Sunny Spring Day

Today was lots of fun! We did a little bit of gardening in the morning and Joshua explored the worms that were crawling in my garden. I tried to show him how they squish and stretch to move along the ground but when I said 'squish' he thought he should squish them so we moved on to just digging in the dirt. Then we went for a walk along the water to look at the ducks before story time. After the library it was lunch and naptime. Next we went to the gym but I forgot our gym bag so we didn't get to swim. We had Ellie and Kim over for dinner and the kids had fun on the slide after dinner. I had picked up a few of those rectangular ice-cream sandwiches, it was just that kind of day, and the kids loved them. Kim pulled the kids around in a wagon and then it was time to go our separate ways.

Rainy Days are Fun, too!

Joshua and I have been exploring the great outdoors the past couple of days. Yesterday we went for a walk, splashed in mud puddles, felt the rain fall on our heads and watched an earthworm creep in the crack of the sidewalk. Joshua loves getting wet so I don't think he realized he was getting dirty, too!

Today, we went to an equistrian center that also had hiking trails. Since it was rainy, I knew that the park would be quiet and it was. We walked through an old covered bridge, watched the water in a stream, saw horses, geese, a turkey vulture and hawk. We saw flowers, too and picked up a nice smooth rock. He walked out a ways on the trail and then I piggy backed him back to the car. He fell asleep on the ride home but then woke up and had a drink of milk before going down for his nap at home.

Josh has been doing great with potty training. He is now using the little blue potty we have for him and as long as he doens't have pants on to fuss with he can get himself to the potty. Then when he is done, he picks up the potty, takes it to the toilet and dumps it in. That part is a bit unnerving for Jason and I to watch! But he is doing great!

Springtime Fun!

Joshua and I have been having so much fun outside! It was a beautiful day yesterday so we went a got a few flowers. Joshua played in the front yard while I dug in the dirt. He periodically came back to water the flowers or dig around a little himself. We ate dinner outside and in the evening we got a new slide for Joshua. It was time for bed but we let him play instead, in his socks!! They were filthy but we all had so much fun!

Tuesay, Ellie & Kim joined us at the pool. The kids same for an hour! Joshua now jumps off the side and kicks like a frog to the side. He goes under the water, runs along the shallow end of the pool and blows bubbles. He is a fish!

Wednesday, Memaw came over for a visit and Joshua showed off his eating skills. We played outside with bubbles, which he loves, even though it was not very warm at all! In the evening, we went to Kim, Ellie & Ryan's for dinner. Afterwards, Ryan and I took the kids to get a free Italian Ice at Rita's. It was freezing but we sat out on the picnic table and ate the ice cream. The kids didn't mind it was just Ryan and I that were remarking what we'd do for free food :-)

Hollow Leg

We have found that Joshua has grown an extra hollow leg since the beginning of last week, which also was the major start of the terrible 'two's. In the past several days Joshua has given us a run for our money when it comes to eating AND he has added vegetables back in to his diet. This, to me, is an absolute miracle. I just hope it continues. He was a good eater before his first birthday and then he became VERY picky. So this is a welcome change.

The temper tantrums have given us a number of humorous moments. Including, finding Joshua HANGING off the outside of his crib (by his hands, like a rock climber), listening to him EMPHATICALLY say 'no' to every request, even to things it obviously wants, teaching him to say, 'YESH', well that is how 'yes' comes out. We have to laugh, we'd go insane otherwise :-)

Joshua has also shown a strong interest for being outside. We bought a little jungle gym from our neighbors (ome of the toddler ones) and we have been spending a lot of time outside. We go to the park, go for walks, garden, blow bubbles. He is just happier outside.

Lastly, he is becoming so familiar with a handful of books, that he can 'read' them. He will say the correct words on the correct pages and know what is coming next. He can also identify pages out of order. It is a lot of fun. He also knows which books he would like to read and will look for a specific title.

We can't wait for the warm weather at the end of the week and the melting of the latest snow. We are ready for full blown SPRING!

Do wonders never cease?

Joshua, my picky eater, who we coax to eat his favorite foods surprised us both tonight. He asked for what we were eating, an Indian Cauliflower dish, we gave it to him thinking that like other things he had asked for he would leave it on his plate. But he didn't! He ate that and several more bites. So I guess cauliflower with tomatoes, fennel, cumin, red pepper and onion is on Joshua's favorites list along with black beans, meatballs, blue berries, yogurt and pancakes. Very interesting.

Beautiful March Day

Today was a gorgeous March day so Joshua and I spent a lot of time outside.



He even helped me clean up the yard. There is a lot to clean up from the winter but since he likes to be outside so much I don't think I will have a problem taking the time to do it.

Joshua is getting into his 'terrible two's' He screams whenever we have to change activities or we do something he does not want to do. His use of the word 'No' is getting a lot more emphatic. But, he is very playful and is starting to understand humor. It is really fun to see his personality emerging.

On the Mend

Today, Joshua is finally feeling better. It has been one week since he came down with the Norovirus (stomach bug). He started to feel better on Monday and then just had random sick times. Yesterday he was really miserable but today he seems to be doing rather well. He is eating again as of this morning and not so clingy.

Aunt Tara had another procedure on Friday and is doing well from that. She is recovering at least!

Since it is 60F out right now, once Joshua wakes up from his nap we will go for a walk and enjoy being outdoors after all of this VERY cold weather. I think we might also venture out for a shopping trip. Papa's birthday is coming up soon :-)

Joshie's Visit by Aunt Tara

Joshua Lang made a visit to see Aunt Tara (recovering from surgery) and Aunt Jill (recovering from Aunt Tara recovering from surgery.)
He had a drive with mommy and did such a great job in the car. They made it to visit us on Saturday. They left yesterday.
Josh was a little apprehensive at first about Jill and I and who were we and why was he in our home.. but he settled in quickly and did a lot of laughing and giggling and playing. He became quickly fascinated with our stairs and our treadmill. (I knew my prayers would come to fruition.)
He chatted up a storm and we got to hear his cutest little raspy voice say such things as mommy, daddy, jill, tawa, skoolbus,toofbrush, fisssshie, i love you, bunny, kitty, doggie and the other gazillion words this genious baby says.

He has his first throwup episode of his life at our house.. yes.. I am honored...He threw up three consecutive nights with a flu of some sort (i drew a picture of the projectile vomiting that I am adding to this post.) Jill got his flu, so Nettie took her into the clinic. She did a lot of vomiting also. Nettie and I remained clear of this. My mom and grandmother came to visit along with the G's next door who also believe that one Joshua Lang is an ADORABLE SMART gorgeous little boy.

We played Skip-Bo (nettie did not win ever.) Jill and nettie made gorgeous bead projects.. I slept. I did a lot of sleeping , but was thrilled to have my nephew and sister in law here.. it meant the world. Lil JLO (as I call him.. JIll calls him schwa) is awesome...

my potential runner.

Fishie

Joshua was a little fishie today at the pool. He was blowing bubbles in the water and stepping off the stairs then kicking his legs and moving his arms to swim (since he couldn't touch). He was in the pool about 30 min and was showing no signs of wanting to get out.

He did great in the nursery at the gym... no tears! He was looking forward to playing with the trains today that they have there.

We think he tried to pull down his pants to go potty because he said pee-pee and then Jason looked down and there was a huge puddle on the floor but Joshie's pants weren't wet.... When Jason lifted Josh's shirt though to assess the damage his little part was hanging out! What a surprise, I laughed my head off!