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!