A Myriad of Hats

This has been quite an enlightening week. Joseph has been growing leaps and bounds when it comes to new words and new things that he’s doing. One thing that I don’t care for is that he is perfecting his climbing skills. The rest of the things are pretty cool. He’s getting more interactive with the T.V.: repeating things, saying things along with characters, etc.

He also started doing something else this week that was pretty sweet: he has started to sing along with things. It started last night when he randomly started singing along with me as I was rocking him before bed. I had a hard time finishing the song (a Primary song) because I felt the Spirit so strongly. I have a feeling that he could feel the Spirit as well. He also sung along with the hymns in Sacrament meeting today, as well as with part of one of the songs that is on one of his favorite shows (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood). Hearing his sweet little voice singing (granted it was a bit of gibberish mixed with a word here and there) just melts my heart. I love that he loves music!

Another thing he did this week was demonstrate that he can count pretty high. With some assistance, he can get to nine (sometimes ten). He’ll usually leave out one number or another, but I still think it’s pretty cool to hear, “one, two, tee, fo, fibe, sis, sebin…nine…” (the two he normally leaves out are “eight” and “ten”, though he’ll occasionally get those and leave out others).

I can’t even keep track of new words this week: chair, bear, hug, back, see you soon…it goes on and on.

And now for this week’s pictures:

As the title of this blog post suggests, there have been a few hats this week. I didn’t get them all in pictures, just these two. It was pretty funny to hear him saying, “Hat!” and realize that he had devised his own hats. 🙂

Paper towel hat
Paper towel hat
Bowl hat
Bowl hat…you probably can’t tell, but he is in the process of saying, “Hat!”

One of Joseph’s favorite things to do is climb up on the couch with me when Jeopardy is on. He really likes the music and the applause. He gets really excited when he hears the music and says, “Jep-de! Jep-de!”

Watching "Jep-de" (Jeopardy)
Watching “Jep-de” (Jeopardy)

He has also discovered a few things: 1) he can get the toys that we are currently storing under the guest bed out and play with them (or try to climb into them…he must still remember that he used to be able to sit in the walker) and 2) he is fully capable of climbing up into the glider…he still hasn’t figured out how to get the glider to move, though he tried really hard.

Rediscovering old toys
Rediscovering old toys
So proud of himself for getting up there
So proud of himself for getting up there

On Saturday, we went out to eat to celebrate Father’s Day. Joseph was pretty excited about getting to color (the restaurant provided crayons and a coloring page), and he loved eating a bit of my dinner. He’s getting really well at eating table food. His current favorites are chicken nuggets, toast, Honey Buzzers (the Malt o’ Meal equivalent to Honey Comb cereal), and scrambled eggs. He also likes to eat noodles, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms (cooked), green beans (canned), cheese and goldfish crackers (which we have to limit because out his lactose intolerance), ground sausage, and pretty much anything else we give him.

Eating chicken at Applebee's
Eating chicken at Applebee’s
Trying zucchini and mushrooms (he already knows he likes chicken and potatoes). They were a hit!
Trying zucchini and mushrooms (he already knows he likes chicken and potatoes). They were a hit!

This morning, we celebrated Father’s Day by giving Paul Joseph’s present (he had already chosen some stuff to upgrade his computer with, so what I gave him this morning was just from Joseph). I made a simple card out of card stock which said “Happy Father’s Day” on the outside. On the inside, I wrote a message from Joseph (expressing the different things he liked to do with Paul) and had Joseph “sign” it (he got to hold the pen as I helped him write the letters in his name). I then let Joseph color it. It turned out pretty cute. We also got Paul his favorite chocolate and some beef jerky (two things he would consider “splurge” items, so I thought they might make for a fun and inexpensive gift).

Quality time
Quality time on Father’s Day

After a relaxing morning, we went to church as usual. Here are my boys right when Paul dropped Joseph off for nursery (he does the drop-off since I have to scoot to Primary pretty quickly).

So serious
So serious…you’d think he doesn’t like nursery, when in reality, he LOVES it 

After church, we came home and had dinner (roast beef sandwiches using crock pot roast beef; one of Paul’s favorites). We started to go for a walk, but after a bit it just was too warm (I still have to get used to the fact that it stays warm pretty late into the evening here) so we went home and relaxed on the couch.

