Happy 20 months little man!

We're a few days behind in mentioning this, but that's okay. When the day came Ricky and I both looked at eachother and just kept saying how we couldn't believe it. He's 20 months old!!! No more teens now..he's graduated into the 20's. lol
James is such a joy. So funny. So cute. So sweet. So mischevious.
Today, he came up to me and slapped my butt. Yeah. LOL That had us all laughing but I wonder where he learned that? And it was on purpose too. And yesterday, he struggled so much to hand me something that he had and alas, my first booger-in-the-hand ever.
The past 20 months have FLOWN BY! He's grown from this (very temporarily) small being to this very tall and heavy kid. Yes! A kid! A full on toddler! And as cliche as it sounds, he really does do something new everyday and every week. As soon as we go into his bedroom to get him out of his crib in the morning the new skill has formed overnight while he slept. Speaking of sleep, he's still a good sleeper. But, he does occasionally wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, not sick or anything, but has a hard time going back to sleep. There have actually been nights where he's woken up at let's say 3am, we check on him, take of of whatever he may need, and he's still up at 5:30am. James is still on a pretty consistent sleep schedule but sometimes it gets loopy. That usually has everything to do with his napping. He's still a WONDERFUL napper- 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. Sometimes, he won't go down until a later time, sleep long, and then it gets late and I hate to wake him up. I usually regret doing that everytime so if it means that he goes to bed at 9pm, so be it. He's definitely a nightowl like his mommy. lol Always has been, too.
He still loves his juice. Any kind. He still doesn't drink milk from anything other than a bottle. Yeah, we know. LOL We've tried every single type of sippy cup/ regular cup and he won't drink it. We stopped heating the milk up in his bottle though. That just got ridiculous. But, we just made the pact that he will no longer have anymore bottles or cups (if we can get him to drink milk from a cup) at bedtime. He has about 16 teeth now and it's just too risky with the possibilities of cavities now.
And the binky. Oh yes, the binky. James LOVES the binky. Especially since he's tried resorting back to "babyish" things since Natalie was born. But, little does he know, we're going cold turkey this week. Yup. It's getting tossed. It's gotten to the point where it provides nothing but headaches for us now. He's attached to it. But he has his "duckie" blanket..so he'll be okay. He may lose sleep over this phase, but at least we can know for sure that it's helping him. Plus, he has just started throwing it out of his crib for fun once in a while. So, there ya go. lol
James is such a sweetheart. He comes up to us now for hugs and "kisses" ..where he actually comes at us with an open mouth and smile, so he's trying to figure out how to kiss us. lol His hugs are the best. And he's been pointing at everything sometimes saying, "that?" or "what's that?" in his native language. lol
His speech is evolving. It's funny. Some days he will refuse to say any words and others he says ALOT. Just the other day he said "see you later" which he's never done before and hasn't said again. Yet.
He still struggles with words, but he tries. He has said alot though. He's still so little so we don't worry. He's always trying to communicate!! He has also said "blackberry", "blueberry", "clock", "woof woof" is for a dog that he sees. He understands more than I think we ever realized. If we say, "Okay James, it's lunchtime" he comes running over to his highchair. If I say "are you hungry" he either ignores me (not hungry) or comes over to me whining. aww. lol
He knows to come running to us if it's bathtime and runs away if we say that we're going to change his diaper. He's been mimicking us like crazy too! Today he grabbed my bag/purse type thing and put it over his shoulder and walked around with it. He loves his Diego sunglasses. He models them for us with his little wrinkled nose and big smile when we put them on him.
He sings. Oh gosh he sings. The other day I heard him singing the theme to one of his shows. Well, he tried to say the words. lol He dances sometimes out of know where. Usually, again, when one of his favorite shows comes on. It's so funny too, after a few minutes of tv, he's running away getting into something. Usually, you can find him "sorting" his toys now.
He'll take his Megablocks, for example, and dump out each block separately, and place them in a pile in a specific spot- behind the entertainment center, his dresser, behind couch cushions..oh gosh and he LOVES shoving those and most things under our couch. I love how my sister explained this whole thing, he's actually learning. He puts one piece hidden behind or under something at a time and tries to see how much he can fit and if it disappears or if it all stays there. It's annoying sometimes when we have to fish things out from tough spots, but it's hilarious. And it keeps him out of trouble so that's good.
Ugh. Climbing. On the couch, his toys, stairs, anything. He'll try it. And we've seen nothing yet.
He LOVES the computer. We go to Noggin.com and watch the little music videos and that is his favorite thing to do when we try to find something else to do.
He draws. He eats the crayons, but he tries. He gets a kick out having me draw something and then he has to "accentuate" it with his own line or scribble across my drawing. lol
He can show you many body parts if you ask him- his nose, his hair, ears, eyes, mouth, tongue, teeth, feet, toes, belly and bellybutton. He's so smart.
He plays with my toes if I paint them too. LOL He has to touch them real quick to check out what's going on. That's if I have time to paint them. haha
James still doesn't pay attention to Natalie but she sure does pay attention to him. She CONSTANTLY smiles at him if he's close by. She loves him, you can tell. It's so darn adorable.
James loves going outside. When we come back in he cries. Even if he's tired. He's still afraid of the slides and swings but not if we go on those with him. He'd much rather watch all of the other kids and giggle at them. And speaking of other kids, James LOVES other kids. Any kid between the ages of around 2 and 8. His whole face lights up, he gets happy and excited, and wants them to chase him. Oh, and he loves being chased. So much.
His favorite toys right now are anything that he can throw and hide.
His favorite foods? Pizza, PB and J, raisins, blueberries, bananas, chicken, pork, soybeans, tomatoes, eggs, and pancakes with jam. Oh and yogurt. Oh! And spaghetti noodles! That's a brand new one.
James is an amazing little guy. We are totally amazed at how well he adapted to our move. He knows where our condo door is, knows to step onto the elevator when the door opens without us even saying anything.
He is so smart. So sweet. And keeps us young. lol
And he has made us look forward to Natalie's milestones even more because of how much he has made us enjoy being his mom and dad. We are beyond lucky to call him our son. Our bubs. Our "boogers".