Update

I know it has been forever since I have blogged which means we have been very busy having lots of fun! Unfortunately, I am too tired and there is too much to do to blog much tonight but I will do a quick update...
- Most importantly, James went to the eye doctor yesterday and everything came out great! We were a little concerned about James's eyes because of Josh's eye problems and because James's pupils reflected back white in a few pictures at Christmas. The eye doctor said that the white pupils were just due to the angle at which the pictures were taken. As far as Josh's eye problem, James is looking good so far but we have to do another check-up in a year. Also, any children we have should have their eyes checked at 2 years old because of Josh's eyes.
- James continues to grow like crazy!!! He is about 31 inches tall now and weighs in at about 23 1/2 pounds fully clothed. He has already grown into 18month pajamas and we are about to do the switch to 18 month clothes too once I find the time to go through all the hand-me-downs and get them washed. Have I mentioned that I LOVE HAND-ME-DOWNS!!!!!!!!!!! I could not imagine having to go buy all new clothes every few months!
- James is talking more too! He is constantly babbling! But, he has several words that he can say too, including "da-da" and "mom" (kind of), but his favorite is "dog". He recognizes every dog, his stuffed animals, the statue on the porch, dogs on cards, Captain, all of them. What impresses me the most is that he will say "dog" when he hears Captain barking outside!
- James continues to love "opening and closing" but he is starting to discover "in and out" and "on and off". James loves to turn the lights off for me when we are leaving a room (which comes in handy quite often). He is also discovering the joy of putting toys in and out of the toybox and other containers. I was amazed this evening because he was playing with a toy that consisted of a yellow container with a red lid that has three openings: rectangle, triangle, and circle, then lots of similarily shaped blocks to put into the openings. James started by putting a circle into the circle opening, then taking off the lid to make sure it was in there. He then tried another circle but it wouldn't go in so he took the lid off and put it in. This continued on for several blocks but I was quite impressed that he seemed to match the shapes with remarkable accuracy! He usually needed a little help to get them lined up correctly though. It is such fun to watch him discover new things and learn everyday!
- James has also become quite helpful with the trash cans. We try to put the trash cans away on Tuesday. My hands are usually full with James in one arm and pulling the trash can with the other so James knows that it is his job to pull the little white string on the fence to open the gate for me. Never to young to learn how to take the trash out!
- James and Captain are becoming little buddies too! It was so cute to see James playing with Captain's ear tonight and Captain was just lying there enjoying it/tolerating it (I'm not sure which). I tried to get a picture but James must have gotten some of his Uncle Doug in him because he took off before I could get the picture.
- James is being such a good boy with bedtime. Tonight I was rocking him and singing a little song to him (don't laugh!) and enjoying snuggling for a minute. James knew that it was time for bed and was tired so he pointed to the crib and starting leaning over towards the crib. As soon as I put him down, he layed his head down and fell asleep. Such a good little boy! Let's just hope he stays asleep now!
I think that is about all for now. We have been doing a ton more fun stuff that I need to put on here but I need to go eat! Hope everyone is doing well. Love to all!!!