The little lion who wouldn't

You may recall from last year's halloween pics that we'd purchased a lion costume for James. It was selected in honor of Daddy's favorite beer, Carolina Brewing Company, whose mascot is a lion. Well, last year's search for a costume yielded only a 2T-sized one, so we just figured he'd be one again this year. Nothing doing! We'd attempted a test run several weeks ago, during which he pretty flipped the %*&(# out . Sooo, I opted not to try again until Halloween, hoping he'd have blocked out this bad memory. Well, I guess toddler's memories are better than we give them credit for. He mostly pretty much hated the hood. Apparently, having fuzzy crap around your face and your head ensconced in the same thing is not fun. And Daddy was working. And Mommy got stuck on a conference call until just before T.or.T started and was already flustered. Sooo... SuperResourcefulMommy went with Backup Plan B. I grabbed a long-sleeved shirt that happened to have a number on the front (thanks Grams!), TRIED to put on some sneakers (decided it wasn't worth it), and plopped him on the bathroom counter to throw some eyeline under his eyes to try to make him look like a football player. I guess that did the trick.. everyone knew what he was supposed to be, and he was comfy!

The Trick or Treating experience itself still hasn't really hit home with James. I tried to set down the candy on our front step while he and I went around to a few houses, and he just wanted to go back to get it! So, threw some in his pumpkin and tried to get him to carry it, but he just put it down and started rummaging through it! Next, I tried to carry it myself and walk with him, but he just wanted to go back home to get the candy. SO, Mommy ended up CARRYING him to the front walks just to get away from our house, walked up to the front door, and got him to knock. Then I handed him his pumpkin , but by the time the door was open, he was heads down in the pumpkin again rummaging for candy. He did say "trick or treat", though "dee dah dee". We hit about 5 houses, and then went back to hand our "cahneee". Here's the little sugarmonger dipping into the stash. A note to anyone who reads this: I expect hearty kudos for my quick costume-change.. give props where they're due! (.. and don't get me started on the contributions to his good looks.. that just goes without saying!)

Where'd the TIME go!?!?!

... as James would say! Where'd THAT go? Where's JAMES go? Yes, it's been a while since I checked in, that boy is BUSY! He's running, climbing, HIDING! He LOVEs hide 'n' seek! We take turns hiding.. I'll say, "James, go hide!" and he runs out of the room (with his determined little steps!) and hides behind the bed or crib in ours or his room. My favorite, though, is when he hides behind the coffee table in the FROG (Finished Room Over Garage.. orange / family room). The problem is that he drops to the floor in front of it so that he's there the min you walk into the room. So, I have to walk past him so that I'm on the other side and THEN pretend that I can't find him! Heehee. Also, if he wants to play, he'll cover his eyes and say "where'd James go?!?!" Silly bug.
New words 'n' stuff: "all gone", "moo-ehn" (moon), "moo" (what does the cow say?), "neow" (what does the cat say?), "muuuh-siiih" (music, accompanied by the sign for it), he actually SAYS "more" in additional to signing it, "huunhh" (hungry, accompanied by the sign for eating), "nigh nigh", "digh digh" (bye bye.. hey, it beats "see ya!"), "icceseeam" (guess what that one is!)
Stuff: climbs on EVERYTHING, kisses, shakes his head no and says "mm,mm" (James, want to get up? mm-mm.), knows what DVDs are for (will bring one to you, point the TV, and sign "Help"), hits the TV and says "on", asked me for music yesterday in the car... pointed to the CD player, signed, and said "muuh-ssiiih?".
Oh yeah, he also stayed with Grams and Grandaddy W. again this past weekend, which ROCKED because Mommy FINALLY got our bedroom drapes done, but he came back RUINED! The boy won't sleep, and he won't let go of Mommy for 5 mins.. guess he had some separation anxiety that he didn't realize until he got home.. sheesh. Pics posted to the album.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Who knew that the humble pumpkin, serenly beautiful in it's gourdly nature, could be SO FREAKIN' COOL?!?! Apparently, if you are 19 months old, it is the hottest thing since Balls Everywhere! We went to the Pumpkin Patch, which is between here and Miss Valarie's. They have one of those giant inflatable pumpkins that cracks James up every time we drive past, so I figured, how much would he LOVE if that's where we got our pumpkins? The answer is: a TON. First he just ran up and down each row, giggling like a sociopath and stopping every now and then to pat a pumpkin or try to pick one up. He moved around all of the gourds, and said hi to the other little ones who were doing the same thing, and whose parents also apparently thought that buying pumpkins here was the price you pay for some cool photo ops.
Other pics will be on Shutterfly if today's technical issues get resolved (tried to post 2x earlier), but here's the money shot:
P.S.: Can you believe how BIG he's getting! Yeeks!

Someday my prince will come...

Yesterday morning I felt like a princess! James always snuggles with us and sometimes lets us catch a few more winks in the morning before we really wake up. Yesterday he and mommy slept in a little after daddy went to make coffee, and I felt him stirring. I like to pretend I'm still sleeping even when he wakes up just to see what he does. He sat up, leaned over, and KISSED me good morning! How awesome is that?

This morning I was awakened by the usual slap in the face (literally.. a smack on the cheek). I guess he's back to being a frog.

Also, FIRST SENTENCE!! This morning I said, James, can you say hi to dadda? He looked right at Sterling and said "Hi Dadda!". Sure, he says "alldone", and "see that?" and "where did that go?", but really thinks those are all one word. This was two individual words that he normally uses separately! Yay! Also, while at the lake he said "Hi, ducks", and "hi, doggie".. and also said "turtle" (tuhduh).

Sorry for the backlog of info, but it's really been a developmentally busy week! He LOVES SpongeBob Squarepants, and was looking at the cover of the DVD, imitating his open-mouthed grin.. very funny. He then opened the DVD, brought it over to me, pointed to the DVD itself and signed help/open and looked at the TV. The little stinker knows that DVDs play movies, and that this one played SpongeBob. Wow. For the record, he cracked up while we watched about the first 30mins... for those of you who haven't seen it (the movie), well worth your time. It's freakin' hilarious!

A message from the webmaster

Nothing big, just FYI.. I reorganized the photo albums so that they are most current first. Also, posted the BEACH pics!

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Just a quick post to show you how cute the little bug looks in his bike helmet. We went for a family bike ride around the lake this morning! When we first tried on the helmet a few weeks ago, he HATED it. Now he realizes that helmet = bike ride, which he LOVES. So, if you hand him the helmet, he'll try to put it on himself, or will bring it to you!

BTW, he does not actually ride his own bike... yes, he's brilliant, but not THAT advanced! We have a Wee Rider bike seat, powered by Mommy. We get tons of looks as we ride around with it.. it sits in front of me on the crossbars so that he can see where we're going. Also, you can't really tell in the pic, but his helmet lights up and he thinks it is the coolest thing!

Beach Week continued...

Monday, Sept 5:
Whole lotta hanging out doing a bunch of nothing! The boys, at one point, did decide that they simply MUST check out the Brew Thru after Jim noticed a Hooteresque Brew Thru chick in the tourist guide. So, they all piled into the Town and Country VAN (aka "ChickMagnet") to cruise the scene.
What did they find? Logo merchandise and, uh.. BEER. Oh yeah, and some lovely orthodonture work for Jim (yep, that's the man she's going to marry)!

