James' Monthly Photo Project: Eleven Months Old

Eleven months old.  Well, 11 months and 1 day old since we are a bit late in getting this post up.  Time has certainly flown by and James is more of a little boy than a baby now.  To say he is thriving is an understatement.  This kid has SO much energy - it amazes us every day.  He is curious and sweet and just wants to play and have fun.

James had some big milestones this month:

• The first and most important - FIRST STEPS!!!  That's right, our little guy decided that it is time to put those little legs to use and start walking.  It's just a few steps here and there now, but we know that that will change very soon.

• He is eating like a champion these days.  From chicken, to turkey meatballs, to pineapple to cheesy bread, there is nothing this kid won't try.  He is full on eating school food and is loving it all.  

• James' two new bottom molars have helped him with his new love of food.  They were not fun coming in, but now that they are here, they are very helpful in chomping down all the yummy new food.  That brings the teeth total to 10 - and we see a newbie starting to break through.

• This little man is officially into EVERYTHING!!  He is always on the go which keeps Mommy and Daddy on our toes.  Baby proofing was kicked into high gear with the addition of a new gate and some cabinet locks.  And man is he quick!

HAPPY ELEVEN MONTH BIRTHDAY JAMES!! 

First Snow

One of the best parts about being new parents is being able to watch James experience something for the first time.  This year has been full of lots of firsts and they just keep on coming.

This morning, we woke up to about an inch of snow and although we've had some snow already this winter, this is the first time that James really noticed it.  Watching him stare out at the beautiful white flakes for the first time warmed our hearts.  

Lucy decided to get in on the action, but she is a pro at snow - her first experience was a few years back in Westbury, NY.

The snow will likely be gone by the time gets home from school, but hopefully, one of these days, we will get enough so that he can play in it and really experience it first hand. We don't have an infant snow sled for nothing!

And Then There Were Three...Temporarily!!

There's lots of stuff brewing in the Mangiaracina house and it all started this weekend with a good old fashioned clean out.  In order to be productive, we knew that we had to pare this family down to 3 for a few days.  Can you guess who got the boot?

Well, it wasn't Lucy. :)  The little man spent the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Q's house and had his very first sleep over.  It was a trial run and they all did great.  THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM AND DAD Q!!!!!! 

With James out of picture, we were a family of 3 for two days and we got a LOT accomplished.  Like a lot, A LOT!  So what are we working on?  Well...let me explain.

As James gets older, he seems to be accumulating more and more stuff.  And his stuff is getting bigger and bigger which means it is taking over the living room.  We realize that we need to make better use of the basement and we need to do it now.  

The basement is basically finished.  We just need to put some finishing touches on it before we are open for business down there.  But before we can do anything, we had to clean out. And that is what we did this weekend.  The basement has been a storage area since we moved in.  Actually... it's been more of a dumping ground.  In order to make this space our new family room, we needed to clean out the junk.  

We got started on Saturday after we dropped James off and within an hour, the room looked like this:

We basically had to break down an entire desk/office area that housed all of Ed's crap stuff, clean out the kitchenette that became a storage unit and pull everything out of the cedar closet under the stairs to purge what we no longer need.  It was a lot of work and physical labor, but it felt good to get rid of the junk.

In addition to tackling the basement, we also paid some attention to the attic.  This house does not have a lot of unfinished storage space so we have to make use of every nook and cranny and that includes the attic.  Since moving in, one of our "To Do" items has been to add more planks in the attic and get more stuff up there.  That item was crossed off the list this weekend.  We hit up Lowes and had some wood cut to make the attic more user friendly.  

We were able to put a ton of stuff up there that we don't use on a regular basis which in turn freed up space in the cedar closet in the basement for stuff that we do need access to more often.  

We are not quite ready to start tearing down the walls, but we are in much better shape.  And what's great is that with this clean out, we have a few items to sell on Craigslist to help fund the project.  Already made a quick $200 selling this bad boy:

Anyone in the market for a TV stand?  How about a window AC unit?  Maybe a bookcase or an elfa Shelving System??  Hello?  Bueller...

