Hide and scream

Probably Josh's most favorite thing in the whole world is a good game of peek-a-boo.  He has loved it since he was just a few months old and now that he can actively participate, we spend a good part of each day asking "Where's Josh".  He'll hide under towels, napkins, his hands or anything else he can find.  He loves his "Peek-a-Who" and "Peek-a-blue Blue's Clues" books and will read them over and over again.  Anytime he's cranky or needs a little distracting, a good game of "Pee-Pie" gets him everytime.  I think we'll finally know when he's a big kid when the game looses it's allure and he starts rolling his eyes at us saying "Duh, Mom, I know you're just behind your fingers". 

One of his most favorite versions is when we have him "sneek" up on us in the next room.  The wales of giggles make it pretty difficult for you to be surprised but we always scream like we didn't know he was there.  Recently, he's started doing his own thing where he jumps out and screams, waving his arms the whole time.  Too funny. 

Talent show

In the pace of life we keep forgetting to get out the video camera to capture all of the new phrases and skills Josh has.  We know we're biased but he's just at such a cute stage where everything is new and fun so when the camera comes out we have to try to get a video record we can look back on later (like when he's a surly teenager). 

So here's two little clips we'll call Josh's talent show

Snow day (just one)

I think the entire midwest can thank Scott for obsessively researching and purchasing a new snow blower to tackle our driveway.  While we certainly don't get as much snow here as we did in Michigan, last year we got several good dumps and with our 600 feet of driveway, he wasn't excited about the snow shovel.  Of course, now that we have the snowblower we got almost no snow at all this winter.  We did have one day where we had about two - three inches on the grass which was just enough reason to bust out the sled and snowsuit. 

Christmas wonderland the video addition

Just a few video clips of Josh playing with his favorite toys from Christmas.


He loved his new slide and for a cushiony landing the pool/ball pit makes a great spot.


He's still a little bit small for the tricycle but with the push handle it's good for a trip or two around the driveway.  Now he loves his bike and always wants to take it for a ride to check out the turtles at our neighbor's house.


While he is unlikely to be gifted in the height department, his enthusiasm for the basketball goal could certainly take him all the way to the NBA.  He shoots, he scores.....

Christmas 2011

I have been really fortunate that during all my years of med school and training, I only have had to work Christmas once.  Obviously people still get sick over holidays, but I've been lucky to have co-workers with family in town or plans for a New Year's vacation  who been willing to cover.  With the new job, it's basically just me and one partner for my call pool so we've agreed to alternate years and this year it was my turn.  To keep us from having an empty house, my folks, grandmother and younger brother came up to celebrate the holidays.  Thankfully the inpatient service stayed light and other than daily rounding the hospital responsibilities were minimal.  Looking back, it seems we spent so much time celebrating that we forgot to take pictures of everyone together but of course we're not lacking in photos of the munchkin. 

We did squeeze in a few Christmas activities.  Our Christmas cookies turned into amorphous blobs instead of trees and gingerbread men, but the cinnamon brown butter cream cheese frosting was amazing.  Santa definitely enjoyed them. 

We also took Josh to see Santa but since we weren't sure how well it would go we opted for the cheaper version at Bass Pro shops over the fancy mall santa.  While waiting in line was a good time, J wasn't too sure what he thought about the man in red.

After church and a Christmas Eve dinner inspired by our trip to Napa, we danced around the kitchen and inspected the Christmas tree one last time.  Then it was off to dream land to listen for reindeer hooves. 

The next morning, J was very excited about the new play table, puzzles, tricycle and basketball goal that Santa left. 

It was so fun this year to watch him be excited about opening presents and playing with his new things. 

Of course it never fails though that playing in the box is always more fun

Tennessee Time

To give me some baby free time to cram for my Obstetrics and Gynecology boards before the holidays, Scott took Josh down to see his mom and his sister's crew down in Nashville.  While it's a bit of a drive, we're so thankful that they're close enough to visit without a plane ride.

On this trip, Josh's obsession with "dip, dip" for his food began with a stop at McDonalds.

And they took a detour to check another National Park off Josh's life list

Mostly though they just had a great time hanging out with family

Texas time

Now that we were all back in the same state, it was family time.  We had a great belated Thanksgiving dinner and got to spend lots of time hanging out.  Josh was definitely excited to see his cousin Sarah.  The last time they had been together was before Josh started walking and you could tell he was frustrated at not being able to keep up.  They had a great time at the park. 

And back at Nana's the coffee table baskets proved to be a common interest. 

The smaller basket definitely brought on some forced togetherness but since neither was willing to give up their space for the other, they eventually learned to share.