James Gabriel Dix

Thank you for being a part of our sweet boy's life. We are overjoyed to be able to share updates and pictures with people who love him and want to watch him grow from near and far. We ask that you respectfully refrain from sharing any of these pictures on social media or sharing the information for this website with anyone else. If you know of someone who also wants to see these updates, please put them in contact with us. 

-Gabe and Elizabeth Dix

gabeandelizabethd@gmail.com

James has been a sweet and smiley little joy who loves people, food, music, and exploring. 

His first year (0-12m) has been so fun to experience with him. We've watched his personality grow, seen his excitement, frustration, his pain, and his joys. He is so very loving and affectionate, and he's also independent and stubborn. 

James 2nd year (12-24m)  found him eager to learn and extremely independent. He wants to do everything on his own, but at the same time he isn't afraid to ask for help. His language skills are amazing to witness. He swiftly increased his vocabulary starting around the 1 year mark. We kept a spreadsheet of his words from 12-15 months, but by the time he reached 100+ words we just lost count! He is also learning Brazilian Portuguese along with English and he knows how to differentiate between the two (we've tested it!) He is such a smart boy and we're very proud of him. In addition to his intellect he is also very adept at using his body. He's outgrown the toddler playgrounds and he is only just starting his toddler years! He loves big slides. rock climbing walls, ladders. and trampolines (we're not sure how much WE love them...) He's also been on multiple hikes! He played around with swimming in pools and in the ocean/gulf this summer. He's increasing his taste in music which now ranges from YoYo Ma to Daft Punk, The Beatles, and he's all about the Chelsea Football Club song "Blue is the Colour".

James became a big brother in late January 2024. He was 21 months old. It's been an adjustment for him, but beyond the random outburst of physical "affection" he's really lovely with Andrew and has been super helpful. We are excited to see his spiritual life growing. He associates crosses with "God" will randomly talk about Jesus and wants to read his kids bible a lot. He loves the story of Noah. He has memorized The Lord's Prayer (and can recite it when prompted!) thanks to a stuffed animal at his babysitter's house (this was a surprise to us when we realized it) and he's started to go to the 2 year old class in Sunday School rather than play with toys in the nursery. We pray a lot and talk a lot about God and loving people. We talk a lot about how he's "God's Sweet Baby James" and how much he's loved by God and Jesus. He's beginning to grasp the concept and it's very sweet to see.

James 3rd year (24m+) His recall is a bit scary to us (not in a bad way.. just in a - we need to be cautious with what we expose him to way) He will tell us about things that happened last year... He will (in great detail) tell us about trips we took months ago and who was there and what we did. He regularly associates things that are obscure to us ... (we were watching Lego Star Wars and there was a scene where Qui Gon and Obi Wan were being chased by a giant fish out of an underwater castle... and James looks at it and says "Like the Sea Shanty" which is a song he really likes that's about a harpooned whale carrying a whaling ship around because the whale is too strong and the captain won't let go... and we've never explained the Sea Shanty... we've just let him listen to it on repeat - but he understood from the lyrics that there was a big whale and a ship - and he associated it with the Jedi vessel and the big fish...) 

He is also taking video of his early childhood and sort of making memories with it. One day he mentioned my dad (Papa Wapa) and I asked him "Do you remember Papa Wapa?" and he nodded. "What did you do with him?" and he then proceeds to tell me how they watched Ms Rachel and he didn't have a shirt on... Which is a video I have of the two of them in our living room. Dad was over and James was wearing only pajama bottoms and jumping around to Ms Rachel - and then he sat next to Dad and held his hand. It's a sweet video - but I don't think I'd shown it to James since maybe early July when I was putting together a memorial video for Dad. James recalled that video in October. He's also completely obsessed with a trip we took over Labor Day weekend to visit with my brother and his wife and kid (Uncle Will, Aunt Caroleen and Cousin Noah) and James will tell me all about going to the Zoo ("With Mr. Philip and Mrs. Kristen and Luke and Hannah!"), going to the Balloon Festival, which balloons he saw there ("Stitch Balloon!"), and how "I'm scared of the fire alarm in Colorado with Gamma!" (our AirBnB had a VERY sensitive fire alarm and it went off while I was cooking breakfast and Gamma held him while we tried to turn it off.) He also got to witness a Mom and Dad freak out moment when Andrew took an entire blackberry and shoved it in his mouth before we could stop him - and then he had trouble clearing his airway for about 30 seconds, so we called 911... He was completely fine and then proceeded to attempt to eat the Paramedic's radio.... but James is very fixated on "Andrew choked on the blackberry and I was scared." so we've been emphasizing how "Yes - he did, but he is OK!"

He has developed a very polite way of interacting (most days) and he will say "please" and "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" (with a kiss most times) without prompting. When we go to the playground he loves to meet new kids "Hi! My name is James. Do you want to play with me?" and at 2.5 he's JUST beginning to get into a possessive phase of development where he will say "That's Mine!" about every toy and piece of playground equipment... so that's fun, but inevitable. 

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

0-12 Months

12-24 Months

12-24 Months

Here are some of James' funny faces