Josh at 2 Years!

Once again, Josh has grown by leaps and bounds over the last month. His vocabulary is increasing at a rapid pace. There are times that I cannot tell whether Emma or Josh are trying to say something to me if I have my back turned. Josh can also easily fool people on the phone into thinking that he is Emma at the start of the conversation. Josh had a major breakthrough last Friday, two days shy of his birthday. We have been asking Josh often to tell us his name or to identify himself in photos for quite a while now. Usually the answer would be "it's my" or "me." However, last Friday morning on the way to school, I asked Josh his name and his response was "Josh." One of his favorite phrases is definitely "watch me" and let's just say that "no" has found itself back near the top. The funny thing though is that a lot of times he'll tell you no and then do whatever it was you asked. Also, when he sits down to play the guitar sometimes or when he sits at the table, he'll say "okay guys."

Not only does Josh continue to love his sports and have a darn good arm but he has learned to catch really well. In fact, I think Brad and I would both agree that he actually catches a ball better than his big sister. Josh has learned how to jump and can even get his feet off the ground at times. He is hilarious when he runs because right as he gets to where he is going to stop, he does a little skip and kind of throws his arm in the air. This is definitely something that needs to be caught on video before it totally disappears.

In the past month, Josh gained two more teeth so he's down to missing only the top two molars and then hopefully a nice, long break from teething. He generally continues to be our early bird although recently he has been sleeping until 6 to 6:30except on Saturday mornings when we have to be up by 5:30. Really? Brad and I generally alternate who gets up first each morning and there were a couple of weeks where you could count on the fact that Josh would be up with the alarm when it was my turn to lay in bed for a few extra minutes but would have to be woken up on Brad's days to sleep a few more minutes.

Josh continues to love his music and playing the guitar. He is learning so many new songs at daycare and thanks to the fact that Emma has been singing the same songs for the last two years, we can easily pick up on them based on the melody. One of the biggest changes for Josh last month was the move to the sophomore class at daycare. They generally follow the age cut offs for the schools to determine what class a child is in so technically Josh should still be a freshman. However, since he is getting so verbal and follows directions, he got to stay with his friends and move up. We were really glad about this since being with the older group should definitely help him learn. I am also hoping that it helps with his interest in potty training since they really focus on it in the sophomore class. Speaking of which, we are introducing the concept at home primarily by having him sit on the potty before bath time. He will at least sit, which is a great start. Last night after his bath, he was out with Brad about to get dressed when he told him "pee pee" so Brad brought him back and lo and behold, he really did use the potty. It is definitely a start.

We learned an interesting fact this weekend. Apparently in the freshman class, Josh had to be served lunch last because he would always finish first. He must have an alter ego at daycare because he certainly doesn't eat like that at home. I'm sure there are tons of other things I am leaving off but I'll just have to add them in another post down the road. To close things out, Josh weighed in at 32 lbs at his 2 year check-up and was 34 1/4 inches tall. He is definitely a little freight train and watch out because he does tackle and head butt! Thanks for being such a joy over your first two years Josh! We can't wait to see what else is in store for you!

Josh's Birthday Weekend!

It has been a three day long celebration for Josh's 2nd birthday! The party got a kick start on Friday with ice cream at school with his friends. Emma was able to come over and join in on the fun. Since Brad and I couldn't make it, we had to count on Emma for the recap. I asked what Josh did when all of his friends sang to him and from the sounds of things, he didn't know quite what to make of the attention. However, they all enjoyed the ice cream!

Last night we had beer (juice boxes for the kids), barbecue from Whole Hog, and cake with friends. The kids all had lots of fun playing together although I guess I dropped the ball because Libby was hoping to go on an adventure like we had for Emma's Dora party last year. Guess I better start planning for her 4th so I don't disappoint. Thankfully Libby didn't dwell on the lack of adventure and still had fun. Josh had a school bus birthday cake this year, which I somehow did not manage to get a photo of while it was intact. He may not fully grasp this whole birthday thing but he did love blowing out the candle. He also got into unwrapping gifts after the first couple and received some really great new toys from his friends. Emma also had a great time and had to do a bit of entertaining for anyone who would listen or was just within earshot.

For his actual birthday today, Josh got to open more presents, blow out candles again and wrap up the day with a little swimming! All in all, I think he had a great weekend. A complete post recapping the last month to come after his 2 year check-up on Tuesday!

It had been 2 months since Josh saw Heather and we weren't sure he was ever going to let her put him down again!
The wheel on the bus tastes oh so good!

Do you think he liked his new tricycle?
We can't let it just be all fun and games around here!

The birthday boy and "sissy!"
Emma giving her brother a hand.

Loves his new Mick Mouse!

End of the Year Party!

Last Friday we celebrated the end of another school year at Grace with a little program where the kids got to sing some of their favorite songs. Emma sang her little heart out, which is no surprise as she loves an audience. Josh, on the other hand, had a bit of stage fright so he just sat in Ms. LeeAnn's lap and took it all in. After the program, we got to enjoy some treats with their friends and teachers. It was sad saying goodbye to our wonderful freshman teachers and we'll miss Mrs. Hillary and Collin but we are looking forward to the new year and new opportunities for our sophomore and junior. Unfortunately not all of the teachers were there but here are a photos of the kids and a few of their teachers from the last year.

Josh and Mrs. Jennifer! We actually got a smile here since he was distracted with the tennis ball. Josh was not so into pictures as you'll see below since Mommy was present. If Mommy is nearby, he usually does not want to be handed off to anybody else except maybe Daddy.
Shake 'N Bake and Mrs. Brandy
Josh and Mrs. Dawn
Josh, Emma and Mrs. Hillary
Emma and Mrs. Sarah

You Can't Catch Me!