Tuesday, Sept 6:
Tuesday was slightly more active! James, Mommy, and Daddy headed off to Roanoke Island to take James to see the fishies at the aquarium (which ROCKED, although was somewhat pricey). There are several pics in the photo album. Basically, you start out in this cool atrium-type of dealio with lots of tanks, and it feels kinda rainforesty. Then you get into the indoorsy stuff, touchtank, and then the big guns like the sharks. For those of you who've never touched a ray, "ew". They're all soft and feel like they should be slimey *because* they're so soft but they really aren't. What's cool is that they are very friendly, and they LIKE to be petted! They will come up to you and FLAP THEIR WINGS to try to get your attention! Kinda neat. The guide guy at the tank told us they'll sit there and let him pet them for 15-20 mins at a time! Once you're done w/ indoor stuff, they have a fossil pit outside full of, well, a bunch of rocks and mess that they've dredged up off of the ocean or sound floor. It's also got some coral, shells, shark's teeth, and kids (and adults) can pick through this and find cool stuff. We found some coral and shark's teeth, and very dirty feet!
After this, we headed to Kill Devil's for frozen custard! James LOO-OO-OOOVEd it. The stinker kept grabbing Sterling's spoon (I had a shake) to help himself when Sterling took too long! Once they finished theirs, James was not content, so I gave him some of my shake and he wouldn't give it back! At that point, we grabbed a little kiddy cup and I doled out some of mine, and that's what he's holding (with a big ol' custard-eatin' grin) in one of the photo album pics.

High as a Kite (day 2 beach trip)

So Sunday we recovered from the long drive, started to unpack and settle in. After a leisurely morning (as leisurely as it can be when your son wakes you up at 6am), we and the parents headed over to Kitty Hawk Kites, which is located in a neat little shopping center across from Jockey's Ridge. Actually, we first went to Ben Franklin crafts, aka "the Crap Store", which is basically a bunch of souveniers and.. well, crap. We were in search of a kite, so when Sterling saw that the Crap Store only had the $5 kites made out of Saran Wrap, we moved on to Kitty Hawk Kites (henceforth referred to as "KHK", because I don't want to keep typing it). We opted for a Parafoil 5, which has no sticks or anything complicated, and flies like a champ! If you refer to the photo album, you can see Sterling figuring it out, with James' supervision.
We then walked across the street to Jockey's Ridge to give 'er a go. Pics of this will be posted when we've ironed out some technical issues.

That made for a busy yet relaxing afternoon. Oh yeah, we also bought Jim some chocolate-covered coffee beans because a) he'd never heard of them, and b) he did not believe that anyone other than Jaws from the James Bond movies could actually EAT a coffee bean... too hard! Anyhoo, proven wrong, Jim consumes his coffee beans.

And so Day 1 comes to a close. Ahhh.. beach life. Oh yeah, we went to the beach, too.. that's where the pics of James and Grandaddy came from.

Journey to the Sea

Saturday, Sept 3... ARRIVAL:
So, Saturday was the day of the big trip. We exited Raleigh around eleven-ish, just in time for James' nap. Now, while I miss my family up north dearly and really want to see them soon, I thank my stars that we opted out of the trip we'd initially planned in the summer. Four hours in the car with a wired toddler was rough... I think that after TEN we'd have just driven ourselves off a cliff!
So, it started with roughly a two hour nap, which pretty much rocked. He woke up a little after Rocky Mount, and we figured we'd see how far we could get before he got crotchety.. turns out that's about Plymouth, home of the awesomest Bojangles enroute to the beach (aka "the Boj"). So, we stopped there for lunch, where James enjoyed an egg and cheese biscuit. Fortunately, he's started to each sandwiches and biscuits as they were intended (eating from the edge vs. trying to eat straight from the center by smashing it into his face). While we finished up, James walked up to a couple in a booth and said, "hiiii!". The lady looked at him and said, "darling, you just made my day!". Our little ray of sunshine!

So on we trekked. He lasted about another half hour or so before the antsies kicked in. Sadly, this was about the point at which we entered the Alligator Refuge thingy, which is a stretch of nothing for about 20 mins or so... nothing worth looking at for a toddler who already has the attention span of a gnat! So, we read books, played soccer (don't ask), and eventually he occupied himself with his leapfrog learning pad for about 15 mins or so ("Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?"). FINALLY, we came to the bridge over the Alligator River, and the Roanoke Sound, and there was water and were birds to look at. We crossed the causeway into Kitty Hawk somewhat uneventfully, and settled down in our home for the week!

The digs were in Kill Devil Hills, about 1 block from the ocean, and within sight of the Wright Brothers Memorial.

Green Eggs and Spam

So we're scrambling to get our mess together for the beach trip which starts tomorrow. I am working like a crazy woman (I think it now stands for I've Been Manipulated... into thinking that it's OK to work 70 hrs a week!) to get all of my crap done so that I can leave work with clean conscience. Yet I digress...
So, we've both eaten like we live in a dorm tonight, and Sterling says, "I ate 2 burritos and a granola bar... I feel like James eating CRAP". Naturally, the Hackles of Motherhood arise and I staunchly defend my son's eating habits.. "James does NOT eat like crap, he eats very healthy!". Turns out he didn't mean crap = nutritionally deficient.. more like random. As in Orange Juice and hot dogs, or Chocolate Milk with hummus on pita. Ya know..just weird / ew. Hahaha. I've had two beers and am so tired, that comment made me laugh so hard I had trouble walking back upstairs to type this. L8r.

Just a few updates

On the whole, a pretty uneventful weekend, and week thus far. James is just about all recovered and back to tearing around the house a hyper-speed. Daddy has caught the cold (as did Karey), but with the help of some bourbon (for medicinal purposes and special occassions!) is now on the mend. We're gearing up for the beach next week for some much needed R&R.

New site stuff: I've added the "Daddy quote of the day", which in all actuality, will probably be more like the Daddy quote of the week or so. Let's face it, I don't update this thing every day! I decided that my darling husband is just so freakin' funny (seriously, he really is just that funny... remember when I laughed out two staples after my c-section?!), that I needed to start writing some of this stuff down! Here were the two other runners-up:
"Let's see what else we can chunk down there... " (turned into "My Punkin's Chunkin'" entry)
"Let's go run around the planet... I'll drive " (suggested on day when James had BOUNDLESS energy and was wearing Daddy down, which, is pretty much ANY day, isn't it?).
So, look for updated witticisms there!

Also, James is pretty much working himself off of the paci and lion during the day. When we pick him up out of the crib in the morning, we tell him to put both of those down. He chunks them back into the crib, waves bye bye to them (couldn't you just eat him up?!) and goes on with his day. We'll probably be able to get rid of the pacis altogether very soon... especially now that the teeth are all through!

Words that he now says:
"Out" and "Back", mainly when pointing to the dogs!
"Oooohn" means Open, he does his little sign for "help" while pointing to the door.
"Ooowwn" means Down, and he'll do this while pointing to the ground or down the stairs
"Uuuh" when pointing up means just that
"Hi"
"Whereisit?" or "whereditgo?" Says this in conjunction with "dada" or something else he's looking for, and does the little shoulder shrug / open arms
"Sheese" Cheese
"Dog"
"Ahh duh".. All done!
"Haht" for Hot
"See dat?" which means either a) do you see that? or b) I want that

Sounds and imitating:
Makes fishy noises (bup bup)
Makes panting for "dog"
Flaps his arms and goes dadadada for "birdy"
Sticks out his tongue for "frog"

Signs:
Eat, More, paci, help, up, down, cheese, byebye/nightnight

Sorry, this one's not about James...

