We're in Virginia now. Very long drive coming up here. Seemed longer than last time because James didn't sleep very well. We did have a DVD player for him which was a big big help. Thank you Biles family!! We went to see Grandma Wall for lunch today. Find some pictures here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112839565689445992474/November2011
Stayed tuned for more pictures and possibly a couple stories from Virginia!!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Who are you and what have you done with my son?!
I found myself asking James this question yesterday. I'm not complaining. Far from it. Our biggest struggle with this child has been food. Everyone should know that. He didn't like to eat. There was a very short list of things he would eat willingly. In the last week or two we have added to that list meatballs, cheeseburger, sausage, grilled/baked chicken, rice, cantaloupe, apple slices, and that's just off the top of my head. AMAZING!!! A switch has been flipped somewhere in his brain. I am trying to not get my hopes up too high because I'm afraid this is a stage and he'll go back to his old ways. But I'm loving this as long as it lasts. The strategies that never worked are now working. I'm really hoping this lasts, but don't be too surprised if I'm back on in a couple days saying it's all back to normal. Whatever just happened, "Thank you, Lord!"
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A short cute story
I woke up yesterday at 6am because there were weird noises coming from the monitor. In my half dreaming James was saying ow! over and over. When I was finally able to wake up enough, I realized he was howling. He laid in his bed and howled for at least 5 minutes then went back to sleep. He must have heard coyotes.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Counting
A friend of mine noticed months ago James pointing to items and saying something as if he was counting. It blew my mind that a kid that young could pick up on that. Not sure that's really what he was doing, but that's what it looked like. Then in the nursery at church, the worker told him he could have one goldfish and he held up his two pointer fingers and said "two". So cute. The first time I noticed him counting he said, "two, two, two, two..." I guess that was the only number he recognized. Now he says, "one two, one two" and occasionally three. Just thought I'd share something I think is pretty cool.
Choo-Choo!!
Quote of the Whatever (QotW): "Frying pans, who knew, right?"
For those who don't know: QotW is something my sister and I did when I was in college. She has started it up again and I think it's fun. Extra points for the first person to guess what the quote is from.
PS: I typed this whole post and then with one click of the mouse, James somehow deleted every word. And of course, it automatically saves after I type something new, so it saved it that way and I had to retype it.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A day in the life
He was in rare form.
Last week James found some plastic animals in the toy box. I thought he was too young to play with them, but he has really enjoyed the giraffes and the baby lion. I call the baby lion 'simba.' He plays with it a lot but he doesn't call it anything. I was hoping to teach him some Swahili words for animals at least. Maybe it'll catch on.
He started taking pictures with my camera. I HOPE you can tell the difference, but maybe he's a genius photographer and I'll just have to live with it.
Gigi and James, what a pair!
Friday, July 22, 2011
New stats
James' 18 month check up was about a month ago, but I forgot to update you guys. So, here we go:
Weight: 21 lbs 1 oz (below 5th %)
Length: 29 in (below 5th %)
Head: 19 in (25th %)
Doc was a little worried about his not gaining weight, but what can you expect from a kid that doesn't like to eat? We're supplementing with some Carnation instant breakfast in his milk to give him some extra calories and stuff.
Dr. Amy sent us to the eye doctor because she thought he had a lazy eye. My first thought was, "Dang it, another specialist!" Gigi and I took him to Austin to the Pedi eye doc. Everything is fine. His eye is a little weird, but there's nothing wrong with it. It looks slightly different (most people will never see it), but it won't affect his sight.
Every day is a challenge getting him to eat, but we're still working on that.
He is so smart and talks all the time. He comes up with new words every day it seems. His favorite words are Mommy, puppy, and of course Bapplejuice. He woke me up this morning saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..." That's the best wake up call ever!
Weight: 21 lbs 1 oz (below 5th %)
Length: 29 in (below 5th %)
Head: 19 in (25th %)
Doc was a little worried about his not gaining weight, but what can you expect from a kid that doesn't like to eat? We're supplementing with some Carnation instant breakfast in his milk to give him some extra calories and stuff.
Dr. Amy sent us to the eye doctor because she thought he had a lazy eye. My first thought was, "Dang it, another specialist!" Gigi and I took him to Austin to the Pedi eye doc. Everything is fine. His eye is a little weird, but there's nothing wrong with it. It looks slightly different (most people will never see it), but it won't affect his sight.
Every day is a challenge getting him to eat, but we're still working on that.
He is so smart and talks all the time. He comes up with new words every day it seems. His favorite words are Mommy, puppy, and of course Bapplejuice. He woke me up this morning saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy..." That's the best wake up call ever!
