the latest

James is most happy when standing up these days. He has a death grip, and he's fast with it, too. He will grab onto anything solid, but not necessarily sturdy; pants, chairs, laundry baskets, doors, the washing machine, Joel. I have been instructing Joel in how to call for help when James gets him. James is simply too heavy and unsteady for Joel to handle.

Wrestling has officially began. Joel and James like to wrestle already. I will only let them do it on a soft surface, such as a bed. James loves it! He is definitely not the cautious type, as Joel is, and is quite open to rough-housing and living a little on the edge (whatever that is when you're 8 months old).

Correction: James does not have 3 teeth. He still only has 2. I'm not sure what happened; perhaps the tooth went back down or it actually never did cut through. It did look like it had for a couple days, but apparently my eyes were fooled. James is doing quite well with the teeth he has, though. He has bit Daddy twice. Once on the toe, and once on the ear. Score!

James is a very clappy boy. He is enjoying his new skill more and more. All I have to do is start singing the little "clap your hands" song I sang to him when I used to clap his hands for him, and he'll grin at me and start clapping.