Hehe.. ok, so this is a totally mommy-centric entry! I held my first Silpada party last night (thank you, ladies who attended!) and I consider it a success! Also, ENORMOUS thanks to Karey Berry for her help!

My new website is listed below under "links" (down on the left).. check it Ooowt!

Also, my friend from high school, Cyndi, has started her own business, catering to a slightly smaller crowd.. the toddler set. Please check out her website, Cyndi's Kay's bracelets and binky bling! ADORABLE stuff that she makes herself.

Well, that concludes my sales pitches for the day... this entry was brought to you by the letter $.

It's always friggin' SOMETHING!

Man! TOTALLY not our week! So, as you all know, James spent the weekend yakking, and seemed to be on the mend on Sunday. A little lingering fusspottiness, but generally happy, no fever, no spewing. He gets up on Monday, seems to be happy.. all is well again. Off he goes to daycare... for about an hour. Valarie calls, he's got a fever AGAIN, and is MISERABLE. So, mommy picks him up. We figure, ok, he's got a little lingering virus and just needs another day home to finish getting over it (and avoid passing it on to the other poor little unsuspecting kiddies). OH NOOOO! Either the virus has mutated, he's caught another one, or during one of his vomitous episodes it migrated upwards. Now he's coughing and his nose is running like a faucet. Poor little thing is running a mild fever again, and is generally ok, but clearly still hasn't shaken the bug. And as we're such a close-knit family who encourages sharing,... that's right! Mommy and Daddy are sick too. I guess we should just be happy that we missed the barf boat.

Oh yeah, poor daddy has been on sick duty this week, and due to a complete lack of sleep all around, we're all a little crotchety. Now that's quality family time.

Bugs bite...

We thought James was teething, but it seems that's he's teething and sick all at the same time. Last night he had a pretty bad fever and spent the night tossing and turning in our bed. Today he was kindof off and an. He'd be in a decent mood (gnawing furiously on his paci, mind you), but the second his meds wore off, he'd turn right back into Mr. Hyde. He's napped a little more than normal, and went down for one a little while ago. Unfortunately, he'd thrown up on lion a few mins prior, and lion was taking a tumble in the dryer. Mommy tried to put him down without the King of the Jungle... "here's Eyore, here's giraffe, ok, night night". He started to look around, so I grabbed a diaper cloth, thinking I could fake him out. I slipped it into his arms before he could see it, and said "oookaay, here's lion!". He said "uh oh", pulled out the cloth and looked at it like 'what the ...?' and said "whereditgo?" Stinker. So, I rocked him a little while longer and I think he was eventually just too poopered out and fell asleep anyway.

On a funnier note, we were at the grocery store a little earlier, and Sterling was carrying James around on his shoulders. He was having a blast, and started pointing our parts, as is his wont. He pointed to Daddy's ear and said "eeeyeee", and Sterling said, "no, James, that's not an eye". James just pointed again and *shrieked" "EEEEEYYYEEEIIII!" right into the side of Daddy's head. "No, James yelling doesn't make it an eye, but since it no longer hears, I guess it's not an ear, either!".

Signs, signs, everywhere signs!

James has made up two of his own signs, and we're very proud! He points his two fingertips together (kind of like "more" but with just pointer fingers) for "help me". If he wants something opened, or he can't reach something, he'll point to it or hand it to you, then do his little "help" sign. He has also made up his own sign for "paci". He was using "eat" to mean "food", "drink" or "paci" (in other words, put *something* in my mouth!), but now he's given paci its own sign. He sticks his tongue out and rakes his fingers down it like he's tickling his tongue or trying to wipe something off of it. It's pretty funny, because it's kinda random, but that's what he means when he does it!
What a smart boy! He's also *saying* "Mama" (Finally!!), "down", "Becca", and "aaaalll duuh" for All Done. What a puddin' pop!
OH YEAH: He also walks around with his hands behind his back, as if he's inpsecting everything! AND, he can't STAND it if you forget to let him brush his teeth in the morning and at night. He'll walk into the bathroom, point to his toothbrush, and hand you his paci and sit down (we make him sit while he brushes). He also likes to watch himself in the mirror while he's doing this (I would too, if I were that good-looking!).

The inspector...

My punkin's chunkin'

Ok, this was so funny that I had to immediately blog it. There are things you expect a father to teach his son.. bonding moments. Things like how to fish, how to wash a car, mow the yard, pitch a tent. You dont' really think about...how to throw things down the stairs. That's right, daddy is teaching our son a skill that will potentially cause damage to our material goods.
As I sat here working, I overheard "that's all ya got? what else can we throw?". .. and there they stood at the top of the stairs, staring down. The next thing overheard was "go on, chunk it!". It was just too funny not to share...

Happy, sad, happy, sad

Poor little James... what a roller coaster he's on this week! The last of my little bug's toofies are coming in and he's been absolutely miserable... unless he's distracted (see "shopping and showering"). Naps are hit or miss (mostly miss), he won't eat, and you can tell he's just not himself. He seems to be on the mend today, though. No fever last night (the night before he was burning up), and he ate *some* breakfast. Keep your fingers crossed!

Shopping and showering

Ok, so the new mall in Raleigh has an "interactive water feature"... which means it's a fancy sprinkler for kiddies! Check out James and Keaton playing!

More pictures are posted in Summer 2005... they start on page 2 (there are now FOUR pages of summer pics!). Very funny stuff!

Rainy Weekend

Just a coincidence that this has a similar title to the last posting. It was a rainy weekend, but we still found stuff to do... like splash in puddles!

WOW! When it rains, it pours!

I don't mean real rain.. that would be AWESOME (it's been in the high 90s and has topped 100 over the last few weeks!). James and mommy have been enjoying the pool nearly *every* day (I'm now a nice shade of beige vs. my usual pasty white!), and he loo-ooo-oooves it. When he sees where we are, he starts flailing and giggling like a madman. Initially it was great, because I could plunk him down in his floaty and push him back and forth to do some laps and actually get some tiny measure of a workout. NO MORE. Now, the dictator insists on playing and doing anything other than sitting still. Thus, the post-preggy body remains and seems to be making a stand for itself .. status quo.
Anyhoo, the whole "rains it pours" thing. James has picked up about half a dozen or more new tricks in the past week... we are STUNNED by this big ol' developmental leap! Here's the rundown:

• "See that?".. he'll point at whatever catches his eye and insist that you look at it, too, by asking you, "see that?". You *must* answer, "yes, I see that" or he'll keep asking.
• Climbing.. the little monkey has scaled the gates that contains the critters at daycare. Valarie said she'd left him in the play area while she went to put one of the other kids down, turned around, and he was right behind her. Yikes! Also, he's figured out how to climb onto the downstairs ottoman and sofas.. more opportunity to fall and get to more stuff. Time for another round of James-proofing.
• More canine antics: Yesterday he bent down on all fours and picked up one of his toys with his teeth, then stood back up like that, grinned, and kept going.
• Brushing his teeth.. he is FASCINATED with us brushing our teeth, and likes to brush his at the same time. He carefully studies what we're doing and tries to brush his own the same way.
• He imitates EVERYTHING. He "helps" us clean (I think we're going to have to find him a toy broom!), imitates our mannerisms, everything!
• "Uh oh!"... he LOVES to say this, thinks he's the funniest thing since the rubber chicken. He's just learned, in the last few days, that it's funny to drop things and say "uh oh". It's even funnier when the "uh oh" precedes the drop (slick, James, real slick).
• More signs: he sticks out his tongue for "frog". There's a little frog tchotcke on the shelf in our bathroom, and when he wants to play with it, he points and sticks out his tongue. He does the same thing when he sees a picture, or you say "frog". He also does "birdie".. he flaps one arm and kindof makes a chirping noise!

