Back online, and boy, do we have some stories to tell!

I love having the internet, and will not take it for granted ever again.  Spending the last month and a half traipsing to the library on base whenever I have the chance has not been very satisfying.  We have someone who helps with Jacob a few hours a week, a German woman named Beate, and I use the time she is here to grocery shop without kiddos and use the internet.  The library opens at 10 and I have to leave at 11:30 to pick Joshua up from Preschool, so that didn't leave a lot of time, even if I could devote all 1 1/2 hours to internet time.  

So much has happened in the last month, and I have to write at least the topic headings so I will remember to write each story in the near future, now that I can blog at leisure.  First, the second car pickup from Bremen.  Bremen is in Northern Germany, and with construction, rain, detours, etc., it was an eventful trip to say the least.  Next is Joshua's chat with Mater, then Jacob at the library, the new trampoline, and the list goes on.  I haven't even touched on attempts to shop, buying a sand box, and Joshua's love of peeing outdoors, even in 30 degree weather.

We are back online, and I hope to have some serious updates over the next few days.  Woohoo!

Movers are Coming, Oh, Yeah!

Even with my ridiculous delay, we have some success on the shipment front! We have our walk through, key turn over at the house tomorrow (Sunday), we move in on Monday, the first shipment of unaccompanied baggage comes Tuesday, FMO is coming with the items we will be borrowing for the duration of our stay here on Wednesday, and our big shipment of all our other household goods comes on Friday.

Unaccompanied baggage is about 1000 lbs of items we thought we would need quickly. Items that would be shipped on the plane and would get here quickly. This has the boys beds, linens, the TV and other electronics, some pots and pans, Joshua's bike and other toys we thought were important, etc. FMO will be delivering items we couldn't bring from the states but will be necessary here. A fridge, washer and dryer, some closets, etc. And our big shipment is everything else that didn't go into storage. What an exciting week we have ahead of us!

Packages, and another Move In Date Change - for the Better, and Misc!

Packages -
While stationed outside the US or away from family and friends, packages from home are a very welcome diversion. We eagerly look forward to "mail time" and check our box frequently if we know something is on the way. And sometimes we are surprised by packages we didn't know were coming. Even things I ordered online feel a bit like Christmas. It is just comforting for some reason. And having friends and family send us cards, letters, and packages reminds us that we are loved and missed in a very tangible way. And it is amazing how timely these little remembrances can be.

The first package I got - from Karissa - came when I just felt like a big crybaby. I was having a hard time coping with sad, distraught babies and with a husband who was never home and the temporary nature of a borrowed car and living in our friends' home. The package comes, with all sorts of "I thought of you" goodies, and suddenly I remember I am remembered, and I can focus on who I really am. Full of JOY, full of HAPPINESS, and able to cope because I know God will not give us more than we can handle.

Then last Saturday we had a particularly bad day. We learned we had lost the pregnancy that we had so eagerly anticipated. Brad was on call, so I had to drive myself home from the hospital. We checked the mail as we were leaving, and there was a card from Briana. See what I mean about timeliness? I am having one of the toughest days of my life, can't even go home to cry in the arms of my sad husband, and I have this sweet, warm, full of uplifting thoughts and full of love letter from a friend who is thinking about us. And sweet pictures her son drew for Joshua and Jacob. I read the card about 20 times, trying to help myself focus on blessings and conquer the sadness that threatened to overwhelm me. It helped, it really helped, and having such a tangible expression of caring helped a lot.

And last week we got a package from Amy. My sweet sister always manages to figure out a way to show us how much she cares and misses us. It included cold weather clothing for Joshua, long pants in size 4, long sleeve shirts, a hoodie, etc. And then we got another package a few days later of the raspberry chipotle sauce we love, as well as some red plum jam (my absolute fav) and a new flavor of sauce we hadn't tried, mango ginger habanero. Fischer and Wieser, based out of Fredricksburg, TX, makes the best sauces. Good for grilling, pouring over cream cheese and making into an appetizer, as dips for chicken tenders or even for mixing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for a salad dressing. But, it is not always easy to find these sauces and particularly not here. So she sent us 8 jars of sauce and 3 jars of jam. The box was pretty heavy, but they had carefully wrapped everything, and only 1 jar of sauce broke. Brad and I tried out the mango last night - amazing! So nice to have this little "taste" of home.

