8 Months

Today James is 8 months old. Lots has happened in the last month. He has learned to sit up really, really well. He has perfected the scoot. He got his first tooth (It is visible in the picture above if you look really close. Yes, it is that tiny speck of white on his bottom gum.) and he got his first "solid" food (mushed up, organic avocado)

He is becoming such a messy little eater! But oh so cute!He is continuing to grow as well but not nearly as fast and today he weighed 21 lb. 2 oz. and was 28 1/4 inches long.
James aka Bimmy (short for Baby Jimmy) is getting into everything. If there is a room full of toys and 1 speck of dirt he will go directly to the dirt and try to eat it. He likes to chew on anything and everything. Probably because of his teething but I have to admit he hasn't been grumpy just a little sleepier than usual. See him here getting "caught" with his hand about to poke a fat finger into the electrical outlet. Naughty little Bimmy! He actually looks a little shocked that I caught him. Bimmy loves to play games on mommy and daddy's bed like "Ima gonna get you" and "Peek-a-boo". He loves to get nakie and take baths and to play in the water. He loves to play with his reflection in the mirror. He loves to jump and scoot and he especially loves it when daddy comes home! I think Brian is more fun than me. I think this is a curse that many mothers have. The not-as-cool-as-daddy curse that is. Oh, and he still loves to suck on this two fingers. We are working on such things as pulling up, standing, and clapping. I will let you know when we have them mastered.
Bimmy says, "da da", "ba ba" and grunts regularly and he says, "ma ma" when he is upset which is not very often.

This picture was taken a couple of Sundays ago. James was so exhausted after church that he fell asleep in the car and didn't even wake up when Brian placed him on the floor to change his diaper. He did wake up right after that but went gratefully down for a long nap after his diaper was changed and he had some lunch.

