We went to a friend's house to play last week. They had a swing set, but Joshua was mostly interested in running around picking up rocks. Go figure.

Aunt Jo and Cousin Tom

My Aunt Joanne and cousin Tom visited this weekend. They hadn't seen Joshua since last July so he had changed quite a bit. We had a lot of fun just watching him and his reactions to everything. He does the cutest things. (But I suppose I am a little biased!) My parents bought this cute little picnic table for Joshua. He loves it! I think I need to get him a mini table for our house, too.

Reading

Joshua loves to "read" books. His books are stored inside a red wagon. He loves to push it around to find a good spot to read. He often picks out a book, brings it to me then plops down on my lap. Sometimes, he'll even crawl right in and read in the wagon. It doesn't matter whether there are any books in there or not. He'll move them or sit on them. Jeremy took this picture of Joshua in his wagon with his camera phone.

Bright Eyes

Joshua is always such a happy boy in the morning (provided he doesn't wake up with a dirty diaper!). He will smile, "talk" to me and his buddies, and run around his crib while laughing and smiling. He is definitely a morning person-just like his mom.

The Park

We went to the park today. He fought as I slathered on the neccessary sunscreen and put his sandals on him. He has also just recently begun to let me put a hat on him. This was Joshua's first time on the swing and slide. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of him on the swing! He enjoyed it the first time around (when I forgot my camera in the bag) but wouldn't have anything to do with it after lunch. Mostly, he ran around (away from me!) yelling in delight. He ran all the way down a big grassy hill without falling (much) and then all around the play area. He had a blast and fell asleep quickly in the car on the way home.

Mother's Day

We had a nice afternoon with the family on Sunday. No one wanted to cook so we got some of our favorite Mexican food to go and brought it back to our house. Joshua got to run around and play like he always does instead of being stuck in a highchair at a restaurant. He LOVES rice and beans and got food everywhere. We had to strip him down to his diaper before taking him out of his seat.

Just because!!

I just really like this picture and wanted to share it. I never pictured Jeremy as the type to dress like his son. (Not that they are really dressed alike, but you know, the whole Hawaiian shirt thing!) While I was busy, Jeremy picked out Joshua's outfit, got him dressed to go, and then picked out his own shirt. I had to laugh and take a picture. It's just too cute!! I love my boys!!

Buddies

We love getting together with Eric, Michelle, Michael and Jack. Joshua and Jack are only about a month apart so it's fun watching them interact. They seemed much more involved this time rather than simply playing on their own near one other. They even had a couple of "conversations" while they were playing. Joshua will watch Jack rather intently and then copy some of his actions. Jack has this "elephant walk" that he loves and Joshua had fun trying it out. It'll be fun to watch them learn and grow together.

Walking

Just in case I haven't mentioned it, Joshua is a walking machine! He loves to walk everywhere. He started walking when he was 11 months old. We bought him these special little shoes that are supposed to be good for his feet. They are soft leather on the bottom which allow his feet to feel the ground and help his development. Anyway, he has been wanting to walk everywhere we go, but he hasn't learned to stay near us or not to put things on the ground into his mouth. We try to get him to hold our hand while he is walking, but he usually just wants to be independent so we end up holding him or putting him int he stroller. But, on a recent trip to an animal museum, we caught this cute picture. He actually let Grandma and Grandpa D. hold his hands while we walked to the car.

Grandma D.

As my mom and I looked through Joshua's baby album, we realized we didn't have very many good photos of the two of them together. So, we took this one a few days ago on Crystal's birthday. Joshua loves to visit with all of his grandparents. He especially loves to hear grandma sing to him. He immediately lights up and starts to dance (well, bounce). He always makes us laugh!

Grandma L. and Auntie Kimberly came out for a visit right before Joshua's birthday. We went out to lunch and did a little bit of shopping one afternoon and it must've worn everyone out. I thought this was too funny not to capture on film. I hope they don't shoot me for sharing it! :)

Busy Busy!!

Jeremy's dad, Grandpa L., came out for a visit this weekend. Sunday, we drove through a national park and enjoyed a great breakfast at an outdoor eatery. Joshua fell asleep shortly after we took this picture. He doesn't much care for long drives unless he sleeps through them!



We also had a couple of family birthdays this weekend. Tim and Crystal's birthdays are just one day apart so we celebrated both on Monday night. Joshua loves his Aunties! He gets the biggest smile when he sees Auntie Crystal, which unfortunately isn't often enough! His favorite thing to do at Grandma D's house is to run laps. He goes down the hall, into the kitchen, around the counter and back to the hallway. He'll do this over and over again! Then he'll wait for someone to go with him into the play room and start all of the talking Elmo's. Because of Grandma, he is addicted to Elmo!

Smile!

Seeing Joshua smile always makes me smile. These days, he is usually more interested in getting to and grabbing the camera than smiling and letting me snap a picture. But this time, I was able to catch him with a big grin before he leapt toward me and put his fingerprint on the lens. Too bad he wasn't in a cleaner outfit! Ha. The boy is a dirt and mess magnet.
Do you see a hint of blue on his fingers? That's ink from a blue ink pad. He loves to pull stuff out of cabinets and drawers in my craft room. This is the first time he bothered with ink. I was able to get him mostly cleaned up right after he pulled it out...but some of it stayed for a couple of hours before wearing off. But then, I see that smile and I melt. I see that smile and every mess he has made is okay. I'm such a sucker.