ANOTHER Move In Date Change -
We are now moving in on MONDAY! Woohoo! And it turns out all our stuff may be here already. Apparently, I was supposed to call when I arrived, not wait for them to contact us. I do remember being told that at my move briefing, but for the life of me couldn't recall it when I arrived! So, we could have had the drop off scheduled already. We will do what we can, though, to have it scheduled as soon as we can. Nice to know that it might already all be here. We are that much closer to having it all together!! More or less. I can't wait to reintroduce Joshua to his bike. He is so excited! And I think when he is surrounded by his toys and our familiar things he will begin to feel like he is home.

Joshua has been sleeping in a twin sized bed since we arrived here. He really seems to like it, and it makes me think he won't be so excited about seeing his toddler bed again. We are thinking about buying him a bunkbed, one with a full sized bed on bottom and twin sized on top, if we can find it. I have seen metal versions of this here, so they must have wooden ones, too, right?

Both boys have been sick this week, but they are on the mend today. Brad and I had a bet about what Joshua had. Brad bet he had parainfluenza. I bet he had anything else. Turns out, we were both right. He has parainfluenza and the rhino virus. Luckily, no H1N1 as suspected. So we either both won the bet or we both lost. I am going with we both won!!

A Change in Plans. Again. *sigh*

We have the Pilot! Yahoo! The boys were very excited and we celebrated with some pizza at Pizza Hut that they barely touched because they are not feeling very good. And a little worrisome is that it turns out one of the ladies at the baby shower this weekend has popped positive for the Swine flu, and with our boys symptoms there is a chance they have it. We are swabbing their noses and getting it checked out today. Mostly because Brad is betting Joshua has parainfluenza and I am betting he has anything else. We like to bet and the test will let us know what he has. We have never really been worried about the Swine flu, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious and at least find out what they have. And if there is a chance I can win a bet, well, all the better!

So we have had a change in plans. The house won't be available Saturday, after all, so we are not going to be able to move in until Tuesday the 28th at the earliest. Not news I was expecting or hoping for, clearly, but it is just a weekend, right? And since we are going to a fun festival with some new friends, hopefully it will fly by. Assuming kids are well. Hoping the kids are well.

The Move Date, the Car, and the Unaccompanied Baggage!!

So, this coming Saturday is M DAY! The current renters of our house will be moving out Thursday and Friday, so Saturday it is ALL OURS! Our move in date. I can hardly contain my excitement. Our own home again, each boy in their own room so that I can finally let Jacob just sort out his sleep issues again. A backyard for the boys!! We are headed to Toys R Us this week to buy a sand box and a trampoline - we need these as soon as possible!! And did you know there was a Toys R Us here? Crazy.

There are a few problems, though. We aren't sure if we will have internet immediately, and when we do get it we may not have speed much quicker than dial up. Apparently satellite is an option, so we are looking into that. Not sure how I will survive without internet!! All that to say, we may be even MORE out of contact after Friday.

Today we are going to pick up the Pilot. It arrived on Saturday but with Brad working so much and other things going on, we haven't been able to get over there. I am especially excited about Joshua seeing it again. He has been asking for "our car" for awhile, and frequently asks when we are going to give Mr. Sean back his car. (Sean is a co worker of Brad's who had a second car he loaned to us. God is consistently providing for us!) So Brad will come in a few minutes to pick us up so we can go get the car.

