It's been a while....

I will admit that I thought since I had a child I would be so good at keeping everyone posted on what is going on in our lives. I then realized that there is hardly any time to breathe between diapers, feedings, cleaning bottles, baths, playtime, sleep, work, laundry, and simply hanging out with my husband for me to keep up this blog.

Here is the latest update of what is going on here at the Vakakes house. James has graduated from the army crawl he picked up at the end of December to tummy off the floor crawling. He is climbing on EVERYTHING. We have had to lower his crib all the way to the bottom. His very first tooth has sprouted and another is soon to join in. He is standing and holding him self up and is trying to make a few steps. He says "DADA" "BYE-BYE" and oh he did say "MAMA" but now only does it when when he is not feeling well- go figure. Which brings me to the fact that he has not been feeling too good lately. We got tubes put in on March 2nd and have had 2 bad ear infections since. We are on our second round of antibiotic treatments, eye drops, and ear drops. He is hardly eating b/c of both the teething and the ear infection. So he has dropped some weight and my little chunky monkey is below 20lbs again. He is feeling alot better today since he got an antibiotic shot in his thigh yesterday morning.

He is using his "pinchers of power" to pick up everything. He does not like baby food anymore and turns his nose up to it. So feeding him has been a challenge for me. What do you feed a baby who hardly has any teeth? Suggestions are welcomed! (I almost insist).

Well, that is it for my Baby James update or atleast the highlights.

James is a funny boy.

This is one of the funniest things we've seen James do and wanted to share.

So in love

I love this kid so much!! I get so anxious during the week for the workday to end to see him. Making the most of the time we have with James has become our key focus. It has been a little difficult to balance work with my role a wife and a mother. It can be quite tiresome. At the end of the day all I simply want to do is cuddle up with my two boys. Watching James and E.J. together truly makes my heart melt ALL the time. I still get choked up at times. I have fallen even more in love with my wonderful husband (if that was even possible) since this little man came into the world. Life is definitely different......and I love every second.

All by myself....sort of

Ok so it has been a very interesting 24 hours in the Vakakes house. Somehow I picked up a little bug last night. EJ has been such an incredible help taking care of me and James at the same time. I started to feel a little better so I was able to give EJ a break and give James his bath. After that we had a little tummy time and tried sitting up (as we do most nights). For the first time ever, James sat up all by himself...well, maybe for just a second. But, it's a start.

James and E.J.

Please note we are not experienced at taking videos and are still playing with our new video camera. After several days of being out of the house we decided to spend this very cold day at home just lounging around. And what a fabulous day it has been. James is fascinated right now with his feet and grabs a hold of them every chance he can get. He has started to be really "chatty. It is terribly cute to watch him with his daddy. For those that don't get to see it often or even at all...E.J has a very silly side. I think it was captured in the video above.

Latest in the Vakakes house: James only woke up one time last night to eat. It was his first 7 hour stretch...perhaps sleep will be restored in the Vakakes house?I am not going to hold my breath quite yet. I believe it has been over 114 days since this mother has slept longer than 3 hours uninterrupted, why stop now?? :)

Baby James Talking- Take 1

We decided now that James is starting to roll over both ways, laugh, and "talk" (coo), etc it was time to capture it on video. And so E.J. went out yesterday and endured all the mad rush of the day after Thanksgiving sales and got a much needed video camera. We are excited and very pleased with our new purchase. Anyhow, here is a video from last night right before bed.

WAR EAGLE!!!!

We received a little note from James' teacher yesterday that since it was time for the Iron Bowl to please dress the baby in his team's attire. Well, thank you to his Yiayia Denise for the t-shirt in the picture above. I hope his teacher, Miss Stephanie does nto hold it against him- she is an Alabama fan. It has been a while since I posted anything and I thought this was the perfect time. (Perfect time means probably the onlt time I can do this is when I am not working and James is at daycare half a day).
We are getting ready for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We are thankful to have Uncle Pete Vakakes stay with us tommorrow as we do not get to see him often. He is in for an interesting treat since his room is right next to little mans and the kid still doesn't sleep thru the night.
For James first Thanksgiving we will be going to Pete and Kathy Triantos and Friday we are celebrating with the Vakakes side. I am hoping to have many pictures of these two family events. We don't get that many opportunities to be around the whole family so I am really looking forward to it.

