Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Weekend Fun

Joshua loves Aunt B and "talks" to her on his pretend cell phone all the time. He was very excited when she came to visit this weekend.


Always looking for a reason to eat cupcakes, we celebrated Aunt B's birthday a little early.


The weather was nice and we spent a lot of time playing in the backyard. Joshua enjoys riding at break-neck speeds in his car.

Just doing a little light reading.


Fire Safety Week hat + sunglasses + pajamas = a good time.


I have learned I can get a lot done if I give Joshua a balloon and the broom.


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

1.75 years old

Joshua is rounding the corner heading toward 2 years old. His vocabulary has exploded and although we can't always decipher his words, he knows exactly what he is saying. There are specific words that Joshua enunciates particularly well; "milk" and "steps" being 2 of them. These are two words that are used frequently each day at school, so Joshua makes sure to pronounce each letter.

Joshua is also a good helper. He likes to assist in carrying things like pillows and blankets from room to room. At school his job is to give each child their cup at snack and meal time. He consistently picks up after himself and is proud to be a "big" helper.

He has made giant strides in the sleep department. After many tears and innumerable waking hours, Joshua is finally sleeping through the night consistently. With more consecutive hours of sleep, we are all feeling better.

Joshua is certainly growing out of being a baby and into being a little boy. He still loves playing ball. He loves any kind of ball game. He swings anything he can pick up as though it were a bat. And last week he asked to watch football on tv. I know that most parents think their child is better at most things then they really are and Dave and I are no exception. Joshua can throw a baseball, kick a football and bat a t-ball off a tee really really well.



Joshua continues to love dogs. There is a particular house on our route home from day care that has 2 dogs in the backyard. Everyday as we approach that house he starts squealing and barking and we pull off the road to see the dogs. Some days we even roll the window down so that he can bark at them. About a month ago, we discovered Blue's Clues on tv one evening and within moments Joshua was hooked. Anytime he sees a paw print (which is literally around every corner in Starkville because all dumpsters in town have paw prints on them) he yells, "Blue's clues." We went to a birthday party for our friend, Shelby, and Joshua got a paw print tattoo on his hand. He wore it for days telling everyone he was a Blue's clue.


And what red-blooded American little boy doesn't like trucks? Joshua loves trucks and school buses so much that with the promise of going to see a truck or bus, Dave and I can get him to do most anything we need him to do. "Joshua, if you hurry up, eat your breakfast and get dressed, we'll go see some buses on the way to school."


He is learning so much so fast. Our good friend, Dr. Hatfield, used to encourage us to be a sponge and soak up all that we were experiencing. Well, Joshua is a huge sponge right now. And after Sunday, he may be tying his own ties pretty soon.


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Hello, Country Pumpkins

Last weekend, we visited a popular pumpkin patch in Caledonia, Mississippi, about 40 minutes from our house. The "Country Pumpkins" farm/pumpkin patch lived up to the hype. We were even able to get Joshua to smile for a picture!



The family that owns the farm left a few rows of cotton unharvested for visitors to pick. Joshua seemed to enjoy trying to break the stalks more than pick the cotton.


After only a few minutes of observing the other pumpkin seekers, Joshua knew it was ok to pick up any pumpkin he had the strength to hold.


He put several pumpkins in our wagon. And by "put" I mean "dropped" several pumpkins in our wagon. We only bought one of his favorite size which means there were several bruised medium sized pumpkins returned to the patch...oops.


Dave and I had to laugh at Joshua wanting to pull the wagon all over the farm. There was a lot set up for guests to do and Joshua wanted to do the one thing we could do at home...pull a wagon.


The little pedal-tractors were fun to ride but


the big antique tractors were really fun to climb on.


Country Pumpkins had pumpkin patch versions of sand boxes...corn pits. There were huge pits filled with corn for kids to play in.

Joshua enjoyed the corn pits so much that when he was ready to get out his pockets and diaper where full of corn. We left as many corn kernals as possible on the farm but as late as bedtime Saturday night, corn was still falling out of his clothes.

A busy morning on the farm leaves a little boy very sleepy on the way home.

ps...be sure to check out the Special Edition posts from earlier this week.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fun in the Sun

Joshua loved his first trip to the beach.

Joshua had no fear from the beginning: he ran straight into the water. Coach and Dave did their best to keep him from diving in head first.

The sand was fun to play in, throw and eat.

Nana, Joshua and I went looking for a playground one morning. We pulled into a fire station to ask directions but initially no one was around. So Joshua got to climb on the fire engine and even push a few buttons. (We did end up finding a fire fighter to talk to but only after we walked almost into their bunk room.)



A mouth full of salt water can really ruin a good wave.



Joshua's thought bubble reads, "That was AWESOME!"

Bubble fun on the tennis courts.

We never saw any tar on the beach or in the water.

You know you are on the beach in Alabama when you have to yield for a John Deere tractor.

Beach Rule #1-Never feed the seagulls.


We broke Beach Rule #1

What is better than going to the beach?
Having Coach and Nana there with you!




"This is the life."

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Little Zoo That Could

While we were on vacation, the morning temperatures were a little too chilly to play on the beach, so one morning we visited the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo aka The Little Zoo That Could. Joshua had never been to the zoo before and I think we all were a little sceptical of how good a zoo at the beach could be. But much to our surprise, this zoo had a lot of cool stuff.


big tigers...and lots of them
a baby tiger

brown bears

an up-close look at a donkey

toucans
kangaroos that boxed each other

huge tortoises

deer

lions

more tigers (look to our left)


and a duck that walked step for step with the pacing bear.
It was a beautiful morning and we all had a great time.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Beach Trip Sneak Peak

This afternoon we returned to "real life" after spending several days at the beach.
Here is a sneak peak of the fun we had.
(more pictures to come... )