LookatthoseLIGHTS!

Ahh...the stuff that traditions and memories are made of! Tonight we went to the Chick Fil-A Celebration of Lights at The Pavilion Formerly Known As Walnut Creek (it's now the All-Tel Pavilion). Although we suffered a bit of sticker shock, and thanked our lucky stars for the extra change I carry in my wallet...$15 frickin' bucks! AND, there's a bunch of crap for sale in "Santa's Village".. I remember when this was $5, and you had to walk there uphill, both ways! ...but I digress. Anyway, we took James to see the lights, and he LOVED it! I was posolutely frreeezzing, but we still got out and stomped around Santa's Overpriced Village (perhaps next year we'll bring more than the $15 entrance fee and a handful of change, and actually ride the little choo choo!). We then got back in the car and had hot chocolate and mommy's chocolate chip cookies. It was an awesome night!

Not without my HAT!!!

Wow, toddlers are wierd. Every night before bed, James and I hang out in our room and watch a little bit of TV, then we play and roll around on the bed, and read some books. Well, tonight James started to say "hat! hat!", and I asked, "do you want your hat?". He started on his little desperate/relieved giggle he makes when he wants something really bad and he's so excited that you figured it out! I went into his room and brought him his hat, which he put on while he jumped around on the bed. It got closer to bedtime, and I said, "ok, let's take off your hat"... nothing doing! He started to fuss and protest and said "HAT! HAT!", so I put it back on. I brough him into his room and got ready to put him in bed and started to take it off, and again, he protested..vehemnantly! "HAT!!! HAT!!!"... so he went to sleep wearing his hat, just as happy as a lark. What a wierdo.

New pics

New pics posted! Click on "The Woodruffs Photo Collection" down on the left.

Nature vs. Nurture

This just in: it's genetic. Men are predisposed to fart jokes and base humor. Perhaps with alot of conditioning they can overcome it, but I really have my doubts. We were getting James ready for his bath on Friday, and I realized that the lotion dispenser was running low (I like the pump kind!). So I started to squeeze one of the new lotion bottles into the dispenser bottle, and every few seconds it would go "scqullerrtppht" and make a rather flatulent sound. James just stood there and cracked up every time, like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard! Mind, you, we are not the type of family who sits around making such noises or laughing at them... so I must conclude that it's in the genes. Pre-programmed. A part of the man he will someday be... a man who will belch and laugh at farts, not because he wants to be a pig, but because he just can't help it.

What a ham

Christmas comes early...

Daddy was away at the club today, which left Mommy and James home on a rainy day. While this might normally have me quaking in my New Balances, today it was.. an AWESOME day! James has learned to entertain himself.. for a looong time! Yay for everyone! He sat at his little toy cabinet downstairs this morning just playing with toys, then he'd move one out of the way when finished, then pull out the next one. So quiet, so good! He then sat there in the chair in the FROG reading some new books.. four in row. He'd quietly look at the page, point out a few things, then turn the page and keep "reading". He was so quiet I didn't even realize that it was naptime. Wow.

We also had two wonderful Turkey Days. Neither of us can believe that there was zero stress.. we're waiting for something to happen still! TG was at Liz's, and we just brough pies and collards (mind you, none of her yankee in-laws NOR HER would touch the stuff! And before you even get started, I think that being in the South for 10 years makes me a naturalized Southerner... so I can get away with calling people Yankees.. plus I just think it's funny). So no clean-up, no hassle (pies and greens made the night before), and home we went with full bellies!

TGII was Sat with the Floridians and my parents. Also very stress-free. Most of the stuff was cooked before everyone got there, so you didn't have that milling around while trying to cook thing (MAWTC). Ok, slight tangent here: we do NOT have a large kitchen, and while our house is decent-sized, it has a very traditional layout (read: not open), and everyone knows that when you have company, no matter how comfy and welcoming you've tried to make your living room (note: it ROCKS), everyone will find there way into the kitchen where they will stand DIRECTLY in the path of the cook, who's already grumpy because the food's not done, and general chaos will ensue. NONE OF THAT on Saturday. James was in a fabulous mood, the food was incredible (fried turkey, ALWAYS good!), and everyone was happy.

Also (sorry.. catching up on a BIG blogging backlog.. a backblog! haha), James has tasted the temptation that is Daddy's guitar. Here are a few quick pics of the boys strumming some catgut (it's really just wire) in the family room. Soooo cute!

What's in a name?

When you think of a new baby entering your lives, the kinds of questions that come to mind are:

• Will I be a good parent?
• How will I raise my child?
• Is my house childproofed?
• Can I afford this? What do I need to buy?

... unless you're a grandmom, then you ask

• What do I want this kid to call me?

Hehehe... that was the burning question on both grandmom's minds. As I'm sure is the norm around the world, the child has decided for himself how he'll address the ladies who spoil him so.

While staying with the Woodruffs during the week of Thanksgiving, he obviously noticed that Grandaddy referred to his wife as "honey", and that's what he's dubbed GM Woodruff.. Honey.

GM Cooley goes by "Sis" to all other members of the family. We were shooting for "GrandmaSis", but that's quite a mouthful, so James has settled for "Sis".. just like everyone else.

So his GMs are "Sis" and "Honey"... could he be any cuter?

James' new smile

So the other day I was filming James with the camcorder, when I noticed he stopped and grimaced at me twice. I thought, "wtf?", then I realized, it wasn't a grimace, it was a smile.. he was cheesing for the camera! What a total ham! Here're a few pics of what James thinks smiling is!

Play-Doh tastes good

.. if you are a toddler. Mind you, the colors it comes in these days will definitely keep ME from tasting them, but James.. quite a fan! He was introduced to Play-doh this week in an effort by Mommy to placate him while shopping in Tarjay. I figured the cool container it came in would keep him busy while we finished, but then we got home and I thought, "man, I haven't played with this in FOREVER...let's break it out!", and we did. It now comes in very cool colors! James mostly squished and sampled it, and really enjoyed pulling apart whatever I made for him. I did get several requests to make mooehns, which I did. You can see the pics of his first forays into this time-honored tradition in our photo albums.. check out the new link for Photo Collections, and select the Fall 2005 album.

Moon over my little man

James first discovered the moon while we were at the beach, and Grams took him out on the deck at night. Well, it has become his new obsession. Every night we have to go out to look for the moon. In the middle of the day, he'll walk around saying, "mooo-ooon?", "where's the moon?". It's so cute, because in his little voice it sounds like "mooehn" (like he's from Wisconsin.. and hey, the moon is MADE of cheese... coincidence?). He now looks for it everywhere, and thinks anything that looks REMOTELY like the moon (picture of a pearl, the sun, white linoleum circles on the floor of Harris Teeter) must also be moons. Ah, to be so easily amused again...

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...