Our little sweetie the sponge is soaking it all up! He'll be in college before we know it!

My son, the puppy

It seems our child's been getting a little too friendly with the animals... in particular, those of the canine persuasion. We looked the other way when he'd help himself to a few kibbles here and there. When we realized that he wasn't doing it just for attention, that he seems to *like* it, we denied the truth. When he'd come in from walking the dogs and try to eat their treats rather than handing them to the dogs, we told ourselves, "he's just being silly". Well, now we must face the truth. I've whelped a puppy.
In the last week I have found James on all fours trying to drink the dog's water out of their bowl. He's also recently taken to trying to eat his food off of his highchair by leaning over and just eating it, hands-free.. as if he were a dog. I can't help but notice the coincidental timing of his recently-erupted CANINES (yeah yeah.. *eyeteeth*.. whatever). Gracious, what's a mom to do?

Quick updates!

Ok, just have a few mins, so here are this week's highlights:

New words:

• "Back" (as he points to the dogs.. comes out like "ack")... little dictator!
• "Hot", which comes out "hah", but used in the correct context
• "Hi!"... as he popped in on me in the bathroom and peeked around the door!

New other stuff:

• Gives big ol' smacky kisses.. just grabbed my shoulders the other day and smooched my cheek!
• Likes to stack things. I walked in on him in the kitchen to see that he'd moved and stacked 2 of my candlesticks in the middle of the kitchen floor.
• Can point to all kinds of things in books if you ask him where they are? (frequently identified objects are: duck, ball, teddy bear, lion, bucket, frog)
• Runs EVERYWHERE!
• Imitates. He sat on the office floor by the shredder (relax, grandparents, it was unplugged!) and held up sheets of paper and went "mmsscchzzzz" making shredding noises, because he's seen us do that! I think that's where the "ack" with the dogs came from. We always tell the dogs to get back when they beg at the table.

Some mid-week fun

Click here for a fun little game:
http://i.euniverse.com/funpages/cms_content/6489/a-maze-ing_new_cursor3.swf
Be sure to turn up the sound, there's a surprise at the end.

Also, for Samuel L Jackson fans, here's a little chuckle:
http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=chelios

July Milestones

So what's James up to this month? He's added new tricks to his bag, yet again:

• "Where is it?" This is his new baby sign. He holds up his hands and looks around, which means "I am looking for something and expect you to help". *Sometimes*, this will be combined with the "put something in my mouth" sign, which means, "my paci is missing".
• Straws: James has figured out how to drink through a straw! We went to Zaxby's during our vacation and he got the kiddy meal, and tried to grab the cup with the straw. We figured we'd let him try, and Lo! and behold.. he mastered it.
• He FINALLY says "Mama". It comes out so soft and sweet.. but it's RARE! He thinks it hilarious when you sing "maamaa" to him, and he replies "daadaaa".
• He has started to scold / snitch on the dogs when they beg during mealtimes.
• He runs, and he's FRIGGIN FAST! More than once, while one of us was downstairs watching him, the other has been greated UPSTAIRs by James wandering in to say hi. .. before the downstairs parent even knew he was missing. Fast little bugger.
• He loves to point out face parts, and can now point to the correct pictures in his books when you ask him "where's the ball? where's the dog?".
• He knows the sign for "ball"
• He's discovered his tongue. He likes to stick it out at random moments, and likes to try to catch yours! (at what point does this become rude?)
• He's realized that passing gas is funny. Unfortunately this is out fault. He let a big one rip while sitting down (which really lends to the revereration factor), and we laughed. So now he giggles when he farts. Good reinforcement, Mom and Dad!

So yet another busy month!!!

FYI, link to signs we use with James.

Boom! MAN! What a GREAT day! James let us *kinda* sleep in a decent amount, we had a leisurely breakfast / morning, and late morning the Lamancusas arrived with bloody marys and beer! We loaded up and drove over to the Donovan's pool (thanks, guys!!!!) for a day of splashing and sunshine! The weather was PERFECT.. hot, but a little overcast so it wasn't too hot. The drinks were spicy, the beer was cold, the boy was fun. There was a cannonball contest at one point, and James just egged everyone on by babysigning "more"!
It was then a quick trip home for everyone for cleanup and naptime for James (we were all ready for it at this point). Dinner and a movie followed, the boy crashed early, and we didn't see a lick of fireworks (we heard 'em, though.. it *is* North Carolina, and any redneck worth his salt has a stash of good explosives at home).
Check out the pics! One thing to note, Dave made the biggest splash, but Sterling's reached the furthest... like all the way across the pool and onto the camera! Some of the later shots are a bit blurry.. it's CONDENSATION! I had to leave the lens open to dry out afterwards. Some boys never grow up....
OH YEAH! Almost forgot the most exciting part of the day! Dave had just executed an... *ahem* interesting dive, and when he came up, he stated (very matter-of-factly, I might add), "I think my ring flew off.". At which point (can you STAND this?!?!) Sterling replied, "oh, mine's come off, too!". What a couple of asses. So, everyone took turns diving down underwater, looking through the bushes, and eventually, eagle-eye Karey found them. In hindsight, I find it interesting that both males stated that they did not see them underwater, and Karey's the one who found them. Did they *really* not see them? hmmmmm. Anyoo... in the last picture, you can see everyone looking in the pool for the damn things.

Playdate!

While on vacation, we made some time to visit with Jamye and the Donovan tikes! Here's James adding another name to his little black book, to call in about 16 yrs...
Notice how smoothly he samples her toys by chewing on them.. a real ladies' man in action! You can see in picture #2, that he's got her attention!

Lions and Tigers and Bears!

We took our first trip to the Zoo this weekend, and it was fantastic! If you've not been to the North Carolina Zoo in Ashboro, it's a must! I mean it was just incredible. We had great weather ( it was hot, but not unBEARable.. haha.. get it?), James napped the whole way and woke up in a great mood, and the park is just so nice. There were lots of animals, it was very clean and well-designed, and I just can't stress enough was a great day we had. Pics are posted below, you can see for yourself! Now the ride home was no piece of cake, because our favorite boy is starting to get very anti-confinement.. ie: hates his carseat. He strains and grunts and must be distracted at all costs! We had to stop at the only Popeyes within 50 miles of the triangle on the way home for dinner (we miss Popeyes, so figured we'd kill two birds with one pitstop). We arrived home in time to put on jammies and play for a little while before everyone crashed and slept like champs! What a nice day!

Downloading the schematics to his crib so that he can figure out how to lower the sides himself...mmMMWWWOOOHAHAHAHAH

I...AM...IRONMAN... (not!)

