In June, the boys turned three. I can't believe that they are already so grown up. It seems like yesterday that they were tiny and helpless, and now they are constantly in motion wanting to do things "by myself." I know that I am still behind on the chronicle of our last few months, but I thought it was worthwhile to insert a little bit of current cuteness.
When the boys were born, I bought these letters thinking that every year we'd take a picture with them to see how much they have grown. In this picture, James is three weeks old. At the three year old check up, he was 34 pounds and 40.25 inches which puts him above the 95th percentile for height, and we call him little man without a trace of irony.
Little Man at a year old. Bob showed James a picture of himself at around this age the other day, and he asked James what happened to all his hair. He patted his head and said "it's right here, Dad."
My two year old handsome man with his coordinating pacifier. Seeing this picture makes me remember how much James loved to rub the string on his nose. Not long after this picture was taken, we ditched the pacifier tether, but he is still never too far from his "pah fire."
I think this is my favorite letter picture of James so far. I love how his little eye is peeking through with his big grin. James is all about fun. He still loves racing, horses, horse racing, cars, and watching toy cars race on youtube. He also is a fan of dinosaurs and watching dinosaur stuff on youtube. He is my most technologically advanced guy. He has figured out the iPhone/iPad like a pro. He went through a phase of being completely addicted to Temple Run - he could outscore me to an embarrassing extent.
In this picture, I see a whole lot of Cain genes. I don't know why but when I look at him, James sometimes reminds me so much of my dad. I find it kind of cool because he's named after his two other grandpas, so to look a little like my dad seems fitting. His frame is all Newhouse. Kathy tells me how much his physique reminds her of Bob at the same age. He definitely has wide feet like Bob, lacks a caboose that will hold up his pants, ribs that you can count in the front and back of him, and a fair hint of mischief as well.
James is my digger. Today at the park, he had so much dirt on him that it was smeared on his forehead like Rambo. He loves animals of all kinds. He will watch a bug for hours. Spiders, toads, and lizards are great subjects to study. He adores going to the zoo and the beach. Last time we went to the beach, I'd wash the sand off of him so we could leave, and he'd roll around in it again before I could get him into the car. During one of his trips to the ocean to wash off, we saw a great crab in the surf (I was wishing I had my bucket and could take him home for dinner). James still talks about that crab. He is my biggest fan of Wild Kratts. Lately, Ryan has assigned him the favorite animal of elephant, but I'm pretty sure he loves the black rhino the most as I hear about it quite often.
This sweet face belies the evil genius that resides inside. I would say that James might be a touch strong willed. As I spent 20 minutes locked in the bathroom with him last night as he screamed and pounded on the door vowing to steal the robot toy Michael earned for pooping on the potty, I might not be as objective as I should be. He is my only child who has yet to pee on the potty. Kathy says that he peed for her, but if a tree falls in the forest, I didn't hear it, so it doesn't count. Most of the time, he refuses to sit, but tonight, he decided to try for a while. I am keeping hope alive, but as he is the instigator of the frog potty races, the jury is still out. James at his most diabolical at the library. That boy loves books, hates the library. He enjoys story time, but he wants to be part of the story. I am so grateful to the librarians at the University Park Library that they love my boys despite their rowdiness. Miss Kim and James are great friends. I'm pretty sure he'd go home with her and only send me postcards. James knows exactly what he needs to do for us to have to leave the library. If he decides that he's not into library time, he will do what it takes to get us back into our "umicar." One day, I took him to the bathroom, spanked him twice, gave stern talkings, and finally had to leave. He was not upset in the least. As previously stated - genius.
This handsome boy is not always crafty. He is genuinely kind, tender hearted, frightened of toy thievery committed by Michael, and so sensitive. He is my little love. He's a mama's boy, and I'm not complaining one bit. If something happens that causes him to feel upset in any way, he will grab his blanket, pacifier, and my hand then head to my bed. He crawls in, pats the mattress, covers up, tells me to take my hair out of the clip and get under the covers, then lays there until he is ready to come out. It reminds me of an antebellum lady getting the vapors and taking to her bed. I love it. He's such a character. In the mornings, he climbs into bed with me, grabs my phone, and curls up for a cuddle and some youtube. I think it's one of the best parts of my day.
As mentioned before on this blog, our family is slightly obsessed with Star Wars. He is my Han Solo, loves stormy-troopers and robots of all kinds. We have a bucket full of new Star Wars toys for potty rewards. This model was a birthday gift from Aunt Sue & Uncle JP. James has loved it to death, and Aunt Sue promised to look at the age limits on the next gift so that I don't have to buy a hot glue factory.
In the last few weeks, James has started talking. He is our least talkative child, but if you find his "jam" he will give you quite an earful. There is a Star Wars shooting game on the iPhone that he loves (shocking, I know), and a couple of weeks ago, we were video chatting with my parents and he kept yelling "I got one, Grandma! I got one." Made my mom's day, and James - a mutual admiration society. Bob thought he was pretty silent until he saw him watch an Umizoomi episode. He is most engaged in the antics of Millie, Geo, & Bot. He loves to sing. Life is a Highway is his signature tune, but he can also jam to the first 30 seconds of Bruce Springsteen's "We Take Care of Our Own," the Indiana Jones theme song, and he is a very good hummer of the Darth Vader Imperial March. James is also some what of a clothes horse like his Grandpa Robin and Uncle Zach. He likes to look nice and feels good in new outfits. I brought this shirt home. James is my hardest to fit (he's so skinny) clothing wise, so I had him try on the outfit. He called it his "grandpa shirt" (it's very similar to the style that Jim and Joe wear for nicer occasions) and refused to take it off. Even the on picture day, he wore it all day long refusing to take it off and save it for church.
This shot sums up the joys of brotherhood. James is always putting an arm around his brothers. Lately, not only do they come to me for comfort, they hug each other. It is the sweetest thing ever to watch them together. From the womb, I've told these little men that they are not only brothers but best friends, and they certainly are. It touches my heart beyond measure.
No comments:
Post a Comment