And our first round of household goods will be here Saturday as well. That includes the crib and toddler bed, bedding, boys clothes, some essentials like towels and kitchenware, etc. Brandi and Kate came by the Wednesday before the movers came and helped me sort out all I would need to have quickly delivered and they were very good at picking out what I couldn't. So, I am eager to greet our first delivery! Brad is happy because it includes the TV. I think the boys will be glad, too, although the portable DVD player has been wonderful.

So, the next day to look forward to is SATURDAY!

Scotland

Was AMAZING. The company - Karissa, Gregor, the kids, Terri and Ray, and our hosts Catherine and George - was gracious and kind, helpful and friendly. The food - YUMMY! And the accommodations - perfect. I will blog more on it later, when I can find the download cable to add some great pics of the castles, palaces, beaches, villages, and yes, Thomas the Train. The boys had a fabulous time with their friends Nolan and Keira, and I saw my sweet little men reemerge. They were fun and happy and didn't break anything! And Karissa's kids were their usual happy, sweet, fun little selves. Leaving them again just about broke my heart. It is like they are my other children.

Brad seemed to enjoy himself, too. He was at ease with everyone there. They are really like a second family to us, now. He finally got a little sleep, he read a bit, he played Chinese Checkers in the agonizingly slow way anyone who has played strategy games with Brad would recognize, he went for walks, played with the kids,etc. It was great watching him just take it easy for a bit. No need to answer pages or the phone (well, not much. He did get a few work calls, but not many.) He ate some fabulous meals, and particularly enjoyed the Beef Wellington and, like me, the lavender creme brulee.

The weather was much nicer than I expected. I guess I thought it was going to be really cold. It wasn't hot, or even warm. It was more like long sleeve t-shirt weather, so it was wonderful. There was so much to do within walking distance of George and Catherine's home and with perfect weather we enjoyed taking advantage. We didn't venture out in the cars more than 3 times - to Thomas the Train, to the palaces and castles, and for me to get my haircut! We didn't have to fill up the tank of our rental car and it was considered "full" when we dropped it off! We caught a break there since gas was so expensive. We walked to the main village of S. Queensferry several times. There was a fabulous view of the two bridges from the front yard, and we were able to get close enough to the train bridge to watch "absailers" - people dangling from the bridge on wires, sort of scaling the braces of the bridge. It was like rock climbing a bridge, I think. Fun to watch, and looked more fun to do than bungee jumping!

I will post pictures as soon as we find our upload cable.

Scotland, Here We Come!

When we found out we were going to be stationed in Germany, one of the first things we did was book a trip to Scotland. My friend Karissa is married to a Scotsman, and they make the trip back at least once a year, if not twice. They already had their trip booked, so we booked ours during the time they would be there. This weekend, woohoo!!

Karissa and Gregor were an amazing support after Brad left for Germany. All my friends in California were spectacular, really. But this post is about the trip to Scotland, so I will focus on that!! When Brad left, I had a great deal to do - take care of the boys, work with the movers, take cars to be shipped overseas, pack for TX, etc. I ended up staying with Karissa and Gregor since the movers took all our essentials a little less than a week before we left. It made my life much easier in that I could run all kinds of errands and have help with the boys. Karissa and Gregor cooked meals for my kids, gave them baths, loved them when they were sad, dressed them, changed them, ran errands for us, took us everywhere we needed to be (including an hour away to drop off one of the cars for shipment) etc.

One of the most difficult things about leaving California was saying goodbye to this family. Nolan, Karissa and Gregor's son, is Joshua's best friend. Yes, he is only 3, but the distinction is very clear in his mind. He loves Nolan very much, and the thought of separating those two weighed very heavily on our hearts. And then there is Keira. Keira just turned two, and she and Jacob have very much a love/hate relationship. But love absolutely is the dominant emotion. I think "Jacob" was one of Keira's first words! And then there is Karissa. Very much a kindred spirit, she is my "soul sister" and I miss her terribly. And Gregor. Who couldn't miss Gregor? Amazing at pitching in without complaint, he really filled the gaps for us when Brad had to leave. Taking me to pick up the car, building boxes to ship stuff to Brad, always willing to give rides to the airport, watch the kids, etc. etc. etc. Is it any wonder we are anxious to be reunited with these friends? And come tomorrow, we will be. YAHOO!

