When does it change?

Joshua refuses to learn to push himself in a swing, he prefers to have someone else push him. I've noticed several of his friends can do it and I wish he would learn to do it to. I want to be one of the moms that can sit on a bench and talk to other moms while my child is swinging.

Well, Joshua and I were having a talk about it this week, and, I found myself saying "But all your friends can push themselves." Yes, I said it... I've also wanted to say it to try to persuade him to drink his milk cold as opposed to warm (he used to drink it cold, but then he got sick during the winter and I gave him warm milk to help comfort him and he has refused to drink cold milk ever since) and to get him to try riding his bicycle again (he was so excited when we first got his bicycle, the first time he rode it, the pedal fell off - it was preassembled at the store and I didn't check all the screws - and he has only ridden it one time since then because he is afraid the pedal is going to fall off...not that he fell off or anything, just the pedal...), but I stopped myself.

Embarassment or shame is not a good motivator and I thought about that right after I said it so I will not be saying it again. But, it did get me thinking....I wonder when will my thoughts change from "But all your friends are doing it" to "Well, if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?"!

It's been a while

I haven't been spending much time online lately and the blog hasn't been updated in a while. So, here are just a few random things.

Nums? For months, Joshua has been calling my boobs "nums." I had no idea where the word "nums" came from...he never asked what they were and I guess I never told him what they were called so "nums" was the chosen word. One night, we were playing with Joshua's doctor kit, he was the doctor, I was the patient. He had his stethescope on, listened to my heartbeat and then, he went to my back and told me to breath deep so he could listen to my....yep, you guessed it "nums!" Lungs/nums, made perfect sense...I am happy to have that one solved.

Joshua still tells me "Mommy, you look beautiful", "Mommy, your hair is pretty", and, I guess he has a favorite shirt of mine and he even asked me to wear it one day because I look beautiful when I wear it.

Butt, poop, booger, booger butt, poop butt, booger nose, any combination and we hear it NUMEROUS times per day. I've told Joshua he is only allowed to say these words at home...as far as I know, he only says them at home (knock on wood). A couple of times, he has attempted to call me "butt" but I told him not to call me "butt" because I don't like it. He then said "But I was just going to call you butterfly. You like being called butterfly don't you?" And how can I say no to being called "butterfly?" Butterflies are beautiful, butterflies are delicate, butterflies are fun. Yep, this is just the beginning...he is going to smile and talk his way out of or into anything.

The other night, we were playing Burger King drive-thru. Joshua was driving thru and ordering, I was giving him the food and the toy. It was really fun listening to his orders..."I'll have a double ketchup and milk shake. And put my ketchup on my fries and none on my cheeseburger."

In addition to making up words, Joshua likes to make up jokes. The joke for today was What did the cow say when he ran out of milk? "I ran out of milk!" And Joshua laughed out loud and said "Wasn't that hilarious?!"

He is also obsessed with rhyming words, but he isn't very good at it yet. "Mommy, does water and watermelon rhyme?" "Does light and light bulb rhyme?" "Mommy, does sit and chair rhyme? How about bed and chair?" He gets a little disappointed when the words don't rhyme...but I guess it's good that he realizes the words are somehow related. He doesn't completely miss the point, he comes up with words that do rhyme too but that is not as interesting to blog about.

Well, that's it for now...I promise not to take so long to update next time.

Just some random things

Well, Scott came back from his fishing trip and all was right again with Joshua's world. He was very happy to have his Daddy home again.

We had a full day on Saturday starting with Joshua getting a hair cut. He is still going to Peek A Do, a kid's hair salon that has toys and DVDs to watch. It is a little more expensive than, say, a Cost Cutters, but he sits quietly and still, listens to everything the girl says, answers her when she asks questions, so I can't complain and I'm not changing until he thinks he is too old to go there. I think he has bonded with his stylist because, after his hair cut last time, she played with him for a while. This time, she even remembered him.

After Joshua's hair cut, we made a trip through McDonald's drive-thru....yes, McDonald's...it wasn't Sunday after church but Joshua behaved so well getting his hair cut that he got a special treat...plus, I wanted McDonald's french fries. That afternoon, me, Joshua and my dad went to Alex's 4th birthday party. It was a pirate themed party and Joshua, and it looked like all the other kids, had a great time. Joshua had chosen to give Alex a Cariboo game...Joshua loves to play Cariboo and we play it numerous times EVERY day...evidently other people think it's a great game too because Alex ended up receiving 3 of them!

