Jonesie Bug & Freddie Bear

Today, my sweet little Jonesie Bug turned three.

The day started off great. He opened presents in his bed as soon as he woke up, and then we hustled off to Nan and Pop's house, so that I could make it to Furman in time to teach at 9:30. He was, according to Nan, as good as gold (as he usually is - or at least as she usually tells me he is). The boys rode bikes until the temperature dipped, and they ducked into "Poppy's beeg truck" to drive it - to "McDonald's" where Jones would "order": "Two chicken. Two fries. Two chockt milk, and don't.forget.the.toy," Mrs. Pressley told me Jones would say.

The toy comment is funny to me, because I almost never give them the Happy Meal toys, because the LAST thing we need is more toys (unless they're the monster trucks Mickey D's had last month; those things were awesome) ...

... which makes today's complete birthday gift bonanza all the more ironic.

The first gift I gave Jones was the "personalized" Mickey Mouse Clubhouse storybook. As soon as I saw his excited reaction, I thought to myself, "I've made a huge mistake buying so many gifts." He was SO content with that one - not knowing that there were a whole bunch more coming behind it. It felt tacky and gauche to keep giving him all that we'd bought, and I realized that, the kids with the most grateful hearts, probably AREN'T the ones who get gift after gift on their birthdays. Lesson learned. My apologies to Freddie, who's birthday comes AFTER this epiphany. Also, Christmas is likely to be more low-key, too, Boys. You'll thank me when you're older.

Without a doubt, Jones's favorite gift was his Buzz Lightyear. I totally anticipated this, but boy, did I feel sorry for Woody, laying there, alone, on Jones's bed. Thankfully, Freddie came by to pick up my favorite cowboy and give him the attention he deserves.

After their morning at the Pressleys', I took the boys to McDonald's for lunch. Jones wanted "a Bih-ket" and some tea for his lunch, so that's what he got. And that's what Brudder got, too.

When we got home, the trouble started. Jones never went to sleep. In fact, two hours later, when I went to get him up from his rest, he was on the floor ... as were all of his sheets, covers, and pillows. This is the first time he's gotten out of bed SINCE THE FIRST WEEK WE PUT HIM IN IT.

This transgression may seem small and silly, but it was indicative of an attitude of defiant disobedience that Jones has showed the past two days (if I heard, "Mama, go far away!" once today, I heard it a thousand times). And it peppered every action he took for the rest of the afternoon. It felt like ANARCHY 'round here today, as I battled to get my typically sweet toddler back under control. It was one of the first times I really didn't know what to do - after all, if he's refusing to obey (staying in his bed, staying in his room, not climbing on this or sitting on that, etc.) even when punished repeatedly, then I am, kind of, at his mercy.

So we locked horns for the better part of the afternoon, until I finally prevailed (Jones's strong will is no match for mine. Ha HA!). Though I threatened, out of frustration and exhaustion, to send Jeremy and the boys without me to dinner tonite, I didn't go through with my plans to cancel ... because my very sweet mother-in-law had worked so hard to put together his family party. Also, who'd take pictures if I weren't there?

Jones did great - of course. He played with Ellery and Evan and ate as much strawberry cake as I'd expected he would. When we got home, however, all hell broke loose again, as I was trying to get Jones into his jammies. I instantly traded boys with Jeremy, saying, "You're gonna have to handle this, because I can't do it anymore today," but I was actually glad it happened, because Jeremy got to see that I wasn't just being crazy, that Jones was in the sort of shape he'd never been in before.

It ended up taking both of us to get him in his pajamas, but as soon as I laid him down, he was out. I'm hoping exhaustion - plus the excitement of birthday celebrations, plus the upheaval of having his mama on the road three days a week for the past month - are to blame for tonight's craziness and that my sweet son will show up at daybreak tomorrow.

I guess you could say that today's birthday was a little short on happy.

But tomorrow IS another day.

I love these glasses.
They totally make me think of
Elliott Gould's character in
"Ocean's 11."

Freddie loved Jones's new fireman hat.
He kept wearing his backwards, though,
like a ball cap. He called it, of course,
a "pi-yut hat." Also, though I didn't get a
picture of it, he walked around for part of the nite
with a pair of Jones's new underwear on
his head. Oh, Freddie.

This megaphone came with the
fireman suite Nan and Pop got Jones.
Though he refused to put on the jacket
(weirdo), he loved playing with the
megaphone. He'd say, "Attention, please!"
over and over.

If you know me, you know that I believe in celebrating birthdays - often and long. Now that Jones is getting excited about things - at the moment, the "spooky" episode of "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" - I am even more excited about HIS next birthday than I am my own.

Celebrations started yesterday ahead of his actual birthday, which is next Friday. We took him to breakfast at Joey's Pancake House before heading to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to ride the Secret City Railway. To be honest, he may have been just as excited about getting to make the trip in "Dada new beeg car" as he was about riding the train.

Even before we got there, Jones was VERY quick to point out that we were riding in the coaches and also that we were being pulled by a diesel engine. There's really not much about trains that he doesn't know, thanks to his binge-watching "Thomas" for a good bit of the last year.

My friend Stacey - the one who's given Jones and Freddie about 97% of their wardrobes by way of her boys' many wonderful hand-me-downs - joined us with her son Jake, who is a HOOT. Stacey, Jake, Jones, and I sat facing each other on one side of the train, while Jeremy and Freddie sat, side by side, across the aisle.

My favorite part of the entire trip was when Jones and Jake discovered I had bubble gum in my mouth. I then spent the next ten minutes blowing bubbles that Jones would immediately attempt to smash with his hand. The belly laughs of both boys had me howling, happy - which is just the way birthdays are supposed to be.

Jones has REALLY gotten good at giving
what he calls "big giant zerberts."

One of the best things about Dada new beeg car
is the fact that they boys' seats are close enough
for them to hold each others' hands,
so I don't have to contort myself to let them hold
mine, stretched back like Elastigirl's from the front seat.