"I reading Book of Mormon!"

On a good day, when James wakes up in the morning or from his nap, he sings or talks to himself contentedly until I go get him. Today was a good day. :) He was talking to himself happily when I opened the door to his room after his nap.

When I walked in, he looked up and said, "Mommy! I reading Book of Mormon! I reading Book of Mormon!" He was so proud of himself. He has a board book full of Book of Mormon stories, and Paul must have read from it to him last night before bed, because it had been sitting on James' bookcase, which he can reach from his crib.

He was flipping through the pages and "reading" the stories to himself. :)

I had no idea he knew the stories came from the Book of Mormon! It took me a second to realize what he was saying, and that it was (sort of) true! I ran for the camera to try and get him to say it for me. We had a nice little conversation:

I've said it many times before, but it's just amazing to me how much James learns and how quickly! I constantly need to remind myself not to underestimate what he understands. He's pretty incredible! :)

Sunday Best!

Are you ready to see the cutest little boy to ever wear a pinstripe suit?

Oh yes, here he is! :)

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Hansen for the wonderful Easter present. James felt very cool wearing a tie for the first time. He had compliments from people in our ward all day today. Thank you so much! We love it!

A Typical Morning

This morning, James ate his usual breakfast (some dry cereal while waiting for the oatmeal, a bowl of oatmeal, and a banana). I also had my usual (a bowl of cereal and a banana) and was catching up on emails and facebook when behind me I heard a beautiful sound. James was singing "I'm trying to be like Jesus" at the top of his lungs. :)

I just love how much he sings. He sings while playing, while trying to fall asleep at night, while eating...well, pretty much all the time! He sings bits and pieces of songs we have sung to him and that he has learned from nursery and Disney movies. I love to try and figure out what song he is singing. And I love how he turns to me and says, "You know that song? Sing it with me, Mommy! Come on!"

I decided to see if I could capture a bit of this morning's singing on camera for you all. Yes, he's covered in oatmeal. And yes, he's mutilating that banana pretty badly. Like I said, it's a typical morning! :)

As you can see, the video got cut off at the end. My 'change batteries' light was flashing the whole time he was singing. I was so scared it was going to cut out before he finished!

Friends

On Saturday, we went down to Oregon City with our good friends, the Belnaps.  We had fun touring an old historic house, riding the last municipal elevator in North America (and the only vertical street:  Elevator St.), checking out the waterfalls and the paper mills, and just hanging out.

We went to a little park to play in and eat some clementines.  While the dads were playing catch, we moms took the opportunity to have a little photo shoot:

Aren't they CUTE??  James and Claire are good buddies. :)

Also, I have to share this photo I managed to capture of James earlier that day:

It's just so refreshing to get a picture of him with a real smile every now and then!

Thanks for a great Saturday, Belnaps! :)  Next time, let's eat a little less food, ok?

Adventures in Photographing a Two Year Old

Yesterday, in honor of my newly emptied SD card on my camera, I decided to try and get a cute picture or two of James. I haven't been taking as many pictures of him lately, so I thought it was a good idea.

My first step in taking pictures of James is always to feel him out and see if he's in a cooperative mood. "Can I take some pictures of you, James?" I ask. If he protests, I wait for another time. Experience has taught me that if I persist when he has said no there will be nothing but pain and frustration involved. ;) If he says "OK!" (like he did last night), I know that he will at least stay in one spot while I point the camera at him. :)

Here's how last night unfolded:

Me: "OK, smile!!"

Me: "No no no, really smile! Say cheese!!"

Me: "Oh dear. That's not it. Give me a real smile! Be happy!"

Me: *sigh* "Alright, it's time to enlist Daddy's help."

Me: "That's closer! Ok, keep trying the tickle approach! Smile, James, smile!"

Me: "Oops, I can't get the timing right with the flash...keep trying!"

And that's as good as it's gonna get! :)

32 Weeks and Counting!

Here is me as of last night:

And it's only going to get bigger from here! Seven and a half more weeks! (Who me? Counting down? Never! ;) )