Bath Time

Caleb is now big enough to take a bath with his Big Brother, which Joshua Stephen absolutely loves. Anytime Joshua Stephen hears water running he yells out "I want Caleb to take a bath with me" and rushes to the bath tub. J.S. enjoys making his little brother into a bubble monster while trying to wash his hair.

Potty Training

Well, it's official we started potty training Joshua Stephen. I wasn't planning on starting so early. I've heard from many wise mothers of boys that potty training is easiest once your little man reaches age 3. But then one of my girlfriends (Lyra) unknowingly inspired me to give it a try early.
What we did is let Joshua Stephen have some diaper free time where he would run around the house bottomless. We found that when he didn't have a diaper on, he would run to the potty to go to the bathroom. Plus me taking him to the potty every time I saw his little bare bottom didn't hurt his chances of success either.
After running around the house bottomless for a couple of days, we decided to try on a pair of underware. He loved them and after a couple of days of wearing underware around the house we decided we would try wearing our underware on a couple of outings. And we haven't looked back since. We are still wearing a diaper at nap time and bed time and we are working on making stinky in the potty. We are expecting some set backs to come our way, but for now we are just so proud of our Little man!

I put this fun note on Joshua Stephen's back when he went to Mom's Morning Out at the Log Cabin, to help remind his teachers to take him to the potty often. (Which has been one of the secrects to our success.) Did I forget to mention that we have also used bribery. Normally, we are against bribery when it comes to our child rearing practices, but anything goes when your potty training. Joshua Stephen received an M&M every time he used the potty, and after several hours of no accidents he would get a fun Jungle Book figurine. Amazingly, now that he's gotten the hang of it few rewards are needed.

Cookie Face

Here's Joshua Stephen enjoying a cookie during our "Family Movie Night".

Most evenings we try to spend time together as a family. Since it has been so cold outside, we've been stuck inside trying to find fun things to fill our time. Well, Dawson came up with the idea of having a Family movie night and Joshua Stephen instantly loved it. (We try not to watch too much TV, so J.S. gets really excited when we put a moving picture in front of him.) I baked cookies as a fun little treat for our cozy evening indoors, and Joshua Stephen thought he had died and gone to heaven- cookies AND a movie with Mom, Dad and Baby Brother curled up next to him. What Fun!

It's no surprise that we have had many requests for another Family Movie Night. Each morning I ask Joshua Stephen "What do you want to do today", and often times his first response is "Have a family movie night". He's such a silly little guy!

Tight Squeeze

Believe it or not, this is actually a rare occurrence- to see Caleb upset with his big brother. I guess the head lock may have something to do with it, but Joshua Stephen was just trying to give him a hug- honest.

Caleb and Ice cream

At first Caleb's not sure if he likes ice cream, because it's so cold.

Then he gets a good taste of it.

So he decides to help Daddy with the spoon.

Then he takes control,

decides to use both hands,

and savor every bite.

He's left with a messy (but ever so cute) little mug.
Gotta love ice cream!

Maggie to the Rescue!

Praise God for friends! Especially friends as wonderful as Fun Maggie! Last week I got an icky eye infection and was banned from wearing my contact lenses for six whole days. The big problem was that I don't own any eye glasses and I am blind as a bat without some type of corrective lense to help me see. That is when wonderful Maggie came to my rescue. When she found out that we shared the same eye prescription she offered to let me borrow her brand new hip and sassy glasses. What a friend! And what provision from the Lord! I did order some fun eye glasses of my own and I am eagerly waiting for them to arrive. I just hope they are as cute as Maggie's fun glasses when they do finally arrive.

What you talkin' bout?

Here's Caleb showing off his rough and tough side.
We think he would sound something like Mr. T if he could talk right now.

Who would ever think this little angel could act so tough?

He's very unassuming.