In which James is adorable

I was considering just posting the last 20 seconds of this video--in which James and Helen perform their nightly ritual of "I love you," "Bye," "I love you," "Bye"--but then I thought, What's better than 20 seconds of adorable? Two minutes of adorable, that's what.

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

This month we finally pulled ourselves together and had our first family photo shoot (with James, at least). Now, when you look through the album, I want you to be saying to yourself, "Wow. Not too shabby!" Not just because we're looking at the camera, generally smiling, and being our incredibly good-looking selves—although all that is true—but also because midway through the photo shoot James rendered me blind by stabbing a stick into my eyeball.

Of course, I finished the photo shoot because 20 cycles of America's Next Top Model have taught me that a top model always finishes a photo shoot. That, and the idea of getting everyone mucus free for another photo shoot was more painful than the searing pain in my eyeball, shooting into the back of my head. For reference, the incident occurred just before the picture on the steps with the maple leaf. In that picture, and all those that follow, tears were gushing from my just-poked eye.

One trip to Urgent Care, one course of antibiotics, one prescription for pain meds, one day of PTO, an eye patch and two days of blindness later, everything's just fine.

Clubhouse now open for business

Rodders has really outdone himself this time.  Our newly constructed playhouse is now the most solidly constructed dwelling we own.

As expected, the playhouse has been a hit with the small people in our house as well.  With only a floor and one wall built, the children were already taking orders through the window of their cafe/ice cream shop/waffle window.

I am two

In honor of James's two years on the planet, here are 24 things about him:

1. James stopped growing about six months ago, out of respect for his fellow toddlers who needed time to catch up.
2. His favorite pastime is reading and he would do very little else if given the choice. Right now we can't go a day without reading Snowy Day, Olivia, Goodnight Gorilla, Thomas and Friends, and a steady rotation of word books and books about babies.
3. When he isn't reading, James is playing "restaurant" with Ava, and saying adorable things like, "Mama, you like the pasta?"
4. James is generally an incredibly jovial kid and enjoys blowing kisses to strangers, dancing, screaming in excitement, and giggling.
5. James loves to sleep and often wakes up inconsolable from a nap.
6. James weighs 34 lbs.
7. James has been focusing a lot on colors lately. He knows the names of all the colors of the rainbow and uses them freely throughout the day, but cannot, for the life of him, assign the correct name to a color. We spend much of our day having this same conversation over and over again: "That'sa puorple!" "No, that's red." "That'sa red!"
8. James has exceptional manners and never ever misses the opportunity to say please, thank you, and you're welcome.
9. Legos are another favorite for James. He generally builds towers but has also been known to make hammers and, most recently, a digital camera.
10. Every time James hears an airplane he stops, points, screams "AIRPLANE" and makes the sound of an airplane.
11. James NEVER stops talking. At this point, James can say almost all words, uses sentences, and even recounts "interesting" things about his day. He still can't pronounce all of the letters of the alphabet, though, so it takes some concentration to keep up on his conversations.
12. Although usually happy as a clam, James has some pretty major anger management issues and isn't afraid to go all Mike Tyson on you when necessary. Ava endures the brunt of his anger because of her poor evasion tactics and her interest in stealing or protecting toys in tight quarters.
13. That being said, James and Ava could be described as best friends and they almost never play alone. 
14. On Thursdays, when Ava goes to school and James stays at home, James starts asking to pick Ava up from school at 10 am.
15. With each day, James is growing more independent. He can put his boots on by himself, zip his zippers, undress, and climb in his car seat. Getting dressed by himself is still a challenge, but he's always game to add 20 minutes to our morning routine by giving it the ole college try. As he will tell you: "I do it!"
16. James has a gloriously short bedtime routine. It takes all of two minutes from the time he gets in his pajamas to lights out. That includes brushing teeth ("I do it!"), walking around the room saying goodnight to things, tossing him in his crib, and a few rounds of "I love you", "Bye", "I love you", "Bye."
17. James loves Chex. He eats four bowls every morning.
18. James takes a baby doll with him wherever he goes.
19. If Ava's not James's best friend, then Brody is. The feeling is not mutual. That dog has put up with more than his fair share of "Gentle touches" in his time. 
20. You can say "Bath" at any point during the day and James will run to the bathtub and try to get in.
21. James asks to sit on the toilet every time he gets his diaper changed. There, we sing a song, he wipes, and flushes the paper down. What a waste.
22. If James hears any words he doesn't understand he smiles and replies, "Hola!"
23. James loves to skip, hop, gallop, and jump. All of those actions look exactly the same.
24. James has hit his head more in his first two years than Ava will in her entire lifetime. That's just a fact.

School Pictures

Had we remembered that it was picture day, we would have taken some efforts with the children's appearance--hair brushing and the like--but I think they pulled it off, just the same.

Halloween in the wild, wild West

In the past, Halloween has been a bit of a non-event for us. Ever the party poopers, we aren't usually the types to go all out for costume-required Halloween parties. Our most ambitious costumes that I can remember were a pair of die, but our perfectly flat surfaces proved quite attractive as drink coasters to inebriated party-goers, and we spent the night getting stuck in doorways with beer dripping down our costumes. In recent years we haven't dressed up at all, though we're never short on ideas or grand plans.

This year Aunt Paula and Uncle Joe flew out to Portland to go trick-or-treating with the kids. Since they were adding costumes to their checked luggage, we realized we, too, should be joining in with a little more Halloween spirit. And so we became a gang of cowboys (with James as our sheriff) and Paula and Joe dressed as convicts to complete the ensemble. Though Ava was initially going to be James's horse, she backed out of the plan when she noticed that the horses feet would surely get dirty during our outing. We tried to get James to say "Howdy partner!" or a more traditional "Trick-or-treat!" each time he approached a door, but we eventually settled for his no-nonsense "WANT IT!" every time the candy bowl came out.