New Toys from Grandparents Carpenter

Josiah just received a big box of toys and things from Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter. It was very popular for him to come home and find all these neat toys to play with. I was picking David up at the train station this day and the traffic was HORRIBLE and and I didn't remember to bring Josiah a snack and so he was very grumpy on the way home. While I fixed him something to eat, he played with his new toys. This was a very nice distraction.

This picture is of Josiah saying, "OW" and hitting his hand with the hammer. That's what hammers say around here anyway because when Josiah whacks me hard with a hammer I say, "OW," and who wouldn't...it hurts! Anyway, it is pretty funny now because it is almost like he thinks that is what it is called or what it says (like how animals say things).

They got him this toy where you take these little cars and they go down the ramp. He experimented with putting some of the bigger cars onto the track, but discovered it just wasn't the same thing.

They also sent the toy that he had so much fun with when he came to visit them in South Carolina (as Anna Grace has outgrown it). It didn't have the same effect in that he didn't dance back and forth to the tune it played, but he still enjoyed it as well, using the hammer to hit the little shapes and such. Thank you Grandparents Carpenter for all the nice toys! They were and still are very popular!

Indoor Sliding Fun

We got a slide for the outdoors that I ended up bringing inside for the time being, so Josiah can play on it even if it is raining. Momma is not much of a outdoors woman, so if I can avoid being out there I usually do! Good old western Washington rain keeps me inside most of the time. For the longest time, he didn't really want to slide or if he did, he would go down backwards (like he does going down the stairs).



Now that the slide has been inside for a bit, he has really learned how to go down it properly, but I would still classify him as a cautious slider. I have one picture below of his "cautious slider" face and another cute one of him showing how he puts his feet first down the slide now.

Big Boy Bed

Last weekend I just decided to convert Josiah's crib into a toddler bed. It says on the manual that you can do it as early as 18 months and since he is 19 months now I decided that now is a good of a time as any. Also, it is safer this way ultimately because if he tried to climb out of his crib he could really hurt himself because it would be a longer fall.

The second day we had this set up when he took a nap he accidentally rolled out of the bed onto the floor which woke him up with a start. He wasn't too pleased about that, but since then we have had no incidents. At night, we say, "Josiah, climb into your big boy bed," and he happily climbs up and grabs his blankie and blankie bear and goes to sleep. Sometimes when he is not ready for a nap time he will play in his room for a bit (he can't open doorknobs yet) but then soon after I put him in there it is silent, so I know he sleeps.

Woodpecker Madness

Kitty corner to our house we have this lovely telephone/power pole that some woodpeckers decided to make their holy ground shall we say. In fact, they worked so hard (two of them) at making so many holes in the pole that the local power people are getting ready to replace the pole. I talked to them the other day and they said they have never seen one get this bad. We will be without power for a few hours in the morning sometime when they do it, but they will let me know when it will be. It was kind of fun to see these woodpeckers at work albeit work that could endanger our house. Anyway, glad they will be putting up a new pole.

Baby Update

For all you fans of the blog, I am sorry I have been so lax, but I will try to keep it updated again weekly as I did before. I guess it is good to know people enjoy it, since they bug me when there is nothing new. Heh heh!

So Josiah has been growing in leaps and bounds these days. He has lots of new words that he uses regularly such as: car, uh-oh, pretty, hi, what’s that?, and signs the words milk and more. He does more things of course, but I can never remember them all. I just recently started putting bubbles into bath time, which he thoroughly enjoys. This picture was one of the first days I put the bubbles in and he was having a blast. I was giving him bubble beards and he was trying to eat them too and then spitting out the bubbles afterward. He does this funny thing now where I will say, “Josiah, show me how you swim,” and he lays on his belly propping his head up in the bath and kicks his feet. And he also likes to take the captain (the little people dude from his boat) and hide him in the top of the boat and I say, "Where is the Captain?" and he opens the hatch and he floats out. Sometimes he escapes before Josiah is ready and Josiah lets out a frustrated "AHHH" for that.

We have had quite a bout of weather here recently, and so Josiah and I have been bundling up every time we leave the house. We had quite a few inches of snow and then it stayed cold and kept freezing every night and so we had lots of ice as well. The schools were closed quite often and it appears many of them will be going on well into July if this keeps up! Unfortunately, I didn’t get Josiah out for snow pictures because he was sick all through that time and so was I and thought it best not to get him out in the cold just to get some cute pictures.

Last Sunday, I made a big batch of black bean soup and so was in the kitchen chopping, chopping, and chopping vegetables. Josiah wanted to get in on the fun and kept trying to get me to pick him up and let him stir the soup or look at what I was doing. So finally I set up a mini-kitchen area in the living room by the TV and gave him two bowls with a spatula and some cheerios in the bowls to move back and forth and stir. I of course had to come a pick up the cheerios off the floor no less than 4 times, but he was having fun and it occupied him for a time.

Tribute to a Friend

During my piano and flute lessons, I have a babysitter come and watch Josiah (so as to minimize distractions and keep him occupied). We were referred to Elizabeth who has been Josiah’s sitter for quite a few months now. She told us in November though that she and her family were moving to be closer to her Dad. He had a job on the east coast for a while and was seeing if he liked it before moving the whole family out. They were sad to move since they have a lot of family in this area, but it will be nice for them to be reunited with their Dad. Before they left, Josiah and I went over to her house to get a picture of them together and to chat a bit as well. I met her Mom and got to know her a bit also. Elizabeth comes from a family of 9 kids (she is the 6th) and she is quite a neat young lady. Josiah and I were sad to see Elizabeth go as she has been a great sitter for Josiah and a friend to me. Goodbye Elizabeth! We will miss you!