Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: Just for fun, after work instead of meeting Tom at the usual Metro stop, we met at the mall. James walked (holding onto Tom's fingers) for at least 250 feet before stopping. His other new tricks include kneeling upright with very good balance and insisting on feeding himself (and fighting you when you try to feed him with a spoon). That last one works ok with dry Cheerios, little carrot cubes, or chunks of cheese. Doesn't work so well for things like oatmeal.

Lisa writes: James likes to feed himself now. Maybe "likes" isn't a strong enough word. James usually insists on feeding himself now. Peas and Cheerios on the high chair tray are no big deal, but oatmeal is otra cosa .

Lisa writes: I don't know why I remember this one little scene so clearly. I was visiting my parents' ward and my sister, Christi's, friend Tawnie was there. I was sitting a couple of rows behind then in Sunday School and Tawnie's little boy was sitting on the floor entertaining himself. He had broken his arm a few weeks before and so was doing this 3-legged crawl. He had a little toy, which he would throw and then chase. Toss the toy, crawl after it. Toss the toy, crawl after it. Basically he was playing fetch with himself. He kept this up for the whole hour. He was less than a year old. Somebody somewhere said, "The intelligent mind is never bored," and that's exactly that I thought of as I watched this little guy go. Point of the story: James started tossing and fetching a little toy football a couple of days ago. He can entertain himself for a good 20-30 minutes. Genius.

Lisa writes: James was up from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. this morning. The adults had to be up at 6 a.m., so this wasn't fun for anybody. At first we thought he was starving (because he was acting like he was starving), but then he drank a little formula and didn't want anymore. Then we thought he was wet (because he was very wet), but after Tom changed his diaper ... and pjs ... and sleepsack because he'd peed through everything ... and he screamed the whole time ... he still didn't want to go to sleep. Then Tom finally diagnosed teething and got him all hopped up on baby Tylenol and finally to sleep.

Lisa writes: On Fridays, Tom stays home with James. He loves looking out the window. (The neighbors have entertaining dogs.) He was astonished by the snow.  

Lisa writes: James does this funny thing. Sometimes when he wakes up too early (this isn't the funny thing), like 5 or 6 a.m., we'll put him in bed with us rather than expend the energy to try to get him back to sleep in his own bed (that's not the funny thing either). He'll usually wiggle around for a bit before falling asleep, and -- the funny thing -- back himself up into one of our faces and reach around with one hand to pat to make sure we're there. Then he'll flip over, back himself up into the other parent's face, and pat them in the face. Repeat this several times, then fall asleep. It's cute, other than the fact that you're getting patted in the face at 5 or 6 a.m.

Lisa writes: Two new things today. Earlier (before he was in the sleepsack) he was up on his hands and knees and tentatively crawling on the carpet. The wood floors combined with the fleece pjs are too slippery, though. Shortly after this video, he had scooted himself into the kitchen. He found a piece of a leaf that had been tracked in from outside and was putting it into his mouth. I started walking toward him to take it away, he squealed in delight and started "running" away from me as fast as he could.

Lisa writes: We went out to dinner last night to beat the crowds because we are both romantic and pragmatic. Anyway, so then what to do with ourselves on Valentines Days proper? Let's go see the old, used-to-be-really-scary mall!    It looks great! I have nothing funny to say about it -- it's bright and clean and new and almost totally occupied with fun and interesting stores. We were nearly tempted to buy things! (But we didn't, because we are cheap.)   The really exhilarating part of the evening, though, was exiting to discover that the cold, clear night we started with was now a full-blown blizzard. Oops. Better burrito the baby.

Lisa writes: It's snowing!

Lisa writes: James is doing this more and more now. James: "Ooooo, yeah! Who's yer baby?"