My Baby Can Read!

If you've ever seen the "My Baby Can Read" info-mercials, you know that they are quite intriguing--especially when you find out your baby can read for only $15.95.  Don't worry, I didn't actually order the program-- in fact, Cody and I often have a good chuckle over the My Baby Can Read commercials.  However, Sean has been learning his letters on his own for a few weeks now.  He has a great video from LeapFrog that has helped him learn almost all the letters and their sounds.  This morning he blew me away though when I brought Jamesie in to wake him up.  Jamesie was wearing a cute little baby outfit that had a baseball and bat on it and says "HOMERUN HERO."  Sean has also been learning about baseball recently, so he was super excited to see the ball and bat. He then said:

"H!-- ha ha [sounding out the "h" sound]-- two H's!"  Then came:

"O! two O's!" then,

"R! [more like 'awww'], two Rs!"

OK, so its not actually "reading," but I think its pretty good for a 1.95 year old, and I will shamelessly brag about it :)

Speaking of baseball--we took Sean to his first baseball game for Cody's Father's Day gift the other day and oh my goodness did he love seeing real baseball! Here are some shots of him enjoying the Charleston Riverdogs game.  We saw a homerun and he's been walking around the house saying "homerun" and "almost" (what he would say for a strike) ever since.  Enjoy!

There was a young cowboy who lived on the range...

Sweet Baby James has been with us for 2 months now... and it has flown by! He is all smiles these days and I just love cuddling him (as does his big brother...see the last picture to this post).  Here are some recent pics of Baby James with some of his latest milestones as well:

Big smiles during awake time!  James is now staying up about an hour between naps and his day has a very predictable rhythm to it.  He eats, stays up for one hour, gives me a little cry then sleeps for about 2 hours.  He has been great at falling asleep on his own for naps and is sleeping full time in his own crib, except when Sean is taking a nap, then Jamesie is in the pack n play with me downstairs for preventative measures in case he cries and wakes up sean.   

Sometimes his smiles turn into a full laugh.  He's so sweet.

James also recently started cheering for the U.S. in World Cup play.  USA! USA!

I just couldn't resist this picture. Jamesie in his jammies.  He is usually great and peaceful all day until about 7 p.m. when he starts crying until about 9 p.m.  Maybe he's colicky, I don't know, but I am trying not to get hung up on it, as I know this phase will likely pass soon.  Cody and I have done a good job about staying positive-- we just take turns holding him until he falls asleep.  We have discovered a new need for closed captioning on the TV though. 

Two nights ago James did awesome and slept through the night for the first time.  I'm talking 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.  I felt great yesterday!  Last night he slept until about 5:00 a.m., which is still pretty good.  I love sleep and I have been anxious for him to sleep all night, but I told Cody yesterday if 99% of me is happy for him to sleep all night, there is 1 little percent that will miss our peaceful nighttime feedings together.  But 99 outweights 1 and I'm very happy with this new skill.

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This is the scene most morning when sean wakes up. He asks for Baby and asks to have Baby in his bed or gets in our bed with him. He loves hugging, kissing and holding James.  James doesn't quite know what to make of it, but I don't think it bothers him too much.

Costa Rica -- Pura Vida!

We are back from Costa Rica with plenty of pictures, sun and stories!  We are trying to settle in back at home (that is, getting through mounds of laundry and reinstating organized nap schedules) after a wonderful week and long journey home last saturday.  While I wouldn't necessarily recommend international travel with a 7 week old and 23 month old, this trip definitely went as well as it could have, and I'm really glad we were able to go.  We had a great time, and we did so much, I didn't really know where to start for this post.  Then Sean inspired me.  He was so excited to be in the same house with so many fun relatives for a week straight.  Every day (several times a day actually), he would go through the roster of every person with us, asking if  everyone was still there.  As with any trip, it is your the company of loved companions that make it great (the amazing scenery and fun activities help) So, I will try to hit some highlights of the trip while presenting the roster of wonderful people as sean asks for them: 

Mommy and Daddy (or To-dy if "Daddy" doesn't elicit a response) of course (previously Mama and Dada... for the last two weeks we have been Mommy and Daddy with no explanation.  Mommy is about to fulfill a lifelong dream of riding horses on the beach in this pic!)

Aub (on the beach right in front of our house)

Meck (aka Meg-- Notice the cow in the background on the beach-- they were our daily visitors)

Mim!  (Tim)

Mic-yah (with Cody ocean fishing in front of our house)

Bef (still a favorite--the one Sean is making eyes at, of course)

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Dada (perhaps explains the switch from Dada to Daddy for Cody, but we're not really sure why he started calling Jamie Dada.  It is adorable though)

O-mas (actually "Tomas," in the background, he was our cook/groundskeeper/manservant at the house.  This shot is the edge of our pool looking into the ocean.  Sean loved Tomas and asked about him about 50x per day.  I was able to use my extensive knowledge of middle-school level spanish to converse with Tomas and his wife Janet (thank you Seniora Kahn)).

And last but not least, Baby! (smiling!)

We have so many great pics, I might do another post with some more scenery.  It was an amazing setting...we are so fortunate to have had such a great opportunity for this trip!