THREE

JAMES TURNED THREE

He doesn't like getting his hands dirty!

 

Sometimes when you are in the midst of raising your own children some things are just what they are and you may not remember some particular things about them. When I showed my sister the pictures of James not wanting to get his hands dirty she said "Adam was the same way!"

Then he tried his fork.

Adam, James and Gabby.

The theme was construction trucks.

Papa made the cupcakes and James' personal cake. 

I helped with the sprinkles and signs.

He had a fun time at his party. He went in the pool with his cousins and a few adults. We had beautiful trays of sandwiches, macaroni salad and lots of great snacks to munch on. 

When it came time to open his presents he opened the first one and then he didn't want to open any others He wanted to play with his new Thomas the Train set. So we waited and convinced him to try another. Of course the same thing happened, he just wanted to play with the new toy. 

As it turned out we eventually stopped and our presents that we brought were saved and opened up 3 days later when we visited again with Amber and Dylan before they left the next day for Montana. 

So he got another little cake and we sang happy birthday to him on Tuesday night. 

He definitely had a great time with Aunt Amber and Uncle Dylan in town. It breaks my heart that they don't get to see him as often as we do. Yes we do zoom so he remembers their faces but it's not the same. 

We also took some family group photos to hopefully use on a Christmas card this year! 

BABYSITTING JAMES

We went over to Adam and Gabby's around 12:30 last Wednesday. They had left in the morning to drive 4 hours to a Vineyard. Roxie the puppy needed to be fed around noon.

She still gets three meals a day. All of our dogs were self feeding. It is crazy watching dogs eat who only get feed at certain times. They are always happy to see us and Roxy always has a big smile.

We see James often and he enjoys being with us. However, it has been 18 months since we picked him up at daycare. We came in and he said "papa and grandma" all excited to see us. His routine since the lock down was mama picks him up.

So we are getting ready to leave and he's "no leave, mommy/daddy." He started crying hysterically. It broke our hearts. He had to be forced into his car seat. He calmed down and once we were at his house he was as happy as can be!

Playing with papa....

Watching TV....

Thursday morning before James goes to daycare....

Ready for papa to drive him....

Playing after daycare....

He is such a good boy. He was sleep trained and he goes to bed without issue. He plays hide and seek for a little while, gets into bed and it is goodnight James! He sleeps about 12 hours with a sound machine on. He is also in his converted crib which has the front off for a big boy bed.

Thursday afternoon we walk into the daycare house and he tells everyone "that's my papa and grandma!" He is finally calling me grandma. He couldn't wait to leave with us. In advance we stopped and bought him a donut with sprinkles in case we had to entice him. We didn't need to use it although he did have some after dinner.

Ready for daycare on Friday morning....

Adam and Gabby got home around 1 pm so we headed home because of Friday traffic. So Gabby went to pick him up from daycare like normal. This is her text to me...."James was very upset when I picked him up. "no mommy.... papa and grandma". Full tears!" Apparently he has been asking everyday for us.

Adam sent us a text message which said that James was counting the numbers at the bottom of the car seat when he was getting out of the car. Adam asked him where he learned that and he said "papa!" Well Mark didn't do that with him at the car seat but he said they were counting on their way to daycare that morning.

We are going over on Saturday to watch him while they go to a wedding and reception. Can't wait!

Have a nice weekend.....

OUR FAVORITE LITTLE BOY

So James is watching TV and I'm asking him to look at me and say cheese. As you can see his eyes never left the screen! This was on the 5th of July when we spent the day with them. 

Loving his Mickey Mouse on TV...

A mango fruit bar....

Papa, James, Roxy and Gracie. 

Papa was surrounded with love! 

I cropped it!

They also had some pool time. When James was done him and I went into the house to watch TV and play with his toys. 

I mentioned how we were not going to Disneyland at this time but we did end up going to Downtown Disney on Wednesday night. 

There really were no photo opportunities, but I do wish I had gotten him holding the bag from the Lego store with a Duplo set I bought him. He did love his balloon!

Also, remember the dinner that was ordered for the 5th with the marinated shrimp, veggies and filet  mignon, along with a pasta salad and strawberry short cake? 

It was absolutely delicious. I should have taken a picture. They even included a large can of whipped cream! Definitely worth the money. 

THE MANY FACES OF JAMES

We had so much fun baby sitting with James on Wednesday night. We thought that maybe he would cry when Adam and Gabby left because it's been 15 months since we had babysat him. However, he didn't mind at all that they left.  

He got his bath and then we watched "Cars." He loves to put his arms behind his head which is adorable. I do that when I watch TV in our family room with Mark. Then I around 8:20 I told him he had 10 minutes before bed. He was good with that. 

He did his hide and seek with Mark, we put him down in bed and never heard a peep out of him. He went right down. He was so lovable giving away hugs and snuggling all evening long with us. 

We will be seeing Adam, Gabby and James again on Monday for the 5th of July. We are having and excellent meal which has been ordered. We will be going there early to swim. I can't wait!

Side note: The angle I was taking these photos at made him look like he had huge feet so I cropped them out but you can see that his legs are turned in kinda funny so I'll show you what I mean.....LOL!

SOME TIME WITH MY PRECIOUS GRANDSON

James and Roxy waiting for us to arrive!

For some reason James wanted to come out and great us like Roxy does. He ran out the front door and I guess he thought he could run down the stairs. He fell and thank God he caught himself and did not get hurt at all. 

Bought him this little tractor when we were in Great Fall, MT. It looks a lot like his riding tractor we gave him at Christmas. So here he is putting the trailer on the back of the tractor and then taking it for a spin. 

 

James and Papa playing in the yard on the slide. James likes his shoes on outside so he doesn't slide very well on it. So then he ran down it and fell on the ground laughing at himself. 

Baby girl Gracie getting bigger.....

This photo was sent to use from Adam when we were visiting Amber and Dylan in Montana. 

Roxy and Gracie have become friends and play together all the time now!

I can't tell you how many times James said Papa that night. He loves his Papa! We are going to Disneyland with Adam, Gabby and James on July 8th. I can't wait to see his excitement when he sees Mickey Mouse! I have a funny feeling he will be saying Papa a lot and wanting Mark to carry him around. 

EASTER FUN

James' Easter Basket

We celebrated Easter at Adam and Gabby's house. Years ago I would make Easter dinner here at the house. We would do a Prime Rib. The last several years we have joined Gabby's family at a German restaurant out their way for German pancakes on Easter morning. 

Then we would meet at Adam and Gabby's for an Easter egg hunt for the kids and often end up ordering pizza later in the day. That was even before James was born. So obviously last year we did not meet for Easter but this year we did meet at their house. It was a beautiful day and there pool has been done for a few month now so of course the kids went in. 

They mainly said in the spa or the area that is shallow next to the spa. Jason did go in with his daughter in the deep end and Adam went in with James. 

This is James and Papa splashing with their feet. 

Looks as though James is pointing at Papa!

It was a beautiful day. We brought a vegetable tray, onion dip, chips and deviled eggs along with some wine. We also had some of the German pancakes from the restaurant, quiche and lovely cheese platters with meats, grapes, nuts, etc. We all had a lovely time.