Playing With Michael

James has really started to notice and play with Michael more. It is pretty fun to watch them together. Here James is pretending to be Michael.

James often plays with Michael while he is in his jungle gym. Michael always just stares at his brother with a big smile on his face.

This was our favorite thing when James was a baby but we haven't been able to get it out much with Michael because James still thinks he should get in it to play. So this is better than James trying to get Michael out of the chair so he can get in it.

Our First "Big" Snow

We had our first "big" snowstorm today. Really we only got about 4 inches, but James was so excited. Here is Michael getting ready for Church.
I had to send Dad and James over to the neighbours to get our fresh eggs for the week. James wasn't complaining.

Doug just couldn't wait to get his snow blower out for the first time.

Here is a video James took of me. Not very flattering, but it was too funny not to post. He thought he was taking a picture so if you listen carefully you can hear him tell me how good my smile is.

6 Months!

I can't believe my little man is already 6 months old! Where did the time go? Michael turned 6 months on Wednesday and we had is 6 month check-up today. I have to say this was probably the easiest doctors visit we have had yet...because of James, not Michael. Michael is always very easy and I can count on him behaving very well no matter where we are.

Height: 25 inches

Weight: 15lbs 13oz (I think he said that was about the 19th percentile)

Head: 25in

He has dropped a little on his height and weight charts, but the doctor didn't seem too worried about it.

Things we want to remember about Michael at 6 months:

• He can roll over, but chooses not to!
• He can sit by himself for short periods of time.
• He still loves his Dad more than anyone.
• He is an incredibly social baby, and smiles at everyone.
• He loves his brother.
• He sleeps really well, except for he wakes up to eat at about 5am.
• He loves to play in his jungle gym.
• He likes peas, and rice cereal with Applesauce (not plain).

It is interesting because James was an easy baby, active, but easy. However Michael is far beyond anything I could have expected. He hardly ever cries, so we know when he does he needs something. He is so happy and talkative all the time. He is so easy going I don't really have to worry about him much.

One other thing, he hates having a dirty diaper. Doug and I were discussing how we could save some money each month. I said, "The best way would be to potty train James. That would save about $40 a month. The more likely way would be to potty train Michael!"

Happy Birthday Doug

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Few Things We Don't Want to Forget

Funny Story: James was in the bath the other day and started filling up a little bottle and drinking out of it. Then he would say "Mmm, that's good water."

"Funny" Story: Michael cannot get a good nap in. Every time I turn my back James runs in his bedroom to turn on his mobile and give him his pacifier. He always wakes Michael up, but Michael never seems to care.

So Michael started sleeping in the swing (at least somebody finally likes this). And once again when I am not paying attention James runs over to him and "swings" him. And waking him up.

This is Michael after a bath. He is definitely not as big of a fan of the bath as James is.

James is also learning to brush his own teeth. We got the kitchen bathroom all set up for him. He has his stool, toothpaste, two toothbrushes (one for me and one for him), and a cup. He loves it! He asks to brush his teeth several times a day. Now if we can only get him to turn off the water.

Some Pictures

I don't really have anything to post about, but I thought I would share some pictures. This is Michael's bath tub. He doesn't really use it any more because he is too big. The other day James got it out and I said, "That's Michael's bath." James responded, "James' Boat." Guess he told me.
The boys were sitting on the couch the other day. I thought it was pretty cute how Michael was snuggling with his Dad.

He was in a really cute mood.

Last week we had a play group at our house. I called a bunch of kid from the Nursery to come over and play on Wednesday. It was set up for 10:30, but then everyone kept calling and saying that different times worked for them. So we had Grace and her little sister over at 10:30, then Senica and her little brother came at 11:30, right after Grace left. We had a break for a "nap" then Alaina and her little brother came over with Julie and her little brother. James has a lot of girl friends, and if we were here long enough there will be tons of boys for Michael to play with. James loved having all his friends over, but I was a little tired at the end of the day.

Halloween

This is the first year we have done anything for Halloween. We felt it would be a little silly going Trick or Treating with a kid who couldn't even eat candy, and we have never been in a ward that has done anything, so we just skipped it. This year we thought James would have a fun time doing things, carving pumpkins, dressing up and going Trick or Treating. We even practiced last week so that we would know what to do. Also so maybe he would be more OK with wearing his costume. It seemed to work as all week he kept saying "Trick or treat."

Friday night we decided to carve pumpkins. This was as involved as James got. He really didn't care to participate at all.

Here is our family of pumpkins. I felt really bad for Doug because he spent so long on his pumpkin and I really couldn't even tell what it was.

Then we turned the lights off and it looked pretty cool.

He was a little disappointed because it didn't look as good on Saturday once it got a little dried out. Next year I guess we will wait until the day of to carve them. James kept saying, "Wow, look at that." when he saw the pumpkins.

James was a cowboy for Halloween. He had an awesome hat, and really cool boots. He was going to be Woody, but we couldn't find a yellow shirt, so he was just a regular cowboy.

He was pretty excited to go Trick or Treating. He kept trying to go in the houses. And he would say Trick or Treat all the way up to the door, but as soon as we got there he clammed up.

I got these two pictures then my camera batteries died. But we had a lot of fun and James really liked trick or treating.