"Unslumping yourself is not easily done"

Today is a slump day. Not terrible, but I've just been a little off. I decided to help James work on sleeping through the night last night. Ha! As a result, we both had a much worse night and are (unsurprisingly) cranky.

But I'm trying to CHOOSE to not be in a slump anymore today, and my first step in the unslumping process is to post some recent photos of my super cute kids (mostly to remind myself that they really are super cute and for the grandmas).

When I tried to take a picture today for the "Just James" post of just James, Annie was not thrilled and wanted to be in some too. So I took some of them together and some of Annie. In the one together, she was really trying to help clap and simultaneously put her arm around him. It was pretty sweet.

In this one she is holding up the zero puzzle piece. She's recently become interested in numbers and letters. Her favorite number is 0 and letter is M.

The bun picture is because she is in a phase where she wants to (insists on) doing EVERYTHING just like somebody else. Sometimes it's big James, sometimes it's little James, and today it was Grace. She saw a picture of her cousin with a bun about a month ago and all of the sudden today there was no other option for a hair-do. I didn't think it would turn out as cute as it did. I was pretty pleased.

Here are a few shots of her with some of her favorite friends - Ruth, Bryce, and James. The muddy ones are right in front of our house (aren't you all jealous you don't have mud puddles literally feet from your front door?), and the pumpkin one is at Powers Market. It was so sunny that day. We got the yummiest pumpkin muffins ever pretty soon after the picture was taken.

For the record, I do know that I have a FANTASTIC life. Also, does anyone know what Dr. Seuss book the title of the post comes from? Bonus points for you if you do. Annie and I read it today.

Just James

James is on such a steep learning curve right now, so I feel like I need to document it. He started really crawling just 2 days ago (at 7 1/2 months - eek). He's been threatening to crawl since just before 6 months. He would always get up on all four, but then he figured out sitting and that contented him for a little while. I was VERY encouraging of this stage. I relentlessly handed him toys that were out of his reach so that he wouldn't feel a need to figure out a way to get to them. Much to my chagrin, my tactics failed. For only crawling for 2 days, he's already remarkably good at it. I think he's going to be a coordinated little boy and love running and playing a whole bunch. Today as I read Annie a story on the couch, he spotted a toy, got a determined look on his face, and march-crawled (I know I'm making that term up, but can't you just picture it?) right over to it. So deliberate and so cute.

Yesterday (the day after he learned to crawl officially), he figured out clapping. I LOVE the clapping. He doesn't quite know it's a trick yet - it almost feels more like a fidgety thing to do when he's feeling emotions. He does it when he's happy or when he's very worked up and sad.

He is much more of a babbler these days, particularly when he's happy and around our small little family. He says "mamama", "dadada", "bababa", a few "ga"'s, maybe a "la" here and there, and lots of cooing things. He has loud squawking laugh when he's being tickled. His favorite thing in the world is getting tossed around and wrestled by Daddy.

He is liking his solid foods more and more. The only thing he still won't eat is rice cereal. He did great with green beans and squash, which made his daddy happy.

He is much more shy than Annie ever was. Annie never really went through a stranger anxiety phase, but James does not light up for every person he sees. He doesn't cry, he just studies them. But if it's anyone from our family that's talking to him (or a few of our cute neighbors), he will light up and want to play and play.

He is still HUGE! One friend described him as "juicy" and another friend as "hefty". Both fit him pretty well. His hair is still quite red. One of our cute neighbor girls saw him the other day and said, "His hair is kind of turning red." :) I get lots of comments about him being a milkman baby. Rest assured, he is not. The conversation goes like this, "Does his dad have red hair?" "No, both of our grandpas have some red in their hair and beards." "Oh, so he's a milkman baby." (In my head, "No, but thank you for implying that I cheated on my husband.")

I haven't taken a picture of him crawling or clapping yet, but when I get those, I'll add them to this post.

Help Wanted

Hello blogosphere friends! I'm coming to you humbly to seek your advice. I LOVE my children, but one of them (really hard to guess which one, I'm sure) is driving me crazy. I would really like to have more positive interactions with said child and not feel like every moment is either a battle or about to become a battle. We deal with tantrums over minutia daily. But we also have issues with obedience (e.g., Please don't go in the road or please come in the house). Will you please post your recommendations for the best parenting books or tips? It's kind of hard to admit you need help, but I really do, so please comment away.

P.S. Happy Columbus Day everyone!

Susanna Grandma Hunter

We've recently been teaching Annie about full names. She loves to repeat everyone's full names to us. I guess she realized that the cadence on hers was a little off because everybody else has three names in their full name. So she adapted and now calls herself "Susanna Grandma Hunter". Annie is named for both of our moms and rightly so, she ADORES those women. I guess she figured that adding Grandma to her name was a great way to be like them. :) After she said it the first time, I commented to Brad that she had two grandmas who would like to hear that story. She heard me and informed me that she had TWO grandmas who miss her and TWO papas who miss her and that she needs to fly on an airplane to see them. So the four of you need to know that you are loved and missed and talked about. A lot.