Part III - The Pickup

Given the somewhat disconcerting dropoff, I had no idea what to expect with the pick up. What a relief, though! Joshua was a happy, sweet preschooler when we got there, happily eating a muffin. He apparently cried all of two minutes once taken upstairs to play and get control of himself and had a fabulous rest of the day. Of course I was at home worrying and worrying, but he was fine. Whew! Another day in the life.

On a very happy, fun note, we received a nice package in the mail from my friend Karissa! It had some Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf coffee, small packages of creamer, a fabulous coffee press travel mug I have been eying for a while (I don't think she knew, though - she is just intuitive like that, lol!), and some clothes. WOW! What a nice surprise. And I will be making my coffee, um, now. Yea for packages from home! Thanks, thanks, thanks Karissa. I am about two feet further away from the brink of tears thanks to that thoughtful gift. Makes me miss her all the more. Scotland is only two days away.

Part II - The Unsuccessful Dropoff

Today was not so fun. I really, really screwed up. Here it goes. Joshua was not so enthusiastic today. He ate his breakfast, but was pretty upset about having to wear underpants to school. He didn't want to wear anything under his jeans. Particularly no underpants. (I will attach the video of him telling me all about it. Funny.) He also didn't want to meet "new friends". He didn't want to see the new Emma, he wanted to see the old Emma (his cousin from Keller, TX). And he wanted to see old friends, particularly Nolan and Dylan. So here is where I screwed up. On the way to school I explained to him that in just TWO days he would be seeing his friend Nolan. He was so excited! I calmly explained that he will go to school today, then sleep tonight, then go to school tomorrow, sleep tomorrow, then when he woke the day after tomorrow we would get on a plane to Scotland and see Nolan, Karissa, Keira, and Gregor. ("Gregor at work?", "No, Gregor is in Scotland with Nolan." "I want to go to Scotland." "We will, day after tomorrow. We will get on a plane to Scotland and see Nolan." "I want to get on a plane with Nolan." *SIGH*)

We get to school and Joshua is very excited. He says to me, "Nolan at school." And I immediately realize why he is so excited now. I explain, "No, Nolan is not at school. He goes to a different school." At this point, we are walking up to the door. "I want to go to different school with Nolan! I want to go to a different school!" He is yelling, parents and toddlers and teachers all around. I quietly explain this is his school, and he begins crying, telling me not to leave. I take him to the bathroom, then to the room where his teacher, Ms. Amy, is leading a well behaved, sweetly cooperating group of toddlers through songs. My child is crying loudly. And getting louder. They tell me to leave, that they will call if he doesn't calm down. So I go to the parking lot and stand there, holding Jacob, and cry because I can still hear him wailing. Last update, the teacher had taken him upstairs to play and to give him a chance to calm down. It has been 45 minutes and no call, so I assume he stopped crying. But this is not a good day so far and I am a sad, sad mommy.