Slide show fun

Where's the baby?

I posted the following picture on facebook but to most people viewing this blog- like my mom and mother in law- I thought it was worthy of posting here. We just got a new toy- a Tiny Love tummy fun pad with a mirror. James is mesmerized by his reflection. we must have spent 30 minutes playing where's the baby.

What makes James special?

The past couple weeks have been truly fun. James is laughing...alot. (Hopefully not at us. :)) It is so incredible to watch him grow DAILY. I was filling out his Baby First Year calendar-month two- and there is a section on what makes baby special. I thought I would share some of these with our family and friends. I know some may be be "typical" baby accomplishments- to us it is what makes James special.


(1) He shrugs his shoulders when he laughs


(2) He throws his arms up over his head after he does "the kaka"


(3) His cry sounds like a cough, if to upset more like a machine gun


(4) He sneezes when sunlight hits his face for the first time in the day (every time). This is just like his daddy.


(5) The only thing on TV that catches his attention is football- he has no desire yet for Baby Einstein


(6) He sucks his thumb and/or fist not when hungry but when trying to do "the kaka"


(7) His baby talk- He seems so responsive to us when we talk to him. The coo is way too cute.


(8) He likes facing out to see everything and everyone. He is so inquisitive


(9) He has such a strong grip and is starting to pick things up and much to my dismay putting these things into his mouth. Yes already!


(10) Simply his smile ....

Baby's Second Month

Baby's First Month

Sorry to back track. I didn't realize that in order to truly be a blogger you have to dedicate some time throughout your day. Its hard to find the time these days with a newborn- between feedings, tummy time, play gym time, story time, and my favorite nap time (where I finally get to relax). It is 24 hours non-stop work. He is truly our blessing. When I get a little down I just have to look and see his smiling little face and know my world being rocked and turned upside down has been exactly what I needed.

Baby's First Shots

We took James this morning to the doctor for his two months check up and his first round of vaccines. James weighed 12 pound 8 ounces and is now 23 inches long. He is such a big boy!

Dr. Petelos got to see the happy and smiley baby that James has become. The last few times James had some "tummy issues" so they were not altogether pleasant experiences to say the least. I think we are working through that and as soon as I can get James on a schedule I am pretty sure the fussiness will subside altogether. The weekend was tough as I have gone back to being in "baby bondage" which just means around the clock not knowing what to expect next and being held hostage by the baby. This past week proved to me that a schedule not only makes James a happier baby but mommy too. We know what he needs and wants and can schedule our day with a little more certainty. We both get rest and it is a win-win situation for us both. Plus James eats better once he is rested which keeps him from nursing every 2 hours or even less (when he does this I cannot go anywhere). I wish it didn't take me this long to figure it out. In just 4 short weeks I will be going back to work so it is my goal to get this child sleeping longer periods through the night. A schedule is the only way. By the looks of things, I think we are off to a good start this week.....

Welcome home Baby James

Hospital Days

James Emanuel Vakakes II

We welcomed James Emanuel Vakakes II into the world on August 5th, 2008. It was such an awesome experience not finding out whether we were having a girl or a boy. I would definitely do it again. After being in labor for 10 hours ,the doctor let us know that we needed to try a different plan. It happened so quickly. He mentioned c-section and the next thing I know I am being carted off to the OR. E.J was not too far behind. It took maybe 20 minutes before the baby was delivered. The doctor let E.J. call out the sex of the baby to me and I will never be able to explain how incredible the feeling was to hear his voice crack telling me "Helena, it's a boy."

I was so happy that E.J got to show our son to the crowd waiting for the news. This is the picture posted. It was so cute. One of the nurses told EJ to turn the little hat with the blue bow on top inside out so that now one could see whether it was a boy or girl. So when he got to the window everyone was just lined up waiting to find out. And when he mouthed 'boy', our family began to cheer.

Time has finally come to make a post.

I created this blogspot over a year ago after admiring Brooke and John's blog. I just never posted anything. We didn't have anything interesting to tell and then James came along and life is everything but boring. With a majority of my family and friends being out of town, I thought this might be a great way for them to watch James grow. We hope that you enjoy these pictures. I am still trying to figure out how to post video clips...so stay tuned for some live James action.