Mama Tried

15 Months today

James is 15 months today. He is still not walking, but will walk much further as long as he has two hands to hold while he does it, or a hand and a piece of furniture. Today was big progress- he walked around childwatch holding my hand with one hand and his snack trap with the other, and then when we got home walked in the house holding just one hand. So I think it'll be soon.

I had postponed his 15 month checkup til October since his pediatrician is out on adoption leave. But yesterday we got a letter about the doctor who is covering- and it turns out to be JEFF's old pediatrician. So now I have to reschedule so Jeff can go in and see his old doctor. (I am a little worried about going to see some 70-something year old man who came out of retirement instead of our beloved pediatrician, but since I am pretty sure James is developing normally and he goes back to his regular doctor three months later I'll risk it.)

We had a big adventure this weekend- our first car crash as a family. We were driving down Topanga Canyon when a car pulled out in front of us and we ran right into it- I had enough time to try to brake but not enough time for it to stop us. I don't think Nathan really understood what happened until the firefighters (who were conveniently driving down the street behind us and pulled over to investigate) opened his door to ask if he was okay. He burst into tears- "What's happening??" Meanwhile James was all, "Hi! Want a cracker?" No one was hurt and the accident happened right by an In N' Out, so we got lunch, and rode in a tow truck, and it was fine. My mother came out the next day (she was coming to get my brother Daniel from his mission) which was convenient and she helped us get carseats and a rental car.  Nathan has snapped back pretty well- he went from repeating over and over how scary it was and how he did not want that man to hit us to reenacting the crash with his cars and other objects, pointing out all the cars that were NOT hitting us while we drive ("Look, Mommy! That car looking where he is going!"), and showing me a magazine ad with a smashed up car and declaring "That car has a BIG owie but our car just has a LITTLE owie."

Then I had another mini-adventure today- James and I did our "Nathan is in school" routine- Y, Trader Joe's, then back home to play- when I noticed the check engine and "Low Tire Pressure" lights came on in the rental car. So we had to hustle it BACK over to the rental place, return that car, get a new car (we originally reserved an economy car but got a free upgrade because there were no economy cars there Monday- the guy was all, "So, I have to give you an economy car now," and I was like, "Sure, sure, that's fine," but admit I may have made a little sad face when he pulled out the keys- there was not even a clicker!- or maybe James was just so cute, so he said, "You know what, I'll give you another compact car" and I can now say that I do not like the Hyundai Sonata OR the Nissan Sentra nearly as much as my beloved Toyota Camry, and I am so glad that it is being fixed) and then get over to Nathan's school for pickup. We made it in the nick of time.  But I am scared that these things come in threes- what auto-mishap will I have next?

14 months and 3 weeks

Now that Nathan is in school James and I are getting some real quality time. I was kind of worried about this, because it is much easier to care for an almost toddler with a 3 and a half year old for entertainment, but it turns out that James is pretty fun all on his own.  True, he likes to pick up toys, pretend they are phones, and say "Hello?" over and over and over and I get tired of pretending to say "hello" back by about the 27th time, but we do other things, too.  

He LOVES to "read" as you can see above. "Go Dog Go" is "go, go, go." Any train book- a Thomas book, Freight Train, or That's Not My Train- is read in the same way, except he says, "Whoo-whoo! Whoo-whoo!" as he turns the pages. My favorite, though, is when he reads Good Dog Carl. He turns each page, eyes wide, saying, "Uh oh! Uh oh! Uh oh!"  

He wants to do everything his brother does even when Nathan is not around. This week he went into the bathroom and stood by the toilet, saying "Up! Up!" until I put him on the potty and gave him a book (just like Nathan does before bathtime). He was so pleased and while I have no intention of potty training any time soon, I have no problem letting him sit there and read books. 

I know we were obnoxious about what a sweet, adorable, perfect baby James was, and I was a little worried he'd be less perfect when he got to be a toddler. So far, though, he's even better. We love this little guy.

Preschool

My husband informs me I need to update this blog. Okay, then.

Nathan started preschool last week. He was pretty excited about it last spring- when he finished up his toddler class he would look wistfully in the preschool windows- and talked about it off and on all summer. When it finally came time to go, though, he was pretty nervous, and I think the "open house"- a day where all the kids came with their parents and checked out the classroom- hurt more than it helped, since it didn't give him any sense of what preschool would actually be like.

So that was last Tuesday, and after the open house he was pretty adamant that he did NOT want to go to preschool and he wanted to go back to toddler class with Miss Michelle and he did NOT want Mommy to leave- Mommy and Baby James had to stay with him. When Thursday morning rolled around, I said, "Okay, time to go to school!" and he ran to his bedroom, got in his bed, and took off all his clothes, saying, "I am NOT GOING TO GO to preschool." So I had to get him dressed and drag him to the car kicking and screaming. Then halfway there he said, "I stopped crying! I not going to say I not go to preschool anymore!" But of course when we got to school and walked in the door of his room he turned and grabbed onto my legs for dear life. One of his teachers came up and picked him up and asked him if he wanted to help her feed the fish. He sniffled and nodded and I left him.

But when I picked him up he was having a great time, and the second day of school was easy as pie- he bounded on into the room like he owned the place.  On the way home yesterday he shouted, "MOMMY! I REALLY LOVE preschool!"  His teachers are really great, and his class is pretty small and all boys, and I think it's going to be a great year.