Monday, September 26, 2011

Take a hike!


At dinner one night this week Anna lamented to me that she had never been on a hike.  This came from her new favorite show, Wild Kratts.  Yes, that means Curious George has some competition - yay!  Wild Kratts is a quite enjoyable show that focuses on animals and nature, and the Kratt brothers are often taking hikes.  Now, anyone who knows Jason and I, would probably be extremely unlikely to use the word "outdoorsy," to describe us.  We like the pool and beach, but the words hike, camping, or nature walk, typically stop us in our tracks.  But, we decided to oblige Anna's request and headed to Kennesaw Mountain.  I forget that we have a beautiful National Park so close to us, steeped in history.  What a nice surprise it was to see so many people outside exploring and enjoying all there was to see on a refreshing fall-like day.

For our part we decided to summit the "mountain" (the term mountain is used lightly here...), and we made it!  Anna bee-bopped along the whole time, without one complaint - I was impressed considering it was a 2 mile round trip excursion and I was sure Jason would end up carrying her.  At the top we stopped for a snack and took in the views of Atlanta.  Given the success of this outing, we may even venture out on a few more hikes.  But, I still draw the line at camping.

And the hike begins.
Hanging around.
Snacking at the top.
Sweet James, always quick with a smile.
Me and the kiddos.
This picture makes me laugh - we look like that dorky family you mock when you see them.  But, that's ok with me.  At least we're not wearing matching shirts! 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

First Day of Pre-pre-K


Anna headed back to school this week.  She is in the "Dolphins" class this year and was really looking forward to returning.  After her first day, all she could talk about was the new behavior system they use in her class - each day the kids start on green and if you "don't follow directions or be really bad" (quote from Anna), you have to move to yellow and then, (gasp!), red.  At school (emphasis on school, here) she is a rule-follower and I can see the thought of moving to yellow or, heaven-forbid, red, makes her nervous.  She does however, like to spill the beans on her classmates who have to move off of green.  She also was very excited to have "homework".  We'll see how long that lasts.  I just can't believe we'll be taking first day of kindergarten pictures two Septembers from now...

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A Happy Six Months

Wow!  It's hard to believe James is six months old.  On the one hand, it has gone so fast and I can't believe he is already midway to his first birthday.  On the other hand, I can't believe it's only been six months because I feel like he's been with us forever.  If there is one word to describe James, it is: happy.  He is a happy, happy, happy boy, as the pictures here demonstrate.  He doles out heart-melting gummy grins and full fledged crinkle eyed smiles, and just seems truly happy to be in the world.

I know I sound like a sappy mom, but he really is SO HAPPY.  Now don't get me wrong, he cries, and does have his fussy moments, but they are few and far between, and usually very easily remedied. When at the doctor for his six month check up, he got upset when the doctor looked in his ears.  But, he then started giggling at the same time.  The doctor was quite amused and said that if she didn't know better she was pretty sure he was trying to make himself be happy. Thinking back, James has been this way from day one.  I alluded to his delivery being a tough one, mainly due to his size, but it did take him awhile to cry once he was born.  It was probably less than a minute, but it was the longest moment of my life.  And, when he finally did cry, it sounded like he was having to force the sound out.  I remember being very worried at the time, but now, having the benefit of knowing him, I think it's just his personality!

Now for some stats - the big trend continues, with him weighing in at 21 lbs and measuring 27.5 inches long.  James is sitting up and very nearly crawling.  He does a sort of army crawl to get to toys he wants and I know the time to batten down the hatches for real crawling is just around the corner.  Not surprisingly, he loves to eat, and will devour pretty much anything (pears and bananas are favorites).  Two of his most favorite smile-inducing things are Anna and Tope.  I don't know who he likes more.  And, apparently even Tope picks up on his jolly vibe because she will sit by him and allow him to pet (grab fistfuls of fur) her.  She NEVER got within arms reach of Anna as a baby (and still rarely does to this day!).

I am so thankful to have this wonderful, sweet, happy boy in our lives.  We wouldn't be complete without you, sweet, happy baby James.





Sunday, September 4, 2011

A Good Day

Even though the trip may be a pain, it's always worth it once we arrive. We logged a great first day with family and friends, complete with a birthday celebration, champagne at sunset, and a launch of floating lanterns a la the movie Tangled (consider Anna amazed). And of course, James was a big hit, meeting most everyone here for the first time. He went with the flow and kept his cheerful disposition even as we pushed him to a 9 pm bedtime. Let the fun times roll!




































Friday, September 2, 2011

Wellfleet, Here We Come

And the annual trek to Cape Cod has begun. We started this morning with a 4:45 am wake up (eww!) which Anna did not appreciate. She had two meltdowns before leaving the house - the problems: "I never get to use mommy's make up!" and "I never get to hold James!". Very serious issues that early in the morning...

The flight to Boston went well. Anna was entertained by episodes of cartoons she doesn't gets to watch at home - Scooby Doo and Spongebob - on the TV at her seat (love those Boeing 757s!). For his part James tried to sleep but the announcements kept waking him up. I'm hoping that means he'll sleep the entire ride to Truro.

The weather in Boston is a glorious 70 degrees - here's to a hopefully relaxing, albeit slightly chilly, beach trip.



Happy James on the plane.



They can't fight sleep in the car...