Daddy and Connor “tubing” at Water Country.  Connor loves this and after each time we finish he says, “Daddy, do it again.”


Busch Gardens with Brenna, Gavin, Uncle Chad, and Aunt Catherine:

The gifts started on Saturday as Connor (and Grandma) made Daddy some cookies for Father’s Day.  He helped me eat them today (all of them).

On Sunday…Connor and Mommy/Jacob gave me a Father’s Day card and made me breakfast.  It was a great card and Connor had me read it to him all day because he liked it so much!  He would bring it over to me, climb up on the couch and say, “Daddy, read the book.”  (He really meant card.)  I would read it, get to the end and then he would give me a kiss and then a high five and say “Happy Father’s Day”.  We must have done that 15 times today…

Now for the surprise gift…

It was bath time tonight and I undressed Connor.  While in his room, he tells me, “Daddy, I have to go potty.”  Now this is not unusual…as he gone through these spells where he asks to go but just sits there not knowing what/how to do it.  So I let him down and say, “Well, go use the potty.”  (Very positive tone from me, but a little “yeah right” thought in my head.)  See, to this point he has not used the potty.  At one point a few weeks ago he said he had to go, sat on the potty, said he was done, only to pee on the floor after he stood up and closed the potty (I was happy for that accident at the time too!)

Back to the story…  He rushes in to the bathroom, opens the potty, sits on it.  I sit on the toilet watching him.  No more than 15 seconds later I get my final gift of the day.  He used the potty.  I sat quietly (believe me I wanted to scream and clap, but I didn’t want to startle him) and waited for him to finish.  Then he stood up and I screamed, clapped, and gave him a big hug and a high five.  Mommy came running in to see what all the noise was about and she saw my “gift” in the potty.  She was so surprised and I had to explain to her that he did it all on his own!  We are so proud of you Connor!

See, we have not rushed into potty training.  With weddings on the weekends and him being at Grandma’s or Mimi/Papa’s house, we just didn’t think it was worth trying until we had more time to do it at our house.  So, we have tried a little bit and kept it VERY stress free.  He has watched Isaac (his buddy down the street) go over the past few months which has helped.  Now I realize this is only one time, but for him to do it on his own without us making him sit on the potty for hours on end, I thought was a BIG accomplishment.

Connor (my “perfect son” for another few months, then you will be my “1st perfect son” and Jacob will be my “2nd perfect son”), you continue to amaze your Daddy and Mommy.

Thanks for making me so proud of you today and thanks for a wonderful Father’s Day.

Love,
Daddy

I am no longer the #1 play partner of Connor…

I have prided myself in trying to be that father who can be the great play partner (but also the parent when I need to be).  It has worked great for just over 2 years now.  But, I am beginning to see that Grandma and Mimi/Papa are pulling ahead of me in the “race” to be that great play partner.  Don’t get me wrong, Connor loves playing with me but for some reason is starting to ask to go to “Grandma’s house” or “Mimi and Papa’s house”.  Why?  What’s wrong with me?!?!?!?

Picking up Connor at Grandma’s house…

When I went to pick up Connor at Grandma’s house this Saturday evening (around 8pm), he and Grandma were laying in her bed watching Toy Story 2 (he loves that movie).  As soon as I walked in the room, he knew why I was there (to take him home).  He starts to squirm up next to Grandma and says, “No Daddy.”  Then he gets closer to Grandma and starts to squeeze her.  I haven’t even touched the kid yet or even told him we were going home.  He squeezes her and says, “I want to sleep at Grandma’s.”  Now his is practically crawling over the other side of Grandma so she would be between him and I.  “No Daddy.  No Daddy.  I want to sleep at Grandma’s.”  Of course Grandma is absolutely loving it!  Laughing and smiling!  Finally we were able to lure him downstairs and home we went.

Dropping Connor of at Mimi/Papa’s used to be a problem…

We all remember those days when we couldn’t drop Connor off when anyone else.  He would cry for a hour or so (Papa has a story about this).  Well, he has gotten much better over the past 12-18 months.  So much, that when I have dropped him off at Mimi/Papa’s the last couple of times and I go to give him a kiss, he turns to me and says, “Bye.”  He might as well say don’t let the door hit you in the rear-end on the way out… Again, I see where I rank in his “favorites list”.

