Kid Report Plus

The plus in this report is a JAMES REPORT!

My husband is an interesting man with many interests. And his interests have become much more diverse since we have moved to Montana. He has recently started a gun collection and will next month be taking a bow hunters safety class. This is not something I ever expected the California-City-Boy I married to be into! Also, since we started watching the food network this winter, James is now very interested in cooking, and has done some fabulous experiments with making his own BBQ sauce for some awesome pork ribs. While we were car shopping he picked up a French cookbook! I encourage this interest whole heartedly.

The other thing I have to report about James is that he just got his own car! We've been sharing the mini-van for a long, long time now and we are finally ready to become a two car family. So we took the whole family on a ride up to Poulson, MT to check out some retired police cruisers! It has always been a dream of James' to have an old police car, and he now has one of his very own! It's an '02 Dodge Intrepid with a search lamp on the side, and a push-bar (I call it a cattle guard) on the front. The floor isn't carpeted, it's covered in easy to hose off rubber. And the back seat isn't cloth like the front seats, it's leather. The speedometer reads to 150 mph. To James it is white cop-ie coolness. My favorite thing about it is that we can fit all three kids with their respective seats in the back.
James has all kinds of plans for fixing it up with racing stripes, new wheels, and other sweet features. He's one happy camper!
Lauren:
Baby Lauren is as happy as any of the rest of us that Spring is finally showing up once in a while. She loves to be outside and cries when we have to come in. She'll even crawl on the grass, which lots of babies hate!
Lauren also really enjoying bath time now. She is now using a bath seat that allows her to sit up all on her own, and she just loves it! It makes my back much happier too!
As far as developmental milestones go, this past week she's started pulling herself up on furniture, and has started trying to clap. She'll hold her own bottle, and she's eating things like finely chopped pizza and pork chops! She also still loves sweet potatoes and banana custard and will also eat mashed peas, but likes eating real peas better. As a matter of fact, she likes 'jarred' baby food better than any of my other kids have. She is also enjoys learning to use a cup.
She also seems to be noticing when people are laughing at her. She'll make a funny face and just hold it till someone laughs! It's really funny! And more than just having tickle spots, Lauren has krinkle spots! If you find a good tickle spot she just krinkles! Her legs give out, and she just balls all up! It's so funny!