Attack of the Bunny-Bears!!!

As many of you know Joshua LOVES his bunny-bear (his little Ty beanie bear that is dressed in a bunny costume)! It ALWAYS goes to bed with him, sometimes takes rides in the car with him, accompanies him around the house and ALWAYS goes to church nursery with him in case he needs a special friend. His original bunny-bear was a gift before he was born, but since he has formed such a bond with this little stuffed creature we have needed to purchase "back-up bunny-bears" so the original could take a bath in the washing machine. For a while now Joshua has taken to sucking on bunny-bears ears - YUCK! It's something that soothes him, but man does bunny-bear stink! So, I decided that we needed a few more bunny-bears so that we could have a fresh one everyday instead of a smelly one! Now Joshua has 6 bunny-bears!!! Thankfully at this age he doesn't really see a difference between bunny-bears and we are able to switch them!! Just thought we'd share this picture of Joshua surrounded by all his bunny-bears!

Lazy Sunday

Today was one of those laid back and relax kind of days. Both Cory and Joshua seem to have colds (Cory's being nastier than Joshua's). Anyway, with a yucky nose and a slight cough I didn't want to put Joshua in nursery today at church and expose all the other kids because I HATE when sick kids are in there and give their germs to him! So, we ran to our favorite Target this morning to get some decongestant and a few other items and then spent the rest of the day being lazy. This afternoon Cory decided to add a shelf for more storage in our mechanical room so in order to keep Joshua out of his way and keep him occupied I decided to make cookies with him. We mixed the dough up and then rolled it out to cut out hearts. Joshua loved trying to roll out the dough and had a blast cutting out cookies - he ended up with his own little section of dough in which he just kept pushing the cookie cutter down and picking it up. He also enjoyed putting sprinkles on the cookies. By the end it looked like Joshua was wearing more of the ingredients than were in the cookies, but hey the big thing is that he had fun! He was also a big helper when it came to clean up time - he loves playing in water so he was in charge of rinsing the dishes. He also had a good time eating the fruits of our labor! I only captured a few pictures and none of Joshua actually making the cookies because I feared that if I had a camera in my hands that would be the time he would dump something or knock something over.

Being a helper by rinsing the dishes.


YUM!!!!


The finished product.

Welcome Samuel!

Joshua got to meet his third new cousin since he was born! Amazing that in his 21 short months of life he has helped welcome three cousins into the family - Allison, Owen and now Samuel! Last night we went to the hospital to visit Toni and Paul and their new son, Samuel who was born Thursday night. I figured it would be pretty interesting to see Joshua's reaction to the baby and it was. Joshua is getting a bit jealous lately when I am holding Owen or Owen is crawling on me. Joshua has even tried pushing or pulling Owen off of me (something he knows I don't go for and he can't get away with). So, last night when I was holding Samuel we saw either one of two faces the scowl - get him away look or the sad look - your my mommy, not his. It was quite funny as you can see from the pictures below. I think he was very happy that baby didn't come home with us; Cory and I were too - we aren't quite ready for another child yet!

First Session with Early On

This morning was Joshua's first real session with Early On. His interventionist came over with all kinds of toys. She played with Joshua and while playing with the toys incorporated all kinds of language play too. She tried to cue (show where the letter sound is coming from) Joshua and have him look at her lips while trying to speak and he took really well to it. Joshua was able to say fish and Owen with the help of a cue. During our session we both thought we heard Joshua say "want this" and "help me", but neither phrase was spoken very clearly and neither phrase was said more than once (but both of us heard it so at least I know I'm not crazy). The interventionist was pleased with Joshua's progress since she had seen him a couple weeks ago. Not only is this resource helping Joshua, but I'm learning a lot as well!

A Bit of Progress

One of the goals we have set for Joshua with Early On is to try to have him gain a word a day. This is not an easy task for a child who doesn't really want to talk. However, over the last week and a few days Joshua has added the words puppy, happy, papa (for grandpa), nana (for grandma), na (for no) and Josh (It's easier to say one syllable rather than 3). We aren't exactly up to a new word a day, but it's still great progress for Joshua!
Also I put together a book of words for Joshua to learn (see picture). It's a simple book with just one picture and word per page (I photographed things around the house for the pictures). We try to "read" this book a couple times a day. This book was a suggestion made by the Early On specialist. Joshua hasn't picked up any of the new words in his book yet, but I only made it a couple days ago. I must remember that time and patience will equal progress!

Two Peas in a Pod!

Joshua and Uncle Phil love basketball!

These two seem to be so alike already!!! We got Joshua a basketball to take to the pool on Friday nights to shoot hoops with and boy oh boy this kid hardly let the thing out of his hands or his sight for about a week! He was obsessed!!! He still loves his basketball, but at least now he can set it down and actually play with something else for a while. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he gets this love for basketball from his uncle Phil, who from the time it was physically possible to hold a ball he did and he still loves to throw and bounce a ball around all the time! I've been warned that this obsession will probably never cease, or at least Phil hopes it won't. Phil already has great plans for this little boy! Good thing someone will be able to teach him how to play basketball! How thankful I am that these two adore each other!

