Double Barrel Action

Here's a cute vid of Dominik having fun with two rattles at once! I don't know what's more cute about this video--Dominik himself or his parents' cheering!

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few photos of us over the holidays: Jimmy and Dee, Josie and Grammy, and the four of us at Auntie Jeannie's on Christmas Eve.

Some Christmas Thank You's

Here are two films of Jimmy--one of him opening his Backyardigans beanies, and one of him opening his Deigo Rescue Center. Enjoy!

St. George Website

Jimmy is featured in a photo on St. George's website--check it out! The picture changes every once in a while, so at some point this link won't work . . .

Josie Meets Celie

Even though Josie is already four and a half months old, she really has never noticed Celie before (or taken any interest in her). Yesterday she finally did.

Jimmy's First Performance for School

Jimmy and his preschool class performed seven Christmas songs yesterday! I videotaped it and will post a movie as soon as I can; for now here are a few pictures. Jimmy kept his hands in his pockets almost the whole time (he later said he did that so he wouldn't stick his fingers in his nose during the show). Of course, he couldn't help but let his arms loose for "Jingle Bells," where he did his famous "train hands," a move which garnered quite a few amused chuckles from the audience. No one could believe that Sr. Maria was able to get them to learn so many songs!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Jimmy's been busy . . . he wrapped gifts almost entirely on his own (notice the name tags), and he made a gingerbread house with Mommy. He also helped make each kind of this year's holiday cookies!

Winter White

Here's Josie in her pre-Christmas gift from Auntie Jeannie (given early because otherwise Josie would be too big for it)! She's sitting in her Bumbo seat--an early gift from Denise, Mark, Andy and Lauren, given for the same reason as the outfit!

More Thanksgiving Fun

Jim and Jimmy got to take a ride in Nana's golf cart. This past summer Nana had gotten to ride the cart down to the lake. She'd said that she hadn't been down there in over two years, so it was nice that she got to experience that! Juri and Nadia are in the driver's and front passenger's seat.

Belated Thanks

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving Day up in Wisconsin, including the first photo we've got of me, Jim, Jimmy & Josie!








We also got a nice holiday-season shot of Dan, Anuta and Dominik!









Cousin Andy was happy to accept the invitation to be Josie's Godfather! Josie will be christened on January 7th--her namesake's birthday.

A Day at the Circus

Jimmy's first circus (and mine and Grampy's) last Sunday was great fun. But if you ask Jimmy what he liked the most, he'll say it was the planes, meaning the planes flying right over the All State Arena on their way to O'Hare! The planes were cool, but the circus was exciting too. Jimmy did seem to like all of it, especially the music.

Jumping Leaves

Jimmy had plenty of fun the other weekend raking leaves with Dad. They spent a good part of the afternoon outside, but this year Daddy got to use his new leaf blower--so this annual ritual was much easier on the arms.

Learning(?) to Grab Things . . .

Below is an old video of Josie (really, just a few weeks "old") where she's trying to grab a toy. The photo at left was taken yesterday; in it, Josie has actually learned to grasp a link, but then she kind of let go of it. It didn't seem to bother her that she left it on her head.

More Halloween Pics

Here's me and Jimmy, just getting started on trick-or-treating. Jimmy wanted to be a pumpkin again, and thankfully the costume I sewed for him last year still fit--even the hat! I've got my usual bat wings on.

Josie the (Sour)Pussycat

Poor Josie. She barely fit into her 3/6-month pussycat costume! But she did look cute, with her tail and a pocket filled with a fish bone :-)

Grand Rapids Marathon

We spent last weekend in Grand Rapids; it was our first hotel experience with Josie. She was a good girl, but kept us up from 4 a.m. the day of Jim's marathon. Plus, last weekend was time-change weekend, so we spent much of our day and night wondering what time Josie was "really" fed, and what time her body "thought" it was fed, etc.

Jimmy got to swim on Satuday night, plus he tried the hot tub and thought it was funny. After the race he got an apple and found a leaf (he's been collecting them). Check out the video of Jim's finish--Jimmy helped dad with the last 100 yards!

Pumpkin Carving '06

We finally got around to getting the pumpkins done. Sorry again to Danny and Anuta--we'd tried to do them up by Gram's, but it was too hectic with the babies! Anyway, Jimmy really got into pumpkin carving this year--he was very excited with his little smiling pumpkin and the Uniqua pumpkin (from his favorite show, The Backyardigans) that I made for him.

Bouncy Seat Fun

A few weeks ago, Josie finally learned how to use her bouncy seat (you have to kick to make the music come on). It's just taken me a while to get the video up!

Jimmy's Marble Run

Here's a cute video of something Jimmy built. His marble run toy (a birthday gift from Uncle Chris and Auntie Christine!) had come with instructions for a few designs, which either Grampy or I would build for Jimmy. But recently he's tried to make his own, which is just really cool to see.

Purdue Wins!