That evening, we went to Triangle Town Center so my dad to visit the Orvis store. We ate dinner at Champs and saw Cassie, a girl that had worked at Joshua's old daycare center. Joshua left the daycare two years ago but Cassie remembered his name...Joshua didn't remember her though...she was his very favorite teacher at the time and, remembering his name after two years shows what a special person she must be.

Well, off to draw some dinosaurs now!

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Joshua and Buddy gave me cards, Scott gave me red roses, that smell wonderful, and an MP3 player. Joshua also gave me a hug, told me Happy Mother's Day and that he loved me. Then, we began discussing where to go for breakfast.

I don't want to go eat breakfast. I want to eat here.
Today is Mother's Day, Mommy gets to choose where she wants to eat.
Is there a Kid's Day?
Every day is Kid's Day.
No, is there a Kid's Day like there is a Mother's Day? When it's Kid's Day, I want to eat where I want to eat.

We decided to go to IHOP, we haven't been since it opened. It was pouring rain and people were crammed inside the door. We changed direction and went to Cracker Barrel. At least there were a lot of things to look at as we waited, and waited, and waited. And my pancakes were super yummy.

After breakfast we came home, played a little while, Joshua went to his Memaw's house in the afternoon, I took a nap...Scott said I snored but I'm not sure if I believe him. Joshua went to dinner with Memaw and Papaw and Scott and I went to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then strolled around Target for a while. That's what happens when you get old and have young children, you go out to eat dinner at 5:00 and then stroll around Target because you can't remember what you used to do on a date...and even a trip to Target or the grocery store without a child is a treat.

Friday, Joshua's school had a little Mother's Day program. The kids sang a song and we had donuts and juice and he gave me a flower pot with a bulb planted in it...he said it is a purple flower. As you can see, Joshua didn't sing, he kept smiling waiting for me to take a picture, he didn't know I was taking a movie.



Lastly, I've gotten a couple of random "Mommy you look beautiful"s this weekend. I'm guessing Joshua's school told the kids to say it. If not, I'm not sure where they are coming from...and I dont' really care who told him to say it, I just love hearing it!

Did he get me on a technicality?

You decide.

Joshua is a sucker for the latest and greatest marketing ploys by the fast food industries. He does not choose where he wants to eat by the food, but rather by what toy they include in their kids meals. There are countless times we hit the drive-thru at McDonald's or Burger King, food is wasted and the toy goes in the toy box. Joshua doesn't even like the food at Burger King yet he will beg and plead to go there.

A few weeks ago, I made a deal with Joshua. We agreed we would only go to McDonald's or Burger King after church.

McDonald's has been advertising Speed Racer toys are now in Happy Meals. Joshua has been begging to go to McDonald's since 2:00 today...he is so hungry (even though he ate lunch at school) and he doesn't like anything we have here. I reminded him of our deal...

"Mommy, my school is a church so I went to church today. Can we go to McDonald's now?"

A technicality? I think not...From now on, I'll make sure I'm more precise when dealing with a 4 year old...We only eat at McDonald's or Burger King after church on Sunday!

Lost and Found

Lost: One little boy without his Daddy

Scott and Papaw Bob (my dad) left Tuesday for a fishing trip. Joshua cried before they left. He cried after they left. He cried about ten times that day. We reminisced about Daddy. Joshua would say "I miss Daddy. Do you think Daddy misses me?" I assurred him that his Daddy did miss him very much. "Do you think Daddy misses us as much as we miss him?" I assured him that his Daddy misses us even more than we miss him. "I miss all the fun we have." Evidently, I am not as fun as Daddy. To take his mind off his woes, we went out to eat to my new favorite burger place, Bass Lake Draft House and to Joshua's favorite store, Wal Mart. Even though I got Joshua in bed around 9:00, he was still up at 10:00. I ended up sleeping on the top bunk because he was scared without Daddy.

Wednesday was a much better day, Joshua woke up ready for school, was happy all day, we met our friends Elizabeth, Ashley and Sarah for dinner at Chick Fil A. All was good. He only talked about Daddy a couple of times. "I miss Daddy. Do you think Daddy misses me?", "I miss Daddy thiiiiiis big (and he stretches his arms out really wide). How big do you miss Daddy. Do you think Daddy misses us as much as we miss him?"

