All About Joseph

Here I am to sit down and try to recap what's going on with our sweet Joseph so when our next one is this age and someone asks, "What was Joseph like at this age?" I can say, "I don't remember... I'll go read the blog." :)

We are amazed at how much Joseph says. He is constantly talking. He is up to saying 4and 5 word sentences. He started talking a little before Samuel did, but he's progress just incredibly. I have done a horrible job documenting his progress. I can't even remember when he started 'really' talking. I haven't written in his baby book in months, and haven't even mentioned some of his pediatrician appointments on here as well.

Some people, mostly non-parents have no idea why this is of importance to mothers... and I wish I had some grand explanation. But, all I have to say is that, when you reach 50 and your kids start asking you when they did certain things because their kids are doing x,y or z, you can have some idea because you've written a few of them down. Especially if you have more than one, they all seem to flow together.

"How many pictures can you possibly take of your children?" And the answer is... NEVER ENOUGH! They change so quickly and it all becomes a blur if you don't document it. Our children are such a gift, I don't want to forget anything. They fill our lives with so much joy and we learn so many lessons each day having them here. I never want to forget the lessons they are teaching me. They make us want to be more like Jesus every single day.

Anyways... on to Joseph...

His favorite things to sleep with are his bink(blanket), Curious George, and his babydoll. (Ever since he knew he was expecting a sibling, he's been obsessed with caring for babies. We have a couple from when I was a little girl and also one that Samuel got when we were expecting Joseph so he could practice. That seems to be his favorite one).

He is obsessed with mulk(milk). He doesn't like water than much, and those are the only two things we offer him to drink. So, we have to water down his milk with water just so he doesn't end up having 6 glasses of whole milk a day! The kid obviously doesn't need to be gaining any weight.

He's huge! This kid was once the kid that the pediatricians were worried about and recommended to me that I start adding olive oil to his food to fatten him up. And it seems like just with them mentioning that idea he started to gain weight overnight. We have no idea what the magic was, but he hasn't looked back. He still weighs more than Samuel. Not by much, but he's still winning in the weight department.

He loves his family beyond words. He is so incredibly lovey. He gives kisses and hugs non-stop. Whether its his brother, Mom, Dad, Gamba, stuffed animals, pictures in books, he doesn't care. He just loves to love.

He loves to read. His very first words when he wakes up in the morning (after "Mommy/Daddy out crib downstairs") are "Mommy/Daddy book me". His favorite books are Hush Little Baby and his Busy Bible.

Joseph loves to wrestle and play chase. Two things that have been around for quite awhile and I think will stay for a long time. His newest favorite game is the 'underwear game'. It's where Andy and the boys all get 'clean' underwear and run around the house playing chase and then hit each other with their underwear. No head shots, though. They have to sit out in the penalty box if they do. Then every so often they start to wrestle and then continue running around again. Good thing our downstairs has a continuous path around it. It's a huge selling point for a home if you have kids. We'll never consider a house without one if we have the choice :)

He's getting more curls by the day. As soon as I stopped nursing our boys they grew hair immediately. And Joseph's has been coming in dark, which I'm head over heels in love with.

This kid loves to get his picture taken. Unlike his brother he will stand there and say 'cheese' for 10 straight seconds if that's how long it takes me to get a good shot. He's such a good sport. Hence the 80% more pictures of Joseph than Samuel.

He loves penguins. I don't know why, but he does. It's adorable.

And since he's a boy... he obviously loves ducks(trucks). Big ones, little ones, wooden ones, plastic ones, it doesn't matter! Even if their wheels don't move, it doesn't matter to him. He's easy to please.

Joseph is obsessed with eating. As if his figure doesn't hint at that fact. He is still in love with bananas. He easily eats 4 a day some days. He calls them "baanananans" We ask him to say "banana" just so we can laugh practically on an hourly basis.

This kid is as tough as nails. He can fall down and completely wipe out and hardly lets out a whimper. It's amazing. Guess the extra padding really pays off :)

I'm really bad at writing out how a kid actually pronounces words, but some of his pronunciations of words are completely worth documenting. I'm going to have to have Andy help me.

Stay tuned.