...but boy, do we feel like triathletes! Actually, we feel like total NON-triathletes stuck in a triathalon! So now the boy is SUPERmobile (he runs, he jumps, and he's damn fast!), AND teething (which always makes for a fun date!) AND he's dropped a friggin' nap.. we're down to 1 per day. And don't you think for one nano-second that we can get anything done during his waking hours. Even Valarie said "he's run me ragged"... and she DOES THIS FOR A LIVING! Eeeks! So he's SMART (which, ok, is pretty cool) and is really good at figuring out how things work, he's FAST, and he's INQUISITIVE. All good traits... unless you have to thwart the results on a daily basis. sheesh.

Items pulled out of James' mouth recently: dog food, dog biscuit, dog, mommy's / daddy's various body parts (mainly shoulders and the occassional nose), candles, bark, leaves, socks, paper, paper towels, toilet paper, .. and the list goes on.

Areas of our house that have been rearranged (perhaps better feng shui?): bathroom cabinets, daddy's bartifacts (now secured!), CD collection, shredding pile in the office, mommy's closet, basket of baby stuff beside James' chair in the kitchen, basket of remotes in the living room.

Things James runs into on a routine basis: dining room table (at least once a day... LOOK where you're walking, little guy!), wall (has mastered running, just not turning), door jambs (same), dog, rocking chair in his room.

Routines / sleeping / etc: Wakes up at about 5-friggin' 30 am, goes back to sleep w/ mommy and daddy for another hour. Wakes them up with eye-poking, face-smacking (love taps), and just staring and laughing. Will roll around in bed and just be silly and snuggle. Baby signs for "water", has a drink or two, then plays until realizes he's hungry. Baby sign for "eat", followed by IMMEDIATE 180 into crabpot.. "FEED ME NOW". *may* allow mommy and daddy to brush their teeth before heading downstairs for breakfast. Runs around like a crack monkey while coffee and b-fast are prepared. Eats and acts silly s'more. Back upstairs to get dressed if it's a daycare day. Picks out the day's outfit, and it's off to Miss Valarie. Naptime is now about noonish (used to be 9-ish, which rocked!), and lasts about 1-2 hrs. Lunch is before or right after, depending on when the nap actually takes place.
You know when he wakes up, because he is soooo not a good waker-upper! If you follow the dramatic sobbing, you'll find him standing in the crib with his hair lending him an extra 2 inches of height. He'll perk up the second you walk in, though, and those sweet little arms gesture to be picked up. He's pretty much wide open until about 7-ish, when he'll start to hit the wall. (yeah, dinner's thrown in there somewhere). We put on jammies, grab lion, and he'll walk around clutching lion in semi-catatonic state until the wall hits back, and then it's "night night". He'll wave bye bye and point to his bed, and then he's down. The sweet little boy snuggles up and waves at you from the crib, then "konk!"... out.

His personality continues to develop every day. He's sweet and very lovey, he shares, he's (mostly) well-behaved, although prone to test limits (as do all toddlers, and besides, who wants a boring perfect-mannered boy.. I don't think they exist, anyway!). He's playful, and cracks up at the drop of a hat. He loves to be tossed around by daddy and snuggled by mommy. He loves everyone and we predict he's going to be a very social little man. He's a mess, but we think we'll keep him...

Look how much he loves me!

Kisses! That's right, those are kisses. James and I were snuggling on the couch, when he started kissing me and the couch (who knows!?). He would make big silly "mwwwaaaah" noises, like the noises I make when I kiss him. He just thought this was hilarious and he kissed my shirt, legs, face, and the sofa. I had to get a tissue when he was done a wipe down.. he's VERY drooly right now.. see shirt for evidence. He's a mess... but soooo0o sweet!

Hugging is manly

So today was, as EVERYONE knows, Beer Wednesday, and we had full participation! The Kleys and Lamancusas attended, and with the Kleys come James' best buddy Keaton! Now Keaton's mommy, Stacy, has recently decided to migrate to the world of stay-at-home moms (and if Keaton is HALF as busy as James, then she's a better woman than I!). So, Keaton no longer goes to daycare, and he and James don't get to see each other as much. WELL.. they certainly haven't forgotten one another! They saw each other, walked up, and HUGGED! A big ol', "I'm secure in my masculinity" snuggly hug! It was tooo sweet! And it was followed by two more! MAN, those boys are so friggin' cute I could eat them both up with a spoon. THEN (oh yes, it gets even cuter), later on, Keaton noticed James' paci on the floor, so he picked up it and offered it to James, who took it in his mouth. James left the room a few mins later, and Keaton grabbed both of their cups and went to find him. When he did, he offered James his. In taking it, the paci popped out to the floor, but Keaton was kind enough to retrieve it and offer it again. Later, James came up behind Keaton and gave him another hug. I almost got cavities watching it all!
They played, and every now and then they'd just grin at one another.. you can tell them miss hanging out. When I told Valarie, she said "oh yeah, they'd do that all the time!". How lucky are we? Pics posted in "Summer 2005"

Mommy's new favorite picture.. a duck's-eye view of James 

Being silly.. we're playing beekaboo under the crib. He'll then pop up and look at you OVER the crib, then back under.. you get the idea. 

Getting ready to go to the lake (during a cold front... of course now it's in the 80s again!) 

Coming up for air...

WOW... has it really been almost 3 wks since the last update? Holy cow... just when you think you've adapted to the hectic new lifestyle that parenting brings... WALKING! And walking means constant vigilance!! We had dinner with Scott and Maria, and Scott said, "wow.. he never actually stops moving, does he?". And he's right, he doesn't. So, by end of most days, Sterling and I are e x h a u s t e d. Thus the lack of entries...
So what's new in WoodruffWorld? Well, James has gotten the walking thing downpat, and that boy can CRUISE! Unfortunately, he's not yet mastered walking AND watching where you're going... he's sometimes a little too focused on the floor and doesn't realize THERE'S A TABLETOP COMING AT YA.. *thunk*. So, he's got alot of boo boos. He wants to explore everything! He's really enjoyed going to the lake now that the weather's nice, and is enamoured of the ducks! He'll even feed them crackers (by dropping them off the bridges). Loooves some quacks.
Hm.. also, he says Dada.. frequently. Still no hint of mama yet. OH! And the cutest thing of all.. when he's ready to go to bed, he will actually go to his room and point at his crib, then wave "bye bye".. that means it's bedtime. He TELLS us when he's tired.. MAN! We have the coolest, easiest kid EVAH!
He is also VERY into his little lion (you may remember this guy from our August 2004 posting). Daddy (kudos to you, smarty!) came up with the idea to look for another on eBay. ROCK ON.. we WON it! So now we have a backup for what has quickly, in the course of about two weeks, become a crucial fixture in our son's life. He will not go to bed without it. It was in the dryer about a week ago when James gave us the night-night wave, and we tried to put him down without it, he was lifting up the covers and looking around for it.. too smart for us! We offered him several other stuffed animals, but he knows. So, backup lion is enroute, we have a safety net if we need it!
Also, crazy about the sandbox. This was introduced last weekend, when daddy was working, James wouldn't stop moving, and mommy needed to sit still for TWO MINUTES. We went to Lowe's bought some play sand, and dumped it into a toddler swimming pool that was a hand-me-down from Sammie. He played in that thing for about a hour. Those of you with toddlers know how incredible it is to get one to stay in one place for a whole hour! It was great until a) he face-planted forward and the drool on him resulted in the equivalent of shake 'n' bake, and b) he decided to put this shaken/baken paci into his mouth. AND THEN, he tried to eat sand.. that was about the end of it (plus side: has not tried to eat it since!)
Whew... I think that's it for now.. maybe this will teach me to wait so long in between updates. Enjoy the awesome Memorial Day weekend!

