Mr. James, Kiddo Extraordinaire

I recently wrote another little gush-y post about my daughter and her awesome learning-and-growing skills. I knew it would be fun watching my kids grow and develop. What I wasn't sure about is how exciting it would be the second time around. Would everything be old news? Would I have time to appreciate any of it?

Love love love this boy.

Let there be no doubt: it is still way exciting. In fact, it might even be more so, sort of like how some books are better the second time around because you have context and can appreciate the plot twists and character traits and carefully chosen language even more. The fun part about kids, though, is the book changes the second time around. Similar context; a whole new adventure.

Our first adventure. (Still in progress, of course.)

Showing off her new favorite shoes...

...and making room for adventure number two.

So what have we learned so far about our little boy? Well, he's loud. He loves to chatter, and it is loud chatter. His coos are sometimes earsplitting. It's very fun to hear him talk, and we're pretty sure he talks more than Cambrie did. She was more contemplative, and he is more conversational. (Goodness knows Cambrie talks enough now to make up for any reserved-ness in her infancy.)

Maybe he's loud because he's got a sister setting the example. Know what she's doing in this picture? Yelling "PICKLE!!!!" as loud as she possibly can. That's my girl.

That's not to say he's not an observant little boy. Just in the past few weeks he's started becoming more interested in the world around him--an involved interest rather than a passive one. He loves to reach and grab for things that look like they merit more scrutiny. One day James, Cambrie and I were laying on the bed, and I draped a blanket loosely over us, sort of like a tent. The overhead light made the shapes on the blanket (stars, moons, blocks, pacifiers, etc.) practically glow from underneath.

(Same lighting idea, only it's with a tree instead of a blanket.)

Watching the light and shadow.

It was thrilling, as it always is, to see his eyes light up, too, when he saw those shapes as he never had before. I love being a witness to that sense of wonder, that patient curiosity, that quiet thought, "Wow! Look at those things! I'll keep watching them, maybe I'll try to touch them, and soon I'll figure them out." I see it as he watches the shadows on the wall, the letters on my t-shirt, the toys above his playmat.

He likes the camera, too. This is before he took a swing at it with those adorable, uncoordinated fists of his.

However, he's not quite as still and contemplative as I remember Cambrie being. If there is one thing I know about James, it is that he is wiggly. He was a relentless wiggler before he was born, and it hasn't changed since. His wiggles have translated into a proficiency in rolling, front to back and back to front, and they've aided in scooting, too. This isn't the type of scooting that can almost be considered crawling. It's the type of scooting that means if we put him down on a blanket, every time we look at him afterward he will be in a different position, often a respectable distance from his starting point. One might consider it stealth scooting.

First bike ride--with Grandma and Cambrie's help, of course.

We also love to see his personality showing through. As I think I've mentioned before, James is smiley-er than Cambrie was. He loves to grin, especially at people. Even more especially at his big sister, who then squeals with excitement, "Mommy! James made a smile at me!" Yesterday at the dinner table, Patrick noticed a new face: a mischievous little half-smile. We think it's adorable now--hopefully it won't turn out to be a face to fear because of any mischief that follows.

This isn't the mischievous smile, but it's endearing all the same.

Keep growing, Mr. James! We're excited to keep learning who you are!