Thursday started out a little rough. Joshua knew Daddy was coming home on Thursday so as soon as he woke up, he ran into the bedroom looking for Daddy....however, Daddy isn't coming home until later. One of our favorite morning cartoons is Tom and Jerry. Today, Joshua didn't want to watch Tom and Jerry...he cried when Tom and Jerry came on and made me turn it..."Tom and Jerry isn't fun when Daddy isn't here." Note to Daddy: Keep your cell phone on when you are out of town so that we can call you.

Lost: One bat costume

This morning, I can only guess it is because Daddy is still gone and Joshua is upset, Joshua remembered a bat Halloween costume we saw at a consignment store two...that's right, I said two Halloweens ago. Rewind to Halloween 2006, we had been watching a lot of Dora's Halloween DVD, Diego is dressed up like a bat, we see this bat costume, I show it to Joshua, Joshua doesn't want to be a bad, we don't buy it. He ends up being Batman that year. Fast forwward to today, Joshua wants the bat costume. He is crying because we did not buy the bat costume, he is crying because someone else probably bought the costume, he is crying because they do not have another bat costume, he is crying because it is not Halloween and the spooky store at the mall is not there any more. He has decided he wants me to make him a bat costume...I am hoping that he soon forgets about the bat costume...

Found: One long lost friend

Today, Joshua and I had lunch with Kristin and her son Grant. It has been about 5 or 6 years since I last saw Kristin. It was nice to see her and to meet Grant. She was just as pretty and funny as I remembered, and her son is just like her. Joshua and Grant seemed to play well together, as well as two kids can play at a restaurant I suppose. Hopefully they will come visit soon so we can get some mom to mom and son to son bonding time.

Found: A renewed passion for home cooked meals

Well, sort of. This week, Joshua and I ate dinner out on Tuesday by ourselves, dinner out on Wednesday with my friend Elizabeth and Joshua's friends Ashley and Sarah, lunch out on Thursday with Kristin and Grant and finally, dinner out on Thursday with my friend Kelly and Joshua's friends Sydney and Mollie. I think I'm going to be cooking at home for the next few weeks!

Soccer

Chatham County has a soccer league that begins at age 4. Joshua loves to play in the yard and he is a pretty good kicker and dribbler, at least I think he is, he is the only 4 year old I've ever played soccer with...heck, he is the ONLY one I've ever played soccer with. So, I thought I'd talk to him and see what he thought. Here is how it went...

Joshua, do you think you would like to play soccer?
I play soccer.
No, on a team. Do you know what playing on a team means?
With friends I already have?
No, with new friends.
I'll get a trophy! Will I get a trophy?
Yes, you will probably get a trophy. And, you'll get a uniform and shin guards and soccer shoes.
Oh boy! I'll get a trophy! Do you know what number I want? I want number 4.
Well, you might not get to be number 4. Someone else may already have number 4.
So, do you think you would like to try playing?
Yes! I'm gonna get a trophy! I'm gonna get a trophy!

Registration starts May 10. I am excited. I hope Joshua will be excited too.

All things Spring

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world!
~Robert Browning

Sunday, Joshua and I went strawberry picking at Buckwheat Farms. It was a lot of fun...but we didn't pick too many...The competitive side of Joshua was really coming out and he wanted to make sure he picked more than I did so he wasn't very careful about choosing good berries to pick. A lot of yucky ones were getting into his bucket and I hated to have to pay for yucky ones. I kept sneaking some good ones into his bucket so that he would be the winner and then I suggested we stop picking so that we could go home and eat them. We bought some pre-picked berries also. One strawberry pie and several servings of strawberry shortcake later, all our strawberries are gone. Looking forward to picking again soon!

Saturday was Spring Daze in Cary. Joshua and I drove past Bond Park, where Spring Daze is held, to park at the parking deck of the Town of Cary. If you parked in the parking deck, there was a free shuttle to the fair...Joshua loves riding busses so we went that route. Last year, we parked at the event but had to walk and walk and walk to get to the actual exhibits...the shuttle bus dropped us off right in the middle of things. There were a lot of arts and crafts but the only thing we felt the need to buy was a strawberry/banana smoothie, a sno cone, french fries, popcorn and a hamburger (the hamburger was for me, Joshua ate everything else). We watched a pirate swordfighting show which he absolutely loved...he is really into pirates, swords and bullwhips. And we caught Magician Michael Creech...He was very entertaining for the kids. He asked for volunteers from the audience several times, Joshua raised his hand each time but was not chosen...he seemed to choose older kids, around 6 or 7. I'm sure he didn't want to get someone too young who wouldn't participate once they were chosen. Anyway, his final trick is normally to saw a woman in half, but the woman was home sick, so he was going to cut himself in half with two handkerchiefs tied together. He tied the two handkerchiefs together, chose Joshua to come up and make sure the knot was tight, which Joshua did, he then told Joshua to turn around and show the audience his muscles, which Joshua did...yes! Joshua! The kid who sometimes hide his face in my side when a stranger speaks to him stood up in front of the entire audience and showed us his muscles! I was so proud! What a Kodak moment! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me...now, back to the show...The Magician pulled the handkerchiefs and, instead of cutting him in half, the handkerchiefs pulled off his underwear! After the show, Joshua told me he wanted to go up on stage and help but he wasn't chosen to do that, he was only chosen to see the knot was tight. I reminded him that he pulled the knot sooo tight that it pulled the guys underwear right off of him...that did the trick, he thought it was funny and forgot all about not going up on stage.

