Happy Father's Day?

I had the best intentions of posting this almost two weeks ago, but along with everything else on my ever growing to do list, it just did not get done. So I'm finally getting around to my Father's Day post. Better late than never I guess. I thought long and hard trying to come up with some kind of activity to do with Jim to celebrate his first Father's Day. I really wanted to do something baseball related, but the Knights were out of town and every other option would have involved a long drive and overnight stay. So instead I decided that I would pack a picnic lunch with all of Jim's favorite foods, and have a picnic at Lake Norman and go on a hike. The whole day didn't really turn out as planned. As you can see from the picture, James was not exactly in a good mood. This shot pretty much sums up the entire picnic. After I packed up all the food, loaded the car, got James ready, drove all the way to the park, set out the picnic and put James on the blanket to play, he lasted for about five minutes before he got unbelievably fussy. Nothing seemed to calm him down, so we scarfed down some of our food, packed everything up again, got back in the car and headed home. Needless to say we never did get to hike. It was way too hot anyway. At least we got to spend some time together as a family and let Jim know how much he means to us, which is the whole point of Father's Day anyway. It's pretty obvious just how much James loves his dad. He lights up anytime he sees Jim and no matter what he's doing, when James hears Jim's voice, he twists and turns every which way just so he can get a glimpse of him. It probably makes Jim feel pretty great, that right now everyone and everything is Dada to James. The boy says, "Dada dada dada," all day long! I have to admit, I'm a tad bit jealous that he never says Mama.

Little Fish

Last weekend James had his first swim lesson. It wasn't much of a swim lesson; it was more of what I would call organized chaos, but he did seem to enjoy it. I think. James seemed to be much more interested in the little plastic toy his teacher let him play with than anything else. We did work on getting him used to the water and kicking and floating on his back.
Then on Sunday we decided to try out our pool. As soon as James woke up from his nap we started to get ready to go. It took almost two hours to feed James, change him, dress him in a swim diaper and bathing suit, lather him up with sunscreen, dress Jim and me, apply our own sunscreen, and pack up the towels, floats, and other necessary items. As soon as we finished all that, we made the trek over to the pool, got in the water, and James started rubbing his eyes. Perfect timing! After all that, he lasted all of about fifteen minutes and that was pushing it. All that preparation must have seriously worn him out, because I have never seen him that tired. He looked like he was about to fall asleep in his little float. So we got out of the water, dried him off, and headed home where we had to go through the whole routine again and change him, clean him up, dress him, feed him, change our own clothes, etc. and get him down for a nap. It was almost not worth all the trouble.

There's nothing I enjoy more than spending a hot weekend afternoon at the pool, but sadly I think those days are over. It looks like I may be joining Jim in the comforts of the AC from now on.

My Little Foodie

He still doesn't have any teeth, but James has gotten the hang of the pincer grip and gumming his finger foods. We are definitely finding alot more food on the floor than he gets in his mouth, but it sure is alot of fun watching him. Plus with all that food on the floor, it's an added bonus for Max. We are still working on the sippy cup, but James has made alot of progress there too. James seems to enjoy banging the cup on his tray and dropping it on the floor more than he enjoys actually drinking from it. He has turned it into a game of dropping it, and seeing how many times he can get Jim or me to pick it up before we take it away. Even Max has learned that when James picks up the cup and starts swinging, he better stop begging under the high chair and move out of the way.

The Wonders of Paper

It is so true what they say about kids and toys. James has piles and piles of toys all over our house that play music, flash bright lights, and make cool sounds, but right now his favorite thing to play with is paper. It doesn't matter what kind of paper - wrapping paper, newspaper, my grocery list, his daily report from day care, napkins, paper towels - you name it, if it's paper he will play with it for hours without getting bored. Uncle Greg told him yesterday that he's getting him a notebook for Christmas. I have no doubt that if he did, it would be James's favorite gift.

Almost Ready to Move

We spent the long Memorial Day Weekend getting in some good old fashioned time on the floor with James in hopes that he'll be ready to crawl soon. I'm not sure if he's quite there yet, but he looks so darn cute that I had to post this video so you could see what's he been up to. He props himself up with his hands, and kicks his legs out like he's trying to move, but he can't quite figure out how to make them go yet. The result is a cross somewhere between a flutter kick and a beached whale. He'll get there soon. He's also really starting to babble, which you can hear on the video. It sure sounds like he's saying DaDa even if he doesn't know what it means. Sadly MaMa is not anywhere in his vocabulary yet.

