Visit With Santa! ...."You'd better watch out, You'd better not cry"

James' visit with Santa this year in 2009 was a little more dramatic than his first encounter last year. Then, he slept through the entire photo shoot. This year he was freaked out by a white-bearded stranger on whom I trusted my son to sit. The pictures say it all.

James is walking!

On Thanksgiving James took his first steps (that were witnessed by someone other than Mom)... a whole houseful of people saw it at Alexis and Mark's house. Some people were sooo happy for James!

And here in this video we actually caught him walking across the room!

Pardon my workout gear ;)

Happy Halloween! A bit belated...

Great recipes from Thanksgiving

This was the first Thanksgiving dinner that I attended where I brought critical dishes! It was a fun opportunity to find some great ones that I will save here for the next holiday.

Herbed Shallot Stuffing: 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Herbed-Shallot-Stuffing-104260

OR Apple-Pecan Cornbread Stuffing (not good for "traditional palates"): 

http://flavordiva.com/2009/11/24/apple-pecan-cornbread-dressing/

The Ultimate Pumpkin Pie: 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/The-Ultimate-Pumpkin-Pie-826

Roasted Brussels Sprouts: 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baby-Brussels-Sprouts-with-Buttered-Pecans-236381

Other good additions are: 

Roasted Acorn Squash

Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Bon Appetit!

Fetch with James and Lucy

Now James and Lucy can entertain each other! Watch the video to see what I mean...

James and Lucy open James' 1st Birthday present

Family pictures - James at 11.5 months!

Family Pictures - James at 11.75 months

Visit this site to see our Family Photos and mostly pictures of James!

http://phoebejoyphotography.com/blog/family/

James uses Lucy as a Jungle Gym

James loves his doggie Lucy! And we are so relieved that Lucy is gentle and patient with him, even as he grabs fistfuls of her skin and ears... and as he gives her lots of kisses on her head! He's very sweet to her, too. 

James is 10.5 months old here - time is flying by!

Yosemite Pennie - Sept 2009

The Pennie family hiked Yosemite this week! Our first hiking trip to this fabulous national treasure. No Yosemite Sam anywhere - but Yosemite James was having a ball!

We had wonderful weather and had a blast together! James did really well being carted around in the Ergo carrier and BOB stroller. And even Lucy did well at keeping up (but she came down with brochitus when we got back!). Here are some pictures of Half Dome, El Capitan and Glacier Point views. We're all smiles because we were having a fabulous time!

And HAPPY 10 MONTH BIRTHDAY, BABY JAMES!

James at 9.5 months

James is 9.5 months old, and we are loving watching "Baby TV"... just watching James explore, develop new skills and make new sounds. He now says Da-Da! All day long, in fact.

Roger Greenwood came to town and visited us for lunch this week. He took some fantastic pictures.

Adventures with James at 8.5 months - 19.5 lbs and growing!

James is having a ball this summer. He traveled to Asheville to help take care of Grandma after her back surgery.

He spent time on the beach with his awesome Great Uncle Joe and got to put his hands in the sand... and he squealed "Eww!" as if to say " What is this weird texture!"

Enjoy these pictures of our recent days together. More adventures to come!
James is growing which must be because he is sleeping better -- 12 hours last night (7:30PM to 7:30 AM! What a DREAM that is for Mommy and Daddy!). His reflux/spit up is under control due to a great visit with a specialist who put him on soy formula - so he is eating more food and drinking more milk. He sort of mourned the loss of nursing, but he finally warmed up to the formula after much protest. But he's doing baby signs to ask for milk now - and that's so exciting 1) that he knows his sign for milk but also 2) that he actually wants milk (aka formula)! He can also eat with his hand, picking up things with his thumb and forefinger to feed himself.

We're loving every minute of this parenting thing!

Happiest Baby in Class! 7 months old and 18 lbs 3oz.

In James' baby class, he is the happiest, most giggling baby! The teacher loves him and tosses him the puppy dog puppet during the show because he bellylaughs so hard when she does "Old MacDonald... had a dog... with a woof woof here..." He cracks up! All the other mommies look in amazement at how happy he is and his amazing sense of humor and comedic timing. Today I said, it makes sense that he knows how to laugh early because his daddy is a comedy writer!

We haven't been sleeping because he has tummy issues... (yep, that same belly that laughs so hard has trouble with dairy.) But his daytime laughter makes up for all the sleepless nights -- hands down.

Michael said if he could ask for anything in his baby's personality, it would be a sense of humor. Daddy's heart is beaming.   :-) It's been a good day.

