So I’ve been saving the best for last.

This is a policy I have enacted since childhood, when I would eat the least agreeable items off my plate first, saving my favorite item for the grand finale.

That’s why, until I went to college, I ate the toppings and sauce off my pizza first, and finished by eating the slice of crust plain (i.e., unadulterated and perfect).

Of course, sometimes my policy resulted in never getting to ‘the best.’ A prime example of this was my languishing candy collection, which I saved for that perfect moment for so long that it went stale and was ultimately tossed in the garbage bin.

The only people who enjoyed the candy were two small thieves, a certain small Erica and small Heidi.

But let’s let bygones be bygones.

What I’m trying to tell you is that it’s time for the cream of the Baby James crop of pictures.

These are they. These are them. Them are these. Whatever.

After pictures of Baby James and every conceivable person except for his own mother, it’s time to share all these lovely pictures from the informal photo shoot we did on the futon.

So this is part 1 . . . part 2 on Friday.

I love these two.

If only Alaska weren’t so dang far away.