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.

Fun with Auntie Peg!

On Tuesday, our first full day in Charleston, we enjoyed our rooftop breakfast then met Auntie Peg at the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry. It was LOTS of fun. We played with golf balls (to see physics at work) for a while, then headed into the water room.

There James donned a smock (or not) and had fun moving boats and trucks throughout a Charleston-esque model. Mag and I had fun operating the lock to make boats travel up and down. Making it rain was also great fun.

The next room was a shrimp boat turned pirate ship that James quite enjoyed captaining. The boots certainly added to his delight.

Then it was off to the "grocery store" and then the infant and toddler fun space where James sent the dump truck down the slide several times. He also still talks about getting buried in blocks by Daddy and Auntie Peg.

We went outside for a snack (and saw some neat exhibits like giant chimes) then headed in for toddler yoga. James started off hanging back from the group, sitting in a folding chair (where he did do the poses).

After a bit he got down and joined Auntie Peg on her mat. He was super cute doing the poses and has been talking about yoga a lot since we've been home. He was even doing poses in his crib yesterday morning when Dan went in to get him up for the day!

After yoga, we headed into the very cool Medieval castle, then headed off to Auntie Peg's cool house. Unfortunately, James wouldn't eat anything we were offering for lunch and turned into a complete pumpkin before passing out in Mommy's arms and sleeping on Carolan's bed for an hour or so. Upon his waking, we presented him with a beautiful plate of food which Daddy told him not to eat. This reverse psychology method has now become Daddy's new favorite way of dealing with a willful two year old ("Whatever you do, James, do NOT eat that broccoli.").

That night we headed out to see the River Dogs with Auntie Peg. James was thrilled to be at "The Old! Ball! Game!" and wanted to go right out onto the field. He became enamored with Charlie and especially liked getting "licked" by him. He also found the (person dressed as a) bunny and the "big fat green truck" entertaining. I don't remember exactly what either of these two between the innings events were, but he's been talking about them practically every day since!

When he started to get squirmy, I took him to the Kids' Zone where he played in the "bouncy thing." He wanted to go up the slide, but was too small. Or so we thought! A really, really nice "big boy" (who has later been referred to as "that big green boy" and "that big fat boy") helped James get up the "mountain" once, and James was THRILLED.

After that, the big boy went off to other activities, but James kept trying to climb the mountain. I have to tell you, he didn't give up! After many a fall, he made it back to the top! I was so amazed!

Meanwhile back in the stands, Dan caught a fly ball and was hit by another! We had a wonderful time at the old ball game!

Santa did come!

Well, it looks like Santa understands how difficult it is for a toddler to hold it together after eating cookies and visiting big kids and their toys. James appears to have stayed on the Good Boys and Girls List.

James woke up early and then unzipped and removed his pjs while hanging out in our bedroom. OK. This means he was fully dressed for the morning's festivities (even if Mommy was still in her jammies). We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls (this year from IKEA-- Yummy!) which James called "cake" and enjoyed thoroughly.

It wasn't until after breakfast that we let James into the living room. So he didn't know that Santa had come. He was so excited! "I see Mickey Mouse," he said breathlessly.

He had a lot of fun opening and playing with his presents. As he would play with a new toy, Dan and I would seize the opportunity to open our gifts. When James saw us unwrapping packages, he would want to as well. "Present for James."

It was really fun!

Then off to Grandpa & Grandma's house.

James immediately checked out the tree and was happy to see that there were more presents. "I see stockings. I see stockings for James." James's favorite activity seemed to be pretending to make pancakes...

After lunch, James was napping and we decided to watch "Elf," for Dan's parents had never seen it. (I'd totally thrown Dan's mom off by answering the phone, "Buddy the Elf. What's your favorite color?") James woke up mid-movie, so we brought him into the family room to play while we continued the movie. Well, he was NOT a fan of "Elf" at all! He'd break into screaming cries if there was any yelling or physical roughness. And there is lots of both. So, Dan and I took turns chaperoning James in the living room until the movie was over. Oh well!

It was altogether a fun day. James still talks about presents and Santa. Yea!

