Joseph's Got Talent

Joseph likes to dance and he actually has decent rhythm! His favorite jam to rock out to right now is the song "Sexy Chick". Everytime it comes on the radio when we are in the car, his little head and feet are bopping to the beat. Last weekend in an attempt to keep Joseph entertained while Daddy slept in (we were near meltdown stage because he just wanted to scream "Dada!" and run into our bedroom at 6:45 am), I found the video on You Tube and got a good 10 minutes of entertainment value out of it. Joseph broke out some moves for us, although they were slightly subdued compared to his usual dancing. I can't blame him, my dance moves aren't exceptional before 7 am either.

At our music classes, his dancing is...hmm...slightly more energetic and usually involves running in circles (to the beat, of course) and smacking the crap out of drums with sticks (also to the beat, of course) while turning himself in circles over and over again. The other kids sit on their mom's lap with their instruments and give Joseph a major side eye....like "Whoa! Something is wrong with that kid!" And then the mom's see my ever growing belly, find out I am having another boy, and give me the classic southern "Bless your heart" comment (translation for non-Southerners: Bless your heart = Oh wow, you are batshitcrazy.)

Please also note that I am very aware that the You Tube version of this song is not edited, which if you listen closely, means the word "whore" is not bleeped out and instead of "sexy chick" like on the radio version, they are clearly singing "sexy b*tch". Luckily, Joseph has not been heard calling anyone a whore or b*tch since our dance party (Besides Tiger Woods and his mistresses, of course, but we feel this is a very appropriate use of the words and not terribly concerned. At least he understands the context with which to use such words).

Now back to the dancing....where does he get such talent from, you ask? Well, this is debatable. Rich, of course, thinks he has blessed Joseph with his dancing genes, but a quick trip back to this post (there are several videos and photos featuring Rich's dance style), will prove Richard had very little dancing talent to pass on. Of course, I have immense dancing talent, it's just never been caught on video. However, my dancing talent clearly came straight from my father...who just happened to be silly enough to e-mail the following picture of his sweet dance moves from the mid-90's to my brother and I just last week (never thinking it would end up on this blog, I am sure):

Clearly, this is where Joseph's talent comes from...clearly. Clearly, my father would also break his hip if he attempted this move 15 years later.

Say Cheese!!!

Joseph might have a tendency to be a ham. He might also have a tendency to be in love with the camera and think that the camera loves him in return. And yes, he has a tendency to enjoy looking at photos of himself. Hmmm...who does this sound like? Hmmm...maybe, his father?

Lately, he's been taken with having impromptu photo sessions. We get out the camera and say "Cheese!" and he just stands there smiling and making faces. Here are some of the pictures from recent photo sessions. Please note that he looks sort of strange in some of them. I think it's from the flash making him squint right as the picture is taken. It could be that I just have a strange looking kid too.

We've apparently been doing photo sessions and saying "cheese!" so often, that he now thinks the camera is called a cheese. I get out of the camera and he calls it "cheese", as seen in this video below (note that cheese sounds more like "cheeeeeeee"):

This video also shows how patient our cat Porter is with Joseph. At least daily Joseph attempts to either ride Porter like he's a horse or rip his tail off of his body. Porter just puts up with until he's reached his limit and then takes off for the top perch of his kitty condo, where Joseph can't possibly get him (at least until he figures out how to climb it). Any other cat would have scratched the hell out of Joseph by now. Of course, Porter is missing his front paws (Don't come after me PETA. This de-clawing was done purposely without my knowledge while I was back at school - we got Porter together the summer we lived together before my senior year of college. I think the resulting argument when I found out was probably one of our biggest).

Joseph hearts Monkey

As mentioned in the previous post, Joseph loves his loveys. He loves all of them, but has a particular affinity for his monkey, which is one of the two original loveys he's had since he was like 3 months old. His affinity for Monkey makes it hard for Monkey to make it to the wash very often. I aim to wash Monkey once a week, but there are some laundry days where I'm just not getting between Monkey and Joseph.

Today was laundry day and Monkey was overdue for a cleaning. There is no sugar coating it, Monkey smelled...like really, really bad. Between a snotty nosed kid with a cold rubbing it all over his face and insisting he eat all his meals with it (last night Monkey was dragged through some pasta salad and regurgitated hard boiled egg), Monkey was more than a little funky his morning. Luckily, I found a moment when Joseph was distracted sticking my car keys in and out of the door and I was able to sneak Monkey into the washer. I was folding laundry in the hall near the laundry room (correction - laundry closet. Our laundry area is way too small to classify it as a room) and Joseph came running in. He has a strange fascination with me folding laundry. He likes to sit on my lap and help me put everything in the basket when I fold it. Of course, he doesn't really have the coordination to actually keep the clothes folded while placing them in the basket.

Unfortunately, as Joseph came running in, the door to the laundry room was still open and as Joseph peaked in, he spotted the bright red silk of Monkey pressed up against the window of the washer. He immediately went crazy pointing at it and yelling "THAT! THAT! THAT!". There was no way I was stopping the washer and handing him a wet, soapy Monkey so I prepared for the tantrum. This is a small glimpse (Note this was near the end when he was starting to calm down. The foot stomping and throwing himself against the wall had stopped).

Somehow I managed to lure him out of his tantrum with a secondary frog lovey and some Nick Jr. television for 10 minutes. Crisis averted. I managed to sneak Monkey into the dryer while Joseph ate his lunch (Trust me, there have been times he's seen it coming out of the washer and I have relented and let him have a wet monkey). I am happy to report that a very happy reunion took place right before nap time.

Lazy Day

Yesterday ended up being a rare lazy day around our house. First, Joseph slept in almost an hour later than usual, until 7:30. I know, those of you who don't hear a peep out of your kid until the clock hits 8, are like shuddering at the thought of "sleeping in" until 7:30. At our house, however, 7:30 is like a dream come true. I woke up, took a long-ish shower that didn't involve a screaming toddler locked down in a bouncy seat he is seriously over the weight limit for (a mom's gotta do, what a mom's gotta do), and even got a little Matt and Meredith fix from The Today Show in peace and quiet.


Even after waking up after his unusually long 12-hour slumber, Joseph was still pretty tired. He pretty much demanded to sit in my lap most of the morning watching Nick Jr. Since it was a rainy day (again) and I was running low on indoor activity ideas to get of the house, I let him have his way and enjoyed a rare morning of snuggling with my little monkey, both still in our PJs.


I have to say, I started to get a little worried after his afternoon nap when he was still pretty snuggly and tired. Joseph's lack of hyperactivity is usually a sign of impending illness. When he sat on my lap for 20 minutes reading books (!!!!), I started obsessing over his temperature, which was clearly in normal range. While folding laundry, Joseph actually took a towel put it over him like a blanket and laid down on the floor for 5 minutes. The picture below is extremely rare indeed:

He did perk up some when he realized there were like 5 of his loveys in the laundry. He made a dash to gather them all up. Joseph has this thing where if there is a lovey in sight, he has to have it. We spend many nap times gathering up every lovey around the house because he refuses to go to sleep without every one in his crib. So when he saw all of these loveys come out of the dryer, he pretty much flipped out. Joseph's attempt to carry them all at once:

We spent the afternoon just generally hanging out in our PJs. When Rich called at 6 to say he was on his way home, I had to warn him that he would find the two of us in the same clothes he had left us in that morning. Since it has been over 24 hours since our lazy day began and Joseph is still showing no signs of illness, I am just going to chalk it up to a calm, relaxing day at home we both needed. I actually think it *may* have been due to his molars finally coming in. Most kids become cranky and little hellions when their molars come in - nope, my strange kid gets tired and snuggly (Not that I am complaining - of all the craziness this kid throws at us, teething has been the most painless, effortless process to date. His teeth just sort of show up with no real fanfare).

Maybe in like 8 months we'll get another PJ day at home.

Craptastic

That is the only way to describe this week.

Craptastic Day #1 was Monday when I took Joseph for his H1N1 vaccination at the Dept. of Health. Somehow the nurse manages to give him my vaccination (the full adult dosage). I didn't realize it until the nurse bolted out of the room only to return with an administrator who starts asking me questions about my child's age and weight (something which no one else in the room had been asked). Only when I ask what the heck was going on, did anyone decide to inform me that my kid just got overdosed. Luckily, after a tearful drive home thinking I am a crappy mom who lets her kid gets overdosed at the hands of the incompetent Dept of Health, a call to the pediatrician and a call from the State Dept of Health was enough to calm me down. Luckily, 4 days later I can report there have been no signs of any negative effects of receiving double the dosage of H1N1 vaccine.

Tuesday and Wednesday were actually non-eventful besides the horribly awful pouring rain and windy weather. By Wednesday morning, I really thought our house might just float away. It's really difficult to keep Joseph inside all day. He doesn't really play with toys so if we are inside he's climbing things (note the foreshadowing for Friday's craptastic events), opening up every drawer and demanding he be allowed to play with things like meat mallets and scissors. When he's not doing that, he's pretty much standing at the door yelling "OUT! OUT! OUT!" over and over again. No attempts by me to make blanket forts to hide in or block towers to knock down could really take away from his sheer annoyance that we were in fact in our house.

So you'll understand why by Thursday morning, despite continued pouring rain and a 40 degree temp, it was time to get the eff out of the house. I figured a trip to the mall where I could park in the deck, avoid the rain and let him run around the train table and various toys at the bookstore, was the way to go. Awesome idea....until I get to the top of our street and realize I have a flat tire. Now, if it was any other day, I would have taken Joseph out of the car and enjoyed a walk back to the house but of course, we are dealing with craptastic weather. So I slowly drive the car back to the driveway (Joseph screaming in the back of course), praying this is not going to result in some $800 rim damage, only to be greeted by the mailman, who very seriously tells me "You shouldn't drive on a flat tire". Thanks for the tip - just give me my freaking mail and be on your way. Luckily, an hour and a Yo Gabba Gabba DVD later (yeah, I needed to calm my kid who was throwing the tantrum to end all tantrums at the sudden dash of his dream of leaving the house), AAA had come, put the spare on and my kid was ready for a nap.

I should also mention that Joseph is going through an awesome phase of wanting to get up for the day at 4:30 am. Without fail since Sunday morning, we hear "MaMa! DaDa!" over the monitor somewhere in the 4:30-5:00 am time frame. We just let him do his thing and he fusses, sleeps for 10 minutes, fusses some more, whines...repeat...until somewhere around 5:45 when he breaks down into an all out scream fest. Our days have been starting early, and quite frankly, we are just downright tired. It didn't help this morning when I woke up with a touch of a stomach bug...I'll spare you the details. Luckily, my wonderful hubby agreed to come home a little early because I was wiped out and just needed to lay down for a little while.

Yeah...well, we lucked out he came home early...except he ended up meeting us at the pediatrician's office. Why, you wonder? Because Joseph decided to climb the kitchen chair when I left the room for 45 seconds max. As I am coming back, he is reaching for something on the table, reaches too far and slips off the chair. On his fall to the floor, he cracks the back of his head on the seat of the chair. I rush to him to comfort him, only to realize my hand is covered in blood. At this moment, I thank god that I am there to deal with this and not Rich (I love him but if you ever have an emergency, call me, don't call him). I got the bleeding stopped only to realize we have a sizeable, deep gash back there. Oy vey! Luckily, Joseph is calmed down enough to again be willing to watch his Yo Gabba Gabba DVD for 5 minutes, while I call the pedi. Luckily, they let me come in instead of sending me to the ER.

An hour later and a whole lot of screaming, Joseph has 3 staples in the back of his head. Thank goodness Rich was there because there is no way I could have held Joseph down to have his head cleaned and stapled. He is insanely strong for an 18 month old - Rich's arms are throbbing tonight. He seemed rather unphased by the time we got home (I am sure allowing him to eat dinner on Daddy's lap, on the couch with Nick Jr on TV and the popsicle he got afterwards helped) and was back to his hyperactive ways by bedtime. In fact, we put him to bed slightly earlier because he was running around in circles and neither one of us could handle another accident tonight.

So as this craptastic week closes, I am just saying a little prayer that the weekend doesn't get craptastic-ier and that some higher power has some sympathy for me and is bestowing upon me a second son who is a delightfully easy and calm little fellow. Rich is just laughing at me even typing this. I know, I know...wrestle mania in my den, kids jumping off of furniture, brothers throwing rocks at one another and lots and lots more stitches are in my future. I need some sleep just imagining it.

Halfway

As of yesterday, I am officially halfway done with this pregnancy. Well, if the pregnancy with Joseph is any indication it may be a few more days until I hit the actual halfway mark - he made a fashionably late entrance to the world. At the very least, I am halfway to the point where I can look at my OB and beg "Please, lets schedule an induction!"

I am 20 weeks pregnant! 20 weeks! When did that happen? When did I get halfway to holding my second son in my arms? Halfway to Joseph being a big brother. Halfway to referring to my children as "my boys". (On a slightly less excited note - halfway to being up every 2-3 hours at night). This pregnancy has flown by and I have to say, other than the nasty morning sickness from weeks 6-9, it's been the easiest, least drama free pregnancy I could have imagined. Lets hope it continues that way.

And for your viewing pleasure, a 20 week belly pic.

And yes, I am bigger than I was with Joseph. It's apparently true that you pop earlier with the 2nd. This, despite the fact that I have actually gained significantly less weight this time around (hmmm...do you think controlling my hyperactive toddler could be the cause of the that?)

My 23 week belly pic with Joseph:

And more trouble....

Yes, this little rascal creates plenty of trouble around here....

but in 5-ish months, he'll have a partner in crime.

That little munchkin pictured above is in fact another boy - another baby with a Y chromosome (or as Rich keeps saying another stem on the apple). I think we have pretty much concluded this blog will be renamed "Double Trouble" once baby boy #2 makes his grand debut in March.

While Joseph clearly doesn't understand the concept of a sibling, let alone the difference between a brother or sister, we are pretty sure if he could comprehend and declare his preference, he would be pretty psyched he's getting a little brother rather than a little sister. I don't see tea parties and baby dolls in his future. However, a buddy for playing cops and robbers with and jumping in mud puddles...that is more Joseph's style.

If our photo sessions for our gender announcement pictures were any clue, we should have realized another boy was in our future.

We needed 2 takes to get a decent photo of the baby brother photo...

Baby sister....hmmmm, Joseph pretty much refused to cooperate (giving him an old cell phone was the only way we got even a few pictures without him screaming).

Pushing the teddy bear off the rocker:

Trying to take out the balloon:

A change of location only furthered Joseph's frustration:

Clearly, Joseph wasn't prepared to welcome a baby sister into his life.

I'll be honest - I was pretty shocked when the ultrasound tech announced we were having another boy. I was 99% sure there was a little girl in there. I think it took a few days for the idea to fully set in - 2 boys!!! We are pretty excited to see how our two little guys to interact - will they have the same interests or be completely different (I have to say I would like them to be similar enough to be best buds but different enough that baby boy #2 ends up being slightly calmer than his big brother)?

I was out shopping for ideas for Joseph's new bedroom today and came across this oil painting. It honestly brought tears to my eyes - two little brothers.

I am still working on the purchase of it (Rich liked it - not such a fan of the price tag).

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Joseph has been working on his climbing skills for awhile - really he started practicing about 4 days after he started walking (see "Out: Waking In: Climbing" post from May) - but in the last week he has perfected them. I left Joseph in our breakfast nook on the floor happily eating a snack and banging a pot with a ladle so that I could go to the bathroom (something that is occurring at an alarming frequent rate these days) for 2 minutes or so. I came back and saw this:

That would be Joseph sitting on our breakfast bar, about 4 feet above the ground, happily throwing bills and magazines out of my mail basket and rummaging through my wallet. The only way for him to get up there would be to climb on the chair (see slightly pushed out chair above - apparently he also knows enough to push the chair from under the table), then unto the table and climb over the half-wall to sit on the bar counter. I knew I might encounter some trouble when I stopped hearing the pot banging about halfway through my trip to the bathroom. I expected to find Joseph rummaging through cookies and crackers in the pantry. I didn't realize he'd become a certified mountain climber overnight.

So for the next few days, if I needed to leave the room, I would move Joseph into the baby proofed family room. The fireplace and coffee tables are padded, there is a gate to keep him confined, all the electical outlets are properly Joseph-proofed. It was a great plan until I realized Joseph also now likes to climb onto our window seat. He knows enough to pull all the pads and pillows off so we can have a nice hard surface to run along once he gets up there. This wouldn't be so bad - it's only a foot off the ground with a carpeted surface below - except that its right in front of a nice, big glass window. I just have an image of him running, tripping and falling through a glass window. Not good - he's not getting left alone in there anymore.

So we are back to a situation similar to Joseph's newborn days when he had to be held ALL.THE.TIME so he went everywhere with me - including the bathroom. Now instead of screaming while he sits in a bouncy chair for 2 minutes, he stands and screams while pointing at the counter to indicate that he wants to stand on top and splash in the sink.

I guess as much as things change with Joseph, some things stay the same.

No Particular Reason

There is no particular point to this post other than to display this video of Joseph.



It makes me laugh for several reasons. First, his little laugh and baby talk at the beginning makes me giggle. Second, I love the part when he peaks his head around to try and find me behind the camera. We are big into "looking" for things now. It's the cutest thing to watch a ball roll under a dresser and him trying to lean down looking for it. Third, his sudden interest in that nose sucky thing (sorry, the technical name is escaping me at the moment - pregnancy brain) they give you at the hospital is pretty hilarious. This is especially interesting since anytime he has a cold and we have to use it, he fights it quite valiantly and acts like we are murdering him. However, if he himself can stick it up his nose and pretend to suction himself, well then, its all fun and games.

That's all I really have. Hope you enjoy the video!

UPDATE: On a 5 minute drive home from Barnes & Noble with Joseph screaming in the backseat, in an attempt to start teaching him to "work through" some of his frustration, I went deep inside my head to block him out and suddenly "aspirator" popped in there. Yes, the nose sucky thingy is actually an aspirator. FYI - Joseph's tantrum was induced by my refusal to give him a Coke. He then threw his paci, lovey and toy on the floor to show me he was mad, only to get really frustrated that he no longer had his favorite things.

Frustration

I don't know if it's the age or Joseph (well, it's probably a combination of both), but Joseph is having some major issues with frustration these days. This frustration is vocalized through screaming the word "no" a lot. Diaper changes, taking him down from climbing on the toilet and refusing to give him popsicles for breakfast are common triggers to peak Joseph's frustration levels.

Sometimes unexpected things bring out Joseph's frustration levels. One of Joseph's favorite things right now is the train table at Barnes & Noble (This is such a favorite that I can longer drive past this Barnes & Noble unless we are stopping. Somehow Joseph recognizes the building and goes wild if we don't stop to play.). He especially likes the fire station where you can put the trains inside, close the door and then take the trains out the other side. He'll sit and play with that toy for 15 minutes on his own - which is a pretty long time for Joseph. (You just don't want to be a 2 year old who also wants to play with it - it will not end well for you. We are still working on sharing.).

So imagine my excitement when today at Target I found a Thomas the Train set where you can put the trains inside and open and close the door to take them out. I started imagining 15 minutes of quiet time to fold laundry, clean up the kitchen (or check e-mail and watch Oprah) everyday. I quickly realized after we got home, things wouldn't go quite that smoothly. Instead of putting the trains in the station, Joseph wants to put the train tracks in the station, which don't fit. That never goes over well with Joseph (see video below).

If you look really closely you can see the blood vessels in the side of Joseph's neck about to explode as he screams "no!". He was really pissed at that toy....

What tired looks like around here

My child is hyper-active. I mean really, really hyper-active. I often tell friends, play date Mommy's and family members this and I get the impression that they are sort of doing an eye roll towards me inside their head. I get the "Well all kids this age are active" comment a lot - the sort of comment to mask what they really want to say, which is "Clearly you just didn't have a clue what a year and a half old would be like."

Hmmm...actually I did and he is nothing like your kid. How do I know this? Because I have heard you tell me how your kid was so tired they passed out in their stroller on the beach, in their high chair, just laid down on the rug in front of the TV and took a 45 minute nap. Because I have seen your child get tired and ask to be put in your lap, where they sit for 30 minutes, just observing the world around them. I have watched your kid take a popsicle, sit down in a quiet place and eat it. What was my kid doing in those 10 minutes? He was alternating between eating the popsicle and putting rocks in his mouth. He jumped in your kiddy pool and soaked himself. He climbed your deck steps 7 times. Then, when he finished his popsicle, he took the stick and attempted to poke your quietly sitting kid's eyes out with it.

My child has NEVER gotten tired and fallen asleep in his stroller (well not since he was at least 8 months), passed out in front of the TV or his high chair. He is non-stop motion from the minute he gets up until he goes to bed at night (except those ever so brief naps in the early afternoon). We don't read before bed - it's a waste of time. Joseph just gets angry that we are attempting to restrain him on the couch. Instead, we watch while he runs around in circles in the den, falling down and laughing hysterically. We watch him while he takes a plastic bat and whacks the crap out of our throw pillows. We literally take him to his crib at night with his wiley little legs kicking and his little hands grabbing for every possible item he can reach on the way in.

And if you don't believe me, here is a little video proof. This was taken just after his bath, about 20 minutes before bedtime.

Yup, that is how my child acts when he is tired. He kicks the crap out of his father while making insane sound effects. If you still don't believe me that he is hyper-active, you are welcome to come spend a day with me.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Richard's birthday and before Joseph went to bed, he helped us celebrate by singing to Daddy and blowing out the candles on his cake.




Ok, so he didn't so much help, as he tried to climb on the table and attack the cake.


I attempted to corral him, while Richard cut the cake. I didn't have much success.

Joseph does this awesome thing when he wants to climb on the table where he lures you into thinking he wants to sit on your lap. Once he is on your lap, he starts by putting his little feet up on the table and then arches his whole little body to try and get up there. If you take him down, he screams bloody murder.

Once the cake cutting was over, Joseph went to bed and Rich and I spent a romantic evening eating take out Thai food in our bedroom (which was Rich's request for his birthday dinner because I never want to order in Thai). Our TV in our den died last week and the new one wasn't delivered until today. Rich really wanted to watch the season premiere of House - so at 8 pm we were in bed with plates of Pad Thai watching TV. Birthdays just get so exciting at this stage of life.

A Rite of Passage

Joseph undertook a major childhood rite of passage yesterday - he had his first experience licking beaters...

Before a bunch of people get their knickers in a knot, it wasn't cookie dough or brownie mix with raw egg. Nope, just plain old delicious homemade whipped cream (because Cool Whip may be the most disgusting thing on the face of the planet - now Reddi Whip, on the other hand, that's some awesome deliciousness).

Notice how Joseph is still in his PJs? Yup, that's right he got pure heavy cream and sugar at 8 am.

I know you are wondering why I was making homemade whipped cream at 8 am. Well, I can blame that on pregnancy. The day before I had a craving for a favorite childhood treat - Jello Mousse. What is this amazing thing called Jello Mousse you are asking right now. It's normal Jello and before it fully sets (like around the 3 hour cooling mark), you whip in whipped cream and let it re-set for a few hours. Yum...delicious and on Wednesday I wanted it...bad. So off to the grocery store we went for heavy cream and Black Cherry Jello (I recommend Black Cherry or Lime for this recipe - my personal favorites). I never got around to actually making it until Thursday and since it needs about 5 hours to perfect its deliciousness, I had to get started early.

So voila - that is how we get this to this little rascal covered in whipped cream at 8 am.

Blog Name Change Required

I doubt this is coming as big news to anyone who reads this blog - it's been common knowledge with my family for 6 weeks and I announced on Facebook 2 weeks ago and since I don't know anyone who reads this blog who isn't also Facebook friends or is in my family, this isn't earth shattering - but we are having another baby!

Hence, the need for a blog name change. In about 6 months, our little threesome will become a foursome.

Yesterday, we got a sneak peak at our little bugaboo. He or she looked great and even gave us a little wave!

After I showed Joseph the picture below, he babbled something that sounded a lot like "brotha". We'll see if he is right. Both Mommy and Daddy are convinced that little munchkin below has two X chromosomes. While I am excited for the possibility of loading up on everything pink, I have to admit my pocketbook would probably appreciate it if Joseph is correct (although the lack of needing to buy new clothes and nursery attire will probably just up the budget on decorating Joseph's new big boy room - which is currently being planned for an airplane theme). We'll found out in 6-ish weeks whether I am going nuts with pink or airplane purchases! (Don't worry even if it's a girl, Joseph's big boy room will get plenty of attention!)

Aira-pa

I know the title of this post makes no sense to any of you, but it makes perfect sense to Joseph. Aira-pa is how he says "airplane". Sort of a random word to be in his repertoire of 12 or so words, but he's been slightly obsessed with aira-pas lately. Ever since our trip to NY when we spent some quality time in an airport, watching planes take off and land, he's been pretty into them. If we are playing outside and he hears an airplane, he points up and exclaims "aira-pa" enthusiastically.



This enthusiasm over all things aerospace led us to take him to the overlook park at the airport. As we approached the airport, Joseph went crazy in the back seat. He was just pointing out the window saying "Aira-pa, aira-pa" over and over again. Who knew before I became a mother how happy watching an excited little boy through the rear view mirror could make you. He enjoyed the overlook park, although not as much as the car ride. He enjoyed waving hello and goodbye to the planes as they landed.



A video of him watching a plane take off. I will admit at the beginning his love of airplanes is slightly overtaken by his interest in his snacks in his diaper bag. Eventually he regained interest in the plane and watched quietly as it took off.




The other day I also happened upon this little airplane toy at the toy store.



(Porter making a rare appearance on the blog).


Joseph was pretty excited when he saw it so I sprung for the $20 price tag. Once at home, I realized what a difficult challenge it was to get the little passengers inside the plane unlatched from the plane itself. The instructions were of little help.

The bottom part reads "Remark: Retainer not toy then after take out figure. Please give away from child". The toy was made in Thailand - enough said.



Lucky for Joseph we have a lot of travel to and from airports coming up in the next few days. Uncle Jeffrey arrives today from California, Aunt Renee on Friday from California and Grandma and Grandpa on Friday night. Everybody is coming in because we are headed for the beach this weekend! YAY!!!

Byb Bye Ippy

My sister, Kipling, has lived with us for the past three months and this week she leaves to return to New York City where she is a senior at Columbia University. Our time with her has gone by too fast and we will all be saddened to see her go.

For me, it was a pleasure just to spend time with my sister. When i left for college, she was only 8yrs old and I only knew her as my little sister. After 3-months, she is now more friend than sibling. Who knew that we had the same taste in "great music", loved trashy history channel specials about aliens and ancient Egyptians and shared a passion for mocking people?

For Crystal, Kipling was always there in whatever way was most needed. From providing a break from Joseph's no-so-controlled chaos to simply being a friendly face on a rainy day, she always seemed to know just where to help.

As for Joseph, Kipling is his "Ippy"...the person that takes him on walks every night, the person that allows him to jump on her bed even at the most ungodly of hours, the person that gives him snacks (i.e. - teddy grahams) for breakfast and the person who introduced him to milk shakes. In other words - the coolest, most awesome person in the world. While we will all miss Kipling, I have no doubt Joseph will miss his special friend the most.

Kipling, you have become a part of our family in every sense of the world. Our home is now your home. You will always have a warm bed, big smiles and one crazy little guy waiting for you. We hope you return very soon.

Middle of Nowhere

Ok, Ok....I should have posted this a looooooong time ago. We have been home from our trip to the Great North for like 3 weeks now, but we are busy people!!! We have facebooking and reality TV show watching to do at night (I mean Project Runway, Top Chef and the Rachel Zoe Project have all started in the last week - WE ARE BUSY!!!).

So yes, three weeks ago we were in the middle of nowhere at my parents' mountain house. And by middle of nowhere, I really mean middle of nowhere. My cell phone didn't work for a week and there is no high speed internet service providers available. It was pretty much like living in the middle ages (or 1995).

Despite the state of Vermont's inability to welcome in the new millennium, we still had a pretty good time. We had a big family picnic over the weekend. Joseph got to spend lots of time with family he rarely sees. The best part was playing with his second cousin (my cousin's little girl), Renee, who is just a few weeks younger than him.

They had a particularly fun time putting random stuff down the hole for the corn-hole game and trying to pull them out.

They also both got to meet Great Aunt Janice for the first time. She came all the way from Arizona to meet them!

And my cousin Carrie and her husband Justin drove from Connecticut to visit. They look ready for babies of their own, don't you think????

Joseph tried out everyone's cell phone at the party (of course, none of them worked in the middle of nowhere). Great Grandma Conrad's was a particular favorite.

It was a great picnic and we were lucky to not have snow over the weekend. There are like 2 weeks a year when it doesn't snow in Vermont and we just picked the right one (I am only slightly exaggerating).

We spent the rest of the week doing very outdoorsy, Vermonty things (ok when I say "we" I mean Joseph, Grandma & Grandpa did outdoorsy things. I took naps and watched TV). Joseph loved his morning hikes with Grandpa through the woods. They looked for wild animals and picked berries and flowers and did very "big boy" things together.

Grandpa always takes his hiking stick with him on their walks and Joseph wanted his very own. Grandpa found the perfect sized stick to make into a hiking stick for Joseph. He knew exactly how to use it.

We also had dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's neighbors house. He has a very energetic lab named Happy. Joseph was pretty fond of Happy, particularly when Happy was willing to eat the dinner Joseph didn't want to eat. It was a good night for Happy.

And it was a good trip for us as well. We relaxed and spent time with people we love. Joseph loved all the special attention he got from Grandma & Grandpa (and all of his other family). We were very happy to get home though too. After 2 weeks of being away from Daddy, Joseph wouldn't let Richard out of his sight the whole weekend. We would literally scream every time Rich was not visible. Next time Daddy will have to make the trip with us.

New York! New York!

We are back from our 2-week extravaganza up north. It was an action packed 2 weeks...ok not really...but we did get a lot of cute pictures of Joseph being his usual friendly, happy, hyperactive self as he explored new places and got to know a lot of people he doesn't get to see very often.

Given the enormous amount of pictures we (mostly my mom) took, I am going to separate this into two posts. Part I below detailing Joseph's exciting adventures in NY. Part II with lots of pictures from my parents' mountain house in Vermont to follow.

While in NY, Joseph got to visit Grandpa at his office. He enjoyed climbing on his chair.



And the inevitable climb from the chair to the desk:


Joseph unwillingly posed for a picture with Mommy and Daddy before heading to Mommy's 10 year high school reunion (Which was ultra-exciting - note sarcasm - and involved a drunk classmate jumping into the Hudson River and being taken away by the police.) Please ignore my triple chin - it's a rare opportunity to get a picture of our whole family so vanity is being put aside.


Joseph LOVED climbing the stairs at great Aunt Kathy and Uncle Larry's house. He did pause in his climb to make some faces at Uncle Larry.

More fun with great Aunt Kathy & Uncle Larry:

Joseph also got to meet a new friend! One my best friend's from high school, Kristyn, had a little boy just a week after Joseph was born. Who would have suspected as we ran crazy around Rome, Italy together in April 1999 on a school trip that 10 years later our little boys would be running crazy around a playground together (or that we would even be close to responsible enough to be Mommy's to these precious little guys!) Kristyn, didn't you get a tattoo on that trip???