Takes a Lickin'...

... and keeps on tickin'.. and walkin'... and FALLING! While James is enjoying hands-free mobility, mommy and daddy have come very close to full-on heart attacks walking his little noggin come within inches of every hard surface in the house. Note the Boo Boo Map below, for evidence of the bumps in the road to mastering the fine art of Walking. He's also gotten his first bloody nose, compliments of the kitchen floor (who put that there, anyway!?). What a trooper, though, he just gets right on back up and keeps going!
He's also saying "daddeeee, dada" quite a bit. We were walking through the store the other day, and Sterling was walking down another aisle. He popped into view, and James nearly lept out of my arms yelling "dada!! dadeeee", and proceeded to "chase" Sterling around the bins (ok, not exactly an action movie chase, but a toddler's version!). VERY cute, he's all about daddy these days. So mommy's getting a bit of a reprieve, and daddy feels like his genetic contribution to this little person was not in vain!
So our little guy is growing up right in front of us, turning into a cool little person who walks and talks in baby sign (getting more consistent now!), and he's just friggin' awesome!

Boo Boo Map

These shoes were made fer walkin'...

And that's just what they're doing. James is upwardly mobile, and UNSTOPPABLE! His new favorite game is to stand up, and try to make it across a room to you only to lunge at the last step so that he falls onto you. It's actually very funny and cute. He also wants to walk everywhere now. If he's feeling a little wobbly, he'll come up to you and look for your hand to hold so that you'll walk around with him, also very funny and cute. Here's an action shot of him out in the driveway. Thank goodness it's still spring and he can wear jeans to protect those little knees!

Ah'm a travelin' man!

Busy busy busy

Our boy is a busy one. Just keeping up with him is exhausting! So tiring, that I've just enough energy to post some new pics... see the links down on the left.. "Spring 2005". Phew! g'night

First Baby Sign!

James has initiated two-way conversation! His first baby sign is "eat". If you ask him if he wants to "eat", he will pretend-feed you! Also, if he *realizes* that he's hungry, he will also do this. The other day I said, "James, do you want to eat?", and he just started to peck at my mouth with his hand, and grinned! Tonight, he just came up to me and started again, and when I brought him downstairs and showed him some snacks, he went WILD! Yay!

Oh yeah.. and some other news...

Also, forgot to mention a few other items of interest:
Abs: as in, my son has washboard abs (I am soooo jealous!). Not only can you see his six pack when you're changing him and he tries to sit up, but when carrying him around on your shoulders, you can just hold his legs. Seriously, he'll actually lean back and crunch back up into sitting position. Mommy needs to start the James Fitness Routine.
Crawling: Oh..mah.. gawd.. that boy is SMOKIN' FAST! AND, he likes to crawl away, pause and watch for you to start chasing him, then giggles like a mad man and starts off again. It's pretty hilarious on the days I'm not already completely wiped out!
Standing: He can stand by himself, in the middle of the room with nothing to pull up on. He can even lift something up while he standing or once he's up, and the heavier, the more he likes it! Also funny to watch, because this requires no parental intervention.
Walking: Two to three steps is the max, but he loves if you'll hold his hand and help him walk around. It looks like he's starting to realize that walking really can be faster.
Pats the dog: He loves when he's standing, and Moose comes near (Becky won't dare). He kinds smack/pats him on the head or back. Very cute, except to Moose, I'm sure.
OH, and he's a genius. How could I almost neglect to mention that, because I'm not a genius (at least not until I start getting some good sleep again!). He looves to figure out how things work, and he normally succeeds. When he plays with his Balls Everywhere, he's realized that there's sometimes not enough of a draft to pull the balls through and out the first time, and he's seen Mommy and Daddy push on the ingoing balls to get it started, so he now knows that if they're not popping, that's what you need to do. I'll pause while you acknowledge my son's precocity. He's also figured out how light switches work, the concept of "under" (he loooves to look under things!), and likes to feed others... if you smack your lips while he's eating, he stops and tried to put it in your mouth. Unfortunately, he then tries to play with it while it's in your mouth. My, how I've veered off topic...
Aaand, I think that's about it for now. Just didn't want to forget!

And two makes ten...

That is, two molars (as opposed to the one we originally thought was coming in), makes a total of TEN TOOFIES! His top two molars have broken the surface and are pressing their way through. So he's now got four incisors on the top and bottom, and right on schedule are the two top ones behind his eyeteeth, which should come in sometime later.
Talk about CRANKY!! He has been a fusspot, as well he should be, since he woke up. And how in the heck does Daddy always manage to be at work on the days James is cutting teeth? Ah, motherhood. I felt so bad for him last night that I could hardly stand it.. thank GOODNESS Sterling took a half day!
So, today was all about keeping busy, and we ran all over town. We spent time at the flea market with GrandmaSis and Poppop Cooley, and James rode around on PopPop's shoulders, beating on his head like a drum. Guess he figured if his head hurt, somebody else's should, too. Thankfully, he's napping now (fourth time today).. I guess teething takes alot out of you. Send him happy thoughts of teeth popping all the way through! Mommy's going to go catch a nap while she can (teething wears down on Mommy, too!).

More Trouble in ToothTown

Tooth number nine has set a course for eruption, and man... it's blazing a path of pain! When I picked up the little pooper from daycare yesterday, Valarie pointed out, "I think he's got something wrong with his gum... it looks a little funny and he seems to be in some pain". Immediately I thought, "bad mommy... daycare provider had to point this out to you!". However... it looks like this ugly little bugger just started to rear its head yesterday. By evening, it was kinda purply and we figured it must be a gum hematoma from his impending toof. He's been drooling so badly it makes him cough, and he clamps down that little beartrap of a mouth on ANYTHING (tooth-brushing needs to start coming w/ hazard pay!) He's gotten very close to producing Wendy's chili-worthy fingertips with some of those chomps! So, we're waiting, and watching, and dosing him up with ibuprofen... let's all think happy thoughts at that little tooth so that it hurries up and breaks out!

Spooooon! (again)

So, I'm trying to teach the boy some manners, and by that, I mean eating with utensils. Sure, he's a little young, but I thought, "hey, Ricotta cheese... mushy enough to stick to the spoon, tastes good, he can learn the use of the bowl AND spoon..."...
Shyeeeaaaah. You can see how this one turned out. BUT! ... notice that he's holding the spoon! Yeah, baby!

The Ricotta Cheese Incident (aka, the Spoon Situation)
btw, the white on his forehead is where the top of the ricotta-encrusted bowl hit when he tried to drink it like it was a cup... oy.

Revelations of Motherhood...

I had a bit of an epiphany over the last week. I've realized that doing a good job at parenting means that you kind of end up feeling like crap! Lately, James is not as interested in being held and snuggled as he is in exploring. If you're in the way (lying on the floor in an exhausted stupor, for example), he just crawls right over you and keeps going. If you pick him up, you *might* get a quick hug before he squirms away to chase down something (typically NOT a toy that someone has actually spent money on, but rather, something breakable or heavy). And now, the FINAL BLOW... no pre-bedtime snuggles.
We used to wind him down before bedtime with a book or two or some quiet playtime, and then rock and sing him until he was drowsy and put him to bed. Now he wants to read as many books as he can make you go through, and if you won't read anymore, he's DONE. Once you tell him "no more", and try to rock, he wiggles and fusses, and actually POINTS AT THE CRIB... like, "if you won't read, then you're dismissed! Just put me to bed already!". When you put him down, he wiggles into position, rolls over on his side, and just lets you cover him up and leave. He sings his little sleepy song to himself for a while, then falls asleep on his own.
It took a few nights before I realized, this is actually GREAT. The bedtime routine now takes about ten minutes vs. the half hour or so before! He puts himself to sleep! ... but he doesn't need us to help him with that anymore. It's a very bittersweet realization... that you've taught him independence.. but that it means that he doesn't need your help. poop.

