Merry Christmas from James!

I know, I know...  I am WAY behind on this blog.  Life and work has been very crazy the past few months.  I have started a few posts and have just not been able to find the time to finish them.  

Look out for a LOT of updates over the next few weeks as I have some much needed time off!

Hair

The other day when I picked up James at daycare, I was talking to another mom about hair and how I can never do anything with James' hair because it always ends up back to how it always is.

Well... yesterday when Brian picked up James, his teachers had done a little hair styling and we were greeted by the following:

A letter to James...

Dear James,

Today you are eight months and 4 days old.  You have been a part of our world for 246 days.

There have been a lot of smiles, a lot of laughs and a lot of tears.  You have grown from our little baby boy into our little man.  I still find it hard to believe you are already eight months old.  In just a few short months, you will turn one. 

I have been meaning to write you a letter like this – but just never found the time.  I decided it was time to make the time.  I want to remember how I felt at this point in your life and one day, I want you to know how I felt as well.

Every day with you is a blessing.  I try my best to treasure every moment…every breath.  Time is flying by.  You have changed so much since you were born and I know that you will continue to change as time goes on.  There is so much about you at this age that I hope I never forget.  There is so much about this age that I love…

I love when I come to pick you up at daycare and as soon as you see me – you get this huge grin on your face and you lift up your arms so I can pick you up.

I love how you wake me and daddy up in the morning with your babbling and by lifting up your legs and slamming them down in the pack n play.

I love that you are the last thing I see every night before I go to sleep and usually the first thing I see in the morning.

I love how you just love to play.  Ever since you learned to sit up on your own, you have become a new baby.

I love when we go to bed and I feed you your night bottle and when you are done, you lie on my chest asleep and breathing so deeply.  I never want to put you down.

I love when we feed you vegetables and you get more of the food on you then in your mouth.  Especially when you rub your eyes with food covered hands…

I love how you moan when are falling asleep.

I love when you smile.  You have the best smile ever.  When you smile at me, my heart melts.

I love how when you play you will turn to me and put your hands in my lap so that I will pick you up.

I love how peaceful you look while you are sleeping.  I wonder what you dream about.

I love when you laugh.  Especially when you laugh at daddy.  It makes me so proud to see how much fun you have with him.

I love your chunky little thighs and your big belly.  I am going to be sad when you lose those.

I love how excited you get when you see your bottle.  You definitely like to eat.

I love how everyone who meets you just loves you.  You have such a great personality and a wonderful temperament. 

I could go on and on.  I guess I just love everything about you. 

Life is short and you never know when it will be taken from you – but I want to make sure you know how much I love you and how proud I am to be your mother.

With all my love,
mommy

8 Months Old

As of this past Monday, my little man is eight months old!

My little man is a chunky-monkey - he weighs right around 21.5 pounds and is about 27 inches tall.  He is still wearing size 3 diapers and since they are starting to get a little snug, we are trying to use up the supply we have before moving up to the next size.  As far as clothes, he is wearing mainly 6-12 month sizes.

His sleeping pattern has really not changed much, but he is doing a little better because we upped his nightime bottle to 8 ounces (from 6).  He still loves to sit up and is thisclose to being able to crawl!  YIKES!  He now can get into the crawling position and tries to move forward, but just ends up on his belly.  He has mastered crawling backwards until he can get back into the sitting position.

James also loves to stand up now.  You can stand him up next to the couch or ottoman (or a pumpkin for that matter) and he can support himself pretty good!  Just last week, James learned how to wave.  It is really more of a "stick your hand out and open and close your hand" wave - but it is the cutest thing!  He likes to wave to the other moms of his buddies at daycare and then he will also do it at random times throughout the day.  I have tried to get it on camera with no such luck - but I will keep at it!

This last week also marks the emergence of James' first tooth!  (see previous post below)  As far as eating, I am proud to say that my little guy has turned into a pretty good eater!  We are just now finishing up with vegetables and are about to move onto fruits.  So far James has enjoyed sweet peas, zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and even a sweet potatoes/turkey mixture.  

Another new trait that has emerged as he gets older - is his curiosity.  He wants to touch everything and is constantly trying to get my cell phone, the remote control or anything else I have that he does not!  As evidence, trying to get his monthly picture has become a challenge as all he wants to do is grab the paper sign...

"oh... what is that??"

"I got it!"

"Hmmm... what to do now..."

First Tooth

James got his first tooth!  It finally popped through back on October 6.

I tried to get a picture, but James did not cooperate.  I was able to zoom in on a photo in which he smiled big enough to see the tooth...

Isn't it cute?