Duck Duck Goose!
On Wednesday, James and I went to La Grange to keep the girls I babysit. At the church they were having Wacky Wednesday which was 2 hours of running around playing games. We played duck duck goose, some German games, did a craft and had a snack. It was a lot of fun and good to get the kids out of the house for a little bit. Mostly James just stood there and watched in amazement. When it was our turn to run around the duck duck goose circle, he laughed his head off. At the end, he decided he wanted to do it by himself. He started patting people's heads saying quack...quack...quack... then he took off running until someone caught him. The look on his face was one of sheer enjoyment. We need opportunities like that more often.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Current Words
Our boy is very talkative. He's quiet when we first walk into a room, but when he gets comfortable he talks constantly. Mostly things I don't understand or a string of Dadadadadadaddadaadadadadadada. But I'm beginning to understand some of what he says. Here is a list of words he uses often:
mama, dada, kitty, dog, car, gone (all gone), Hey!, get it (or for Grandpa, GETIT!), go, that, juice (has become apjuice lately), tickle (pronounced tika-tika-tika), quack, moo (yes, animal sounds count)
He learns new words every day. He has made a cat, owl, and dog sound, but doesn't do them very regularly. Today he said Heidi very clearly to the shear joy of Heidi (the children's minister at church). He says Gigi for me, but hasn't said it to her yet. There are other words he will say occasionally when prompted, but not enough to count them.
He also signs sometimes. His most common ones are milk, more, and all done/gone. He's learning eat and diaper.
All in all, communicating very well.
mama, dada, kitty, dog, car, gone (all gone), Hey!, get it (or for Grandpa, GETIT!), go, that, juice (has become apjuice lately), tickle (pronounced tika-tika-tika), quack, moo (yes, animal sounds count)
He learns new words every day. He has made a cat, owl, and dog sound, but doesn't do them very regularly. Today he said Heidi very clearly to the shear joy of Heidi (the children's minister at church). He says Gigi for me, but hasn't said it to her yet. There are other words he will say occasionally when prompted, but not enough to count them.
He also signs sometimes. His most common ones are milk, more, and all done/gone. He's learning eat and diaper.
All in all, communicating very well.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
That boy!
February is a month of many celebrations for the Wall family.
Valentine's Day; Matt's Birthday; Claire's Birthday.
So .... Monday night was a sleep over (we slept part of the night) for James at Mimi & Papa/ Gigi & Grandpa's house.
That boy remembers when he comes to Mimi's house that she has blueberry muffins on the counter. So, what does she do? She makes sure when he is coming that she has some!
He does enjoy them! [picture 2]
That boy also likes Mimi's cats. Of course Mister is the only one that tolerates children. But James was patient and waited for a few opportune moments when he could sit near him. He doesn't even touch him every time. He just wants to be next to the cat.
Grandpa was working in the carport on some Shabby Chic projects, so we would go out to check on him. The first time we went out after Mom and Dad left, he wandered about and found Mimi's Goose family in the yard. I told him they were ducks and they say, "Quack, quack, quack." He thought this quite humorous. So, we sat near the 'ducks' and talked about them and looked at them. Later on he was laying on my bed and saw Grandpa's humongous rubber duck on the top of the chest. I took it down for him and said, "This is Grandpa's Duck. It says, 'quack, quack, quack.'" He said, "Kack, Kack, Kack." Well, everyone knows that ducks waddle. When I get him to say 'kack, kack, kack' for his mother, he wobbles back and forth. Um, I guess when I was teaching him that, I waddled like a duck? Funny Gigi.
That boy is not in to trying new foods. Mimi gave him a couple of blueberries. He mashed one, then picked the other up and squeezed til he broke the skin and he tried it! He eventually got it into his mouth and sucked all the juice out. Not a bad trial! [picture 1]
Poor Claire. When it was time to go home, that boy would reach for Daddy from Gigi. But he wouldn't have anything to do with his Mama. Why do children punish their Moms for abandonment? Ask Amy, Claire, when we took Lauren home after keeping her a few days for them, she went to her Dad. Not her Mom.
But they get over it after Mom returns.
Valentine's Day; Matt's Birthday; Claire's Birthday.
So .... Monday night was a sleep over (we slept part of the night) for James at Mimi & Papa/ Gigi & Grandpa's house.
That boy remembers when he comes to Mimi's house that she has blueberry muffins on the counter. So, what does she do? She makes sure when he is coming that she has some!
He does enjoy them! [picture 2]
That boy also likes Mimi's cats. Of course Mister is the only one that tolerates children. But James was patient and waited for a few opportune moments when he could sit near him. He doesn't even touch him every time. He just wants to be next to the cat.
