Baby in a Bag

I want some coffee!

Joshua has been doing well, keeping in touch with Mom while she is in Vietnam via phone calls and webcam. He said this morning--"I want to go to Vietnam also!"

He has also inherited Annette's love for coffee--when I asked him this morning if he wanted some water, he replied, "I want some coffee!"

Joshua's favorite stuffed animal now is "Lamb." It's not exactly a lovey--since he's OK if Lamb doesn't travel with him and he doesn't need it to sleep or for comfort. He just loves to hug stuffed animals. When we go to stores, he'll go down the aisle and hug each one, and then put it back on the shelf. He just likes soft things, even our bathroom mats. While hugging the lamb this morning, he said, "Lamb stinky!" which of course would happen since he's hugging and kissing it all the time, sometimes with food smeared on his face. I handwashed Lamb and threw him into the dryer for some fluffing, and now he's as good as new.

Fast Learner

While reading today, I read a story to Joshua and when we reread, it Joshua already had memorized some of the lines that I just taught him. I was impressed. It's fun to watch him as he's learning--he pauses when he gets to something he doesn't know--and when I tell him the answer, he repeats it, and when I ask him again and he says it correctly, he gets this big grin on his face.

Shake It Baby!

I'm not sure where he picked this up, but Joshua likes to say, "Shake it baby!" for no apparent reason.

I was surprised when he heard a banjo playing in the background of a radio program the other day, and he astutely remarked that it was a "banjo!" I don't think he's ever even seen a banjo played before.

We put up the Christmas decorations this week and Joshua likes to point out "Christmas tree!" whenever we see one.

After Joshua saw some videos of himself at 6 months old babbling, he has started to go into periods where he pretends he's a baby and says, "Gaga!" to everything.

Birthday Cake

Annette spent 5 hours just to decorate the cake!

Voila! Now that's love!
Happy Birthday Joshua!

Joshua's 2nd birthday party

Joshua was the star of his birthday party!

He rode around and greeted his guests.

And loved his two Thomas the Train birthday cakes!

Giving Thanks

Before we eat, Joshua now has us hold hands as he says, "Thank you God, Amen!"

After Annette told him that he came from her belly as a baby, he keeps on lifting up her shirt and says, "I want to go in!" and commands her belly to "Open up!"

He saw Annette's drink at dinner tonite and correctly identified it as "Wine!" I asked him what else mom drinks, and he said, "Coffee!"

2 years old

What Joshua is like now that he's two!

1. Is obsessed with trains. Doesn't drum as much any more.
2. Likes to pretend to pick apples and give them to people, even strangers.
3. Knows all the letters of the alphabet, and loves to sing the ABC song.
4. Typical sentences: "Dadda, hold you now" "I want to do it myself!"
5. Says that the bullet train and Mount Fuji is in "Japan!"
6. Walks up and down stairs on his own.
7. Scoots along on his toy train really fast.
8. Likes to cook, especially pasta.
9. Eats fried rice, dumplings, meatballs, noodles, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes (which he calls "matatoes"), pineapple, grapes, orange--mostly any fruit.
10. Likes to read "Go Dog Go" by Dr. Seus and Curious George books.
11. Weighs 30.5 lbs and wears size 8-9 shoes.
12. Likes to participate at singalong and storytime at the library now

? Barney & trains

Though we have no TV and I think we've seen a Barney episode only 1 or twice in the remote past, Joshua said "Barney!" when he heard me sing the "I love you--you love me song" today. Where does he learn these things?

"I wanna go past the train tracks!" is something we hear everytime we get into the car and drive out of the garage.

He is getting very specific in his train identification, differentiating locomotive, hopper, house car, and the caboose.

My favorite is watching him when he reads the big train book and we get to the bullet trains in Japan. He immediately shouts, "Mount Fuji!" which is in the background.

He is also really into changing the batteries in all his trains/cars. He will grab the box of batteries, a screwdriver, and then manipulates these tiny screws and screwdrivers with great care.

Annette is in California, and so I've been feeding him. Tonite, we had some sphagetti, meatballs, broccoli, carrots, and apple. At first he didn't like the meatballs, which I had cut up into small pieces. So I stuck a fork into a meatball, and he immediately grabbed it, took a bit bite, and said "Delicious!" He also didn't like the broccoli when I broke it up into smaller pieces--he wanted the "big one!"

Joshua is good talking on the phone now, so it makes Annette's being away not as bad. He talks to mom several times a day, loves to see her on the computer, and says that she will be back "Saturday!"

Halloween

Joshua loved being a pumpkin!


We went trick or treating in Brookline, where they closed off the streets for kids.

I was really proud of how Joshua said "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you" at every house.