Lately

It seems our little guy has really changed in the last couple of weeks. He's gaining more personality, more mobility, continues to love trying new foods. Here are a few things noteworthy as of lately.

 

He's started this new "scrunchy face" smile. He mainly does it to be funny, although over the weekend he started doing it at us when we had to tell him to stop doing something. A little sas brewing? Seems like it.



 

 

Ah yes, the dishwasher. Our new BFF. We like to see what silverware we can get our hands on while also attempting to climb onto the door and make ourselves comfy. Maybe this will be his favorite chore someday?

 

 

And then there is this....chewing on the cabinet knobs. Not sure how this got started but he just figured this one out on Saturday. Think the kid is teething? ;) 

 

 

Another funny from the weekend. He now tries to climb through the play table. What he doesn't realize is that he has a little too much "junk in the trunk" to make it all the way through. Poor kid.

 

 

And then the climbing in the carseat. Backwards. Totally safe, right?

 

Awfully proud of himself.

 

Crawling through the kitchen. Maybe hunting for dropped Cheerios?

 

 

Master stair climber.......

 

 

 

 

And end table climbing. 

 

 

 

And then there is meal time. Where we are exploring all sorts of new foods. We have a new found passion for dinner, especially when dad lets us lose with the apple sauce container.

 

Apple sauce deep conditioning

Apple sauce facial mask

And hair mask

 

And then we are back to the cabinets. Phew, this boy is busy!!

 



Oh James. You're already keeping us on our toes and we wouldn't have it any other way. So thankful you are healthy and love exploring everything around you. We love you sweet boy!

Father's Day

I realize I'm quite tardy in writing this post. We celebrated our favorite guy a week ago on Father's Day. I could sit here and gush about how great of a father John is. He has been nothing short of great since the day we found out we were expecting. And I knew he would be. In the years pre-kids, he wasn't sure that he'd be big into babies. He would always tell me, "Just keep them with you until they are 2 and then hand them over to me." :) Insinuating he's not a baby guy. Today, he will now tell you how wrong he was about his feeling towards babies and that having his own to love has totally change him.

 

A few reasons why John is such a great dad.

 

• He's patient and love teach James new things.
• He's hands on- always participating in dinner time, bath time, changing diapers, giving James a bottle, taking him to run errands so I can get things done at home, taking him to daycare, etc.  
• He's a team player with me and he's been that way since day one. Whenever he's home he's pulling his weight helping me get through the night time routine, etc.
• He LOVES James. It's so apparent and so endearing to watch. They both light up whenever they see each other
• He's fun. Are you suprised? He's big into play time, trying new toys with James, teaching him new games, reading books, etc. He's just plain f.u.n.

 

I had no doubt John would rock fatherhood. It fits him well and there is no one else I'd rather be on this parenthood journey with than him.

 

Happy Father's Day, John (a week late, oops!)! You are the rock of our family and we love you more than you even know and are so thankful that you are ours.

 

We love you!

 

Mommy and James

 

 

 

24 hours old- already good snuggle buddies!

One of my favorite pictures.

About 6 days old

Another favorite. I love the newness of James' feet and John's strong arms/hands.

A few weeks old

 

3 weeks old

 

6 months!

First Royal's game together

 

First beach vacation together- 7 1/2 months

Celebrating John at The Julian for Father's Day Brunch.

Daddy and Mini-Daddy :)

Des Moines Weekend

Last weekend, Aunt Malia and cousins Jillian and Adrienne were visiting Grammy and Grandad so James and I headed north for a visit. We left KC around 6 and arrive in Des Moines around bedtime and were greeted by the girl cousins. James, who slept the whole trip, woke up teary as I think he was a little overwhelmed with all of the estrogen. :)

 

 

 

 

After a little more time to get settled and take it all in, he had a few snuggles for the 3 Howe ladies.

  

 

 

After all of the arrival excitement the kids went to bed while us adults indulged in one of Grammy's prepared desserts. Saturday morning came quickly and the little ones were already in playtime mode. The girls really enjoyed smothering James with attention and all of their girly books and toys. :)

 

Look at this ornery face!!

After Aunt Malia and mommy returned from an afternoon of shopping, we all headed outside for a little water play. James played on the deck with a tub of water and some toys while the girls had no fear diving into the frigid blow-up pool.

 

 

LOVE these cute buns!

 

 

 

More post-swim snuggles and another ornery face from James.

 

 

 

Jillian was very interested in applying her mothering skills with James over the weekend. She had lots of questions for me about what James likes to eat, how he sleeps, etc. Her questions were super cute! She also enjoyed reading James books any time he seemed restless or fussy. You were a great helper, JiJi!! 

 

 

  

 

Snuggles with Grammy

On Sunday the whole gang loaded up to go to Jordan Creek to do some shopping and go out to dinner for Grandad's birthday (that was on Monday).

 

 

More Grammy snuggles.

  

Photo op in Barnes and Noble after the girls selected their goodies.

Grandad and James

 

 

 

Amidst all of the weekend fun, James was battling a pretty gnarly yeast diaper rash (thank you, Augmentin!). So he spent a lot of the weekend naked airing out his bum. :) I mean, could it get any cuter?

 

 

He also tried macaroni for the first time and absolutely LOVED it!! I re-named him the "Macaroni Monster".

 

 

 

 

More fun with JiJi. I absolutely adore this picture. It seems just like yesterday that Jillian was James' size.

 

Before we left on Monday, James, Grammy, and I took a stroll down the hill to the park so James could swing for the first time. The verdict? He loved it!! 

 

Grammy showing him the flowers.

 

 

 

Check out that hair! :)

 

It was a great weekend with family and we were glad to get the opportunity to see the Howe ladies.