Grandpa was working in the carport on some Shabby Chic projects, so we would go out to check on him. The first time we went out after Mom and Dad left, he wandered about and found Mimi's Goose family in the yard. I told him they were ducks and they say, "Quack, quack, quack." He thought this quite humorous. So, we sat near the 'ducks' and talked about them and looked at them. Later on he was laying on my bed and saw Grandpa's humongous rubber duck on the top of the chest. I took it down for him and said, "This is Grandpa's Duck. It says, 'quack, quack, quack.'" He said, "Kack, Kack, Kack." Well, everyone knows that ducks waddle. When I get him to say 'kack, kack, kack' for his mother, he wobbles back and forth. Um, I guess when I was teaching him that, I waddled like a duck? Funny Gigi.
That boy is not in to trying new foods. Mimi gave him a couple of blueberries. He mashed one, then picked the other up and squeezed til he broke the skin and he tried it! He eventually got it into his mouth and sucked all the juice out. Not a bad trial! [picture 1]
Poor Claire. When it was time to go home, that boy would reach for Daddy from Gigi. But he wouldn't have anything to do with his Mama. Why do children punish their Moms for abandonment? Ask Amy, Claire, when we took Lauren home after keeping her a few days for them, she went to her Dad. Not her Mom.
But they get over it after Mom returns.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
A night with Gigi and Grandpa
Rick and I babysat James last night. We kept him at his house and he seemed to have a great time.
Gigi brought dinner, which he loved.
Fish sticks and tater tots.
Of course, it was his house, so he was 'well versed' and kept us informed of how things should be.
'There's a curtain rod in the big chair, and it shouldn't be there!' (Grandpa removed it.)
'I like those DVD cases but I can't play with them (shaking his head 'no').'
'Do you see the picture of Mama, Daddy and Me up there?'
[If you haven't heard him talk, you really should see one of the videos on Picasa of James playing Wii or with his birthday cake.]
Let's play!
He brought out all of his balls and threw them and played 'hit the ball with the stick' with a paper towel roll.
We read Baby Kangaroo at least a dozen times.
He showed me how to put his books on the shelf with Mama's books.
He jumped on his lion and wrestled him several times. James won every time!
We played peek-a-boo with his Cookie Monster towel.
He stood up in his green chair and drank his milk.
We played with his John Deere tractor, of course,
And the Playskool Busy Gears. (Did you know that the gears from Playskool Push-Pull Activity Gears also fit? So fun! and educational for Gigi.)
He finally sat down with me to read Daniel in the Lion's Den, to the end.
When I asked if he was ready for his Night-Night Lamb, he ran to his room and showed me it was in his bed.
We got his lamb, sat in the rocking chair with Is Your Mama a Llama?, which was the wrong book....
... so he showed me the Two-Minute Stories book; we read about a doll, who I think he knows!
We cuddled with his lamb and the blue blankie.
I turned on his music, put him in his bed and he talked to his lamb for about 20 minutes, then was OUT!
Looks like a success. Hope the next one turns out as well. It's a sleep over!
Gigi brought dinner, which he loved.
Fish sticks and tater tots.
Of course, it was his house, so he was 'well versed' and kept us informed of how things should be.
'There's a curtain rod in the big chair, and it shouldn't be there!' (Grandpa removed it.)
'I like those DVD cases but I can't play with them (shaking his head 'no').'
'Do you see the picture of Mama, Daddy and Me up there?'
[If you haven't heard him talk, you really should see one of the videos on Picasa of James playing Wii or with his birthday cake.]
Let's play!
We read Baby Kangaroo at least a dozen times.
He showed me how to put his books on the shelf with Mama's books.
He jumped on his lion and wrestled him several times. James won every time!
We played peek-a-boo with his Cookie Monster towel.
He stood up in his green chair and drank his milk.
We played with his John Deere tractor, of course,
And the Playskool Busy Gears. (Did you know that the gears from Playskool Push-Pull Activity Gears also fit? So fun! and educational for Gigi.)
He finally sat down with me to read Daniel in the Lion's Den, to the end.
When I asked if he was ready for his Night-Night Lamb, he ran to his room and showed me it was in his bed.
We got his lamb, sat in the rocking chair with Is Your Mama a Llama?, which was the wrong book....
... so he showed me the Two-Minute Stories book; we read about a doll, who I think he knows!
We cuddled with his lamb and the blue blankie.
I turned on his music, put him in his bed and he talked to his lamb for about 20 minutes, then was OUT!
Looks like a success. Hope the next one turns out as well. It's a sleep over!