Update

I'm interrupting my backlog of holiday posting to bring you some of James's new favorites.

He loves, loves, loves church. Thinks communion is great. We were the oblation bearers on Dec. 20th, and he thought the bread looked like a big pancake. After we handed it to Fr. Parnell, James said, "More, more pancake," on our way back to the pew. He really enjoys kneeling for communion which is hysterical since the rail is about to his forehead. Upper forehead. He also likes the songs. As I type this he's singing the great Amen. "Aaaa- men! Aaaa-men! Aaa-men!" Very cute. Last Sunday he was fond of the stained glass. "I see Mary and Joseph." (pronounced something like "Jopheph.") "I see sheep. Nice lamb."

His favorite new skill is removing his pants. He's done it when he's supposed to be taking a nap a few times as of late. He falls asleep pantsless. He even removed his pj pants one night recently. Right now he's walking/waddling around with his jeans at his ankles. No joke.

Some new catch phrases are "I want..." "I need..." and "No way." All great fun, as you can imagine. Really testing out that two-year-old independence. "I need that truck," he said in the fancy baby store in NYC on Monday. "No way!" he said over and over during his two-year-old photo shoot yesterday at the mall.

He also really likes singing. During our last minute shopping last week, he'd request songs about Joseph (I'd sing "Knock, knock, knock"), Mary ("Mary had a baby") and Santa. Then he'd sing them himself. Frosty is still a fave, and he can sing it all himself.

He likes to say "Little riding hood" when I put his hood on him. VERY cute!

Oh, Dan's family all have Santa hats. Dan has a big one with "Dan" on the brim, and a little one with "Danny" on it. James likes to wear the Danny hat. Now all Santa hats are known as "Danny hats." Yesterday at the mall he'd point out the Danny hats to me. "That snowman has Danny hat."

Christmas Eve

So, as I mentioned in the earlier post, we did some shopping in the morning on Christmas Eve. James, by the bye, LOVES shopping. I haven't the slightest idea where he gets that from. Seriously ('cause typically I don't). He'd say, "More more store," every time we'd go out a door to head to the car. Really. Finally, I'd had it and wanted to make sure he ate lunch at home and got a decent nap, so much to his protests we headed home. Also, as you've read, aforementioned nap got interrupted by the Santacade.

Well, after that final visit with St. Nick, it was practically time to head to the children's service at church. We went inside, and while I was changing clothes, Dan helped himself to a cookie and shared some with James. Well, Jamesy ended up eating TWO chocolate chip cookies himself.

The sugar and chocolate kicked in right about the time we got in our pew. Excellent. James was a spaz. There's no better word. Up. Down. Under the pew. On top of the pew. Talking. Singing. Running. Crawling. Altogether good times. He quite enjoyed helping to set up the creche. This year we brought Mary to the stable. James had become quite taken with the Holy Family in the days leading up to Christmas, so he really got into the creche building.

He was also enlisted to help in the presentation of the gifts at the start of the Eucharistic Prayer. In addition to the bread, wine and offerings, we also present a big basket of food for the needy. Well, James and another toddler were each given a canned good to bring up. So there was James with his can of green beans walking proudly up the aisle. I believe the idea was for the kids to put the cans into the basket as it was presented. However, James put the brakes on at the front of the church. He was ready to takes his beans and run for the border. Luckily, Dan was fleet footed and got the beans into the basket and James back in our pew. Hilarious. Communion was a big hit as usual.

When we got home, Grandpa and Grandma were here making Christmas Eve seafood. After we ate, we all went to a neighbor's house for some festivities. James quite enjoyed hanging with the big kids (and their toys). It was well past his bedtime when Dan and I decided we needed to get him home. He was none too happy and cried the entire time as we walked two doors down and then changed him into his jammies.

He stopped crying to get Santa's cookies ready...

... but then cried again when he realized they were for Santa and not for him.

He even cried during books! And he had a VERY special book from Nana and Pops.

Luckily, he did calm down and listen (and has quite enjoyed it in subsequent readings).

Whew... would he still be on Santa's Good List after all of that?