New Jersey Adventure Aquarium!!

I am having trouble with my computer and pictures, so I just decided to start trying to get them on here little by little. So here are pics from our aquarium visit with Selma (great-grandma or GG) and Bob (grandfather or, usually, just Bob). This was our first day in Philly, during our April vacation to Philly, NY, and NJ. More to come . . .

Our very favorite part was probably watching the hippo! We, along with a huge group, watched him/her for atleast 20 minutes. It seemed to be performing for us and even managed to knaw on some of the display. Fascinating for all.

Easter Fun!

New goats!

March 09 Pics

I finally was able to get pictures off my camera. Here are some from March:



Using the potty! (He's going to love this picture when he is older.)

Helping dad fix stuff

I am really excited that he can enjoy some craft-type activities now. This was our first time making play dough:

We also had a wonderful visit with Mary at Rokeby Musuem. This was especially fun since I spent a lot of time there when I was young.

Springtime walk:

Boy cousins cuddling:

We are now headed away on our big trip, but when we return I will post traveling and Easter pics.

"I fix it mommy"

Two days ago I posted about how much Joseph is talking. I wrote that he had mastered two word phrases and was just working on putting three words together. Now he is working on four words! Just an example of how quickly things change. (This is what he said after he broke the knob to a drawer).

Talk talk talking

Joseph now talks soooo much! Well, at least compared to a couple months ago. In the last few months he has had a huge spurt in his language development. It’s kind of a funny thing. I find it amazing; near miraculous to witness. But of course it is really completely everyday. We all did it at one point. Both miraculous and mundane I guess. Either way it is really fun to see.

He basically tries to say every thing! Of course there are some caveats: in a new situation he is shy and clams right up and I do a lot of translating since it is pretty hard to understand. Actually I think he has been saying and still says a lot more then I realize. It's just hard to understand. He does funny things like over-enunciate the end of words, especially “k” sounds like “truCCCKKKK” and "milKKKKKK.” He says “outdies” for “outside.” He recently really started putting words together on his own. Just things like, “my backpack,” “drive tractor,” “goats out,” “sorry mommy,” “hi daddy,” “outside please,” “my turn” etc. . . The most complex he gets are "where football go?" and "no want night-night!" He also likes to count to 10 and sing his ABCs (obviously just parroting this sounds, but still cute). Recently he has gotten really into singing “Happy Birthday to You.” Though it sounds something like, “appy bir-day ew you.” It's an exciting time, though we have to start being more careful. Remember, he will repeat anything. And we have to spell things out so he doesn't know what we are talking about. New things every day! What fun!

Sorry about the snow in these pictures . . .

I am really behind on posting pics and my computer is not cooperating, so for now all you get are some old February favorites. More "springy" stuff to come. These can remind you how far we have come in just a month.


Sledding party!

Dancing with great-gram Nora

Every visit we end up getting down.

Chores :-) (This is actually a picture of him playing outside by himself! It is very exciting that he can now do this.)

More sledding. These are all serious hills by the way. Joseph loves it!

SLEEPING.THROUGH.THE.NIGHT.

BIG BIG BIG news here: JOSEPH IS FINNAAAAALLLLLLLY SPEEPING THROUGHT THE NIGHT. This is one of the most exciting things to happened to me in a long time. It has been two years (Joseph is 22 months old, plus the last sleepless months of pregnancy) of interrupted, sporadic, unpredictable, not-enough sleep. Of course it has only been about 2 weeks at the most that Joseph has been sleeping all night and I (always skeptical) am pretty sure it will not last. And that I am jinxing myself. But maybe . . . hopefully . . . . . . . .Sleep is a really, really great thing. Everyone is happier when baby sleeps-baby and momma. If you are a person who gets lots of sleep, be thankful. Hopefully I don't sound TOO bitter and overdramatic, but sleep has definitely been one of my biggest challenges as a new mom. It's kind of funny because I have tried and tried all sorts of things to get him to sleep, but this time I didn't really do anything special. All of a sudden it just happened. Please, please keep it up Joseph!! I am headed to bed and hoping it is my alarm clock that wakes me up. SWEET DREAMS!