Another Photo Shoot

I decided that it was about time to stage another photo shoot of James...

I took our nice camera and set up a background using the white comforter and green headboard on our master bed.  I took a few shots with just his diaper on and then put on one of his many cute outfits for the rest.  While I still really have no clue what I am doing as far as settings go on the camera, I think we got some good shots! 

 

 and last, but not least...

this was the picture Brian took of James

Pumpkin Patch

Two Sundays ago, we decided to take James out to a local pumpkin farm that I have heard about.  We did not quite know what to expect, but thought we could at least get some fun pictures of James surrounded by pumpkins.

The farm turned to be so much more than we expected!  They had so many fun activities for kids - corn mazes, pumpkin painting, face painting, a petting zoo, hayrides, horse rides, flower picking and of course, picking out pumpkins.  I can't wait to take James there again when he is older!  

The little guy did really good during out visit to the farm and we managed to get some good pictures of him and the family and we also took a hayride, picked some flowers and checked out the animals at the petting zoo.

James was much more interested in the grass than being photographed...

my little pumpkin

family photo

my little scarecrow

not cooperating...

checking out the animals with daddy

Catching Up

I have been WAY behind on blogging and for anyone who actually reads this - I apologize.

I am constantly taking mental note of things to blog about, but just never seem to find the time to sit down and put a post together!

Anyways - I finally finished a few posts (please see below) and I even have a few more planned for the rest of the week.

YAY for me!

Sweet Potatoes

As we continue on the adventure of solid foods - I think James has found a favorite vegetable... SWEET POTATOES!

From the first time we gave it to him, he has gobbled it down!  It was the first food he ever ate the whole bowl and still wanted more.  I think his love for sweet potatoes has also increased how messy he gets with meals.  You can see for yourself below...

Toys, Toys and more Toys

When James is not sleeping or eating or jumping in his jumperoo - he is playing on his play mat with all his toys.  

He LOVES his toys.  

He loves his footballs, his stacking cups, his rock-a-stack, his homemade rattles, his keys, his taggie ball and blanket, his teethers, his balls, his rolling gator and anything else you give him!

Just like Daddy

Every Saturday, it is a fight in the McDermott household on whether James is going to wear his Texas or his Notre Dame outfit for football day.  

To solve this dilemna, I thought I would get James a mini-matching Notre Dame hat just like his Daddy has.  This way, he can wear his Texas outfit AND still support Notre Dame.

Rockin' Another Pair of Overalls

First Football Game

Way back on September 11 we took James to his first University of Texas football game!  It was a night game against Wyoming and we actually won! 

Since it was still fairly warm outside, we spent the first half of the game sitting inside the north end zone where it was air conditioned - while watching the game on TV.  Once it hit halftime, we went to our sits to watch the rest of the game.

James did SO good at the game!  He stayed awake the whole time and was not fussy at all.  He LOVED all the attention he got from all the ladies sitting near us.  He was smiling up a storm and had so much energy.  I think he is destined to be the future Longhorn quarterback!

on the way to the game

hanging out in the AC

sitting in my seat

just chillin' with mommy

hanging with daddy & auntie

The Grow Up Fast...

As I was uploading the 7 month pictures of James a few days ago, I could not help but stop and take a look at pictures from all the other months.  It is amazing to me to see how much he has grown and how he is turning into such a little man. 

Check out the progression...

Texas or Notre Dame??

Now that college football season has started... who will James root for?

OR

7 Months Old

As of this past Saturday... our little man is 7 months old!

James weighs in right around 20 pounds now and is about 26.5 inches tall.  He is still wearing size 3 diapers and is just starting to wear some of his 6-9 month size clothes.

While he is still not sleeping all the way through the night, he is getting better.  He normally falls asleep around 7pm or so and before we go to bed around 10pm/11pm we give him another bottle to help him sleep longer.  He then sleeps for a good 5-6 hours, gets a snack and then sleeps for a few more hours. He usually wakes up in the morning around 7am - but sometimes he wakes up at 5am in the morning and will be wide awake and ready to go!

James is still loving be able to sit up on his own.  He is pretty good now at scooting himself around on his play mat to get the toy he wants, although he does have the occasional face plant!  The past few days, he has begun kinda flopping himself over one-side of the boppy pillow so that he is in a semi-crawling position.  He will put his arms out in front of him and one leg will be in the right position to crawl and the other one will be stuck under him in the seated position.  I think he wants to crawl... just does not understand how to do it!  

Another new thing he has been doing is grabbing his feet.  He loves to lay down and grab his feet and try to suck on his toes.  It is so cute.  Makes me laugh every time!