Friday, we went to the park for a little while. There were only two other little girls there. Joshua and the older girl started playing together. She was very cute, but a squealer. They were playing chase and she would squeal and laugh, they would slide and she would squeal and laugh, they played in the sandbox and she squealed and laughed...it reminded me of those movies where you would see the beautiful girl in the flowing white dress playfully giggling, running around and hiding from the admiring man and then she would disappear into the mist because she was a ghost and not really there at all...I think I watch too many movies...

Thursday, Joshua had some friends over to play, Ben, Jordan and Chase. They squirted each other, Buddy, a poor frog, my plants, me and Tracy with water guns, they romped through the woods, they played on the swings, they had sword fights, they played games, they had a wonderful time together. I was so proud of Joshua for sharing his toys without making a fuss. I know it is an age thing, but I just get so excited when I see him playing with others and not hiding behind me or hanging onto me or sitting on my lap or making me play too!

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.
~Bern Williams

The week in review

Not a lot has been happening in the Johnson household during the past week. I've been busier than I'd like to be with work...But, I shouldn't complain so I'll just call it "job security." The weather was great but each time I started to get up from my chair, a new fax or email would come in and I would have to do more work. Joshua and I didn't make it to the park or any place else, we barely made it outside!

What time we were outside, we spent planting some flowers, digging up earthworms and trying to figure out what kind of leaves tent caterpillars will eat other than the leaves on my rose bush. Joshua has a new butterfly net...we haven't seen any butterflies yet, but he has been busy trying to catch dragonflies.

Friday, we had two hummingbirds buzzing past our heads. I read where individual hummingbirds return to the same area year after year. Normally, it seems they come to the window of the house and look in to let me know they are here and want food. I guess since I was outside they decided to use the more direct approach. My old hummer feeder cracked so I went to the garden center and bought a new one...I hope they like it.

Lightening bugs are also out. They are still really high in the trees, but they are out! A sure sign that Spring/Summer is really here.

This weekend, we mulched, mowed and burned. We had huge piles of wood where we did some clearing and had a nice bonfire. Joshua was a big helper...he liked throwing limbs onto the fire and riding in the wheelbarrow. After all the work, my legs and back were sore...still are a little bit.

Now, it's Monday and a new week. Hopefully, this one will be a little more interesting.

Men and their Superheroes

For some reason, boys love Superheroes as much as girls love Princesses. As I have previously mentioned, Joshua is Superhero crazy. And I have recently come to realize that many boys never outgrow their Superhero fascination.

My first exposure to men and their Superheroes came by way of a former co-worker. Every Wednesday, he would stay late in the office so that he could go to the comic book store on his way home to buy the latest issue of whatever comic books he collected. He bought one to read, one to keep wrapped up untouched by mere mortal hands. I never thought too much about it, I just considered him a comic book nerd.

My next experience was Halloween...Joshua dressed up as Spiderman. The 2nd house we went to, the man answered the door and sang the entire Spiderman theme song. It really embarrassed Joshua and he wanted to take off his costume and go home. Luckily, I convinced him to just take off the mask, leave the rest of the costume on and continue with our Trick or Treating...It ended up being a terrific night.

My latest, and most prolific examples came from our travels through airports. Joshua was sporting his Batman backpack and, while de-boarding the plane and walking through the tunnel, Joshua and I heard a man sing the Batman song. A couple was standing behind us while in one of our many lines at the airport, the man turned to the woman and said aloud that he thought he saw Superman out the plane window while we were flying. Numerous men mentioned Batman by way of by saying they liked the Batman backpack, cool backpack, wow-you have a Batman backpack or by singing the Batman song. It happened time and time again.

