Christmas with a toddler

We put up our Christmas decorations yesterday (WAY earlier than we usually do, but if it didn't get done now, it wasn't going to ever get done).

Do you like our tree?

Yeah, so does Joshua. Hence, the baby gate protection :)

This is why Mommy usually takes her showers before Joshua gets up:

Mommy, why did you put this hair tie here? Now I can't cause even more destruction.

What? Is this a problem?

Do you like what I've done with the place?

The aftermath of Hurricane Joshie

And instead of reorganizing, I just threw it all back in the baskets, because I'm sure this won't be the last time Hurricane Joshie strikes.

Just monkeying around!

Just a few shots of Joshua's recent silliness:

Do you like my Tupperware hat, Mommy? And these coasters make great toys...

Cheesin' it up with my college friend Annie :)

This is a REGULAR occurrence in our kitchen. I think part of it is to get my attention when I'm making dinner, but it is mostly just his desire to take the most difficult route to get somewhere. And please take note of the little book he's traveling with...he is RARELY to be found without one in hand! It took him quite a while to get un-stuck, but he finally did it. And for anyone wondering why I didn't just help him out, he is ALL BOY! He wants to do almost everything on his own, and gets very annoyed if we step in to help. If he wants/needs our help, he lets us know...otherwise, hands off, Mommy!

Myrtle Beach

Joshua and I joined Grandma for a weekend trip down to Myrtle Beach. We had absolutely GORGEOUS weather, especially considering the time of year! You can see a little bit of the rainbow that greeted us when we first arrived:

Now, considering that my parents live pretty darn close to the beach in North Carolina, you may be surprised to learn that this was Joshua's first time experiencing the ocean. He's been down to the river a million times, but we've just never made the trip to the beach before now. He liked the sand and looking at the ocean, but when I held his hands and walked with him up to the water's edge, and a small wave met his feet, he FLIPPED OUT. The water was pretty cold, and I think he was surprised by that, since his baths (which he loves) are always warm. Nothing would calm him down, and every time another wave headed our way (even though I was holding him by now), he would cry harder and harder. Oh well...I guess we should have gotten him down to the beach during the warm summer!

Joshua loves eating at restaurants. He enjoys watching all the people (and clapping for them, because he knows it gets a "Oh my goodness, isn't he adorable?" reaction from them) and he likes eating off the grown-ups' plates.

He has also recently developed an affinity for putting his fingers up his nose...and my nose.

So, we were at Broadway at the Beach on Halloween, and there were SO many people there with their kids, trick-or-treating at all of the shops. When we went to get ice cream at Cold Stone, this adorable little girl in a teddy bear costume came up to Joshua and tried to swipe the Kit Kat that he had been given on our way into the ice cream shop. It was hillarious, because they did kind of a tug-of-war with it, not because Joshua even eats chocolate candy, but because he thought she wanted to play with him.

David's little sister Erin had a window friend as a little girl (she's talk to her reflection in the window), and Joshua has discovered his mirror friend. We have mirrors in our own house, of course, but he's never been as obsessed as he was with the mirror in our bathroom. As soon as we'd get back to the room after any outing, the first place he'd go would be the bathroom to check on his "friend." While it may look like he's praying to the mirror baby here, he's actually applauding him, which is what he does whenever he really likes something. I wonder if he'll miss his friend, or if he'll find him again in one of our mirrors at home.

While the first ocean experience wasn't the best ever, the first heated indoor pool experience was a BIG hit! Joshua "swam" with Grandma for almost an hour, kicking his little legs and splashing both of them in the face, which he thought was hillarious. He also loved getting loud and hearing his voice echo, and since we were there in the morning and no one else was there, we let him just have a ball. This funny face is after getting a face full of water :)

Joshua also likes to "play the drums" on any hard surface he can find, so the side of the pool worked great for that.

We had a really great time and look forward to going back again soon--I'm pretty sure that's what Joshua probably wished for as Grandma helped him toss a coin into the fountain :)

I've got a couple of short videos to post from our trip, but my computer is acting up, so they'll have to wait...but they're super-cute!