Eliza has her first tooth…sort of. It's more like a hole where a tooth will be soon. If you rub it hard, though, you can feel a little hard tooth barely breaking the surface of her gums. As long as she doesn't try to bite me, it's all good!
So much for staying well—I was sick all last week with a cold, but I'm better now. Maybe we can be well for a while!
Here are some typical James moments from the last few days. For every one of these, there's at least 2 or 3 more that I have forgotten. Oh, well, they are probably boring to most of you out there, but we thought they were noteworthy:
Sunday after church we were outside trying to leave when James took off running around to the side of the church. I told him to stop several times, and finally threatened a spanking, but he kept on running, saying, "I have to find Easter eggs!" (This was in fact where we had hunted Easter eggs almost a year ago, but regardless, James had to learn to obey.) I caught up with him and delivered the threatened punishment. He was very upset, but I kept talking about how we have to stop when Mama says stop while I put him in the car. After he calmed down, I asked him, "So what do you have to do when Mama says, 'Stop'?" He replied earnestly, "We have to get a spanking."
The other day James was playing a game on the computer by himself, but he wasn't winning. (I'm pretty sure the game was geared more towards 4- and 5-year-olds, not 2-year-olds.) The "Time's Up" page came on and James said, "I didn't win. It says 'You don't win'." I told him that it's a hard game and he did a good job, but he said, "No, I didn't do a good job." I feel like I have to remind him he's only 2!
We were at Mammy's house Wednesday and James was playing with Uncle Gerald, who just turned 10. They were chasing each other around the house and so Mammy told James not to run because she was afraid he would slip and fall. A little while later Gerald ran through and we heard James yell, "Gerald! No running in the house!" He repeated this several times and finally I confronted my bossy 2-year-old, "James, don't tell Gerald what to do. Let Mammy tell Gerald what to do." James went over to Mammy and said, "Mammy, tell Gerald what to do. No running in the house!"
James is getting a good grasp on Bible stories. Last night he was looking at his toddler Bible at the story of Adam and Eve and said, "Don't eat that apple!" Today I was reading it with him and talking about how they did what God told them not to. "Do you know what happened to them?" I asked. James said, "God gave them a spanking!" Not quite, but good guess!
Eliza had her six month checkup and shots yesterday. She wasn't real happy about the whole visit, but she still managed a few smiles for the doctor and nurses as long as I was holding her. She now weighs 14 lbs., 9 oz. (25th percentile) and is 27 in. long (90th percentile). She is tall and skinny! She has a small head, which is different from James who always had a big head (and still does!). I guess James takes after his daddy there. I am feeding Eliza a little cereal almost every day in an effort to get her to sleep through the night again, instead of waking up at 4 AM wanting to nurse like she has been for the last month. So far it works about half the time. James has also been waking up a lot in the middle of the night, so I usually have to get up at least once and often twice a night to help somebody get back to sleep. I'm tired but making it. Jay has been sick off and on for the last month or so with colds and that has been hard on all of us. So far, I am the only one who has managed to stay well this winter!
James got his first busted lip last Monday. We went to the library for story time like we usually do, and James was dancing along with the music when he tripped over his feet and slammed his face into a table leg. It looked pretty bad and bled a lot, but it is much better now. Jay had stayed home that day, and when we got home, James was telling him, "I hurt my mouth, Daddy. I spinned around and fell into the table." In other news, James has learned to play the computer by himself. If I get him to Nick Jr's website, he can find the videos he wants to watch or games he wants to play and use the mouse to play them. Sometimes he accidentally hits the wrong button or clicks something that takes him to another website, and he'll call me and say, "Mama! It's having trouvle!" because when there's a problem with the computer I tell him it's having trouble.
As I'm writing this, James is singing in the highchair. Did you know that you can sing "Jesus Loves Me" to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as long as you sing the first line again at the end? That's what James was doing. He is so funny! The other day he fell on the Little People Village in his room and he said, "I fell on the city!"
Eliza loves playing with her toys almost as much as James does. Just give her a rattle and she's happy for a while. The other day she was playing peek-a-boo with her daddy while I was holding her—she would turn her face to my shoulder and then look around at him and he would say "peek-a-boo!" and then she would quickly turn away again. She did this about 10 times before one or the other finally got tired of the game and ended it. She is quickly learning how to be a charmer!
