Monday: 5 weeks and loud trucks

Joshua is five weeks old today!

I've seen a few smiles before that seemed real, but today seemed to be the day he really figured it out. I got a ton of smiles! Ben, sadly, only got worried looks.

He also did some tummy time. Isaac's trains did tummy time too.

Every Labor Day there is a truck parade from the nearby city to our city. If you go to the end it is busy and there is food and balloons and such. Or you can park along the route in a random parking lot and just watch from the side of the road.

We met up with some friends. Isaac was so excited that he fell and scrapped up his knees. It was the first time he got band aids. They seemed to help a lot. :)

I warned Isaac that loud trucks were coming, but he didn't really grasp how loud they'd be. We quickly ended up watching from inside the car, but that worked very well. (Another good reason to park along the route.). (Note from Tuesday: Isaac's been asking to watch the loud trucks all morning, so it didn't scare him too much.). I really liked listening to the different sounds/tones the truck horns made.

Extra: a tickle monster conundrum

As we were getting in the car to go to church Isaac starting telling the Big Tickle Monster (BTM) to go away. I promptly told him not to worry; BTM wasn't coming to church with us.

I instantly regretted saying that...after all, church is for everyone! Even BTMs. But at the same time, I want Isaac to run away from bad BTMs, especially since he's only two.

Our solution? Isaac told Little Tickle Monster a Jesus story. (Literally. "A Jesus story" is what he said.). I told BTM about Jesus. But I don't know if he was listening or not.

Sunday: 32 months

Isaac was 32 months yesterday. I know, a weird milestone. But it's easy to take his pictures when taking Joshua.

Potty training - he regressed when Joshua was about two weeks, but I think we're slowly getting back on track.  He likes to take his pants off and I've started to make him put there back on himself.  We've had many tears over it, even though he's really pretty good at it.

Pictures - Isaac likes to be in pictures, but crinkles his nose when smiling for a camera.  We've been working on relaxing his nose, but now he relaxes it while touching it, which isn't much better.  (see above photo.)

The tickle monster has evolved into two tickle monsters.  Big Tickle Monster is still mean, but Isaac knows to tell him to to go "far far away" and doesn't make his super scared face any more.  Little Tickle Monster is basically another Isaac that does the same things as he does.  The other day he was leaving his room and said, "come on Little Tickle Monster, come on!"

Talking - he is still hard to understand (for non-parents), but he has so many words.  He sometimes is getting some new sentence/tense construction which is fun to hear.

Toys - he really likes marbles (although we've been working really hard on getting them to stay in his room).  Duplos are still a lot of fun and marbles and duplos together are really fun.  Play-doh has also been a common toy.  Playing in the sand is always a hit, but we don't do it all that often.

And one last picture - he kept hiding in this Isaac sized box.  Oh, and he's tall enough to reach light switches now.  It's actually kind of nice.

Extra: sleep

When you're tired, what's worse?

1. Getting all comfortable in bed only to have to deal with a screaming baby five minutes later
2. Waiting five minutes to get in bed, only to have the baby calm down immediately. (And so you could have goe straight to bed.)

Of course, the worst is when both happen.

Saturday: pictures

Nothing to exciting today.  Isaac and I got groceries in the morning.  I needed quite a few things, so it took a while.

Flurry enjoyed a box.

Joshua was sleeping on his stomach on the couch and it was time to put Isaac in the bath, but Ben wanted to go in the basement.  I was a little afraid he'd push himself off if left alone so Ben decided to try and bring him downstairs on a Rubbermaid lid.  It didn't keep him asleep, but it does look funny.

Friday: this and that

First up, some pictures from the beach yesterday.  They turned out really well.

The boys chased this seagull for about five minutes.  That'll show seagulls not to come near our food.

Our plans today changed because of the weather.So we ended up doing errands instead of something fun.  One of the errands included going to Joann's...it was so busy.  I needed some fabric cut and we waited at least ten minutes.  Then we went to check out and waited another ten minutes.  But Isaac did a nice job of entertaining himself while not being destructive, so it ended up ok.

This evening Joshua and I had the hiccups together.  His were rapid, mine were slower.  But it was rather funny.

And finally, a conversation:
Amanda: One...two... (get over here and brush your teeth!)
Isaac: Mom say three?
Amanda: No, you don't want me to say three.  Then you'll get a punishment.
Isaac: A mint?? (Hopeful)
Amanda: No, a punishment.  It's not something you want.

Obviously, I don't get to three very often.  And when I do he usually quickly does whatever he's supposed to do and I let it slide.

Thursday: 1 month

Joshua is one month old today!  Usually I expect to combine the weekly and monthly photos together, but this time they were rather far apart (week-wise) and one month is a big milestone.

Joshua's puzzle has been started.  I like his tongue sticking out in the top picture.

And his largest stuffed animal is a bunny, so that's what we will be taking pictures with.  Isaac proceeded to run to his room and get his monkeys, but I thought I'd wait a few days to post them.  (Really, I need to figure out how many months he is and don't feel like doing it now.)

This morning we went to the beach.  Well, we went to the sand by the beach.  It was rather cool, but I took advantage of the temperature and dressed Joshua in a sleeper that I really like but might not fit for long.  Although if the weather stays this cool we will see more of the long sleeved items.

Isaac and Ethan took a while to warm up to each other, but then they were off running all over the place.  It is hilarious to see them playing together as they think they're so funny.  One person will do something so then the other person will do it too and they'll both laugh.