I guess some boys never grow up...But what about girls? Are there women still obsessed with Princesses? For those of you with girls who dress as Princesses, carry Princess backpacks, wear Princess shirts, etc., do you get a lot of Princess comments from random women?

So, all together now...you all know it...the lyrics are simple...let's sing them together
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!
Batman, Batman, Batman!

Dancing in the street

"If you dance in the street with children, no one looks at you like you're crazy." Mimi, April 6, 2008.

Hola y Hasta Luego

Oh boy! Where to start? What to say? There is just so much!

Joshua loved the airplane. He doesn't remember his first flight as he was just a little over a year old, but this flight was terrific. He was so excited! Every time the plane would move he would yell "We're going now!" only to have his excitement diminish when we didn't take off...this happened time and time again for the 40 minutes we waited because there was an air traffic jam over Charlotte. Once we were airborn, he looked out the window and talked the entire time. We arrived in Charlotte just in time to board our next plane. The flight to Cancun took 2 1/2 hours, Joshua slept a little over an hour. We arrived without incident.

There is just so much to tell about Cancun...I'm going to give you all the condensed version...

Joshua played in the sand building castles and digging holes. He played in the ocean and let the waves crash over his head without once crying. I get the tiniest drop of bath water on his nose and you would think it was burning him like acid, but let a wave crash over his head and he coughs and gags and spits and smiles and gets right back in every time. Not one time did I have to wipe his eyes with a towel!

The resort had an amazing childrens program. My Joshua, the boy who used to hold onto my legs and not play anywhere or anything or with anyone unless I played too, participated in a water balloon fight, painted a t-shirt, had a Batman face painting done, played freeze tag and musical chairs. He made a friend while there, another 4 year old boy named Jack. Jack had some great water toys so he and Joshua had shoot outs with water squirters and water guns and played with some other water toys. In just a few days, he was reaching down to the bottom of the kid pool, water covering his mouth, to pick up toys and he was floating unassisted with his ring floaty.

We rode on busses, saw iguanas, ate at McDonalds. Joshua had a daily drink during happy hour by the pool...a strawberry/banana/orange juice smoothie. Except for our McDonalds dinner, we ate our meals in. After a hard day of swimming, sunning and sanding, Joshua didn't want to shower, dress and go out.

The second portion of our trip took us from Cancun to Playa del Carmen.

We had more sunning, sanding, beaching and pooling. Joshua has now mastered his ring floaty and can kick to move through the water forwards and backwards.

Playa del Carmen is a great little town. 5th Avenue is open to pedestrian traffic only and is filled with bars, restaurants and junk stores. There are tons of cruise ship people shopping during the day and eating, drinking, music and dancing at night. We ate lunch on the beach, table and chairs in the sand; we ate dinner on the street, people walking by and a mariachi band behind us. We went into every other junk store and t-shirt store. I thought the junk stores were funny, half filled with souveniers, half filled with tequila...although I guess tequila could be considered a souvenier by some.

Our last day, we went to Xel-Ha, an all inclusive water park. What a fantastic way to spend the day! We floated down a lazy river, we swam in the water, we swam into a cave, we played on the playground, we watched others swim with dolphins, we lazed in hammocks, a lot of people snorkeled, we ate breakfast, we ate lunch, we ate ice cream (all food, drinks-including alcoholic beverages-were included with the price of admission).

The airplane rides home were uneventful, except for all the standing in line...baggage check-in, security, customs, in both Cancun and Charlotte. It's rather tiring standing in long lines with a tired, hungry 4 year old and carrying a backpack, a purse, Joshua's backpack, 2 pieces of luggage, airline tickets, passports and a bear...and then Joshua holds up his arms for me to hold him too...Uh, no!

We made it through an entire week without any serious incidents, only minor ones...Joshua didn't have his pillow and wanted to go home; McDonald's didn't have milk or apple juice or Pirates of the Carribean toys so he wanted to go home; Joshua got up from his hammock and someone else got into it he had a meltdown; I opened the locker and returned the key without Joshua so we had another meltdown; and finally, a wave carried his shovel away, he loved his shovel, he will never see his shovel again, the wave wasn't very nice to take his shovel away...2 days later, he still gets teary eyed thinking about his shovel....ask Joshua if he had a good time in Mexico, he tears up and the first thing he says is a wave took his shovel away...

I hope that he always has fond memories of this trip and not just sad memories of the lost shovel...