Jim, Jimmy and Gramps went to the Purdue versus Northwestern game yesterday. Jimmy's at a great age for this--he really loved the game. He ate a huge hot dog, and apparently crashed into the Purdue fan in front of him, spilling ketchup all over her jacket . . . Good thing Jimmy is a loveable guy!

Josie and Dominik: The Second Blanket Party

The first time we put the two cousins on a blanket to see each other, they sat for a bit (not interested in each other at all) and then cried. This second meeting was much more lively--Dominik was talking to his dada and Josie looked at Dom and smiled. Don't think I caught that smile on film, though--but it was cute.

Punky Josie

Yes, it's a Halloween shirt, but since it was a gift from Mama's friend Carey, an avid punk-rock fan and wearer of many skulls and crossbones, the shirt becomes just a bit of everyday wear!

FYI this little sweetie is a whopping 15 pounds and 25 inches long (2-month doctor's visit was today). She grew two inches in a month! Given her length, she's at the 50th percentile for her weight. As for the regular growth charts, she's skyrocketing off of them. According to Jim, Josie's Auntie Susan was exactly the same, so we're not expecting our daughter to play pro women's basketball. Regardless it's a little weird to watch her grow this quickly!

More Smiles

A happy Sunday (and the last Sunday before Jim went back to work)!

Discuss: Do You See the Jimsemblance?

I finally found that baby picture of Jim (when his hair was starting to turn from blonde to a more reddish-brown). Compare it with a picture of Jimmy when he was a bit younger. Can you see the resemblance now?

All Smiles: The Movie

All Smiles

Josie's been smiling for a few weeks, actually, but we haven't caught any on film. Here she is on Jimmy's bed while he was taking his bath tonight. This lopsided grin is cute, but the best is when she gives us the full all-gums smile!

"Jimmy Week" at School

This week is "Jimmy Week" at pre-school. Jimmy will be bringing in a poster about himself, and he has to do show and tell each day! What will he show? Here are all his ideas:

1. Monday: his Union Pacific metal train
2. Wednesday: his planet Earth rubber ball
3. Friday: a picture of Josie (aw!)
   
   

Be sure to click on this picture of the poster alone--it's at a higher resolution and you'll be able to see all the drawings he did. He doesn't draw often, but he really got into it today and was proud of his work. Good job, Buddy!

Mama & Josie

I keep working on putting Josie in her carrier every other day or so--she really does seem to like it. It'll be nice, though, when she can finally hold her head up more so that I can turn her the other way around and she can explore things.

Weekend in Carol Stream

While Daddy and Uncle Danny played golf, Jimmy, Dominik, Josie, Auntie Anuta and Nadia went for a nice walk in Carol Stream.








Jimmy rode his bike the farthest he's ever gone (he rode for an hour!), and everyone had a nice time.










Josie was bundled well by Nadia; the sun was warm but the wind was cool!

Josie's "Lamby"

Thanks to a gift from Auntie Anuta and Uncle Danny, Josie now has her version of Jimmy's Lamby: her name is Bubbles the cat!

Big Bro Love

Jimmy finally got close to Josie for a picture. He had fun lying on the floor with his little sis. That boy sure has a large cranium, though.
;-)





And Josie was just hanging out today in her purple romper, staring out the window! She's already 12 lbs. by the way, and 23 inches. Yowza! That's one long (and big) baby!

Grampy's 60th

Jimmy helped Grampy blow out his birthday candles today. When I asked Jimmy what he wanted to get Grampy for his birthday, he said, "I'm going to tell Grampy he gets to play with me! That's my surprise!" Grampy got a good chuckle out of that.

And then Grampy wanted a picture with all his Illinois grandkids!

Learning Photoshop

We've been working on getting some good photos of Josie for use in her birth announcements (coming someday!). Yesterday we shot some pix, which came out okay. Don't think we'll use them, though, since Josie's face is still recovering from a mysterious rash. Can't tell? That's because I've been learning how to use Photoshop Elements' Healing Brush! Just click, and remove those tiny red bumps!

Eye of the Tire

Jim and dad had fun climbing into this tractor tire at the county fair!

Who Moved My Cheese?

Here's some of the gang deciding what kind of fried cheese to get. This is a staple of the county fair experience. I usually opt for the swiss and rye--fried on a stick--with German mustard dippin' sauce!






Here's most of the gang outside the sheep barn.

First Corn Dog, Second Coaster

Jimmy had his first corn dog today. Grampy had loaded it up with ketchup, which Dad promptly wiped off a bit . . . some of it is still on Jimmy's chin. Jimmy ate the WHOLE corn dog!

Jimmy really wanted to ride the roller coaster this year! He had a lot of fun on the "caterpillar train."

Tale of Two Dads

Here are the two dads, soothing their babies at Nana's house. The babies spent time with Grammy and Auntie Jeannie today while everyone went to the Walworth County Fair.

Big Brother Goes to School

Jimmy started pre-school today at St. George. As expected, there were already a few incidents with the train table, maybe due to the fact that there are so many boys in the class--only about 3 girls in a class of 14!