Things loved

As any child gets older they are more able to express themselves clearly- both their likes and dislikes.  Lately James has been showing his affinity and love for several specific things:

• izsh!izsh!izsh! (all things fish related- this is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging much as every time I sit at the computer James will sprintcrawl over asking to see fish)
• dede (his daddy who is being greeting with ever increasing enthusiasm)
• babababa (he is now down to one bottle of formula before bed- he started out with 4 at 11 months when he stopped nursing, we dropped the morning one when he dropped his morning nap at 12.5 months, the second we dropped before his afternoon nap in early January, the third we dropped from first thing in the morning this week, and the evening bottle will soon also be switched out for a sippy cup of milk just as the others were)
• eyes (he will point out the eyes of anything and everything- a great thing for distracting him when he is getting fussy)
• putting anything new in his mouth (I thought this oral fixation would end earlier as I know other kids his age who do not put EVERYTHING in their mouths- but I did the same thing so I guess it is genetic (on a side note and I might have said this before I am actually a proponent of kids putting everything into theirs mouths for the benefit of a strong immune system- I even ate the dirt out of the sidewalk cracks when I was little and I basically never got sick and still rarely do)
• wrestling/tickle attacks on our bed (a great way for James to get some of his energy out these past weeks while the weather outside was too cold to really go play at a park)
• and, of course, me (James has learned that I love snuggling and he will put his head on my shoulder or chest knowing I like it and he is also practicing his kissing skills which I will need to get a video of because it is cute but disgusting as he is at that open mouth kissing stage where his tongue leads the way and because his main example is Tim and I kissing each other on the mouth James thinks that kissing is for the lips- so even if you present him with your cheek - which is a slimy enough experience- he will take his hand and turn your face directly to his and kiss you on the lips)