More Santa Love

Well, as Christmas approached, we saw more and more of the nicely-hatted Mr. Claus. Every visit to the mall included a spotting of Santa with James waving enthusiastically. On Christmas Eve Eve (that would be the 23rd), Dan met James & I at the mall after work. We had a family dinner upstairs at the food court in a seat overlooking Santa's chair. Evidently Santa was dining at the same time. James spotted him right away as he returned to his station. "I see Santa!!!" He was so excited! (Another mildly amusing episode from that dinner is that James got a book in his Chick-fil-A kids' meal. After flipping through it he tossed it aside... right over the wall into the Verizon kiosk down below. Oops. I ran down to apologize/retrieve it.)

On Christmas Eve morning, James and I went over to the Bergen Mall to pick up our last few items. Again, he was quite excited to see Santa. There wasn't much of a line, so we went up for an official visit (instead of James's standard shouting of greetings from across the wall). James was, again, anxious for his turn. However, as soon as I popped him out of the stroller, he chose to sit on the floor making bashful faces at Santa while keeping me in reach. He finally got on the big guy's lap, but the photo wasn't so great. This at least gave me an easy out for having to purchase any photos ($17 for the cheapest package!).

That afternoon, James's nap was interrupted by the arrival of Santa at our corner! The town's EMS has a Frosty & Santa that tour the streets (complete with sirens) every year. Dan was arriving home just at this moment, and as soon as he heard that James was awake, he grabbed him and his lil' jacket and ran out the door. (I followed behind with James's shoes and a camera).

James was thrilled by the "sleigh" and Santa. We chatted with our former neighbors and then began walking back towards home. James protested. "More, more Santa! More, more trucks!" So we promptly walked back. James went willingly to Santa's lap and even posed for some pictures. (Sadly, my battery needed charging and was therefore a bit slow, so I didn't get some of his best smiles recorded.)

Moral of the story-- if you want your two year old to sit happily with Santa, have some big trucks involved!

Post-Dec. 25th Santa news: in our few trips to the mall in the last couple of days, James has been looking for Santa. He's known right where to find him, and has been quite disappointed to continually find an empty chair.

James is Two!

OK, so we're about two weeks behind on our posting right now. Rather than starting with the most recent news (Christmas, of course), we'll go back to birthday-time.

On December 13, we had James's Birthday Playdate. We invited the six friends James has had since the beginning-- the kiddos from our Mommies group (can't believe they're all two!). Everyone was able to come over and a few children even brought their Daddies! Needless to say, it was a pretty crowded house, but great fun.

Dan had the genius idea to push the dining room table over to the wall to open up the room for playing. He also set up our train beneath the table. This gave the kids the chance to admire it without the ability to climb on it. (Dan spent much of Saturday evening crafting tunnels and an amazing bridge to make the set-up more magnificent.)

All the toddlers had a blast running (sprinting) back and forth from the living room (where the Thomas train track was set up) to the dining room. They even took turns riding on James's trucks in the kitchen. After enjoying yummy cupcakes, everyone (well, everyone except the Birthday Boy) played ring around the rosie.

Keeping with the train theme, the party favors were Thomas boxes filled with Thomas stickers and little trains that I'd personalized with each child's name as well as a big "2." James was such a gracious host and did a wonderful job passing out party favors. That is until he dropped Cora's box, and the contents spilled out. When he saw what he was giving away, he got really, really sad. Once he had his own personalized train in hand, he resumed his favor distribution.

Unfortunately, James came down with quite the cold on Monday. (He ended up staying home all week!) Tuesday, his actual birthday, he stayed home with Daddy. This meant no birthday treats for his classmates. Boo. We did have a special dinner with Grandma and Grandpa that evening though. And a blue (like Thomas) cake. Yummy.

After dinner, James opened all his wonderful gifts. He really enjoyed the cards and opening each present. When asked how old he is, James proudly says, "two!" often while holding up one finger.

He also calls the birthday song "The Cake Song."

Santa!

James has been pretty excited about Mr. Claus since "seeing" him in the parade on Thanksgiving. He's spotted him at the mall a few times. Last week we passed him en route from Target to Whole Foods. James ran over to the fence shouting, "Santa! Santa!" Then he said, "Nice hat! Nice hat, Santa!" He was really annoyed when I pried him away to go buy dinner. When we left Whole Foods, he darted back to the fence. Santa was up chatting to the photographer, and James said, "Santa, get in that chair!" It was funny. Santa sat down and waved to James :-)

Well, on Saturday we headed to a local nursery who had free Santa photos in the greenhouse. James was SO very excited the whole drive over. We'd ask him who we were going to see, and he'd say, "Santa!"

In line he could hardly contain himself and was practically diving out of Dan's arms to get to Santa.