Friday, February 4, 2011
dangit
I missed another month of pictures. oops. I'm posting pictures from January and some more holiday pics as I type. Also check the holidays 2010 folder for Texas snow!! I know it's not really from the holidays, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it. Matt and I also got a new camera for our birthdays, so if you pay attention to the camera information on each picture, you'll notice a difference.
https://picasaweb.google.com/matt.claire.wall
https://picasaweb.google.com/matt.claire.wall
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Catching up
We had a beautiful wonderful white Christmas in Virginia. We were gone for a full two weeks and only spent 3 days in the car. Other than driving to DC for a night. It was hard being away from all of my family for the holidays, but wonderful to see all of the Wall family. We did see all of them except one who is out of the country. For more on all of that, see Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.claire.wall/VirginiaChristmas2010#
We are still having issues with James and food. I'm starting to think this will be an ongoing struggle. He is eating baby food and cereal wonderfully plus milk (no formula) and some finger foods. He refuses to try most of what I cook. He will eat bread, dry cereal, and banana all day if I let him. He has also eaten some fish sticks Matt brought home from camp and some venison taco meat. I figured out I can smash some scrambled egg into a small piece of bread and he will eat it, but not the eggs by themselves. He likes trying to use his spoon, but mostly dumps it on his tray and then licks the spoon. He'll feed himself his cereal from a spoon pretty well because it sticks to the spoon. And he likes for me to dip his spoon in my mac and cheese and give it to him. I packed away the bottles this week. He's doing really well with his sippy cups. I realized he didn't like the other ones he has because the milk or whatever comes out too fast. We had to buy more non-spill cups that he has to suck on. patience and persistence. oi.
He finally had his 1 year appointment last week. He still hasn't had his vaccines because he has an ear infection. We started fighting this thing sometime around the beginning of December. 3 rounds of oral antibiotics and an antibiotic shot later and it's still there. We're going to see an ENT next week and he has another oral antibiotic to keep the infection from getting worse before we get to the doctor. The Pediatrician says he will probably have to get tubes put in soon. We'll see if the ENT has any other ideas to try before we do that. Having an infection for this long can be very damaging to the ears.
At his appointment he was about 20.5 lbs and 27" tall I think. I can't find where she wrote that down. His weight is still tenth percentile and his height is under the fifth percentile. But he is showing a good rate of growth. She said there is nothing to worry about unless he hasn't caught up at all by the time he reaches 2. I have no idea where he gets all these short genes from. :)
word of the day: daaad-dy!
We are still having issues with James and food. I'm starting to think this will be an ongoing struggle. He is eating baby food and cereal wonderfully plus milk (no formula) and some finger foods. He refuses to try most of what I cook. He will eat bread, dry cereal, and banana all day if I let him. He has also eaten some fish sticks Matt brought home from camp and some venison taco meat. I figured out I can smash some scrambled egg into a small piece of bread and he will eat it, but not the eggs by themselves. He likes trying to use his spoon, but mostly dumps it on his tray and then licks the spoon. He'll feed himself his cereal from a spoon pretty well because it sticks to the spoon. And he likes for me to dip his spoon in my mac and cheese and give it to him. I packed away the bottles this week. He's doing really well with his sippy cups. I realized he didn't like the other ones he has because the milk or whatever comes out too fast. We had to buy more non-spill cups that he has to suck on. patience and persistence. oi.
He finally had his 1 year appointment last week. He still hasn't had his vaccines because he has an ear infection. We started fighting this thing sometime around the beginning of December. 3 rounds of oral antibiotics and an antibiotic shot later and it's still there. We're going to see an ENT next week and he has another oral antibiotic to keep the infection from getting worse before we get to the doctor. The Pediatrician says he will probably have to get tubes put in soon. We'll see if the ENT has any other ideas to try before we do that. Having an infection for this long can be very damaging to the ears.
At his appointment he was about 20.5 lbs and 27" tall I think. I can't find where she wrote that down. His weight is still tenth percentile and his height is under the fifth percentile. But he is showing a good rate of growth. She said there is nothing to worry about unless he hasn't caught up at all by the time he reaches 2. I have no idea where he gets all these short genes from. :)
word of the day: daaad-dy!
oops
So, dad told me my blog is boring. It's not that my son is boring. Quite the opposite. But I probably spend the least amount of time online of my family members. A solution has been provided for this problem which is that I allow my mom to send in Gigi posts. They are moving closer to us again and she could be spending quite a bit of time with my little monster. So, if you notice a post written by someone other than me, don't be surprised. Just a warning: giving my mom permission to post to my blog means my dad may as well. This could be fun.
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