Pool Time!

Daddy took James into the pool for the first time. We have a waterbug in the making.

Taken on May 25, 2009 (almost 7 months old!)

James' Baptism - 4/11. And he was born on 11/4. Cool, eh?

What a special Easter Vigil baptism we had for Baby James on April 11, 2009. (Yep 4/11 and he was born on 11/4. Cool, eh, Carol?)  So glad Grandma, Granddad, Grammy, Aunt Gwen, Cousin Thomas, Godmother Elizabeth and her son Will could all be there with us on the special occasion and share Easter Sunday together in Asheville, too. We missed Godfather Bo O'Dea, but we had Thomas Lordeon present as James' Junior Godfather.

James at 6.5 months old

James is well protected from the harsh California sun in his UVA/B 50+ sunhat. What a handsome babe he is, just chilling out in his back yard by the pool.

This giraffe onesie is from his Auntie Drew Schmitter back in Maryland! 

Quake!

James, Lucy and I just felt our first earthquake! Well, luckily James slept through it, even though I ran into his room and turned on the lights full blast, frozen with indecision about whether I should pick him up and stand in a doorway or not.

Luckily, it passed quickly. The epicenter was in El Segundo - 30 miles from us, near Uncle Joe and Aunt Jadzia's house -- they felt it really strongly!  I called Joe and he said it lasted 13 seconds there - which felt like 60 seconds... they had time to get up from their chairs and huddle under the support beam in the kitchen.

Michael isn't home tonight; as soon as I felt it, my heart started racing. I got up and ran around in a circle before remembering earthquake protocol. I ran into James' room, turned on the light full blast even though he was sleeping, and tried to decide if I should pick him up and hold him in a doorway or what... 

It passed, and there haven't been any other shocks since then... So, I didn't pick him up. BUT I am going to see if we can move that bookshelf to the other end of James' room - away from his crib! It's not bolted to the wall and it's definitely within falling distance of his crib. Scary stuff!

James at 5.5 months - he is such a happy, smiling, laughing baby!

We are having a ball with James! He has two teeth as of 5.5 months - and he uses them to smile an adorable smile. We'll get photos of those next :)

These photos were taken by James' Auntie Claudia and cousin Danielle in Leesburg. What a great visit we had with the east coast Pennie Family.

Bathtime!

Hip Hop James in his Johnny Jumper

James Joseph jumping in his Johnny-Jumper --  April 29, 2009... almost 6 months old!

James and Megan before James' first flight. One of us didn't cry... I'm happy to say it was James! He was such a good boy. Definitely earned his wings.

Sunday Lunch with Greenwoods and Uncle Joe and Aunt Jadzia

Roger and Peg Greenwood came to visit and snapped some great aciton shots. James is wearing his Kenneth Cole outfit that Daddy bought him!

James after bathtime - Feb 20, 2009 (3.75 months)

James' Jim/Gym

James Rolled Over! Tummy to back on his 3 mo birthday (Feb 4)

James is rolling over from his tummy to his back! He seems to hate "tummy time" so he took matters into his own lil' hands and decided to learn how to flip himself back over onto his back. He's really strong! And squirmy when you hold him b/c he's so strong.

This is an action shot of him rolling -- then a picture of him post roll, as he saw my surprised and amazed face because he rolled over with no assistance! He knew he did something amazing by how I reacted . He's really a happy baby and smiles at us... and totally melts our hearts.

Happy 3 month birthday, James!

James has a girlfriend

Ivy Rietz (my friend Liz's baby girl) was trying to put the moves on and hold hands with her boyfriend James! James has a sly smirk on his face as he is thinking, "Wow, I scored! She's so pretty!"

Twas taken at our own little "Mommy and Me" playgroup on Jan. 26 at the Pennie's house.

James LAUGHED! Jan 30, 2009

A big Pennie milestone! Today Baby James LAUGHED for the first time! After dropping off food for Mark and Lex, Megan took James to Babies R Us near Marina Del Rey... and during a game of Peek-a-boo, James not only smiled but started to laugh! He cracked up at how fun and funny Peekaboo is... It melted my heart completely! It was AWESOME.

This picture is post peekaboo and shows him holding the blanket we used -- he continued to lift it up and down by himself, as if playing peekaboo with the world. So adorable!

James at 11 weeks old

Alexis (Fulton) Czyzewski, her baby Oliver at 2 days old, and Megan and Baby James at 11 weeks old.