We went to Water Country for Father’s Day today!  We met Abby, Isaac, Ms. Laura, and Mr. Wes there as well.  Connor rode the Hubba Hubba Highway with Mommy and Daddy and then Abby/Isaac’s family too.  He had a blast on the Hubba Hubba Highway.  Basically, everyone puts on a life vest, you float, and the current takes you around.  You get splashed with water at times.  Connor was glued to me but loved it!  He would scream (and fun scream) and tell me when the overhead water sprinklers were coming so we could go under them.  He LOVED IT!

We were there for 4 hours and then we all came home a took a nap.  He slept for nearly 3 hours after Water Country (and Mommy/Jacob and Daddy got about 1.5 hrs).

We had a blast.

Each night we read Connor a book and usually it is The Very Hungry Caterpillar (electronic version here).

He has helped me on the pages where it is “Saturday” and the caterpillar eats chocolate cake, an ice cream cone, etc… (Connor actually says those words when I point them out).  A couple of months ago he began rubbing his tummy and saying “sto..mach AAAACCCHHHEEEE” (stomach ache) when we finished the “Saturday” pages.

As I started to read it to him this evening, he started to recite the first couple of pages as I was saying it.  Victoria and I looked at each other in amazement.  We figured that wouldn’t continue…so I kept on reading.  Well, he kept reading with me.  At one point, I would stop in mid sentence and he would finish the sentence.  He did this for most of the book tonight.  Victoria and I were so surprised and PROUD.  After we were done reading, we gave our little boy a big hug and kiss and told him how smart he was.  He walked around so proud and began hopping up and down smiling!

It is truly amazing (and a miracle) watching our son grow and learn.  It is the most amazing feeling in the world and something I could never have understood prior to having him!

We love you Connor!

Daddy and Mommy

Connor got his first award ribbon this evening.  He’s taken gymnastics 3 times since he was 18 months old and loves it.  This evening was the first program he was able to be in and they did it in the evening so all the parents could watch.  Here is a video and some pictures of Connor during his program.

He was so proud when he was done.  Mommy and Daddy told him what a great job he did and then Daddy gave him a high five (and a hug and a kiss).  I am so proud of you, Connor!

Great job!!!!

Check out the polls to the right of the blog!

Victoria didn’t even want me to put any dates past Sept 25th and no weights beyond 8lbs.  (I don’t understand why?!?!?!)

The last couple of nights, Connor and I have been busy doing the following:

1. cleaning up the room that is going to be Connor’s new room.
2. moving the baby items out of the attic, cleaning them, and putting them back together.
3. throwing away “junk” that has collected in “Connor’s room” and the attic.

Connor has been very helpful.  I go in the attic crawl space and have him hand me things.  He slides the packed boxes over to me or pulls one out from the entry way.  When I got home from work tonight he met me at the door and said, “Clean room upstairs?”  (Because we did it the night before.)  My little helper loves doing things.

The plan is to finish cleaning up “Connor’s new room”, paint it, and get some furniture in there.

Jacob will go in what is currently Connor’s room.

Jacob Ross Woodruff

How did we choose the first name?

1. I liked how it sounded and once I told Victoria, she loved it.
2. The English translation of Jacob is James, which is Connor and Uncle Danny’s middle name.  I was considering James as a first name, but liked how Jacob “sounded”.
3. I am not big into nicknames, but I like “Jake” — for now he will be Jacob.
4. Jacob was a twin, my father was a twin, and to this date I still think there are two inside of Mommy.

How about Ross, the middle name?

1. Simple enough…it is Papa’s (Victoria’s father) middle name.
2. Papa is such a big part of Connor’s life and will be a big part of Jacob’s life as well!  So, I felt the best way to honor an exceptional grandfather was to give Jacob part of his name.
3. Where does Ross come from?
   1. Jacob’s grandfather (Papa):  Gene Ross Shelton
   2. Papa’s great grandfather:  Wheeler Ross Wilkerson
   3. That is where Papa got his middle name from.  (That would be Jacob’s great-great-great grandfather.)
   4. Wheeler Ross Wilkerson was Papa’s father’s mother’s father.  (I know that is a mouthful.)
   5. So basically here is how it was passed down:
      1. Wheeler Ross Wilkerson (Papa’s great grandfather)
         1. Marjorie Elizabeth (Wilkerson) Shelton  (Papa’s grandmother)
            1. Jean Marcel Shelton (Papa’s father)
               1. Gene Ross Shelton (Papa)
                  1. Victoria Louise (Shelton) Woodruff (Mommy)
                     1. Jacob Ross Woodruff

Here is more about Jacob from the web:

From Wikipedia

http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Jacob.html