Sucess!

After the normal bit of chatting and singing, James went right to sleep without leaving his new bed. And when he woke up this morning, he called for us like usual. Yea!

It Happened

Today at naptime, James got out of his crib. I wasn't home, but Dan said he heard crying and "Ouch, I bumped my head," and found James walking down the hallway.

When I asked James about the episode later, our conversation went thusly:

Me: "James, did you bump your head today?"

James: "Yes."

Me: "When?"

James: "I popped right out of my crib. Then I ran out of my room."

So, this evening, Dan took the drop-side off James's crib and made it into a pseudo big-boy bed. I actually shed a tear-- so goofy. James is quite excited! We'll see how things go tonight.

Airing Things Out

So yesterday James put up his usual fight when it came to napping. I could hear him back there talking and playing. When I went to check on him, he'd finally fallen asleep... without any pants! He was sleeping peacefully in just a t-shirt; he'd removed even his underpants!

Last night, when Dan went to check on him at bedtime, he was half-nakey again! Dan asked him why he'd taken off his pajama pants and underwear. James responded, "Because I don't like Percy. I like Thomas." Oh. Of course. That makes complete sense. (The underpants had Percy on them; the jammies were Thomas.)

Well, this afternoon it seems he was too tired to be bothered with his wardrobe. He fell asleep rather quickly and kept his pants on.

Skills

Finally remembered to get this footage from last week off the camera and onto the blog.

First off, you can see that James is becoming more fond of his crib since he likes to climb INTO it (thankfully, he doesn't climb out...). I'm happy to report that this does not happen often. :

Secondly, James is very into tumbling nowadays (this sadly doesn't capture his best form):

Not Yet

So, buying a mattress is ridiculous. All the venders just seem so shady, and the mattress companies themselves don't help. They give their products different names in different stores to make it harder for you to comparison shop. Dan knows this, and refuses to just take what they're offering without being well-informed shoppers.

All of this is to say that no, we didn't buy a big boy mattress for James yet.

And he's readjusting to his crib. He hasn't been asking to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed very much anymore. So, we'll see what happens. (Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy want a new mattress now too!)

In other news, James and I have been thoroughly enjoying our summer. This week we did some shopping and other errands and then spent some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma. James quite enjoyed "helping" Grandpa build a walkway in his backyard. We also had fun swimming with Grandma.

James has been singing for us a lot recently. His favorites are the theme song to Thomas the Tank Engine, "That's Amore" and "Home on the Range." He really belts it out! Adorable!

Big Times

We're off to go mattress shopping today for our Big Boy! We already have a twin bed headboard and footboard (which was Dan's when he was a kid) that matches James's dresser, so we just need the mattress.

Mr. Big Boy

James and I got all dressed up today (to go to a bris), and he just looked so handsome and grown up. It was the first time he'd worn sneakers in well over a month, and he exclaimed, "Mommy! I'm wearing my shoes!"

IOP 2010

So on Saturday, July 31, we rolled into the beachfront house on Isle of Palms. We were very happy to see everyone in Dan's family; like last year there were 21 of us altogether-- 12 adults and nine children (ranging in age from 14 months to 16 years). After last year, we knew what to expect, so that was good (btw, what to expect was chaos-- but happy chaos).

James LOVED playing with all the cousins' kids. He and Jenna (age 6) hit it off very well. She was so kind to share her Woody doll ("From the movie!") and to read to James. Gray (12) was another welcome guest reader. And Nate (3) and Eli (6) shared lots of fun toys and were especially good playmates on "the flat."

James was a big fan of the beach. Hooray! He would splash and play in the tidal pools, but he much preferred the ocean and playing in the waves. Especially with Daddy (who was more prone to dunking, throwing,...). James went NUTS for the waves-- he would start wiggling with sheer joy. Amazingly fun and cute. He also would just run down the beach. Far away without looking back. Chasing seagulls. Running into the waves.