Then it was his turn.

He wasn't so sure anymore.

The official photo we received captures the "deer-in-the-headlights" look a bit better.

He fell asleep in the car afterwards saying "Santa" to himself. When he woke up at home he asked for "More Santa. More, more Santa," until we let him hold the picture.

In Honor of Uncle P

James got some new shoes. I looooved his last pair, but they don't have them in his size anywhere. Not even the world wide web. Boo.

So, we got these.

They are called "Preston." And are pretty cute, no?

Latest Catch Phrases (updated on 12/08)

"Get down, run!" said pretty much anytime you pick James up to carry him somewhere.

"Get down, boogie." learned from Pops who sang the song after hearing the aforementioned catchphrase.

"Good job, James!"

"Dump. Dump the ______." (fill in the blank with whatever food James no longer wants to eat)

"Clean up the mess. James clean the mess. Put it in the shovel." This usually follows the aforementioned dumping.

"On purpose." This also follows the dumping.

"Turn on the light. Turn off the light. Ooh, it's dark in here. Now it is light." James recently figured out where the living room light switch is located and realized he can put a stool or small chair there to reach it. In the book Emma Goes Shopping, Emma goes to the garage: "Ooh it is dark in here. Emma flips the switch. Now it is light."

James-ese and A Very Sad Parenting Lesson

So, James speaks his own language sometimes. (I'm sure it sounds a bit like "Olympian"-- a language spoken by a certain adorable three year old circa the '88 Games.)

When there is something he's interested in for which he doesn't know the name, he'll point and say something along the lines of, "Babe-ooo-ab-gab-ee-ee?" in a somewhat sweet, and high voice. It cracks me up. We'll respond, "Do you want the salad dressing?" "Yes!" (with an enthusiastic nod) "salad dressing."

He's started to say "Cheerios" better instead of "Chos." And "cookie." (so sad to have "chi-chi" out of rotation.)

"Mountain" is pronounced "Mah-ment," and "Hickory Dickory Dock" is "Hicky Dicky Dock" or just "Dicky Dock."

Remember, the second word or syllable always receives the emphasis in James-ese.

Now for the sad news. Yesterday my fantastic NYC snowglobe became a casualty to toddlerhood and poor parenting judgement. A few weeks ago a certain grandparent showed James the snowglobe as, I'm sure, an innocent means of entertainment. Of course, James loved it-- especially listening to "New York, New York" and watching the cars go around on the base. He called it "House." Or "James House!" (after a few referrals in James-ese babble). I didn't let him hold it. He had to just watch it. Which he'd do laying next to it for the best view.

Well, yesterday I was a bit distracted and didn't get to him fast enough when the music stopped. I saw him trying to wind it up himself. The next thing I knew, he was screaming and the water and glittery "snow" was all over the floor. FORTUNATELY, he didn't cut himself (although I'm still not sure how he managed that!). I was so concerned with him that I didn't have time to be sad about the snowglobe until later.

It's probably irreplaceable as it had the Twin Towers in it. Dan got it for me at least 10 years ago when I still lived in SC.

Oh well. We know it is only the first of many things that will be broken/damaged/lost/ruined by children. And we've also learned that such items must be kept out of reach. Always.

New Skills and Advent

Just thought I'd let you know some skills James has picked up lately.

He can take his pants off all by himself. He's working on sock removal. And shirt (that's the toughest). Also, he's much more helpful than he used to be when putting on clothes as well.

Tonight we had Noseblowing 101. First, I tried to hold the Kleenex up to his nose while saying, "Blow," and breathing hard through my nose. That didn't work very well. Then I blew my nose while he was watching. The next thing I knew, he'd gone back to the Kleenex box, helped himself, and was blowing away. His accuracy into the tissue was a bit off, but he was quite successful with the clearing out the nose bit. Oh man, and he was so excited by this new skill-- he kept going back to the box for more Kleenex and was running around squealing with glee (and leaving tissue remnants everywhere-- nice).

Another skill is "singing" many songs: the hello song from our music class (which mentions both James and Thomas by name-- he LOVES that!), "Frosty", "Miss Mary Mac", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", "Head, shoulders, knees and toes", "Happy Birthday."

He also enjoys retelling stories and books. And he's getting better at drinking from a real cup.

Next topic: Advent

Last Sunday was the the first Sunday of Advent. Dan, James & I got to light the candle on the wreath to start the service at church. (I had acolyting flashbacks-- trying to light the candle without being able to see the wick.... I was glad it was just the first Sunday!)

After the service we made our own wreath. The leaves are cut-outs of James's hand on green paper-- so cute! We lit it during dinner today. It is too big to keep on the kitchen table, but we finally ate together in the dining room tonight.