James and Matthew

Remember when I mentioned James loving Matthew so much that I feared for his life? James has learned to be more gentle, but his chunky, wet, loud toddler love simply overfloweth. I need to share these moments before I forget them:

• Matthew was hanging out in the baby swing. James comes by and gets really, really close to the front of it. Just close enough that the swing kinda taps him in the belly. James throws his hands in the air and staggers backwards shrieking and hitting himself on the head, then falls down onto the ground with a grunty sigh, eyes closed. He's still for a moment before he opens an eye and peeks at Matthew, then busts out laughing. He repeats this several times, always checking for a reaction from Matthew. I think James is trying to get Matthew to laugh/play with him. He will be thrilled when Matthew actually starts smiling at him...or anyone.

• James wants to be with me while I nurse Matthew. Constantly. He climbs on the nursing chair to get as close as possible. He copies the squeaking and sighing sounds Matthew makes while he eats. Most often, James hovers around looking for places to hug and kiss Matthew and give him "blowfishes" or "raspberries." When his big, wet kisses leave a slobber spot, James says, "Uh-oh, wet!" and tries to dry him off. Again, he's learned to be more gentle, but the sheer number of kisses and head hugs and shrieking greetings must be shaping Matthew's perception of this older brother.

• James' interactions with Matthew haven't been 100% loving. The other day, Robert excluded James from some fun game he wanted to play. James got really frustrated at Robert, but Robert ran away before James could exact his revenge. James turned to me and a nursing Matthew, raised his arm and said, "Hit Baby Massew!" He tried once or twice before I sent him to time out. It was a chain effect. James probably would have hit anyone at that moment. I wish I could force Alice and Robert to include James in all their games, but he just can't play the way they do yet. I need to work with James more, developing more agreeable coping strategies.

• And finally, James is stringing together sentences of four words or more. His vocabulary is expanding and he's able to express some of the more complex thoughts he's had. It's still difficult to understand him if he's talking about something out of context, but I like that he thinks about things from other times and wants to share. Here are a few of his latest expressions:
• "no climb mine seat" (when I used his chair as a stool to get into the cabinet)
• "hold it, Baby Massew" (whenever he wants to hold Matthew)
• "no, me open it" (when he didn't want help with his string cheese)
• "wah some oh-enges" (any time he sees Clementines on the counter)
• "oogar!" (he saw frost on the grass for the first time and thought it was sugar)