Mommy and Joseph
Mommy and Joseph

In a bit of unrelated news, I finally got brave enough to turn on the sewing machine, figured out how to thread it (thank you, YouTube tutorial videos…after literally hours of trying to use the manual, I got it figured out in just minutes. The top threading wasn’t a problem, but the bottom threading was), and made my first project: a little drawstring bag (to hold some little books that Joseph has) that can go in the diaper bag for church. Joseph was super excited when he saw what material I had chosen (Thomas the Tank Engine). Every time he sees the bag, he says, “Thomas, Thomas!”

The bag I made for his books
The bag I made for his books

All in all, another wonderful week in south Texas. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Fun

True summer has hit San Antonio. Temperatures have reached the upper 90s, humidity hovers around 40%-60% (though occasionally it reaches into the 80% range…we try not to go out on those days, lol), and the thunderstorms have been rolling in like crazy. I do like to watch them. They fascinate me (from a distance, of course). I love hearing the rain hitting the roof and the thunder rumbling, knowing that I’m safe and snug in my bed and that my plants are getting free water. 🙂 One thing I have to get used to is the fact that rain does not equal cold down here (at least not in the summer months). We’re probably going to be living in shorts until October, lol. One of my favorite things about the thunderstorms is the beautiful clouds that we get before and after. Here’s just one example:

I love the unique shapes
I love the unique shapes

Our week as a whole was pretty great. Joseph accomplished three big things this week:

1) He is using only sippy cups now…no more bottles! He’s been drinking out of cups for meals, but has wanted bottles for before nap and bed. Now, he just gets cups for everything. It really makes bedtime easier because he drinks his milk before coming upstairs to get his teeth brushed (something else that he’s doing a lot better at, too. He actually is letting me get at his front top teeth now. He isn’t super happy about it, but he is willing).

2) He didn’t have to leave the chapel during Sacrament meeting at all today (well, except to get his diaper changed before going to nursery, but that’s a definite need). He happily played with toys, ate snacks, and sat on our laps (it helps a little when we’re able to get into a pew as opposed to the metal chairs in the back since he’s kind of corralled in) the entire time. I feel like I was able to get so much more out of the talks and such. It was a great feeling that made the rest of the day great as well.

3) He got his summer haircut! It was getting kind of long, and he would get pretty hot at times, so we decided for a buzz cut. He didn’t like the process at all (he’s really not into things that buzz and vibrate), but I think he’s much happier now that he doesn’t get as hot. Here’s a before and after shot (sorry that the after one is so blurry…he was trying to get my phone…that blur is his little hand trying to grab at it):

Before
Before…also trying to reach for the phone, lol
After
After

The first time we took him to the park after getting his haircut, he handled it much better. He didn’t get super sweaty and I think he had a better time in general because of that. He loves going to the park. There are almost always other kids there (which he loves) and he loves to meet new people and play. Here are some shots that Paul got from our last trip. Joseph doing what he loves a whole lot: swings!

Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Woosh!
Woosh!

One thing that has developed this week was that Joseph has shown an even stronger attachment to what I call his lovey. It’s kind of a cross between a stuffed animal and a blanket. It has a stuffed animal monkey head and then soft fabric instead of a body. There have been a few days this week that Monkey has had to accompany him almost everywhere:

Has a firm grip on Monkey
Has a firm grip on Monkey…don’t even THINK about taking Monkey!

Moments of Awesome this week:

We were able to get our washer fixed! It apparently needed a new lid switch and a new motor. Luckily, it’s under warranty still, so GE sent out a repairman to fix it at no cost. *whew*

Joseph has added a few new words/phrases: “Oh Toodles” (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse , “truck”, “dinosaur” (quite garbled, but we could figure it out since he was holding his toy dinosaur at the time), “Ah-ha!”, “toast” (his current FAVORITE food), and “book”.

I finally got brave enough to pull out the user manual for my sewing machine. Thanks to a lot of pictures and some help from Paul, I was able to get it all set up and the needle threaded. I’m excited to start learning how to do a few things (first on my list is a small bag that can go into the diaper bag which can hold some small toys for Joseph to play with at church).

