Roman- Family Director of Play

Roman James is our 2nd born. We named him Roman after the book of Romans in the Bible. Romans is a book that talks a lot about how salvation works, and how it is through grace. James is his middle name. James is my dad's middle name and is also Noah's Grandpa's 1st name. James is also a book in the Bible that talks a lot about how important it is for Christian's to do the right thing.



Grace and works. Romans and James. Trying to fit them together, trying to figure out how to live.



And our Roman James kind of has two sides too.



Roman loves his pajamas, candy and snacks. This picture was taken on Easter. He wore his Easter clothes over his pjs, and as soon as he walked in the door after church the Easter clothes came off.



Deacon and he often butt heads during play. Deacon is the oldest so he thinks he is in charge, but Roman is the one who really likes imaginary play. Roman likes to tell everyone else what to say and who to be. He has a vivid imagination and he is also really good at building things out of duplos, blocks etc.



Roman can be very loving but also has a bad temper. He likes babies- mostly animal babies though, he tells me. When we were at the zoo in South Dakota last year he had no interest in the alligators, camels or rhinos. He liked the baby animals at the petting zoo and the fake jeep that you could sit in and pay a quarter to "ride".



He is a very independent child and has a certain twinkle in his eye. Roman is incredibly smart and clever. The other morning I came downstairs and Roman had the refrigerator door open. I asked why. "Tell me to close it, Mommy!" he replied. Suddenly I realized what was happening on day two of the "obeying mommy" jar. Yes, indeed, he was doing things he knew I would tell him to stop so that he could "obey" and get a penny.



Roman really likes costumes as well. I hold out hope that he will like to be involved in plays and musicals. He has very little interest in sports at this time, but does like to swim and ride his bike. I can see him being more of an independent sport kind of guy vs Deacon who is very into teams.



Roman is incredibly loyal to his family, especially his brothers. He cues into other people's emotions really well. He is the one in the morning that is up and trying to get his brothers (or his mom and dad!) to get up and come and play. He has less need to go places than Deacon does and really would rather just hang out with his family more than other people.



Roman is more of a hands on learner and figures things out quickly. Of all of our children he is probably the least predictable and the most difficult to discipline. He has SO many strengths (most of which are not that useful to a 4 year old) that I know will be a huge benefit to him as he gets older if he uses them wisely.

Talking to him about what is going on in his world is a real delight and we love him so much!