Josiah, My Big Helper!

Josiah was having fun dressing up the other day and I captured one of his funnier moments here with his Wall-E shirt, his clip-on tie, a fireman's hat and his Lightning McQueen sunglasses. His new thing is to put on the sunglasses and his Yankees hat and sit and either watch TV or play his Leapster 2. He thinks he is pretty cool when he does that! Another cute thing is he puts his glasses in his hat and sets them on the kitchen counter "just like Grandpa does."

We have really been working with him to help out more around the house and it is really starting to pay off! In the mornings, I have been having him make sure his room is clean before he can watch his favorite TV show, which starts us off right and at nighttime, David and I both encourage him to clean up the toys in the living room. He sometimes resists helping, but we find creative ways to motivate him and it usually works. He has also been my little runner, getting me things that I need or taking thing away to various locations, and that has been really helpful in allowing me to stay seated and rest.

He has been paying more attention to the order of letters and numbers now and points out letters and numbers that he sees more frequently. The other day he brought over the magnetic letters B, S, and U and tried to spell the word "bus" by himself. His first attempt was actually "bsu," but having him sound it out, he figured it out. Then after watching Sesame Street and seeing that the number of the day was 17 and the letter was E, he later found those magnetic letters and numbers and brought them to me to show me. I have also taught him how to spell the following words: no, on, men, fun, sun, dog, God and others like that with the letters. He still isn't too interested in writing letters, but the fact that he is interested in spelling with the magnetic letters is exciting to me as that is definitely progress in the right direction! He has always been one to try things only when he is ready and then he is a real go-getter, so I am still waiting on this writing thing!

He has been loving playing his Leapster 2 and he has this "Rattatouie" game that he plays where he cooks various dishes by following the recipes. Out of the blue last night before bed he said, "Cream puffs and crepes are from France Momma," (he said France like "Fraw-nce" in an accent). I laughed at his cute little attempt at a French accent. He is certainly growing up and it is giving me hope to see the "light at the end of toddler-hood." It will be a neat new adventure for us all to explore together for sure!