James is 22 months

James is 22 months and he is amazing.
Yes, we've had a difficult month with pushing limits, some hitting, some biting (um? ouch!) and lots and lots of me telling him no.

But also, he is amazing.

He is understanding, repeating, talking, telling us what's on his mind and making me grow more and more in love with him by the moment. He is funny! And he knows it. He does silly thing all the time, wants to impress me with how "huge" he is, and is always doing or saying something new.

It is awesome to know what is going on in his head. We take a drive and he tells me what he's thinking about. The other day on the way to a playdate he motioned to the mountains. I asked him, looking in my review mirror, if he'd like to go up the mountains soon. He enthusiastically nodded and said "gaga!". "You want to go up the mountains to see a waterfall?" I asked. He grinned from ear to ear. So that is just what we did today. Took a drive up the mountains to visit such a beautiful little waterfall it takes your breath away.

Here are some silly things I don't want to forget:

• He's decided he loves Yo Gabba Gabba. Have you heard of that tv show? It is horrible but something about it is like toddler crack. He loves it, and knows all the characters by name. He'll point them out (correctly) during the show and it blows my mind that he can remember such trivial items.
• He'll beat box (you know, use your mouth to sound like drums and such). Again, this was from Yo Gabba Gabba and he does it all the time. I say "hey, are you beatboxing?" and he gives me a shy grin.
• He loves to smell flowers. When we take walks he'll stop to smell the roses, literally. He stops at almost every flower to take a huge sniff (most the time he only sniffs out, and never actually inhales the fragrance). Lately he's been wanting to smell the silk flowers on my mantle. He'll point at them and sniff. When I let him smell, he gives an enthusiastic sniff out, and continue on his day. Cracks me up every time.
• He shows off his big boy chair (his booster seat). He'll walk over to it multiple times a day and point it out to me. I ask "is that your big boy chair?" and he gets the proudest little smile.
• I am his favorite. Especially right now. He is going through a major Mama phase. Although frustrating at times, because he doesn't want me out of his sight, I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. He asks for me first thing in the morning. I know he's ready to get up when I hear "Mama! Mama!" through the monitor.
• He LOVES big trucks. Bulldozers and diggers are seriously his favorite things in the world. When he sees one working he claps and laughs. Melts me.
• Will run towards the tomatoes in the back garden any time we are outside. I allow this. With all the no's he hears every day, I figure him eating as many tomatoes as his tummy can hold is not the biggest deal. He knows how to pick the red tomatoes, pull off the stems, and pop them in his mouth. Sometimes he'll point to a green tomato and say "green!". So cute.
• Two weeks ago I took a hot bath and came out with super fuzzy hair. I said "oh my, look at my hair, it's fuzzy!". He quickly repeated "fuzzy". I told him not to tell anyone though, my fuzzy hair was a secret. He said "shhh...". Later in the day (a good four hours later) he said "ssshhhhh.... fuzzy!" It was hilarious. Now if you ask him what's his secret he'll tell you "fuzzy" quite happily.
• He still loves trees. A lot. I love this about him.
• Has really started to snuggle. Some days when he's crying or feeling scared, all the wants to do is sit on my lap, curled into a little ball and have his back scratched. He'll hug me tight, and I just know he adores me.

Amazing, right? I can deal with a hit or bite every once in awhile (even deal with the dreaded running into the street) when he is totally awesome and funny too. I love this little person so so much.

Wolfy photos were a little silly this month. He was in a super silly wiggle mood (aka lots of blurry photos) and he didn't want to put Wolfy down. He kept picking him up and hiding his face behind him. So there isn't one of him sitting next to Wolfy like he once did, but that's ok, I love this stage even more.

And from month 1 until now: