Joseph at 27 years

Joseph enjoying his steak birthday dinner today.

Height: 5'9.75"

Weight: Higher than his wrestling weight in high school

Favorite Toys:

• He is very excited for his new GoogleTV box to come
• His Nexus One phone

Favorite Activities:

• Teaching Nicholas to like the things he likes. Yesterday, he tried to convince Nicholas that he liked watching Papa play Final Fantasy VII. He did succeed in teaching Nicholas to say, "Chocobo." He has been more successful at catching Nicholas interest with other activities. While Nicholas wasn't too interested in watching football, he did love it when Joseph taught him the proper way to hold a football and let him run "super" fast around the house with it.
• Going to the park with Nicholas.

New/Favorite Words:

• Thrombocytopenia
• Pathopneumonic
• Henoch-Schonlein Purpura
• Cytomegalovirus
• Quasar

Big Accomplishments This Year:

• Finished his second year of medical school. On Friday, Joseph also finished his internal medicine rotation.

Sleeping Habits:

• Joseph has the strangest sleeping habits out of anyone in the family. It doesn't help that for the past few weeks he was on call all night at the hospital every five days. His major sleeping problem is that he has a hard time falling asleep and a equally hard time getting up. He will lay in bed for hours tossing and turning or playing games on his phone before he finally drifts off to sleep.

Favorite Food:

• He is easy to please and will eat whatever I make him. He is even good at eating all his vegetables.
• He loves eating what we have grown in our garden.

Quirks:

• He hates power cords to get tangled.
• He wears cargo pants with his tie and white shirt.
• You know that tree climbing phase kids go through? Joseph never left.
• Being partly deaf has made him capable of sleeping through anything.

Nicholas at 23 months

Weight: 32 lbs

Height: 34 inches

Belly Diameter: 22 inches

Favorite Foods: Pizza, Pasta, Ice Cream, Milk, M&Ms, Hot Dogs, Peaches, and Strawberries

Favorite Phrases and Words:

• "I look."---This is his response when I tell him not to touch something because it will break. He also assumes his looking position. He will bend down and put his hands into fists and hold them up next to his body.
• "Carries"---He LOVES to be carried by Mama.
• "One. One. One."---He will run over to my kitchen utensil drawer and keep repeating this. It means he wants to choose one utensil to play with. He LOVES kitchen utensils.
• "Mama."---He is still super attached to Mama.
• "Broke. I fix."--He is such a man. He wants to fix things all by himself with no help.
• "Much."--When we play in the bathtub, I tell him "too much" when he turns the water up on high. Now when he wants a lot of something, he says, "Much."
• "Super fast."--He likes to race and swing super fast.
• "No push."--Nicholas knows he gets in serious trouble when he pushes people. At random times, he will say, "No push." He then will list off all the people he is not allowed to push and then says, "Sorry."
• "No potties."--Our first step towards potty training is that Nicholas now knows that he is not allowed to go potty in the bathtub.
• "More Grandma. More Grandpa."--He misses his grandparents. He really bonded with them while he was up in UT.
• "Hold."--Nicholas loves holding things.
• "Dump."--He has an overwhelming urge to dump things out.
• "Messes."--He loves to make messes.
• "Pour."--He loves to pour water from one container to the next.

Favorite Shows: (He is getting MUCH better at watching TV.)

• Word World
• Toy Story
• Beauty and the Beast
• Baby Signing Time
• Chip and Dale

New Tricks:

• He can count to ten all by himself, though he sometimes skips 6 and 7.
• He will repeat pretty much anything you tell him to.
• He can say his ABCs with help.
• He can correctly identify both sets of Grandparents and most of his aunts and uncles. (Before our trip to UT, he could only say Grandpa.)
• He can identify Jesus, temples, and prophets.
• He is saying lots of sentences.

Favorite Toys:

• His stuffed puppy is his FAVORITE security object.
• Phones
• Flashlights
• Magnets
• Ball Popper
• A Bucket of Pennies
• A Bag Full of Beads
• Papa's Tools
• Kitchen Utensils
• Swing
• Sandbox

He continues to be a happy and busy explorer. He keeps me busy and constantly entertained. He also continues to be a wonderful sleeper.

My favorite parts about this age:

• The look on his face when he is thinking.
• How he is finding new ways to express what he is thinking.
• His complete love and trust in Mama.
• That he will still turn around and run towards me when I say, "I'm going to get you."
• His laugh and that he thinks Mama is hilarious.
• He gives the best loves/hugs/pats.
• He has the cutest smile and is so expressive.
• When he is really happy, he will rub his belly with both hands.

My least favorite parts about this age:

• He is testing his limits. He knows when he shouldn't do something and he thinks it is funny to see what Mama will do when he disobeys.
• He is all consuming and loves Mama's complete attention, except when he is having fun destroying something.
• His constant exploring is extremely messy business.