Emma got the chance yesterday to hit the open trail rather than making continuous circles in our driveway. She already told Brad on Monday afternoon that it was about time to take off the training wheels and she reiterated that point with me yesterday. I'm not so sure she really understands how the training wheels help but I guess she is sure they are holding her back.

A Couple of Notes about Josh

First, a few words about the big boy bed. My intention has always been to keep Josh in the crib until at least age 10 or so but he had different ideas. It had gotten to the point where he would start crying inconsolably at bedtime and nap time. I mentioned to Brad that Emma had done the same thing right before we moved her out of the crib. A couple of weekends ago, Emma and I were out to lunch with some friends and Josh started crying again at nap time so Brad decided to see what would happen if he put him on Emma's bed. He settled down immediately and after a couple of minutes was out so the decision was made and that night, he slept in his big boy bed for the first time. Thankfully the novelty of piling all of his stuffed toys and blankets into the bed has worn off. However, that has been replaced by his desire to only sleep on the pillow on the floor in front of his bed. I usually end up moving him to bed later in the evening. We might just have to go ahead and get him a twin bed so we can add a railing and then maybe he will sleep in bed. Whether on the floor or in bed, moving him out of the crib took care of the crying and he is back to the point where he will go to sleep without somebody patting his back or holding him for several minutes.

Every Thursday morning, the kids go to Chapel. Apparently yesterday morning, Josh's class was extra talkative. Over all the talking, Pastor asked if anybody was wearing yellow. Josh grabbed his shirt and above all the other voices yelled out "yellow." This just illustrates to me again that Josh doesn't like to perform on demand because we try to work with him on colors and sometimes he will get them right but sometimes he just doesn't care. I've got his number now though and have learned that he also always identifies blue and black and sometimes orange. I also realized this week how adept he is at putting together puzzles with the chunky blocks and that he will eat watermelon at school even though he turns up his nose at home. I will definitely attribute his distaste with watermelon at home to his sister's reaction. Only a little over two weeks to his second birthday!

Wordless Wednesday - Big Boy Bed

More Florida Photos!

Zacchaeus!

Here a is a little video of Emma and Josh singing about Zacchaeus. There seem to be some issues with the volume but the best part is Josh's movements especially when he is supposed to look up but looks down instead. He loves to sing as much as his big sister and he is clearly picking up all the songs that they sing at school.

Florida or Bust!

Unfortunately that is quite an apt title for our recent vacation since we got off to a bit of a rocky start. Our scheduled departure was for Saturday morning since we intended to split the drive down into two days on the way to the beach. Friday morning around 4:30 am, Josh started crying. I didn't think too much about it since he had done the same the morning before. Regardless, I went into try and comfort him and as soon as I picked him up, it was clear that the only play that Josh and I would be going that day was to the doctor; he was so hot! At this point his only symptom that I could point to was the fever. The doctor checked him over and as soon as she looked into his mouth, proclaimed that was the problem. She didn't think it was strep but had him tested and it was negative so basically all we knew was that he had some sort of virus that wasn't strep. Later that day, I noticed the backs of his legs where he often has a bit of eczema looked extra red but just attributed it to the fever.
Fast forward to Saturday morning when Josh woke up with a rash around his mouth, on his ears, on his hands, on his feet and let's not even talk about the backs of his legs. Since we were supposed to head out, we thought we should take another trip to the doctor so off Brad and Josh went. The doctor took one look at the back of his legs and immediately diagnosed hand, foot and mouth disease and told Brad it was the worse case he had seen and if he had $1000 lying around, he would run a viral load just to see how high his counts were. Bottom line though was he said that we could go ahead and proceed with our vacation plans and he would do so if it was his own son so off we went as planned.
We arrived in Florida mid-afternoon on Sunday with a rough looking Josh and rain. Yes, rain in the sunshine state. We got checked in and once the rain let up a bit decided to give the pool a try. Unfortunately it was pretty cold so we moved our part in to the little indoor pool and the kids were happy as clams to get in any water. By dinner time, the rain had moved out so after dinner, we went for a walk down on the beach. Josh wasn't too sure about the sand at first but Emma took right to it and was quickly off on a hunt for sand dollars and sea shells.
After a good night of sleep, Emma woke up and was immediately sick to her stomach. We hung around the hotel room for a couple of hours and she seemed to rally so we headed off to the pool and saw some pirates. Emma ate a great lunch and we thought the morning was just a fluke. After lunch we headed back for naps. Emma took a great nap, woke up and was again, sick to her stomach. Once again, we waited it out for some time and then decided to give the beach a go. Thankfully this was the last time that she was sick and even with not feeling great all day, we still got in some good pool and beach time.
Through the rest of our trip, Josh looked better and better so Brad could no longer convince any kids that seagulls tried to eat his face off and everybody else felt good. We spent all of our days on the beach and in the pool. The hotel had a great pool and in addition to pirates, we also got to see a mermaid. They both loved the sand and Emma tried to build many a sand castle, which Josh delighted in knocking over. Neither was too excited about the water and Emma definitely did not want to put down since there were lots of tiny little fish and she was afraid they would bite her. The funny part was that we also saw a crab and that she wanted to follow around. The final night, Brad took Emma down to the beach after dark so they could look for crabs. They didn't find any but she thought she was so big down there with Daddy and got to look at some constellations (her word, not mine). All in all, it was a terrific trip even if dining out with Josh is a bit of a challenge these days. Hopefully we can start making this an annual tradition! Here are a few photos to start with more to come soon.