Pillow fort with Daddy

Please excuse the many, many photos- I find that if I don't have to go through the process of choosing between them I actually get blog posts done!

Good (messy) morning!

Antics

James does the above very often- he started it when he first could stand on his own and it has yet to stop amusing him or me.

Basic play

 Since Tim and I share a car it is rare that I have one during the work week and with the weather in Atlanta a bit hot and humid in the summer James and I have often taken refuge in the air-conditioned house (or I should say I keep James with me as I don't think he cares at all if his hair is plastered to his head with sweat).  This means that we have to find ways to burn of his toddler's energy inside- which can be challenging.  One activity that we both have loved since he was tiny is to wrestle on the bed.  Whenever we need a smile, giggle or just a general pick-me-up we jump up on the bed and tickle and hide and wrestle.  For me this puts off making the bed as it doesn't stay made once James is up their moving pillows around to tunnel under and blankets to burrow in.  Even if he is in a grumpy mood this will cheer him up immediately.

 

 And since he grew tall enough to reach the door knobs his next favorite activity is playing peek-a-boo with our bathroom doors.  Which means I can lazily lay on the bed just resting while he does all the work.

First whole apple

I'm sure I waited a lot longer than most moms to give their child a whole apple but I was concerned that James would bite off more than he could chew and expire.
So when he started showing a preference for larger and larger pieces of food I figured it would almost be safer for him to take bites of his own doing than for me to put a huge cut-up piece in front of him and he try to shove the whole thing in.  Then he started not eating fruit I had cut up at all- see the 20 month update for details on that.
An old, somewhat dried up and mealy apple was the perfect choice- would basically dissolve in his mouth.
He loved it.

Exploring the idea.

Approved!

His efforts resulted in many funny faces and much amusement for me.

Unlike an adult who takes a bite and then a second bite next to the first, James would try a new spot each time.

This made the apple pretty slippery and he ended up putting it on the tray to gain more leverage.

He was pretty pleased with himself.

Sleeping tight

 This is how I found James tonight when I checked on him.

 Normally all his animals are at one end and he is at the other...or all the animals are on the ground as he tossed them out before winding down and falling asleep.

I guess tonight he decided they were the perfect place to sleep tight,.

20 months old today

Today James is twenty months old.  I don't know the official measurements but he is somewhere around 31lbs and 35+ inches tall.
What he has really been sprouting in lately is his communication skills.  He know has over 100 words in his vocabulary- though most probably I can only understand and sometimes still only within context.
He is busy learning to be polite and does a magnificent job saying please, will say thank you if prompted, and will repeat 'thanks' when he hears me say it to people (for example we were in the hardware store this morning and I said thanks to the employee helping me and then I heard James chime in with his thanks).  He also is learning social dialogue: in the morning when I get James out of bed I ask if he wants to go say hi to daddy and when we pop around the corner so see Tim while he is getting ready for work Tim says "Good morning, James!" and James has started saying "morning!"
He also will repeat "love you" which comes out something like "wuv oo".
He is full on in love with the letter "V", not so much to see it but to add it to words like "vunch" for lunch.
As far as the alphabet goes James can recognize and say: b, j, m, o, q, s, and sometimes w (the B is by far his favorite).  He can also recognize and say "2".  We have a lot of slow walks around the neighborhood finding and reading signs.
Even though his ability to communicate with us is getting better by the hour, it has resulted in him getting more frustrated with us when we don't understand what he is trying to say.  Meltdowns and tantrums are on the rise.
He is ever our good eater and decided last night that fruit cut up in bits was so yesterday and wanted his cherries whole with stem and pit.  Therefore he swallowed one pit last night and another today during morning snack.  I assume they'll just make their way on down and not cause any problems.
He has also realized that he can hold sway over Skype- so when he is done talking to grandparents and aunts he will just say 'bye' and wave his hand and expect the call to be over.  Used to be we'd talk until he was bored and then he'd just wander off to play. No longer.
On that note: if I email to long he will come up and ask me to close the laptop; he will plop himself up on the couch and point to the TV and say 'show' (followed of course by a very nicely said please); if he needs help with something he'll come up to me and say "ma-he, heh, pleaze" (mommy, help please).
Basically he is totally fun to talk with and listen to.
James is going through some weird kind of sleep rhythm lately- taking forever to go down for a nap and then taking even longer to go to bed at night.  I think before this he was sleeping about 13.5 hrs in total between nap and night, and now I think it is more like 12 hours.  The upside is that he is awake long enough to have family dinners with Tim and I and that is a lot of fun.  Tonight is chicken tacos which I know James will love.
I need to take some updated pictures of him- he is getting so big!