It's a good life.

It's been a good day.


James seemed to grow in leaps and bounds.  He did so many new things and is adding so many new words to his vocabulary.  After all, he will be two in just two weeks.  

• He identified the red, blue, and yellow car after I went over it with him a few times.  I would ask him to point to a particular color, and he was successful several times.  I don't know if he'll remember tomorrow, but I was so proud of him today.
• He started singing along when Sponge Bob Square Pants came on today.  This is not a show we watch at our house.  I don't know that there's anything wrong with it per say, but I find Sponge Bob ugly, loud, and obnoxious.  Plus, my kids already watch plenty of television without adding that to the mix.  So James has maybe heard the theme song a couple of times if it comes on after something he does watch.  I usually come and turn it off when I hear the theme music.  Thus, it totally cracked me up today when I heard him get so excited and start yelling...well, I can't really translate exactly what he sounded like, but he was definitely saying some of the right sounds in the right places.  He's the cutest boy I know, and I guess it shouldn't surprise me that he would like a show as loud as Sponge Bob.  James talks very loudly.
• He sang the numbers 1-10.  I've never heard him say any number other than "two," but today I started singing a numbers song that's on a toy cash register of Ella's, and he chimed right in with 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.  Amazing.  So we sang that all night to make it stick.
• When he saw me get out the Bible tonight he ran and climbed in my lap.  He knew it was time to be still.  He didn't stay there long, but it was his initial reaction, and I give him credit for that.

It's so amazing watching kids grow, how you can go tell them something over and over with no sign of recognition, and then all of a sudden you find that they understood everything you were saying, and now it's cemented in their minds.  

When I listen to Ella read I am blown away, partly because I was the one to teach her.  I taught her letters, then their sounds, then we started putting the sounds together, and now she's sounding out words like a champ.  It's been good for her to be in Kindergarten and have it reiterated every day, but I started it.  And it is an incredible feeling that I taught someone to read.  That may be one of my favorite parenting moments yet.  

Tonight was so peaceful when I thought it would be stressful, and I received it with such a thankful heart.  We did homework, visited with 2nd cousins, colored, played, laundry, ate cookies, and Ella had her Bible verse memorized quickly.  She has a quiz every Friday at school, and sometimes it takes a long time to get it down, but she was on top of everything tonight.  I held James in my lap on the couch, and she read to us from her reader.  It was so good.