James 2008

This post focuses on James. It is long but it's meant to catch up on a whole year.

James
Full name: James John Henry Ward - The 'John Henry' is a tribute to Gavin's hero John Henry Bonham
James - now 4 1/2 years old
Favourite colour: Orange
Favorite foods: Fruit and Salmon
Favourite film: Star Wars (any and all of them!)
Favourite toy: Lego

He has been getting good with his Lego creations. We, the doting parents think he has a good eye for design. This is a slideshow of some of his latest creations along with his favorite song by Kimya Dawson. He names all of his creations, some of the names are: Blibo, Target, Pak, Flower, Nut, Popstint, Tank, Roger, Crystal, Fever, Kate, Dynamite.




James special talent 1: Recognising music
Although there is music on both sides of the family, I think he gets this from his daddy, who can almost always name a tune.
Example 1:
While walking down the street he said to me:
" Mammy remember the film with the blue rat in it?"
Me - "Yes, Ratatouille"
James - "You hear the music playing across the street, that is the same music that is in Ratatouille" He was referring to a man playing french style accordian music similar to that in the film. The amazing thing about this is he hadn't seen that film in at least 6 months...some memory.
Example 2:
He recognised the song 'Changes', being sung in Portuguese by Seu Jorge from hearing another version of it in the Shrek 2 movie! Again he had not seen the film in over 6 months.

James special talent 2: Spotting health, safety or security issues
Example 1:
We walked into a bank and James said "There are 5 security cameras in here." We were only in the door 30 seconds! Very James Bond.
Example 2:
On his third birthday the first thing he said to his guests on arrival was not hello but "you see these plug sockets...they are very dangerous, do not put your finger in one".
Example 3:
He always asks "Is this organic?" before eating any fruit!
We call him the health and safety officer.

Special Interest
James has a big love of words and stories. He probably gets that from the Spillanes, who are big writers, word lovers and storytellers. This week he asked me the meaning of: 'Fortified', 'Transition' and 'Technical'. Within days of discovering a new word James tries it out, taking a chance that their meaning is correct. He said to me yesterday "You know playing and plane are technically the same word".

He's a "character" as they would say in America or a "gas ticket" as they say in Ireland. I won't even explain I will just share with you some of his best quotes of the year.

James the philosopher:
"Sometimes Mammy's are good, sometimes Mammy's are bold.
Sometimes Daddy's are good, sometimes Daddy's are bold,
so life is life and pain is pain
and everything is everything,
ok?"
"I only want hundreds of thousands of Love and hundreds of thousands of Lego.
That's all I wish for"

The embarrass your parents quotes
"Daddy calls them stupid and I am copying Daddy."
"I am outta here you disgraceful farter" to Mammy
"Daddy, you smell like wine!"
In supermarket looking for painkillers "Ah, has daddy been out drinking again?"
*And it's all the funnier because Daddy hardly every gets out for a drink.

James the teenager
"You ruined my life"
"Will you put your brain in?!"
"Will you just "pause" yourself?!"
"Mammy you don't seem so sure of yourself..."

Random
After Lily got sick on herself: " Ugh, Vanilla"
After I had drawn him a picture: "Mammy, I love your work."

God only knows
Walking on the street: "I have a steering wheel inside my tummy which guides me away from dog poo."
About moths : "You see they are God's creatures. You see they are a different type of alien, aliens don't drive Helicopters."
"Bama (Granny) likes to drink bath water and eat chocolate radiators, four times ago."
"If you cough every day you will turn into a love centre and everyone will love you."

The questions
"Mammy, does God or factories make people?"
"Why is your tongue wet?"

James the know-it-all
Fish are: 'Sea vegetables'
Type of dinosaur: 'Munchtasaurus'
Particles of dust that float in the air on a sunny day: 'Hot Scratchers'

James the poet
"My fart sounded like a rusty door closing."