NO!

Here in the Bednarczyk house we have ventured into uncharted territory (and I'm not referring to my father-in-law getting us lost in the wilderness over the weekend).  We have entered the Land of No.  Yes, the dreaded "NO!" phase has begun and less than a week or so into it, I'm feeling a bit spent.  James' response to everything is either no or some derivative of the word.  You can ask him if he wants something that you know he really wants and he will still tell you no.  He'll tell you no and then put his hand out for that very item.  I know that he doesn't really know what he's saying, but dear lord can it been frustrating.  Stop saying no, child, your mother is going to wring your neck.
Sometimes the no response is funny though.  We try to ask questions that have a positive outcome when the answer is no.  Or we just pretend that he's just said yes instead of no.  Or we ignore his response and continue on our way.
I've read lots of "solutions" on how to handle the whole no phase, but some of the advise didn't really apply to our current situation.  We don't say no to James a lot, we try to distract him still or use another word to let him know he shouldn't do something (like telling him to be nice and gentle with the dog or saying something doesn't belong in his mouth).  I keep reading about how to give either/or questions rather than yes/no, but when James says no its not because he doesn't want to do something (take a bath, go to bed, etc.).  Its more that he just likes to say the word no.  Although I'm sure he'll actually not want to do things soon enough.
Either way, we are working on discipline as a team, like everything else.  We take it one day at a time and enjoy the moments when James is agreeable.