Thankfully Annika still hasn't bit anyone. But she is acting out her mommy separation issues in other ways. She used to be so good going to bed at night. We had our little routine and at the end all I had to do was tuck her in, say good night with a kiss and walk out. Now though, it's terrible. I've been trying this week to get James to go down before Annika. He's usually tired by about 7:30pm. Then after he's sleeping peacefully in his crib I can focus on Annika's bedtime routine. It's been an adjustment for all of us these past couple weeks. I'm hoping going back to diligently following her bedtime routine will put an end to all the tears and tantrums of this week. She just does not want to go to bed. She's asking to be rocked, to sleep in mommy's bed, to have mommy lay down in her bed with her, to go potty again after just going, etc. And if she wakes up during the night Daddy is most definitely not good enough to help her go to the bathroom and put her back in bed which means that even if Kris helps me out during the night by taking care of her I usually end up doing it myself just so Annika's yelling and whining doesn't wake up James. Let's just say this - I am tired. I have two kids and neither of them sleeps through the night. I need a nap.

James continues to be just the greatest little baby though. He was trying so hard last night to roll from his back to his tummy. He was pushing and pushing with his hips and shoulders but just couldn't quite get over to reach the toy he was after. His arm was in his way, I think. He's usually content to lay on the floor and play with toys for a little while so I can play with Annika. We're usually playing Gramme markers so I can be right next to each of them and play with both. (Gramme gave Annika markers and a giant coloring book when James was born and every day we have to get them out and color.) And I just love the big smiles and squeals of joy when I talk with him (even at 4am this morning when he should have been sleeping!). He wuvs me! James makes lots of noises. He's been saying the g sound for about a month now and has recently started adding other consonants to his repetoire. And he can grasp toys now and transfer them from hand to hand, although he usually grabs a toy and sticks it in his mouth. His fingers are usually in there too. We typically only give him his pacifier when he's crabby and he's usually only crabby if he's tired or hungry. All other times he's content to chew/suck on his fingers. I think we might have a thumb or finger sucker on our hands when he figures that out.

Wednesday afternoon we had a family portrait taken for our church directory. It turned out pretty well! We also got really cute individual shots of the kids and a cute couple shot of Kris and I too. We don't get the pictures for a couple weeks, but I'm happy to have our first professional family picture taken with James.

Tonight I think the kids and I are going to go shopping for Kris's birthday present. I have in mind what I want to get him but now I need to find it and find it in my price range! His 30th birthday is Monday!

This weekend is filled with home improvement projects. I want to get our garden built and planted. We're putting a two tiered herb/vegetable garden on the East side of our house. It will be fun I think and Annika can help plant with me. I think she'd like playing in the dirt! Now if the rain and thunderstorms will hold off so I can get that done, that would be great.