Joshua

John called and said he was coming home for dinner, so Joshua and I went outside to wait for him.  We sat on the front steps.  Joshua calls them his "thinking chair" (from Blue's Clues).  It reminded me of how quirky he is and how much he makes me laugh, so I thought I'd write about a few of his "things."

(he LOVES hats)

He is learning to bargain with me:  "Just one more chocolate chip cookie, Mommy," he says, holding a finger up in front of me.  "Just one more," he keeps reassuring.  Sometimes I say okay because I can't resist.  Usually I say no, and it breaks my heart.

This morning he got an M&M for going potty.  But the one M&M turned into five or so because they were stuck together.  Melted together, I guess.  He came over to me and said he didn't get a blue one.  Always curious about what he's up to, I said okay.  I held out the container.  He changed his mind and took a yellow one.  He ate it.  He looked at me.  "I don't like yellow," he said, making a face.  "Joshua likes blue."  So he took a blue one.  He looked at me again.  "I don't like blue," he said, and reached for a yellow one.  He at it.  Made a face.  "I don't like yellow.  Joshua want blue."  I ended his game.  He cried.  I tried not to laugh.

(getting an M&M snack at Christmas time)

He used to wake up every morning and say "POTTY"...and potty he would go.  Now he wakes up and says "train table!!"  John tries to put him on the potty.  To change his diaper.  To get him dressed.  Joshua kicks and screams and cries because he needs to get to his train table.  He doesn't want breakfast.  He doesn't want lunch.  He just wants to play with his trains.

When Joshua plays with his trains, he decides which trains will be on the track.  The ones that are not must be on their sides, on the table.  If I reach out and pick on up, setting it back on the wheels, he reaches out and knocks it over again.

He has a sticker book.  "Joshua can do it all by 'self."  He doesn't like me to help him peel the stickers off the pages.  But he couldn't do it all by himself at first.  Now he can.  I don't know how it happened.  But when he takes them off, sometimes they rip.  That upsets him.  So I watched him one day and noticed him about to rip the legs off a cow.  I reached over to help.  "Joshua can do it all by 'self."  I thought quickly.  "Joshua," I said.  "We can do it together- teamwork."  He contemplated my offer, then reached for my hand and pushed it over to the sticker.  "Everybody," he said.

He has a favourite blankie that he holds to his face and breathes deeply into it when he is tired or just wants some comfort. 

(Joshua and his blankie after a nap)

All the Thomas trains have numbers.  Thomas is one.  Percy is six.  James is five.  Toby is seven.  So when Joshua counts, he often counts by trains:  "Thomas one, Edward two, Henry three," etc.

(Me and Joshy on his birthday trip to the aquarium)

Joshua's favourite foods are oatmeal, waffles, chocolate chip cookies, carrot sticks, grapes, frozen raspberries and chicken.  He can't stand "hammyburgers."  But he likes the meat and the bread seperate.

He can now go up the stairs with no hands to assist him.  This freaks me out every time.  I stay close behind him. 

Ever since Joshua learned how to talk, he has repeated what he is saying over...and over...and over...and over again...until the person he is addressing his words to repeats him.  And not just repeats him, but repeats him exactly as he is saying.  He is now trying very hard to put sentences together, so it's a great opportunity to help him with his grammar, since he wants to hear us say back everything he says to us.

Much of what Joshua says is no discernable to anybody but John and me.  When he was first saying words, he couldn't say "Grandpa."  Then one day he heard my mom calling him from upstairs.  "JIM!"  Joshua heard her.  "JIM!,"  he repeated.  And "Jim" it was for a long time.  When talking about him, I'd say, "Grandpa Jim."  Eventually Joshua was able to say, "Papa Jim," and Papa Jim it has been ever since.  His great-grandfather, who we started calling "Grampy," is now Bunky.  It's going to stay that way.  Bunky likes it.

(with Nanny and Bunky)

Joshua is learning about emotions.  If I'm having a painful day, he looks up at me with his chin down to his chest and says, "Mommy sad."  Then I muster up a smile for him and he breaks out with his sun-shiney smile and says "Mommy happy!"  He has a scared face, a sick face, a grumpy face and a surprised face, too.

He LOVES music.  His favourite song is "I Like To Move It" on Madagascar.  He seems to prefer that genre of music overall, though neither John or I listen to it.  He came with his own musical preferences.  He dances.  He sings along whenever he can.  He holds the DVD player in the van and repeats the "Thomas the Tank Engine" song over and over, singing along. 

John brought his guitar out the other day.  Joshua ran around shouting "GEE-TAR, GEE-TAR," with great enthusiasm.  The he made up his own song.  "Fire truck, an-gook (ambulance), fire truck, an-gook, P'EECE car!!"

I love that little boy so much.

(his new smile)