We'd packed some camping mats to use for James's bed. We inflated them both, then popped them into James's nap sheet from school. Perfect fit. I'd say he fell asleep on our bed as frequently as he did on the mat. And the nights he'd sleep on the mat, he usually climbed up into our bed at some point. On the last night, he slept on the mat, and he'd put Mickey and Frosty each on their own pillow ("mat") next to him. Adorable!

Nana and Pops arrived on Sunday to stay in a hotel on the other side of the island through Wednesday. We were so glad they joined us for dinner each night, and of course we spent time together on the beach as well. On Monday they came to our beach. Tuesday was golf day for Daddy, so James and I went down to the hotel.

We played in the ocean and also made a railway in the sand, complete with crossing signs (that other beach goers obeyed-- hilarious!) for James the child-train to puff along. After lunching in Nana & Pops's room, we headed down the block for some YUMMY Ben & Jerry's.
(My one regret is that it was our only visit to the ice cream stand all week.) Then I whisked James back to the house for a nap before the big lasagna dinner. Delicious!

There was much poker, rummy, and bananagrams (Jen's new fave game). And lots of frozen drinks. And the meal schedule Kim created on Sunday was a big help/stress relief. I loved sitting in the rocking chairs on the porch at any time of day-- early morning, James's afternoon nap, before/after dinner,... just watching the waves roll in.

The weather was really great all week. A few showers here and there, but plenty of sun every day. We did get some major storms on the last day (during which I displayed my fear of lightning when we went to rescue the tent and beach chairs), but they were well-scheduled: early morning, naptime, and after dinner.

Saturday morning came much too soon, and after many hugs and a few tears, we said goodbye to the ocean and climbed back in the car. We made it to Virginia that afternoon, and stopped at a hotel (where we'd stopped on the way home in April) to eat, swim and sleep. James got his own big bed. So exciting!

We rolled back into our driveway at 3:45 Sunday afternoon, and have returned to life as we know it. Dan is back at work. I am back to running on pavement (with hills). And James is, much to his protest, sleeping in his crib. Looks like we'll be setting up the twin bed this weekend...

Carolina In My Mind

Well, we're back, but I'd much rather be in SC right now. What a great vacation! I'll start with the pre-beach portion:

We left NJ at 2:20 AM on Wednesday, July 28th. James woke up when we took him out to the car; "We're going to South Carolina! It is very, very dark," he said. He was so excited that it took him a while to go back to sleep. We stopped for breakfast at 6, stopped to potty & stretch our legs around 10:30, stopped for a pinic around noon, then James napped like a champ until we were almost to my parents' house. (No potty problems during our travels-- hooray!) Chico greeted us at the door, much to James's delight.

I'm not sure who was more excited about the toys Nana & Pops had brought down from the attic. So fun!

That night, James had zero interest in the Pack and Play. Zero. He ended up falling asleep in our bed where we joined him (for a not so restful sleep) later in the night.

On Thursday, we headed to the zoo with our college pal, Nakia, and his family. So fun! James and Nakia's three-year-old daughter, Eleanor, got along swimmingly. They were very cute and "grown up" as they rode the train (twice!).
James enjoyed feeding a giraffe (!) and climbing on all the zoo statues.
After lunch, there was much hugging, then we headed back to Nana & Pops's. James fell asleep on the ride and then boycotted a real nap (in the "big bed") when we got home. Oh well. He did sleep that night. With us again.

Nana and Pops have some very tasty blueberries, and Daddy & James helped with the harvest on Friday morning. Then we visited Granddaddy, and James quite enjoyed "pushing" Granddaddy on his scooter.
He also liked catching a ride on the back as well as beeping the horn. Very funny. Napping was much more successful that day; I think James slept 3 hours! After naptime we visited Mommy's dear friend Christine and her family. Such a wonderful, wonderful evening. Christine's sons were gracious hosts to James, and he did not want to go home at all. His parting gifts of Thomas, the windmill, and the train puzzles have provided much joy and entertainment. Thanks! James was so exhausted when we got home that he went to sleep in the P&P, and we were able to keep the bed for ourselves. Yea!

We headed back to see Granddaddy again on Saturday morning, then jumped in the car after lunch to head to Isle of Palms! (James caught a great nap for the entire drive.)