I know I've had quite a few posts recently about James turning two, but I wanted to write just one more with some information on everything that's happening in his world at 24 months old. In this third year of his life (so hard to believe that I'm saying that already), I'll probably just do an official update like this every 6 months. Here are some things that I want to remember about him at this age:
Growth/Appearance: We recently had his 2 year doctor's visit and he was 35.5 inches tall (76%) and weighed 27 pounds, 12 ounces (46%). I was catching up his baby book recently and noticed that at a year he weighed 21 pounds, 12 ounces and, of course, at birth he weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces....so, he has gained exactly 6 pounds this past year and exactly 20 pounds since he was born. Just thought that was a little fun fact... He is wearing mostly 24 month and 2T clothing, size 4 diapers for a little while longer I think, and was recently measured at in 8 in shoes (but fitted for a size 9!). He is a growing boy!
He is my blue eyed boy (that I never knew I could have) and his hair is darkening up some (losing the white blonde hair) but still very blonde.
Eating: He is eating better than he ever has and for the first time at a doctor's visit I didn't express any concerns about his eating. He is making improvements every day, adding new foods to his list of foods that he'll eat, and eating from all food groups now (even some meat!). Some of his favorite foods include cereal, cheese, yogurt, apples, bananas, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, chicken nuggets, crackers, sunflower seeds, rice, pretzel chips, and noodles. He mostly drinks milk or water (and occasionally wants juice). He does have a sweet tooth and his favorite treats are probably m&m's, cookies, ice cream, and suckers.
He has been off the reflux medicine now for almost 6 months, and I am so very glad that those difficult days for him are behind us. It's so nice to watch him enjoy food (and not be in pain) and as a result he usually gets to eat just about anything he asks for now within reason.
Sleeping: He still takes one nap a day, although a few weeks ago I was afraid that he was trying to give that up but thankfully it was just a little phase. He usually winds down for a nap now between 1:30 or 2:00 and sleeps 1 to 2 hours and usually is asleep for the night around 8:30-9:30 (it has gotten later because he really enjoys spending time with Daddy at night) and sleeps about 11 hours.
Interests: He still loves playing with every kind of transportation, loves exploring the outdoors and loves everything about nature (the animals, creatures, plants, stars, etc), loves reading (especially books about transportation and the Maisy book series), and really loves singing now and requests songs for us to sing and remembers the lyrics to songs very well. He loves taking trips to the library, park, and book store (because of the toys and train table). His favorite shows are probably Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins, and sometimes asks for Thomas, Chuggington, or Jake and The Neverland Pirates (although I try to limit his TV watching to some extent). Recently after he finishes an episode he begs to watch the same one again and will say "two mickey's?" or "two einsteins'?"
Teething: He now has 16 teeth and I think based on how he has been acting and chewing on everything (including his own fingers) that his two year molars may be coming soon.
Spiritual Life: He has recently started asking to go to church on weekdays and will say things like "that truck goes to church too!" He will occasionally pray before mealtime or bedtime or tell us who he wants to pray. When he closes his eyes to pray, he always covers his eyes with his hands and smiles and usually says "ament!" at the end. He enjoys reading from his storybook Bible and singing songs about Jesus. Recently at church he told everyone that passed that he was holding "Daddy's Bible." We have also gotten him to start participating in giving a tithe or offering and he claps and says "yay!" when he gives it. It's very sweet!
Things he is learning: James really enjoys learning. I try to take opportunities to let every day life be learning situations, but I don't put pressure on him to learn through rote memorization or anything like that. As we are living life, I just try to point things out to him (or in books) and tell them what they're called. For example, the other night the stars were so clear in the sky, and I showed him the constellation Orion and Orion's belt (thank you, weird college astronomy class....!). Now, whenever we get out of the car at night, he looks up to where that constellation is and points and says "Orion's belt!" and acts so proud that he remembered.
He is counting pretty well to about 15 and inconsistently to 20. He can recognize and name a lot of numbers and, honestly, he learned a lot of the numbers from seeing them on Thomas trains and wheelie cars. He can recognize and identify many letters, and has recently started singing the ABC song although not well yet. He also knows his shapes and colors very well. He is pretty good at identifying different types of transportation and airplanes (for example, prop plane or seaplane) and sometimes corrects me when I call them the wrong name - ha! He really is just a little sponge soaking up so much information right now, and it's really fun to watch the wheels turning in his head as he learns.
Personality: The words that describe him best are probably: active, energetic, curious, smart, clever, strong-willed, persistent, reserved, shy, sweet, and imaginative. He is constantly moving and exploring and I really have gotten in a pretty good rhythm of staying one step ahead of him and anticipating what he will do next (but he always throws in occasional surprises and curve balls too!) New situations are difficult for him sometimes (even when he acts excited about whatever or whoever it is beforehand), and it often does take him a while to warm up to new situations and people. He can be really stubborn and persistent. He gets his heart/mind set on a certain outcome, and it can be difficult to convince him otherwise (and he has opinions that change daily about all kinds of things - what character he wants to wear on his diaper, for example.) We have learned recently that choices are really helpful for him, and it gives him the feeling that he has some sense of control in decisions. Although a funny thing that happened when Stephen gave him the choice between a very cute shirt and a very plain shirt (thinking he would choose the cute outfit), resulted in him picking the plain one! Being able to better communicate with us now, I think, is helping with tantrums and giving him small, measurable goals ("I need you to eat 3 more bites" or "I need you to put those two trucks in that basket") are very successful with him. He has moments that I am so proud of his choice to listen and obey (even if it's through tears, bless his heart!), and, of course, with all children there are those trying moments too. And even though he can be very persistent at times, he is also very tender and sweet and really wants to please us. He loves to be affirmed and has very snuggly moods/moments when he loves to be held and receive/give hugs and kisses. He loves when we say "Yay for James!" after something he does well.
Communication: He knows so many words at this point. I think he speaks pretty clearly, but I probably understand him better than anyone because I'm always with him so sometimes I still translate James-ese for others. He speaks in pretty complete sentences now and asks questions too. Every day he says something new that really gets us laughing which makes him say it again (and again) usually!
I know I could probably write a book on James, because there is just so much that I love and that amazes me about him (but I know I'm pretty biased being his Mama and all!). It has been an incredible two years parenting him, and I look forward to all of the days ahead with him. It's hard to remember life before him and hard to imagine not having him in our lives - he has definitely made us better people and enriched our family in so many ways. Thanks for loving and praying for our little man these past two years, and for reading these unashamedly biased blog posts about our sweet James!