Trip to Utah...Finally

Well, I did finally get all unpacked last week but I haven't had a chance to post. We have had lots going on here. I will post about that later. I must warn you now. This will be a long post with lots of pictures. I have lots to share. We just love going on vacation. And we love getting back home again. So without further ado... This is a picture of James on his 7 month birthday. He just loved this toy at my parents house. He thought it was so fun to try and move (and taste) those little wooden beads.Here is James in the tire swing at the cabin in Alpine, WY. My family makes a trip there every year. This time we went from June 18-26. I think we have been going for over 15 years. We always have lots of fun. We usually go in August but that wasn't going to work this year with us moving so we went in June and it was so pretty! The first few days were spent just chilling around the cabin. Everyone else in my family went rafting but me. I HATE rafting so James and I just played at the cabin.Here is a picture of James with Uncle "Boy" and cousin Alex. I'm not sure who is more uncomfortable, James or Uncle Boy. He hasn't been around too many kids. We played a few games of Settlers of Catan at night when James was in bed. Unfortunately, I have yet to win that game. Here is the beginning of my proof of how beautiful it was. This is me and James right across the street from the cabin. The wildflowers were in full bloom. And the mountains were totally green. Apparently it had snowed the week before we arrived but it was beautiful weather the whole time for us.More proof that it was beautiful. A picture with some of my one of my nephews. James didn't like wearing a hat even though I tried.Even more proof. This is Brian while we were four wheeling on Saturday. We took the Gray's River Road all the way up to a beautiful lake. It was so fun! And when we got to the lake we...met some people with kayaks who said we could take them for a spin on the lake. So we did. It was great fun! The water was beautiful and so was the weather. My sister and her husband and their two kids also were there with us. It was a great outing. My sister, Brittany, "Wu" as we call her, and her husband, Mike, arrived on Sunday. Here is a picture of her with James. He is just so darn happy all the time. Unfortunately, Brian could only stay for a couple of days because he had to fly to L.A. for some trainings. This is a picture of us right before he had to leave. Aren't we the cutest family? It kinda helps to have the cutest baby ever! (Just our unbiased opinion.)On Monday, we went to the Tetons and to String Lake. If you have never been to the Tetons then you are totally missing out. They are beautiful and full of fun things to do. The lake was by far the highest we have ever seen it. Remember we usually come in August when all the major run off has ended. This is Wu with James at the lake. He liked dipping his feet in even though it was quite cold.This is my parents and Wu and her husband, Mike, with James. Check out those mountains in the background. Could it be any prettier? Only if it were fall and the leaves were changing colors.Here is me, my parents, Mike and James on the bridge over the stream that goes from String Lake to Jenny's Lake. Again, notice the beautiful mountains. It was such a nice day.On Thursday, after we got home, my dad's dad, Edward Fila Sr. came down to visit from Great Falls, MT. It was great to see him. I wish it were easier to get up there but it is way expensive to fly there. Here he is with me, James and my dad. He will be 79 in September.And here he is with my dad and all my siblings from left, Karen, Wu, Pink (kneeling) and Boy. The picture with me turned out blurry so this is the next best thing.But this one turned out. Here is me with James. He loves to suck these two fingers. It is how he lets me know when it is nap time or bedtime. Isn't it too cute?The next day, Friday, Brian flew back to Utah and we went to stay for the rest of the time at his mom's house. This is James with his cousin, Zoe. They are both so happy! This is James in Gramma Shelley's backyard. Utah was his first experience with grass. Texas has biting ants in the grass so I am way to scared to let him sit on it here. But Utah has such nice, green, soft grass. James was very fascinated by it.Here he couldn't decide what to make of the grass. He wasn't sure if he wanted to touch it or not.
Here he is with Gramma Shelley. By now he had decided that the grass was okay and he was going to give us a little smile.On Monday, I went and played with my parents while Gramma Shelley worked and Brian took his Grandma Curtis to Wendover for some good old fashioned gambling fun. So, here is my dad, Edpa as he likes to be called by the grandkids, "teaching" James how to play the piano. James really liked pounding on the piano.Another picture of James with Edpa.James with his Gramma Sharon and his cousin Lexy. She didn't like James trying to touch her blankie. It was very vexing to her. I just love two year olds! Look at her clutching her blankie as tight as she can.Here is James and Gramma Shelley having a lazy morning. It was great to lounge about! And check out that double chin. Oh, and yes, those are reindeer jammies but they were like $3 at and Osh Kosh sale so I got them anyway. I love the way the fit him like a sausage skin!On Wednesday, July 2nd, we had a little family "reunion" with my Engstrom cousins at Mueller Park in Bountiful. It was a beautiful day! Here is me and my CIL, Jennalyn, from NJ. She is such a hottie!And here is James and Brian looking so handsome together.My mom and her younger sister, Jo. My mom is in the pink. Isn't she a babe? Not to mention she is the super smartest person I know.Here I am with my siblings. I had a picture taken with my cousins as well but that one was blurry as well. You can check it out on my cousin Val's blog in the left column under Jon & Val. So here it goes left to right: Me (Beany) (29), Pink or Nettie (Jeanette) (28), Wu (Brittany) (21), Michelle (Karen) (31) and Boy (Jason) (26). And Pink's daughter Lexy. Aren't we an attractive lot? Now if I could just be as skinny as them all then I would really fit in. Notice we all have nicknames that we use regularly. We are a nickname family and yes, we really do call my brother "Boy". He is the only one after all.One of the highlights of our trip were 3 visits to Cherry Hill water park in Fruit Heights. It was totally fun and after 4 pm it is half price. We went once with the Fila family and twice with the Gillespie family. It was lots of fun. James really likes the water and it tuckered him out nicely for bed. Here he is with his daddy smiley as ever.And here he is after we got home. Isn't that cute? He hardly ever falls asleep in the car seat so this was quite an event. I just love the way his cheeks rest on his chest. Too cute!Well, somehow I managed to get lots of James pictures with my family and lots of video with Brian's family so as soon as I figure out how to post that I will. I got some great video of the kids singing and dancing. All in all, it was a great trip! Filled with fun, family and friends. We miss everyone already.

Sneak Post

Well, this is just a sneak post to let you all know that we are back in Texas after 3 weeks and 2 days in Utah. I will post all about it later but I am not "allowed" to post till I have finished my "chores" that Brian has requested of me. He doesn't ask much but I need motivation sometimes. Basically I have to unpack my stuff and James' stuff and I have to go shopping for food (done) and I have to pick up Brian's laundry from the cleaners today after 5 pm but before 7 pm. Then when all that is done I can post about our trip to Utah. So maybe in a few days I will get around to unpacking (I hate it!) and then I will post. Or maybe I will get around to it today....

