Josh vs. the Volcano

Let's start with the recap of how Josh hurt his leg according to Emma:

"We were out playing in my volcano. Josh sat on his bottom, then he stood up and stepped down and got a boo boo on his leg so he had to get a band aid."

Obviously in Emma's scenario, the volcano one and to clarify, the volcano is actually the playhouse but Emma's infatuation with Dora the Explorer transforms every day things into Dora-related adventures.

Now, here is the recap of how Josh hurt his leg without the tie in to Dora. Brad, Emma and Josh were outside enjoying the nice weather and playing in Emma's playhouse. Emma and Josh were up in the playhouse and Brad was getting ready to bring them inside. Where Josh was, there is about a 10-12 inch step down. Brad was holding his hand to help him down and Josh made it look like he was going to sit down and then scoot off. Apparently he changed his mind because he thinks he is a lot bigger boy then he is and just stepped down. When he stepped down, Brad said he came down kind of flat-footed on that left leg. Being a new walker, my guess is he probably came down with his knee locked and didn't cushion the leg by flexing the knee and the shock is what caused the fractures.

Fortunately the little guy is coping as well as possible although he is extremely frustrated by the fact that he is not allowed to stand up. Poor guy just really started walking and now he is not allowed. I just hope this won't set him back too far. We see the orthopedist next Thursday. Hopefully at that point, they will put a cast on his leg and then he can start bearing some weight on that leg. The bad news is that until he can bear some weight, he is not really welcome at daycare so fingers crossed that he will get the green light next week in part for the daycare issue but really for his sake as well. I want to see more of this real soon.

13 Months

Joshua Ryan, you are 13 months old today and while you were just starting to take some steps before your first birthday, I would say within the last week, walking has become your primary mode of transportation. Granted, you still fall down quite a bit and depending on how tired you are, it sometimes seems like the end of the world. Most the time though, you just hop right back up and move on to the next thing.

You love exploring all the different sounds you can make and I have to say that you can be quite loud. We still don't really hear any words beyond "mama" and "dada" with the occasional "Emma" but a couple of weeks ago, you walked from Daddy to me and when I said "You did it!", you responded with "I did it!". Daddy heard it clearly too. You also repeated after me this weekend "All done" after dinner. We know you have lots of words floating around in that head and one of these days you will get them all worked out.

I would say that your favorite toys right now are any kind of cars and you even have the "vroom, vroom" noise down when you push them along. You have the sweetest smile and make the funniest faces; I can't even begin to catalog all the expressions you have but needless to say, you crack us up. This past month you got your first official pair of shoes since there really wasn't any need before you were walking. At first you didn't quite know what to make of them but are a total pro now. Thanks to your new ability to walk, you will probably get to move up to the older class at daycare at some point in October. We can't wait to see all the new things you pick up hanging out with the older kids. Happy 13 months big man!

I wrote this post earlier today and unfortunately now have to add that you have your first broken bone at 13 months; more to come on that one but definitely not the best way to round out a great month.

Wordless Wednesday - Applesauce...Good to the Last Drop

Introducing Mr. Nathan!

Let me introduce you to Mr. Nathan.

Now, if you are confused, I know that Mr. Nathan looks a lot like Emma but at this moment, she had assumed the persona of Mr. Nathan. Mr. Nathan is a gentleman that comes to her school on an almost weekly basis; he plays the guitar and sings. In fact, it is Mr. Nathan who introduced Emma to the song "Yellow Submarine". Emma loves to pretend to be Mr. Nathan and has a particular voice that she uses when she is acting as Mr. Nathan. She also says to us "Good Morning Everybody" and then proceeds to tell us what we are going to sing. I don't know much about Mr. Nathan other than what I have already stated. I asked Emma if he was old like Bo (sorry Bo) or young like Daddy. She responded that he was young like Daddy and Daddy said that I was sucking up so then I asked if he was old like Daddy or young like Mommy and was told that he is old like Daddy. I would say that Mr. Nathan's real age lies somewhere in the range of 20-80. Emma has definitely been getting a kick out of Mr. Nathan's visits and picking up on a lot. You can't tell from the picture but she had to have a pick for her guitar, which she stored behind the guitar strings when not playing. At her feet is her "sheet music". I think Josh loves all that Emma is picking up from Mr. Nathan as well.

Brown Sugar

For all you parents, you know that preparing meals is complicated by the constantly-under-foot-need-to-be-right-with-you-children. So last week, I headed over to the pantry to retrieve a key component for dinner and of course, I had Josh hot on my heels. He is obsessed with the pantry and the refrigerator and the dishwasher but at this moment, it was the pantry. Anyhow, so Josh is right there at my feet trying to get anything within reach and manages to knock over the Tupperware full of brown sugar. Lucky for Josh, the fall to the floor pops the lid off and brown sugar spills everywhere. In fantasy world, being the responsible mother that I am, I immediately scooped up the little one and cleaned up the spill before any trouble ensued. In the real world, once I realized that the brown sugar had spilled, Josh had already had his first taste and was enamored. I then either A) scooped him up and cleaned up the sugar or B) ran downstairs, grabbed the camera, took some photos, and then let Emma in on the fun.

Obviously I went with option B!

5 Random Things about Emma

1. When Emma squints her eyes, there is a real hint of mischief in there (See above).

2. Emma is fascinated with rocks; she collects them, stores small ones in her pockets, tosses large ones off the bridge into the creek, you get the picture!

3. Emma thinks she is every big at big as her Daddy and I have to say that she may not be there in stature but in terms of personality, she is every bit of Brad's 6'2'' if not taller.

4. When Emma "reads" the story "The Grouchy Ladybug", instead of saying "Hey you, you want to fight?" it is "Hey you, you want to bite?".

5. She has a love/hate relationship with fire trucks.

5 Random Things about Joshua

1. He doesn't give just one kiss; it has to be 2 or 3 at a minimum.

2. As soon as we are all seated for a meal, Josh folds his hands for the prayer.

3. Through a combination of cruising and walking, Josh can successfully get any place he wants to go and when all else fails, Emma makes a great push toy.

4. Joshua is 99% laid back and 1% fiery temper to match that red hair of his.

5. You can always tell when Josh is finished eating because the plate gets upended spilling any remaining food onto the high chair tray and then one by one, the remaining food is thrown to the floor.

Morning Conversations

Background 1: Emma and I sitting at the table having breakfast. I am eating my cereal while Emma is eating her turkey and cheese sandwich. I know, not the typical breakfast fare but that is what she wanted and it did provide some protein, calcium, and carbs to get her through the morning.

Emma: Can I have a bite of your cereal, please?

I gave Emma the bite and then asked if she would like another one, which elicited the following response:

Emma: I just wanted one bite and I got my one bite so I am good.

What I can't capture in words is the way that her little hands were moving and waving all around as she was telling me that she was good. I wonder where she picked that one up?

Background 2: Emma sitting around in her sunglasses.

Emma: Mommy, these are my running sunglasses. You have running sunglasses too.
Me: Yes I do and I am going to wear them when I go for a run at work today.
Emma: Are you going to run at work today?
Me: I'm going to try unless something comes up.
Emma: What might come up at work?
Me: Well, sometimes there are things that my boss needs me to get done right away.
Emma: (With total sympathy for the working person as if she has had a job all her life) Yes, sometimes things do come up when we are at work.

I'm sure that I haven't done either of these conversations true justice but she really makes me laugh! Coming soon 5 random things about Joshua and 5 random things about Emma.

See You Next Summer!

Labor Day marked the official closing of our pool and as I can attest, it was time because that water was cold on Monday but I took one for the team or Emma in this case. I also realized with the "end" of summer and the closing of the pool that I hadn't posted any pictures of Emma "swimming". This was primarily due to the fact that I didn't realize we had any until I mentioned it to Brad last night and lo and behold, we did have a few that were captured on Lesa's camera when the Davis Family came to visit in July so until next summer, here are a few pictures of our swimming girl and a couple of Josh and Madison just to make this post even cuter!

Wordless Wednesday - There are no Words!

Josh's Birthday Weekend!

We kicked off last weekend by taking Emma and Josh to their first baseball game for a work event. It was perfect because we were in a picnic area so there was room for Emma to run around without trying to get her to sit still for the game. Emma had a big time running around and actually watching parts of the game. Josh enjoyed all the attention he got from our coworkers. By about the 6th inning or so, the little boy had had enough so I put him in the carrier and he was out quickly. It was funny though because he was out like a light but then they did this thing where they played clips from three songs and depending on the fan vote (by cheering), they would play one of the songs. So mind you, Josh was out until they played a clip from Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and I kid you not, his little head popped up and his arm went up in the air and started waving. All that was missing was the lighter. As soon as the clip was over, he was out again. Not sure where this love of Journey developed but it was hilarious. We stayed through the 7th inning stretch so Emma could sing one of her favorite tunes, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". On the drive home, Emma told me that she was going to play on a field like that when she gets bigger.

Saturday night we had some good friends over for some burgers, dogs and most importantly birthday cake. By the time dinner was over, Josh was getting very tired due in part to him failing to take a good afternoon nap so we decided we better get on with the cake. After Josh "blew" out his candle, we let him dive into a cupcake. At first he wasn't too sure what to make of it and basically just started spreading the icing all over the place. I was starting to think that we were going to have to feed him the first fight but then he brought some to his mouth on his own and couldn't get enough. After cake, he got his first taste of ice cream and I think that the ice cream was an even bigger hit. He was like a little baby bird and I couldn't shovel the ice cream in quickly enough. After the sugar infusion, the boy was good to go for presents, which boiled down to Emma opening everything for him and then testing it out. Josh didn't mind at all! It was a great first birthday party and we're glad that Grandma, RiRi, Win, Anne, Sean, Charlie and Michael could be there to celebrate with us.