That was my friend, I miss him...

Earlier this week, we blew up a bunch of balloons to play with. All but one had been popped until tonight. Joshua was playing with the balloon and his toy pliars, he was trying to pop the balloon by pinching it with his plairs. The balloon popped and he moved on to another activity.

A bit later, he found a piece of the popped balloon, brought it to me with tears in his eyes, asking me if what he was holding was a piece of his balloon. I told him it was. He starts crying uncontrollably, red faced, huge tears, nose running..."He's popped! Why is he popped?" I reminded Joshua that he is the one that popped the balloon with his pliars. He said "I wanted it to be a party game, but it wasn't a party game. Don't throw the pieces away. I want to keep them." Then, he is crying even harder and his speech sounds like a car with a dead battery trying to start as he says "That was my friend. I miss him. He just liked floating around." And over and over again...as soon as I think he has calmed down, he says "He just liked floating around." He did this for a good solid 15 minutes, which is a long time to be crying over a balloon that he popped himself that I can't do anything about!

Some things I will never understand...

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good:
Joshua's friend, Caitlin, invited him to a teddy bear picnic today at her church. Everyone brought a blanket to spread on the floor and their favorite bear and ate hotdogs and chips. Then, they made a flower and flower pot craft, decorated and ate a cookie, sang and danced. The hotdog, craft and cookie were big hits with Joshua; the singing and dancing, not so much. He didn't want to go onto the dance floor, he didn't want to shake a maraca, he didn't want to stand, he wanted to sit on my lap. He finally started moving around a little, found a basketball and a friend and then had fun. He and his friend took turns shooting hoops and chasing each other around the room. Caitlin, the great entertainer that she is, danced on stage with the teenage girls. Joshua then got his turn honking the bulb horn, and Oh Boy!, did he have fun then!

Next, we got Joshua's haircut. He did such a good job, I was very proud of him. He sat in the chair by himself, he didn't have to hold my hand, he talked to the lady, he smiled, he laughed, he let her use the blow dryer. After the haircut, he took her into the play area and showed her all the toys and how they worked. He has come along way from sitting on my lap, refusing to wear a cape and screaming the entire time.

It being Saturday, it was time for our weekly trip to McDonalds. If McDonalds knows one thing, it's how to market to kids. Gotta get those Happy Meal toys. I really can't complain too much though, Joshua will agree to almost anything if a Happy Meal is involved.

The promise and delivery of a Happy Meal is how we ended up at the mall next. Davey Jones pirate Happy Meal toy in hand, Joshua followed me through the entire women's clothing section and was rather agreeable. He "helped" me pick out some tops and told me I looked beautiful in all of them as I tried them on. We then went to his clothing department and, luckily, he can't read clothing sizes yet...so, ummm, none of the shirts that came with toys were his size.

After such a successful and pleasant shopping experience, we couldn't leave the mall without going to the children's play area. It was so crowded that I could barely find a place to stand. Joshua didn't care though. He ran...and ran fast. He had numerous near misses and one head-on collision, from which he just stood up and kept on running. I really think he is in training for a BCS game (notice that I didn't specify ACC or SEC, we'll have to wait and see). Anyway, Joshua played and ran the entire time we were there. He can now jump onto the whistle, the baseball, the basketball...still can't get on the soccer ball or goals, but he tried. He also talked to a few other kids! It doesn't seem all that long ago that he would drag me saying "Mommy, come with me..." or not play at all.

The Bad:
Just some minor irritations about the children's play area in the mall. 1) There is a size limit. If you can't fit through the little door, you shouldn't be playing there; 2) The mall and all the other parents are not babysitters. You are not supposed to leave your too tall children in the play area while you are shopping; 3) Parents, watch your own children. I saw a too tall boy climb on the top of the slide and scoot over until he was almost above the entrance. I also saw a little girl push another little girl off of the bat. The dad of the pushee did say something to the pusher but the pusher's parent was no where in sight...that I know of...if the parent was in sight, the parent sure didn't take action.

The Ugly:
In the play area, I also saw a girl and a boy almost come to blows. I thought it became a little heated for a couple of 5 or 6 year olds. Not sure who ran into who, but the next thing I know they are pushing each other back and forth...Luckily, the mom of the boy came to the rescue. The parent of the girl was no where in sight...she was probably the big sister of the pusher mentioned above.

