James's Two Year Old Check Up

I still can't believe James is two! And being two meant it was time for another trip to the pediatrician. James did a great job at the doctor's office even though he was feeling sick for his well visit (he got a nasty tummy bug and had been up throwing up the night before). Being sick didn't get him out of his shots though since he wasn't running a fever and James did not appreciate those!

As of two years and one month old James weighs 29 pounds (58th percentile) and is 35 inches tall (57th percentile). James still has an enormous noggin: at 20 inches his head size is the 92nd percentile!

Fun in Georgia

After Christmas we still had a fun week to play in Georgia before it was time to head back to real life in Cincinnati. We had tons of fun playing with James's new toys, visiting the Christmas village at Stone Mountain Park, going to the aquarium and enjoying the little warmer weather by going to the park.

Looking at the jellyfish.

Playing on the seesaw with Cici.

Reading stories with Grandpa - they spent a lot of time reading in this chair.

Pippin had tons of fun playing with his buddy Eddie - he has been missing having a constant playmate since we got back.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was so much fun this year since James understands what's going on a bit more - at the very least he understands that he is getting presents.

James got to start the festivities a little early this year and open presents from his Grandma and Grandpa Kendall and his Kendall family cousins before we headed down to Georgia to spend Christmas through New Years.

We had a pretty low key Christmas Eve this year where we read the nativity story while James dressed up as a shepherd (like Charlie Brown as he says).

Christmas morning was lots of fun. Present opening was much slower than usual since every time James opened something he wanted to stop and play with it or read the new book that he had received instead of moving on to the next present. Then of course there was lots of toy playing with until it was time to head to my Aunt and Uncles for Christmas dinner and fun with extended family. Dinner was delicious and James had so much fun playing with my cousin's children that he had no interest in leaving when it was time to go even though it was already past his bedtime. All in all I'd say it was a very successful Christmas!

Christmas Festivities

It was so much fun to take James to do Christmasy things this year. We got to go to the zoo for the festival of lights with some friends and James had a great time looking at all of the Christmas lights and giving a high five to Frosty the Snowman, even if it was super cold. We also went to a holiday train exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum that James loved so much we had to go back the next weekend as well.

Checking out the Trains

The beloved train table at the museum.

Riding the kid's train.

James even got to meet Santa. He was pretty nervous about meeting Santa and never would sit on his lap, but he did sit on my lap near Santa and eventually did talk to him and tell him what he wanted for Christmas.

 We also made our first family attempt at a gingerbread house ... it did not go particularly well but James still thought it was tons of fun.














And of course once we were in Georgia James helped to make cookies!

Pippin hung out in the kitchen in hopes that James would drop some scraps.

Deck the Halls

James had an awesome time helping Jed and I to decorate the tree this year. It was freezing the day we went to get a tree from the incredibly festive Home Depot lot so we grabbed a tree pretty quick, and luckily it turned out to be the perfect one. By the time the tree had been up for a couple of days the bottom half of the tree was basically undecorated and a few ornaments didn't make it to Christmas (ornaments do look a lot like balls), but James loved having the tree up and commented on it constantly. James especially loved all of the lights.

James Turned 2!

James and Grandpa checking out the eagles.

On November 30th James turned 2! Because his birthday was the weekend of Thanksgiving this year he got to spend most of his actual birthday in the car driving back to Cincinnati from Georgia, so we did some celebrating the day before his birthday. To celebrate we went to the Chattahoochee Nature Preserve with my parents and Grandma and then out to dinner. James of course loved getting to eat some cake and opening presents (unlike last year he understands the concept of presents much better now).

James and his Daddy looking at a beaver.

The lion cake that I made for James.

Because we were in Georgia for Thanksgiving James got to open some presents from his Grandma and Grandpa Kendall over Skype a little early!

Playing with his new basketball hoop.

James continues to charm us constantly. He loves trucks, and cars, and trains - really anything with wheels is alright with him. He also loves reading books, playing with his stuffed animals, playing chase, and avoiding going to bed. James is always excited to go to story time, the museum, or the zoo - even Kroger is an ok outing with him since he gets a cookie there.

At two I don't even know how many words James knows anymore, but it is well over a thousand, and he has figured out how to combine those into sentences. As of his birthday the longest sentence he had said was 12 words, though it's much more common for him to stick to 4 to 5 word statements. He can also occasionally count to 10 (it's just occasionally because he often skips 4 and 5), but he really only understands the actual concept up to number 3 - after that it's just memorized.

James loves to jump and run and climb on the arms of our couches. Luckily he hasn't yet chosen to start climbing out of his crib. James enjoys throwing balls (and anything else he can get away with throwing) though he hasn't quite figured out the whole catching thing yet. James likes to walk his bike all around the house - we're hoping that by this spring he gets the concept of actually coasting, but for now he seems completely content to take it for walks.

We're super excited for everything that next year has to bring for this little munchkin!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we got to head down to Georgia again for Thanksgiving. Luckily its a doable drive for a long holiday weekend - unluckily the 7 hour drive seems to stretch to a 9 hour drive once you toss a toddler and a puppy into the mix. It was all worth it though because we had a great Thanksgiving in Georgia. We had a great time visiting with extended family and James had an awesome time playing with some of my cousin's kids.

Yes, I did make Jed and James wear matching sweaters for Thanksgiving.

James and his Mommy

James and my cousin's 3 year old had a great time playing together.

 In addition to eating tons of food we also got to take James to Fern Bank while we were in Georgia - his highlights included the dinosaurs, making giant bubbles, and the kids room. In fact, James full on let out a scream of delight when he saw the huge kids room.

James and Grandpa admiring the dinosaurs