All things new.

It seems I've gotten off to a poor start in the blogging world for 2010. I don't think I'll be meeting my quota this month.

There is so much to say, and Josiah seems to be saying all of it these days. Each day I wake up and listen to him chatter with more gusto (and clarity) than the day before. It is simply amazing. He is talking in 3 word sentences now. Sometimes he gets tongue tied and I can study his face and see just how hard he is trying to articulate a complete idea at once. His first 3 word sentence was "Josiah eat poo-poo?!" Classy, I know. He was sitting on the toilet and laughing so hard when I said, "EEEEwwwwwwww! YUCK!" Now of course he says it every once in a while to get a rise out of me. If I don't react he will. Actually, he usually tells me, "Mama do it. Eww yuck."

Jonathan and I are almost immune to tantrums, as "two" brought them in like a heat wave. I read in a parenting magazine a few months back that toddlers melt down on average every 20 minutes. I naively thought to myself, "gosh. That can't be right. It is so often!" Right. Imagine that is only an AVERAGE. On good days we stay far below average. On bad ones we make average look good. There are two primary triggers in Josiah's life, those being tiredness and hunger. That being said, those things only exasperate the situation. Even the most well rested, well fed child manages to cry if something isn't going his way. Those events include (but are not limited to): "No, you cannot have candy for breakfast," "No, you cannot have 3 packs of fruit snacks," "We are not going to Chickfila today," "We cannot have a treat every time we pass the Target snack bar." "We aren't going to the big basketball goal right now. You can play on the one in the house." "We can't go to Paw Paw's house today." Now that I am typing it out, I realize how often the child is melting down over food. That's amazing. Don't worry, he is offered healthy alternatives each time. The conversation usually transpires like this,

Josiah: "More woot kacks."

Mama: "You already ate your fruit snacks. How about we try an orange or grapes."

Josiah: "NO orange. NO grapes. Wooott kaaaccccckkkks."

Mama: "You may have an orange or grapes. Which would you like?"

Josiah: "NOOOO! WOOOOTT KAACCCKSSS!" (meltdown ensues.)

Mama: "When you're ready, you can let me know what you would like to eat. I gave you your choices."

Josiah: crying on floor.

Mama: step over him and continue to go about my day.

I personally feel consistency in how we react (you don't get your way by throwing a tantrum) is the most important key to our success. I also think that toddlers are passionate about whatever they are thinking about, and passion without regard to social boundaries=tantrum. It's really not as bad as it sounds.

Recently Jonathan reacquired an old drum set he had. We really only have a kick drum and a tom, but that is all Josiah needs for pure bliss. Both are set up in his room. Tonight I was astounded when he managed to play both the kick drum and tom simultaneously. He loves drums so much. Jonathan and I are hoping to nurture his love by guiding his understanding of rhythm while he is so small and a sponge for any skill or knowledge. It's a little hard to do that as a mother with very little rhythm, but I am doing the best I can. I can at least keep a simple beat. Usually I am off the hook because Josiah wants to play drums and instructs me to play his guitar. I just noticed tonight that Jonathan tuned the guitar so when I strum it aimlessly it sounds like I am playing a note. Don't ask me what note. I am going to guess G, though. Regardless, loud strumming is sufficient for Josiah. I signed him up for a toddler music class down the street from us. It starts next week and continues through the spring. I figured it would be a good way for us to meet other families and a good outlet for him to enjoy music.

I completely scammed anybody that wanted to see the counting video. I apologize profusely. It should finally be up for your viewing pleasure.

I finally sorted through the Christmas pictures (I took 5.) I also solicited my mother's pictures, because she took quite a few. Here are my favorites from the season: