2016

Wow, I only posted once in the entire year of 2015.  And that was Joel's birth story.  Now he is 15 1/2 months and a full blown toddler.  He is walking all over the place and into everything.  I may not have kept up with this blog very well, but at least I post to Instagram 2-3 times a week.  And then print it out using Chatbooks, which is kind of like scrapbooking, but cheating.  It is not as cute as a scrapbook, but it has pictures and captions, which is all that really matters.  I don't have much time to scrapbook, but whenever Joel does something I want to remember, I take 30 seconds to post it to Instagram, and when I hit 60 pictures, Chatbooks sends me a book of all of them.

Maybe I'll do better blogging now that Joel has a predictable and mostly consistent nap schedule.  He is still taking two shorter naps instead of one long nap.  He is not ready to give his morning nap up yet.  He is fussy and grumpy and tired by the time 10am rolls around.  I lay him down and he is usually asleep in about 5 minutes.

Joel really only says two words, hi and hot, and both have actions that go with them.  He waves when he says hi and holds his hand out when something is hot.  When Josh taught him hot, it was over a pot on the stove.  So now Joel holds his hand out to feel the heat.  He might not say a lot of words, but he sure knows how to communicate.  He can sign more, milk, food, and all done.  I'm working on please and thirsty next.  Otherwise, he uses sounds and gestures.  When he wants me to read him a book, he brings the book over, sits in my lap, grabs my hand and puts the book in it.  Lately his big thing has been pointing to everything while making a questioning sound to ask what it is.  He just doesn't feel the need to repeat it back to me.  He has such a distinct little personality and its fun to see how he sees the world.

That boy sure is busy though.  He is always moving.  Only in the last month or so, is he willing to sit down with me to watch Little Einsteins or something of the like.  He is to the point now where he understands what it is going on in the show and shows it.  Children really are little sponges, soaking up everything.

Another big change, probably the biggest, is that we bought a house in Humble, TX.  Josh is working on his PhD at the University of Houston and I was so tired of renting and living in apartments.  Now, Joel has room to play and has his own room.  And I wanted to provide stability for him, to have a house for him to grow up in.  Also, our mortgage for a 3 bedroom house is cheaper than our rent was for a one bedroom.  We also got a dog now that we have a house and a yard.  His name is Spencer and he is a 2 year old Border Collie/Black Lab mix.  He is a very mild mannered dog and is still afraid of men.  He's fine with Josh now, but took time to warm up to him.  It was the opposite with Joel.  He liked Joel in the beginning until Joel started petting (aka hitting) Spencer.  We are still working on the soft concept with Joel.  Spencer mostly just lays in his kennel or in the kitchen all day, until you take him on a walk.  Then he has a huge reserve of energy that comes out of nowhere.