What We've Been Up To: James

James. My James-Man. What a stinker little boy!

We are so proud of everything James has accomplished. At almost 3 years old, he is quite the walker! And into EVERYthing. He pulls interesting things out of the trash. He topples folded laundry, or brings it to me, wherever I am in the house. Any container is free game for his desire to "undo:" box of toys, blocks, books, etc. His latest past time is getting into his brother's sock drawer. I can't tell you how many times I've caught him with an armful of socks, making his way to the living room. He dutifully picks them up and puts them back where they belong (as he does with the laundry or other messes), and then smiles at his accomplishment. Stinker.

Potty training is slow-going. I can't believe the strides he's already made, though he certainly hasn't made it. He can keep a dry diaper for several hours, and will almost always go potty if I ask him to. He will rarely tell me if he needs to go potty, but he has even started doing that a little, and I think that is awesome! He had a few days of potty training boot camp with my mom, but it only showed us that he really was not ready, yet, for full-blown potty training. For now, though, I'm perfectly happy with the progress he's made. I really had not expected him to be this far along at his age.

Our latest surprise with James is finding out he knows his alphabet! As in, if I hold up a letter, he tells me what it is--almost every single time! Again, I attribute the iPad to his success. He spends lots of time flipping through alphabet flash cards. But it was very funny the first day we figured it out, and I cautiously asked his occupational therapist to confirm what I thought: That a boy who couldn't even identify his colors, yet, knew his letters. Sure enough, the OT called me into her session with James so I could see him confidently pulling the correct letters out of a choice of three...and occasionally picking one up from the pile and saying, "P" or "8" just to surprise everyone. (Yes, he knows his numbers, too, and surprised us awhile back with counting to ten...not perfectly, but at least understanding that some numbers follow others. His favorite is, "Eight...NINE!!")

James is a man's man. Where Caleb hugs all the ladies, and tells them they look beautiful, James holds up his arms to the men in our church, asking to be held. He loves his Daddy most of all!

Beyond the developmental things that James has accomplished, he is definitely headstrong. The battle ground is usually mealtimes, where he would much rather just drink his milk than eat his food, or he would rather I feed him than he feed himself. He very easily lets us know what he wants, when he wants it. Usually with pointing, grunts, signs, and words--he uses whatever it takes to let us know! Sometimes it's, "I will not eat until I am watching the Andy Griffith Show!" Sometimes it is, "Bubba is taking my blocks, and I am not happy about it!" And lots of times it is, "I need to watching Signing Time!!!"

He has really gotten into reading "big boy" books lately, looking intently at the more detailed pictures in them. And he's playing with blocks in a more intentional way--stacking instead of just throwing.

He loves to dress up. We have a bin of hats and costumes, and he's constantly pulling on a hat and maybe some beads or something else he can put around his neck.

We enjoy watching him, and watching his mind and body grow and develop. Just like we sit back in wonder at Caleb, we watch and wonder at James. Usually a pause, and then, "Gosh, he's a cute kid." We are so blessed by our little second-born!

Newbie3 is up next!

*Note: The awesome shirts in this post were made by the super-talented Kim Davis. Visit her etsy site for your own custom-painted shirts!