A James Post: In Which I Brag About My Kid

So, it's been a really long time since I did an update on James so I figured I should change that. 

He's about 35 pounds (feels like fifty), 38 inches tall and has a seriously huge head (we had to buy him a helmet for 8 year old's).


He's a mama's boy. Majorly. It's ok with me. I love that my 3 year old asks me if I'll snuggle him multiple times a day. I know this won't last forever so I take advantage of it. It's nice to take breaks from housework to just sit on the couch holding my big boy while he chats away. He randomly says that he loves all day long. He's made up a little jingle that he frequently sings:
I love Mommy, I love Daddy, I love James....over and over and over. He's one of the sweetest kids I know. He really cares about people and their feelings and is extraordinarily well-behaved.

James knows most of his alphabet by sight and can count to thirty. He can spell his name (verbally, and recognizes it visually) and is learning to spell simple three letter words. He's doing such a great job and I'm so proud of him. He is struggling with drawing/writing. We can't tell if he's left or right handed or both. I've tried to just step back and let him use whichever hand he wants, but I feel like he's a little confused sometimes. He eats and brushes his teeth with his left hand, which leads me to believe that it's his dominant hand, but then he'll throw and draw with his right. I really have no clue! Hopefully we can figure it out before he goes to school. Until then, his drawing skills are pretty limited..but, he's only 3, so we have some time.

We finally ditched the pull-up once and for all. I was using it at night because he kept falling off of his toddler bed and crawling into our bed in the wee small hours and I really didn't want him accidentally peeing in MY bed.  My sister just got married and my parents gave us her bed. It's perfect because it was a top bunk so it has rails on both sides! He LOVES his new bed. He can sleep in all the weird positions he wants and loves having all that space to himself...in underpants. Yay!

He really wants to be a big kid. He talks about how he's going to grow up all the time. His current dream is to play soccer. He REALLY wants to play games with older kids. He gets so excited when the opportunity presents itself that he mostly just runs around like crazy with bouts of insane laughter. Every time he eats he informs us that the food is traveling down his throat, into his tummy, down his legs, and into his toes (which he calls turtles...why I don't know) and because of this process he states that he is getting bigger.

His favorite person right now is his Peepaw (Grandpa Willardson).  He loves to terrorize him by blowing bubbles at him with his bubble gun, talking his ear off, and just chasing him around.

He plays very well on his own. His imagination just astounds me. I'm so glad that he can sit down and entertain himself for hours on end...because the other hours on end are spent asking me millions of questions. And questions are great! Really! But after hours of questioning your nerves sort of...yeah.

He is super friendly, unlike me. I'm a major introvert and that kid is really pushing me out of my comfort zone. He says hello to everyone he meets in this loud, obnoxious little voice; he waves and smiles and draws a lot of unwanted attention. BUT, I'm glad that he's not shy. Being shy really sucks. They call it "painful" for a reason. No, really. It is. So I'm glad that he's not like that because I think he'll have an easier time at life.  He loves people so much. As an introvert, I recharge by being alone. Being around people excessively is very draining and quiet, alone time is my recovery. James is just. the. opposite.  If we don't go out enough he starts getting really grouchy. He NEEDS people, which is just weird to me. I have to work really hard to find a happy balance between our different personalities and needs. He's always teaching me something or another.

He loves church and is so great about saying prayers (although he currently thinks that it's hilarious to begin his prayer (Dear...) and end it right afterwards (In the name...).  He is a great helper in FHE and loves to sing primary songs before bed. He finds scripture study to be boring and struggles to stay reverent, but he at least tries. We get compliments for his good behavior constantly.

He loves to make people laugh. He loves making up knock-knock jokes that make no sense. His punch lines are often missing, but his laughter is so contagious that it doesn't really matter.  He loves helping in the kitchen. He has his own apron and helps prepare dinner every night (adding at least a half hour to prep time, but he loves it). He sets the table all by himself and is a really great cleaner around the house. He will clean any given room if asked and will do so almost perfectly. It's quite impressive.

He is my practically perfect child. I have very little problems with him and feel really lucky to have him.