Smiling and nakedness

Finally, a good picture of him smiling (at Mike, not me...)

And there should always be at least one naked (or close to it) picture:

Stats Update

James had his fourth month check-up today. He now weighs 16 lb 5 oz and is 25 1/2 inches long, putting him in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was crazy this year with all the rugrats - the newest Ryan didn't make it but there were still 5 young ones - in order of seniority: Michaela, Nate, Connor, Ryan and James. Here are a few pics:

And another attempt to catch him smiling

Recent Pictures

Here are some recent pictures:

Recent Videos

It's getting harder and harder to record him as he is obsessed by the camera and as soon as he sees it stops what he's doing (particularly smiling) to watch it. Here are a couple of efforts from last week.

Update

James had his (almost) three month check up today and is doing well. He continues to grow and is now 14 lbs 2 oz.

The Catskills

So we spent the weekend at our friends Sam and Amy's house in the Catskills - Tannersville to be precise. On Sunday we went for a long hike in the woods/mountains. It was pretty tough terrain but Mike carried James the entire way - it was his first time facing out in the carrier and he was much happier being able to see everything. Here are a couple of pictures.

Stats

I meant to post this last week but at his last appointment, James was 12 lbs 7 oz and 23 1/4 inches long - both in the 75th percentile.

Smiling at the Fish

The smiles are coming all the time now and he seems particularly pleased by the fish on his swing.

Waking Up

It's not normally hard to wake James up (hasn't been since the first weeks) but this time it was!

Tummy Time

He doesn't particularly like playing on his tummy but he's getting very good at lifting his head upright (unfortunately the memory card got full so I wasn't able to capture it all).

Progress

James is very close to smiling fully. I managed to capture him trying the other night:

He's also beginning to play more - he did this a few times last night:

Cousins

Here are a couple of short videos of James with Michaela:

James beginning to play

I keep waiting for James to smile - he seems so close - he's starting to interact more and now really follows things with his eyes.

Update

So little man is getting bigger by the day. We went to the doctor today and he now weighs 9 lbs 13 oz , and is 21.5 inches long, both of which are right at the 50th percentile. Here are a couple more pictures:

I just thought this was really cute - he looks so tiny on our huge bed!

This is us getting ready for a trip in the car. James was being uncooperative in the picture-taking effort!

So Calm

So little man was crying uncontrollably - he seemed over-tired so I calmed him down and then Mike swaddled him and put him down. The result:

James' First Starring Role

For those who don't get to see him in the flesh...

James

So James Eoin arrived on Saturday night - his big head caused some problems but he still managed to come out safe and sound. He was 8 lbs 2 oz at birth and 21 inches long. We're all doing well - trying to figure out the sleeping and eating etc. but we'll get there...

Best Sandwiches in America

Here's a link to Esquire magazine's list of the best sandwiches in America! Yum! I have to agree that the chick-fil-a chicken sandwich is FANTASTIC! I haven't had any of the others so I'm going to have to get eating!

Cooking

So I've been doing a decent amount of cooking lately. Of the new recipes I've tried, the highlight has to be a Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary that I saw on Everyday Italian. I would cut down on the amount of salt (I like salty but it's even a little much for me) and add more black pepper. Also, there's a mistake in the directions, don't put the chopped rosemary in the soup, (keep that for the creme fraiche topping) put the whole sprig in (and make sure to fish it and the bay leaf out before pureeing). Finally, I had lots of heavy cream but no creme fraiche so I just whipped some up and substituted it - worked fine.