Caution - James's 4th Birthday Party - Construction Ahead

James 4th birthday party in early August was quite the bash thanks to the creative minds of Grandma and Grandpa Clark.  They already had some props made up from a themed puppet show performance at church to support our "construction" theme so they ran with it and James loved it!!!  James had lots of family, friends from our college gang and their kids, and Sunday school and daycare friends in attendance - it was quite the party!

We approached the house with a warning phone call that we were close - Grandma and Grandpa and Great Grandma wanted to be ready to see James' reaction as we pulled up and this is him beginning to realize what was in store for his party!

 

The biggest hit of the party was the small bobcat parked in the driveway that Grandpa and Grandma borrowed from their friend, "Digger Dan" at church.  It was used the following day to do some work in their yard (and James got to help with that the following day too!) so it just arrived a day early for James' party.  The kids has a blast climbing in and out of it and it made for some cute pictures!  No worries here - no keys were left in the machine so the kids were safe, minus the dirt and rust that I think every kid went home with.

Each kid got a construction hat with their name on it and a work apron - some were more willing than others to don them for the afternoon.  Henry wasn't so sure about all the commotion.

 

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa had some games set up outside for the kids to play with.  The ring toss onto cones and the bean bag game were big hits!

 

 

We are so thankful that three of James' great-Grandma's were in attendance for his party and that they live close enough to celebrate these milestones with us.  It was a wonderful day to be outside and the Great Grandmas enjoyed chatting with each other and seeing all the kids have fun!

  

 

 

James picked out his cake a few weeks before his party and was pretty excited when we went to pick it up the morning of the party.  It went with the theme of the party perfectly and was enjoyed by all!

 

 

 

The children that participate in the puppet ministry at Grandma and Grandpa's church came and put on a performance of their puppet show.  The kids enjoyed it so much the first time around that they did it twice!  

 

 

A few family pictures before we called it a day!  A fun party and good times were had by all!  James was a dirty little guy after all the playing he did that afternoon - so much so that he needed to take a bath before his nap!  Guess it was a sign of a great day!

 

 

After nap time we opened gifts.  He was so surprised and excited about all the things he got from cars and trucks, to clothes with baseball players on them, games and stickers.  But his favorite?

 

 

A tent!  Which he has proceeded to sleep in every time he's at Grandma and Grandpa's now (inside albeit) - a great gift for our little camper!

 

18-month Stats

Oh Henry - how did it happen?!?  You've moved beyond the infant stage into this growing, running, talking little dude who has shown us your personality in many ways these past few months.

18-months stats from your well child visit: 23 lbs 13 oz and 31 inches tall.  You've lost so much of your "baby pudginess" it makes us sad! 

You have so many words in your vocabulary that I can't even begin to list them all right now - but some of the fun things these days we find you talking about include animals and all of their "sounds," Elmo, James, bike, bus, choo-choo (and Thomas!) and of course you are in the parrot phase of attempting to repeat anything we ask you to.  You can identify most of your body parts now and we can even instruct you to blow your nose when asked.

You continue to be a good eater ... minus your intake of vegetables.  We can't even get them to touch your lips as you refuse to try them and pick them out of whatever it is we attempt to mix them into.  Definitely showing us your persistence and stubbornness when it comes to sitting at the dinner table these days.  Papa and Mama can't help but laugh sometimes - but could you cut us a break and at least try them?  We know they are working on this at school with you too so it's not like we are trying to solve this issue on our own.

You are always on the go and want to always be where James is and doing what he is doing even if he doesn't want you to - you attempt to anyway.  It's been fun to see your relationship with your brother develop.  Bedtime stories together and giving hugs and kisses in the evenings before turning out the lights has been pretty cute to watch.

You're love of train and buses is pretty cute and makes Papa pretty giddy!  We spent a lot of time outside this summer exploring the park and you love to slide and swing and you love the water and have no fear of getting soaked - and would even spend all evening in the tub if we let you.  We have to be careful not to leave the tub water running for too long or you're already attempting to lift your leg over the tub to hop in before we even get into the bathroom to start your bath!

Biggest changes in the last month have been you not using your pacifier anymore (unless you happen to find one around the house we lost months ago!) and you've shown interest in potty training.  You kept asking at daycare one day so they let you try and you had success - and I'd say we've had at least one successful potty almost every day since that day over a month ago - some days being better than others, but perhaps you'll pick this up more quickly than your brother!  You are quite proud of yourself and this accomplishment thus far and daycare has been a huge help to keep you going down this road!  I don't expect you to be potty trained completely anytime soon, but if we could change one or two less diapers a day going forward we'll take it!

So many changes this summer that Momma and Pappa just want to freeze this time and keep you as a "bonsai baby."  Can you blame us?  Can't wait to see what the next six months brings as you continue to grow and explore your world.  Love you bunches Spanky!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duluth Bound - Thomas the Tank, Take 4!

As summer seems to be quickly coming to an end - we still have some highlights to post about and it goes without question we once again found ourselves up in Duluth for a Day out with Thomas in early August - just in time for James' birthday!

Henry enjoyed this day as much as James did - they both love trains and to see them get so excited about seeing one of their favorites was fun to watch.

James was waiting patiently for our friends Elliot and Louise to arrive and in the mean time Thomas was pulling into the station for the day - here James is busting at the seams with excitement and climbing the fence to get a better look!

 

While we waited there was a little band playing and he invited the kids up to play air guitar - James obliged and really got into it - and so did Papa!

The obligatory photo with Thomas before boarding for our ride along the rails!

 

All the kids enjoyed the ride - Henry and James manged to sit still for a moment to capture this shot, but otherwise for most of the ride the kids had their faces planted against the windows to check everything out - Papa included!

 

Following the train ride we spent some time checking out the trains parked at the Duluth train depot.  James said hello to Sir Topham Hatt and there were plenty of activities for the kids to partake in - lots of train tables - I think the boys were in heaven!

 

Following a picnic lunch in Canal Park and ice cream at the Portland Ice Cream Shoppe we ventured to the boardwalk for a walk along the shores of Lake Superior.  James put his feet in the water and declared it too cold for swimming so he was completely content to throw rocks into the water.

 

We took a break from rock throwing to wait for Thomas to pass us along the rails - and James plopped himself down at just the right spot to see him approaching!  He was excited to see Thomas one last time before we headed home.  A fun day in Duluth once again and can't wait to do it again next year!

Up North - 4th of July Cabin Trip 2013

This summer's trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin for a long holiday weekend was met with enthusiastic cheers from James when we told him the plans for the weekend.  He loves it up there and this year really got into being outside - all the time - and he was sad to leave. 

We started the weekend by heading into town to the Orr Kiddie parade - when James had his fill of candy that the parade participants threw to him he decided he wanted to do a pony ride.

 

The pony ride was met w/ some skepticism - but once he got going and realized that I was going to walk next to him he was okay with it ... I was okay with it too until the ponies made a mess :)  But we avoided it and beyond the smell, James thought this was pretty fun!

 

Henry got a kick out of seeing fish in the bucket - just some of the catch that weekend from everyone.  He definitely can use the word fish in context now and he loved walking the dock and checking everything out.

 

Both James and Henry got several turns at driving the boat with Grandpa.  Henry "pushed on the gas" when Grandpa wasn't paying attention and got us going at a pretty good clip - left us all wondering where he learned that from.  Although Henry took a little time to adjust to wearing his life jacket - once he got comfortable with it and realized that it wasn't coming off when he was sitting in the boat - he dealt with it just fine and enjoyed the scenery with everyone else.

 

 

James proclaimed one evening that he was going to go sing the "American Flag" song - and yes that's exactly what he did.  He walked down to the flag pole and proceeded to make up a song about the flag and shout it at the top of his lungs, all the while, dancing around the flag pole.  At one point we asked him what he was doing as he was making gestures with his hands and he noted he needed to "turn the volume up."

 



 

One of Momma's favorite shots of the weekend!

 



Grandpa, Mom, Papa and James all went fishing out on the lake one morning.  We caught several fish and James' learned the art of being patient and how to watch his bobber for "bites."  We had much better luck fishing off the dock all weekend and James, Grandma and Grandpa caught lots of fish and with James' help of getting worms out of the container their hook was never bare!  James suddenly got over the dirt and and sliminess factor of worms and was a true fishing guide assistant and as a result he took partial credit for these catches!  Including one big Northern fish that James to this day still talks about!

 

 

No trip up North is complete without the obligatory family photo at the Lake Kabetogama Walleye.  And another one on the dock for good measure.

 

Campfires and s'mores - what more could you ask for except for some brotherly love.

 

 

We had a fabulous weekend with the boys and Grandma and Grandpa showed them a great time!  James spent another weekend just with Grandma and Grandpa at the cabin in August and can't wait to do it again.  We look forward to another family trip next year!