3.5 years of age

The following are what Joshua reports as his "favorites" (at least as of tonight):
color: "black and blue"
food: "chicken nuggets"
dessert: "ice cream"
thing to do at school: "play outside"
toy: "light saber"
tv show: "Star Wars"
movie: "Star Wars"
song: "ABC and Poncho & Lefty. Willie Nelson sings that song mama."
Willie Nelson song: "Get on the road again"

animal: "giraffe and zebra"
friend: "Owen"
sport: "baseball"
game: "tag"
place to go: "zoo with my cousin Abigail"
restaurant: "Oby's"
bug: "grasshopper"
vegetable: "crunchy carrots"
fruit: "apples"
instrument: "drum"
number: "3, because I am in my 3s"
letter: "J"

What do you want to be when you grow up?: "a baseball man"

It is hard to believe that Joshua is 3 1/2.  He has grown up a lot in the last 6 months. 
While he still struggles with a fiery temper he is practicing being "calm" and praying to ask God to help him to "have a new heart so I will want to obey." 
In the last week or so Joshua has been staying awake for sometimes up to 2 hours after we tuck him in.  He has been found in our room playing with our alarm clocks, standing in his rocking chair playing with the light switch and a couple of times on top of the cab of his fire truck bed scooting across the top while singing.  Each time we ask him, "what are you doing" and he responds "nothing." 
Joshua loves to try to sound out words.  In the middle of a conversation with him he will stop (often mid-sentence) and pain-stakingly sound out each letter in the word.  He does pretty good and it is always humorous to hear. 
And of course the stories.  He is always good for a story.  In fact, today on the way home from day care he said, "Mama, see that dog?  I think he got really dirty today and had to have a bath.  He was digging in the grass with his sharp claws because he was looking for a doggie biscuit.  And when he found the doggie biscuit he ate it.  And then when it started to rain the dog said 'hey, I'm really dirty and it is bath night.  So he got some soap and took a bath in the rain.  And I think he had a rubber duck too.  Mama, how would that dog hold his rubber duck, 'cause he doesn't really have hands?"