The Mess

This is what my living room usually looks like after a long day at homes with James on the weekend:

 

Toys EVERYWHERE.  Books all over the floor.  Laundry is done and in a basket on top of the couch, waiting to be folded.  Most of the pillows have been pulled off the couch and are on the floor behind the ottoman.  Sippy cups and snack bowls lay abandoned.  Brandy laying in the middle of it all.

Little boys certainly know how to make a mess!

Vocabulary

It seems like every day James will say a new word.  There are some days when he will repeat a word over and over and Brian and I just look at eachother trying to figure out what he is saying!  

I have been meaning to sit down and put together a list of all his words, so here goes:

1. da-da
2. ma-ma
3. Auntie - "eeeee"
4. pop pops/paw-paw (sound pretty similar)
5. Brandy
6. Fenway - "enway"
7. dog
8. duck
9. quack
10. Elmo - "melmo"
11. bubbles
12. ball - "bah"
13. bye-bye
14. hi
15. football - "oot-bah"
16. Texas - "texch"
17. ruff-ruff
18. meow
19. moo
20. Cheerios - "eer-e-oh"
21. juice - "uice"
22. cheese - "eese"
23. banana - "nana"
24. pool - "ool"
25. shoes - "oes"
26. nose - "noooos"
27. eyes
28. pee pee
29. beep beep
30. no - "no, no, no"  (and he even does the finger motion!)
31. flower - "flowr"

I am sure there are probably a few I am forgetting - but that is all I can remember for now!

Children's Musem

This past weekend we pretty quiet around the McDermott house.  The 100 degree + temperatures really put a crimp in your plans.

Since I never posted about our trip to the Children's Museum from the other weekend, I thought I would share today!

I had been wanting to check out the museum for a while, but had just not found a good weekend to go.  Brian had the weekend off and after doing some research, we discovered there was a special hour on Saturday mornings that was open just to children under 3.

We arrived at the museum around 9:15 and at first James was a little unsure of what to do.  That did not last long.

He was very interested in the little kid slide they had.  All he wanted to do was walk up and down the ramp.  He was not as interested in the actual slide part.  He crawled down it a few times, but the one time Brian tried to get him to go down the normal way - someone threw a hissy fit!

Other favorites at the museum included all the activities with golf balls!  James love balls of all sizes and he had fun watching all the cool things they could do.

We also participated in story and sing-a-long time, checked out a few more attractions and then it was time to head home as James was getting a link cranky.  All in all, it was a great way to spend a morning and I am looking forward to going again!

First Haircut

This past weekend, we took James for his first haircut.  His hair was getting a little out of control and would always fall in his face and get all crazy.  I had mixed emotions about the visit - sad to say goodbye to James' precious baby curls and excited to see how my big boy looked with a big boy haircut.

The before pictures of his little curls:

We took James to a kids salon and after checking out the airplane and taxi cab chairs, he opted to get his haircut while sitting in the fire truck.  He spent most of the time driving and not even caring that someone was cutting his hair!  I was so proud of how good he did!

And much to my happiness, the stylist gave his hair a good trim all over and it is no longer in his eyes and there are still some curls!  YAY!  A win-win situation for me!

Ready to go...

Hey, what is this lady doing to my hair??

Waving hi to me and daddy

All done!

17 Months Old

James - you are 17 months old!

Every month as I write these posts, I am constantly asking myself where the time has gone and how it is possible that you are SO big!  Every month you are becoming more and more like a little boy and less like a baby.

You weigh in now right around 28 pounds - although you seem a LOT heavier than that when I carry you around!  I do not know how tall you are, but you look like you have grown!  I should have some more accurate stats in August at your 18 month check-up.  You are still wearing size 5 diapers for both day and night.  Your clothes range in size from 18 months up to 2T.  The 18 months sizes are going to be put away very soon.  For shoes - you still fit pretty comfortably in your 5.5 size ones, but I think we will have to move you up to size 6 in the next month.

You have had quite a few issues this past month.  You got rug burn on your nose from the baby gym at daycare, you got bit TWICE by other kids at school (which I assume is payback for the bites you have inflicted on other kids) and you have been diagnosed as having "nursemaid elbow" - basically your elbow gets out of alignment and you are unable to use your arm for a little!  Mommy and Daddy need to be more careful now with your right arm and no more swinging you around!  You are also coming down with a cold...

You have learned some new tricks this past month.  You can go under the water at swim lessons for 4 seconds now!  You also know to raise your hands up when mommy says "TOUCHDOWN!  (I am getting you ready for football season).  Your vocabulary is always increasing.  I cannot even remember all the words you can say - but I will try and get them together for another post.  You also know a lot of animal sounds, from dog to cat to cow to elephant.  

You LOVE Elmo!  When Elmo is on TV you will actually stop and watch the TV and you get all excited and smile so big.  Last night we put in an Elmo movie and I do not think I have ever seen you sit still for SO long!  I may need to purchase some more of these Elmo movies!...

You still give the best hugs and are so loving.  You loved to be tickled and you love to tickle us too.  You think blowing farts/raspberries is the funniest thing and you will laugh and laugh when we do it to you.  

You still love your Cheerios and you are also becoming a big fan of juice!  You have your ups and down with eating.  Some nights you eat everything in sight and others nights you just want to play with your food.  You tried marshmallows for the first time and LOVED them.  You have also discovered chips.

You bring so much joy to our life and are always making us smile and laugh.  Although - you still have a temper issue - we love you anyways!

 

P.S.  Notice how LONG your hair is in these pictures?  I tried slicking your hair down to one side, but it did not last long.  Your hair always ends up in your face and so, this weekend we are planning to take you for your first haircut!

Rug Burn

Guess who took a tumble in the baby gym at daycare last week and got rug burn on his nose from the carpet?

 P.S.  Do you like my tie-dye shirt?  I made it at school last week.  I think I did a great job!

In-n-Out

This past weekend we headed up to Dallas to spend some time with our good friends Amanda & Kevin.  We also planned to visit the In-n-Out that just opened up in Dallas a few weeks ago!  Brian and I have been waiting for years for them to open locations in Texas and I honestly did not think it would ever happen.

the line for the drive-thru

the line inside

James waiting in line with Daddy

James had been to In-n-Out a few times before on our visits to California, but he was not old enough back then to enjoy the goodness. This time, we got him a grilled cheese and of course - he had some fries too!

all our food

our wonderful hosts for the weekend!