Pics from Safari....

Goin' on Three and Paci-Free!

Well! What we thought would be a huge ordeal ended up barely being a blip on the radar. We've been telling James for a few months now that as he chews holes in his pacis (as he is wont to do), he has to throw them out.. and when they're gone, they're gone. So... they're gone. He chewed through the last one yesterday, I made him throw it out, and he slept last night like a.. baby / exhausted toddler. No real issues, no nothing. He asked for it, I reminded him where it was, and that was that! He's napping right now, also sans paci. That's it. Sorry, I just really thought this was going to be a bigger deal and it's a total non-issue. :-)

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEATON! Keatey turned three today and an awesome time was had by all at his Jungle-themed party. Pics to come...

It's not the same....

James is getting very wordy.. he says some pretty precocious stuff that just slays us sometimes. While Sterling was driving him to daycare today, James pointed out a truck that looked a bit like Daddy's truck, and he said as much. Sterling said, "no, James, that's not like Daddy's truck..it's the same color, but it's bigger / smaller / whatever (I wasn't there)". James said, "it's similar." He's used that quite a few times since, too, always in the right context. What a hoot.

Nice grammar

Here it is, afternoon, and James is fighting his nap tooth and nail. Sterling said, "Jaaames.. I think you're sleepy".
James: "no, I not sleepy"
Daddy: "Oh, yes you are"
James: "no, I not am"
Daddy: "yes, you are"
James: "NO, I NOT am!"

Mommy's little monkey

Well, I'm back from San Fransisco, and we drove to the rapids today to pick up the boy. While we were there, James spied a banana that must have appealed to him (pardon the pun!) and asked, "mommy, may I have that banana, please? may I eat the banana, like a monkey?". Not paraphrasing here, those were his exact words. He really cracks me up sometimes.

Tiiiiiny buubblesss.... in my tub.

The boy does love himself a bath. He typically gets a small amount of bubbles for starters, we do a quick top to toes washdown, and then he can play as long as he wants or until I get tired of sitting in our little bathroom with him. Last night he played and played... and then discovered how to make his *own* bubbles.
It clearly started as an accident. My gaseous little guy let one rip, realized that it made bubbles, and decided this was the coolest thing ever. So then he lay there on his back, looking down between his legs and GRUNTING to push out more so he could watch the bubbles come up. I'd hear "mmmmhh" followed by "blurpblurblurpb", and then maniacal laughter. I can't believe he had that much in him, but he entertained himself for about a good 5 - 10 minutes. So classy, it makes a mom proud.

Can you stand it?

How cute is this boy? Do you think he knows it?

Apparently, leftovers suck

So yesterday was a Mommy and The Boy kinda day (Daddy was working), and we sat down together to have a late lunch. James took one look at his plate, and said, "another 'gain"? (another again). I said, "what's that, James? What's again?", he replied, "chicken pot pie, Mommy... again?". I guess he's too good for leftovers.

A real sense of entitlement

Some people just think you're made of money! James has actually been overdue for a haircut for a few weeks now (although I'm sure Honey and Grandaddy would disagree vehemently). And mind you, he LIKES to get his hair cut (it has nothing to do with the free lollipops). So, as we drove past Great Clips on the way home from daycare the other day, he sad, "Mommy, I'm sad. I'm sad, Mommy". And I asked, "why are you sad, James?"
James: I want a haircut
Mommy: Well, sweetie, Mommy doesn't have any money with her.. it costs money to get a haircut
James: Daddy has money...

Seriously, the little bugger just KNOWs that one us will give in to his demands if he just points out that we're perfectly equipped to do so..

Mommy: James, Daddy's at work.
James: DADDY HAS MONEY
Mommy: Yes, sweetie, I know Daddy has money, but Daddy's not HERE.. he's at work
James: I'm sad. I'm crying, Mommy. I'm crying.

*sniff*... now I'm tearing up again... oh, the sadness, the humanity!

Technicolor Yawn

I think I've given birth to a perpetual motion machine. There are times when I'm standing there trying to talk to him, and he will... not... stop... MOVING! Seriously, he jumps, spins, bounces, and if I watch him for too long too close (he's a close-talker) it honestly makes me want to throw up. It's like watching a spazzier version of the Blair Witch Project. That's all.

Snow day!

We got snow today! For those of you readers who are out-of-towners, we don't get that much here. Normally, Raleigh exists in a weird little meteorological bubble that forces snowstorms around us, even though ever town around Raleigh gets hit. Not today! We got about 2 inches of fluffy white goodness that looked nice, but didn't stick to the roads. James LOVED seeing snow for the first time since he's been old enough to realize what it is! Here are some pics of the snow, and James bundling up to weather it!

Christmas pics (finally) posted!

In the photo collection.. enjoy!

Videos!

So we're trying something new here.. there's a link right below the photo collection to our new Putfile homepage, where we can post videos. The resolution is not so fab, but we'll see how it goes. For now, there's one video of James doing his puppy impersonation. Enjoy!

The holiday spirit dwindles....

Well, the decorations are coming down, the trees are getting stashed, and the house is being restored to its pre-holiday state... as are we. James is "helping" us with the cleaning, and Daddy has offered to pass on his wisdom in the form of this little light-hearted barb, "James, come watch Daddy mop so that I won't be the only one who knows how to do this in the house". ... to which Mommy replied, "and then you can come hang out with Mommy to learn tolerance and tact, so that *I* won't be the only one in the house who knows THAT". hehe... even the king of tact had to chuckle at that one... ZING!

To sleep, perchance to dream....

Ah, there's the rub. People are always asking you when you kid sleeps through the night, as if once you reach that magical milestone it's all downhill and sleep problems never arise again. Not true. Granted, once he's down, he's *typically* down, but sometimes it's a bit of a tussle getting there.

This weekend he walked into our room (his visits are always preceeded / announced the the "thud" of 32 lbs hitting the floor on two little feet with the sound of more like 100lbs of lead), and said, "mommy, daddy, I'm in the swamp!" Both of us "what?"-ed for a few minutes before we actually realized what he was saying. I finally told him, "well then, swim back to bed and go to sleep". He said ok, and did just that. No idea what was going through his mind that night.

Tonight he just didn't want to go. After popping back into our room about 4 or 5 times, Sterling put up the gate. James stood there whimpering (VERY pitifully), then said in what I'm sure he *thought* was a pitiful voice, "I'm cryyying. I'm saaaaad. I want Moooommy". He did this for a few minutes while we buried our faces in the pillow laughing, and then he broke out the big guns and just started WAILING. At that point, Daddy closed our door. Well, James (as stubborn as his Daddy) just reached over the gate, turned the knob and pushed our door back open. So the door was locked, the sobbing continued, and finally ended with a breather, a quick rock, and then into bed with nary a peep. I guess sometimes you just need that extra magical snuggle to call it a night. And now I'm going to go call it a night.

Things a man can only get away with saying when he's 2

There are some things that men can only pull off when they're still toddlers and amazingly cute to boot. Here's a small sample, and all of them directed to me...

• "Those are your shoes... your shoes are BIG!"
• (In response to, "I love you, James"): "yep"
• "You have some nuts.. have some nuts, Mommy" (he and Daddy were sharing some mixed nuts, watching TV. I guess he felt like I was being left out ..he physically took my hand and was pulling it over to the jar to make sure that I got some)

Must-have kitchen gadgets for '07

If you don't have one, you are missing out! The hot new item for '07 kitchens is "the Cooking Chair". So dubbed by James, the Cooking Chair is a multitasking furniture piece which doubles as a place for toddlers to stand while they watch mommy cooking/baking in the kitchen. James likes to take the chair closest to the little counter peninsula, push it up to the counter, and stand and watch and "help". Granted, his help typically comes in the form of adding ingredients to both the bowl *and* counter, licking the aforementioned counter, and then trying to maneuver his way into licking the bowl and/or spoon. All made possible by that culinary wonder - the Cooking Chair.

Cheeky Monkey

Last night I was (attempting to) sing "Thomas and his Friends" to James. There's a line that says "Thomas... he's the cheeky one", and I inserted, "James... he's the cheeky one!". His reply was, "I AM the cheeky one, mommy!". You are indeed, my little bug!

Spooooookey Newkie!

Ya know how cats' eyes get when they're in shadow and the light hits them and they seem to glow? James didn't know that, but was AMAZED when he discovered it! He came downstairs to demonstrate Newkie's "spooky eyes" to me.. here's what it looked like:

Oh yeah, he likes to chat on the phone, too. Here he is telling GrandmaSis what a good boy he's been, and what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas (it's candy canes, "Cars" the movie, and money).

Blogging Backlog

I took the time this week to do a data dump of the entire blog to-date, to save it to disk for posterity and stuff. In doing so, I revisted alot of good memories that I can't believe had already slipped my mind! I also realize how slack I've become, yet again, in posting! There was a time, not so long ago, that I posted *at least* once per week, if not a smidge more. My not-yet-New-Year's resolution is to pick it back up again. Most of my holiday shopping is done, so I think I can spare the time again!

So what's new in WoodruffWorld? James continues to surprise and amuse us at every turn.

• He's become very opinionated. He likes to let you know what he will/won't do and wear. I let the poor boy run around in public wearing something stylishly questionable because that's all he would wear... he was quite insistent! "no, mommy, I want the BLUE shirt!"
• He can express his emotions. He'll tell you, "I'm sad... I miss my Becky".
  
• He's become VERY attached to the animals. In the morning, he looks for "his" Becky, and loves to slip Newkie treats when we're not looking.
• He likes to chat in the car. He'll say "Mommy, I don't know where we are? Where are we doing? Can we go that way?"
• He's just so verbose, social, observant... just so EVERYTHING! He's fun to hang out with and chat with.

Sterling and I are just pooped. Other than, nothing really new with us. :-)

Little doughboys

Yesterday was the first (what I hope will be annual) Mommy/Kid cookie baking day (and I promise to come up with something catchier in the future). It was just us Woodruffs, Stacy and Keaton, and Karey (along with her soon-to-be-baby). We had a ton of fun! The boys probably ate the equivalent of about a pound of sugar each, but you couldn't tell the difference. There were cookies, mommies had wine, and we all left with goodies. What a nice way to start a holiday tradition!

Bed Head

This is now the background on our home PC, and I laugh every time I look at it... hope you do, too!

Thanksgiving vacation comes to a close...

Ah, Sunday! The one day each week when we all get to sleep in together and hang out. Our morning started out quite rudely in its usual fashion.. when James "crept" into bed with us... and we realized that the hallway was lighter than normal. Upon investigation, Daddy noticed that James had made a pit stop to turn on the Christmas tree in the family room before joining us in bed!
So we all snuggled down in the now-dark-again room, Sterling snuggled up against James who whispered "swhwwsshhpp". Sterling said, "what?". James whispered again, "swhwpssshwwswh". Sterling pulled out his paci (James'), and said, "what did you say?", and James whispered, "get off me.". I nearly peed in the bed laughing.

So the day wore on, it was the Cooley/Pyne/DeMauro delayed Thanksgiving (and ya'll, I cooked my transplanted butt off better than most Southern-born-and-bred girls... give it UP!). For some reason, the pies didn't vanish as I thought they would, and we were left with ALOT of pie (it was damned good.. that was NOT the reason it was left over). James has acquired a taste for pumpkin pie, so he had a slice in the early evening after things had calmed down and we were cleaning up. Sterling was doing dishes, I was straightening up other stuff, so neither of us immediately noticed that James had stood up in his seat, reached over and grabbed the entire pie plate (because he'd finished his), pulled off the foil, and was chin-deep in the whole pie, LICKING it up like a dog! Good lord! He was so proud of himself, and really, how can you get mad at a cute kid like that with half a slice of pie hanging off of his chin? All in all, a good day.

His modesty knows no bounds

The Woodruffs (the GPs, not these Woodruffs) have bought young James a new robe. It's quite awesome, and goes all the way down to his ankles. He looks so dignified and grown-up in it, and when I told him, "James, you look so handsome", he replied, "yes, I *AM* handsome!". His response has been very similar to, "James, you're so silly / cute / sweet". All met with acknowledgements that I am correct in my assessment. Glad he's honest, if not humble.

Etiquette Police

James joined us in bed again this morning for the 5 minute snuggle between when wakes up and when Sterling's alarm clock does (notice how many stories start off this way...?). I said, "good morning, James", and he said, "good morning, Mommy". Sterling said, "hey, James", and not missing a beat, James replied, "no, Daddy, not 'hey'... 'Good Morning'". Well!

"Memories"... or "Man, am I getting old"

I think the most memorable moments in parenthood are the ones where you can remember being on the receiving end of the moment you're currently sharing with your child. For the first few years, you're so busy and who really remembers being so tiny... it's not until your wees ones have a few years under their belts that you actually start to get into quasi-familiar territory... you've been there before, just not in this role. And it's weird, and a little bittersweet.
Today James scraped his cute little cheek (it adds character to his face, and chicks dig scars, right?), and he's been a trouper about it. I think it looks worse than it really is. Well, after he had his bath tonight, I very gently spread a smidge of ointment on it. He looked at me and said, "thank you, Mommy, my boo boo feels better". Wow. Don't you remember YOUR Mommy making your boos boos feel better? I've been thinking about this lately, and I don't always remember much about my preschool interactions with my parents, but I do remember my Mommy always being there when I was feeling bad or sick. I remember how it was the best feeling in the world, and that you just KNEW that Mommy could fix everything. And now that's me, and it's very humbling.

.. and this tunnel is juuuust right!

James and Keatey apparently decided to make a tunnel this afternoon, using pillows, Stacy's sofa, and Stacy's coffee table. She says they crawled through their tunnel and ran around like monkeys for quite some time! Naturally, this was a topic of conversation on the drive home...
Mommy: so, James, what did you do today?
James: James and Keatey played in the tunnel!
M: oh yeah? Was it fun?
J: yeah!
M: did Ryan play in the tunnel? (Keaton's little bro)
J: no, he's too little
M: did Amelia play in the tunnel? (Ryan's little lady friend)
J: no, she's too little, too
M: did Stacy play in the tunnel?
J: no, she's too big (sorry, Stacy.. I'm SURE no offence was meant.. at least you weren't compared to a highway tunnel like me!)

apparently, this tunnel was built to very specific measurements, and unless you are between the ages of 2.75 and 2.8 years old, you will NOT fit. Consider yourself warned

Happy Halloween!

What a perfect Halloween! You would think the trees spent the last few weeks getting their timing straight so that on Halloween they could be in full "bloom"... the colors were AMAZING, the weather was incredible, and we just had a blast!
James the Builder and Mommy the Gypsy walked around the whole block, wowing the neighbors with the cutest contractors this side of the Mason Dixon line. James had been practicing his "Trick or Treat" all week, and was thrilled to put it to good use. At one house, they left the candy out and said to help yourself.. I think he was a little bummed that he had no one to say "Trick or Treat" or "Happy Halloween" to.
We visited another house where a little 4-yr old girl was helping her mom hand out candy while she finished dinner. She came out on the porch to show James all of their decorations. Then James showed her, "that's my hammer, that's my screwdriver, that's my pumpkin with my candy..." They chatted for a few, then when we left, he said, "mommy, that's a girl". Oh my, am I really going to have to start worrying about my little lothario already?
After making the rounds, we hung out with our neighbors for a while, while James "fixed" the trees and mailboxes with his tools. What a great way to usher in the Fall!

Stickers as a cure for insomnia?

Two quick little stories.. our little man just grows funnier and sillier every day! While driving around yesterday afternoon (granted, after a ginormous sugar rush from ColdStone Creamery), James started to hit his head against the pads in his car seat because the seat made a slight "boing" noise when he did it. Sterling and I both turned around and said "what are you doing?", to which he replied, "how you like DAT?!". Seriously. We both turned back around and laughed until we cried.

This morning, after he crawled (again, not a churchmouse) into bed, we all tossed and turned for a bit until we just decided to get up. I asked Sterling, "what's wrong? did you not get any sleep?", and James parrotted (almost), "what's wrong, did you not get any stickers?" (?!). Sterling said no, he didnt' get much sleep.. just trouble sleeping. Maybe he needed some stickers?

Captain Condiment and the Catsup Commandos

Well, we spent the day at GrandmaSis' house, hanging out with my niece, Samantha. Samantha is 4 yrs old, soon to be 5 (MAN, I can't believe she's almost 5!), and she loooooves James. And James looooves Samantha. They just pal around and wear each other down to a frazzle... I think the two of them combined could power a small city... OR SAVE IT FROM EVIL!!!

... you see, Samantha and James are actually pint-sized superheroes. At least, that's what they'll tell you. Along with a myriad of toys, beads, clay, crayons, etc, the kids' stash at Mom's house includes a pile of different colored bandanas. Well, Samantha decided that she wanted to wear one like a cape and be a superhero. Of course, James simply had to be one, too. Well then Samantha decided that Mom needed a cape. Yellow, like mustard. That sparked an idea, and Samantha realized that hers and James' red capes were like ketchup. So, the two of them ran around for the next 20 minutes yelling "we're ketchup! two ketchups!!!". Seriously. And then *I* got one, too.. white. Guess which condiment I became? And yes, before the jokes start let me beat you to the punch.. I'm white, like mayonaise, I get it...

So, we decided that they were the Condiment Commandos. They eventually got tired of the capes, but the nicknames stuck. All afternoon, Samantha referred to me, not as "Aunt Caryn", but as "mayonaise". "Thank you, mayonaise", "you're welcome, mayonaise". Seriously.

Mah Suthuhn Buttah Bean

It's official, my son is a child of the South. Granted, so's his daddy, but Sterling's accent doesn't really creep out until he's had a few beers or gets around his high school chums. James, however, has started to say the following:
Ayow (ow)
Bayownce (bounce)
Rayownd and rayownd (round and round)
Mah (that's mah train, that's mah paci)

What gives? His daycare provider and pal (Mommy Stacy and little Keatey) are not from here, and have no discernable accent. Mommy doesn't have one. I've already mentioned Daddy's only occasional drawl... why does my son sound as country as a collard green?

Quiet kisses

This morning, after Sterling had left and James had crawled into bed to snuggle with me (while I TRIED to sleep in), he decided he was ready to get up or for me to acknowledge his presence. He whispered, "momma?". When that didn't get a response (because I was ignoring him.. did I mention I was TRYING to sleep in...?), he leaned over and gave me a kiss. I said, "shhhh", so he leaned over again, and gave me a quieter kiss. Not quite the point I was trying to miss, but how can you not love that?

Parameters, schmameters

James and I had a nice little breakfast together this morning. He had a mini bagel and strawberries, the latter of which he devoured. He enjoys the bagels, but was taking his time eating it... until Daddy came down and reminded him that Little Einsteins was coming on. He suddenly became much more interested in his bagel (as must as ANYTHING can hold a toddler's interest, anyway), and finally got down to the last few bites. I told him, James, finish that bagel and you can get down to go watch LE. At that point, you could see the wheels turning for about a split-second before he chucked the rest straight into Becky's waiting mouth. Sterling nearly fell on the floor laughing as he pointed out that James had, in fact, worked within the parameters I'd specified.. I just said he had to finish it, not how. Then, in a token effort to show that he really wished Becky hadn't eaten that, James added, "oh pickles!".

Punkin' pickin'

We picked out pumpkins today, and MAN, did that boy have a blast! The big pumpkin, which we pass on the way home from daycare every day ("let's go check it out") was actually a bit more frightening in person. Sterling finally pursuaded James to touch it after several false starts. Once James realized he could "honk" its nose, things were just fab. "Mommy, ah honked hees nose again!".

More pics added to the photo collection down on the left.

Bonkers, part 2

So... "bonkers" actually means "underwear". Yeah, I know.

Oh yeah, updates 'n' stuff

It's been a while, I think, since I posted milestones and important goings on.

Very keen on the possessive pronoun. Mine, my, yours, mommy's, daddy's, etc. Says it, however, with a little accent. "that's mah bahwl".

Misses people, likes things, get sad... has a pretty good grasp on abstract thinking. When you get home (or when he wakes up from a nap), launches himself at us and says, "I missed you, Mommy/Daddy! You're here!"

Aware of other people's feelings and likes to ask if you're ok, tells you not to be sad, pats you if you are. (VERY sweet!!!).

Very proud of himself, and also likes to mimic. He's really trying to be a big boy. When he does something, he says, "I did it! Whoohoo!". When he sees us do something (especially Daddy), he says, "me too" or "I go too". If you try to help him with stuff, he says, "I do all self" (myself).

Working on the potty training. We've gotten a few squirts (and lots of gas, much to his delight), but still not there. We're pulling out the big guns now. We bought some big boy pants, big boy wipes, and we're pushing the issue hard. We'll see how this goes.. I suspect it's going to involve some wet pants for a while.

BONKERS!!!

Before I begin this little story, some background is required. One day, at Valarie's, James and Nick were getting their money's worth out of their daycare provider ( read: running her ragged!), when Valarie said, "You guys are driving me bonkers!". Apparently they both found this hilarious, started giggling, and then repeated "bonkers" all day long. I often use it myself now.. sometimes it's just appropriate!
Now I don't think I used it today, but as we were tucking James in to bed, he looked at us and said, "bonkers. bonkers. BONKERS!".. like he was trying to convey something that maybe *sounded* like "bonkers" but was actually more important? We both looked at each other quizzically (word?) asked him what he meant, and he not only repeated it, but stood up on the bed and started stomping.. like there were bonkers in his bed and he needed to squish them. We were both a little mystified, so we just stood there scratching our heads while he hopped out of the bed and ran down the hallway still talking about bonkers, some other gibberish, followed by "stay there" with hands held up like he really wanted us to stay where we were while he got something (the bonkers, perhaps?). Then he said "red light, stop!".
Ok... no more games. He gave it one more shot when we tucked him in, and that was that. Sometimes I would pay money to know what is churning through that bizzarre little mind.

Batch 1 of pics

I did find the energy to upload almost half of the pictures from our trip up north, they're in the photo collection. Can't download the rest off of my camera until I buy s'more AA batteries (sad, eh?). So, enjoy what's there for now!

So tired... but must... blog!

Seriously, I am so pooped, but this is fairly blog-worthy, and so I must type. For starters, I think most of you know that we spent the last week in Massachussetts. For those of you who don't know this, it's approx is 12 hour-45 minute drive. James was an ANGEL.. for real!
So anyway, we're both exhausted AND I took a sleepy/sinus pill before bed (climate change and all). So I'm tuckered in the morning, and barely register the fact that James has awakened ("I sleep ALL night!"), crawled into bed with us, crawled OUT of bed, and gone downstairs with Sterling (who was more awake than I, apparently). What I *did* register, after about the 3rd time, was a little voice in front of my face saying, "there!, mamma.. there!". On about the 4th time, I realized that unless I acknowledged said voice, it was going to repeat its message, so I reluctantly cracked open an eye to find my little man, beside my bedside table, salting my glass of water. Yes, I'm totally serious, he obtained a salt shaker (from who knows where), and was shaking salt into my water, and telling me, "there!", as in "that's that! all better!". Why? And I was woken up for this?
This is why some animals eat their young.

More Magnificent Milestones!!!!

So what's mister James up to these days? Oh, about 3ft and some change.. bah dump bump! Seriously folks, he's up to alot. Sterling and I agreed that he went through another language explosion while we were at the beach. His conversations are getting very well-rounded, and it's an absolute hoot to talk to him. He's started to incorporate more little sayings and his personality really shines through... unfortunately, his personality is a little smart-alecky at the moment, tinged with a good dose of mischief. Lucky us!
The other day I asked him to turn off the lamp he'd just turned on. He said, "Uuhhhm, nope, I think I'll leave it on". What a snot! I suppose that hit a little close to home because it's the same tone I take with him quite often....
Yesterday, I noticed that one of the little tassles on the strings on his blinds was on the floor in pieces, and the blinds were pulled up. I figured I must have pulled them off and forgot about it, so he came along and messed with the tassle. So I went to fix the tassle today and I realized, hm.. I don't think he could have reached that. I said, "come here and see if you can reach this", and he did, and he said "I can't reach! It's too high!", so I thought aloud, "how did you get to this tassle?", and he REPLIED! "I get the step!" he brought over his little stepstool, put it under the window and reached right up, and said "see,I reach!". So he's smart enough to figure stuff out (little stinker), but fortunately he's not smart enough to lie about it.. yet.

We also made cookies today! After each ingredient was added, James would state, "I lick now", and reach for the spoon. I've created a monster!

Bugfest, Baby!

We had the pleasure of attending Raleigh's annual Bugfest this year, down at the Capital. We went with the Donovan tikes, and had fun, in an under-5 at a major even kind of way. Let me start off by saying that parking in downtown Raleigh.. sucks eggs!!! We actually passed 2 parking garages that were CLOSED. On the weekend! A weekend where SEVERAL major events were taking place downtown! Idiots. I digress. After finding a spot (free, no less!) across from Moore Square, we walked down the to Capital to engage in some of the more interactive stuff. The weather was great, there was fun to be had, and we pretty much had a good time. Poor Shae and Jamye were a little under the weather, but that didn't stop them from participating in the Bug Olympics.
Yes, Jamye and I led our 2-yr olds through Dung Ho!, Flight of the Bumblebee*, and A Little Antsy. (*I can't remember the name of the Bumblebee one, so I just made that up!).
Dung Ho involved, get this, rolling balls that looked like DUNG down the field and back with your head.. like a dung beetle. Needless to say, our kids neither rolled with their heads NOR rolled the balls back. Oh well! They got their hand stamps.
Next was the bumblebee one. They put on little antenae, wings, etc, and had to "fly" from one flower to the next, exchanging pollen (ping pong balls), nectar (freezie pops), and water (bottled water). It was... interesting. They both wanted to keep the freezie pops and remove the bee apparel. They still got their hand stamp.s
Next was A Little Antsty, where we all picked up 1 of 6 strings tied to a cardboard tube and had to work as a team to carry it to our anthill. Jamye blazed the trail by finding little color-coded discs in the ground. We basically looked like a buncha morons, but yes, they got their stamps.
So what did 3 hand stamps get ya? A loverly little "gold" medal, which they both looked at, and promptly chucked.
At least we didn't have to eat any bugs.

Oh yeah, we also made hats.. check out the one Jamye's sporting! Saasssssy!

Labor Day Beach Trip Pics... POSTED!

Check out the photo collection for some fun pics! It was a long, fun week, but there's no place like home!
BTW, we ate at Miller's again in Kill Devil Hills before leaving the beach, another beach tradition.. awesome as always. If you get a chance, check 'em out for breakfast...yuuummmm.

Chip's Wine and Beer... mostly wine

The GPs were gracious enough to keep an eye on the boy, again, so that we could join Liz and Jim for a wine tasting at Wine University, located at Chip's Wine and Beer. Neither Sterling and I were initially thrilled about going, even though it sounded fun, because we were just a little pooped, and probably because we are just used to not making time to go out and have fun.. so we went. Jim was also less than enthused, as a self-proclaimed not wine drinker ("give me a Budweiser"). So we all went, got there a smidge late, but had a BLAST!!! Chip, for starters, is pretty cool, and very informative. We learned about how to map your own palate, and I really learned not just which wines I thought I liked, but WHY.. which was super cool. Also, we all got fairly tipsy (except for Jim, who didn't down quite as much as the rest of us). We had some yummy wines, I got to actually go out and get a little buzz (normally I just end up driving) and we made a few decent purchases. All in all, a very fun night!

Root beer ROCKS!

We had lunch today at the Weeping Radish in Manteo. Every year we drive over for lunch and beer samples, it's a bit of a tradition. Every year we pick out the coupons from the tourist guide for the free beer samples, and this year, James got to participate in the fun with a free root beer sample.. which he LOVED. Here's a cute pic of him "toasting".. more cute pics in the photo collection:

Things you never thought you'd hear yourself say...

I know that motherhood is chock full of unexpected moments, but there are ALOT of things I find myself saying that I would have NEVER anticipated. Here's a sample..

"No, sweetie, take the circle off of your peepee" (James decided to decorate his bits with a foam number "0" in the bathtub)

"Yes, honey, your peepee looks like Saturn, now stop pulling it" (are you sensing a trend here? I think boy mommies deal with this..uh.. area, a bit more than girl mommies)

"James, stop licking mommy. Don't lick mommy's face"

"Put down the dog food. We don't eat dog food"

"Honey, stop chewing on your shoe, that's gross"

"No, James, Saturn's not hungry" (he tried to bring "little Newkie" [a tiny stuffed kitty] and Saturn downstairs for breakfast because they were 'hoongeee")

My favorite JAMES-ism today, is this: we have a quick sit on the potty in the morning to see if he'll do anything (he doesn't), and he tries, but typically we just get a little gas. I said, "whoops, just gas!", and he stood up, looked in, and said, "where'd gas GO?" You never realize how hard it is to explain the concept of gas vs. solids until you're confronted with this.

It's hard work to relax...

Isn't it amazing how much effort you have to put into relaxing? We're gearing up for Woodruff Beach Trip 06 this weekend, and I"m scrambling at work to get everything in order so I can relax on vacation. I think it would almost be easier to just work!
Ditto for our trip to the lake this weekend. It's been on the calendar all month, but for some reason I've had a total mental block, probably because I wasn't involved in the planning, so I just tuned it out. That meant Saturday I would vacilate between "oh, gotta do this before we go to the lake", and "oh, I'll just catch up on that tomorrow (crap! I can't, we're going to the lake!)". Net, net (you like that corporate-talk?), we had a day at the lake planned with Sterling's pals and their fams.
Lord what a long row that was to hoe! We didn't actually leave the house until well after 10am (read "I think I'm going to pass ooouuu..." for details). Then we had a long drive to Honey and Grandaddy's. Sterling decided to make a massive batch of mac 'n' cheese for lunch on the lake THAT DAY. He also decided we'd just stop in RR, make it while James visited G&H, and then we'd go on. Ok, sounds plausible.... MYTH BUSTED!! It was the complete opposite of relaxing.
Becky had to be staked out in the yard, and would freak out if I left her sight. The kids next door wanted to play with James... outside, and frankly, I was just too freakin' hot to deal with it (call me a grouch, I don't care... I hate the heat and I was already cranky to start with, it happens!). Sterling and Dad were trying to make the M&C, but Dad has not had the pleasure of making this from scratch before, and much to his and Sterling's chagrin, allowed the sauce to scorch... incurring the wrath of the man with the least amount of patience to begin with (Sterling). Sterling finally threw his burnt-ass mac 'n' cheese in the oven, I grabbed a glass of wine, and we all took a deep breath.
A little while later we packed it all back up and headed to the lake...where the relaxation kinda kicked in. Granted, with a 2-yr old, you never REALLY relax, but we did have fun. There are great pics in the photo collection. James got to ride his first jet ski, and had an absolute BLAST. Everyone was amazed at how big he is. Sterling's friend Tony said, "when ya'll walked up, I figured you were watching someone else's kid today, too, and that James must still be in the car.. he's HUGE!" He was social and chatty, charmed everyone around him (as always) and had a fabulous time. Becky seemed to enjoy herself, too... she did a little swimming, a little sniffing, a little running, and lot of laying down on the ride home. She was good and pooped, but we were happy to see her running around and having a good time.
So, all's well that ends well. It would have been really easy to be totally crotchety about the way the day started, but Sterling nailed it... James had a good time, we have fun pictures to prove it, and the bad stuff just kinda fades away....

Oh my, I think I'm going to pass ooooooouu....

I know that every mother dreads the day ( and yet it's inevitable ) when she will find her son bleeding from the head and covered in blood. For me, that day was today. While getting ready to head out for a day at the lake, Sterling had the back door of the Jeep open, our son REFUSES to watch where he's going, and I think you can see where THIS is going...
Yep, head wound. Crack! right on the door at full speed. And head wounds, if you know anything about these, bleed like the dickens. So I came downstairs, thinking "la dee da dee da, we're just finishing getting our stuff together", and found a scene from "ER" taking place on my kitchen counter. Sterling had James seated, ala hospital bed, on the counter and was holding a paper towel to his head. Beside him were already-used paper towels covered in blood, as were his and James' clothes. My first thought was, "do I throw up or pass out?". But Mommy Mode kicked in, and I just asked what I could do to help. Sterling was AWESOME. He kept him calm, cleaned him up, and all Mommy had to do was step in at the end with some snuggles for the final calming. Poor thing, he's walked into cars, walls, chairs, and tripped full-length, face-first over Becky yesterday. What's it going to take to get him to LOOK?!?!

Minute Manipulator ("mynoot", not "minuht")

While driving to The Rapids enroute to a "fun relaxing day at the lake" (don't get us started), James decided to entertain himself by licking his legs from knees to toes. Say it with me.. "gross". So we chastised him, several times, and on the last, most forceful command to stop, he erupted in tears. He cried for about 30 seconds, realized he wasn't get a reaction (because we'd pretty much numbed out by now), so he paused to let us know, "I'm crying!", then kept going. Just in case we hadn't noticed, right?

Families who cook together... clean ALOT

It's good for him to learn about cooking. I'm teaching him valuable lessons. We're bonding. He's learning to contribute to the household. This the mantra I repeat to myself when I'm cleaning up AFTER the cooking and the "helping".

On a completely unrelated note, after a thoroughly exhausting round of pretty much everything, including cooking, I crashed on the living floor and just lay there for a while, letting James drive cars over me. I didn't realize it, but I was humming the Mickey Mouse song ("hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog!"... you know which I'm talking about), and apparently I do that alot (if you know which one I'm talking about, you probaby hum it yourself, it's pretty infectous). James stopped what he was doing and said, "NOOOOO MOOOOOMEEEE! STOP IT! STOP IT MEEEKEY MOOOHWS!!!"

Hot dog!

Thanks, GrandmaSis...

... for the SpongeBob dry erase board and MARKER. Luckily, this came off with a wet washcloth, and apparently that teeekowed (tickled).

Some people have too much time on their hands...

Was it really broken? Forget the birds and the bees.. how am I going to explain to a 2-yr old that one of his PLANETS went away?

Nine Planets? Count Again -- Minus Pluto
POSTED: 9:41 am EDT August 24, 2006

Pluto is no longer a planet.The International Astronomical Union approved new guidelines Thursday that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.The leading astronomers, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since 1930, when it was discovered.In doing so, the group provided a new definition of what is and what isn't a planet.Pluto failed to make the new cut because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's. It will now be a founding member of the new class of "dwarf planets."The guidelines also require planets to have enough mass that they are close to round.Astronomers have been trying to draw a distinction between the eight "classical planets" -- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune -- and Pluto, which is smaller than Earth's moon and has an eccentric orbit.Pluto has a large moon named Charon, and two small moons named Nix and Hydra were discovered in 2005.In January, NASA sent a probe known as New Horizons on the way to Pluto. It is expected to reach the object in 2015.

Funny you should say...

James picks up the funniest little sayings. They're not bad or wierd, they're normal every-day sayings that just sound funny coming from a 2.5-year-old. Yesterday I came downstairs while he and daddy were having a late lunch, which included self-fed yogurt. As you can imagine, he got a little on himself. He said, "mommy, I need a napkin, I need to ceenup*" (ceenup= Clean Up). How many two year olds specifically ask for a napkin? Funny.
So this morning, after he finished his breakfast, I put the plate on the floor so Becky could lick the crumbs. After about 2 seconds, James said, "that's enough, Becky. that's enough". It's what I tell her when she's getting a little toooo into licking the plate and starting to get annoying with the licky/slobber sounds. That's enough.

Moooooview review

Sterling took James to see his second movie today, Barnyard. It was rated PG for "mild peril". Mild peril? Doesn't the word "peril" make you think it's not mild? per·il ( P ) Pronunciation Key (prl) n. 1. a. Imminent danger. b. Exposure to the risk of harm or loss. I guess it could be mild danger, but then it's not really danger, is it? More of an annoyance. Anyhoo, I digress.
They got home, and James said, "Mommy! Movie! No cars." Cars was his first movie and has clearly set the bar. I said, "oh yeah, what was in this movie?". James: "cows.". He seemed to like it, but Sterling said he got a little wiggly towards the end. It didn't hold his attention the way a bunch of talking cars did.

Close encounters of the sleepy kind

Around midnight last night, I had a little visitor. I was awakened by "mommy? water! water!" (in hindsight, he sounded like he'd been crawling in the desert for days!). So I stumbled out of bed, and said, "ok, sweets, let's go in mommy's bathroom and get you some water.". We walked calmly to the bathroom while I got him a glass of water, which he downed like he was parched to the core. He asked for more, he got it, and then he set the cup down and said, "thank you", then started to shuffle back to his room. I thought, wow, this is going pretty easy. He shuffled back into our room, around the chest of drawers, and into the wall. Ooops.. door is a few feet to the right! I realigned him, and guided him back into bed where he went right down without any protest.

This morning we got out of our bed again, and went into his room to drop off lion and paci. I saw that little kitty was in bed (his little stuffed kitten), and said, "oh, sweetie, did little kitty sleep with you last night?", and he said, "yes, all long night. I slept with little kitty all night". Sweetie.

Darn that boy!

Now it's his TOOTHBRUSH in the friggin' penny jar!

Update

Oh yeah, Sterling rescued screwdriver... with some direction from James. What would we do without his help?

Nothing like a little toddler manipulation

James is learning the fine art of negotiation.. sort of. He's starting to get quite savvy about trying to get mommy to go places we really don't *need* to go, places with fringe benefits for him!

Tuesday ride home:
James: Mommy? Teetie? Go Teetie? (Harris Teeter)
M: No, sweetie, we don't have to go to Teetie today
J: Balloon? Balloon, Teetie? (now the truth comes out... I didn't *think* he was interested in crossing off the grocery list).
M: No, honey, no balloons, today, no Teetie.
J: Cooookie, mommy? Cooookie?
M: James, no, we're not going to Teetie (trying not to laugh).
.... quiet for about a block
J: Mommy? Haircut?
M: What? Haircut? No, James, you just had a haircut, why do you want another haircut?
J: Lollipop? Blululullululu Lollipop?
M: No, silly, no lollipops
J: YES!
M: NO!
J: YYYYEEEEESSS (in silly monster voice)
M: Noooooooo (also in silly monster voice)
at this point we both just start laughing until we cough.

Thursday:
J: Mommy? Ice cream?
M: No, James, no ice cream today (Goodberry's is right near the Teetie and we pass it on the way home. Lest you thing we ply our child with custardy goodness on a regular basis, I can count the number of times on one hand that we've taken him there. )
J: Mommy? that way? that way, please???
His new thing is that he really likes to give you directions... "that way"... perhaps he'll be an air traffic controller?

Friday:
We actually DO go to Teetie, where he gets his balloon (no cookie, they were OUT. Harris Teeter, this does not bode well for you when you are out of cookies.. that means we don't spend as much time shopping. Take a note!). As we are driving out of the parking lot...
J: Mommy? ice cream?
M: James, didn' t you have ice cream at Keatey's house today?
J: Yeeees.
M: Then no more
J: (pause)..... ice cream?

You gotta hand it to him, he's persistent!

Please excuse me, I'm having A Mommy Moment

I'm sure it happens to us all, eventually. Our mommy streak takes over and strikes fear into the hearts of young an old alike. So it was Beer Wednesday, James and Keaton were running around like the wild men they are (think Lord of the Flies), and one of them got hold of the flashlight.... and was not interested in sharing (yes, it was my child). We managed to negotiate 1 share, which was quickly brought to an end, and off they went again, James in the lead with Keaton trailing, hollering that it was his turn.
I should break for a moment and explain that my munchkin has a sinus infection and just started antibiotics. I can tell he's not himself, but he was just being mean-spirited. So I felt the need to put an end to this, quickly.
On the next cycle through the kitchen, I made my move. With cat-like reflexes, I reached in and snatched the flashlight from the little hands that were clutching it, and attempted to let them know that I was removing it from play altogether.
If you've been to a BW, you know that it can get loud. Not raucous pirates-on-shore-leave loud, but people are chatting, kids are screaming, they're huddled in the kitchen, and I was neither audible nor getting my point across. So I hollered...kinda loud.
"CAN EVERYONE PLEASE STOP JUST FOR A MINUTE?!? NOW, I AM TAKING THE FLASHLIGHT, NEITHER OF YOU CAN SHARE SO NOBODY GETS IT. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? NOW GO PLAY IN THE LIVING ROOM".

silence

I've never really seen other adults look at me with such a deer-in-headlights look. I also didn't really know I had that kind of POWER (mwwwWOOOOHAHAHAHA!). And just like that, the moment passed, there were some nervous chuckles, and BW continued. Stacy, who was sequestered in the other room by a hungry newborn said, "you did exactly what I wanted to do". See, other moms get it.

Brush dah teef? Toofpase, please?

James just LOVES his new Dr Fresh Firefly toothbrush. I must admit, I also find it pretty freakin' cool! It's supposed to encourage kids to brush and help make sure they brush long enough, although that's never really been a problem for James. He does ask to brush more often now, though. This toothbrush lights up and blinks for 1 minute, AND it has *sparkles*... told you it was cool! James now requests that we turn off the lights in the bathroom so that we can see the blinking even better. It's like watching a jack-o-lantern brush his teeth, and I'm a little surprised that he's not succumbed to seizures with that light blinking right in front of his face, but I'm sure not about to pry it away from him anytime soon!

Oh, screwdriver...

So the other day, James comes to me chattering something about "pennies" and a word that was initially unintelligible, but I soon ascertained to mean "screwdriver". I thought, "what? pennies and screwdrivers?". Well, yes, that's exactly what he meant. When he showed me, he then said, "oh, screwdriver", like, oh, we'll miss you. And we will, because neither of can figure out how to get the stupid thing out. James the Builder is down 1 tool.. gonna be hard to work on the car...

An epiphany

One of the neat things about parenting is that in addition to seeing this younger generation you're raising, you also start to understand more about the one which raised *you*. You struggle with little things that make you wonder "how the heck did my mom do this?" or "wow... no wonder my parents used to get frazzeld when I'd...", etc. The one that I think is the most interesting is the one where we used to think of "parents" and "people" as two separate, disciminate entities. Parents <> people. Remember how we all used to think our parents were boring, and didn't get us, and never did anything fun? THAT'S US!! I remember being fun, and doing stuff, but I know that kids look at me toting my tot around and think I"m just some mom (I got called "ma'am" by a carful of teenages asking for directions this weekend!!). You have a kid, and everything really does change.
Yes, we still do stuff, but it's different stuff, and it's soooo not spontaneous! Often, we're too tired to do all of the things we'd like to do, or can't work it into our schedule, or just don't feel like we can fritter away the cash for a night out on the town.. we're responsible now! This week, I had a "night out" with my best bud Jamye (at her mom's... woooHOOO!), followed the next night by wine and scrapbooking with Liz and Bethany. I'm STILL tired.
I swear, for like the first year after James was born, I didn't recognize myself. I dragged butt everywhere, had no time for hobbies, and all I could think of was "where'd I go? who's that raggedy-lookin' chick in the mirror, and why won't someone let her know that she's got such awful bags under her eyes?" LOL. And then you start to work things in. Little things, here and there. A night out with the girls, a DATE with hubby, you start hobbies again (very intermittantly!), and you realize that there is some balance. But naturally, it's still typically a FAR second to the new man in your life.
I remember laughing at my mom for watching "Square Foot Gardening", "This Old House", and "The Victory Garden". I thought it was so dorky! I now look forward to getting MIL's hand-me-down This Old House mags, Southern Living, and I cannot get enough HGTV, FoodTV, and any science channels. My son is going to think I am the dorkiest, boringest woman on the face of the planet! What goes around certainly does come around!
When we all moved out or started to grow up and our parents "suddenly discovered" hobbies, I know many of us were thinking how nice it was that our parents had something to do now that we weren't around to give them purpose. Did we think they enjoyed doing our laundry? Reminding us to bring the lunches they made? Driving us around? They weren't *discovering* anything.. they were getting their lives back! And how cool for them! And how cool it will be for us when we get there.
But I'm not in a hurry.. I'm enjoying learning about the generations on either side of mine.

The chase is on...

Well, now every day I pick up James I'm barely acknowledged when I walk in the door. He looooves him some Keaton! Stacy says that during the day, they'll just hang out and suddenly one will turn to the other and say "chase?", and it's on! They just hop up and start chasing each other. They take turns being chaser and chasee, and the end result is typically one person falling down, and the other tumbling on top. Man, those are some silly silly boys. Stacy must just laugh all day long...

James is also getting even more verbose. I picked him up yesterday and here's our conversation on the car ride home:
me: did you have a good day, sweets?
J: yeah!
me: what did you do?
J: Keaty fell down. He got a boo boo.
me: he did? where?
J: his knee
me: oh no! did Stacy kiss it?
J: yes. momma? James fell down
me: you did? (little skeptical, but hey, it's likely)
J: yes, I have a boo boo
me: really. where?
J: (points to knee)
me: hmm.. did Stacy kiss it?
J: yeah.
then I hear the alphabet song which merges into Twinkle Twinkle, and eventually we settle on the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He doesnt' stop talking or singing until we get home!

So, we get home, and I decide that it's time for dinner. James has recently taken to pushing one of the kitchen chairs up against the counter so he can watch me if I"m cooking. A few days ago, he neglected to push it up against the counter,... but he still leaned on the back of the chair. Needless to say, "oh no, James fell down".
He helped me make "mussins" (muffins). He likes to mix with mommy. He gets his own bowl and a small spoon, and I put a dash of flour in his bowl. Well, he decided to sample the flour, and it was clearly not to his liking (very funny face!). So I threw in a small dash of sugar, which was INCREDIBLY to his liking, and he proceeded to upend the bowl and lick it out... giving himself a flour/sugar goatee. He helped me dump ingredients into the mussin mix, and sprinkled the struesel topping on top (more than half made it on the mussins.. not too shabby).

Today he helped me unload the dishwasher.. he handed me utensils (reciting the name of each one as he handed them to me!), but I had to draw the line at loading.. he kept wanting to grab the messy dishes! Goofball.

So he's chatty, he's got responsibilities, and he goes to bed on time and sleeps all night. Wow... what a grown-up little boy he's becoming. I'm just glad he's not to big to kiss his mommy.

Summer pics

Ah, I've been remiss in posting pics. The other day, James and I were enjoying popsicles on the back deck and I realized, holy cow, I am not taking half as many pics as I used to! Perhaps it's the camera that I've taken a death vow to dismember as soon as we procure a replacement. Perhaps it's the fact that all of the space on our hard drive is nearly full. Ah, mischief, thy name is Technology! Anyway, I whipped that sucker out, and after spending 5 mins booting it up, I took some cute pics of my favorite subject. Two weeks later, I posted them! Check out our shutterfly collection. cya!

WOW... supah slackah!

I just realized that July pretty much came and went sans blog entries. I'm sorry. James is off to college now, and we're trying to figure out what to do with his old room... oops! No, wait, my bad... I'm not THAT behind. It just feels like it.

James is sleeping soundly now, we have a whole bedtime routine, and we're all doing pretty darned well with it. He goes down between 8 and 8:30, and is first serenaded by mommy singing Harry Connick Jr's. "The Man in the Moon". He will often accompany me, and it's awfully cute/funny! Daddy pretty much refuses to sing along. We then get 1 reading of Snugglepuppy, from the fabulous Sandra Boynton (despite repeated requests for "more?"). We then turn on his Nora Jones CD, cut the lights, briefly ooooo and ahhh at the stars on his ceiling, then it's night night. Depending on his energy level, we may have 2-3 more "visits", wherein he'll stroll in the room wearing a poop-eatin' grin ("aren't I cute? how can you be mad at THIS?"), but he'll eventually settle down. We had the threaten with... the gate... for about a week or so, but we're pretty much past that now. In the morning, around 6ish, we'll hear a slight slam of a door closing (it's not enough to leave his room, he has to close the door behind him) feel a *thump* at the foot of the bed, accompanied by scurrying up to the head of the bed. If I don't immediately grab the little decorative pillow to plunk in between ours, he will sit there and sob "leetle peelow? leetle peelow??". So he gets his leetle peelow, and we all snuggle back to sleep. If he's feeling particularly raring to go, he'll hang out for about 15 mins, then say "wake up! brush teef! c'mon momma! " ... and the day begins, much to our chagrin.

How to stay cool when it's hot...

...it's all about accessories and attitude.

It's Potty Time!

Well! We had our first pee on the potty today! James just got a look like he might have to go (it's amazing the things you tune into as a parent!), so I said excitedly "let's go sit on the potty!! let's get some potty surprises!*". So we did, he sat down, and got a look on his face about 2 mins later that made him look deep in thought... then we saw the trickle on the rug, seat, etc! Did I mention he had a soccer ball on his lap, too? No, well, he did, and it got peed on, too. HOWEVER... WE PEED ON THE POTTY!!! We high-fived, and he got to pick out his potty surprise! Hooray!

* I have to give a nod to Nick's mom for this one... potty surprises are just little stickers wrapped up in tissue like presents. He gets to pick one when he goes potty.

Anger Management

Lord help me... I don't want to be mad at him, but sometimes he's just so darned onery! After a great afternoon (more on that later), we came home, cleaned up, and are hanging out in the living room downstairs. So I lay on the floor on my back to stretch out and rest for a sec, when BAM! Belly flop onto mommy. I remind James, no, that hurts mommy. He asks me to play, and I say give mommy just a sec.. mommy needs to rest for a minute. So he then STOMPS on my stomach! Yes, the one that was cut open to bring in into the world, and he has an uncanny knack for stepping right on the scar. As I'm trying to tell him, NO, that HURTS mommy, he giggles, wiggles away and pretty much just doesn't hear a word. Stinker. I'm so annoyed, that when he can't figure out why his ball popper won't work, I want to just let him stew, just out of spite (wow, I'm hard-core, eh?). How do you deal with a toddler who refuses to listen or acknowledge when he's just being rotten? Criminey!

On the plus side, he started daycare with Stacy today. He was so excited to see Keaton! I was also priviledged to witness his first real conversation with a peer! He and Keatey were running around the house (as always), when James slipped and fell. Keaton came over and said "are you ok?" and James replied "I'm ok", then they kept going. Stacy said they'd been doing that all day.. little 2 and 3 sentence conversations, but a good start! Cutie patooties!

After we got home, we went swimming, and James just walks around in the shallow end like he owns the pool! He's also getting GREAT about LEAPING off of the side (as long as mommy's there to catch him) and "swimming" to the ball he's thrown in. I think my little Nemo will be swimming by the time he's 3!

Negligent once again

Sheesh, where does the time go? Sadly, there are but so many hours in day, and somedays (or weeks or months) the priorities shift, and blogging takes a back seat. I realized this weekend, too, that I have not been capturing as many moments on film lately.. so I tried to reemdy that with a few snaps of the boy eating a popsicle after our bike ride today... sooo cute!
James is just a regular person. He carries on complete conversations with you, tells "jokes", can do so much by himself and I'm just amazed. He can count to 20, say his ABCs (although he hasn't quite realized that they're letters.. just another song), can sing the words to many songs, and wants to do everything by himself, or "holdit?". He can unlock the front door, and loves to open it when the doorbell rings (this could be bad if someone comes to the door while we're in the shower!).
His energy continues, unabated! It's so funny to listen to him when he gets excited, because he has that cute little voice with the slightest little southern twang to it (which could just be toddler pronounciation)... like he says "up da heeyow" for "up the hill". It's faint, but pops out in certain things that he says. He still looks just like his daddy, but acts more and more like mommy every day (read: nerdy and clumsy, with ridiculous energy and a desire to do too many things at once!).
He's also testing his limits. Somedays, he'll walk right up to you with a smile on his face, get a look like "hmm... I wonder what would happen if I...", and WHACK! He hits you. Or pinches, grinning the entire time. And it's not a malicious grin, you can tell that he really just wants to see what will happen. It's the oddest thing to watch, but you'd better believe we are soooo cracking down on this! I hope we survive it!

Yikes!

When James needs to "take care of business", you can just tell. So Sterling asked him, "James, do you have poops?", and James looked at him and replied "oh, yes". Eeek... you know it's going to be bad when James thinks it is.. .normally he could walk around for hours like that and not care. Sorry Daddy.

Camera shy?

Not much! I received a 'thanks' award a few weeks ago and picked up this awesome little beanbag chair for my mini-mister. Do you think he likes it? ... or likes getting his picture taken? On the plus side, I see ME! More emerging proof that he may contain a smidge of my genetic material (other than the total nerdiness)!

Long time no type

.. so I have alot of catching up to do! What's new.. what's new?

James: I cannot BELIEVE what a little man he is becoming. Still so little and cute and snuggly, but also so engaging and social! His vocab is HUGE and he's got great little manners. He was trying to lug his box of Legos between the couch and coffee table the other day, and Becky was in his way, and he said "excuse me, Becky! excuse me, Becky! EXCUSE ME BECKY!!!!".. because he knows it's not polite to say "move!". Even in total frustration, the manners remained intact! He has also started saying, "no thanks". I asked him if he wanted to carry his bag to the car this morning and he told me, "no thanks". Cracks me up! He says "please" about 95% of the time, ditto for "thank you" and "you're welcome!". He's our little man!

He's also back in the crib. We did the big boy bed thing for about a month, but decided we were tired of not sleeping (lots of late-night visits!), so we dumped his little tush back in the crib. Ahhh...slumber! There was also the sick thing, and we decided we needed to go back to square 1 for a bit to regroup before we tried the BBB again.

Midnight wanderings: James stayed w/ Honey and Grandaddy a few weeks ago and naturally, he never disturbs them in the middle of the night. That's not to say, however, that he stayed asleep OR in bed all night! At our house, if he wakes up, he tries to climb into bed with us and has a fit if he can't. At GD and H's house, he apparently peruses the house, entertains himself, and then quietely goes back to bed when he's done. The Woodruffs awoke to find that the Implements of Death drawer had been explored, someone had helped himself to a snack from the cat's bowl (thank goodness it was the BOWL and not the BOX!), and had taken a little trinket box off of the back of the toilet and brought it back to bed with him. So, a drawer lock went on the IoD drawer, and we were annoyed all over again that he can't just let US sleep when he's at home!

James has also turned into a little dictator. He will command you "let go!" or "stop!" if you're bugging him. So funny.

Take me out to the ballgame...

