Archive for February, 2006

At two years old, James is already becoming a backseat driver. He often tells whoever is driving to be careful. Sometimes he even asks, "Are we going to hit that car?" We taught him what the traffic lights mean, and when you ask he will tell you, "Green means go, red means stop, yellow means be careful, so you don't hit cars." (He made that last part up himself.)

The other day I was waiting to turn left at a green light, and James piped up: "Does green mean stop?" It was kind of like he was saying, "Why aren't you going, Mom? Don't you know the rules?"

We had an exciting weekend! Friday morning we drove 5 hours to Brandon, MS to spend a few days with Jay's mom. While we were gone, Little Rock had some nasty weather, with ice covering the roads. We had a bunch of rain in Brandon, but it wasn't cold enough to freeze. The kids did really well on the way down there; Eliza slept most of the way, and James slept a little and looked out the window. Mammaw did make a cake for Jay's birthday, which pleased James, although he enjoyed eating fruit more than the cake. Eliza's second tooth came through on Saturday while we were there, so now she has two teeth on the bottom! Now that she can sit up so well, I was trying to teach her how to clap her hands, and she managed to hit them together a few times. It was so cute! We had a good visit with Mammaw.

My family had gone to spend the weekend in Memphis, and they planned to stay through Monday because everyone was out of school and work except Benjamin. Jay also had to work Monday, so they asked if we could go through Memphis and pick up Benjamin on our way back to Little Rock on Sunday. I decided that the kids and I would stay in Memphis and ride back with my family in the "Mayo van", as James calls it. We got to see most of my extended family while we were there, and we had a good time with them.

The ride home was very interesting. We had eight people and two dogs in a van that seats seven. James and Eliza rode in their carseats in the captain's chairs, while I shared the back bench seat with Lydia, Alayne, Gerald, and the dogs . That lasted a little while, until Alayne got tired and laid down in the floor. Gerald curled up on his side of the seat and went to sleep, but he slowly stretched out until I was sitting on his feet. Lydia had her legs across me and propped up on the armrest of the captain's chair. After about an hour, I rescued the dog, who was underneath Gerald and having trouble breathing. Toward the end of the trip, I had one dog in my lap, one behind me, Lydia's legs across me, and Gerald's feet under me. Not the most comfortable way to travel, but adventuresome, nonetheless!

The last few days have been filled with birthday parties and Valentines! On Saturday we all went to Anna Kate's birthday party. She's a friend from church who just turned three, and she had a heart-themed party complete with an inflatable bouncer (which James refused to try), make-your-own valentines, and pin the lips on the heart face. We had a great time and she gave out little goody bags with candy, which satisfied James' desire for a present of his own. Monday we went to the library for storytime, and I brought Veggie-Tales Valentines for James to hand out to the other kids. He enjoyed that, but each time he gave one away he would come back to me and ask, "Where's mine?" I finally just gave him one to hold. Tuesday was Valentine's Day, and Jay gave me a sweet card and some little gifts, one of which was some really good Dove chocolates. He asked me when he got home if I had eaten one. "Umm…five," I said, and he laughed at me. Jay and I had talked about taking the kids to Mammy and Pappy's, but decided against it; then on a whim I decided to go ahead and take them and surprise Jay by being home alone. I cooked tacos (how romantic!) because that's what he had been wanting, and we ate by candlelight. Then we sat by the fire drinking sparkling grape juice out of cheap goblets that we bought one year for New Year's, I think. We had a great time just being together—without the kids!

Jay's birthday was Wednesday (the big 3-1!) and I took the kids and some sandwiches to Jay's work for lunch. We ate outside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I had told James to tell Daddy "happy birthday", and he asked if he was going to have a cake. So I told him I was going to make one at Mammy's house. When we saw Daddy, James immediately said, "We're going to your birthday party!" Jay told him there was no party there but we would have cake at Mammaw's house this weekend. On the way to my mom's house he kept asking me, "Can Mammaw make Daddy a cake? Can Mammy make Daddy a cake?" He was very concerned that Daddy should get a cake. I made the cake while James was taking a nap, and when he woke up, his first words were, "We can eat cake!" Wednesday night we had choir, then we ate at Fazoli's with the youth group, which made us feel almost young again. Then we went back to my mom's house to take my brother and sisters home and pick up our kids. I was trying to surprise Jay with the cake, but while I was putting candles on it James ran to tell Jay, "We're putting candles on your cake!" At least he was kind of surprised.

Tomorrow we are traveling to Brandon to spend the weekend with Jay's mom. I'm sure we will have some cake there, too!

Eliza's babbling is becoming more and more articulate. Tonight she clearly said "da-da-da" after I did. Daddy's so proud! She is also beginning to associate words with things—she will look at Jay when I say "da-da", and she knows James' name goes with him (well, I say it enough, for goodness' sake!) She is sleeping a little better recently; perhaps it has something to do with having a bigger bed. She has also gotten very good at rolling over to get what she wants, but she hasn't really tried to crawl yet. All of these achievements are kind of bittersweet for me—my baby is growing up! I love watching her learn new things, but I also love my little cuddly baby. She is definitely a Mama's baby, reaching for me and fussing if someone else is holding her, and giving me sweet hugs with her face buried in my shoulder and her hands grabbing my clothes and pulling me close. I love it! Can't they stay little for just a little longer? James is sweet, too, but the grief he gives me sometimes makes me wonder where my precious little baby boy went. Oh, well, I will just try and enjoy every minute!

Eliza has been sleeping in the crib in her own room for the past two nights! (Until now she has slept in a cradle in our room.) We finally got James sleeping in his new room in his big double bed a few weeks ago. I had put it off as long as I could, as James wasn't too excited about giving up his little toddler bed (which was the crib with a short rail). I wanted to let him get comfortable sleeping in the new bed before I moved Eliza into his old bed. I converted the toddler bed back into a crib on Friday, which disturbed James a lot. He cried and said, "Change it back!" I had not moved all his stuff into his new room yet, either—I was hoping to get him some different furniture and I just hadn't had a chance. We had talked about moving his stuff to his new room, though, and the other night Jay was changing James in the old room when James said, "Can we move my stuff into my big room?" After that I moved most of his toys and clothes into his room, which made him feel a little better. Last night he even called it "my room". It was all very traumatic, but I think we have survived. Jay and I are glad to have our room back to ourselves!