Joseph and Rosco

Every morning Joseph gets very excited to greet Rosco (calling him Ra ra or Ra co). They have a lot in common really. They both love to play ball, neither of them listen very well, they just can't get enough food....two peas in a pod. Except for one pea is quite a lot bigger than the other and the other pea walks upright. Rosco does knock Joseph down on occasion, so you'll see Joseph flinch as the dog walks by, bracing himself for a fall or lick to the face. But for the most part they both enjoy each others company. (though I'm not really sure if Rosco enjoys Joseph crawling over him like a piece of playground equipment, but oh well). Joseph moves up to a new class tomorrow....the second toddler room! I think that is the class where they work on perfecting their attitudes and manipulating their parents.

The Conways at Irish Fest

Joseph had an action packed day yesterday....started out with fun in the sun at the Harrington State Park Beach and ended with Irish Fest. He walks just about everywhere now, and is getting more and more comfortable with the water. He likes it when you hold his hands and pull him through the water on his belly or back, and he'll walk and play in the water himself but doesn't yet understand how to close his mouth when he goes under. He ends up drinking quite a bit of it, and he apparently fancies the sand as well. (though after the first fist full went into his mouth I didn't see him do it again so I'm guessing he decided it wasn't that tasty after all). At Irish Fest he had fun watching the parade, listening to the bagpipers, and ate almost an entire chicken basket (which begs the question...why won't he eat chicken nuggets at home?). And of course now that he walks he has no desire to sit in the stroller for hours on end, so Jay and I took turns walking him through crowds and chasing him around during the music. He's on nap number two today and both have been long ones so I'm thinking we wore him out. Now why can't he just sleep in instead?

This is What I Looked Like

When I got home from daycare today

And after I ate dinner

I thought it was funny. Jay would like to know how to make sure it doesn't happen again. :)

State Fair

We went to the Wisconsin State Fair on Friday afternoon and Joseph loved seeing all the animals and enjoyed a taste of a deep fried oreo (you can get just about anything fried or on a stick at the state fair). Even though the line was too long for the 25 cent flavored milk that Jay wanted, Joseph still got to take his picture with the fake cow, which is all he really cared about. Too bad there were other kids waiting to climb on it....he could have stayed there quite happily for minutes and minutes!

Mommy and Me

Look Who's Walking

We had floaters in the bathtub tonight for the first time. Not fun. Next time I see him put his butt above the water I'm going to jump into action and put his little ars on the toilet!

Joseph in Lake Zurich

Joseph had a great time at the beach in Lake Zurich, IL on Sunday. He walked in the sand, and into the water (key word in this sentence being walked). I'd say he crawls just as much as he walks, but each week he gets a little better at it so I figure by the end of the summer he'll be a pro. He also knows where his head, ears, nose, and belly button are, and we're working on shoulders, knees and toes. And he definitely knows who mom, dad, rosco, and grover are (he sleeps with grover most nights). This week he's been waking up a little earlier, just before 6, and he's figured out how to switch songs and pump up the volume on his crib aquarium, which means we now awake to all kinds of fun musical tunes each morning. He seems amazingly tall, and has a full mouth of teeth (and judging by his behavior tonight...he's getting more. We had to bust out the tylenol for the first time in months). His eyes are definitely not blue.....but also not brown. They appear a grayish hazel, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed they stay that way. Though how do you classify that on a drivers license?

p.s. the picture of Joseph on the ground reminds me of George Costanza on the velvet couch

Motivated by a Stranger

That's how the subject would read if we were writing an article on our activity last night. Every tuesday we head down to the park in the neighborhood for volleyball, and last night before the games started up we were just sitting around with our neighbors when Joseph started playing with one of the volleyballs. At first he was just doing his regular ball thing, throwing it and making fun noises, but then he started to walk with it. A few steps here, a few steps there. I think he was doing 5 or so with our neighbors but then a complete stranger (not as in kidnapper strange, but from a different block strange) sat down nearby and started playing with him. And would you believe that the little man took like 9 steps towards her? I'm hoping the volleyball was the motivating factor in this story and not the stranger, else we might have to actually start meeting new people to get him to learn how to walk. In the meantime, I've strategically placed a volleyball in the center of the basement amongst his other toys.

