Wordless Wednesday: He Recognizes Batman!

You'd Think They Were Scalping Him

James will be 2 in 11 days.

I still think of him as my baby.  He is my little scruffy man.  Just look at that face!

 

The only thing I really wanted to do was get him a haircut before his birthday.  We are doing a party, and I have an outfit picked out, so I wanted to make sure he was cleaned up.

 

So that's what we did Saturday.

 

And I am so glad the place was empty.

 

He was fine until the lady touched him.  Then he spend the next 15 minutes crying as I held him in my lap and she trimmed him down.  There was enough hair on the floor when we were done to make a small Ewok.

 

And James was not happy at all.

 

 

That is the face of someone who is not so thrilled about what happened.

 

It is also the face of someone who is growing too fast for me.

 

After a trip to the grocery store, someone came home and played in the tub for 20 minutes and came out acting as if nothing had happened at all.

 





Can someone explain to me why boys head straight for rocks and mud as soon as they are clean?  It took my a bit to get the mud out from under his nails, but he is so happy playing there that I didn't want to make him stop.  The landscapers are going to hate us though.  My son has shown he has a strong throwing arm with all those rocks you see there. 

So, he's a little man now.  He looks like he is ready for business, and so much older.

All in 15 minutes.

Observations From Someone New

We've now finished 2 weeks with my youngest niece staying with us.

She's adjusting to life here slowly.  James and his early morning routine isn't helping too much.

He has a habit of opening and shutting cabinets.  Loudly.  Starting around 8am.

While last weekend she went to see her husband on base, this weekend she stayed home with us to relax a little.  It was her first weekend with us, and last night she made an observation to my husband's family that I hadn't thought about.

She told them that she liked me not being in front of a lap top all day long and getting to do things with me.

And that must be exactly what my son thinks, too.

Monday through Friday I actually have a paying job.  I spend all day working on projects and doing my day to day things for them.  I finish at 5, make dinner, and then finally get to sit somewhere where there isn't a computer monitor in front of me.

Her observation started a conversation about how James reacts to my time away from the laptop.

Lately, when I get up to work, James will come to the dining room where I am at and tries to climb into his high chair.  He wants to sit at the table while I work, usually with my iPhone on, for about 45 minutes.  Then he will go play and do his thing.  If I get up at any time, his spidey sense goes off and he is at my side.  Whether I am pouring some lemonade or using the bathroom, there he is.

His nap overlaps with my last 3 hours of work, so when I finish he is waking up.  And from then until bedtime I have a shadow.

This weekend, my niece watched as he went everywhere with me, tagging along and helping.  We saw a movie on Saturday (OMG - Iron Man 3!  GO!!), and he spent 4 hours with his great grandparents.  When we arrived to pick him up, my husband and niece walked in first and I could hear him squeal with excitement.

When I walked in he hopped off the recliner he was sharing with his great grandma and ran at me with his arms open.

That was the most wonderful hug I have ever gotten.

He missed me.

I try to spend time throughout the day with him as work allows.  But the last few weeks have been real work, and so that hasn't been as easy.

So the weekends are his.  He and I watch cartoons and play and wrestle.  I take him with me to run errands and make sure he gets to help in the kitchen.  He gets all the hugs and kisses, and he returns them so easily to me.

My husband jokes that he apparently just isn't enough for him.

I have to explain that it's different.

I've just known James longer than anyone else.  And James knows that.

Saturday Smile: Some Days You Have To Dance

A Farmer He Will Be

Yesterday, James went with his great grandparents to help prepare the backyard at his grandpa's house.

They started the planting for what great grandpa would like to grow this year.  We are expecting a wide assortment of peppers, tomatoes, corn, green beans, cantaloupe, and some zucchini and cucumber.

While great grandpa was planting, grandpa was setting up a canopy tent and backyard furniture for great grandma.

James came home exhausted.  Flat out exhausted.  He had been running all over the yard, playing with rocks and dirts, some old pots and pans, and "helping" for about 4 hours.  They bought him some fries for lunch, and he devoured those with his yogurt and a glass of milk.

When he woke up for 3+ hours of sleeping, dinner was no problem for a change.  He inhaled his macaroni and cheese.  He danced.  Then he snacked some more.  No whining.  Just happiness and joy and then bedtime with no whining.

My son the farmer, apparently.

Further proof he needs the time outdoors to be a boy.  And lots of it.