16 Months

I have so much to catch up on so I'll start with a 16 month update with Mr. Josh. Another month has passed among the whirl of the holiday season. In the last month, Josh has gotten faster and faster and at times is now running, which is a site to behold. He continues to be such a little clown and absolutely cracks himself and everybody else up. Josh also likes to mug for the camera as you can see above. He was saying "cheese" to Brad as he sat there for the approximate 2.3 seconds he allotted before moving on to something else. I am not sure that Josh has a care in the world. Like his big sister, Josh seems to have a desire to perform for whoever is watching. He likes to stand up on the fireplace like Emma and dance or "sing" into her microphone.

In the past month, the little man has become VERY attached to his bear and his monster. It seriously happened overnight but beware if you try to separate him from his beloved friends at the wrong moment. I don't think I ever posted about Josh's first haircut but we have now had number two and he did great. He was allowed to have a sucker this time around and you would think it was the greatest thing in the world. I am quite sure that the stylist could have done anything to his hair so long as he had a sucker. Josh's favorite phrases over the last month were "Where'd he go?" and "What's that?". Josh is learning so much and understands and follows so many commands. He is smart as a whip just like big sis.

Josh also got to celebrate his second Christmas last month and truthfully, I don't think he cared much more than he did last year. I think that Josh was primarily excited about the fact that he had long awaited access to the Christmas tree so he could forge his path of destruction, which translates into pulling down all the ornaments. Josh refers to him as our F5 tornado and I can't argue that one. He certainly is a cute tornado though and we can't wait to see what month 17 holds.

Merry Christmas!

One this is sure, you can't accuse Emma of not being passionate about her music! We hope that everybody has a very Merry Christmas!

Out of the Mouth of Emma

Emma had loaded up a little shopping cart with toys while at Brad's parents for Thanksgiving. Josh, of course, had to inspect everything which elicited the following comment:

"Josh, there's nothing you need in there".

Wonder where she has heard that one before? At least we knows she hears us even if she doesn't listen.

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During a typical meal, Emma will ignore the plate in front of her so she can focus on whether Josh is eating or not. On one such occasion, I told her that Josh has two parents she is not one of them to which she responded:

"But I change his diapers."

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As I have noted on here before, Emma loves music as does her little brother but I digress. Anyhow, this is not one particular statement but lately, she has been making up her own songs about everything.

"Mommy, I have a new song about _________. Do you want to hear it?"

The subjects of the songs range from dance class to baths to the day of the week. You name it and Emma will put it into verse. Josh loves every song she sings and will usually stop what he is doing so he can bop along.

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Unfortunately these examples cannot relay the true essence of Emma but at least they give a little glimpse!

3 Year and 15 Month Check-Ups

I have one word to sum up the check-ups at the doctor today and that is "Whew!". First off, after today, I am glad that they will no longer have coinciding appointments because trying to pay attention to Emma while constantly chasing down Josh was a task. While we were in the waiting room, Josh would point and say "fish" to the fish tank like he was really interested and then would look at me and make a break for it. Once we got back into our room, he kept trying to take off from there as well until the Nurse and I finally got smart and closed the door. One of the routine questions must have been something about whether is he is walking because she chuckled over that one. Since Emma is now three years old, she had to have her blood pressure taken and did really well with it. Neither of them had any problem hitting their "milestones". One question for Emma was, "If you draw a circle on a piece of paper, can she try to copy it?". The short answer is that I can just tell her to draw one and she will (shameful brag on my girl). At any rate, no problems with development in either kid and they both did great and were in good health overall except for the fact that Josh has an infected right ear and Emma may or may not have an infected right eye. They both had colds last week so I am guessing that is the culprit. Thankfully both of them don't have any other symptoms and hopefully it will stay that way.

As for the stats:

Emma @ 3 years old is 38 1/4 inches tall and 31 pounds
Josh @ 15 months old is 30 1/4 inches tall and 26 pounds 9 ounces

Just a note, I am not buying the height on Josh since that is exactly what he was at 12 months and let's just say that I am not impressed with the accuracy of the method they are using to get his height.