My grandfather is home from the hospital as of Tuesday. While he was there, the doctors noticed some blockage in his heart and on Monday decided to do a heart catheterization to put in a stent. During the surgery, they saw more blockages and ended up putting in four stents. He is feeling a little better now that he is home. I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers.
My grandfather went to the hospital yesterday because he was having trouble breathing. He has been sick for a few weeks with a virus and sinus infection, so they thought it might be related to that at first. They did several tests and have diagnosed him with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is treatable but not cureable. He is still in the hospital but will possibly go home tomorrow. In addition to his physical health, his mental health is also declining. His memory is getting worse as well as his reasoning and cooperation with the doctors. I would appreciate your prayers for him.
Joseph and Nicole were married New Year's Eve, 2005. The wedding was beautiful, and James did a wonderful job as ring bearer. As we were on our way to the rehearsal Friday night, we explained to James his job: "You carry the pillow to Joseph, ok?" We got out of the car and went into the church a little late, as usual. I let James carry my ring bearer pillow into the church, and as we entered the sanctuary the wedding party was already standing in their places to rehearse. James bolted down the aisle, yelling, "Joseph! I have a pillow for you! I have a pillow for you!" Everyone was laughing. After that, we practiced walking slow, which James thought meant taking big exaggerated steps and stomping. The next day we dressed him in his tuxedo and tried to keep him from playing rough until the wedding. Right before he was supposed to walk in, he poked himself with the pin holding his flower on. I kissed it and got him calmed down just in time to tell him to walk to Joseph. He just walked to Joseph, not too fast, and not too slow. After that, Jay took him out to the back of the church and let him play during the wedding. Jay was also an usher, which made things interesting as we tried to juggle both kids around so that Jay could do his job and I could watch the wedding. I held Eliza, who slept through it all. Joseph sang a song that he wrote for Nicole, and that was very emotional. They had also written their own vows that they read. It was a very touching wedding. And now I have a brother that's married! Pictures have been posted for your viewing pleasure.
What a holiday this has been! First we traveled to Brandon, MS on Thursday, December 22 to spend some time with Mammaw (Jay's mom). We did some last minute shopping and opened presents with Mammaw and Jill and Robbie on Christmas Eve. Then after letting the kids have some presents on Christmas morning, we drove to Memphis to have Christmas with my family—first Granny's house, and then with Grandaddy and Meemaw's side of the family that night. We left Memphis a little after midnight to drive home to Bryant, arriving aroung 2:45 am. The next day (December 26) we went over to Jay's Aunt Fran's house in Little Rock, where his Mimi and Uncle Thomas' family were spending Christmas. This was the first time Uncle Thomas and his family, who live in Texas, had seen James or Eliza. On Tuesday the 27th we had them come over to our house and we had a good time visiting with them. The next day we packed up again to head back to Memphis. Then Thursday around noon we got in the car again to drive to Murfreesboro, TN, just outside of Nashville, where Joseph's wedding was. We went to Opry Mills Mall Thursday night, ate lunch with my college friend Suzanne Friday, went to the rehearsal and dinner that night, and to the wedding Saturday. James was the ring bearer, and he walked down the aisle all by himself! Saturday night we went back to Memphis, and Sunday afternoon we finally packed the car to come home for a while. It was quite a trip, but it's good to be home!
James and Eliza did amazingly well throughout the trip, despite the lack of sleep or any kind of regular schedule to follow. James has a pretty good grasp of the Christmas story, and when you ask him what Christmas is about, he says, "Jesus!" He loved telling everyone Merry Christmas, and he would often suddenly exclaim, "It's Christmastime!" to anyone who would listen. He got way too many presents, some of his favorites being a harmonica from Mammy and Pappy and a Little People Discovery Village from Mammaw. Uncle Thomas, Aunt Debbie, Marcus, and Neeka enjoyed meeting James and Eliza, and James was delighted to put on a show for them. Eliza's first Christmas was a crazy one, but she enjoyed all the activity. She got lots of cute clothes and toys. We had a great time in Nashville and Murfreesboro, but we were pretty worn out afterwards. On the way back to Memphis Saturday, we were trying to get James to say "Happy New Year!" He kind of hung his head and said, "I'm very tired. I'm very tired to say that word." He fell asleep soon after that and slept nearly the whole way back.
We have posted some pictures of our adventures on our gallery!
