news from chicago: Mid-Month Update

Well hello there :)

It's been a while, but I think it feels longer than it actually was. We have been busy around here - all three of us. We've had tons of visitors, a national holiday, two music classes, brand new foods, and James is officially a man on the move and a man of a few words. What? All of this happened? Yes :)

As if it were meant to be, today tooth #8 broke through during lunch. Also today, James blew bubbles for the first time. Mom held the little dipper and James blew and voila - BUBBLES! James was so proud of himself and Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom all clapped and cheered for him. Fantastic. James also is giving hugs, snuggles and kisses. And, he puts his head forward leaning toward a person when he wants a kiss from them. Priceless. James is a good eater and is trying and loving lots of new foods: kiwi fruit, tomotoes (raw), cheddar cheese cubes, and hotdogs.

James is having hotdog for the first time on the 4th and singing into the measuring cup

(Hayes family: Does this photo remind you of another photo?)

James now is completely mobile. We only hold him when we need him to not be running around or when he wants to be held. Otherwise, James is in motion. Now when we set him down, he crawls away to investigate something. The other day, James was playing on his play mat and then all of the sudden I felt this little hand grab my leg when I was feeding the fish. I screamed a little and James laughed and then screamed a fake scream to mimic me. James had gotten to standing and walked across the room and didn't make a sound. At music class, James is crawling around and is starting to walk around too. Look at this guy in the center of the parachute!

Signing - James has music down pat and even showed his music class! Now when he eats, James signs for music and either looks to the radio or to Mom and Dad for the music. It's been fun - we usually get a pretty good selection of songs to sing along with during meals. And if not, we ad lib. James has some new vocab too - "Uh Oh" is his new favorite phrase; "Nall None" or just "None" for all done - he says this with food or with an activity; "Ado" for I do when he wants to do something on his own; and "Doe" for door and sometimes we get a "Ga" or "Go" for go out.

Whenever the phone rings now James screams out "DADA" because he thinks Doug is going to be on the phone. How precious is that? James LOVES himself some Dad and misses him a lot during the day. It's been tough in the morning when Doug has to go to work, so now we all leave together and wait with Dad for a cab and then Mom and James go for a walk. This has helped a lot. Even if I don't say anything to James, around the time Doug normally gets home from work, "dada" starts getting repeated and eventually James will walk Mom to the door to go out in the hallway to wait for Dad to come home.

Since I cannot remember everything that happened from memory alone, I'm working from the photos we've taken over the last few weeks. Ready? Here we go!

Ain't that the truth?

Matching on the 3rd of July

Wearing his patriotic shirt on the 4th - playing with grass in the park

Doug got this photo - just love it.

One of my favorite photos of James and Doug so far - best pals for sure

Cruising around

There were people riding around on bikes, walking, segway tours - LOTS to look at

Sharing a find with Mom

In his cool tshirt from Jessica and Erwin! Everyone at Whole Foods kept asking him, "So big buddy, you love Cheerios huh?" Don't have to tell you that he loved it - smiled and waved at everyone who asked him. Such a people person.

This was hilarious - was reading Williams-Sonoma and then walked into the kitchen, opened up his cabinet with pots and pans and tupperwares and then continued to read the magazine. We were laughing so hard. We've got a smart cookie - and perhaps a chef.

Giving Auntie E a tour around the house - James lets very few people hold his hand like this. We think James has a crush on Auntie E. We may have even given Uncle Serge a hard time :)