Christmas 2010 part two

Playing with "Turt" and "Ash"

 Uncle Alan

 What would be a cute family pic if Jay wasn't being stubborn.

 Walking Jake

 Playing with Mimi in the yard

 Riding on his new fourwheeler...but he swears it's a "tractor". Mom said he must have watched Wes backing up a lot because he knew to turn around and watch where he was going.

 This oversized coat will have to be a blanket for a few years....but jay loves it!

 Sweet...

 Helping Kurt open presents Christmas morning

 Trying out his rocker from Kurt and Ashley

 And his new boots from Mimi!

 Driving the "tractor" again.

 More presents...

 Goofball...



Christmas 2010 Part One

Christmas was different this year for obvious reasons but we still enjoyed being with family and Jay was so much fun to watch. He was thrilled to open presents, no matter who they actually belonged to, and would bring presents to us over and over until we agreed that he could open one. Seriously, he was a perfect distraction every time we would get down....thank God for him.

Wes and I went on a cruise with 4 other couples from residency and that was a lot of fun. Jay had a blast sharing his time with his grandparents. He loves Kurt "Turt", Oren "Onen", and Carrie (too hard to say, apparently) as well. He definitely knows them now and gets so excited every time I mention them. He dramatically points them out in all of our pictures.  If I don't acknowledge them too he gets very offended. Once I have confirmed that it is, in fact, Kurt/Oren/Carrie, he is satisfied, throws the picture down and says, "bye bye Turt, bye bye Onen, or bye bye ___ (for Carrie he says whatever babble in in his head"

Here are the pictures I have. My camera died during the fun but I will post the ones Mimi and Mama Ross took when I get them.

Picture with Papa and Mama Ross.....

 Riding with Kurt...Jay loved it!

I guess Jay had enough of the boring photo shoot and jumped to Papa to rescue him. :)

 Watching Leaves Fall

 I love this one!

 Laughing at the leaves.

 Our yard was covered in snow when we got back. Jay was not impressed.

This was last week when we opened presents with Jay at our house. He got a tool bench and a pile of tools....

 The guitar was a hit too!

And a pet that he can't hurt. He immediately gave "doggie" kisses.

Playing a song for me.

Trying out his new car from the Ross'. He rides it around all day long now!  He yells "hey!" and bye" every time he gets in and out.

It took 2 days for him to agree to walk in the snow. I think he was trying to mow it up.

"nite nite" he said and laid down beside Jake last night.

New Toys Please!

This was during his punishment....time out....which he totally didn't get was a bad thing. Desperate for toys..... raiding my pans.

Trimming the bushes...

Riding in the neighbors broken barbie jeep...anytime I loose sight of him in the yard I know exactly where to find him...he loves this thing!

Jumping.....yep, we really need some new toys.

Standing on the dog...

Here is a sweet one...giving me a hug :)

He wore this to the Christmas program at church....I love it Mama Ross!

Walking with Mimi at the zoo. We went to see the lights and Santa.

It was cold!!!!

Jay did not appreciate me plopping him down in Santa's lap. He just whined and reached for me the whole time. Maybe next year we will get a good smile.

Well I'm glad Christmas is soon because Jay is BORED with all of his toys! Even his beloved choo-choo riding train and possum. I have been desperate for things to entertain him....my patience is running thin as his demands are getting higher! I have included evidence above. :)

A few cute stories to recap the week:

--I took him to school Thursday and got there a little early so breakfast was not on the tables yet. He told me "No! No!" every time I said "bye bye" and clinched my neck. I tried all of his favorite toys...trucks, balls, books.....nothing worked. He was adamant that I not put him down. I was completely confused because he hasn't done that in forever. Then, he spotted Mrs. Mamie bringing over a bowl of muffins with his milk. Without wasting another minute, he pushed me off of him and yelled, "bye bye!!" without looking back. Wow! He is definitely a Ross male!

