3 months of James

I can't believe James has been with us for three months.  In some ways, it feels like he's never not been here with us.  Then I look back at photos and videos of him in his orphanage and I just can't believe he was there.

He's such a part of our lives now.

In the beginning, we'd catch ourselves a lot.

Wait, I need to count five heads not four...


Where's James...omigosh, we completely forgot about James...James!?  (then we'd hear him off in the house somewhere saying, 'Hmmm?')


Don't get me wrong, I never left him in the grocery store cart in the parking lot.  I never left him in the car!  It's just the adjustment of having another child -- another little person to keep up with.  Your mind has to adjust.  

Now, it's just super normal.

He's really starting to show himself, too.

The other day, he threw a fit screaming at the top of his lungs on the floor in the middle of our family room because JD and I were busy doing things and he didn't want us to put him down or not be right beside him.  JD was picking up the house and putting things away and I was getting in the shower.  JD sat him down amongst his toys on the floor in our family room and he wasn't having it!  Well, he actually was having it because he had no choice.  :)  We just told him over and over again, as we passed through the room, that he was fine, that we loved him, but we had things to do!

Our OT appointments have morphed to OT/PT, which is cool.  But now he shakes his head 'no' and refuses to do things.  He looks at me with puppy dog eyes.  He scoots over to me when they ask him to do stuff.  He even breaks down full-on crying.  Poor guy.  It's not fun anymore, it's work.  And he's just not very compliant anymore.

My-oh-my is he an almost three year old.  And it's kind of hilarious.  And kind of annoying (just keeping it real, folks).  

The most beautiful thing is that he's really and truly comfortable with us.  He has separation anxiety when any of us leaves -- not just JD and me.  If Payton, Avery, Brooks and/or Jackson leave, he cries.  Especially if they ride away in a car.  It's like he feels the family is splintering.  Amazing.

This summer is proving to be a busy one with James' appointments, Avery's gymnastics which falls right in the middle of the day three days/week and must-have summertime outings.  I think it's a really good thing we didn't join a pool!  I was thinking about it today and I cannot imagine.  I can't see how we'd get there.  Thankful for the strong nudge that this was not the direction for our family.  At least for this summer.