James' Big Adventure!

For James' 9 month birthday, he got to go on a plane! I was presenting at a conference in Edmonton so James and I flew out to Calgary and left Jeff behind at home (a week's uninterrupted sleep!). We were only in Calgary for a few days and I spent most of my time at school. But, we got to see some family. I forgot my camera the night we went to see Jeff's family so there are not any photos--sorry. But, I got some other good shots of James. We stayed with my sister and my mother drove in to help out. Then Mom, James, and I piled in the car and drove to Edmonton where we stayed with Nan (James' great-grandmother). Here are some of the photos, none from the plane. He was a good little traveller. He was great on the plane and in the car but it was hard on him. He didn't adjust to the time change well and didn't sleep well the whole trip. He also developed a cold (which I then got and have now passed to Jeff). But, all that aside, he travelled really well on the plane and in the car. He does seem glad to be back home with all his stuff though!

James is smiling up at my cousin Kelly. You can tell he is smiling because his fat little cheeks are pointing up!

James smiling with great-uncle Gord. A great uncle to be sure!

James crawling over great-uncle Gord while Grandma watches. James seemed fascinated by Gord as well as by his uncles Craig and Brett. We think it is because he is usually around women and other guys are neat--he's a man's man!

Again, crawling over Gord--he's a good climbing thing!

Playing with Kelly!

In Edmonton with Nan! Since it was his second day of travelling and his second new place in 3 days, he was a little shy and it took him a bit to warm up (sort of right before we were leaving, which is too bad). But, this was a good day so we have some nice photos of James and his Nana.

Laughing with Nan!

Sitting with Nan. Perhaps listening to "Teddy Bears' Picnic" on YouTube--which he LOVES!!

More sitting nicely with Nan!

I LOVE MY NANA!

James and I are now back at Heather's in Calgary getting ready to leave on our midnight flight. I am pretty tired and James is wearing a flannel blanket as a diaper. Long story short, we were running low on diapers and improvised while Heather went to the store. Since he wears cloth at home, James didn't seem to mind.

I'm a big boy on my Mommy! Mommy looks like she could sleep for a week!

I'm back with my Dad! I love my Dad!

I'm standing with my Dad! I have a cold and my nose is running but I am still pretty cute!

I like to be with my Daddy! Aren't I big and tall!

James loves his little horse. It is his cuddle object for sleeping and here he is cuddling it while having a bottle. Very sweet and cute. James is now back to his routine except for the cold we are all fighting. We had a good trip but it was a lot of travel in very little time and very exhausting for both me and James. We are both glad to be back in our own place.

Jamie at 9 Months!

We can hardly believe it but Jamie will be 9 months old on Sunday. He is a little monkey boy--he is into everything and crawling and cruising around. On Monday we went for his 9 month wellness check-up. While we were waiting to go in, he was standing and playing holding onto a chair and he let go and stood with no support for a few moments for the very first time. The doctor says he probably isn't far off from walking. We will see--we aren't really ready for him to walk since we can barely keep up with him crawling!! Here are some photos from this week and from the day of his appointment so you can see what a big boy he is! He is still in the 45-50th Percentile. He weighs 19 pounds and 10 oz (I was sure he would be over 20lbs but he is not) and he is 28 inches long. That means that he has gained 9 inches over his birth length of 19 inches and he has more than tripled his weight (from its lowest point).

Daddy is chasing me down the hall--ha-ha-ha!!

I love Mommy's books!

Hi Mommy!!

I can walk all around the inside of my crib--which is cool because I have neat things on my crib and now I can get to them!

Winne the Pooh! Yeah! I love my mobiles! And I am soooo tall!

Winne the Pooh or Ocean Wonder? How about both at the same time!

I want to touch both! They're mine!

"Hey Mommy! Watcha doin'?" -- "I'm watching you try to crawl out your crib you little monkey!" (I don't know if you can tell, but James is standing on one tippy-toe and has the other foot lifted to try to crawl up the bars of his crib here).

HI MOMMY!! I Love my Mommy!

For perspective, these two photos are of James from the week he was born. He was just little! Now he's huge!

Jamie is a Piglet!!

Here is James' most recent attempt to feed himself. He quite likes to use the spoon and likes to grab it away from us. We give him his own little spoon and he likes to try to feed himself with it. As you can see from these shots, the spoon is long gone and he has made a mess of himself.


Mmmhhh! That's good!

How can I get more in my mouth and less on my face?

Eeeuuwww! Sticky! Shortly after this, James' bowl (suction cup, yeah right!) landed on the floor and the wall behind him in this photo (and the carpet) was covered in beef and alphabet pasta in red sauce! We paused our dinner to clean that up--no stains, thankfully. But it might be a while before we let him try this again!

Jamie's New Teeth! And Various Activities

Sorry we haven't been blogging much lately. We have been busy at work and my mother was here for a few weeks helping out with James. He has grown by leaps and bounds since the last posting. He started crawling at the end of January and now there is no stopping him. He crawls at a fast pace down the hallway to the office and giggles the whole way when you ask "James? Where do you think you're going?" And he giggles and goes faster until you scoop him up. It is very cute. He also has been walking around the furniture and can make a circuit through most of the living room if we have the furniture spaced correctly.

He has also been teething and has developed this annoying shriek. We are hoping it goes away when the teething is over. It has been better since the first tooth (bottom right centre) popped through and then, a few days later, the second bottom centre tooth came out. He is very sensitive about them and pulls his mouth shut if you try to touch them. And today we noticed that he has been chewing on the wooden arm of the chair and it makes this loud scraping noise (and there are a lot of small, teeth shaped scrapes on the side of the arm so we think he must have been doing it for a while). So, he must get some relief from that but we are trying to discourage it.

Basically, even with the teething, he is still a happy little guy and he laughs a lot. He likes to read his books (and eat them--again, we try to stop that) and be tickled and play with his toys. Here are some photos of his daily activities.

I have two little shiny teeth! I am so proud!

Hi Grandma! I'm a big boy!

I love pulling my books off the shelf.

So many books, I can't stand up!

Sleepy Boy! One of the few shots where James is still! He has fallen asleep and drooled (a lot!).

I got new Big Boy Jammies for Christmas! My Mommy didn't think they would fit yet, but I am a BIG BOY!!

My Grandma Linda came to visit! I love my Grandma Linda--she plays all sorts of games with me.

I am a "Pilot 4 Hire" -- Thank you, Auntie Heather, for my cool new outfit!

I am so cute!

I can stand and I have skull jammies--they make me look tough!

I love to play "wheelbarrow" with Daddy! I am so strong!

I can make it! I can make it!!

Almost there...I know no fear!

And, that is James' life--a busy boy!

Playing With My Bumble Bee!

Here is James playing with his Bumble Bee from New Zealand that Grandma Lin and Grandpa Bob got him. He has played with it in the past but has now figured out that he can pull it toward him by using the string--and that the string makes a good chew toy too. It is pretty cute.

Jamie is a Walker!

Here is video of James walking while holding onto furniture.  He is really too quick for me and, of course, he walks to the camera so I am trying to pull back as he comes forward.  Oh well.  He is pretty confident in his transfers and can do a circuit of almost the entire living room if we have the furniture in the right places.

Here are some pictures of James looking like a big boy. He is increasingly active and has pulled himself up on all the furniture and walked from place to place. The only problem is he has more confidence than ability. So he falls. But he seems to heal quickly. Today for the first time James managed to sit down from a standing position. What a big boy!


I love my daddy and can say da-da regularly.

I had better not drool on dad's sweater.

Even though I look like I might want to escape, I love my "people."