Archive for May, 2006

We are in the middle of potty-training James, and he is doing really good so far. I decided to use Pull-Ups training pants to make it easier on all of us, and I think it was a good decision. They have little designs that fade when he wets them, and it makes keeping them dry like a game with a visible reward. We have been wearing them since Wednesday, and every day he gets a little better. Yesterday he pretty much kept them dry except for in the morning at church and last night when we went to see fireworks down by the river. I am so proud of him!

Eliza is everywhere, or at least it seems that way! I like to make fun of her because she crawls like Igor most of the time, kind of on one foot and one knee so that it looks like she's dragging a leg. She even makes noises similar to Igor, or maybe more like a monkey. She can pull up to a standing position now, and she has used that to explore the second shelf of the bookshelf since I already emptied the bottom shelf. She is learning to respond to the word "no", and she tries to say several words, even if she only gets the first syllable. For example, she often holds up her pacifier and says, "pah!" Her favorite thing to say, though, is "bear", or "beh!"—all stuffed animals are bears to her! I have been trying to get her to learn how to go to sleep on her own, which involves lots of crying. She is so stubborn that she refuses to lay down, and when she finally gets quiet I go check on her, only to find her asleep sitting up!

James has been saying some very funny stuff lately. I wish I could remember it all, but here are a few of the best:

• As we were leaving church the other day we told James we were going home for lunch. He thought for a few minutes, then he said, "Hey, guys, can I ask you a question? Maybe we can go to Arby's for lunch? Would that be fine?" He has been tagging that last line on to a lot of his questions recently, and sometimes when he's pitching a fit and I tell him he can either do what I say or go to his room, he finally gives in, saying, "I guess that would be fine."

• We went to Alayne's 8th grade graduation Thursday night, where she got lots of trophies and the "Distinguished Alumni Award", given to one boy and one girl. I had pointed her out to James each of the several times she went to the stage for her awards. When we caught up with her after the ceremony, James ran over and gave her a hug, saying, "Alayne! I'm so proud of you for walking down the aisle!"

• James loves going out to eat, and Friday night we were driving home after going shopping. He really wanted to stop at a restaurant for dinner, but I tried to explain to him that restaurants cost money and we don't have enough money to go out to eat all the time. He contemplated this, and then replied, "Can we buy some more money tomorrow?" Well, that's what you do when you run out of something, isn't it?

• We have been trying for the last week to take a trip to the zoo, and we finally made it Saturday morning. We had been trying to make an afternoon visit, but the first time we found out the zoo closes at 5:00, and the second time James' nap ran a little longer than we were expecting. Both times, we had already told him we were going, only to have to tell him we couldn't because the zoo was closed. When Jay told him Friday night that we were going to the zoo the next morning, James corrected him sadly, "No, the zoo is closed." Poor kid!

Sunday was Mother's Day, and Jay worked hard to make sure it was a special day. First, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, where I opened a few presents—a gold chain for a pendant I got on a previous Mother's Day, and framed portraits of the kids. After breakfast we went on to Sunday School. The choir was not singing in the service that day, so we decided to see if they needed help in the nursery. They did have a shortage of workers, so we got to keep James's room. We had eleven 2- and 3-year olds, and we had a great time with them. James did not seem affected by our presence at all; we were basically ignored by him most of the time. One of the other boys pushed James out of the way once while I was standing beside them, and so I made the boy apologize. James patted him on the back and smiled, saying, "That's okay." It was too cute. Later that afternoon we took a walk in the woods at Allsopp Park. It was nice to get out and enjoy the pretty spring weather. Then we stopped and got pizza for supper. It was a great Mother's Day!

Eliza is getting around really well now! And she was standing up in her bed the other day when I went to get her. She'll be walking before you know it! It is fun to see her little personality developing, and it includes a temper that she displays when I try to take something away from her. I'm afraid I'm going to have two strong-willed kids! James has been really hard to get along with recently. It seems we have to have a battle at every meal and every time he's supposed to go to sleep. I think it might be getting a little better, but it sure has worn me out! I'm so thankful, though, that I have two healthy, beautiful kids—we really are blessed! Don't forget to check out our pictures!

Eliza is crawling! She started scooting around on her bottom a few days ago, and yesterday she finally got her knees and hands working together. She is ten months old today. It may seem that she started a little late, but it's half a month earlier than her brother crawled. She can also pull up on things until she's on her knees. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this new-found freedom of movement, but here we go! Eliza is also saying a few more words, like "bear" and "baby" (although they sound almost the same). The other day she heard a dog barking and started yelling, "Dohg, dohg! Ahf, ahf!" It was so cute!

I took a break from housework for a while yesterday to watch home movies of James around Eliza's age and a little older. He was so cute and sweet! I was amazed all over again at his vocabulary at one year old. Eliza may have the same ability to repeat words, but even if she doesn't, she is learning so fast! And one of her favorite teachers is none other than James himself. As I am writing this, Eliza has crawled over to a book and is turning the pages. She's such a little cutie!

I got to meet with my girlfriends from college this weekend in Memphis, and we had a great time! We went out to eat several times, played a game, but mostly we just caught up with what's going on in each other's lives. Angela and Suzanne live in Nashville (but Suzanne is about to move to Birmingham), Aimee lives in Florida, and we met at Anna's, who lives in Germantown. They let James entertain them with his singing and showing off all the things he knows how to do. They also enjoyed getting to meet Eliza and playing with her. I'm the only one of the group that has kids so far, so Jay kept the kids Sunday morning so we could have a girls-only time. It was so good to see everyone—I miss them again already! And, as with every time we get together, there were lots of photos taken.