mim. We'll definitely let you know if they turn into dada and mama. James also loves to be held standing up near a table and to reach for things on the table. If you hand him something, he's no longer interested in it - he wants to get it all by himself. James also loves tags - so we bought him a taggies toy that has lots of tags on it - he has no interest in this toy - he knows the real deal when he sees it and wants only the real tags. What a character.