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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...

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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.

The big 2-0 (months)

The lighting isn't great, but the above picture is one of my favorite recent family shots. It gives a good glimpse into how much joy James brings us.

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

* His vocabular continues to amaze us. He says "exciting" a lot now...especially when talking about trains. There are many other words that he picked up over the past month. Pretty much every day brings a new word for him.

* His enthusiasm is unmatched. Driving in the car, I often hear "Tree. Oh wow! It's pretty." That's his approach to everything.

* James has very clear ideas of what he wants. He typically starts off asking very politely for the things he wants. However, if his wish is not granted he progresses to stage 2 which is "please? OK!" accompanied by an full-body nod. It is VERY hard to resist this cuteness bu if that still doesn't get what he wants he resorts to whining and crying.

* One of his favorite activities is to throw blocks down the stairs. He also LOVES to watch DVDs. Arthur, Thomas the Tank Engine and "Fishies" are his current faves.

* James is all about people. He greets everyone by name and frequently says "hi Mama" as he walks past me in the house. He wants to know that all of his favorite people are around him at all times. When they aren't around he asks to see pictures on the computer.

* A few weeks ago James and I had our first night away from each other. He stayed with Daddy while I went to NYC with some of my friends. James and Daddy had a wonderful time hanging out together. This is the start of many more Mommy-vacations!

* Just today a colleague was asking me about James. At first he said, "how old is your baby now?" I replied that James is 20 months old. Then he surprised me with the next question, "do you like him?". I didn't know how to answer. Saying "yes, I like him a lot" seemed like such a gross understatement. I think I said, "he is about 1000 times more fun than I ever could have imagined". Even that is an understatement! I don't just like him and love him, I truly think he is one of the most fantastic people I have EVER met. This morning on my way to work I got all teary just from seeing a glimpse of his precious little face in my rear view mirror. He is the epitome of joy. :)

5 reasons James made me smile this week

5) He learned how to nod his head. He is very proud of this new skill even though he isn't very good at it yet.

4) On Tuesday James was on my bed throwing pillows onto the floor. I said, "James why are you making a mess?". He replied, "mess funny!".

3) James has developed a new laugh. It is very loud and very fake.

2) He likes to line all his trains up into one big train. It fascinates me to watch how he organizes them and reorganizes them. I also appreciate that this new game can entertain him for up to 30 minutes at a time!

1) As I was changing his diaper earlier this week James grabbed his boy parts, giggled, and said "it's a toe!".

OK, one more bonus story for you just because I love to brag about my little boy. :) I was sitting on the floor next to James as he was playing with cars. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him how much I loved him. He then turned to me with an adorable little smile and said, "it's a smooch!". His favorite book of all time is The Pout Pout Fish. At the end of the book the main character (The Pout Pout Fish) goes around kissing everyone. It says "smooch, smooch, smooch" as he kisses each character. I guess James figured out that my kiss on his cheek was also called a smooch. Little smartypants!

19 months

James is now 19 months old and just as feisty (yet lovable) as ever!

* He says so many words. I can't even begin to count them. He is a little parrot and will try to copy most things we say.

*James has always been really social but I think he gets more friendly every day. He says, "hi Mama, how're you?" several times each day. He is on a first name basis with my Mom (calls her "Jo"). He also makes nicknames for people. Tim is Timmy, Tom and Thomas the Train are both Tommy to him.

* For some reason he has decided that he dislikes clothes. A few weeks ago he would not sleep until we took his pajamas off.

* He does not like to have a dirty diaper. Usually he will immediately come to us and say, "poo poo change". I think that's a good step towards potty training but we aren't quite ready yet.

*James still loves to be active. He thinks it is his right to visit a park at least once a day. He says "park. swing swing. slide." and that's our clue that he wants to go to the park.

* While driving around town he recognizes many of the roads and landmarks. He knows we are almost home when we are 3-4 blocks away. He also recognizes when we are getting close to his cousin's houses, the park, the grocery store and this one particular fruit market that he calls the apple store.

* James knows the names of almost all of his family members and can usually tell you who goes with who (so when he's talking about his cousin, he will usually mention his aunt and uncle too).