--We are trying a new discipline tactic this week (the many scolding, hand pops, and full-blown spanks have proved only to motivate further bad behavior) after a friend of mine said it worked for her little girl. I talked to Jay about "time out" and that he would have to go to time out if he didn't obey me. We even put some of his toys in time out when he was getting too rough with them. He thinks it is so funny when that happens and starts yelling, "time out! time out!" So this afternoon, as he was spitting milk out of his mouth into the cat bowl (which he KNOWS is not allowed) I told him if he did it one more time he would have to go sit in time out. So, of course, 2 seconds later I sat him down in the corner. I was ready to fight and had already prepared myself to ignore the dramatic protest he is so good at....except he thought it was great! He sat in the corner, talking and laughing to the wall. Then I made him look me in the eye while I (as serious as I could) explained that he was in time out because he was bad, that time out is not good. Then he pointed to the cat bowl and when on and on (in baby talk) about what he did.....but not with an ounce of remorse...in fact, he was bragging about it! I am pretty sure he thought I rewarded him by sitting him in the corner!!! I am at a loss!

--When mom was here last weekend, I guess Jay heard us calling for Wes a lot and the last night she was here Wes was upstairs working. Jay knew he was up there and we kept asking him "where's daddy?" Then we would say, "is daddy working?" and Jay confidently replied, "no!" every time because to him that meant daddy was AT work. After he got tired of us going around in circles about whether daddy was actually working, he finally looked up the stairs and called out, "Wes! Wes!" We cracked up laughing, which just egged him on, and he kept yelling, "Wes!" until Wes came down the stairs...then when he saw Wes didn't think it was very funny he got embarrassed and sheepishly said, "hey daddy." It is amazing what he picks up on...it was so cute, I don't care how many times he calls Daddy, Wes but he better not start calling me Shannon.....I'd have to put a quick end to that one. :)

Lastly,

--A few months ago Hannah and I were comparing words that they boys say and she said Truman loves to say, "Jesus" and "Bible." I was shocked and said that I don't think Jay even knows who Jesus is and he is pretty sure you go to church to play in the big pool of balls. I set out a new goal...that Jay needed to be at least as spiritual as Truman. So I went to books-a-million and bought the cutest little picture Bible I could find. We have been reading it every night and he LOVES it. When I ask where his Bible is he points upstairs and yells for it. And for the past several weeks on our way to church, I talk to him about going to church and that we go to see Jesus because that is where he lives. So I really thought I was making great progress. Sunday we went to pick Jay up from the nursery, Josh and Jane were with us as they always are, and Jay, as usual, was super pumped about seeing Josh. He never even blinks at us on Sunday's....his eyes go straight to see if Josh is there. So we get in the car and I start talking to Jay about Jesus and if he learned about Jesus at church. He just stared blankly. So I restated the question, "Jay, who do we go to church to see?" And this time he knew exactly what I meant. So he quickly and enthusiastically replied, "Josh!"......I think I need some help.

Jay's First Fishing Trip!

Kissing monkey goodnight after his bath tonight. He loves his new hat....so funny.

Random pics from last week:

Pushing the cart for Daddy around Fresh Market.

I'm not sure what this is about...

His artwork from school....he saw me hammering the nails in and had to do the same with his own hammer....

He and Truman grocery shopping at Edventure.

Pics from the fishing trip!

We spent Thanksgiving with the Ross' in Tifton and then the boys, Carrie, and Mama Ross went to Florida fishing while I spend a few days with Mom. Jay had so much fun (so I'm told) and loved riding on the boat. He just learned to say "boat" last week, just in time for the trip! They said he liked watching the fish but wouldn't get close enough to touch them....at least for now. :) He also likes playing with the fishing lures but doesn't understand why he can't play with the ones with the shiny hooks. As you can see in the pictures, he loved it...especially driving the boat!

Mom and I had a good time visiting and shopping....I was so excited to shop all afternoon without a demanding toddler on my hip! Even though she knew I wasn't bringing Jay with me she kept saying, "I can't believe you didn't bring my baby!" all day. I think it was the first time since I've had him that I went to Valdosta alone so it felt like old times...we even went out to dinner and ate an entire meal uninterrupted!

Jay is going to see Santa this week and I'm a little worried that he will freak out. He sat with Santa at Bass Pro last week but wasn't happy about it. I'm hoping that after he sees the other kids at the zoo sitting on Santa's lap and smiling, he will realize it is ok. We have been talking about Santa all week trying to get him ready. He loves saying, "Ho Ho Ho!" and yells it every time he sees a picture or statue of Santa. Maybe I'll get at least one cute picture out of it!

Here are the rest of the fishing pictures.

Cousins....trying to come inside for more cherrios. I promise we didn't starve them!