Joseph loved playing at great Grandma & Grandpa Conrad's house. They have a big backyard with a creek in the back - perfect for little boys to get in lots of trouble and really, really muddy!

They also have birds...Joseph enjoyed chasing Dirty Face around the living room. Dirty Face didn't enjoy it so much.

Joseph also visited with Honorary Aunt Jo (honorary because she's not actually blood rated - just my mom's BFF for the last 30 years). Joseph is super excited for Aunt Jo to become a grandma in October when her daughter was a baby boy! Yay - another fun buddy for playing with with on future visits!

Perhaps, Joseph's two most favorite things in NY were some new toys he discovered.

First, the Little Tikes car. Apparently, my parent's neighbors didn't realize they could have gotten some decent money for this thing on Craigs List and instead left it abandoned when they moved out. Score for Joseph!!!! He had lots of fun climbing in and out, standing on the seat and driving with the steering wheel. Amazing, this thing kept him entertained for 15 minute stretches - a major length of time for Joseph to focus on just one thing.

Second, a riding horse! Great Grandma & Grandpa Conrad bought this sweet little pony for Joseph and he was pretty into it. On this particular ride, Joseph got pretty aggressive with his poor little pony's head:

Family Tradition

We arrived safely in NY last Thursday and Joseph has been having lots of fun getting spoiled by Grandma & Grandpa since the moment we arrived. He had all sorts of new toys waiting for him and someone constantly there to give him what he wants. In fact, he has already learned to run to Grandma every time Mommy tells him "no". Grandpa loves giving him big sugary popsicles right before dinner and Grandma always lets him run around naked for 30 minutes after his bath (apparently she is less concerned about urine stains on her carpets than Mommy is).

So far the best part of the trip has been the trip we took to Hoffman's Playland.

For anyone who grew up in the Albany, NY area, all you have to say is "Hoffman's" and a flood of childhood memories is sure to come to mind. The place has been there for over 50 years. It's filled with kiddie rides (carousel, mini-boats, mini-ferris wheel, a train, etc.) and was one of my favorite places as a little kid. I can still remember our parents asking us "Do you guys want to go to Hoffman's?" and nearly falling over ourselves to get into the car. This was especially true because a trip to Hoffman's usually involved dinner at Ponderosa (another Albany establishment) where my brother and I loved the buffet with fried chicken wings and macaroni and cheese.

So on Sunday with Joseph's visit to Hoffman's, it marked 3 generations of our family having fun at Hoffman's.

A picture of my mom on the boats - circa 1962:

And me on the carousel - circa 1983 (I am sporting the cute pink sweat suit and Reebok kixx.)

So when we arrived with Joseph, the place pretty much looked exactly the same as my last visit - which was probably circa 1991. I was hoping to take Joseph on the boat ride since I also had a picture of me on the boats and was looking forward to posting 3 generations of photos of our family enjoying the boat ride. Unfortunately, parents can't ride the boat ride....which basically limits Joseph from riding it until probably age 8. A hyper-active little boy and a ride that involves water are not a good mix. So instead Richard started him off on the balloon ride (which actually is new since I was a kid).

Mommy & Joseph tried out the Jolly Caterpillar (and if Jolly Caterpillar had lasted 30 seconds longer, Mommy might have lost her cookies).

Grandpa took Joseph on Mommy's favorite from when she was a kid, the Helicopters. Mommy was a little nervous to take Joseph on this one because it goes up and down and Joseph can be pretty wriggly sometimes....

After 3 whirly, twirly rides, we decided to slow things down with a ride on the train. The little train takes 2 trips around the park. Joseph had enough of the train after about 1 1/2 trips. It was a little slow for him and he had already seen it once before and we had all we could do to keep him from climbing out.

(That last picture is from the first trip around when Joseph was still curious as to what was going on. Have I ever mentioned my kid has zero attention span?)

The train let us off right near the Bumper Cars and the big kids in the group (i.e Richard and my Dad) decided to challenge each other - my Dad won. (Although, please note that Richard claims there was something wrong with his car).

To end our trip, we took Joseph on the Carousel. He was pretty amused by it when we first got on. However, he started to lose his patience while we waited for the ride to start (unfortunately for him some lady had to come around and make sure everyone was properly buckled on their horse - and Joseph just really didn't have time for that). Luckily, his mood perked up once the ride started.

In this last video, Rich was getting Joseph to ride "no hands" and he was loving it. You can hear his giggle on the video.

The Carousel wrapped up our visit to Hoffman's. Surprisingly, Joseph was not interested in partaking in the tradition of eating some cotton candy when we left (yes, we actually tried to give this hyperactive child pure sugar). I am sure this will be the first of many visits to Hoffman's for little Joseph!