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....