Joshua's First Day of Preschool, Part I

I was very anxious about today. I actually had nightmares about getting Joshua to school late. In my dream, I was driving. I took a corner too fast, had to off road it over some construction (New Shocks!! I remember thinking.) and then somehow I was separated from Brad and Joshua, had to take a highway where the police were doing a huge bust of about 100 people, causing traffic delays. I finally made it to Joshua's school an hour late and didn't recognize him. Brad had dropped him off, I guess. Weird dreams, but lets you know the anxiety I was having. So last night I was determined to have him in bed early. We had some Thai food for dinner, saving the planned meal for tonight because Brad got off late. The boys had chicken satay, then baths, and Jacob was asleep by 8. Joshua finally headed to bed at 8:45, and didn't wake to come to our bed until 6:30. I woke at 7 to begin preparing for the day. A cup of coffee, then go get Jacob, then begin breakfast. I woke Joshua at 8:15 with a "Hey, Jacob, would you like an M and M?" Joshua was out of bed like a light. Two M & M's and eggs/cheese/avocados later, it was 8:48 and Brad was at the door to take us to preschool. Joshua ran right in, and seemed very at home in the nice play yard out back of the school. When it was time for us to leave, his face looked a little frantic. I gave him a very big wave, his face lit up with a smile and he waved enthusiastically back. And now I am at home, Jacob is napping, cupcake surprise is in the oven, and I am trying to hold back the tears because I miss my little golden boy and I want him home!!

But, I am a big girl, right? And he is having a good time, right? And this is what is best for him, right? So here is a cute little interview we took of him on the way to school. His answers aren't scripted, clearly, but it sure was fun. I stole this idea from Erin Cutshall and am going to try to interview him each year on the first day of school. Should be a fun catalog of Joshua time.

Jacob Loves Yogurt

Just because I finally figured out how to post video directly to my blog. Fun! Jacob can eat his body weight in yogurt, and will do so if we let him. He ate 6 - yes, 6 - containers of yogurt in less than two days. And that is me limiting him to 6. So, I am going to have to finally bite the bullet and make my own yogurt because this is getting seriously expensive. But, he is so cute when he is eating it, how the heck can I resist?

What the Boys Have Been Up to...

So I was working in the kitchen when I heard the boys playing in the other room. This is what I found!! What fun it is to be a mommy to my two boys.

In Germany Now!

We have been in Germany now for two weeks as of today. We are finally adjusted to the time change, finally. The boys are happy and literally Joshua bounded out of bed, joyfully, gleefully, shouting "yea!". That was a very nice way to wake up. Particularly since it was before 8:30. I was getting a bit worried that he wouldn't be able to wake for school. His preschool begins tomorrow at 9 am. If this morning is any indication, we are in good shape! We were told we would need two weeks to adjust to the time change, and that looks about right.

The past two weeks have been an amalgam of emotions and behaviors. It is interesting to watch the kids adjust. This is the first move we have had where the boys were affected so strongly. Joshua in particular. He would go from happy, sweet, affectionate boy to out of control, crying, monster. There were definitely moments when I thought I would lose my sanity. And this time has definitely brought home the concepts of routine and consistency. Even in these situations, it is possible to have consistency. Primarily we worked on getting the bedtime back to normal - gradually but systematically. This meant on Day 1 the kids went to bed around 11 pm German time, but 4 pm Texas time. Joshua woke at 2 am for the first 3 nights, for anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. We tried to limit naps to an hour, but let them sleep in for the mornings. Then it was 10 pm, then 9, etc. Last night both boys were asleep by 8 pm. And while Joshua did wake at 3 am, he just came into bed with us and fell right to sleep. I put him back to bed and that was that! Jacob still wakes asking for milk, and then needs a diaper change for leaking through his diaper because of the milk, but we are gradually weaning him from that, too. I didn't put him to bed with milk, I just gave it to him in the middle of the night. Better, right? *sigh*

So far, we have been "out" to the pool four times, a park two times and on base at Ramstein to the commissary, the BX and to the new mall. The mall is very nice. It even has a Cinnabon, which I LOVE. There is a nice little play area off of the food court that the boys love. Joshua in particular loves the little coin operated basketball goal. He gets a lot of help from any kids present in the area, but he doesn't mind and has a ton of fun. It has also become a wonderful reward for just about ANYTHING! Now that I have a driver's license - yipee! - we can walk to where Brad works to pick up the car. It is a bit of a walk, a little over a mile and uphill, but the boys don't seem to mind and I can pretend I don't! We pick up the car and then can drive to any of the MANY AWESOME playgrounds at Ramstein or to the pool. The boys just love the pool and it is fun for me, too, so we bought a yearly membership and hope to go often.

