Bad Sleeper/James Stories

I have been a very bad blogger lately, mostly because my almost two-year-old requires 100% of my attention almost all day long, and he has not been going to bed as early and is trying to give up his naps, so the last thing I want to do at night is sit down at the computer and try to think! I snatch 5 minutes here and there on the computer to check a blog or two, and then James will come right over and get me up! This is probably going to continue, too, because I don't see an end in sight!

James has gone from being the best sleeper to a pretty bad sleeper over the past few weeks. Everything is all out of whack with his sleeping patterns. We used to rock him for 5 minutes, read a book, etc, and put him in bed around 7. He'd go right to sleep. It's now taking him about an hour of crying (as I'm writing this, he did a little better tonight!) while we go in and reassure him in ever increasing intervals before he settles down. He's also getting up an hour or two earlier every morning, and not going down for a nap AT ALL. The past couple of days I have driven until he's asleep at naptime (it feels so strange to leave my house at 1:00!), just so he won't be so sleep deprived. The poor thing has circles under his eyes and is throwing one big, HUGE tantrum every day now.

Besides that, though, this is my favorite age so far with James. He seems to get more fun every single day, and is the sweetest, most loving and adorable little buddy I could ever ask for. He is hilarious and his little personality just melts me. I am crazy about this age, and he's just so enjoyable to us. He is learning new things all of the time and seems to shock us almost every day! A few weeks ago, I thought I'd try to get him to learn some of his numbers. I had never worked on them before, so I thought it would be fun. I started with 1, and he said "Two". With me alternating numbers, he counted up to 9 (skipping 8)! We did it over and over, and he did it perfectly every time. I couldn't believe my ears! I guess he picked that up in a book or on Sesame Street!

James is also getting really into praying. This one makes us so proud. James will wait till we all three are sitting down at the table and will say, "Pray?" He will reach for our hands, bow his head, and then say, "AMEN!" A couple of times now, he has gone over to the table at random times, bowed his head, and started saying a jibberish prayer. I'm sure that makes God so happy!

One funny quirk about James is that he usually knows exactly where we are around town. He is very spatially aware, and will talk about the places we go when we are near them, no matter which direction I've come from. Even places that we've only been a couple of times.

James made me laugh today when I put an outfit on him that he hadn't worn since the Fall. He used to wear this outfit with his cowboy boots that are too small for him now and hasn't worn in months. When I put the outfit on, he ran away from me, went into his closet, and came back with the cowboy boots on! Either he has a great memory or a great fashion sense! I'm hoping it's the first one!

James' favorite books right now are Maisy books. If you have a small child and don't have them, go get one, because they seem to have a spell over them. James says "Night-night, Maisy" before bed, and during the day, we have to hunt for the books sometimes, because he's so insistent on reading them.

One of James' favorite games to play is hide and seek. He runs fast and will hide really well and wait. When I find him, he does his growly laugh. He is also very into soccer right now, and I would say it's what he does best. He loves to dribble down the street and pass it back and forth to us.

I have no pictures right now, but I will work on that soon! Hope everyone is doing well!