We had a fun event yesterday. It was called Granny’s Attic. Basically, everyone (in our Relief Society) brought stuff to the church that they no longer needed and were able to browse through stuff and take stuff home. Kind of like a rummage sale without the sale part. Everything that was left over at the end was picked up by a truck and taken to a donation center. I was able to find some cute things to decorate my kitchen, a really good cook book, and some books, stuffed animals, and toy trucks for Joseph. It was really fun!

I’m finally feeling like I’m getting settled here. I’m making a lot of new friends, our ward has been really great, and I’m finally starting to get brave enough to go places without plugging the address into the GPS on my phone first. It’s the little things, I suppose!

 

 

 

 

 

June is Here!

It’s hard to believe that June is already here. The year is almost half over and we are swiftly approaching our one-year mark of moving to San Antonio. It’s crazy to think about. It’s also crazy to think that Joseph will be 2 soon…where does the time go?!

This week was a great one. On Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day a few different ways. We relaxed for most of the morning and afternoon. It was really nice that Paul had the day off. Joseph loves having Paul home.

A favorite past-time
A favorite past-time

Then we had some friends over for a BBQ. I love the fact that we have been able to make some new friends out here. The kids played in the back yard and in the sandbox ( a HUGE hit…) and we just had a generally good time.

Tuesday brought an exciting day…we got our new storm door! Now I don’t have to worry about rain getting into our house when it storms really bad. It also lets in a LOT of extra light, which is nice. It even has a deadbolt, so we can consider it an extra security feature, which is always nice.

Trying to break outta the joint
Trying to break outta the joint

We had a few morning rainstorms this week. Joseph likes to sit on the bench by the window and watch the rain. I wonder if he’s going to be like I was when I was little. I’d watch raindrops sliding down the window, pick two that we close to each other, and see which one beat the other one in a race down the window.

 

Trying to wipe the windows clean from the recent rain
Trying to wipe the windows clean from the recent rain

The rest of the week kind of just flew by. Our washer stopped working (it’s not spinning, so the clothes come out sopping wet), but it is luckily still under warranty, so it shouldn’t (in theory) cost us anything to fix it. They are supposed to come tomorrow, which will be great! Also, my awesome visiting teaching companion let me come over to her house (she lives in our development, which is handy) and use her washer so that I didn’t have to wring out clothes by hand. What a blessing!

On Saturday morning we headed out to Old Town Helotes for the monthly farmer’s market. In one of the antique stores, we found a bench for Joseph to use in the bathroom so that he can reach the sink to wash his hands. He liked it so much that he pitched a mini fit when we left it in the bathroom, lol. Saturday afternoon we decided to take a short trip to Sea World to see the dolphins and sharks/aquariums. We didn’t stay too long because is was WAY too hot. I’m going to have to get used to the fact that 89 degrees in Texas is WAY different than 89 degrees in Southern California. The humidity was almost 60% yesterday. Yucky…

Ready for an afternoon of fun
Ready for an afternoon of fun…sunscreened up, a hat, and sunglasses (he wanted the hat and sunglasses off after about 20 minutes, lol)
Ready and rarin' to go
“Why aren’t we GOING yet?!”

After our rather warm afternoon, we went out for our date night dinner to IHOP. Joseph is getting better at eating table food, so it’s a lot easier to eat on the go. While waiting for food, we found many ways to entertain ourselves.

Stirring the ice in his cup
Stirring the ice in his cup
Wants to keep playing
Wants to keep playing

After dinner we went home and gave Joseph a bath. He seemed to feel a lot better after that. He went to bed early last night and slept past 7 this morning, so I think he was worn out! Today was a really great day at church. Joseph is slowly getting better at sitting during Sacrament meeting. We only had to take him out twice today so that he could get his wiggles out. 🙂

New Words/Phrases/Funnies:

Mouse (in reference to Mickey Mouse…which he is suddenly IN LOVE with. He discovered Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel, and now that’s what he wants to watch all the time…he’ll look at me and say, “Mouse?”)

Cookie (in reference to wanting to read his current favorite book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie)

Snow (must’ve gotten that one from the TV because we sure don’t have any snow here!)

Sorry, sorry, sorry! (whenever I accidentally bump him, or if I do something on accident…on occasion he’ll use it if he does something.)

If I try to give him a peanut butter sandwich, he doesn’t want it…but if I give him two slices of toast with peanut butter, he’ll gobble it up.

Momma and baby boy
Being this little boy’s momma is a new adventure every day!