Yay!

James went pee pee on the potty for the first time today! We have been putting him on it before every bath. He never goes on the potty but pees immediately upon entering the bathtub. Today he actually went in the potty. I think I just about scared the socks off of him by screaming and clapping for him! Now to increase the frequency of potty usage...

2

TWO!

James is two years old. Wow. What an amazing journey we have been on these past two years! James has taught me so much and I look forward to many more years with my precious little angel. :)

Here are some things I want to remember about him at this age:

* He is such a polite little boy (most of the time!). He is good about saying "thank you" and "excuse me". The thing he struggles with is saying "please" because he is always in a hurry to get whatever he is asking for. LOL!

* He makes us laugh ALL the time. We have no idea where he got it but he has this little inside joke with himself where he bends sideways and says "akaw". He laughs at himself which makes us laugh, too. Someday we hope to figure out the meaning behind the joke.

* James is very self-confident. He constantly says things like, "good job, James!" or "wow, look at you". He even comforts himself by saying "what's wrong James? what's the matter?" whenever he is sad or hurt.

* He does not like large crowds of people or being in places that are noisy. He says "bye bye in his car" and whines until we leave. Hopefully he will outgrow this stage soon!

* James just got his 4th cousin this week...another boy! He cannot wait to meet baby Carter.

* Some of his favorite activities are: playing outside (he loves parks), reading books, playing on his train table, and watching TV (Elmo and trains are the current favorites).

* One of the best parts of my day is sitting with James at night and talking about the day. He doesn't speak in full sentences all the time (although he does use full sentences occasionally) but he is still able to get complex concepts across to me. At night he tells me all the things he did during the day and I find it so fascinating to hear his perspective on what the highlights of the day were.

* He is very social and always wants his favorite people in the same place at the same time. This past month he has become really attached to Tyce. It is so funny to watch them wrestle and play with each other. They are both such special little boys!

We are so blessed to have such an engaging and sweet son.

23 months old

James is such a fun little boy. He brings lots of laughter and energy into our home!

Here are some things I want to remember about James right now:

* I would have to say my favorite part of this stage is watching James learn new words. He has a distinct way of speaking and I love listening to him talk.

* Some of my favorite words of his are: greem (green), squayer (sprayer - what he calls the shower), aaahkay (ok), have a day (have a good day).

* He really misses Rod during the week. Every evening when Rod walks in the door, James wants to wrestle with him. His favorites are: "chase you", "rockets" (Rod holds him upside down and makes rocket noises), "sky" (Rod throws him in the air), "some plunks" (Rod tosses him on the couch and says "plunk").

* One characteristic of James' that can be either really funny or really aggrevating is his decisiveness. He knows exactly what he wants and rarely does he change his mind. Often he will get strange ideas in his head and he is not satisfied until he reaches his goal. The other night we were getting ready for bed and he started saying he wanted to vacuum. He would NOT stop asking about it so finally we gave in and vacuumed the floor at 10PM. As soon as we were done he happily went to bed.

* He is a night owl just like his Daddy! James' ideal schedule is to wake up at 8:30, take a nap from 2:30-5:00PM and then go to sleep for the night at 11. I like to be asleep by 10 so this schedule is not my preference but we're working on a compromise. LOL!

* James is super smart and has a great photographic memory. The kid can recognize 22 letters and all of his numbers up to 10. He can also count up to 14. He is starting to get his colors figured out but we still have some work to do in that area.

* We are learning more and more how much he dislikes crowds. I don't think it is the crowd of people he dislikes but the noise that comes along with large groups of people. He tends to get overwhelmed with the chaos and then he zones out.

* We took the crib tent off his crib this week because it broke. He has finally mastered the skill of sleeping even when it is not pitch black in his room. Now to get him to fall asleep on his own...

Cards I ordered for Valentines Day

Candy Hearts Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

22 months old...time to start planning a birthday party!

Here is a picture of my little sweetheart. I took it this morning as we were playing in the snow. He was not interested in playing in the snow, but was happy to swing while watching Daddy shovel snow.

These are a few of the things I want to remember about James at this age:

* He is super smart! In fact, he knows about 80% of his letters by sight. He is learning new words and concepts everyday and I love every minute of it!

* Videos continue to be a huge source of entertainment for James. I think he likes to have his brain busy all the time and watching TV is a way to do this. We try to limit his TV time but he REALLY loves to watch Elmo, Barney, and train movies.

* Speaking of trains, they are still the highlight of his life! He got 3 sets of trains plus a train table for Christmas. He plays with all of them every single day for at least 30-45 minutes.

* He has a train book that says "trains trains trains, I love trains" and he repeats that phrase multiple times a day. It's cute because it is SO him.

* Size-wise he is now wearing size 5 diapers and most of his clothes are now 24 months.

* Thanks to Rod, Chipotle is one of his favorite places in the world. He likes to eat their beans, rice, cheese, chips, and guacamole. He can even say "guacamole" and "Chipotle"!

* I think we have a little night owl on our hands. He keeps getting on this schedule of going to bed at 10:30 and sleeping until 8:30 in the morning. I keep trying to get him to bed earlier but he seems to like this late schedule.

* His second Christmas went slightly better than his first. He was more engaged and actually played with his toys but he didn't really like opening the presents.

* He despises messes of any kind. If he is tired or cranky he will easily cry at the sight of a mess. He is now to the point where he will pick little pieces of fuzz or dirt up off the floor and throw them in the trash. It's funny because Rod and I don't make a big deal out of messes but he acts like the world is ending if he spills something. LOL!

We love our little man so much!!!!

21 months old

This boy is cut out to be an entertainer. He is so funny, he loves to sing and dance on command and he especially thrives on the attention of a group of people. Want to see what I mean? Look at this face!

The picture above was taken just after his haircut a few days ago. He did scream and cry but wasn't hysterical like the last time we took him to the salon. But, even though he was mad at the lady for cutting his hair, he politely said "thank you" and then proceeded to give her all kinds of cute looks to make her laugh.

Here are some things I want to remember about James at this age:

* I think I start off every month's list talking about his vocabulary. This month is no different. The child can say just about anything we ask him to. He says a lot of words that he doesn't understand. Just the other day he said, "disguised" when we were reading a book.

* He is still in love with Elmo and will hand me the remote control when he wants to watch. Now he says, "Elmo, Abby, Bert, Ernie, Sesame Street" to try to communicate exactly what he wants to watch. He is also liking Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney DVDs.

* It has been fun watching him take in the joy of the Christmas season this year. He really likes our Christmas tree and frequently talks about how pretty it is. Rod set up one of his trains to go around the base of the tree and he was delighted with that idea! We can't wait to watch him open his presents next week!

* James' imagination has really sparked over the past month. He is starting to chatter while playing with his trains. It sounds like he is telling a story but we can't quite decipher the words. He really enjoys landing his helicopter in the Christmas tree and then talking about the "crash" when it falls out. Another example of his imagination is when he takes his trains and makes them pretend to eat.

* He has always been vocal about his likes/dislikes when it comes to food. He has started asking for certain foods even when they are out of sight. Some days he will ask to have "bread" (french toast sticks) for breakfast and other days he will ask for cereal or "tatoes" (tater tots). He is also very clear about what he does not want. This morning I was eating a banana with peanut butter and offered him a bite. He said, "no, it's gross". LOL!

* He can count to 10 and also knows good portions of the alphabet. He can even identify a few letters: T, G, W and O. We are working on colors. He can say the names of lots of colors but he cannot identify them yet.

* James is a sweet little boy who brings us more joy than we ever could have imagined. He makes us laugh constantly. I honestly think I have laughed more this year than any other year of my life.