Monday, April 28, 2014

James and Violin

I didn't play my violin for several months while I was pregnant and after James was born.  So when I decided a few weeks ago that I really needed to get practicing again, he was rather perturbed.  He started crying when I started warming up, and when I took my violin over to show him and played a bit (softly, on the low strings) he pulled his blanket over his head and wailed.  Oh my, I thought.  We listen to orchestral music; why is a violin so traumatizing?  Fortunately it didn't take long to get him used to it and now he's happy to sit on our bed while I practice.  The other day I decided to take some pictures of them together and got this sequence.  Captions are Joe's.  :)


\
Tune it

Pluck it

Beautiful sound!

Kiss it

To all you violinists who are having a heart attack and wondering if I lost my sanity--I do love my son much better than my violin, but I didn't let go of the violin, and I took it away right after the last picture.  He didn't get a chance to chew on it.  :D


Friday, April 25, 2014

What we did today

Well hello.  I had a nice post typed up and almost ready to publish yesterday, but apparently the blogger app doesn't auto save and my writing vanished.  So we'll try again today.

It's a quiet day.  James and I are hanging out together.  We had a nice long walk this morning; I am loving the outdoors these days.  Joe is working in the mountains this afternoon, building a deck (a brief little job in addition to his new sales job, which he loves, in case you were wondering) and I'm sure it is just lovely up there.  This afternoon I made myself coffee with vanilla and milk and sugar; (!) it was so yummy that I thought about making another one, but then I looked at the clock and opted for tea instead.  

Jamesie is So Cute.  I was changing his diaper and he grabbed my arm and tried to put it in his mouth (no luck there, little buddy).  And then when I picked him up he gave me kisses.  Or started chewing on my chin.  It's the same thing at this stage, right?  He's gotten extremely intense and alert and wants to grab at everything--salad tongs! water bottle! paper! books! the couch!  His hair still sticks up ; the lady sitting next to us at church commented "I saw his hair and I thought there was a piece of fuzz on my glasses!"  But we comb it down sometimes, and then it looks like this: 


Speaking of James and cuteness, Sarah posted some pictures of him on her blog today.  There are some really good ones in there.  He looks like his Grandpa Morgan.  But he still has Langemann eyes--pretty crazy how that works!

This afternoon James and I took a quick ride down to Matthew and Christy's place to meet the newest little nephew.  He's SO TINY!  Precious.  I guess it's easy to forget how small a newborn really is (though James was never quite that small.)  I am so blessed in my sisters-in-law.  Christy was one of my closest friends before either of us were married (AND before I was seriously interested in her brother Joe, just for the record); we spent a lot of time together and talked about singleness and all of that.  Now we're both having babies and our babies are COUSINS!  It's amazing to me.  Such a huge blessing.

I'm sitting out on our patio now.  James is in bed, but earlier he joined me for a bit (see below).  It's beautiful out here.  The blossoms survived the cold and are just lovely.  Joe is working late so I have some quiet time; when I am done here I will work on my crocheting project.  We're having French toast for dinner (we love that stuff and we don't have a sleep-in morning this week, so we'll just have it for dinner instead) so I don't have much prep.  It's nice.  I love springtime.  I can hear a bird singing.  

I'm going to sign off for now, with a few more pics...

James in the Bumbo, outside with Mommy

The view from the patio

Listening to me practice...

...maybe this way is more comfy?  Don't worry, I was watching him carefully.

He likes my water bottle so much that we got out some of his.  He loves them but hasn't figured out that you're supposed to suck on them.


So good at sitting up!


Little singer boy

And just because he's adorable.  :)


Friday, April 11, 2014

Today

It's a beautiful spring day.  We're discovering that there are some blossoming trees in our complex--crab apple?  Saw pink blossoms for the first time today.  Hopefully the snow projected for Sunday doesn't do them in.

We were downtown for the morning for Homeschool Day at the Capitol.  The boys (aka Bold Reflection) have provided special music for some years now--the National Anthem for the House of Representatives and for the noon rally, and a few sacred numbers for the morning celebration in the church.  Joe and I weren't at all crazy about getting up early and using part of his day off on such an endeavor, but it ended up being a blessing to us.  The speaker was a man who recently came to Christ and it was so refreshing to hear his perspective.

We came home and I took James for a walk/jog.  I just started getting back into jogging.  I have always had a love/hate relationship with it at best, but I'm finding that I like it more now.   Maybe it has something to do with not being able to for several months?

Joe got Starbucks for us and met me at the park.  We sat together and enjoyed the sunshine and talked--it was lovely.

I got patio furniture for my birthday!  It's black and simple and we really love being able to sit outside together now that the weather's warmer.  I am looking forward to growing some pretty flowers out there again.

Well, it's Amy's birthday and the party is winding down.  James is so tired and we'll head home soon.  Joe and I are hanging out with him in the house (he's sucking his pacifier and playing with his sock) just now.  Joe introduced James to the trampoline earlier--he hadn't been on one since a few days before he was born.  (Bouncing was one of the many things that failed to put me into labor.)  We got some family pictures:




Poor little James.  :)  He's much happier now.

I should sign off and get this posted while it's still today.  Have a beautiful weekend!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Five Months of James!

He's getting to be so much fun!  Lots of new things this month.  

Learning to sit up!  Still tipsy but getting better.
Lots of noises.
Moves while he's on his back!  I think he does it by kicking his leg really hard.
Increasingly fuzzy head.
Outgrowing his 6-month sleepers.
Found his feet.
Sleeps in his own room now!  
Plays with toys :)
Good at laughing and making us laugh.
Chews/sucks his thumb on occasion though the pacifier is still his choice when grumpy.  


Hanging out with Grandma today


Smart boy!  He loves my water bottle.  Gets all alert when he sees it on my night table and starts reaching for it.


Umm, that shirt's a little small now.  :)





Auntie Melody is getting married in TWO DAYS, and Uncle David is getting married in one month!  Must be properly attired.  :)



Migratory baby.