Curious George and friends

Joshua's new thing is a manly version of playing with dolls, I think. He got a Curious George monkey for Christmas, and it is his new best friend! Joshua sleeps with Curious George, lets Curious George drive his car, and George even has a seat at our table! Joshua also loves Noah, Girl, Driver, and "Missin' Mal". They are little people that came in a school bus that we have had since Lebanon. The last boy's name is Jamal. We couldn't find him for a few days, so we said he was missing. Now his name is "Missin' Mal" because I guess Joshua got confused about the concept of "missing". :) Noah is Joshua's favorite. Noah and Jamal enjoyed a trip to the park last week, and Joshua let them look out the window as we drove. He also set them up on the coffee table to watch his dvd with him.

And just like that... SIBLINGS!

During a single day this week, Joshua and Ellie introduced to me the next phase of "siblinghood." Joshua asked to feed Ellie, and he sat next to her and put food on her tray as I cut it up. He kept saying, "Here you go, Ellie!" It was so precious. Fast forward a few hours later, and we had another first: Joshua's first time to be disciplined for hurting his sister intentionally. I hope it won't take too many tries to learn that lesson!

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Today we are celebrating our precious girl. I can't believe she is one year old! I have been flipping through pictures from the day Joshua turned one. We had just arrived in the States for the first time in his life!

We had a "Tiny Party" with a few friends. Ellie ate a tiny burger and got to dig in to a tiny cake for a few minutes... the tiny cake looked pretty big on her high chair tray!

Ellie is a joy to be around. She likes to point at everything now, and she loves to cuddle. Ellie loves to have her head rubbed, and she dances to whatever rhythm she hears. I thought she said her first word, "bah", and then I realized she was calling everything "bah." We love our girl!

Little Drummer Boy

Joshua has loved drums for as long as he has been able to express that he loves anything. He has played a plastic toddler drum with sticks attached, a battery-operated hand drum, and now, drum roll please... the real deal! Aunt Angela gave Joshua a wonderful set of drums for Christmas, and we spent the next two days talking with Joshua about being social and not throwing a fit when it was time to stop playing the drums. To his credit, Joshua does much better now, and he is even allowed to play during Ellie's nap sometimes because he plays softly when he needs to!

So it comes as no surprise that Joshua's favorite song (forget "Christmas" song; he still wants to listen to it every day), is "The Little Drummer Boy." He likes to sing the song into his little dollar store-style microphone, as he reads through his drummer boy book, while wearing a bucket, I mean, a hat on his head, while walking and drumming like in the music video, you name it! And when I say "sing", I mean that it is the first song he learned to sing pretty well by himself. (Followed pretty closely by "ABCs" and "Jesus Loves Me.") And the Drummer Boy song got us through 3 legs of travel in the car. On the 4th leg, our "music was broken". (No, it really was. At first, I was relieved to not listen to the song time after time, but after an hour or so I was ready to hear it again! Joshua still requests to listen to his Christmas song. When I start to sing it, he says he wants the "Mommy's Car" version. :)

Mommy's Little Kitchen Helper Part 2

Somehow this picture didn't make it into Part 1, and I think it is pretty cute! As I post this, it is in the 20s here in Waco, so it is funny to look at Joshua in his shorts a few weeks ago! Oh, Texas!

Scooting

Elle-belle is nearly one year old, and she still refuses to crawl! But that doesn't mean she can't get around! She scoots and leans and thrusts and leaps... whatever it takes, as long as it doesn't involve tummy time or for more than a moment. She has reached a very important point in her life. Ellie is no longer satisfied to look at Joshua's balloon at the grocery store. She must have her very own!