James is 2!

James had a big day on his birthday.  Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to bring my camera to document all the fun but I thought I would at least write about it.  Lee and I both went into his room when he woke up and sang happy birthday to him.  He swayed and grinned from ear to ear.  Then, his buddy, Corbin, came to play.   We played outside with his favorite girls, Eva and Lucia.  We had a bounce house, sandbox, slide, and basketball goal.  It was big fun.  Then we had to leave to go eat lunch with Daddy at Lindley Park Filling Station.  Then it was time to go home for a much needed nap!  Daddy came home a little early from work and we opened his presents.  He got some tools like Daddy's!

For dinner we went with our neighbors to eat Papa John's pizza and Feeney's for dessert.  Then we came home for some more bouncing.  A very full, very exciting day!

The next day James went to the doctor for his 2 year check up.  He weighed 27.5 lbs. and was 34 1/4 in. tall.  He had to have blood taken and get one shot.  He didn't cry for any of it.  We were so proud of him and his bravery.

Father's Day

For Father's Day we were in Charleston and gearing up for our road trip home.  In the morning James sweetly told Daddy "Happy Daddy Day!"  He opened his gift which was a shirt with a town drawn on the back and some hot wheels cars.  James can drive the cars on Daddy's back to give him a back rub.  We also got to stop at one of Daddy's favorite restaurants, Sonny's, for dinner and they were giving dads a free meal!

Charleston

Lee's extended family had a family reunion in Charleston.  James did a great job in the car.  The highlight of the trip was stopping at McDonald's to play on the playground.  James didn't really like the food but he LOVED the slide!  After every trip down the slide he would come over to me and look me in the face and say "Again?"  I kept telling him yes and he would giggle and squeal the whole way up the stairs.

We walked around town during the day on Saturday and ate at a very yummy restaurant.  James fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to our car.  We got him into his car seat without waking him up and then all the way up to our hotel room.  He did wake up as we were walking into the room but we laid him down in the bed and he was asleep again pretty quickly.

Before leaving town on Sunday we went to the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry.  It was really neat.  James loved it and it had lots of unique exhibits different from the ones we have at our Children's Museum.

We forgot to bring our camera with us so I don't have a lot of pictures but I did take a few on my phone.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day my boys took me camping at the beach.  I was very excited to be able to go back to the beach camping but a little unsure of what that would look like with an almost 2 year old.  We borrowed a friends big tent.  We set it up in the living room before we went and talked about how we were going to the beach and we were going to sleep in the tent.  James was really excited...maybe a little too excited.  We knew we were going to get to the campsite late at night and the plan was for James to fall asleep in the car and for us to just transfer him into the tent when we got there.  I guess he was really excited about the whole idea because he did NOT fall asleep in the car, as we were pulling in he was kicking his legs saying beach over and over.  We didn't get everything set up and settled until 10pm and James was stil awake.  He was very upset that we wouldn't let him run in and out of the tent.  He was crying and screaming for a little bit (I am sure the people in the tents near us were thrilled!).  Finally we got him to settle down and lay still and he was out...at 10:30!  The next morning he woke up at 6 and there was more crying and screaming.  Lee threw him in the truck to drive around and hopefully settle him down a little.  A little while later they came back with no more tears.  Next we decided to go down to the beach where James would not stand in the sand and just kept saying "all done beach"!  At this point we were pretty sure we were in big trouble.  James was tired, cranky, and hated the beach!

Thankfully, Uncle Rich and Aunt Kristie had invited us to come out on their boat and go to Shackleford Island with them.  We had a great time and Sloan and Milly did a great job of distracting James from his crankiness.  He was still pretty unsure of walking around on this sand stuff but he would sit down and dig in it.  We also saw some wild horses while we were there.  I don't think James really realized how cool that was!

That night James fell asleep at 9 in the car on the way back to the tent and slept soundly until 7:15 the next morning.  We were all in a MUCH better mood after a good night's sleep.  It's amazing what a little sleep will do for you.  Before we left the beach we decided to go to the aquarium.  James fell asleep in the car on the way there (he still had a lot of catching up to do!).  We sat in the parking lot for a while to let him get some rest then decided to put him in the stroller and head in.  He did not wake up.    We paid and went in and he slept on.  Finally when we got to the exhibits we decided we had better wake him up or he might just miss the whole thing.

23 Months

I have been very bad about posting about each month's development this past year but unfortunately there is only one more month and James will be 2!  We had several days this past week where James was showing us his growing independence and that he is testing his boundaries.  I have decided that he must be advanced because he is acting out the terrible 2's a whole month early!

James is talking A LOT now.  He has always made a lot of noise but now he is saying real words....over and over again.  James now says OK and alright a lot (I catch myself saying that as I sigh when I have finally gotten everyone in the car and ready to go, etc.).  He also says "no, Daddy" when Daddy is singing.  If you ask him a question he will roll his eyes a little and say "ummmm".  He can count to 5 now (sometimes).  He can also repeat the whole alphabet after us.

James is also getting more independent with going potty.  He is getting very good at taking his pants off-sometimes at inopportune times.  He can get on the potty by himself and is now asking for the toilet paper so he can wipe himself.  He has started enjoying taking showers with us when there just isn't time for a separate bath.

Natural Science Center

A few weeks ago we were too bored at home with our normal activities so we decided to go to the Science Center.  The boys enjoyed the "Tot Spots" inside and loved the animals outside.  They walked a lot that morning and saw all the animals.  Some of the favorites were the meerkats and the lemurs.  We also got to see the sheep get sheared which was especially interesting since James had just gotten his hair cut by Daddy that morning!  After all that walking they took great naps that afternoon!

One-Year-Old School

April=Transportation

 For the month of April education went up a notch!  I found a resource book I had on transportation for preschool age.  We even pulled out the pocket chart!

We glued shapes to make a truck

We played with lots of different "things that go"

W is for wheel

pocket chart poem about trucks to practice colors and counting

P is for plane

We played with trucks and their loads.

We practiced cutting (with those plastic scissors that never really cut anything)