It has been a while...

...so here's an overview of the past month and a half.

TODAY
I made homemade play dough for Joshua, which I was happy to discover is super easy to make & not too messy to play with.

Joshy wasn't sure what to do with it until I got out the lemon/lime squeezer. Then he figured out how to make play dough worms. So fun!



APRIL 11th
Joshy discovered the joys of putting olives on his fingers!



APRIL 9th
We went to Woodland Park Zoo for the first time. Joshy got to see all the animals from his great perch on Daddy's back.

Do you see the lion?

"Raahhhhr!" That's what sound Joshua thinks ALL animals make.

It looks like Joshua's trying to copy the monkey's facial expression. I think he's got it down!



APRIL 5th
It was Joshua's first time wearing this stylish shirt & he must have known he looked cute because he climbed right up in his chair & posed for pictures. What a cutie!

Smile!

Maybe he thought it was funny that he kind of matched the chair.



MARCH 24th
We got a good view of our two babies at my last doctor's visit. They were bouncing around & looking healthy, which was nice to see.



MARCH 18th
Joshua got out his laptop so he could do some "homework" on the floor just like his daddy.

So cute!



MARCH 17th
Match Day! We found out that Ryan will be doing his first year of residency at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego! Since Ophthalmology is an "early match" program, we already knew that he matched in Ophthalmology at Baylor in Houston for the following 3 years, but it was fun to watch all the other medical students open their envelopes & find out where they would be going.

Joshua really enjoyed the Match Day event since he got a balloon for being there!



MARCH 13th
Joshua really loves "reading" books. Sometimes he'll go in his room, climb up on his chair, & start "reading" through several of his favorite books on his own.

Joshy loves these two blankets: Blue & Softy. He goes to bed with both of them every night. He often drags them around with him during the day too.

I'll Teach My Dog A Lot of Words is definitely one of Joshua's favorite books. We read it every day, sometimes several times a day.

I love that he is so interested in his book in this picture.



MARCH 10th
Joshua & I went to the Northgate Community Center to play with their gym-ful of toys, cars, bouncy houses, & kids. It's a pretty lively place! He really likes driving all the cars.

He thinks it is funny to try walking on the squishy floor of the bouncy houses.



MARCH 5th
Now that Joshua is a great walker, he can fully enjoy the playground.

He is a bit of a daredevil! He likes to walk around on the merry-go-round while it is spinning. He would also like to go down the twisty big-kid slide by himself, but I always insist on going with him to slow him down.



MARCH 2nd
I gave Joshua his first big-boy haircut. He was really good about sitting still since he was strapped in his highchair with snacks. He looks like he is posing for Baby GQ in this picture. :-)

Joshy's Latest Activities

Swinging


Lining things up in the window sill. Pens & pencils work great too.


Enjoying fun times with cousins (They are watching a video game thing at Chuck E. Cheese's.)


Going down the slide on his own


Exploring his style


Playing with boxes & other great toys


Getting up on the couch by himself


Crawling in & out of big boxes. His bigger boy car seat came in this box over a month ago & we are still hanging on to it since it is just so fun!


Swimming with Daddy in his muscle man floaty suit


Feeling happy floating. He does this in the bathtub too.


Having so much fun playing with Daddy


Biting into an apple like a bigger man


Reading lots of books on his own

The Walker

Joshua has started walking & he is getting better at it every day!

Our 1 Year Old!

Joshua has been 1 for a week now & he's really grown up in the past few days!
-He is standing on his own & taking a few steps here and there.
-He is starting to use a spoon by himself.
-He ate his first peanut butter & jelly sandwich today and loved it!
-He is having fun playing with other kids.
What a big boy!


Joshua likes wearing shoes, especially other people's shoes.


He still loves swinging as much as he ever did. He cries unless I am pushing him as high and fast as I can!


Joshua had an ice cream cone at McDonald's on his birthday, which he thoroughly enjoyed! He also went down a big kid's tube slide all by himself. I was a little nervous for him, but he wanted to follow a big kid & go down on his own, and he did great!

Little Snow Man

Joshua got all bundled up for his first adventure outside in the snow, which was a walk to the store since Mama wasn't about to drive. :-)


He was pretty excited to go out into the snowy world, but later...


...he decided that snow is much more enjoyable when viewed from inside a warm house. I agree, Joshy!


Joshua was not at all interested in touching the snow or crawling close to it.


Joshua's expression in this picture is very telling of his overall impression of snow. It was really beautiful while it lasted. It all melted just a few days after it arrived.

Everyday Joshua

This is one of my favorite expressions: the tight-lipped smile.

He crawls on his hands & knees now, but still resorts to army crawling when he wants to go fast.

We love playing hide-and-go-seek around the couch.

"WHUH!" That is probably what Joshua is saying in this picture. He is really quite talkative!

He is just so cute!

Joshua is a great stander, but he definitely likes holding on to something.

Even though he is such a big baby, Joshua still loves his swing!

He looks so grown up in this picture! I think it's the polo shirt.

What a wild-looking kid!

Joshy does a great job sitting on his own now. Here he is playing with his newfound friend the broom. What a terrible "toy!"

Joshua loves removing our shoes from the shoe rack.
Here's my favorite smile again!

A Happy Halloween!

Joshua's first Halloween was definitely a happy one! We started the festivities early in the month with a trip to the pumpkin patch. Joshua had a great time discovering the pumpkins. He especially enjoyed their dirty spots.


We all dressed up for a Halloween party at UW for med students & their families. Joshua was a tiger, Ryan was a tree, & I was a tree hugger... and a tiger hugger too of course!


Joshua went Trunk-or-Treating at the church and collected some of "his" favorite candies. We did let him have this mini-Twix until we realized that he had opened the package & was siphoning out chocolate. Lucky boy!


On Halloween night, we had a great dinner with friends for which I carried on the family tradition of making a jack-o-lantern cake. Thanks Mom!

A Few New Things

Teeth! Joshua has 2 bottom teeth & 4 more coming in on the top.


Standing! Joshua is standing up on everything he can get his hands on.


Getting so big! Joshua is overflowing in his swing.


Playing! Joshua is really interested in toys & everything else now.


Super cute smiles! This isn't really new, but every smile is still so great.


Looking handsome like Daddy!

Joshy Copying his Daddy