Church

James enjoys going to church. He has a little Sunday School class (Junior Godly Play), and he adores Margaret, his usual teacher. He's also a big fan of the "big kids," Katie and Trevor. Since today was Palm Sunday, the children joined the procession (on "donkeys") before heading to their classes. James was very serious about his donkey, and did his best to follow Trevor's lead. Since there were only a couple kids for each of the classes, the big kids joined James's group for the start of class today. Dan and I stood outside the door for a bit watching our sweet little boy sitting SO NICELY to hear the story. When he returned to church for the Eucharist, he sat rather nicely (relatively) and quite enjoyed playing with the palms.

But here's the best part. . . tonight at supper he watched as Dan showed me how to make a palm cross (Dan attended the lesson after church). James was then holding the crosses and shouted, "HO-sanah in the highest!"

This photo is actually from a few weeks ago (but James was wearing the same CUTE outfit-- thanks Auntie Peg-- today) when Dan and James got some Girl Scout cookies from Katie after church.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

James made this adorable little headband at school today (it finally reopened after the storm's power outages were repaired).

And just to provide further evidence of the wacky wardrobe hijinks mentioned in the last post, here is the getup he was sporting last night.
Yes, those are the infamous rain boots (on the wrong feet, alas), one mitten, one glove, and his taxi hat. Nice.

Wardrobe Antics

My apologies to Auntie Peg to whom I promised this blog post on Thursday. That evening James came home and found a few of his belongings and felt compelled to wear them:

Then it was time to eat. He didn't let a little winter wear slow him down. No sir, he tried to get up into his blue chair.

Then he intended to help himself to some delicious chicken soup.

It was a bit easier without the mittens.

In other silly wardrobe news-- James has been thoroughly enjoying wearing Mommy & Daddy's shoes, snow boots, or slippers.

Ever since the torrential downpours began on Saturday, he's been obsessed with his rain boots. Obsessed! As in he wore them during his nap yesterday afternoon! I put him in his crib without them on, but he kept asking for them, "You need that! You need that rain boot!" When I handed them to him, he put them on then put his feet right back under the covers.

It is probably worth mentioning, for your entertainment, that he also wore his stripey knit hat from breakfast until he got into the bathtub last night!

Yeah, Dan and I think it is time to get some dress-up costumes for the boy!

Catchphrase Update

So, as an update to the Olympic motto post--

The other day James was finishing his meal sitting in his blue chair. He basically did a press-up with his hands on the arms of the booster seat. He said, "You are the tallest." Then, as I got him out of the seat, "You are the getting-down-est."

Big Boy Skills

When did my Sweet Baby James become such a BIG BOY?!

He can now handle staircases just fine on his own. Up and down. Saying, "You're such a big boy," as he does so (cracks me up).

His singing repertoire has expanded substantially. Recent favorites (that he'll just break out into all on his own) include: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "The Mayor of Blanketville" by Tom Chapin, "Frosty the Snowman," and "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah."

He climbs in and out of the car. And sometimes into his blue chair for mealtime.

He's even jumping over things. Very low things.

Tooth brushing is improving-- we're hitting all the teeth, and he even spits every now and then.

His eating skills are improving in terms of silverware use. He eats a bowl of cold cereal with a spoon, no problem (yeah, I know lots of people are saying, "Big deal," right now). Quinoa with a fork. He really doesn't use his fingers nearly as much. Progress :-)

And speaking of table skills, check this out!

Mr. Fix-it

Yesterday, one of our BMW model cars (thank you, Ridgewood Run age group awards) broke an axel. James asked Dan to fix it, so he broke out the crazy glue. He had to use a screwdriver to take the car apart in order to get at the axel better. In no time at all, the small SUV was ready to roll again, and James had been a keen observer. Thanks, Daddy!

This morning I found James like this on the couch.

What's that tool he's holding? A "carfix," of course. "Mommy, I found the carfix!"