Snow Fun!

Today was a snow day!!!! This meant both Joshua and I got to sleep in a bit and play together (just the two of us) today! Once Joshua got up this morning and spotted the snow on the deck I knew we would have to head outside to play. So, after lunch I bundled Joshua up in his new snowsuit (a steal of a deal at Old Navy this weekend for $7.50) and we headed outside. He has been out in the snow before (last year), but this is the first time he could actually play in the snow! He got his shovel out right away and tried that out and then I took him for a ride in his sled. He loved all that, but what he loved most was just sitting in the snow, throwing it, playing in it and of course eating it! He entertained himself with the snow while I shoveled the entire driveway. We spent over an hour outside and Joshua could have spent even more time, but a nap was needed! Check out some photos from our fun in the snow!

Update. . .

As you have read before, we are working with a program called Early On concerning Joshua's language delay. A coordinator from the program came and did an evaluation on him in December and found that he was delayed in language and a bit in gross motor skills. Today this same lady came back. She noticed that Joshua's language had improved a bit. He is actually verbally imitating people and will try to say something in order to get his needs met. He has about double the words in his small vocabulary than he did at the time of the evaluation a month ago. With this being said he still has a language delay. We also want to be proactive and get him help now because by the time he is two he should have a vocabulary of 200 words - he has four months so we need to get a move on it! So, today I officially signed him up to be part of the Early On program. Goals were set for Joshua in the area of language development as well as ideas given. We will be taking part in some playgroups that Early On offers and a specialist from Early On will be coming to visit Joshua and work with him twice a month for an hour each time. So glad we have this resource available to give our child the best start in life we can!

Ice Cream, Ice Cream!!

For Christmas Joshua received this awesome ice cream truck playhouse (Pottery Barn Kids) from our friends the Ensch's. It is the coolest playhouse out there! I actually had my eye on it when it first came out in the spring catalog last year, but the price was WAY too much for a playhouse (somewhere close to $200). My friend Kim found it at a Pottery Barn outlet store and picked it up for Joshua, thinking I would have fun playing in it too (boy does she know me well). Joshua has been having fun running in and out of his ice cream truck as well as serving up food through the windows. I have a feeling that lots of ice cream and other goodies will continue to be served up for many years to come in this playhouse. Thanks to Matt, Kim and Ally for such a fun gift!

Fun Friday Nights!

Last week we discovered that East Kentwood High School has a new aquatic center that at times is open to the community for a small fee. I checked online and found out that there was a recreational swim on Friday nights from 7-10pm - perfect for us! We figured our little fish would have a ball swimming with us in a big pool. We were surprised when we found there was not only a big pool, but a pool for little kids as well! There was even a little basketball hoop at the kiddie pool that Joshua loved! Our little fish had a great time! So, we headed back to the pool tonight and this time we met Shawn, Erin and Owen there. We spent over an hour and a half swimming and playing in the water and both boys had a ball! Joshua even brought his own basketball to play with. I think we know what we will be doing on Friday nights the rest of the winter!

Playing in the fountains in the kiddie pool with Uncle Shawn.

Owen had fun with a noodle.

Making a basket!

Joshua likes to dunk.

It is January right?!?!?!

It sure doesn't feel like it is January at almost 50 degrees and sunny today! Joshua and I just had to go out and enjoy this beautiful day while Owen took a nap this afternoon. It was nice to be able to wear our spring jackets instead of our winter gear! I think Joshua is a bit confused about what season it is because he kept going between playing with his toys and playing with the shovels and his sled! He even dragged his sled over to the grass and plopped himself in it expecting a ride! I'm sure we looked odd as I pulled him around on the grass. All I can say is I hope that thing is easier to pull on the snow than it is the grass! We appreciate this strangely spring-like day, but perhaps some day a bit of snow would be fun to play in too. Ahhh, Michigan weather - you never know what to expect!

Racing Cars

Joshua has really gotten into vehicles. He loves "driving" them around on the floor, furniture, people, anywhere! Cory and I talked about getting him a race track for Christmas, but decided he may be too young. I remembered playing with a track at my grandparents house when I was a kid and told Cory about it. So this morning when we dropped by my grandparent's house Cory asked if they still had the race track. He and my grandma headed upstairs and lo and behold came back down with two boxes full of race track stuff. She had kept all my uncles' track pieces and super charge sprint set (basically a little garage that thrusts cars through and down a track faster than a hand could push them) from when they were young. We took all the stuff home and spent the afternoon setting up tracks and playing. I am not sure who had more fun, Joshua or Cory! Hopefully my uncles don't mind that Joshua is playing with their old toys (we'll keep them safe until you have grandkids to use them)! For all those on my side of the family the video will bring back some great childhood memories of playing with this toy!

Watch the video