Na-Nah! More josephisms

Na-nah, Joseph's version of ta-da.

We are desperately trying to teach Joseph to say his own name. He is completely not interested. Yet, I still try. So Friday I ask " what is your name?" He usually says "you mommy, I me" but he surprised me by saying "Jo-p-ish"

Can't get much better than that, folks!!

Joseph's struggle

You know how you try to protect your child from needless suffering and yet you still have to just BE with them through the suffering? Yes, well, that is where we have been this week, and while the issue is mild compared bigger illnesses, as a parent you still feel helpless.
Since last year, Joseph would have random (to us) outbreaks with eczema. He would claw himself up trying to ease the discomfort. Last summer we tried a compounded med that worked wonders. It would only happen a few more times and this particular med always healed it up in a few days. The past few weeks though, nothing seemed to work. We refilled the compounded med, to which he screamed when we applied it. We called and got another (equally expensive) med called out and it offered relief for about 36 hours and then it got worse and he would scream and try to escape when I was applying it. I gave that one up, tried moisturizers, he would wake up in the night scratching, from 2-5 am. We were all miserable and tried one last trip to the doctor to show her his misery, and while we explained we did all of her other suggestions and getting poor results, she changed the plan. Thank God! $29 later and in a pair of new to us pjs, he is sleeping peacefully.
For my memory purpose the game plan is:
- apply new (alcohol free) cream 2x daily in day time hours
- give him an oral liquid med every six to eight hours to help relieve the urge to scratch so the skin can have a chance to heal
- bathe him every other day and keep him damp while applying a generous amount of cerave cream all over to lock in moisture
-immediately before bed, cover generously all the affected areas with lots of Vaseline and then cover him in socks, long sleeve, pant pjs that are 100% cotton.
Praying this works, his forearms, knees, hands, wrists, top of left foot, and back of right ankle are the worst areas for him. Praying he experiences true relief and healing.

Holding hands

Today we all went out for pizza at Fox's, Joseph's favorite! So as we sat eating, he reached out and grabbed my hand. He usually does this if he wants my help for something, but this time he just wanted to hold my hand. It was the sweetest gesture and as soon as I snatched this picture, he was done.



I love the sweetness of this child's soul. He is so much like his loving Daddy!!

Beating the rain

After errands today, Joseph was begging to watch Curious George. We watched about 15 minutes of the episode on PBS, but to avoid future tv time, we went to walk around the yard. We watched a turtle, picked flowers, and knocked over a crawfish hole. As I tried to corral him in, he cunningly asked to walk more. We walked down the driveway, then down the road to the park. He had a ball, but strong rain was coming and the clouds were dark. I was crazy nervous not wanting the sky to open up before we made if back home. He played, I worried. I did snap some of this moments though. These are the moments I want to hang onto, he really is growing up faster than I could have imagined.





















Here is the lovely bouquet he picked for me-



Oh, how I love this boy who exclaims "a pretty flower" as he hands it to me!!


Ps - the joke between my husband and I is that I clearly explained to him that I did not put Joseph in a green shirt with red/white/blue plaid to go to town, I had to resort to the green one as it was the only spare in the van after Joseph's haircut today! Haha- funny part is my husband KNEW that before I even uttered a word. Does anyone else have a thing did matching clothes? Haha

Money Man

On Monday, we went on an outing with Ancy Barbara and when she got her change back from the waitress, she gave it to Joseph. She cleverly taught him how to put his "monies" in his pocket. Fast forward to this morning, he grabbed his piggy bank and crawled on my bed and asked for "monies". I gave him some change while I got ready to run errands. I turn around to see him putting his money into his pants, lifting his shorts hem and dropping them in (where they gathered at his diaper since he was sitting down). When he stood up, all his money fell out the bottom of his shorts to which he responded "oooooohhhh noooooo! My MONIES!!!!"
He just missed his pocket, we will save that lesson for another day.
Oh, one more sweet moment. He was playing on the deck with his Daddy while I cooked supper and his Daddy asked him "Joseph, what do you have in your pocket?" Joseph's reply "my monies". All in a beautiful, blessed day.

Big boy

Last week we started trying to do some diaper free days. There was no functional pottying on the potty chair but we did get him to start being aware of being wet, as opposed to being comfortably dry. He showed no interest for a few days, but today we tried the underwear again and immediately he showed reactions when peeing and sat on the potty on his own. Baby steps!



I have to admit something tightens in your heart when you see your baby wearing big boy underwear. So proud to be his Momma!