* He really likes animals and doesn't seem to be afraid of them no matter how big they are! We have gone to the fair and a couple of petting zoos recently and James marches right in with no fear.

* He has mastered all of his toys so he gets bored pretty quickly at home. Within 15 minutes of getting in the door he starts asking for some of his favorite movies, "fishies" or a Thomas movie.

All these quirks add up to make our precious little boy. :)

12 on the 12th - October

I try to do this every month but only remember once every 6-7 months. The idea is that you take 12 pictures of your "everyday life" on the 12th of each month. In October, the 12th happened to fall on a Tuesday. Since I was off work, it was a little easier for me to take 12 pictures. So, here you go...this is my average Tuesday with James.

Right after he woke up, James was pretty whiny. I was still tired and longed for a little more sleep. I brought him into bed with me and he watched a whole episode of Curious George while I rested.


After we got dressed and ate breakfast, we headed out to run some errands. Before we left, I took this picture of my pathetic pumpkin that's taken over the front of our house.


The first place we stopped was Dunkin Donuts. I got their delicious pumpkin coffee. Yum!


James read his new train book (thanks Dad and Linda - he loves it!) while waiting for me to get my coffee.


Next stop - the park! We are so lucky to have 10+ parks within 10 miles. James really needs to go somewhere to get his energy out everyday so most Tuesdays include a trip to the park. This was the first time in 5-6 months that we've been to this particular park, so he was really excited to explore it.




I took this one of myself to show off how pretty the view is from this park. Isn't that farm fabulous?


After he got all of his energy out, we went to the grocery store. I didn't take any pictures in the store but you can imagine a whiny, crying, screaming toddler trying desperately to climb out of the cart all the way through the store. LOL! He knows there is a mechanical train outside the store and he thinks that the quickest way to get to the train is to scream the whole way through the store. Next time I might let him go to the train before we go into the store and see how that works.


He ate lunch while I put the groceries away. James is a picky eater but when he finds something he likes he gets very focused. In typical fashion, he eats with one hand while holding a dirty fork against his head with the other hand.


After lunch, James took his nap. I cleaned the bathroom, did some laundry and made some phone calls. Nothing worth taking pictures of there! I did make this cottage cheese loaf, though. It was delicious, too! (Thankfully this picture doesn't showcase the eggshells that fell in the casserole.)

Rod left for work at 6:20AM and arrived home at 8:20PM. He had to pack for his trip (a school trip to Williamsburg) so we barely saw him at all. Beasley tried to sneak into Rod's bag.

Thanks for looking!

Waiter...I'll have some normalcy, please.

The past few weeks have been busy around here. James is adjusting pretty well with the exception of his sleep schedule. Several nights this week he woke up at 3:30 and was up until 5:30 or 6 then went back to bed until 9. This morning he was up for the day at 5:30. Hopefully he is easing back into his typical schedule of sleeping from 9PM-7:30AM.

The first odd thing that happened about 3 weeks ago was our cat got sick. He spent 3 days at the vet's office then came home with a bunch of pills. At first we were able to trick him into taking the pills but then he figured out what was happening so we had to force the pills into him. James would go into hysterical crying fits every time he saw us wrap the cat in a towel and give him the pills (even though the cat didn't make any noise or even struggle much). So, every morning and evening we would have to hide from James and give the cat pills for almost two weeks.

Two weeks ago our house got broken into. It was crazy for one day while we made police reports, had detectives doing fingerprints, etc. But, everything turned out just fine.

The weekend before last we stayed in a cabin for the weekend. It was fun and relaxing but that is when James got his sleep schedule all mixed up.

Then last week I got sick with Pleurisy. I was off work Tuesday-Friday and home with James. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to lift him or spend much quality time with him for the first few days. Although James was well taken care of, I think it threw him off a bit to be so off schedule.

I'm really hoping that things will start to get back to normal this week!

In the midst of all the craziness, James went to the doctor and he was 35 1/2" tall (97th percentile) and 26.14 lbs (62nd percentile). He also got the flu shot and MMR.