One small step for man...

... and one small chair for him, too. . James enjoyed the evening in his new James-sized lawn chair and his sporty new kicks while Mommy, Daddy, and friends gathered and socialized in the driveway, as is our wont. Shortly after this pic, he stood up and took two steps towards Auntie Karey! Yay! Daddy reporting an earlier step sighting that morning. Looks like our little guy will be walking very soon!

Since his stroll was limited to two steps, he quickly reverted to his ol' reliable form of transportation, crawling. Of course, he quickly realized that when he ventured off of the towels we'd laid in the driveway for him, it hurt his knees. Resourceful little guy that he is, he figured out that if he walks on his hands and *feet*, he won't scrape up his knees...

About FACE!

Well, James is officially a forward-facing passenger! He rode in his new carseat for the first time today and... wasn't really sure what to think. You can see the look of slight trepidation on his face in the pic below. It's like he was thinking "I don't think I should say anything, but I think they put me in the wrong way...". He was a good sport, though, and just sort of took it all in.
New equipment specs: James is tooling around in the Graco ComfortSport convertible car seat, rated for 5 - 40 pounds, and up to 40 inches in height (and his head is already level with the top of it... nice, eh?). It has fleather trim and a rugged / sporty fabric that does not match either of our vehicles. The locking mechanism is similar to that of his old Graco SnugRide, but seems to require a little more pressure, so daddy's little stinker probably won't figure out how to free himself just yet! The REALLY nice thing about this (would have been great during the winter, so much for timing!) is the adjuster strap beneath his feet. With one hand, you can tighten or slack the straps so that you can accomodate however bulky stuff he's wearing! Oh yeah, and it has a built-in cupholder / snackholder on the side... it's like riding in a big lazy-boy recliner!

Big boy in his new carseat!

It's not a party until something gets broken...

Thanks, Shawn, for another great get-together! Hahaha... truth be told, these were old, weather-exposed, and were going to replace them anyway, but it's still funny. Poor Shawn, "why do you guys always tease ME about breaking stuff?"... if the broken chair fits...

Beer Wed this week brought the Moores, Rowland-Barbers, Woodruffs, and 1 half of the Lamancusas together (the other half was sick). Ribs were grilled, eggplant fried, and beers were drunk (as was wine!). A good time was had by all. Here are some pics

Pull my finger... uh, I mean "chain" 

The Power of the Point

James has learned to point. This is a skill not to be trifled with. Now, instead of knowing that he's simply not getting his point across, he KNOWS that when you don't give him something, it's not because you don't understand, it's because you're being mean. "Mommy!!!", he thinks, "I'm pointing RIGHT TO IT!... give it to me!". He's turned into quite the little pointing tyrant.
He also enjoys using this to try tempting you into his new favoriate game... Turn on the Lighting Fixture. This game is compliments of Daddy. Daddy puts James on his shoulder and holds him up to the ceiling to let him turn on and off the ceiling lights. This is fun for about 2 mins, at which point none of the blood is left in your arms. So now, every time you enter a new room, James immediately points to the lighting fixture. Thanks, da-da.

Just too funny

For a good laugh, click here. I found this one two of the other baby websites I have listed in the links down below... upload your own head for a good chuckle!

Year 1 Pictures Available

Alrighty, James fans... the year 1 proofs are posted! We're probably going to place our order in the next few weeks. The ones that we're going to order are labeled "ORDERING THIS ONE x", so if you want copies, let us know so that we order the appropriate amount. Also, if you see any others that you're really crazy about and simply must have, let us know and we'll try to get some of those, too. Enjoy!

Sick little boy resting and watching cartoons 

Happy St. Patty's Day

Well, the luck of the Irish must be with James, because he's FINALLY overcome this rotten virus he's been lugging around for the past week. Poor little thing has just felt awful since this past weekend, but he's finally turned the corner and is feeling alot better. The washer and dryer are also grateful, as they've gotten a workout this week! Mr. Pooper was going through several outfits a day, and whatever didn't get on him got on Mommy, the sheets, whatever was near. Also, this may be more than you'd like to know, but I will not be eating guacamole for quite some time...

Natal News Archives Now Available!

Check out the links along the left-side of the blog... Natal News archives are now available. Thanks to a cool little product called Hello, I can now send pics straight to the blog instead of having to link to another site.. so I created a blog just for the Natal News. Enjoy!

Can't buy me love (says who?!?!) 

Buying your friends...

At the tender age of 1, James has already learned the power of bribery. Fascinated with the animals (remember, first words are "cat" and "dog".. mama and dada are nada), he has yet to make a real connection with them... until now. Ever observant, he's realized that the dogs are actually interested in him during mealtime, hanging around his chair, sneaking in to try to grab food off of his tray (much to James' delight, I've caught Moose on at least 2 occassions eating right off of James' tray!). This realization has coincided with his recent discovery of gravity. He realizes that if he lets go of things, they drop. The dogs want *what* he drops, thus, to make the dogs happy, he should drop the food... right into their friggin' muzzles!!!
The good news is, it's easy to tell when he's finished eating. When he starts feeding the dogs, it's time to clean him up and move him on to the next activity. Obviously, the dogs now think he is the greatest thing since sliced steak.. thus a beautiful friendship is born.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

The J-Bug celebrated his FIRST BIRTHDAY this Saturday. Family and friends joined us for cake and merriment (and tequila shots...) in celebration of the big day. The day was just great all-around. James SLEPT IN until about 7:30 (mommy and daddy got a birthday gift, too!), woke up in an awesome mood, and ended up taking a 1.5 hr mid-morning nap. Mommy and Daddy were able to get stuff ready for the party ahead of time. Lest you think I'm putting too much emphasis on this, please recall that as parents, we often have to make executive decisions between cleaning the house, showering ourselves, or going somewhere... rarely do these all coincide! Auntie Karey and Uncle Dave came over to help (and did, mind you), but James was soo cooperative that we still had some slack time. What a joy!
So, the festivities kicked off around 3ish, most of the invitees were able to attend, those that weren't were missed! Aunt E and Grams/Gram/Gran did tequila shots (more like sips / samples...shots sounds cooler, tho). Scott extolled the virtues of said tequila vs. other brands. Jim ackwardly held his first baby *ever* (you couldn't tell). Poppa and GrandmaSis brought James' cousin Samantha to play (and they had a blast!). A good time was had by all.
James konked out while everyone was eating (timing could not be better!) and awoke just in time for cake. He totally dug the cake, but the ice cream was not an immediate hit.. perhaps an acquired taste? Who can really remember what they thought about ice cream the first time they had it? Not me. Lots of fun gifts later, and our baby boy-turned toddler spent the evening watching Monsters, Inc. and playing with paper and boxes.
He did get one toy that scared the bejeezus out of him! The Busy Ball Popper (henceforth known as the Crazy Ball Loser... since all balls will eventually end up lost under furniture... the thing PROPELS them skyward at about Mach 2, at which point they come back down and bounce off somewhere completely random!) made him cry the first night... probably coincided with the crash from his sugar high! Daddy and he played with it the next morning, and Daddy showed him that it's not scary. James also determined that the balls are delicious. Check out the pics for all this more!

