James – Eleven Month Update

Somehow, James is eleven months old. How that is even possible is beyond me … he is growing up way too fast and I’m not even close to ready for him to officially move from baby to toddler. James is a pretty happy little guy. He is sweet and funny but also Mr. Mischief. Pat and I often look at each other with raised eyebrows because James is Trouble. He is into everything, and no matter how sternly you tell him NO, he looks at you and smiles or laughs and then proceeds to do whatever it is he’s not supposed to be doing. I think he knows his smile is the cutest ever and he uses it to it’s full advantage! James has 5 teeth (three on top, two on the bottom), scoots like a mad man, crawls when he wants to, pulls up on everything and free stands quite a bit. He’s taken 2-3 steps at a time with no assistance, so I imagine he’ll be walking soon! He loves Pete and wants to do everything Pete does at all times. He also loves Bailey, and has recently discovered that she’ll eat right out of his hand. It makes him laugh like crazy and it makes Bailey pretty happy too! James also loves the bath. A surefire way to get him happy or calm is to bring him in the bathroom. He tries to jump in the tub and would stay in for hours if we’d let him. He is scary fearless and I think he’s going to give us a run for our money this summer! 11 months!! #seemsimpossible

James – Ten Month Update

Ten months old already! If time could slow down just a bit, I’d be very grateful.  James is the best. He makes us smile, laugh (and shake our heads) every day. He is funny, impish, adorable and sweet and it’s hard to imagine our little family before he was in it.  Poor James woke up with conjunctivitis the other day, but thus far has been handling it like a pro. He still has just two teeth, but when we were at the pediatrician’s office, she said she was pretty sure James would be getting some top teeth for Christmas 🙂 James  still crawls and scoots all over the place but pulls up on any object(s) he can too. He remains a mischievous little guy, but it’s balanced by his adorable sweetness at the same time.

Ten months old! #daylate #again #lovethiskid

He and Pete are best buds (and I’m working on a Pete at three and a half post!) I don’t have much experience with the brothers relationship, so it’s been fun for me to watch them together. I think having two boys is the best. And they seem to think so too, because they LOVE each other. James wants to do everything Pete does, and Pete is so good with his little sidekick. Life is pretty good 🙂

two heads are better than one!
two heads are better than one 🙂

 

 

James – Nine Month Update

Nine months old! I have no idea how it is possible … this year is just flying by. James continues to be a happy little guy. He loves food (and still screams if he isn’t fed fast enough) and will eat just about anything you put in front of him. At his 9 month appointment today, he weighed 19 lbs., 7 oz. and was 27.5 inches long – apparently that’s only the 15th percentile for height – but there is a lot of personality crammed into those inches! James has two teeth, crawls and scoots and LOVES Pete and Bailey. He has figured out how to climb the stairs already – he is Mister Mischief and I see a lot of gray hair in my future. We love our sweet little man so much!

Nine Months! #daylate #again #sohappy #love

 

James – Eight Month Update

James is eight months old! I say this every month, but time is moving way too quickly.  I cannot believe my littlest guy is 8 months old! James is sooo happy.  It is hard to believe that he is the same kid that cried and cried those first few months. He smiles and laughs so easily, and just loves to be around people. He also likes being the center of attention! James has two teeth and loves to eat anything and everything. We’ve still yet to identify a food he doesn’t like.  He gets very angry if he’s not fed quickly enough, and it’s pretty funny to watch. James is very adept at moving. He crawls backwards and army crawls forward. When he’s up on all fours, he tries to walk but obviously isn’t there quite yet.  James changes direction and position so quickly, it’s crazy. He does everything fast and furiously and I’m pretty sure he is going to be my daredevil/give mom a heart attack child. But he’s also sweet and cuddly and I am trying to soak it up as much I can.  And as evidenced by the picture below, James is just adorable and we love him so, so much.

8 months old! #daylate #pleaseslowdowntime #love

James – Seven Month Update

Somehow, seven months has passed since we met this adorable little guy. James is the best. He’s happy, shy, funny, loud and just too cute. He’s up on all fours and rocks back and forth, so he is going to be crawling in no time, which should be very interesting! He sits independently and tries so hard to pull himself up, but just isn’t there yet.  James has one tooth on the bottom, and is getting a second.  He loves to eat (he is definitely a Conroy!) and has yet to find anything he doesn’t like.  He is into everything and is very easily distracted, particularly when he’s nursing and having his diaper changed.  He’s quite the wiggle worm.  He laughs out loud all the time, loves to look at himself in the mirror and still thinks Pete and Bailey are the best. Pete certainly is, but the jury’s out on Bailey 😉 James has done very well adjusting to school, and his teachers love him.  They asked me if he was “experimenting with volume” at home.  I laughed and said that he certainly was – he yells all.the.time and loves it if anyone yells back. He’s such a mimic and plays little games with us copying our movements.  He still loves to cuddle, and my favorite thing is to rock him and nurse him before bed.  He’s been doing very well sleeping through the night, but dislikes napping, which is a-okay with me. We love our little Jimbo so much!

