18 Months

Today James is 18 months old, otherwise known as only 6 months from being two.  Oh, my.  I know that future Lynn will not remember all the little details that make up my reality today, so I've decided to detail a day-in-the life of James Harrison Pugh on this, his 18-month birthday.

• I went in his room and got him out of bed at 8:40 a.m.  He went to bed a little later last night and talked until nearly 9 p.m., so that explains the sleeping in this morning.  I'm assuming that he had been awake since at least 8:30.  He often just lounges in bed in the morning, waking up in a leisurely manner.  This morning I found him with his head on top of his blanket, sucking his thumb.  The room smelled strongly of urine, so I knew we'd had a diaper leak.  (I must be honest.)
• After his diaper change, he ate breakfast.  James has been behaving very badly during diaper changes lately.  I tried distracting him with a Batman action figure, but that only worked for a little while.  Ella had eaten breakfast while watching television this morning, so James got to do the same since the high chair was already in the living room.  He watched In the Night Garden while eating Froot Loops and drinking vanilla almond milk.  
• He then spent some time playing in his closet.  I'm not sure what he was doing, but he spent at least 15 minutes continuously shutting himself up in there.
• He then tore the blanket off of Ella's bed while she tried to make it.  "Little brothers..." was Ella's comment followed by a heavy sigh.
• He pushed the grocery buggy back and forth the length of the house.  
• He spilled the contents of the buggy all over the kitchen floor.
• He tried to take a rock out of the fireplace and got a hand-pop.
• He opened the pantry and got out the box of Froot Loops.  He brought it to me and asked for a snack.  He then ate Froot Loops. 
• Played the keyboard with Ella
• Went for a stroller ride around the block with Mommy and Ella.  James barked back at all the dogs.
• Played in the front yard.  James waved bye-bye to all the passing cars.
• He had a dirty diaper and had it changed.
• 11:40, naptime
• 1:15, woke up
• Ate ravioli for lunch.  He did a pretty good job.  I cut it up in bite sizes for him, and he ate a decent amount before standing up and saying, "All Done."
• Spilled Ella's bread crumbs on the living room carpet
• Ate some bread crumbs
• Got out the grocery buggy again
• Spilled groceries again
• Watched Backyardigans.  He really loves this show.  He dances and stands or sits transfixed for the duration.  It's the music.  But I'm so thankful for something that keeps him in one place for a while.
• Played the keyboard.  He also dumped all my sheet music in the floor.
• Ran around and hollered while I vacuumed
• 3:50, nap
• 5:25, Dad woke him up.
• Played with Dad.  He also played with Ella and her friend for a few minutes while I got supper together.
• Whined and hollered for supper.  He didn't have to wait too long.  He gave me sweet kisses and then Daddy fed him barbecued pork chop and corn.  He even tried broccoli for the first time and made a funny face but kept it down.  He drank all his juice and then said, "All Done."
• "Played" the Wii with Daddy.  He always gets out a controller whenever KJ does and stands in front of the t.v. waving it around.
• Played the keyboard.
• Locked himself in his bedroom.  KJ then joined him back there for some playtime.  It's a pretty nice arrangement for all.  KJ gets to watch the news in peace, James has some focused play with his toys, and it's quiet and accident-free throughout the rest of the house.
• Wanted a snack.  He lounged in my arms while I fed him applesauce.
• Bath time!
• Get out the grocery buggy
• Dumped just a few groceries out this time
• Played
• Took the sheet music off the piano again (Does this list feel repetitive?)
• Locked himself in the living room closet.  It's amazing how content he is to stay in there for several minutes.
• Family time (but only after we forced him to come out of the closet)
• He brushed his teeth with Daddy and Ella.
• Kisses!  Night-night.

I couldn't manage a good shot of James today.

He was far too busy.

But that is probably a good description of him at 18 months:

He is on the move, a man with a purpose.