Monday, December 28, 2009

First snow, holiday prep, and CHRISTMAS




First real snow! WOOHOO! Joseph was so excited.
He had been asking every single day when it was going to snow.



Helping to decorate the tree.



Helping to make candies for presents. He was actually very into this. He did this entire tray by himself--which is a lot of work since he had to unwrap a whole bag of hershey hugs.



I decided to throw this in to "round out the picture." Things are certainly not always organized and going according to plan. In fact, I am always hurrying around and tidying things up when I take pictures. Here is what things are like more often. Messy. Joseph was having snack when I ran upstairs to get my phone. When I returned he was standing on his chair, eating hummus with his hands, and sharing with Mischa. Hmmm..


Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's with cousins Bri and Jacob.



He certainly knows what presents are about now!


Christmas was a bit of a fashion show for Joseph. Here he has new PJs on while trying out his new spiderman bike from daddy.



Pirate costume from me. This is what he always said he wanted from Santa.



Movie time. The one calm time ;)

Back to action. Dancing with Bri.


Poor grandma and her broken leg.


Checking out a new book with second cousin Charlie.





Second prime rib feast of the day!


More dancing! Can you tell Patricia is having fun?
Later, someone--Charlie?--seems to have hijacked my camera. But I will skip those pics. Probably save them for blackmail.


Christmas at the Wells.


SOOO much fun hunting monsters with Carly.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

November Pics that were never posted

Another Snake Moutain Hike--this time with grandpa, mommy, daddy, and great unle Yvonne.







And a few Thanksgiving pictures (I find it pretty hard to take pics during these big indoor get-togethers). These are also in a strange order, but I can't seem to fix them.

Cards and Legos for hours the day after Thanksgiving.





Thanksgiving meal at the cabin.


Bri and Jacob!






November 28th--Dandolions on our lawn!

But, don't worry, snowy and Christmas pics to come . . .

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Overheard

"I'm awesome."

R: "Joseph, you need to sleep in your bed by yourself, because you are a big boy."
J: "But, but, you get daddy with you!"

"I'm not a mind-reader!"

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? . . ."

"I'm going to the store to buy boobies."

R: "Remember Joseph, you can be a big boy and use the potty today."
J: "Then I ride the school bus and go to school?"

"You a poopy-butt." (This was kind of funny until he said it to gram at Thanksgiving, now I tell him that no one wants to play with him if he talks like that. That stops him.)

"You have pretty hair on you momma."

About our kitties Mischa and Margo, "He's my brother and she's my mommy." Also, "I want to be a kitty!" "I have fur," "I want to be naked like kitties!" and, "he's not talking to me!"

"I'm frustrated mommy."

He asks all the time, "who bought that?" about everything, "what's his/her name?" about everyone, and "whose car is that?" about lots of cars.

"I want that and that and that and that and that . . ."

R: "Can you go see if the christmas tree needs water?"
J goes and stands in front of the tree and asks, "Do you need water?" He then tells me that it does.

"It's next Halloween!" He really, really loved Halloween and is very much anticipating next years festivities. For both Thanksgiving and Christmas I have had to convince him that we are not dressing up as monsters and are also not going trick-or-treating.


J: "I go trick-or-treating."
R: "No, Joseph, it's not Halloween it's Thanksgiving. No one is going trick-or-treating."
J: "I go trick-or-treating by myself!"

Sunday, December 6, 2009

2 and a 1/2 going on 9 (or 13)

  • If you ask Joseph, "how old are you?" He will answer, "9." This started at Nora's birthday celebration last summer when Joseph learned that his cousin Jasper was 9. Then at Thanksgiving when someone asked him how old he was, he changed it to "10" for some reason. I'm thinking because Jasper was standing right next to him . . .
  • He has definite ideas about what is "cool" or "not cool" and will certainly let you know his thoughts. (Transformers, superheroes, trains, all thing Halloween and scary, and anything that shots or has to do with sports is cool. Sweaters are not cool. As is anything "for babies." He also likes to let you know what "is for boys" (or girls); of course I am trying to counter this, but cultural indoctrination apparently starts young.
  • He loves to follow the big kids around and try to do whatever they do. Climb, play sports, games, etc. . .
  • When he is with his best buddies and they have a game going I can barely get his attention. I have to call him over and make him give me a hug goodbye at daycare and when I pick him up he doesn't give me a kiss until we are in the car and away from his friends.
  • If you tell him to do something, you can be pretty sure he will do the opposite. A lot of the time I just trick him into thinking it is his idea.
  • He has many strategies to get what he wants. Take turns asking each parent (or whoever else is around). Ask in super-cute voice. Whine. Demand. Throw a tantrum. Just like a preteen or teenager whatever is going on in the moment is THE.MOST.IMPORTANT.THING.EVER. He also knows who to ask for what (for example Brad gives in more on sweets and I am more likely to negotiate about clothes).
  • If you ask him, "what did you do in school today?" He will often answer with the long parent-dreaded, "nothing." (Luckily, Sarah is very good about communicating with parents what they have done throughout the day, so I can probe and get more out of him.)
  • He is very concerned about what he wears. He would wear "baseball shirts" everyday if he could. Last night we had a whole fashion show when he received a number of great Phillies shirts from GG (great-grandma). He gets ideas about what "matches" that are very important to him. And if something is, "not cool," he certainly can't be seen in it.
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