Little Renaisance Man

I just noticed I don't have many (any?) pictures of James this month. It's not because he's not adorable or not doing amazing things--he is. But he's definitely NOT a squeaky wheel or a camera hog, so I have to try harder to remember to take pictures of him and the sweet things he does/ makes. Like this:

I told him a couple of weeks ago that he could/should practice numbers games or sentence writing when the girls had homework. So this is the first sentence he wrote during said "homework time." I find it terribly cute (and hey, it starts with a capital and ends with a period!). He's so bookish and sweet, sometimes I am surprised at what an avid hunter and fisherman he is turning out to be. I think he'd rather go to Cabela's than Disneyland. This may have made me cringe or cry out, "Where did we go wrong?!" ten years ago, but somehow (I'm turning Montanan, turning Montanan, I really think so) it's okay with me because James is such a thoughtful, spiritually-minded, well-rounded kid, I'm not too worried about him becoming a killing machine or anything. He loves deer and elk, so it's pretty cool that they like to hang out at the ranch all winter long.

His parent-teacher conference was a glowing report last week. His teacher reiterated that she's never seen a kid do so well academically AND socially--usually if they're strong in one, they're weaker in the other, but James is strong in both (yay). She was also SHOCKED when I told her I was really glad I decided to send him to school even though he didn't turn five until a week into the year. "I thought he turned SIX!" Nope, he was four when he started kindergarten (you will never catch me "redshirting"--don't get me started, and don't start quoting Gladwell to me because I've seen him admit that most cumulative advantage disappears by middle school) and I knew he was ready. Now he's getting obsessed with music theory. I did flashcards with him twice and now he can name all the natural notes on the keyboard or the staff. And nothing seems hard for him. He is pleasant and happy 97% of the time. He's an anomaly, but he's MY anomaly. I am super grateful to be his mother.


UPDATE : Okay, here's a good one. This is my very favorite photo of my kids, snapped with my phone on the second day of 2012. We were in Billings having frozen yogurt and they were genuinely happy and I just love looking at it. I can't believe they're MINE!