And yes, I do realize the picture has nothing to do with the story.

First Real Haircut!

Joseph got his first real haircut yesterday, and didn't even flinch! He enjoyed looking at all the cool stuff they had on the ceiling and the walls. It's not cut exactly as I described, but oh well. I suppose he's a little too young for gel and mousse anyway. And while we're on the subject of firsts....Joseph also had his first doctor's appointment with no ear infection, and his first glass of spoiled milk. (which Jay realized at lunchtime before giving Joseph his cup, after he had already had a glassful with breakfast). Yummmmm.

Joseph at the Beach

We took these pictures the weekend before we left on vacation, at a beach along Lake Michigan about 20 minutes from our house. The water was too cold to play in (which really ticked off Joseph) but once we got him to focus on sticks and sand he had quite a nice time. I think he may have gotten a little taller since then, and he definitely has more teeth! His balance is also getting better, he took three short steps all by himself yesterday! Though his preference is to walk with you while holding hands.

Happy 4th of July!

No picture this time because I forgot to update the blog before heading out of town for the holiday....so stay tuned for that in a few weeks! Joseph actually enjoyed swimming today with Jay (in a pool that he cannot touch the bottom in), but when he got dunked the smile faded a bit. He's standing for more than a few seconds now and likes walking around holding your hands, but no more than a step or two on his own. And he's quite the talker! (just not in words that make much sense) We're all on vacation over the next week....Rosco at his farmhouse back in Milwaukee, Joseph in Minnesota, and Jay and I are heading to Hayward (northwestern WI) on Sunday. A good time expected to be had by all! So be patient waiting for the next blog update (rather hypocritical of me to ask such a thing, as it is not a virtue that I posses!). And have a happy 4th!!!!

First Steps?

Does this qualify as Joseph's first steps?

Playing

Peek-A-Boo

In the Water

Bouncing

Zerberts

Turn My Back For A Minute

And this is what I find....little man in the bathroom playing with the toilet paper!

Joseph Making a Mess at Daycare

And loving every minute of it I'm sure! He doesn't get to do fun pudding projects at home (as clearly it would make quite a mess!) Joseph is actually still awake right now....watching me type on the computer as he cuddles with a pooh bear, fish, and monkey across the room. He's starting to stand on his own without grabbing onto something or any support. It may only last a few seconds each time he tries, but he's working on it! We clap and say "good job" for encouragement, to which he responds with screams of glee. (I really don't know how else to describe the noises he makes). And sometimes you'll even catch him repeating you now....words like "whoa" and "ding dong". You of course have to have an ear for it....but it's pretty amazing (and amusing).

Welcome To Our OOL

Notice how there's no P in it. (That's what I remember from working at the Aqua Center in high school.) Joseph had a blast playing in the kiddie pool outside in our yard yesterday morning. We thought he would be leery of it because the water was so cold, but when Jay placed him down on the grass after a few splashes with his hands to test it out he crawled right in! After his nap and lunch, we then went to the Highland Games for some cool drinks and Scottish festivities. Our neighbors band came in first place in the bagpipe marching contest! All this fun was had before the super cell moved into the area. On the way home the sirens started going off, so we spent the early evening in the basement watching the radar on TV and playing with stuffed animals. We didn't have any damage, no shingles missing or water in the basement like many others in the area, just a large shrubs (more like a small tree) out front that took a beating. Today Joseph and I woke up Jay at 7 and made him take us to breakfast. We were starving, and for the first time, entirely out of fresh fruit in the house (and the little man won't stand for that!) So he wolfed down two bananas, some cheerios, and part of my pancake at Ted's. We're pretty sure he's going through some kind of growth spurt. He looks really tall these days, and last night he stood on his own without holding on to anything! And last but not least, after two rounds of antibiotic shots in both thighs, Joseph's ears are finally rid of all bacteria. Provided he makes it through the summer without another infection, we can avoid a myriad of ENT visits and tubes. Now it's off to the grocery store....if I don't have fruit on his plate for lunch there will be hell to pay. (translated: Joseph will kick and scream and not eat anything until something sweet and full of vitamins is placed in front of him. Then and only then will he consider eating any vegetables, meat, or noodles.)

