Best Buddies

James and Benton are best buddies. While other toddlers can play next to each other at best, these two have been pals since they were both a little over one year old. While they share toys amazingly well and seldom, if ever, argue, the best thing about their friendship is the way they can make each other laugh. Benton can say one small, goofy thing and James virtually explodes with belly laughter. Of course, once a joke is successful, it needs to be used again -- and, if you're a toddler, over and over and over again, eliciting the same uncontrollable laughter each time.

This past Saturday, Benton spent the day with us. The first thing that they did upon Benton's arrival was to throw each of Jamie's Thomas the Tank Engine toys across the living room. Then each of the pieces of track. And the station. Then, they dumped two large bins of cars, trucks, and trains and chucked those. It was mayhem. But, as we always tell James, "It's OK to make a mess, as long as you clean it up." We told the boys that they needed to pick every one up before we could go swimming. Switching from destructive mode to cooperative mode, they put every piece back.

The boys had a lovely time in the Puddle Jumper pool near our house on this beautiful, hot summer morning. They spent a solid 30 minutes playing "dunk" -- Bention would count, "One-two-three!" and put his head in the water, holding his breath for a surprisingly long time. James would follow with his count: "Eight-nine-ten-forty!" and dunk his head. Back and forth this went.



After the pool, we brought the boys home for nap time. This is a precarious proposition on any day, but with these two together we were quite certain that, though it might be fun, it would not result in any sleep. Much to our surprise, it did.



To make our dinner date with friends, we had to wake the boys up from their nap. This was followed by a long, sleepy drive. They had worn themselves out.



We are so grateful that James has such wonderful friends (and their families!) -- next week, James will spend two days and a night with Benton's family while Becky & I try to buy ourselves a new house in Iowa.

For all the photos of these adventures (including a couple of little baby sister in her swim gear), see here:

11.06.18 -- James & Benton

Broccoli and Noodles Together

Tonight James came home, half asleep on Eric's shoulder, after a long day of playing hard with his best friend Benton. As Eric carried him to his room he lifted his head and said, with a sleepy smile on his face and in his voice, "Mom I ate broccoli and noodles together." He was obviously very proud of himself.

I laughed to myself and thought how he sounded a bit like a drunk coming home at after a long binge and realized that he probably was sleep drunk after such an exciting day.

NOTE FROM DAD: It turns out that this was actually not even true. James did NOT have broccoli and noodles together. He had some noodles, but didn't touch the broccoli.

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa!

Last week, Grandma and Grandpa visited! We had so much fun and Grandpa took some amazing photos!

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa!

The Best Big Brother

When people ask me how things are going, now that we have two kids, I usually respond that they've been great. Then I go on to tell the highlight of the past couple months: seeing James in the role of the big brother. He's been exceptionally sweet and accepting of little Anna, in ways that continue to surprise me. For example, this afternoon Anna was taking a nap on our bed while James and I played racecars in the living room. Over the monitor, we heard that Anna was upset -- I got up and told Jamie to keep driving his racecars and that I'd be right back. Before I could finish, he dashed past me, down the hallway, and climbed onto the bed to pat Anna's head and say, in his very hi-pitched "baby" voice, "It's OK baby sister."

Later this afternoon, he had a splinter in his thumb that was causing some pain. He was very upset and in this moment only wanted baby sister to kiss it to make it feel better. She, of course, obliged.

James loves to snuggle his baby sister:


He loves to play with her:


And occasionally use her as a runway:


He is one cool dude!

Compassion for Snakes

Lately we've had to dissuade James from stomping on bugs. I'm not sure where he learned this, but he's been intentionally trying to step on roly-polies and other little critters around the yard. Becky said that yesterday he intentionally tromped on a moth then, after she asked him not to, did it again. He also shows a great curiosity toward these critters, picking them up and examining them. He spent the better part of the morning playing with a little zoophoba worm (that we feed the turtles) in the magnifying-cup that his Aunt Lissy brought him. While I'm glad that James is not afraid of these bugs, it has been a bit of a struggle to see him show so little understanding for the damage to their lives he can cause with a single footfall. Any doubts I may have had about his compassion for animals was quickly put to rest this afternoon.

Yesterday, I brought a garter snake home from one of my research sites, with the intention of attaching a radiotransmitter and returning him home the next day. This morning, James was my trusty assistant as I weighed, measured, and attached the transmitter to the snake. He even held the snake, all by himself, for a while -- and did so perfectly:

11.05.22 -- James with Snake

The final step in processesing the snake involves clipping a couple of his belly scales in order to identify the snake if he's caught again and to collect a small bit of tissue for DNA analysis. While this does hurt a bit, it heals quickly and does not cause the snake any long-term injury. James watched me make the first clip and became very upset, saying repeatedly, "No, Daddy. Leave him alone!" I tried to explain to him that it was OK, but the sight of me hurting the snake was just too much -- he repeated again and again, "Leave him alone!" His compassion for this creature left me incredulous -- he was adamantly and forcefully protecting the snake from harm. Of course, I stopped my work and let us all take a break. As he was defending the snake so ardently, I looked at my boy in the eyes and felt what was not only pride but admiration. And here I thought I would be the one teaching him about snakes.

Fantasy is Better than Reality

Yesterday Home Depot had their NASCAR race car here at the local store. Seeing how much James loves the movie Cars and pretending to be a race car, I thought going to see it would be a fun adventure for us to have.

It was a rainy day but the car was safely tucked under an overhang so we could see it without getting wet. He was very excited (mostly about getting his own small model) and wandered around the car looking, touching, pointing out parts he liked, and asking questions.

When it was time for them to leave they opened up the back of trailer they hauled the car in. This led to more excitement because it was "just like Mac" in the movie Cars. We then received a warning that they were going to start the car and it would be loud - Antoinette was with us and they didn't want to damage her ears. We moved inside the building to what I thought was a safe distance and they started the car. They weren't kidding - it was loud.

James was lingering somewhere between me and the car because he was very curious to see them load it up. Then they stepped on the gas the car let out an intense roar that I really didn't know was possible from a car. Jamie's eyes got wide and he started to bawl(Anna hardly flinched - maybe I should worry about her hearing or maybe she's just used to living with a loud toddler). I picked him up and comforted him and eventually we were able to return outside to see the car and truck drive away.

Although I think he will remember seeing the race car with I imagine he will mostly remember that it was "really loud" and that his model car is, as he says, "not loud".

What Toddlers Notice

James has always been a keen observer of the world. Any jet plane passing overhead or train whistle in the distance immediately draws his attention, usually with a "Look look! A plane!" At times, however, he simply does not notice things right in front of him which he is looking for. On Easter, we hid plastic eggs filled with candy around the living room and invited James to find them. He loved the game and enthusiastically searched for the eggs. And when I say we "hid" them, I mean that we set them on the table, couch, and floor in places where, were we to forget the game mid-action, we would either sit or step on them the following day. James found some, but often needed some direction in finding those that were right in front of him. Fortunately, his excitement in locating each egg was diminished in no way by these hints. What a joyous way to be.

The culminating example of this contrast between astute senses and obliviousness came earlier today when, while pushing him on a swing, he looked at me and said, as if it were a revelation, "Hey! You have a beard!"