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.
To make the bounce house even better there were basketball goals in each corner. Needless to say that the man who was "supervising" the station had to climb into the bounce house to remove Joshua after nearly 10 minutes of us trying to verbally coax him out. The whole way back to the car Joshua said, "I jump" over and over. 
"This is the life."