Happy New Year!

James is 9 weeks old today. He's slept for 8 hours straight at night for the past couple of nights, but he has been much less sleepy during the day. More sleep for us, but then we get less done during the day. That's the trade off, I suppose. He's still as smiley and vocal as ever, and getting better and better at holding his head up for long periods of time.









We're heading off to a New Year's party with Aaron's running group in a few minutes. 2009 has been pretty good to us, and we are looking forward to all the new year has to bring.

Christmas

We finally got home yesterday from our Christmas trip up north. We missed the worst of the winter storm and driving wasn't too difficult. It took us a little longer to get there, but once we arrived we could sit by the fire and watch the falling snow without worrying about going anywhere. Christmas Eve was just the three of us, although we were later joined by Aaron's brother and his fiancee for board games and grasshoppers. We also found a little something under the tree:
James enjoyed looking at all the Christmas lights. He also gave us the best possible Christmas present -- 9 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep!

The rest of the family started arriving on Christmas Day. James' aunties were happy to see him. He looked at Christmas lights with Aunt Lindsey and snuggled with Aunt Molly.They also babysat for us one evening so we could have our first baby-free date since James was born. We just went out for dinner and dessert and a little shopping, but it was nice to have some time to ourselves.

After everyone arrived, we put together our Christmas dinner -- ham, scalloped potatoes, peas, and a trifle for dessert. The ham and the trifle were our contributions and I was very pleased with how they turned out. Everyone else seems pretty satisfied as well.
James slept through all the excitement of opening presents, but we didn't want him to feel left out.

Later in the evening, we played board games and had fun dressing up James in a fake mustache.
Even the whole family got into it:

In the days after Christmas, we relaxed around the house, took a trip to Duluth, and stopped at Jay Cooke State Park. In order to walk around with James, the first step was getting him into his still-too-big snowsuit:We only went as far as the hanging bridge. The river is pretty no matter what time of year, and we are looking forward to many more visits.

We weren't quite ready to come back to the Cities yet so we ended up staying an extra night in Wrenshall -- where we enjoyed more good food, visiting, and board games. Aaron still has a week of break left and he is looking forward to catching up on sleep and schoolwork. And of course spending lots of time with James :)

(almost) 8 weeks

James will be 8 weeks old tomorrow! Of course, we will be taking plenty of pictures of him and his first Christmas, but before we head up north, here are a few new ones of him:



James has been sleeping really well lately and I am very grateful. He is regularly sleeping for 6-7 hours straight at night before waking for a snack. Then he will go back to bed for another 2-3 hours. Last night, we put him to bed at 9:30 and he was up this morning for the day at 8 -- only waking up once. He's also been sleeping more predictably during the day -- usually for 2 hours or so in the morning in his swing and another 2-3 hours in the afternoon. This allows me to get more done around the house during the day... or take a nap myself! He is also very smiley and will smile when he hears our voices -- fun to see him recognizing us and responding to us. It's not too difficult now to get a picture of him smiling.

more smiles

I think this might be my favorite picture of James yet:


(The giraffe is a Christmas present from his "aunt" Sarah.) He doesn't quite have the motor skills or hand-eye coordination to do much with it yet but he seems to be enjoying his gift :)

7 weeks

James is 7 weeks old today! I took some pictures of him this morning -- our most successful attempt yet to get pictures of James smiling:





He's not so sure what to think about the cat... and vice versa.

He's getting more and more interactive every day. He will smile and laugh in response to our voices or to tickling. And he's also content just to sit and look around. Right now, James is happily swinging/sleeping in his swing. We got a swing a few weeks ago but he wasn't too interested in it at first. The last few days, however, he's fallen asleep in his swing every time we've put him in. He won't sleep for a long time in there, but it's enough to keep him occupied so we can get things done (in this case, baking pound cakes for a get-together tomorrow night).

Sounds like swing time is over... :)

6 week check up

James and I ventured out today in several inches of newly fallen snow to go to my 6 week post-partum check up. My appointment was mostly uneventful -- everything looks good and I don't have any complications from the delivery. And it is clear that James is doing well and getting plenty to eat :) No more scheduled check ups until my regular annual physical in April. James was a little fussy at the appointment but saved most of his crying for the car ride home (post coffee stop at Caribou).

bake bake bake

With the arrival of snow and cold weather, I haven't been outside in over 48 hours. But I have been busy baking. On Tuesday, it was English muffin bread. Yesterday, snickerdoodle cookies. And today, tea rings. Fortunately, James has cooperated by napping at the appropriate times.

And if it continues to look like this outside (with below zero windchills), I just might not go out for another few days.

6 weeks

James is 6 weeks old today! He still won't cooperate and smile for the camera but he looks pretty cute anyway :) And he's getting bigger and stronger and smiley-er every day.

snow day!

We got hit with quite the winter storm overnight and as a result, a number of metro-area schools are closed for the day, including Aaron's. He is quite excited about this and James and I are happy to have him home with us.

As of this morning, the airport received 7 inches of snow, although it's hard to be very accurate with the wind -- over 30 mph and blizzard conditions in much of the state. It's a pretty powdery and dry snow, which isn't so great for snowmen and sledding. Plus with all the wind, it seems pretty miserable out there. I am more than happy to stay inside today. And I am very glad I don't have to worry about a commute to work!

I'm planning to make Christmas cookies later and Aaron is planning to eat them. James is planning to wiggle on the couch for a while and then (I hope) take a nap.

the many faces of James

James has been smiling a lot more lately and Aaron and I have both attempted to capture this on film. Unfortunately, the smiles are fleeting and in the time it takes for the camera to snap the picture, he's often moved on to making a different expression. So we have a bunch of pictures of his various facial expressions, some of which are smiles.

Here he is enjoying his tummy time. His neck is getting stronger and will support his head for a moment or two. And he will do "push-ups" if we put him on his tummy.

And our attempts to capture a smile:

leftovers

We're finishing up the last of our turkey leftovers and have turned them into a couple of good meals. Last night, we had "Thanksgiving" quesadillas with sweet potatoes and turkey (based on this recipe and this recipe). We also made a batch of turkey stock, which will become a yummy soup or two.

After our mild November, December has turned considerably cooler and winter is definitely in the air. There is a light dusting of snow on the ground and the temperature will struggle to get above freezing (it's currently 23 degrees). A little chilly to take James for walks outside so we might have to head over to the Mall of America for some walking around. I'm hoping it will be less crazy during the week than it is on weekends!

5 weeks

James is 5 weeks old today! We are still trying to figure out some sort of routine, but last night was just about perfect:

Bath with dad
Snack with mom
Bed @ 10:30
Up for a snack @ 2:00; back to bed @ 2:30
Up for breakfast @ 6:30
Diaper change, wash up, wiggle time
Morning nap @ 8:00

After James wakes up for the day and has had breakfast, he spends some time laying on his back and waving his arms and legs around. He also smiles and makes noises and seems to be pretty happy during this time. Aaron and I have started calling this his wiggle time. I tried to get some pictures of him but since he is wiggling so much, it was hard to keep all of him in the picture frame :)







He has officially outgrown all of his newborn clothes so I was forced to buy a new sleeper for him. It's a 3 M size but fits him pretty well except in the feet. It will be fun to see how much he has grown at his two month check up.