Germany is beautiful, a bit chilly nowadays, but beautiful. I can't wait to explore more, particularly other parts of Europe. Life, as always, is an adventure!

The California Condo...

We have lived in Pasadena now for almost 2 years.  It has been a wonderful experience, much better in many ways than we ever anticipated.  The house was one of my highlights - I loved making it ours. Here is a video of the place "before", "during" (more or less) and then following is the "after". Lots of video, but kind of fun to see the transition!

Jacob and Thoughts on My Life.

It is hard to watch carefully as Jacob does his "new" things. He is quietly going about his day, doing all the latest baby extraordinary things, and we are so busy living sometimes that I forget to notice. It is particularly difficult because Joshua is also doing new things all the time that we want to notice. I can't seem to make note of each one's particularly fabulous moments every day. But, I have to try.

He is a wonderful walker, and lately has begun trying to figure out how to jump. He will stand there concentrating and give a little bounce. He loves the trampoline and thinks he is jumping even though his feet don't leave the ground. He has also begun trying to jump from his little chair onto the ground. Not easy to do if you still don't bend your knees when you jump!!

One thing about Jacob that strikes me is his cautious nature. Anybody who knows Jacob knows him to be a big, burly little guy, but to also be extremely careful. When my girlfriends and I gather with our children at Karissa's house, we never worry about Jacob and the stairs. We never really have. We watched him once or twice attempt to go up or down and knew we didn't have to worry. He attempts the same stair 6 or 7 times until he KNOWS he can conquer it, then attempts. If there is a curb he wants to go down, he literally turns around, gets on all fours, and scoots backwards over the curb. Beginning about 3 feet from the actual drop off. And until this past week, he was terrified of swings. Hated them, wouldn't go in them by choice, and if you did force him in, he would claw at you and pitifully moan until you picked him up. He is finally adjusting to swinging through lots of prodding, but it has been a challenge. He is just not much of a risk taker.

He has begun trying to talk, and his vocabulary is pretty good even if not always very clear. He loves to try to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "ABC's" and joins in whenever he can on whatever else we sing. He repeats words all the time, and is really trying to figure out this verbal world. He blows kisses and points to his nose, and loves to clap and dance to any sort of beat.

Jacob is also one of the happiest kiddos around. He is quick to laugh and smile, and loves to play silly games. If he is upset, silly noises are enough to bring him out of it and make him happy again. He makes a wonderful trilling noise with his tongue - it is amazing, and surprisingly loud, particularly during church. He loves his pacifier, but more often than not is just holding it sideways in his mouth, not using it to suck. Just more of a comfort, I think. He goes to sleep easily, but still wakes at night. He loves any toy or object that makes noise, pops up, stacks or goes into another. He loves his plastic piggy bank and coins and puts the coins in the slot over and over. He also loves to play with Joshua's cars, my cooking utensils (which I frequently find strewn about the kitchen floor) and throwing things away. Anytime I can't find a shoe, or socks, or hey, the can opener, I can look in the trash can. That of course ensures frequent trips to take out the garbage.

He has such wonderful moments. He is cuddly and will snuggle right into you. He loves to be held and will sit contentedly on your lap as long as you can handle it. He also pitches the greatest fits. I know it sounds crazy to include that in his wonderful moments, but if you look at the video you will see why it is such a moment.

Jacob is more than we ever dreamed. I remember how cautious we were about having a second baby, worried about it detracting from Joshua, worrying and wondering if we could ever love another baby like we do the first. And I know all parents think the same. But we needn't have worried. I don't think we do love our babies the same. It is different because you have a different relationship with each one. I love both my boys so much it is about more than I can comprehend. And I don't love one MORE than the other. It is just different. And Joshua hasn't lost out on anything through having a baby brother. I believe his life is more complete and fun and happy and joy-filled because Jacob is a part of it. Watching Joshua be a big brother is a wonderful moment I get to have each day. If he has a graham cracker, he wants Jacob to have one. If Joshua gets two jelly beans for going peepee in the potty, he thinks Jacob should get some, too. What more could I ask?