7 months old today! #jimbo #love

James – Six Month Update

James is six months old!  I have no idea how half a year has gone by already.  It’s frightening how fast the time goes. James had his six month check-up today; he weighed in at 17lbs. 6oz and 26″ tall! The doctor proclaimed him healthy and strong, music to my ears. James started eating solid food this weekend. He tried oatmeal, apples and sweet potatoes so far.  He doesn’t seem crazy about the sweet potatoes, but loved the apples!  James is such a happy baby now.  He had a very fussy few months, but now is all smiles and a pretty mellow guy.  James just started sleeping in his crib. We had tried a few times before, with little success.  But on Friday, we decided it was time.  And he did great! He fussed for 5 minutes, I went in to soothe him and then he just sucked on his little fingers, rolled over and fell asleep! He’s done great all weekend, so fingers crossed it is a trend that continues!

James babbles like crazy, drools like crazy and remains obsessed with Pete and Bailey.  He can sit on his own for short periods of time and then topples over, but is getting stronger every day.  He is very mobile and rolls all over the floor when he’s playing.  He tries to get up on all fours, so I think he’s pretty close to crawling!  We love our littlest man more than I ever thought possible.

Six months old today! Where does the time go?! #brothers #yelling #soloud

James – Four Month Update

Our littlest man is four months old!  James is growing and changing every day.  At his four month appointment last week, he weighed 15 lbs. 6 oz. and was 25.25 inches long.  That puts him right at the 50th percentile all the way around, but everyone that sees him comments on how big he is!  He’s “solid and strong” as the doctor said and we think he’s just perfect.Four months old! #daylate #bestsmile #lovehim

James smiles, laughs and “talks” so much every day.  He found his feet and his hands and both are constantly in his mouth. He’s starting to get pretty good at grabbing for a toy and putting it in his mouth too.  He actually fell asleep during his nap today holding his feet!  I guess he didn’t want to lose them?photo (55)

James can roll both ways, but much prefers to roll from back to front. He’s a happy little guy (most of the time) and keeps us on our toes with his sleep schedule – or lack thereof.  James gets a big kick out of Bailey and saves his biggest smiles for her and Pete.  He adores Pete and doesn’t take his eyes off him.  If he’s crying or sad, all it takes is one look at Pete to make him smile again.  It is so fun to watch their relationship develop. It’s hard to imagine what life was like before James arrived, it feels like he’s always been part of our family.  We love our little buddy so much and are excited for the months ahead!

Mother’s Day 2014

We had a great Mother’s Day this year.  Sunday morning dawned sunny and warm, so we packed up the boys and headed to the beach. We played in the sand, dipped our toes in the (freezing cold) water and just relaxed in the sun.  As I’ve mentioned before, I always feel just a little bit closer to Brienna when I’m near the water.  So walking along the beach with Pat and our boys while taking in the sights, sounds and smell of the ocean just felt good for my soul.  It was perfect.

Beach day with my boys! ️#mothersday #love

I had hoped for a peaceful afternoon at the cemetery, but with two kids, it didn’t quite happen as I envisioned! Pete was running around trying to pick flowers off the other graves, James was crying and it was just a bit chaotic.  I was sad about it for a bit, but then I realized that it’s just part of life with kids.  I am so incredibly blessed to be a mom to Brienna, Pete and James.  My boys make me happier than I ever thought possible, even amidst the chaos.  And I like to think that Brienna was smiling down on her family and feeling the love we all have for her.  She started me on this journey of motherhood, and I’m forever grateful to her for giving me such an amazing gift.  I am constantly amazed at how much love my heart can hold for my kids.  I am one lucky mom.

PF5D2784RHappy Mother’s Day to all the great mothers we know and love! We were lucky enough to see both our moms this weekend, spending Saturday with Nana and Sunday with Bana.  It was a  great weekend 🙂

Baker Pete

December has been a pretty good month so far!  We are eagerly anticipating Christmas, but have had a lot of fun getting everything ready at home. ‘Tis the season of baking and Pete loves to help me bake, so he’s been very happy these last few days!  On Thursday, we made sugar cookies for his teachers.  He rolled out the dough and cut the cookies and when I tried to take his picture, he gave me this look and told me he was “too busy”:

photo 1

He cracks me up.  After watching the cookies bake (he’s actually quite patient), we got to the fun part: decorating.  Some of those cookies were aggressively sprinkled, but they were all him and he was so proud to give them to his teachers on Friday.  He handed them their little gift bags and proclaimed that he made the cookies “myself”.

We made dog biscuits today and he thought that was just the funniest thing. The dough was less than ideal to work with, and kept getting stuck to the rolling pin and rather than get frustrated (like I would have/did) he just laughed and laughed:

His joy is just so pure and innocent.  It’s certainly easier to bake solo, but doing it with him forces me to give up my OCD tendencies and just enjoy the experience of doing something fun together.  And that alone is worth it’s weight in gold 🙂

Merry almost Christmas!