Not sure why, but I find it hard to say something to children in these situations, especially when the child isn't mine. Would I have done something if the two kids did start hitting each other or would I have stood there looking around hoping one of their parents would notice? I know I wouldn't have told the pushee "excuse me, but that was not a nice thing to do" like the pushee's dad did if she had pushed Joshua. I've never told a strange child to stop, don't do that, that wasn't nice or anything else.


Anyway, after all we did today, Joshua was still willing to get a few things from the grocery store so I gave him 2 quarters for the sticker machine...He got a Spongebob and a Patrick sticker so today was the best day ever.

move over Batman and Superman, there are some new toons in town

Joshua has gone, dare I say it, Spongebob Squarepants crazy. We watch Spongebob numerous times per day. When given the choice between Batman, Max and Ruby, Scooby Doo and Spongebob, he now chooses Spongebob!

He has certain scenes from the cartoons memorized and has me recite them with him...I can't remember how they go so he has to tell me what to say. For those of you that watch Spongebob, the scenes are the one where Spongebob wants to know what is in Patrick's secret box and the one where Squidward has "some errands to run" and Spongebob is left to mind The Krabby Patty alone. I'll have to admit, I do pretty good Patrick and Squidward impressions, but my Spongebob needs some work.

As for "stuff", Joshua has a Spongebob lamp, Spongebob pajamas, a Spongebob t-shirt, 2 Spongebob dvds, the Easter Bunny brought him Spongebob bedsheets. He asked me where his Spongebob blanket was, I told him he didn't have a Spongebob blanket. He said "Oh, but we will..."

Happy Easter

This was Easter weekend, and it was a good weekend. Joshua learned the story of Easter in preschool. I'm not one-hundred percent positive that the Easter story is such a good story to be teaching 4 year olds. Joshua was full of questions and concerns of bad soldiers putting stickers on our heads and nails in our hands and feet. One day, he was lying under a chair telling me that it was a cave that the bad soldiers put him in...Anyway, at least he did learn the story...not sure if 3 months makes a big difference, but he seems to have learned more and understood more of the Story of Easter than of the Story of Christmas.

Friday, a couple of Joshua's friends came over to play, hunt Easter Eggs and eat. Due to a new baby sister, illnesses and vacations, only two of his friends made it this year...probably not a bad thing at all because Joshua still hasn't mastered the art of sharing his toys while at his house. It was beautiful weather so we spent the entire morning outside playing T-ball, collecting rocks, walking through the woods on an adventure hike and hunting Easter Eggs. Of course, the cupcakes and Easter candy were the highlights of the day.

The Easter Bunny did visit and brought Joshua an Easter basket with one chocolate bunny, Peeps, Life Savers, a football and a cowboy costume. Joshua has been playing cowboy for the past several weeks...don't spread it around but his cowboy name is Golden Pudding...ok, no idea where that came from but it makes me think of banana pudding every time he says it...Anyway, he has been wearing my old straw golf hat, his belt, and carrying a stick shaped like a rifle. Now, he has the real deal. He is so funny walking around saying "How you doin' yall?" and "Howdy partner."

It was another beautiful day weather-wise so Joshua and Scott worked at clearing some brush and trees out of the woods while I sat and pulled weeds out of the flower bed. We had a super yummy Easter dinner with Scott's parents (w00t! w00t! no cooking or cleaning at our house-great big thanks going out to Memaw).

Joshua the sweet talker

Today, Joshua was running through his myriad of nicknames for me...Mommy booger in your nose, Mommy poo poo on your head, Mommy pooper scooper, etc., and I went through my myriad of eww yuckies, eww no's and eww I don't want to be called thats. Lastly, he came up with Mommy pupa supa. And then he asked me "Mommy, what is a pupa supa?" I said I didn't know, he is the one that said it, and I asked him what pupa supa meant. He said, with a huge smile on his face, "It means funny and beautiful."

Joshua is packing

Joshua and I are going on vacation to Mexico, leaving April 2. My mom, her husband John, his daughter Rachael and her son Jake will be there. They will be staying for two weeks, the first in Cancun, the second in Playa del Carmen. Joshua and I will only be staying one week, half a week in each place. I think it will be a lot of fun once we get there...I am a little worried about the plane trip, I'm hoping Joshua will not get bored and restless.

While in Cancun, we are staying at The Royal Sands. At Playa del Carmen, we are staying at Paseo Del Sol. (if you click on the names, you should be able to see pics of the places) The hotel in Cancun has a lot of kid activities that I'm hoping Joshua will participate in a little. Maybe if Jake goes without complaining, Joshua will too.