Being the mom of these two little guys and the wife of my husband is such a privilege. I know how lucky, how blessed I am and I am trying very hard to pay attention and not take it for granted.

What to do...

I have a huge plan of action for the week. I am DETERMINED to clean out the office, create a budget, and get at least one more room painted by Sunday. Today has been very productive along those lines. I picked out paint, cleaned up the living room and dining area, and have begun sorting through the office. I am excited about seeing so much progress. So for the rest of the day I will work for at least another hour in the office, straighten up my bedroom, and clean out the boys' bathtub. FUN! At least they are all big ticket - you see a lot of result for your effort. My favorite kind of work! I love to see progress.

Christmas

It has been difficult finding time to celebrate our own personal family Christmas here at the house. We were in Texas the week before and the two weeks after the 25th, so we decided to celebrate our little family's Christmas once we returned. But, with Joshua so sick, it was put off another week until we finally found a day when Brad wasn't on call!

The boys woke up before Brad got home from work (again, on call last night). I had covered with a sheet all the open presents such as the chairs, Joshua's bike, and Jacob's ride on toy. They didn't even notice it - really. It was a huge towering sheet in front of the tree, and they didn't seem to even see it!! We watched CARS (of course - that is a daily ritual now.) then both boys went down for a morning nap. Brad came home while they were sleeping, and we finished the Christmas preparations. The boys woke, and we took tons of pictures (with Brad's new camera) of them opening their presents. It was really neat - Joshua finally gets the concept of opening presents, and they had a really nice time. Joshua spent about 30 minutes cruising the hallway on his bike, but he still isn't quite clear on how to pedal by himself. We think fully inflated tires and smooth pavement should help!

What a nice time with the family. I just love it! NOW, to get down all these Christmas decorations!!! And to clean out the office this week...

Pacifier UPDATE!!

It is now Thursday - DAY 4 without a pacifier! I was prepared for the battle of the century, set to endure 3 days of torture, to get rid of Joshua's pacifier. But we had no problems. He asked for it once Monday night, I told him no, and it was done. He hasn't even asked for it once since then!! WOW!! Now if potty training could only be this easy...

Brad's Birthday and other stuff...

After a week and a half of a sick Joshua, I was a bit worried about how celebrating Brad's birthday yesterday was going to go. Joshua has been seriously feeling terrible and under quarantine. His behavior and attitude, as you can imagine, has suffered as well. Yesterday pre-nap was particularly bad, with the biggest fit I have ever witnessed from him. A four hour nap later, though, and he was much better. Groggy and a bit whiny, but not defiant and obnoxious. So, by the time Brad got home, we had dinner working, the table set with the birthday table cloth, a birthday banner, balloons, etc., and we were ready to celebrate! We had cake after dinner, even though Joshua wanted "cake FIRST, THEN dinner", but I didn't waver! Joshua can now sing the birthday song recognizably, even if I did have to remind him to sing to daddy, not to Joshua!! So it went well. Then, to make things even nicer, Jacob chimed in with his own version of the words "happy birthday" - again, very recognizable. He just said the words, didn't sing the song, but it was really a great part of the evening. (and we got it on video!)

Joshua is finally kind of understanding birthdays and presents. It is an exciting time, especially since Joshua's birthday is next month. We are going to have a combined birthday party with Joshua's good friend Nolan, who turns three just before Joshua does.

Other news - Joshua slept both for nap and night with no pacifier yesterday. We aren't going to give one to him again, and he didn't even ask for one last night! (Though nap was a bit of a battle.) And on top of the words "hi", "Mama", "Dada", "bye-bye", "ni-ni" (for night night), and now "happy birthday", Jacob also said "thank you" today!!