James is 18 months old!

James turned 18 months old on the 19th, and since it's getting near Christmas, I haven't had time to blog about it till now. On his 18 month birthday, we took a ferry boat from Lopez Island to Anacortes, Washington. Then we drove allllll the way back to Portland (with James enjoying Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the back seat with a portable DVD player). Then we celebrated Christmas early with Grandpa, and James had a blast opening... and sitting on... his gifts.

It's hard to believe he's already a year and a half old. Seems like just yesterday I was complaining about him not sleeping through the night...

New things going on with James include:
Getting better at feeding himself with a fork and spoon
Running and "kicking" balls by walking into them
Responding to things on TV, though not usually in understandable English (he doesn't watch much TV, but when he does it's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he LOVES it!)
Saying "yeah" and "uh oh" once in awhile
Saying Mickey once or twice (we think)
Unwrapping presents like a pro
Understanding two-step instructions and following them through
Seeing a (fake) mouse and saying "eee eee eee"
Helping me dress him by pushing his arms through the sleeves and lifting up his foot to put on his socks/shoes
Developing a rash from certain foods, including kiwi, tomatoes, clementines, cinnamon, etc.
Climbing stairs almost entirely independently without putting his hands down on the steps at all
Getting 2 (maybe more) new molars, which is keeping all of us up at night once in awhile.


Here are a few pics from his Turning 18 Months adventure, beginning at the house on Lopez Island and ending at Granpa's house: