Grandpa Power

James took a while to get used to me.  Now he comes to me and seems really comfortable, but that acceptance developed slowly.  Grandpa was a different story.  Almost immediately, James was attracted to Tom.  It's impossible to know if the attraction comes from both of them being male, the timbre of Tom's voice or something else.  The affinity is there, and Grandpa is thrilled at being the adult of choice (when Mom and Dad aren't around).

James is so different from Juliet in so many ways, the most obvious being his love of eating.  I can remember cajoling Juliet to eat, begging her to take just one more bite, promising chocolate or cheese if she would eat just a little more.  James has never seen a food he won't try, and very few he doesn't like.  He will finish his own food, and sample any other food that's on the table.  Today at lunch James finished the vegetables we had brought for him, ate a little of his father's lasagna, ate some of Jeanne's pizza, some of Juliet's pasta, had an apple chestnut compote, and later part of my chocolate muffin.  That's a lot for a one-year-old!

He is a very strong-willed child.  No matter how many times you tell him to sit down in his high chair, he will stand up again and again.  He has been repeatedly punished, but continues to run into the bathroom, climb up on the steps, turn on the water and run his hands through it, thoroughly soaking his sleeves.  If he can reach it, he will take his toothbrush (or anyone else's) and brush his teeth.  He loves anything electrical that makes a lot of noise; he will get the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and try to plug it in and turn it on.  He will drag the hair dryer out of the bathroom and cart it all over the apartment.

He is so sturdy and strong that when you're carrying him, if he decides he wants down, it is a struggle to prevent him from escaping your arms.  He will writhe, wriggle, arch his back, grunt, stiffen his arms and legs and try to throw himself out of your grasp.  I can't hold him when he does this, but his Grandpa can.  Grandpa power!