Doctor's Visit

James had his one-year well-child check on Monday. The aquarium in the waiting room is  always a big hit.

One of the other people in the waiting room said that she wouldn't let her kids play with the toys at the doctor's office. We had a 9am appointment, though, and there weren't any other kids or babies there -- if the bead and wire table is ever going to be relatively germ-free, it was going to be then.

Sam was getting James to smile for the camera.

 Mama is just not nearly as interesting.

James had blood drawn for iron and lead levels (our house was built in 1952). It was actually not too bad, though we didn't want to add insult to injury by pulling his clothes on over his head afterward. It looks like I am forgiven.

And now, those vital statistics!

Weight: 20 pounds, 13 ounces (20th percentile)
Length: 28.5 inches (12th percentile)
Head Circumference: 47 centimeters (67th percentile)

I use this handy chart to figure the exact percentiles. It looks like James is following the same curve from his last visit pretty well (30th, 11th, and 70th percentiles). He's grown an inch and a half in length and gained a pound and a half in the last 3 months.

Happy Birthday Video

Today was James's first birthday! I have about a million pictures to sort through, but here's a (wobbly) video:

Family Photo

Back in June, we went to the wedding of our friends Marissa & Jesse in Kansas City. They had a photo booth and we were all kinds of lame and just tried to get a straight family photo. (It's so hard! and there was an opportunity! and everyone was presentable all at the same time!) Anyway, I like how none of us but James quite managed to look at the camera. We all look nice, though :)

At the Park

Columbia has a surplus of nice big parks. We tried out a new one with some friends a bit ago. There were awesome giant truck tires - and when I googled it to be sure of the name, I found out there was a trail and a pond, too, that we must have missed. Anyway, here are some over-exposed pictures of Amelie at Nifong Park.

I am a sucker for jumpers in the summer. For some inexplicable reason, Amelie's decided this type of clothing is called a "bottom-dress."

Hey, look! Friends!

They made up some story about what they were pretending to be in here, but I don't remember what it was. Crocodiles, maybe? Or possibly rabbits.

James enjoying some animal crackers and banana. It was bright!

We were wearing sunscreen.

Cheese!

Thanks, Shauna, for telling us about it!

Mall Wall Toy

I have come to the realization that the nursing room at the mall is not so much for privacy while nursing a baby - it's a lot more useful for containing a distractable and not terribly obedient sibling. That said, James enjoyed playing on the floor some, too. I think we were taking a break from the play place.

First Day of School

Amelie's first day of preschool was on Tuesday.

This is on the playground - unless it's raining, they play outside at the end of the school day (from 9 to noon). We usually stay for a while afterward to play some more.

Amelie has a new teacher this year.

When I asked if she had a good first day, she said, "No." But I think that was mostly because I made her put her shoes back on. (Notice the socks above.)

Back at home.

Maybe she'll just put some leaves on her brother's head.

That seems right.

Thanks to Grandma Mary for the dress!

Nearly Crawling

James looked like he was just about to start crawling any minute ... for several months.

He would get up on hands and knees and rock back and forth, maybe go one knee forward (and immediately one backward or sit on his bum.)

In fact, Nana Jana was ready to proclaim him 'crawling' even though he wasn't making forward movement :)

Oh, got a little carried away there, folks -- better sit back down.

I like that we have photos of this phenomenon in three different colors of diaper.

And one fully clothed: