So proud and so..uh....hmmm...

So James came to me for the first time this morning and said "Momma, poops", letting me know that he had a dirty diaper! Wow... what a HUGE breakthrough. This is a boy you normally only know needs to be changed when it hits you in the face (specifically, the nose). He does not care one bit about carrying around a little extra weight, and he will run away from you if you ask him if he needs to be changed. So for him to TELL me and let me change him is HUGE! So proud, and I told him this.
So, with my proud-momma-high lingering, we headed out to face the day. It was BEAUTIFUL.. sunny skies, slight breeze, 70s.. the kind of day that puts you in a good mood. Mind you, as this story unfolds, the day never really gets bad, it's just funny.
We're walking through Target (wow.. ever notice how many of my entries are set in this scene.. I think I've got a problem), James is in the cart and we're looking at toddler clothes. I step over one rack and he says "momma! momma!", I walk back over and say "yes?" and he says "pee pee!!!", and I realize that his hand is crammed down his pants all the way up to his elbow. For any of you thinking, "oh, another breakthrough.. now he's telling you he's wet", you're wrong. He was telling me that he'd found his little buddy and was having a blast. Niiiiiice. Mommy tried the ol' "pee pee's going night night right now.. take your hand out of your pants and tell pee pee night night"... he did, but then he'd look at me, wait to catch my eye, grin, and start to hitch up his shirt and head his hand down south again. I guess I gave it away... I let him know that I didnt' want him to do that instead of playing it cool, all "aw, it's all cool.. play with it if you want, Mommy doesnt' care"... reverse psychology only works if you don't cave and meet the behavior with a "What the heck are you doing in PUBLIC!?" kind of face. Dang.

Hunh?

Sometimes (ok, often) toddlers do and say things that just make you go "hunh? what?" and you just wonder what's going through their busy, silly little minds. This morning, James opened up the top drawer of our bedside table, sniffed, and said "smells good!". What?!?!

Happy 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday to my favorite little man! I can't believe how much he's grown in the last two years... or that's it's BEEN TWO YEARS! Holy cow! James, when you read this years from now, know that we just think you are so funny, smart, sweet, personable, and all-around awesome. You are loved by many, especially your mommy and daddy. I watched you walk down to the bustop today, holding Natalie's hand as you just looked at me and said "bye bye!" and I realized just how big you're getting. It blows my mind, and it makes me a little sad, but kinda proud, too... we must be doing something right for you to be as great as you are. We love you, buddy!

Spirits help us!

So I'm taking a 5 min breather because James is downstairs screaming his head off and it's really hard to concentrate. It seems he's been especially prone to grouchy periods lately.. we're not sure if it's the onset of the twoseys or just a rough patch of crank. At any rate, I went to check the ParentsPlace March 2004 babies chat board to see if this was normal and found this quiz: http://quiz.ivillage.com/parenting/tests/whisper.htm
Turns out (shocker!) that James fits the following description...well DUH!

Spirited Toddler

The Spirited Toddler is extremely active physically, often willful, and may be prone to temper tantrums. She is very social and curious and will point to objects and reach out for them and for other kids early on. This child is the consummate adventurer; she will have a go at anything and is very determined. She displays a great sense of achievement when she accomplishes something. At the same time, she needs very clear boundaries so that she doesn't act like a steamroller, trampling anyone or anything in her path. Once they start crying, Spirited Toddlers have stamina and staying power, so you're in for a long haul if you don't have a good routine going. Given good guidance and an outlet for her energy, however, a Spirited Toddler can become a leader and very accomplished in whatever area interests her.

Ba-set-baaaawwww

James' new word is "basetbawl" for Basketball. Now we're pretty darned proud of the fact that he's mastered a three-syllable word...but the reason he's mastered it is because it is now his FAVORITE word. He kept calling it something else that we knew meant basketball but didn't sound anything like it, so we worked with him this weekend on pronouncing "basketball", and started walking around the house singing "baaa-seeeet-baaaawwl" over and over and over. He did this for about a good 2 hrs the first day, and then for a few mins at a time intermittantly since then.
When he says "momma" and waits for me to say "james", and we do that back and forth in varying voices, it's cute, it's funny, it's not annoying at all. Hearing "basetbawl" for the umpteenth time might be enough to make me stick and icepick in my ears.. no eardrums, no "basetbawl". :-)

There IS a silver lining!

You know, as crazy as our scheduled are right now, and as much as we both hate that Sterling is on his current schedule (not griping, there's just nothing to be done about it at the moment), one of the things it's done is to force James and I to get out of the house every weekend. Granted, some days this is easier said than done, but we now have standing Saturday morning playdates with Keaton and Stacy, which is really so much fun. We've had to find alot of interesting things to do, and as hectic as it can be, it's also really cool and I hope that James will remember how much fun we have.
We started a little early today (mommy did some planning.. can you stand it?) and did a Target run, followed by a trip to the new Brier Creek Chick Fil A for some free Chicken Minis (thanks, new CFA!).. which btw, ROCK! We then sat at the airport Observation Park (no planes coming OR going.. ??) while we munched. We then swung on over to the Kleys to pile into the Kley-mobile to head on over to the J C Raulston Arboretum near State. If you haven't been, you need to. Not only is it just a beautiful spot (and it's HUGE), but toddlers can pretty run wild.. and they did. Mommies can plan their yards or try to identify what's already growing (what's that mystery shrub near the driveway?) while kids can hide behind trees, follow trails, see fish, and just have a blast. I added the pics to the photo collection. A few things of note:

• The first pic is of James and I eating our breakfast.. just in case you were wondering.
  
• Those of you without toddlers might wonder why some pics are repeated.. those of you WITH won't.
• Those of you with will wonder how in the heck we got so many good ones.. see note #1, and also, luck.
• My favorite is the one where they're peeking through the holes in the fence. In the first one, they're both facing the camera. In #2, one of them is facing the other, then in #3 it's the other, then they're both facing the front again for the last one. What you don't see is me holding them up! (not important, just kinda funny)
• Jamye and Stacy Grose, that plant in Stacy's yard is a Chaenomeles: japonica "Atsuya Hamada". I thought it was a flowering quince.. that's close, right? Although.. check out this link, 'cause I *might* still be right..."Japanese quince: n. A common name for Chaenomeles speciosa" YEAH, baby!
  

Enjoy.. we certainly did!

Silly girls

A good friend of mine once said, "The best playdates are often the unplanned ones" (ok, it was Jamye, and she said that a few hours ago). We went to a pancake supper at her church tonight, where the theme was kinda Mardi Gras, kinda wierd hat. So we wore wierd hats, ate pancakes, and chased silly kids. On the way out, we decided to let the little ones tear around on the playground for a bit, and they had a blast. You can see from the ridiculous picture that the mommies did, too.

What Not to Wear

Oatmeal...good for your heart, good for your skin, NOT good for a toddler to feed himself. Just passing along the info.

We spent yesterday morning with Keaton and Keaton's mommy, Stacy. We had a good ol' time at Triangle Town Center, the new mall in Raleigh. It was frrrreeezing outside and we needed somewhere warm to play. They have a toddler playground called Discovery Creek, which has all kinds of stuff to climb on, slide down, and run around. Needless to say, they had a blast. If you click on Woodruffs Photo Collection, the pics are in the "Feb / Mar 2006" album.
Post-workout, we planned to grab pretzel while we waited for the stores to open, but the pretzel place wasn't open yet, and we had to settle for Cinnabon. Darn.

It was right before / around this point when the mommies needed a potty break. On the way out, Keaton took the opportunity to yank his hand out of Stacy's and run into the men's room! Stacy wasn't quite sure what to do at first, so she stood in the doorway yelling "Keaton! Keaton you come back here!". After about 30 seconds, he did...crisis averted!

While shopping in PBK, James decided it was time for his morning consitutional. So, right after our purchase, we headed BACK to the ladie's room for a change. Well, someone was feeling squirmy, which was icing on the already not-so-fragrant cake (James is on antibiotics at the moment... peeeyew!). After cleaning up the eye-burner of a diaper and setting him down, I figured since I'd just used the last wipe, and forgotten a diaper-disposing bag, I'd stuff the diaper into the wipe bag to throw it away. It was while I was trying to do this that I heard a splish splash, and glanced over to see my son up to his armpits in the MALL TOILET. This resulted in a very loud "OH JAMES.. NO!!!" at which point I inadvertantly shoved my thumb straight into the disgusting diaper right up to my knuckle. The next comment was something like "OH COME ON!! JAMES STOP IT!". Stacy helped corral the youngsters while I scrubbed my hand and disposed of the diaper, much to the amusement of the other two ladies that were also in the bathroom at the time (who I'm sure went home and made damn sure they were current on their birth control!). We got James cleaned up, and headed back down the mall. Both mommies were VERY ready for a nap after THIS playdate.

Oh yeah, and if you were wondering about the title, "what not to wear".. the answers are:

• oatmeal
• mall toilet water
  
• poop (on your thumb)
  

Blogging buddies

We've been friends for over 10 years, Preggo Pals, and now we're Blogging Buddies! Please welcome my friend Jamye to the world of blogging.. the link to her new site is down below, along with my other favorites. Enjoy! (she's a better writer than I am... you WILL enjoy it!)

In other completely unrelated news... James has named his.. uh.. equipment. He actually did this a few weeks ago, I just forgot to share. While au natural on the changing table, he looked down, as he often does, and suddenly a little light went on in his head and he said "Saturn!". Mommy said "what?", and he repeated "Saturn" and pointed to what we'd previously referred to simply as "peepee". I looked for a sec and realized, ok, it's round, it kinda has a ring around it... oh my. I'm proud of him for being so creative, but really.. is it normal to name it when you're this young? I don't think I even have to ask is that's a normal name for it!

RocketMan

Ok, I not-so-secretly loves that James seems to be as big a nerd as me! I've been putting together favor bags for James' space-themed birthday party, and one of the favors is a rocket-shaped bottle of bubbles. James LOVES his little hand-held rocket (a pocket rocket, if you will), and took it to daycare with him yesterday. Valarie said that he napped with it, and at one point he woke up and looked around like he needed to find something (which is typically when he misplaces Lion), and he wanted the ROCKET! Who the heck snuggles with a rocket? My child, the future astronaut.

Life is precious.. but sometimes it stinks

Our friends, the Groses, have suffered the worst loss one can imagine this past week. They lost their wonderful 4-yr old boy, Devin. It was very sudden, and we're all pretty much in shock. If you know them and haven't already done so, please pass along your thoughts and prayers.. they certainly need it. Also, take a moment to hug, kiss, or call your friends and family, because life is precious and you need to steal every second of if! Sometimes, though, like right now, it just plain stinks.

Happy Birthday, Zack!

Today we went to Zack's birthday party at Pump it Up. For those of you unfamiliar with the place, as I was, it's a room the size of a school gymnasium with several huge moonwalks and inflatable slides. There's music, and balls and lots of stuff to jump on. I have no pictures because I was solo mom for the day and had my hands full.. just a pick of James wearing one of his party favors! It was so much fun, and I am so whipped!
When we first arrived, James was FREAKED OUT. Then he saw basketballs, and that was cool for about a good 30 mins or so. We then managed to get on the slide, which he loved. We did that a few times before he saw basketballs IN one of the jumpy things... so we moved in there, and he decided it wasn't so freaky after all! I had to drag him away when we moved off for snacks and cupcakes! We had a wonderful, and it looks like Zack had a great one, too.. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Keaton (and a shout-out to Auntie E)

Today we went to Keaton's 2nd birthday party, and my hat is off to expectant mommy Stacy Kley, who threw a fabulous bash (yes, Ben, you did a good job grilling, and I'm sure Stacy gave you some todos in prep for the party, too!). All of the kids had a wonderful time, and it's hard to believe how big they're getting, so quickly!
Our shout-out to Auntie E is in reference to our first opportunity to wear James' little-man-sweater that she bought him for Christmas. He looked quite dashing and got several compliments!
Lastly, just an interesting little tidbit that James, you might find cool (or incredibly boring by then) when you get older.. here's something from today's headlines:
"Along with these services, space tourism businesses hope to send customers into suborbital space at a cost of $25,000 to $250,000 a person, far less than the $20 million businessman Gregory Olsen paid Russia last fall for a ride to the International Space Station. Richard Branson's company, Virgin Galactic, already has 100 people who have paid $200,000 apiece for flights, which the company has said it hopes to begin in 2008."
By the time you're a grown man, this might be old hat.. the way computers are now. I'm sure if someone told me when I was growing up that everyone would have a computer by the time I was an adult, I'd have gone "wow!". Just like now, I see this and think, "wow.. spaceflight for the common man". 20 yrs from now, people will just say "well, DUH! it's just like a computer.. everybody has one!". Interesting times we live in.

The elusive double-toddler pic

After months of failed attempts, I FINALLY managed to snag a picture of Keaton and James in the same shot, both looking at the camera and smiling.. amazing! I challenge any sports photographer to do better!

New pics

New pics posted.. click on Woodruff Photo Collection, they're in the Winter 2005/2006 photo album.