7 Months...well almost.

So I am posting a bit early this month because we are leaving in a few hours to fly to Utah till July 5th. I decided to take James in to the doctor's office today to get him weighed and measured so that I can document his growth. (I know, it is weird, but James is my first kid after all. And doesn't everyone do weird things with their first kid?) Anyway, he officially weighs 21 lbs 8 oz. and he is 27 1/2 inches. Looks like he is growing just fine and definitely getting enough to eat.
So what is new at our house? Well, James is "trying" to crawl. He can now get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. And he has been sleeping really well for the last few nights. Basically I decided that I wouldn't be getting up anymore if he wakes up at night and so we had a "talk" where I explained to him that I would not be getting up to come and feed him at night anymore. Well, the first night he cried for about 15 min at 11 pm and Brian questioned my sanity but I stuck firm and James didn't wake up till 5:30 the next morning. And that was the last time he cried for bed at night. I thought it would take more days of crying but nope. Which means his schedule is basically to bed anytime from 7 to 7:30 pm and then he wakes up around 6:15 or 6:30 the next morning. Now, that is something that I can live with.
I hope it doesn't throw him off too much by traveling for the next few weeks. I am still admittedly a bit of a nap nazi because it keeps my (and James) sanity. He takes two (sometimes 3) good naps every day.
Do any of you remember the "Bitter beer face" commercials? I don't even remember which beer they are for but James has started making the face. It cracks me up.

This is the best picture I could get of it the other day but he has made better ones. He looks like an old man when he does it.
Oh, and we have finally graduated to a bigger car seat. The other one is officially retired for now. We will be using this new one while we are on our trip and so I hope it goes well. Hopefully he likes it better than he likes his old one. At least he only has to be in it when we are actually in the car. That is a bonus for him I'm sure. He just looks like such a big boy in it. And I got such a great deal on it as well....Yes, I will share how I got a great deal.

I looked at Conumer Reports online (I always do.) and narrowed my choices down to 3 top contenders and then I went to Babies R Us cuz they always have all the models I am looking for. I tried them all out in my car while I was there but I forgot the gift cards that I still have so I decided to come back to purchase later that day. Well, when I got home I decided to check online JIC (just in case) I could find it cheaper. Well, I did. I found it for $89.99 with $9.99 shipping and no sales tax through amazon.com. Well, I thought I could do better and so I looked at who the supplier is for amazon and I went to ebates.com to see if they are one of their preferred vendors and they are. Well, ebates had a coupon for $7.50 shipping on any order and then 4% cash back so I ended up getting it for $97.49 including shipping and then I got $2.70 back from ebates. Oh, the price at Babies R Us? Well, it was $179.99 on sale! Not including tax or shipping. For the exact same model and everything. Oh and I didn't have to drive back out there and waste more gas either. Thanks, Princess Reva, for sharing about ebates. Doesn't James look so good in his new "economical and very highly rated" car seat?

World Strongest Baby

The other day, I was trying to get James to "practice" his moving skills and all of a sudden he did this It totally looks like a pushup to me and he does it all the time now. (Check out those arm "muscles".) I thought it was totally funny cuz he was trying to get somewhere but all he got was up off the ground. I guess that is pretty good considering his size. It is way better than I can do. I know the picure is a bit blurry but you get the idea. And here is some video that I took of James on Sunday after church.

He is showing off his strength and new mobility skills. If there is something he wants badly enough then he will work to get it. Those items generally include; shoes, phones, books and any other contraband materials that we happen to leave around. On Sunday Brian accidentally left his sunday school manual about 10 feet away and when we both weren't looking he got to it and mutilated it. We are finally going to have to "baby-proof" the house. It really is so much fun to see him grow. He is already learning how to get onto his hands and knees. Every day it seems he has a new skill. Don't worry, I will try to get these on video as well Also, a couple of days ago I was making veggie eggrolls and I happened to be using the food processor. Well, James was a bit tired and so the noise from the food processor scared him to death. There I was "chopping" the veggies in the processor and James was fine in his jumparoo in the kitchen with me and then all of a sudden I heard this super sad cry. I felt kinda bad and so I stopped the processor and tried to comfort him but I also got this picture of him crying inconsolably. It happens so rarely that I couldn't resist getting at least one picure. (I really got a few pictures but this one is the best.) James was probably wondering why I was flashing lights at him when he was so obviously upsetI felt like a mean mom for getting the picture before getting him calmed down but I couldn't help myself. He really was afraid of the noise. He scares easily when he is tired. So basically I have the worlds strongest scaredycat baby. Go figure.