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...