one of his fake smiles:)
This post is a little late, but James turned 3 1/2 in October, and I wanted to post a little about him at this age. I love having a 3 1/2 year old boy. I can't believe how much more grown up he is now, but he's also still my sweet little cuddle bug.
*James is one of the sweetest boys you could find. He truly loves his brother and wants to do the right thing with him most of the time, for example, getting a toy to make him happy, talking sweetly to him, telling him it's going to be okay or Mama will be right back when he's upset. He tells me often how I'm the bestest mama in the world, he wants me to keep him forever because he likes me, sweetly smiling at me and kissing me over and over, complimenting me daily, etc, etc.
*James is one of the sweetest boys you could find. He truly loves his brother and wants to do the right thing with him most of the time, for example, getting a toy to make him happy, talking sweetly to him, telling him it's going to be okay or Mama will be right back when he's upset. He tells me often how I'm the bestest mama in the world, he wants me to keep him forever because he likes me, sweetly smiling at me and kissing me over and over, complimenting me daily, etc, etc.
*James is always listening...always!! I will mumble something under my breath to Josh, won't be sitting next to him, and even if he's doing something else, he'll ask me about what I said.
*He is all up in our business and almost constantly engaged in conversation with us. He has to know what's going on all the time!
*He asks a million questions a day and doesn't accept my I-don't-feel-like-thinking answers!
*He doesn't like when I said, "Mmmm-hmmm", because he knows I'm half-listening!
*James has a very long attention span and loves to work on puzzles, build with blocks, be read to, draw and practice writing, pretend and role play with ANYTHING (his "friends" (stuffed animals), little people, sticks, rocks,...).
*James is extremely sure-footed and has great balance. Our doctor was schocked watching him balance behind me on the chair and laughed saying he looked like an acrobat. :)
*He loves to dribble the soccer ball and play scoring games where he's either Georgia or Alabama.
*James is very strong-willed. Josh and I commented lately that hardly anything in this boy's life has been easy with him (among the little things) since about the age of 2. From big boy bed transition, to brushing teeth, to washing/combing his hair, to sleeping through the night (although he was great as a baby), to naps, to waking up from naps in a bad mood, to getting dressed, to going #2 in the potty, to getting his haircut, to getting him to take pictures, to eating, to taking medicine, pretty much getting him to do anything we want him to do! Oh yeah, Santa pictures (see below post)! That might sound bad, but that's just part of our James! A part that one day, I'm sure will be a wonderful trait, but will have given us some gray hairs by the time he's grown.
*Some easy things now: babyhood, nursing, weaning, pee-pee potty training, loving his brother, leaving him with other people to be watched (he loves his babysitters) and church, giving up his paci (a few months ago), and traveling.
*James is intuitive and perceptive. He senses the slightest change in people's moods.
*He is compassionate and will ask me or others if they're okay very sincerely when they get hurt. He'll rub my back or pat me, too.
*James is forgiving. If I've lost my patience with him (which doesn't go over well with my sensitive boy) and apologized for saying whatever to harshly, he'll go quickly from anger and hurt to saying very sweetly and sincerely, "That's okay, Mama." and being over it.
*James is a complimentor. He will tell me while cooking, "Mama, you're doing a great job making!" People will tell me he'll walk in their house and tell them they have a beautiful house. He recently told Michael that his baby cousin Lydia had beautiful blue eyes. He will just look at me and tell me I'm pretty while getting ready. Not sure if I should be worried about this, but he also will randomly pick out girls and say they look pretty, including a manican at Spice...and then went up to her and held her hand. He also looked at a big cheerleader picture at McAlisters, got a shy grin on his face, and said, "Who are they?"
*James has a shy side. It takes him a few moments to warm up to a new group of people or new place. He has a shy smile where he covers his eyes or mouth. He gets out of it fast, though, and then a lot of times even likes to be the center of attention!
*James is extrememly enthusiastic. I'm going to miss this when he's outgrown it, but when he's not speaking in a teenager-like lower voice, he's got an adorable, enthusiastic way of talking. He gets excited so easily and makes everything so much fun.
*He's very particular. Very particular! Everything has to be just so, and he'll let you know about it. He's not shy to speak up, and tries to demand his way. 
*He likes things clean and knows how to completely clean a room. It's not the way I would have done it, but it's cute to watch him. He is sooo proud of himself when he does and runs in to tell us to come look at it.
*James is extremely loving. He's very affectionate and expressive in his love. He has a very big heart and is sensitive. I think he will make such a wonderful husband someday!
*James is already taking on his daddy's traits. He likes to try to take care of us by doing things for us. He recently grabbed me a yogurt and spoon while I was packing lunches and put it in my lunchbox in case I got hungry. I actually was glad that he did!
*Some funny things he does that I don't want to forget:
-Instead of thanks, he says, "hanks", instead of everything, he says, "every-hang". It is hilarious! He will say, "no hang" for nothing. He does not try to hide the fact that he can't pronounce his th's!
-James will mouth what we're saying a lot. For example, he'll say, "Mommy, I cleaned my room!", and I'll say, "I'm so proud of you!", and he'll mouth what I'm saying as I'm saying it with a smile on his face. It cracks us up! He knows us all too well, and apparently we same the same phrases a lot!
That's about all I can think of right now about James at 3 1/2! I'm in disbelief that he'll be 4 in April!