Garrulous Guy

What a wonderful Valentine's Day(s). Yesterday, I took the day off to hang out with my favorite guys. We intended to go to the Durham Museum of Life and Science, but it's closed MONDAYS ONLY through.. yesterday! Dang! We did, however, take some fun pics in front of the rocket they have out front.. James LOVED it. At first he was a little freaked out, but he got over it! Pics in the collection. We then went to the mall to let James tear around Discovery Creek with the other little ones.. he ran and screeched and had a blast for something between 1/2 - 1 hour. .. and he left under protest. All in all, it was a wonderful day.
Today, I got beautiful red tulips and a very sweet card (Sterling is VERY good at picking our cards.. always!), and then my littlest Valentine surprised me again with chocolate and another wonderful card. I'm a lucky lady!
Tonight James was running around like a goofball. He grabbed a bottle of water in one hand, and bubbles in the other, and walked around the house (basically doing laps) saying "buuubbbleees.... buuuubbbllles".. I swear he did this for about 20 mins. (which gave us time to eat, so cool).
Speaking of being chatty, here's an excerpt from James' conversation with Sterling on the way home from daycare today:
"Dada? dada? Cars. Cars...more cars! Hi, Cars! Caaarrss. Sun! Hot! HotSun! Red.. cots (stop)! Gooooo..geenliihhh! Cars Cars . HOT! Sun, Hot! Dada? Daaadaaaa. DADA! DADA! Cars, hi, Cars!" and so it continues.. it's about a 10 min trip home. :-)

Flashbacks to days of youth

James is reverting to his childhood. Lately, when you have something he wants, instead of saying "I want it", or just "please" and pointing, he says, "ga ga ga GA GA?" while pointing. It is the funniest thing to hear, because that two-letter word, "ga", used several times in a "sentence" is spoken with such a tone that he really does convey the idea, "gee, whatever that is that you've got looks terrific and I sure would like a bit / sip / nibble". We've no idea why he's chosen that phrase to express this sentiment, but it sure is funny.

We all continue to miss Moose (btw, thank you to everyone who posted something nice in the Moosey Memorial entry!). James asks about him once in a while, but it's not as bad as we thought it would be (well, I don't know if I can speak for Sterling, but speaking for myself...), it's nice that he remembers him and wants him, but also good that he doesn't really get what happened so he can't be as sad about it as we were... so he's just left with fond memories of his pal who, for some reason, doesn't come around any more.
He has started to get a little chummier with Becky, and she's tolerating it fairly well. He's always loved to fill up the dog bowl in the morning, and now when it's full, he chases her with it yelling "Beeeccky". He kissed her tonight, he tried to hug her, and he's nicer about petting her. I think she's happy to get a little more attention, and he's happy to have someone to give all of this love to.. even if she only wants a little at a time!

Somebody has a crummy bedside manner

.. and it's not me. As we've probably mentioned before, the Prince likes to stir at about 5:30 - 6:30am. He'll cry and bounce until we come get him, but if we take him back to bed with us, he'll sometimes sleep in with us for another hour or so (Ferber fans, yes.. we know we probably need to revisit the whole "Cry it out" thing). Even if we're ready to get up, we all typically hang out and snuggle for a little while before officially Getting Up. So anyhoo, Daddy was at work the night before last, so it was just mommy and her moppet sleeping in. James got up, leaned over and gave me a face press (kinda like a hug with your cheeks) to wake me up, and went "Hi!... hi!". Then he started to PUSH and said, "Move.". Frankly, I can think of more tactful ways to greet the morn.. we'll be working on morning manners, I suppose.

Ain't Gonna Sing No Mo'

James has just gotten over (well, in the final stages of), his THIRD cold / virus / disease of the year. Naturally, while he was still in the throes of diseasedom, he was a CRANKPOT!! The other night he was clearly exhausted, but fighting bedtime. Typically he's great about it, but not interested THIS time! I was trying to rock him to calm him down, and he kept wiggling and saying "down! down!". I told him "no, you're not getting down.. you can either rock, or get in bed. Which is it?". He sat still, so I figured, ok, the answer is "rock". So, we're rocking, I'm singing to him, and about halfway through the song he sits up in my lap, turns to me with a very serious expression and said "hush.". Flabbergasted, I naturally paused for a moment to process the fact that I'd been hushed as if I were the dog. I thought, "hmm.. perhaps he's using it out of context.. he just likes to say it and doesn't really mean for me to stop singing...".. so I continued. He looked at me more sternly, shook his head and said "hmm-nnn!". It was at this point that I deduced that he must be super-tired to refuse the soothing strains of my voice, so I plunked his little tush in bed and that was that! (nobody likes a critic)

Bed head

Not much to report, just wanted to post some incredibly funny pictures... as you can see, James functions just as poorly as the rest of us without coffee...