Summertime

Not NKOTB, Not Will Smith, but now presenting Joseph Dominic Conway enjoying the summer! Joseph now reaches for you to pick him up when he's upset, he points to his nose if you ask him where his nose is (sometimes he misses and hits the eye instead), he wiggles his body and shakes his hands in the air if you ask him to "shake it", and he loves to play with sticks, grass, dandelions, and anything else he can get his little hands on outside. We captured all of these moments in the slide show so you could see what we mean!

The Constant Ear Infection

Joseph likes to look at himself in pictures, and this is his fascination with himself captured on film the other night after a bath. Cute cheeks huh? But that is not the subject of this blog entry. The subject are his ears. It seems that he hasn't had several double ear infections, but rather one continuous double ear infection that started in March and is still with us today. We visited the doctor on Tuesday and he is now trying the third and final family of antibiotics to see if that will rid his ears of the bacteria. If not, then we try antibiotic shots. And if that doesn't work then we visit the Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor to find out if tubes are our only option. It actually sounds much worse than it is, Joseph is still mostly happy and it doesn't seem to bother him too much. And while we were waiting for the doctor I decided to find out his current weight (I couldn't resist the temptation) and he is a lean, mean 25lbs and 7.5oz. Recently he's decided that he's a vegan. He refuses all chicken and meat, and can't stand eggs even if they are disguised with cheese. In fact he's even been turning down waffles, pancakes, and toast. If it were up to him, he would live off a diet consisting of strawberries, pineapple, bananas, and snacks. Though he will still eat broccoli, peas, carrots, and beans. So no complaints from me yet. His eyes are still a unique shade of blue/gray (more gray than blue) with a thin ring of light brown around his pupil. His favorite word is "ball" and he is starting to learn "book" and "light", but only the first parts of those new words. He understands what you are saying more than you realize, and is his own way has started demanding to be read to. Still going to bed by 7 though....no change on that front! Though it is nice some evenings, especially when Jay wants to watch his Pittsburgh penguins and I am craving a dose of prime time television (can't wait for LOST!)

Sunny Days

We don't watch Sesame Street yet, but we do enjoy the sunny days outside! Though today Joseph seemed to get a bit over heated after an hour outside so we're spending the afternoon in the basement where it's nice and cool. I refuse to turn the A/C on since we'll be going from 80 back to 50 tomorrow. Since when did spring cease to exist?

Our First Slideshow

A friend of ours showed us how to do a slide show on the blog...pretty cool huh? Thought it worked well for the multiple tissue shots. When I updated the blog last week I had Joseph upstairs with me and he grabbed the box of Kleenex and went to town. While I am not correcting this sort of behavior, I did change my mind on the subject of throwing food. When we went out to dinner on Mother's Day I realized the error of my ways as Joseph sent his sippy cup sailing into the table next to us and laughed and giggled as he threw his penne on the floor. And so we now tell him "NO" when he throws things at meal time. This of course did not go over well with Joseph. For the first few days every meal was filled with tears and screaming, but now it's starting to get better. He knows that it is wrong to throw food but he tests his limits. He stares right at you with his hand held out to the side of this highchair with a piece of pancake or his sippy cup ready to drop....and then makes a deliberate decision to either do what is right and put the object back on his plate.....or do what is wrong and throw it to the floor. He is officially a toddler.