James has also picked up a lot of new words this week: chair, work, today, home, giraffe (he doesn't call it a tractor anymore!).

He has also introduced some phrases like, "Hi train! How are you, train?". Pretty complex for an 18 month old, I think! He also asks what people are doing by saying, "wa doooing?". Grandma Jo taught him the Hokey Pokey recently and he loves to show off this new skill.

Well, it's time to finish getting ready for work. I just wanted to take the few extra minutes I had this morning (thanks to my early riser) to remember some of the craziness of the past few weeks.

I have an 18 month old? How did that happen?

I can't believe James is 18 months already! The past year and a half have been exhausting but so much fun. James is such a social little creature. He constantly talks about his family members and when any of us are in the room he says, "hi _____" every few minutes, just to make sure you're still there and paying attention to him.

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

* His speech continues to amaze me. The past few weeks he has started getting more brave and tries to say just about anything you ask him to say. Some new words he started saying this month are: "train, bean, raisin, come, you're welcome". He also added a "y" to some words he already knows. So, now "stuck" is "stucky" and "rocket" is "rocky". I don't know why he saw the need to change those words but it's funny.

* Although he is still fairly picky, we have been successful in getting James to eat a wider variety of foods over the past few weeks. He even ate some raw broccoli yesterday!

* We have to remember that he is always listening and learning even when it appears that he is focused on something else. The other day I was singing the alphabet song and he joined in with me at certain points of the song. I had no idea he knew that song! I was also counting and after I got to eight he said, "nine ten". I was shocked that he knew his numbers that high!

* His favorite playtime toys continue to be trains and anything having to do with Elmo. He is getting addicted to watching TV in various forms. He likes DVDs like Elmo and "songs" which is a nursery rhyme DVD. He also likes to watch videos of himself on the iPhones. On the laptop, he enjoys watching youtube videos of "Choo Choo Soul", Elmo and trains.

* Because James is so active, we try to get him outside at least once a day. He knows where all the parks are around our house and every time we drive by one he yells, "swing swing!".

James at 17 months

What a fun little boy we have! He is a constant blur of motion but that's ok because he keeps us young. Here are some things I want to remember about James at this age:

* He is ALL about trains right now. About 20 times a day you will hear him say, "bye bye choo choo". The funniest thing is that he says this even when he can't see or hear a train.

* James loves watching Sid the Science Kid on TV, his favorite movie is a children's nursery rhyme DVD that I got for $2.99 at Ross, and he also loves watching Elmo or trains on Youtube.

* He learned how to walk backwards and spin around in circles this month.

* James is really interested in music. He likes it when we sing to him and now he is starting to sing along with us. He knows a couple of phrases from 15 different songs. It's so cute to hear him singing to himself in his crib or carseat.

* His vocabulary is about 8 times more advanced than most children his age. I read today that most 17 month olds can say 10 words. James can say EIGHTY words! Some of the most obscure include: starfish, Bert (from Sesame Street), penguin, glasses and stick. He also knows many names of his loved ones.

* In addition to the words he knows, James has mastered the sounds of over 30 animals and vehicles. He makes a really cute ambulance noise "weee-uuuu".

Here is a picture of my sweetheart with his most beloved possession...his blanket.

"Gotchu"

James crying in his bed. Mama enters the room, picks him up and proceeds to the rocking chair.
James: "Mama?"
Mama: "Yes?"
James: "Gotchu?"
Mama: "Yes baby, Mama's got you"
James: contented sigh.

16 months

Mr. James Edward Kerbs is 16 months old today. Since I'm about 15 months behind in my scrapbooking, I like to keep track of his milestones here so I can go back and look at my notes when I finally catch up in his memory book. LOL!

Here are my notes on James' past month:

* His biggest advances continue to be in his vocabulary. Just this past week he learned the words: "pizza, poop and airplane".

*For his entire 15th month, James spent the weekdays with his daddy. Every day when I get home, I am greeted by a very happy little boy and a proud daddy. It's so much fun watching them together!

* Last week James took his first visit to the ocean. He was a little overwhelmed by the sand, sounds, wind, water, etc. but he did well and had fun when he was distracted. His favorite things were to wave at airplanes, people, birds and dogs he saw along the shore.