28

Joseph is already 28 months old and such a fun little boy. I still can't believe it has been 28 months since I first held him. In the days that go by too fast, I just still thank God for sharing him with us. I trying to branch out a bit more, as he is craving being around others his age, so we registered him for a little Montessori camp (2 1/2 hours a day for a total of 8 days) and while I was initially excited I am nervous now.
He is such a social, fun-loving, talkative, clever boy. His vocabulary is booming, his energy is engaging, and his zest for life is downright charming.
He is y'all for his age, around 38 inches, so when we are out and about people assume he is older. Put him in a room of 4 year olds and he looks just like them although emotionally he is not there yet. He is still very protective of his mommy and needs to be reassured of where I am at all times (one exception is when he is watching curious George with his daddy) so that is why the camp makes me nervous. I think he can eventually enjoy the environment there where I can leave and have some free time, but the anxiety. Oh my!
I want him to flourish and grow but I don't want to rush him either. I plan to do a room mom role for a few days to build up his (and mine) confidence!
Little man of mine, oh, how I love you!

I love you!

Tonight is the first time Joseph told me "I love you"

Truly, my heart is melted!!!

Could not have come at a better time.

More josephism's

To the green goat statue in his book "I no like it"
(This is his go to phrase when he dislikes anything)

"Trash truck"
This is his way if telling me he is ready for his story which has pictures of big trash trucks and then bed. Our bedtime story favorite this week is "cars and trucks and things that go" by Richard Scarry.

"Me do it!" All.the.time!!!

"Noooo,nooo, no diaper!! No diaper mommy!!!"
Oh, my! Oh dear! He has been going diaper free during the day at home, was trying not to do pull ups and just use underwear but he is by no means "potty trained" and sometimes we do have to leave the house! So at SAMs, I got some pull ups to use on errands for now. He does ok with a diaper at night, hope that continues for now.

Sidenote,
Joseph is so very social, he is definitely the coolest 2 year old I know!!!

We had a full and interesting weekend. I really just want to highlight the fun stuff. We sometimes run our errands and do our shopping in another parish and so it gives us the chance for meeting new people and seeing new things. On Saturday, while we were picking out a new storage building to buy, the owners dog became the stow stopper for Joseph and I. Joseph lives dogs and we learned that this beautiful dog was rescue adoption from California and was in the fox family. Apparently in CA, they were targeted and killed bc they looked a bit like coyotes. He was a big, friendly boy and he made our time there pleasant.

Next we grabbed some boudin from boudin king , yummy!!!

We picnicked in the park and then petted the baby alligator. This gator is 18 montage old.
Enjoy these fun pictures!!

Whatcha looking at?

Daisy is Joseph's best friend. She lets him love on her and feed her treats, and even annoy her!!
I love this picture of the two of them! He has the best conversations with her he loves to just be near her, a good friend indeed!





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Eat

I think we have entered the stage where Joseph tries to delay nap time by requesting more food or water. It had been a rough day and after nearly falling asleep for nap, he picks up his head and whispers "eat".

He got up and had some cereal.

He slept a good long time after eating more cereal, here he is determined that he is not tired.

I do–Easter

Joseph has been growing two new teeth and sleep is not regular right now.  On Good Friday Morning, he woke up at 3 am and stayed up until 6 am and then napped for 4 hours.  On Holy Saturday, he woke up at 5 am and only napped a bit in his car seat and stayed up until around 9 pm.  So on Easter Sunday, we thought we would all go to ‘A mass at 7am, have a small bbq, and then play the rest of the day.  Joseph slept in . . . but I did rally up the energy to bring the two of us to Mass.  He was excited, but his exuberance was well pronounced when we were reaffirming our Baptismal promises.  As soon as we began and said our first “I do” to renounce Satan, etc. he was really into the “I do’s”  He also thought at as soon as we were back from communion it was time to go because he declared “ALL DONE”.

A few tries of getting some pics of us dying Easter eggs.

He has the golden egg and was not in the mood for any more pictures

Next to John Deere Tractors, School Buses are his favorite mode of transportation.  He was very happy to see a wooden school bus in his basket

Not much compares to the school bus, until

he discovers his chocolate rabbit!!!  This is such a fun age!!

 

Oh, wait, attention is back on the school bus, the new chick has to ride the bus!!!

Two happy, still waking-up boys!!

Joseph showing off his rabbit to Daddy!

Joseph and I on Easter morning!

 

After he gathered a few eggs, he just sat on the grass and lined them up

Matthew captured some really cute shots!  Joseph loved hunting the eggs!

 

Easter was really special and I am still so happy we were able to get to Mass and then have fun in the yard before the awful weather showed up!  Jesus is NOT dead, he is surely alive!!!!!

Just think, three short years ago, this boy was only a dream, a hope of ours!  We wend to Disney during holy week and returned to find out he was coming along!  Grace is really present in our lives!

Ancy Barbara & the park

He was super excited to welcome Ancy Barbara to 'his' park! This park is a favorite of ours since thus is where we celebrated the baby shower and our hearts were so full of joy!!


He got momma to slide!


Dreamy boy!


Love him!


This faces makes me laugh!


We loved watching the squirrels!