Jameson these days

Combined with the hormonal rollercoaster and sleep deprivation that come hand-in-hand with having a baby, Jameson's "curiosity" and "determination" have made me feel like a full-on crazy person. At home, things are usually under control, but take that kid anywhere else, and he is a loony on the loose. Redecorating people's houses, dismembering plants, stealing other kids' bikes, kicking Blake in the face, screaming for juice, you name it.

My parents believe he is very smart. I hope this is true.

But it's not all bad. He has started to learn his favorite books and will "read" them to me. He likes to read me "That's Not My Monkey" and "Sleepy Baby." He also likes to line things up and count them. He counts to eight the quick way, pointing to each item he's counting, "one, two, eight." He is also learning the song "I Am A Child Of God," and his favorite line is "help me find the way." It's the one line he can bust out and have it sound recognizable.

Jameson is big into phones. He has all of our old cell phones stashed around the house. He'll hold them up like he's going to take a picture, and says "cheese!"

He likes watching the movie Cars. His favorite part is the beginning, when that desk lamp hops across the letters of the word Pixar and smashes down the I. He always points and yells excitedly to me, "light!"

He's into lights and trying to get Blake interested, too

His language skills in the past month have really increased. He regularly strings together two or three words to make simple phrases, making it possible to communicate with him when he isn't faking deaf so he can run away from me at the park. He mimics EVERYTHING. My favorite thing he says is "ugh! Dang it!"

Jameson still takes two naps a day. I use the term nap loosely, because sometimes his afternoon nap is mostly him jumping on his bed, squealing, for an hour straight.

After an hour or so of playing bounce castle in his crib

He is also really good at walking backwards and is still into spinning around. He has discovered climbing - chairs, tables, slides at the park, other kids' bikes. He likes to sing along with songs he hears. Yesterday at my brother's wedding, Tyler and Chelsey's sister, Vanessa, were singing a duet, and Jameson was trying to sing along loudly in an otherwise quiet room.

He is slowly getting more interested in interacting with Blake in non-violent ways. The other day I was feeding the baby, and Jameson sat next to us and softly rubbed Blake's hair. It was a sweet moment, and I'm hoping for more of these.

Don't you just love how floppy babies are?