* Prior to last week, James has only been on one roadtrip in his life. It was when he was only 4 months old and he was in the car for about 8 hours in one day. This past week he took two 11-hour car rides and he did wonderfully. Rod was so proud of him that he promised to buy James a custom Powerwheels with leather interior. Ha!

* Some of James' favorite books are: The Big Hungry Bear (can't remember the exact title), Pout Pout Fish and anything with pictures of animals. His favorite toys are: tractors and trains as well as things that he can make noise with. His favorite things to watch on TV are: Sid the Science Kid on PBS and Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs.

* James is really interested in music. He likes to listen to daddy play the guitar. Some songs he knows a few lines from include: Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Happy Happy Home, The Trees are Gently Swaying and Pattycake.

Commence heart-melting

My sweet little boy said, "I love you" for the first time today without being prompted. He was saying goodnight to Daddy and out of nowhere blew him a kiss and said "laa luu" (his version of "I love you"). How precious!!!

James at 15 months...

Every day brings at least one new word or skill for James. It is amazing to see how quickly he is grasping the English language.

He says a LOT of words now. Some that I think are unusual for a 15 month-old: gentle, glasses, bear, starfish and Elmo. My favorite words he says are: shoe (Mom says he sounds like a French baby), thank you (he does the "dee dou" thing a lot of babies do), I love you (what Mommy's heart doesn't melt when she hears those words?) and Jeremy (he says "meremy"). It's also pretty neat that he says "diaper" when he wants to be changed. This could make potty training a little easier!

Physically, he is much more stable on his feet and starting to climb things (yikes!). He also finally learned how to stand up without pulling up on something this month. He used to fall down in the back yard and stay in one place grunting and whining until someone would help him up.

James loves music and he knows one phrase from 5 different songs. I ask him to sing at least 10 times a day because it is so cute!

He also knows quite a few animal sounds. The unusual ones are: lizard, donkey and owl.

This summer he is staying home with daddy. Some of his favorite activities include throwing things down the basement stairs, going on bike rides, reading books, watching "baby" videos, going to the park, watching Sid the Science Kid, torturing the cats, playing in the backyard (pool or sprinkler) and stealing Daddy's glasses off his face!

I will leave you with a cellphone picture since Rod is rebuilding our other computer that has the real camera pics on it. Rod always sits on this step to put his shoes on. Whenever James wants to go outside he grabs his shoes and sits on this step.

James at 14 months

This adorable little face is starting to develop quite a personality! He is so much fun and has such a great sense of humor.

Some things I want to remember about him at this age:

* Just moved into size 4 diapers. I'm hopeful that he will potty train before he reaches size 5. :)

* His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. Some new words are: "maamaw" (grandma), "soosh" (shoes), "asai" (outside).

* He still loves to be outside any chance he gets. His favorite things to do are talk to the neighbor kids, talk to the neighbor dogs, swing and go for walks in his stroller.

* While inside he enjoys watching videos on my iPhone. He tells us this is what he wants by yelling "baby" at the top of his lungs. He has also discovered how much fun it is to run on the couch. Yesterday he fell off and landed on his head pretty hard, but the minute he was done crying he got right back up there.

* James has started dancing at just about anything that resembles a song! His jerky dance makes me laugh every time.

* He notices noises that I don't even hear and he often tries to mimic them. Motorcycles, airplanes and school buses are some of his favorites.

* In the past few weeks, James has discovered temper tantrums. He turns bright red, clenches his fists, throws himself backwards and screams. It's pretty funny and so hard not to laugh at him. The good thing is that he is still really distractable so he can be in the middle of a tantrum and suddenly stop and smile if you know the right thing to say.

* James is just starting to sing a little bit. Sometimes he makes up his own songs. At his cousin Traiden's birthday last week, he started singing Happy Birthday To You. It's more like, "haaa you".

* He is so affectionate. He always greets me with a hug and "awww...mama". In fact, even when I'm home with him he will often stop and give me random hugs during the day. He started blowing kisses to people when they leave which is super cute, too.