Old MacDonald Had Some Fun

One of James' favorite toys is his farm animal See n' Say.  He loves to watch the dial go around and hear all the animal sounds.  But his most favorite part is when the dial lands on the Old MacDonald song.  Check him out:

He goes nuts every time he hears the chorus!  Ah the simple things...:)

Worry Wart

As a new Mom, I feel like I am constantly worrying about something.  When James was first born it was about whether or not he was eating enough.  Then it was about all the gas he was experiencing when he was eating.  As he got older, I worried about the colds he would get at day care and whether or not he'd meet all the oh so important milestones of holding his head up right and rolling over and crawling.  Every day there is a new worry, and from what I understand, that never goes away.  Awesome.

The most recent worry (other than the 4-weeks of being sick that took both Ed and I down for a brief stint) are James' motor skills when it comes to his pincer grasp.  What is a pincer grasp you ask?  Well, this is his ability to pick things up using his pointer finger and his thumb. This is a skill that is learned over time with practice.

Experts say you should start introducing finger foods around 8-9 months to get them used to picking things up and bringing them to their mouth.  Eight months was way too early for James.  He was still a man in love with his purees and anything else we put on the tray was immediately pushed to the floor.

At nine months, he started to get the hang of the Gerber Puffs and the Happy Baby Yogurt Bites. These 2 items did not make him gag, which he did.  A lot.  And usually with puke.  We started putting other items on his tray - toasted waffle bits, sweet potatoes, scrambled eggs, overcooked pasta.  No interest.  He would push things around and sometimes try to pick them up, but really, he was just playing.  

The more he showed no interest, the more I started freaking out.  Was my kid behind the curve on mastering this very important motor skill?  What is going on?  He's almost walking and he can't seem to grab onto a piece of waffle?  WTF!  And then I would start Googling.  Google is not a friend of a new Mom having a ridiculous panic attack.  

We are now at 10 months and something seemed to click.  Not only is he starting to grab things from his tray and put them in his mouth, he is also trying to get at the food on our plates.  Sunday morning, he actually ate a good portion of his waffle. And by dinner time, he was eating up the sweet potato and mac and cheese bits placed in front of him.

The skill is not perfected by any means, but I'm starting to see some rays of hope.  Oh, and by the way, I'm also a panic attack when he does actually get something in his mouth because I'm worried he might choke.  I have problems.  :)

Toy Alternative

We knew that when we had a baby, our house would fill up with all the necessary gear that comes with them.  And as they grow, the baby gear would turn into toys.  Lots and lots of toys.  Now that James' first Christmas has come and gone, our toy inventory has grown quite large.  From stuffed animals to music tables to ride ons, our house looks like a regular Toys R Us.  Some new favorites include his xylophone (compliments of Aunt Suzy)...

... his music table (thank you, Santa!)...

... his elephant busy ball popper (again, thank you, Santa)...

... and his ride on fire truck (compliments of a recent consignment event).

He is going to kill us when he is 17 for putting these pictures of him with no pants online!  But I digress. We are a fan of these toys as well...especially the fire truck since it is really helping him with the walking. Check our little man out:

But for all the favorite toys and the non-favorite toys and the ones in the corner collecting dust, nothing beats the toys that he finds in the kitchen cabinets:

Who knew that all you need are some bowls and a wooden spoon to occupy a 10 month old while making dinner?!  We will keep that in mind when the next one comes along.  :)

Oh - and we are happy to report that the missing wise man from the Fisher-Price nativity finally showed up.  He may have missed Christmas, but he made it in time for a jam session on the xylophone.

(The best part about this pic are the 2 little tooshies in the background.  I want to pinch them both!)

James' Monthly Photo Project: Ten Months Old

In the hoopla of the holidays and the new year, we nearly forgot to post our most important monthly blog - James' Monthly Photo!!  Our not so little man is 10 months old today and we celebrated by giving everyone the day off from work - you're welcome!! :)

We do have some big milestones to report as our little guy continues to grow:

• James decided that this would be the month that he would finally clap his hands on his own.  Mommy has been showing him how to do it for weeks and he just decided to go ahead and give it a shot.  Luckily it was in front of lots of family and a video camera.

• Another biggie is the amount of cruising this kid is doing. Whether around the coffee table, along the couch or with his Fisher-Price fire truck, he is on the move!  We now can hold him with just one hand and he'll walk along side us.  We have a feeling his first steps on his own are just around the corner.  And you know what that means ~ new shoes!!!

• Unfortunately, James had his first fever a few weeks back and his first trip the emergency room.  He is finally feeling a lot better, and we are working on getting back to our normal sleeping schedule, but we are hoping to avoid this milestone again in the near future.

HAPPY 10 MONTH BIRTHDAY JAMES!!