One Year

Has one year really gone by since James was born? All morning I kept thinking, "This is when I went into the hospital", "This is the time that they finally decided to do a c-section", "I was finally given my spinal and out of pain by this time", and at 9:17am, James and I celebrated his official birth time by clapping.

We had a fun day. Phil woke up James so we could have a pre-celebration before Phil had to go to work. We ate pancakes for breakfast, went for a walk, had mac-n-cheese for lunch, went swimming in the afternoon, played with toys, and had some not so yummy cake for a birthday celebration (Betty Crocker failed me).

Some of the latest on James. He is finally walking! He started about 11 1/2 months and has really started to take off the last few days. He is so fun to watch. He still only has two teeth on the bottom. According to my own measurements (since I don't even have his one year appointment made yet) he is 21.5 lbs and around 29-30in. long.

James loves to push things around (high chair, other chairs, a wagon, his push toy, toy cars, etc.). He has also been more into toy cars lately. He especially likes to put them up on a chair so they are at his eye level and move them around. He will even sometimes make a "mmmm" sound while playing with them. Mima and Papa have a school bus toy that James has been trying to maneuver on to a chair. It is so much heavier than the other toys so he gets so frustrated when trying to get it up on a chair. Phil and I let him figure it out and just laugh at him!

He continues to love water. Bath time, swimming, toilets (unfortunately); if it has water, he likes it. When we get ready to put him in the bathtub he gets so excited standing there and walks in place waiting to get in. It is pretty cute.

He has been pointing more. I'm not sure what initiates his pointing but he likes to do it. He will point at others (mainly Mima) and also likes to point outside when he sees something out there.

He loves to be outside. When I finish changing his diaper and go outside to through it away, he gets so mad at me because I don't take him with me.

He loves the dishwasher and fridge. It becomes a race when he realizes you have opened them to see if you can close it before he makes it over. And then it is a big deal when you shut it. He will squat down, put his hands on the ground, hang his head down and start to cry. That is how he throws a little "tantrum".

And for a lot of pics to commemorate the day...


Breakfast:
Lunch:

Swim time:



Playing with his cars on his level:
Birthday Cake time:

Doing his pointing: Our attempt at a family photo:

Dad wrestling with his partner:

St. David

The past few weeks we have been in St. David. Phil is following his uncles who are Family care physicians and is loving it. We are living with Phil's parents and it has been really enjoyable (except that we haven't been able to visit a whole lot with them since they are so busy!). Phil is hoping this experience will convert me to small town life! The weather has been great. Although it can reach 100 degrees, it cools off at night which is how a desert should be! Things I love about it here:

-It is beautiful. It is perfect timing as the vegetation is green (Phil's parents live on a hill so you can overlook the green St. David valley).

-Once again, the weather has been nice.

-It is quiet. It has been a really nice change not having to hear cars drive by all day (even though there is the occasional loud Semi that goes by).

-James' sleeping quarters. He sleeps in the pantry which is pitch black. This means he has been sleeping until at least 7 instead of his normal rising with the sun a little after 5. He has even slept a little past 8 the past 3 days. Bliss!

Things I miss:

-Having access to our car all the time. Phil usually rides his bike to school. Since he has to drive to work, this means I don't have a car at home to use whenever I please (does that sound totally spoiled?) Which brings up my next few points...

-Walking distance to a park. We could walk to the school which is 3 miles away which I wouldn't mind doing. But there aren't sidewalks and it is on a road where cars are going 50 mph so I don't feel completely safe with James in his stroller.

-Walking distance to the library. I actually have not been to the library in Benson yet and have good intentions to go, but it would sure be nice to be able to walk there.

-Radio stations, especially NPR. I really enjoy listening to talk radio while I'm cooking or doing other tasks and I don't thoroughly enjoy listening to "The Cave" all day.

The first week down here we were blessed to have three of Phil's sister's kids (Amy) with us while they were at girl's camp. We had some fun. I have only taken pictures of when they were here and not any since. The pictures are from when we went down to the "river". Unfortunately there wasn't any water but we found some fun critters while we were there. The other pictures are when we went for a hike in the "bone forest". Ah, the imagination of kids! We played some games, jumped on the trampoline, and had a water obstacle course in addition to our other adventures.

Pictures at the river:

Pictures of our bone forest hike:

James has been having fun as well. He loves to be outside and has a special interest in the cats (does he get it from his dad?!). One is totally afraid of us and the other likes to be around until James attacks it. I try to show him how to be soft and the cat appreciates it but it is kind of fun to see what James does and how the cat responds. Poor cat. He has sort of started to avoid James. We've also been enjoying a little kid pool that one of our friends gave us. It is something nice and different to do in the day along with little walks.