Easter 2008

Josh is continuing to learn new things everyday. It is fun to watch his face as he tries to figure things out. You can just see the wheels turning in his eyes. Just today, Josh is now able to climb onto the kitchen table chairs. We do have a new problem though, food tantrums. Matt and I are trying to keep Josh eating about the same time for each meal to avoid meltdowns. It's rough being 16 months old and not understanding that food is hot or not done cooking yet. This will pass eventually. We hope?

Josh likes to help put the dishes away. Somehow he put this pan in the cabinet this way twice.

The newest way to put pans away.

Josh absolutely loved playing with this box. Of course, he did fall off it once and started crying.

Matt took this picture of Josh playing inside the cabinet. He had pulled everything out and climbed into it. Silly goose!

A Day at the Park

It's hard to get nice weather in Indiana in March, but it was fairly warm (in the 50's) so we decided to head to the park. We did have to watch out for water though because of all the rain we have received in the last week. Despite that Josh had a great time and is doing a good job of staying with us on the walking paths.

The big climb!

Why oh why, does he always try to go down the slide head first at least once. He started crying by the time he reached the bottom because he bumped his face.

The next series of shots is Josh going down the correct way. He loves it!

I caught Josh climbing into this pot so I helped him a little bit and put him totally inside. Someday he is going to see this picture and think I was really small once or I can't believe you put me in a pot. We thought it was funny anyway.

Easter Day!!!!

When I woke up on Easter I awoke to a house totally destroyed by a little boy. He had dragged every toy he owns out. Plus, he had dragged all the pots and pans out of the cabinets.

Well, the afternoon nap didn't go as well as we hoped for. Josh fought his nap a bit and then woke up in a bad mood. We had laid out eggs from his room to his basket. (Thanks Lisa for the idea.) Thankfully after he saw the eggs had fruit snacks in them, he want to get all the eggs.

Finally, the Easter Basket!

Aunt Lisa sent this cute ears for Josh in his Easter Basket.

Lovely Indiana weather kept us inside for our Easter egg hunt because it was 40 degrees outside. Once again, after Josh realized that the eggs had fruit snacks in them he want them all. We hid them in plain view for easy finding. Josh didn't want to put them in the basket. He would take them to Matt or his grandpa to open. After the hunt we had a big spread with ham sandwiches and all the side dishes one could imagine. It was nice to have our family and friends over for Easter. Thanks for all the goods for Josh too. He played with them all day today. We love you guys!

Love, Matt, Jenny and Josh

Lots and lots of pictures

Although it has only been less than two weeks since our last post, a lot has happened. We think Josh is growing taller again because his pants look a little shorter. He definitely is learning lots of new things. He can say nine words now, but is still inconsistent about saying them.

On Saturday we had our six month home study done. Can you believe it's been almost six months already? Anyway, everything went fine and the social worker just asked us a bunch of questions and played with Josh. We had the same social worker who did our original home study because we liked her so much. Maybe is was the name because she is also a Jennifer? Of course, she wanted to know how we got a boy. We'd be rich if we had a dollar for everytime we heard that. It has to be to Great Wall by March 18th. She said it would be done by Tuesday and then she would mail it. So easy.

Unfortunately, Josh hasn't been feeling well the last three days or so. He is not eating well and not sleeping well, which means the rest of us are not sleeping well either. Finally, a break in the cold weather has gotten us out to the park the last two days which is helping relieve some of the cabin fever we are all feeling.

Now to the pictures:

When ever we open the frig Josh always grabs the Parmesan cheese out of the door because it is at his level. Well, I knew he was running around with the cheese, but I didn't think that he could unscrew the lid. Boy was I wrong. He made a big mess on the floor in the bathroom.

Matt and I finally broke down and bought some bikes this year. Josh also has his own special seat and helmet. This is Josh's first bike ride. He isn't crazy about the helmet, but once we were moving he forgot all about it.

Josh loves to help empty the dishwasher. He will even put away the pots and pans. Today he decided to put the bowl on his head and then try to lick the lid through the bowl. How silly!

I am coming for you Earthlings!

Josh loves to be in the middle of whatever we are doing that includes reading the paper.

A New Way to go Down the Step

Josh no longer goes down the step wheel barrel style. He sit down on his bum and slides to the end of the step, puts his feet on the ground, stands up and walks away. That is what happens when you grow taller.

