James Update- 2 years and 2 months

 Our early suspicions were definitely right, we have a serious talker on our hands!! James has learned so many new words and phrases and he loves to talk. Loves, loves, loves it. Whenever we are out and about running errands, I usually have at least one person comment on how much he talks. There are a lot of things that he says that need interpreting, but he is getting really good at communicating what he wants and what he is thinking about.

The best is when he picks up on little phrases and exclamations that you just don't expect out of a little one. His favorite right now is "Oh my gosh!!". He says it all the time with different variations and emphasis. Sometimes it is  "Oh. My. Gosh." Other times it is "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!!" He also says "Oh, shoot!", "Awww, man" and "Cool!!"

He has started to have a real independence streak and is having a hard time with transitions, so we have started saying "Bye, bye!" to anything that we have to leave or put away. It seems to help him realize that we are leaving or that it is time for it to go and he doesn't get as upset. Usually. In the past week or so he has started saying "Bye bye! ab good day!!!" (have a good day). It is so funny to hear him tell the boat or a toy car to have a good day :)

He is still really particular about his clothes and things around him in general. Everything around him always has to be just so. As the weather is getting warmer, I have had to make sure to hide his hats and jackets because if he finds them, he insists on wearing them no matter how hot or uncomfortable or cranky it makes him. I've started asking him what he wants to wear in the morning and try to give him some options, because if I choose something he doesn't like he flips out! One time he absolutely didn't like the shirt I picked out and after I put it on him he pulled and pulled and pulled on it until I took it off. When I ask him what he wants to wear in the morning, he always says, "Tie, tie, tie!!" I can usually get away with ignoring it, but one day he wouldn't let up, so I put on a tie over his t-shirt. He loved it!! He wore it all day.

Here are pictures of a trip to a park where he insisted on wearing his hat and his church shoes. I tried offering him multiple pairs of other shoes, but he just wasn't happy until he got his church shoes. When I went to put those on him, he was giggling with joy!

Here is a picture of the lake at this new park. It was a beautiful morning!

I had to take a picture of the roots of this cool cypress tree. It looks like something you would see in a fantasy movie!

 

James hates seeing trash on the ground and always wants to pick it up wherever we go (the park, the grocery store, etc..). Then he doesn't want to give it to me, he always wants to hold onto it until we can find a trash can and he can put it in himself.  

He still loves trains, but most of his attention seems to have moved to cars (and cars the movie), boats, and turtles. There is a video on youtube that he loves called "the fruit train" that is just a cartoon of a train with different fruits behind it and they name each one. James has watched it for a long time and has finally started trying to copy all the fruits that they say. Anthony got an adorable video of it the other day. My favorite is how "lemon" and "watermelon" became "belly button" :)