He's better! (and so is mommy)

Young Master James is on the mend. His fever finally broke last night. Poor little bug, he woke up crying, and when I went in to calm him down, the first thing that caught my eye was soaking wet hair and an equally wet pillow. I immediately thought, "oh man, he's thrown up in bed". The poor little man was just sobbing the pitiful and semi-quiet sob of the half-asleep toddler who's not feeling well (if you have one, you know how heart-wrenching this is.. if you don't, you'll have to trust me...it's pathetic). The way the shadows hit, he also looked like he needed a diaper change, which I figured was probably a given anyway if he'd tossed his cookies. So, mommy went to work stripping down the sleepy little sweetie, at which point I realized there wasn't a drop of yuck on him, nor was he messy... he was SWEATY. His hair was wet with sweat, the spot on his pillow was actually a basketball-sized drool spot, and he was COOL! ... as a cucumber, as my mom used to say when we got over a fever (talk about flashbacks!). He must have sweated it out and just woken up and gotten lonely. Poor little man! I dressed him back up, snuggled (flipped the pilow), and put him back in bed where he slept like a.... baby.
He was in a great mood, which boded well for Daddy... who watched him while Liz took me to the SPAAAAAAH for a little pampering (sorry, daddy!). So now we're ALL doing better...except for Daddy. Hopefully a good night's (month's) sleep will cure that. Mommy out.

Grossest moment EVAH!!!

Oh mah God, ya'll! (hehe.. does it sound like I've been here too long? tee hee!) Ok, Jamye and I have played whose kids do grosser stuff before, and I'm pretty sure that vomit and poop were prominent factors in that conversation, but ya know what? This one just beats everything!
Poor little man is not well. He woke up this morning kinda ok, but I thought nothing of it because he's been waking up ALOT for the past month (2-yr molars.. and holy crap... we are sooooo tired!) so I just figured he hadn't slept well. We go downstairs and start our daily routine when BLEEAAAACCCKKKK! Right on the kitchen floor. So, we mop that up, plunk the little bugger down on the sofa to watch cartoons while mommy gets to work. It wasn't but a few hours later when he introduced our sofa to his stomach contents, and mommy's day just got better!
Well, daddy was home and up early today, so we tagged teamed late morning so that I could work. James seemed to have a pretty good day, ate a little, and we thought he was on the mend.

Until we got to the grocery store.

It's our fault, we pushed it. We popped over to Tarjay for more baby motrin and tylenol, and thought, "he'd doing ok, let's pop over to the grocery store to grab something for dinner.. in and out!". Well, that should have been a reference to what James ate....mostly out. Onto mommy. Onto ALOT of mommy! So, we bolted from the store after the first wave, and he hit me with a second on the way out. Good Lord. My entire front was soaked to the skin. Poor little James was crying because he feels rotten and his fever was starting back up again so he was shivering (even though it's like 80 or 90 degrees outside). So, I pop open the back of the Jeep (which btw, has served me SOOO well since having a child. Seriously, it's the world's biggest more portable changing table, ahluvitluvitluvit!). At this point, I realize that if I want to keep down my own innards, I have to strip.. so I do. I grab the poncho I keep in the back (yes, I'm a big Girl Scout), drop it over my head, and pull off my shirt. I then strip poor James down and wrap him up in my trunk blanket. So there we stand, in the back of the Jeep in the grocery store parking long. Mommy in a poncho (in 90 degree sunny weather), and James naked in a blanket... don't WE look like a pair? After what seemed an eternity (probably about 3 mins) Sterling comes out and lets me know that, bless his little heart, he had to mop up after we skedaddled. So, puke all around! It's a family affair!
We doped up the little munchkin with drugs, and he is just as right as rain. Right before bed he WOLFED down some dinner and was running around like his usual nutty self. Updates as available, for now, send healthy vibes our way!

Time out for dog food

Mommy and James were on their own this weekend. The boys took their annual trip (aka "drunkfest") to Ocracoke and left us to fend for ourselves. We actually had an awesome weekend. It's an annual thing for the Beetle crowd (John Davis and cronies!) and they had a fantastic time, as always.
James is actually at that age where it's just like hanging out with a real person who carries on conversations with you and pals around, so we really did have a nice weekend together. It was also nice to actually be able to hang out around the house and not HAVE to get out so that Daddy could sleep (sorry, Daddy, but we all know how much that sucks, and it's not your fault!).
Well, Mommy took advantage of the freedom to stay home by cleaning and organizing some stuff which was long overdue. I guess I got a little into it, and didn't notice that James had snuck downstairs for a little snack. A snack of dog food. Now, you all know that his taste in dog food is not new, just endlessly frustrating. So, we spit out the dog food, and James had a time out where we reiterated "nonono" on the dog food.
Back upstairs we went, and back downstairs James went AGAIN when Mommy turned her back for a split second. I found him hunched over the dog bowls, where he'd taken the dry food in handfuls and dumped it into her water. I thought maybe if he had to help me clean up, he'd not be so keen to do it again, so we both grabbed handfuls of now-slimy wet dogfood and threw it away, but he just thought this was funny. Another timeout.
Back upstairs we went, and back downstairs James went for a THIRD time. It just got too quiet. I went downstairs and immediately looked at the dogbowls, he wasn't there.. but neither was one of the bowls. I caught him carrying the bowl through the living room snacking out of it like it was a tub of popcorn! Down went the bowl, and into timeout went James. We had another talk during timeout, and I asked, "James, why are you in time out?". He replied, "dogfood". So HE KNOWS why, and that it's bad... what gives?
Apparently, three times is not the charm, but four is. I should put him on a leash. The fourth time I caught him at the bowls again, he had started the migration of dry food into the water bowl, but as soon as he saw me, he started grabbing it back out and singing, "clean up! clean up! I love clean up!". Nice try, buddy, but too little, too late! A fourth time out seemed to hit home, although it may also be that I offered him a snack after that.
So, maybe he really was hungry, but DOG FOOD?? It CAN'T be that good!

Motherly Musings

Wow, I just can't believe sometimes what a sweet little boy we're raising. Our bedtime routine now is that he goes down a little later since he's moved to the BBB (around 8:30pm), and Mommy or Daddy lays down with him for about 5-15 mins to complete the winddown, tell a story, whatever. Just bedtime snuggles. So Mommy was with him tonight, and I normally stroke his hair and face, and rub his little shoulders to quiet him down while I either sing, or chat, or tell a story. He loves having company during this time, and when you first go in with him, he always pats the pillow beside his head and says hopefully, "night night?", hoping you'll join him! So I'm laying beside him, and he reaches out and starts rubbing my shoulder and cheek, saying, "niiice, niice", and just grinning the cutest little cheesy grin. It's amazing how much he imitates us, and when he does sweet stuff like that, I have hope that we're raising a sweet little guy who won't be afraid to demonstrate his affection for everyone he loves. Future Wife, if you ever read this, you're welcome! ;-)

The continued adventures in (not!) sleeping, and other stuff, too

(not!) sleeping, continued:
Ah, the saga continues unabated. Last night James wandered in again. It's actually kinda funny the way he does this, because he's awake enough that his O.C. kicks in and he makes it a point to close his door before coming into our room. He then sorta shuffles in, since it's now dark. He then just starts to help himself into bed. Daddy said, "no, James, go to bed now!". So James shuffles back to his room, closes the door, and proceeds to stand behind it and sob his little heart out... "mommaaaa, mommaaaa, momaaa" over and over at about 3am. When this didn't work, he moved back to our doorway where he whimpered in the saddest little voice possible, "mommy? mommy?". Again, we're at that "we feel sorrier for ourselves than we do for you, so too bad" stage. He eventually went back to bed. Ahh...sleep... I miss you so!

.. and other stuff, too.
I joined the boys for their bi-weekly ride to the double-R. GRACIOUS, James was PAIN! I don't know if it was compounded by the mommy factor (it was) or if he's always that bad (sometimes), but CRIMINEY! About halfway there, he started saying "mommy? mommy... OUT! All Done!". He is reverting back to the point where he does NOT like to sit in his carseat for very long. This is intensified by the fact that we're trying to work him off of the paci except for naps and nighttime (yes, parents.. breathe a sigh of relief! I know it's been vexing you to NO END that our child still uses one!). So, the ride there AND home, both rotten as 2-wk old tomatoes. And you can only ride facing backwards for so long before you get a neck crick and a wicked case of carsickness!

On more positive (less fussy) fronts, James is using more and more sentences. If he tries to tell you something and you guess incorrectly what it is that he's saying, he replies, "no no, momma, blah", where "blah" is what he was trying to say in the first place that I clearly didnt get! He's a funny little man.

Big Boy Bed Status Update

So how's the big boy bed going, you ask? Well, not too bad, although I'm VERY excited about catching up on some sleep over the 3 day weekend (I hope!!!).

The first few nights were rough, man! Night #1, mommy spent more than half of the night in there with him. Night #2, mommy still spent a few pre-dawn hours, but he made it most of the night by himself, with a few wake-ups. You know how you always think more clearly during the day? Well, I realized that I wasnt' doing either of us any favors, and needed to revert back to my cry-it-out mentality. Not making him cry, but rather, remembering that this is a healthy step towards growing up, and he needs to learn some indepedence here, and coddling him isn't helping, even though it's easier!
So, night #3 we started off with a little pre-bed peptalk. "Who's bed is this?". "James". "That's right, this is James' bed, and James sleeps here. It's a NICE bed! Mommy sleeps in mommy's bed, James sleeps in James' bed, ok?". "OK". We repeated this little chat each time he woke up, and he spent all of night #3 in bed by himself.