O.K. this picture is in here because something happens to intelligent, educated adults when they have kids. Josh wasn't feeling well and he had blown out his diaper. Yuck!! To keep poop from going any farther than it already had I tried to distract Josh by putting his socks on my ears. The worst part about it is that putting the socks on my ears didn't distract Josh at all.

The next several pictures I took of Josh just this morning. The sunlight was hitting him just perfectly as we were playing chase around and under the table. Look how cute these pictures are.

Don't Leave Me!

Whenever Matt or I go to get the mail we leave the front door open so that Josh can look outside. This is what Josh is doing at the door.

Yeah! They're back!

Josh you have to back up so that we can get in the door.

Josh is getting so tall that there needs to be an eight inch clearance zone around the edge of the table.

It's been a while since Josh had a new toy, so I decided to use some gift cards for Target and got him a Sit n' Spin. He loves it. Of course, it's much better than the one Matt and I had when we were little, it plays music. Josh can even spin himself for a turn or two before he needs help.

Well, that's the end of all the pictures.

Love, Matt, Jenny and Josh

Recent Ruckus

See What happens when I feed myself oatmeal!

Ok, the snow looks like fun to play in, but I can't move in this stuff!
Winter stinks! I'm ready for a vacation!

We went to the Great Wolf Lodge In Cincy this weekend and had a great time. Unfortunately, the pictures in our water camera didn't develop. GRRRRR! Josh seemed to be in sensory overload in the water park for about 15 minutes with all the people and noise but was then WILD BOY after that. They had some baby-sized water slides which were enjoyed along with all the splashing and squirting. It was a good (and needed) break from the cabin fever we have this winter. We highly recommend it.

Josh now says a few words and tries on many others. He can also put things away when you ask him which is handy when emptying the dishwasher. It's about time he started pulling his own weight around - earning his keep.

Drool Boy!

As you can tell when you look through the pictures of Josh he is a "Drool Boy" right now. He's teething again and has been extremely cranky all week, but he has been in a great mood the past two days.

Josh has learned a couple new "tricks." He can point to his belly button when asked. He will sometimes point to his ear when asked. (This one is still a work in progress.) He will also open and close his hands to the Open Shut Them song. This is one of the songs we sing as the library each week. He also is doing a better job of stacking his cup and putting blocks together also.

Our Great Wolf Lodge trip is almost here. We can't wait. We are going stir crazy in the house this winter. We'll put pictures up on the blog when we get back. We're there just Sunday and Monday. We will have to get the pictures developed fast because our 6-month Home Study is also fast approaching. It is March 8th.

There has been a bit of excitement around the house this week. We turned in our tax paperwork over to our accountant friend and she had it done within two, but there is a problem. It has taken longer to get Josh's Indiana Birth Certificate than expected and we were waiting for it to get his Soc. Security Number. We can't file the taxes without that number. Plus, we won't qualify for the child portion of the tax rebate without a Soc. Security Number for Josh. Rrrrrrrrr. Well, we can't wait anymore so we called the attorney retrieved our Certificate of Citizenship and headed down to the Soc. Security Office. First, we knew that we were going to have to go through security in the Federal Building, but I didn't realize that the Leathermen was still in the diaper bag from Christmas. Thankfully, the guards let us through. Secondly, who knew that you could get in and out of the Soc. Security Office in 20 minutes. We packed lots of snacks and books for Josh and we were in and out. Thirdly, the Soc. Security website says it takes 12 weeks to get a card. Oh my gosh! The lady at the office said it would take 7-14 days. Thank goodness! Within the next couple of weeks we'll have his Soc. Security Number and our taxes filed.

Josh is climbing on everything. He pulled out the under-the-bed storage container and climbed on it the other day.

The fire house is such a fun place to take pictures and I have been wanting to get a picture of Josh in Matt's fire boots for sometime. How cute!

This one is my favorite of the ones I took. He is so happy here.

Boys and their trucks!

I think this picture is so sweet. Here Josh is looking down at his daddy's fire helment.

Caught in the cabinets again!

The pots and pans aren't safe at the fire house either. Just like at home he climbed right into the cabinets.

Although we aren't NASCAR fans, Josh is playing with an inflatable NASCAR that he got for Christmas.

Josh loves to put his cups on his feet. He tried for several minutes to stand up with his cups on his feet and finally did it. I can't believe he was able to walk with those things on his feet.

Who new that stacking cups would be the latest trend in shoe fashion?

Hope you enjoyed the latest and greatest about Josh,

Matt, Jenny and Josh