Joshua is super excited about going to Mexico to visit his cousin Jake. I have tried to explain to him that the people in Mexico talk differently, kind of like Dora and Diego. He understands a little bit about languages because he has asked me "why do they talk funny?" when we have overheard Spanish speaking people. I also explained to him that Jake talks differently too....Jake and his family live in England...I explained to Joshua that Jake will talk kind of like The Wiggles as I didn't want Joshua to yell out "Mommy! Why does Jake talk funny?" This is a picture of Jake, he looks like a real cutie and I can't wait to meet him. Joshua keeps telling me that he doesn't know what his cousin Jake looks like, so I showed him this picture.

Last week, Joshua started packing for his trip...remember, the trip isn't until April 2, last week was the second week of March. He chose which toys and books he wanted to take and was asking for his suitcase. I convinced him to wait a while before packing them. Yesterday, we bought his swim trunks...Sears had some beautiful Land's End swim trunks that I wanted to buy, Joshua wanted the ones with sharks...we bought the ones with sharks.

Joshua is fascinated by sharks, he has shark shirts, shark books, shark puzzles, we watch shark videos on the computer. One of the things he really wants to do while we are in Mexico is see a shark. So, in an attempt to make my dear son's desire to see a shark come true, I asked him if he wanted to see a shark in an aquarium or in the ocean. He said he has seen a shark in an aquarium, he wants to see a shark in the ocean. I asked him if he would be scared to see a shark in the ocean, he said no! If he saw a shark fin in the ocean, he wouldn't go in the water! I, personally, don't want to see a shark fin in the ocean...maybe we will see a shark somewhere to make him happy.

Well, that's about it. Practically each time we get in the car to go somewhere, he asks if we are going to Mexico now. Weeks must pass as slowly as years for a four year old.

new things

I bought Joshua a couple of new short sleeve shirts adorned with, yes, you guessed it, Superheroes. He didn't see them until yesterday and he asked me where he got them from. I told him that I bought them for him. He was so sweet, he came up to me, gave me a huge hug and a kiss and said "Oh, thank you mommy! I love you."

Joshua needed new sneakers for the spring/summer so yesterday, we went shoe shopping. He chose a really nice pair that he insisted he have...they did have green on them so I gave in...green is his very favorite color. He had to carry his shoes, he held onto them in the car, I made him go look in 2 other shoe stores just in case and he wanted to carry them in. When we got home, he put them on and ran all afternoon. The new shoes made him run so much faster than his older shoes. He couldn't wait to go to school so his friends could see how fast he can run in his new shoes!

Last weekend I had a pedicure. A few days later, I had on socks and sneakers, Joshua asked me if I still had my pretty toes. We saw an older girl at the park the other day, she was probably 14 years old and there with her little sister. Joshua told me she had really pretty red toes.

Last night, I had my hair cut and colored. As soon as I walked in the door, Joshua said "Mommy! I like your new hair!"

fears

Joshua has developed fears. After mentioning this to my doctor, she told me that it is very common for children ages 4 through 7 to develop fears, real and imagined. She said that their imagination is going full swing (the imagined fears) and they are becoming more aware of the world around them (the real fears...car accidents, bad people, etc.)

Joshua's biggest fear, for the moment, is his fear of the dark. When he goes to bed, he has two nightlights, a lamp and his overhead light on. The few times I tried to sneak in and turn his overhead light off, he woke up during the night crying for me to turn it back on. I've tried to tell him that there is nothing to be afraid of, we have discussed what he is afraid of in the dark and all he says is he is just scared of the dark. Last week, Scott was sick with a nasty cold and I thought I would sleep on Joshua's top bunk....I didn't want to catch the cold and I don't sleep well on the couch. I told Joshua that I couldn't sleep with the overhead light on and if he woke up during the night and the light was off, it meant I was sleeping on the top. He woke up, he cried, he told me he didn't want me to sleep in his room, he wanted the light on....I moved to the couch.

He is a little afraid that someone is going to get him. He wants me to stick close to him at the park, he doesn't want to go into the 4 year old class at church, I now have to go into the bathroom stall with him instead of waiting outside the stall door, all because he is scared someone is going to grab him.

He is also having some loud noise issues...loud noises scare him. In public restrooms, he can't be in the stall when I flush, he has to go over to the sink and cover his ears. Kids playing too loud at the playground, he covers his ears. All he says is it is too loud and it scares him.

Luckily, none of these are too serious, they don't interrupt our daily lives.