That's been pretty much the routine ever since. There's typically at least 1 nocturnal visit from James, either sobbing about something he's misplaced, or just climbing on up into bed. Either results in one of us quickly re-depositing him back into his room. We also had a brief streak of requests during these visits for Mommy to "rock? rock?" Haven't had these in the last two nights, though, so perhaps we're getting over the hump!

So, it's going as well as could be expected, I suppose, and other moms say it took them about 2 weeks to get into a groove, so we've got a few days yet. Here's to an uneventful and sleepy weeked! Happy Memorial Day!

Egg-zactly what was it you needed...?

Those of you who are frequent visitors to our site are probably familiar now with James' propensity for taking strange things to bed with him. Well, not so much strange, I guess, as just varied. He also likes things to be in certain places. His regular guests are Saturn, Big SpongeBob, leetle SpongeBob, and of course, Lion (aka, "grrrr"). Sometimes he also likes to take a ball, little rocket, or something else random to bed with him if he's attached himself to it that day. Well, last night he insisted on taking a small plastic Easter egg to sleep with him (seriously... a freakin' yellow plastic egg.. the kind that snaps apart so you can put candy and crap inside... TO BED!). Whatever, we tucked him and his egg into bed and went to sleep.
Well, about 2am, he walks into our room (as he now does EVERY night around this time) sobbing, "egg?!?! egg?!?!" and insisted on an escort BACK to his room to help find his egg so that he could go back to sleep with it. THAT is why we were awakened at TWO A.M!!! So, he and egg got tucked back in and we all went back to sleep.
... until about 6am, which is when he typically wakes up and now helps himself into our bed. Daddy got a biff upside the head with Saturn, followed by a James crawling up between us to snuggle for a little while longer. *sigh*.

*btw, "Saturn" is actually a pillow about the size of a basketball, shaped like Saturn. Found it at Wal-mart and it's quite cool! James LOOOOVES it!

TUMbuhhhlls!

James has discovered how to tumble, aka somersault. He's so cute when he does it, and has pretty good form! When he goofs up and rolls off to the side instead of straight over, he says, "no good!" and tries again! So silly!

Bouncin' on my Big Boy Bed

Well, last night James graduated to his Big Boy Bed. What an absolute nut! He'd already had a busy day in the Rapids, and when he got home, Sterling and I started to get the bed setup. I'd already dissembled the crib before they got home, and it was a little after 8pm when we started (his normal bedtime!). No actual bed frame, just the mattress and boxspring on the floor.. not as far to fall. Well, you'd have thought we pitched a tent and brought the circus into his room! Apparently, his own bed is the coolest thing in the entire world! I went ahead and hung the Solar System painting I've been working on, too, and it was enough to almost make him explode!

Bedtime? Not so good...

We told him night night, tucked him in, and left the room. A few minutes later, we heard little feet, and the door crack open. He said, "all done!" and wandered into our room. This happened at LEAST a half dozen times. One time, he actually hurled his paci back onto the bed, brushed his hands together as if to say, "that's THAT!", and then said, "all done". What a mess he is! We let him lay with us on our bed for a little while so that we could watch TV, but then decided we'd just go in with him and keep him company for a bit until he wound down. So, we all laid down in his bed and just hung out for a bit. He started to get sleepy, but then he'd roll over to look at one of us, nose to nose, grin, and say, "hi.". Then he started playing with my hair (?!) and it was just so silly to me that I started to crack up (I really tried not to.. it's like when you have to laugh in church or a meeting, or somewhere you're supposed to be quiet!). We finally settled him down and left the room. We went back into our room, and we heard the ominous creak of a matress again, and Sterling said, "James Sterling Woodruff... get back in bed!"...this was followed by little feet, the matress noise again, and..... silence!

At some point (around 2am) we heard a big ol' thunk and a cry, but Daddy soothed him right back to sleep, and he woke up in an awesome mood. Big Boy Bed Night #1 = semi-successful.

A random note, just because I think I've forgotten to post this before.. James says "blue" like this: "blulublublublulblulblu". It was especially funny one night when he woke up and desperately wanted his blue paci, which had fallen on the floor. I walked in to him sobbing, and he looked at me and said, "Waaahahahahablulublublulublublu". It's hard to be pitiful when you're making noises like that!

Tooth Trouble Times Two

Ah, teething! Just when you think you're past it.. BAM! Two-year molars! James' are on the way (bottom ones are poking through) and he is craaaaabby. We are back to not-so-sleepy nights, with some intermittant awakenings. Since they actually burst through, it's not been *as* bad, but he does get up a little earlier than normal, and is a bit of a grump... which means so are we! Send happy tooth thoughts our way!

Look! He IS mine!

Wow, I've found photographic evidence that seems to support that James might actually be my child! If you'll recall, I didn't actually SEE him come out of me, and typically he looks alot more like a Woodruff than a Cooley... but here, it looks like he could actually be mine!

UPDATE: OMG! He has my chin and cheeks! I didn't notice that until I really went back and stared at this! *sigh!*

We will drink no wine before its time...

hahahahah.. who are we kidding! We love it, we drink it, we dish about it! Karey and I took a girls trip to wine country this weekend (there were two other ladies who dropped out... you know who you are, and it's totally your loss!). It totally inspired me to setup a third blog just for chatting about our trip, and future trips (oh yes, there will be more!). Click on "Woodruff Wine Blog" for more details, and enjoy!

New bios

New bios posted.. click on "Click here for Woodruff Bios, Natal News archives and current Vital Statistics"

No cheeks!

Typically when I get a smooch from James, I get 3 in a row: one on each cheek, and one on the lips (and we count each one.. 1 - 2 - 3!). As I held him yesterday and asked for a quick smooch, I realized how drooly he was, and that I really didn't want one on the lips! So, I let him kiss my cheek, and then he went in for another so I offered my cheek again. He went in for another and another, and finally he made his little angry noise and said "no!" and pointed to my mouth! He had to get that last kiss on the lips to seal the deal!
So now I think it's funny and have started to mess with him and only offer my cheek. He's wise to me though, and right after cheek kiss #1, he grabs my face and turns me so that he can get that wet drooly kiss right on the smacker!

The Ghost Whisperer

On more than one occassion we've thought that James was channelling Moose, and our little furry friend was still with us in spirit. Today I think we've confirmed it. Moose used to move things around (before, not now..that would be creepy), like the time we found one of our shoes on the windowsill. Nice and neat, not chewed on, just moved and placed somewhere else. Today, we found three little binder clips lined up on the window sill. I guess it just seemed like a good place for them. Let us know if James can pass any messages to Moose for you... we've asked him to pass along our love!

Couple a hayseeds...

James and Sterling picked up a bale of hay for the backyard, and thought they were being cute (they were!)...

Another fun (and busy) day at the park

Another fun day at the Museum of Art park. We spend 2 hrs walking around (James mainly ran) and had a blast, as always. Fun pics in the Photo Collection (Look in "Spring 2006").

Fair warning

When picking up James from daycare today, Valarie shared a little anecdote from the day. When James is about to.. uh.. void.. he lets you know by making the worst face in the world. It looks like a worried grimace / grin. Valarie said he was standing holding onto the coffee table today making "the face" when he looked up at her and said, "here it comes!". She said it cracked her up, and when she told me I asked, "are you kidding me?!?! how embarassing!". I thought perhaps she'd heard him incorrectly, so I asked him to say it, and sure enough, it came out plain as day! I laughed all the way home!

Hats, Dogs, and Sneezes

Hats
Every week, the first day that Sterling goes back to work for the week, instead of sleeping during the day, he just sleeps in as long as he can and gets up around noon. This means that once a week, the daycare shuttle is reversed, and I drop off, he picks up. Today was that day, and mommy's hair looked ROUGH this morning. .. so I wore a hat. James saw this hat, and immediately demanded his own! He pointed to HIS head and said, "hat! hat!", so I had to run upstairs and grab his, lest he wake up daddy!

Dogs
Then, while eating breakfast, he dropped a piece of food. He immediately pointed to it and said, "get it, Becky!". They really do learn by example!
We also walked Becky in the yard this morning, and got a visit from Murphy (Jennie's dog, across the street). James loves Murphy, and said hi to him and gave him lots of pats. Then we went to go back inside, and James said, "come on, Murphy!". I had to explain to him that Murphy lived across the street, not at our house. He pointed to Jennie's house and said, "Murphy's house!". Smarty, that one!

Sneezes
So, we get to Valarie's, and walk down to the bus stop and James has to sneeze. If you've ever seen him do this, you know this typically means 3 sneezes in a row. We always have a good, silly laugh about this, and this is followed by fake sneezes which generate more giggles. Well, the kids as the bus stop saw this, and thought it was hilarious. Within seconds, he had half a dozen elementary school kids around him in a circle, and he was entertaining them like a stand-up comedian! No confidence issues, there!

Cutie Pie

Posted just because this is so darned cute. We were playing in the driveway this weekend, and James picked me a flower. I tucked it behind my ear. Then he picked one for himself and wanted to wear one like mommy! Sterling thinks he looks girly, I just think he's my cutie...