James's Kindergarten Portrait

This boy. This boy, once my baby, is so ... big now. Some days I walk  him up to school and still get choked up. He's so independent and smart. Almost too smart for his own good sometimes. He's doing very well in kindergarten, enjoys  his friends and teachers and work. But he comes home and just wants to play sports and be silly and relax. And while I wish he would play football downstairs instead of the living room, and when he asks to play computer games AGAIN even when they have been taken away, and when he isn't patient with his brothers and yells at them TO GET OFF HIS BED.....I remember times, like today, when he had a HUGE smile on his face at his Thanksgiving lunch when he saw us, when yesterday he played so wonderfully with Nate and they had a big adventure together and laughed and laughed. He is by no means perfect, but he's a great kid. :)

P.S. Why didn't he smile with his teeth?? He has great teeth! This one is for the record books.