Countdown to b-day

The big day is approaching...OOOOnnnnee! It's just crazy to think that it's already been 1 year. As we wheeled around the grocery store tonight, with James in his little sweatpants and pullover (he always looks like a tiny little man!) and he chatted with us and made little noises and grabbed at stuff, that this little person was a foot smaller and inside of me 1 year ago. Insanity. We were gearing up for his birthday celebration, which is jungle-themed (since he's a little monkey!). Naturally, mommy is way more excited about this than baby or daddy.
In preparation for his first annual aging, James has opted to set the following goals:

1. Stand alone. He has been diligently practicing this daily, at random intervals. To ensure maximum challenge for him and fright for mommy, he does so with reckless regard for the surface on which he practices (socks on VERY HARD tile floor, squishy bed, etc).
2. Complete initial set of teeth. DONE (#8 came in today).
3. Set world speed record for crawling. This boy is FAST... I think his legs actually blur when he goes.

In addition to his personal goals, the parental units have established these:

1. Say "mama" or "dada", in addition to "cat" (friggin' useless animal) or "dog" (both of whom are jealous of him and would leave him on the side of the road, given ample opportunity... but THESE are the words he says first!).
2. Wave "bye bye". Other babies do it, enough said.
3. Sleep past 6:30 am... don't care WHO else does it or if they do, we just want HIM to.

So, the countdown to toddlerhood continues, as do the early mornings and days without showers (where the heck does the day go!?). Woodruff, OUT!

TWO Milestones!

Apparently, hanging around that Kley boy (Keaton Kley is James' little daycare buddy) is good for development! Keaton is about 3 weeks older than James, so seeing him is always like a preview of what James will be doing in the next month. He typically hits each milestone right on the nose, about a month behind the K-man. Well, last night, after much playing (both worn SLAP out!), James let go of what he was holding onto and stood by himself for a good 20 seconds. His little hips kinda shifted back and forth as he maintained his balance, and he held out for a pretty good while.
Also, while saying his goodnights, he waved "bye bye" to Uncle Dave. It was a very floppy wave, mind you, but a wave nonetheless.
*sniff* our little boy is growing so fast!

Spoooooon!

... the battlecry of blue spandex-clad superheroes and toddlers everywhere! James began his foray into the world of eating utensils tonight! Granted, his grasp on the spoon is more like a choke hold, and getting the food in the mouth consists of pulling it off the spoon with his fingers (all of this in his mouth at once!) or turning the spoon upside down to dump HALF of the contents into his mouth, but c'mon... I dare you to do better with less than 1 year experience!
He's also cruising around his room using a little walker (kinda like the ones in the link, but without quite so many bells and whistles). Good lord, are we actually encouraging him to be more mobile than he already is? I guess parenthood really does rot your brain! DANG, he's cute, though!
Also, check out January pics below! Cute tub shots.

Slack @$$ parents

Okay, it's been OVER A MONTH since our last post!!! It has been a BUSY month! You see, having a child means you're never healthy again... E V E R. James has brought up a stomach flu AND a cold this month.. lovely. The stomach flu knocked us all out for about a week (we each caught it on different days, spread out over a week). Last week, Germy James brought us a wicked cold that Mommy is *still* recovering from.
But enough about our woes, what's Mr. James been up to for the last 5 weeks? Well, he's turned 10 months old! He's also crawling like a crazy man... he can cover the entire upstairs in about 5 minutes (that's including time spent investigating the contents of anything knee-height or below, and pulling himself up on anything convenient to reach stuff that's hip-high). He does NOT like to be fed anymore, he wants to do it himself! So, we had to change our shopping list to include more finger foods. He takes a bath without his little bath seat now, and likes to crawl from one end of the tub to the other to chase down his little floatey friends (no, not poop....yet! actual toys). He babbles up a storm and is very close to saying "Dog" or "Cat". So much for "mama" or "dada"... I guess we should just get used to being taken for granted! He kisses (more like an open mouth drooly thing), he hugs, and he's just a snugglebugcuddly silly little guy with an awesome personality. Every day he adds more tricks to his bag and gets that much cuter.

All I want for Christmas

..is my two front teeth. Who knew that Santa could delivery with such precision? This weekend, James got numbers 3 and 4. As soon as they start to really come in, he ought to look like the world's cutest chipmunk! Check out the First Christmas pics link, and have a great holiday week!

Lock us up

... because we're awful parents. Turns out that he wasn't teething, he has bronchiolitis. He started coughing last week, which we figured was just due to all of the extra..er, "fluid", from what we thought was teething. Then it got worse, and we took him to the dr. The dr. said that some refer to this as the "happy weezer", because even though they're sick, they feel fine. James grinned the entire time we were there! So, our happy little weezer is now on the mend, and mommy and daddy are adding this to the list of lessons learned. I guess there's no happy medium in parenthood, either you overreact or underestimate, and most of the time you just have to be content to look like a slight doofus rather than a total boob.
November pics in progress.... keep checking back!

Oh yeah, REALLY close to crawling.. gets into the "downward dog" yoga position and can even lift up one foot and balance on hands and one foot... but hasn't realized yet that he can move his hands! He does do a few guerilla maneuvers, though, pulling himself on his tummy. Lock up your low-lying valuables, folks, James is approaching mobility.

I'm your boogie man...

, and I don't mean like in, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, I mean like in boogies. We suspect that James' two teeth are about to have company, and he is drooling like a leaky faucet.. and with drool comes... well, no need to get gross (parents, you know what I'm talking about). He's also biting anything he can get his teeth on. He's got a new toy, a LeapFrog piano, and this thing talks to him, plays music, lights up. His favorite part is the handle... to chew on. He could care less if the thing flew around his head, as long as he can gnaw on that appropriately sized handle, he's good to go!
Every day his movements get more purposeful and he gets into more stuff! The minute you sit down somewhere with him, his eyes are roaming the room for things within reach that might prove interesting. God help us when he actually starts to crawl, we'll be digging dog food and dustballs out of his mouth every time we set him down! And speaking of crawling, no, not yet. The poor little bugger can get up on hands and knees and rock back and forth, but he just can't figure out how to move them all at the right times. He's very good, however, at pushing himself backwards. This is pretty much his primary form of locomotion at the moment, and it's not unusual to find him TOTALLY pissed off because he's pushed himself farther away from the object of his desire than the distance from where he started. Perhaps this will incent him to figure out how forward propulsion works!
Well, check out the October pics. We dressed him up, but it wasn't quite as cute as we'd hoped. Frankly, HE improved the COSTUME... it's a 2 year old's costume (only size I could find in a lion, which Sterling insisted on), and I figured he could wear it again next year! We trick or treated at 2 houses (hey to the Davises and Wendy!), and then he started nodding off. To be fair, it was a warm night, and the time changed that morning so he was tuckered. We hung out on the front steps for a while until the too-old-for-Halloween Hooligans made their rounds, then off to bed! There are pics in the album, enjoy them!
Sorry for the few and far between entries... this parenting thing takes a little bit of time. Later!