Whirlwind Weekend

Last weekend we took James back home for the first time. I guess I shouldn't say home, because Charlotte is our home, and when I was little I used to get mad at my mom when she would refer to Escanaba as home instead of Lewiston. So rather, we took James to Western New York last weekend for the first time. It was a wonderful weekend, but wow, was it busy! I thought our trips back home before James were busy. I had no idea! We did the usual West Seneca Lewiston shuffle and back again. The highlight of our weekend was James's christening at St. John Vianney on Sunday. We also got to attend Kevin's law school graduation and party and see lots and lots of family and friends. Jim and I counted, and we were able to introduce James to over 70 friends and extended family members while we were there! And that's not counting all the people that he met in the airport and on the plane. Speaking of which, James did great on the plane for the first time.
James started off the weekend by meeting his great grandparents. They'd heard so much about James III, I know they were just thrilled to finally meet him.

He also got to meet Great Aunt Kathy and have some fun at Grandma's house.

Next it was off to Grandpa's house, where James had pastina for the first time. Grandpa also gave him a nice piece of pork tenderloin to suck on, which he really seemed to enjoy. Gotta start them young to keep up with all the eating in the Canali family!

He hung with Uncle Kevin. They have the same color hair, which we learned from Aunt Fran, came from James's great great great Grandfather.

Meeting future Aunt Lindsay.

Chillin with cousins Olivia and Lorena.

Great Great Aunt Betty.

Meeting his new friend Alyssa.

James loved Pina, but who doesn't?

James will have another new friend next time we visit. Jack or Sawyer is in Meaghan's belly.

Having fun with Rona.

I got to attend Meghan's baby shower while we were there. That's a Blue NA, but everyone at the shower did a double take.Kevin's law school graduation.

The graduate. We're so proud of him!

Suzi and Uncle Greg came all the way from Charlotte for the festivities.

Clowning around with his godparents, Uncle Jon and Aunt Alicia, before church.

Great Uncle Les and Aunt Jeanne came all the way from Escanaba.

At the baptism. Yes, James wore a gown. It was a beautiful handmade gown that came all the way from Venice. Grandma brought it back from her trip to Italy when James was born.

Meeting Great Uncle Tim.

What an angel! He didn't even flinch when the water was poured on his head. Monseigneur Gallagher said that means he is going to be a priest!!

Getting a congratulatory kiss from cousin Ava.

Proud Great Grandpa Guelfo.

We celebrated at Pearl Street Grill & Brewery after the ceremony.

It was a great weekend but very exhausting. I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep. We took hundreds more pictures during the weekend and I could only post a few here, so I'll post them on Kodak Gallery soon. Thanks to all our friends and family for making it such a special weekend and welcoming James with such open arms. We can't wait for our next visit!

My First Mother's Day

Last weekend I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day. It was nice to finally be able to think of Mother's Day as a day to celebrate, rather than spend the day being sad. Jim and James (and Max too) went out of their way to make my first Mother's Day very special. James came home from daycare last week with a homemade Mother's Day present. It was a little laminated craft with his handprints and a poem imprinted on it. It was so cute, that I teared up when I opened it. Now I know why my Mom used to say that homemade cards and presents were her favorite. I never believed her until now.

As usual Jim went above and beyond, giving me way too much. I got roses and a beautiful heart shaped locket with a picture of James for my charm bracelet. Jim also surprised me by taking James to get his picture taken. He picked James up from daycare, dressed them in matching outfits, and had the most adorable pictures taken of the two of them. All without me knowing a thing! We also went to brunch at Maddi's Southern Bistro in Birkdale Village, and I ate way too much. James was pretty well behaved. The only time he was really fussy was after the large table of people in his line of view left, our waiter wasn't interested in paying him any attention, and he cried because he couldn't get anyone to look at him. The entire weekend was wonderful, but the best part was just spending time together as a family.

I also spent the day thinking about and missing my own mother. No matter how much joy James brings to my life, there is always something missing. It's hard to believe she will never know James, or see me as a mother myself. It's also hard for me to believe that James will never get to know the amazing person I got to call mom. The best I can do is try to keep her memory and spirit alive by carrying on as many traditions as possible, and telling him what an wonderful person she was. Hopefully she would be as proud of me, as I am of her.