Second Babies Get The Short End of The Stick

This is tough.  It is quite a challenge to keep this blog updated.  For one reason, life is busy.  For another, this little guy does not give us a chance to keep up.  He is on the go and into everything all day, every day!  We take turns in our house, turns chasing James.  This child doesn't give up.  When he has something on his mind he will grunt and stretch his short, beefy little legs until his finger tips can finally graze whatever he has his eye on; usually this is a remote, book, or phone. 

So, what has James been doing since my last update?  Well, he's still walking around furniture and has, in the last couple of weeks, started standing on his own.  It hasn't quite clicked with him that he is doing it, or that it is something to be proud of, but he's doing it anyway.  To be honest, I thought that he would be walking by now, but he seems to have found contentment in shuffling between furniture and crawling.  He does, however, get extremely frustrated when Jacob is playing upstairs and we have put the baby gate across the stairway.  He figured out how to climb stairs really fast! 

I can't remember if I posted about James' teeth.  He has two bottom teeth, but nothing else is even showing signs of popping through.  We go periods when we think more teeth are coming, but nothing pokes through the gum. 

James, most recently, has taken up singing.  I noticed in church a few Sundays ago that whenever we would sing a hymn, he would make long sounds.  I started singing to him that afternoon to see what he would do and sure enough, he did it again.  So, now Jacob and I find it quite entertaining to sing to him and see if he will respond.  It's adorable.  He gets very serious with his eyebrows down and focuses very hard on what he's doing.  One of his favorites to sing is "Oh, How I Love Jesus".  He lets out a big "OH". 

Aside from singing, "Oh", James had picked up a few words, also.  He says "Dada" very well, and "Bubye", too.  Those are his most common words and the ones that he said first.  Now he's saying, "Uh uh", for uh oh, and he'll say, "mmmmmm" for Mooo.  So much fun!

Let's see, what else is going on with our little man?  He still LOVES baths.  His little legs start kicking as soon as he sees that you're carrying him to the bath tub.  He's started to stand up in the tub and watches to see if anybody is going to tell him to sit down.  When he is told, he does sit down, but of course he has to test the waters every time!

James loves any animal.  He's infatuated with the dogs and gets equally excited when he sees the cows.  I think this summer will be a lot of fun going out to check cows with him. 

We've had some tough days with Mr. James, also.  In February he got quite sick with RSV.  I had taken him in to get looked at because he had a terrible cough, diarrhea, hives, vomiting, fever, and we just couldn't get him out of the funk.  Well, they didn't even test him in Clearbrook.  They sent us to the ER in Bagley where they said he had to be taken by ambulance to Bemidji.  After waiting for the ambulance for three hours, Scott just ran to the fire hall and grabbed the oxygen tank and we transported him ourselves.  Once at Bemidji, James seemed like he was hardly sick.  He had energy, he wasn't pale, he had a wet diaper, his fever was gone, and his oxygen levels were normal; but they admitted him anyway.  So a sleepless night in the hospital to observe him we spent.  There were a couple of scares when his heartrate went sky high after an albuterol neb treatment, and his oxygen level dipped once, but we realized it was a fault in the sensor and not in his lungs.  So, after being told we'd probably be released the next morning because he was doing well with the neb treatments, we waited and waited only to be told we had to spend another night in the hospital.  UGH!  Thanks to a wonderful nurse who convinced the doctor that it was silly for us to stay in the hospital when we could care for him just the same at home, the doctor let us go under strict instruction to get him back in the hospital if his breathing quit improving.  So, we got home that night and treated him there.  It was scary.  We had a couple of cases of bad breathing when we thought we might need to take him in, but we managed to get it under control and he was back on track.  He was good for a month, then yesterday he woke up with the same symptoms and a terrible, terrible fever - he has spiked up to 104.1, and a cool bath finally brought it down to 102.  We've treated him all day today and last night and he's going to the doctor tomorrow to get tested.  I pray he has a good night tonight and recovers some.  This poor guy is obviously a respiratory baby.  He had it bad the beginning of January, then February, and now March.  We need the weather to get nice and stay nice so these viruses can leave him alone. 

Well, everybody is in bed and I have sub plans to make. 
Until next time, and hopefully that won't be three months from now.

Thanks for checking in and God bless!
Scott, Kim, Jacob, and James

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and life has been busy, of course, and much of that busiest has revolved around Master James.  Jacob was definitely an ambitious baby, but his little brother is working his little tail off to keep up.  James was sitting up on his own at 4.5 months, started crawling (forwards) at just over 6 months, and began pulling himself up a week before his 7-month mark.  Now, he practices standing while holding on with only one hand and scooting from Point A to Point B along the nearest piece of furniture!  It's so incredibly crazy how fast this is going!  Jacob wasn't even crawling at this age!  He gives his all to get wherever his brother is! 

Two days ago we discovered James' first tooth just starting to break through his bottom gum!  I had forgotten how miserable the teething process can be, but James is really a trooper.  Even when he has a fever, runny nose, cough, diarrhea, and can't sleep, he manages to put a smile on his face for everybody.  It's hard to get too frustrated. 

James has taken a liking to books and songs.  Recently, he has started performing the hand movements to Pat-a-Cake.  Okay, so he just puts his hands together or grabs your hands when you start saying it, but still, he is making the connection.  He has also gotten good at raising his arms to "So big!" and know how to play Peek-a-Boo with a blanket!  It is so much fun seeing things click in his little brain!

James really enjoys spending time by our deck doors watching and yelling at the dogs!  He loves them; over and over and over again!  He just can't get enough of them.  We are very fortunate to have such good dogs that are very tolerant of hair pulling and eye poking!  They just sit and take the beating, and I can't help but think that they know it is his way of giving them affection.

Well, it will probably be just a few hours before an eager Jacob Arthur wakes up to see what Santa has left him, so I'd better get to bed.  Again, Merry Christmas and may God be with you all this most wonderful time of the year!

Thanks for checking in!
God bless!
Scott, Kim, Jacob, and James