{"id":18397,"date":"2020-09-09T20:31:03","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T00:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/?p=18397"},"modified":"2020-09-09T21:30:43","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T01:30:43","slug":"james-is-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/james-is-two\/","title":{"rendered":"James Is Two!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Two years ago today, eight days past my due date and after 41 hours of labor, the world\u2019s most perfect human being was placed on my chest, this squishy, breathtakingly beautiful old soul. He didn\u2019t cry, he just looked right up at me and I sobbed, \u201cI love you. I love you!! I love you so much.\u201d He was so alert, so present and aware, never the sleepy newborn who can\u2019t really focus on your face. I remember how he quietly observed everything happening around him, how at ease he was taking it all in. He\u2019s still that same curious and gentle little man, as loving and affectionate as can be, with the kindest heart and the warmest smile you\u2019ve ever seen. He\u2019s a big talker and a laugher who\u2019ll tell you he loves you at just the right moment and kiss you exactly when you need it. Yes he\u2019s mine but I\u2019ll say it anyway: he\u2019s heaven on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is probably my favorite photo of all time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tiny Adventurer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, he\u2019s running everywhere, climbing everything, just [terrifyingly] fearless. He\u2019s really in his element when he\u2019s outside. We go on walks, run through the sprinkler, play in the sandbox, throw acorns down the sewer, play basketball and soccer\u2026and at the end of every day, his hair will be soaked and matted with sweat. There\u2019ll be dirt under his fingernails. He might be scraped and bruised, but he\u2019s always so happy. Always, always just relentlessly and unfailingly happy. His joy just radiates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Friend To Every Creature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He hasn\u2019t met a creature he doesn\u2019t immediately want to befriend\u2014makes no difference what it is or how frightening his mom finds it. In fact, it\u2019s at least once a day that I find him crouched over an ant or a massive spider waving, \u201cHi bug! What are you doing?\u201d He will inevitably try to kiss it and hug it (no matter if it\u2019s a tarantula or a toad), but I tell him that we don\u2019t touch the bugs and animals we see; we can say hello but we must let them be; and he\u2019s pretty good about respecting that. He has so much fun just observing them and looking for them. We look for the bunnies and groundhog that live in our backyard and he hollers, \u201cCome out bunny! I miss you!\u201d When we\u2019re outside he\u2019ll stop and cup his hand behind his ear. \u201cListen! Hear that?\u201d he says, noticing birds tweeting, dogs barking, or airplanes overhead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Talking Up a Storm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last year at this time, he was saying a hundred or so words, and we thought that<\/em> was a crazy amount. But this year I don\u2019t think we could even begin to count. Sure, we\u2019ve been reading to him since he was a baby, counting with him, all that stuff\u2026but it\u2019s kind of shocking to hear all the things he\u2019s absorbed. Somehow he can count to 20, knows the ABCs\u2026the guy is speaking in full sentences, and it\u2019s hilarious and adorable to hear. Every day he just blurts out something new and Daniel and I look at each other like, \u201cHow the hell does he know that?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Things He Loves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mickey Mouse! Boy oh boy does he love Mickey (and Goofy and Donald and Daisy and Minnie and Pluto)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching Cocomelon on Youtube<\/a>. It’s all nursery rhymes and I’ve got to just admit it\u2014Daniel and I hate it. After a few minutes of songs we start to feel like maybe we’re going crazy. But James loves it so we don’t rain on his parade. Plus, now he sings all these little songs throughout the day and it’s precious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Let\u2019s Take a Drive!<\/a> by Mo Willems<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He loves to play a game we call ‘Where\u2019s kitty?’ where he meows and then we all look around asking one another, \u201cWhere\u2019s kitty?\u201d and start a search that involves a hundred guesses like, \u201cIs he\u2026under the bed? Is he\u2026behind the chair? Is heee\u2026\u201d and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We play a version of I Spy (we say \u201cI see\u2026\u201d) and list everything we can see around us, which is an especially wonderful activity when we want to help James feel grounded and more present (and help him work his way out of a tantrum). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How We Spent His 2nd Birthday <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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We didn’t have a party with friends and family because of COVID (it was just the three of us, plus my parents came over for cake), but I still wanted to make his day fun and special so I got this “Oh Twodles” Mickey Mouse 2nd Birthday theme set<\/strong><\/a> on Amazon for $20 and it. was. a. HIT. James loved<\/em> it and played with those mylar balloons all day long. We got him a hotdog and fries from Five Guys for lunch (his favorite meal) and then sang and ate birthday cake after dinner. The whole day was simple and sweet\u2014perfect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On one hand, I can\u2019t believe these last two years have flown by. And on the other, I feel like I\u2019ve known him for my whole life. Maybe that\u2019s just what love does, warps time, makes you feel like it\u2019s always been a part of you. What a gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy birthday my sweet, sweet baby James. Your dad and I love you more than everything. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years ago today, eight days past my due date and after 41 hours of labor, the world\u2019s most perfect …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[999],"tags":[1171,1180,1176],"class_list":["post-18397","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-baby","tag-james","tag-motherhood"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}