Is it still Christmas-time?

This was our first year without a real Christmas tree... and we went crazy and let Josiah pick out the new tree.  Of all things, he fell in love with this white tree with colored lights (which I begrudgingly consented to after trying to sway him towards all the classier, more natural ones).  He woke up every morning to come see the tree and would say over and over "I really like my white Christmas tree!"  Although it took a little while, it eventually grew on me too.  In fact, now I don't want to take it down! 
 

Making a gingerbread house (a first for all 3 of us!)  Josiah has had very little candy ever, and as soon as we poured the candies out to start decorating, he grabbed as many as he could and wouldn't stop eating them!  It's a wonder there was any left for the house!

We spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family...   First at Nana & Papa's house (where I didn't take any pictures), and then on to my parents house.  We had a delicious fried turkey (thanks to Mike), seafood lasagna, beef brisket and a bunch more yummy food.  Josiah and I made sugar cookies while we waited for dinner, and then we all headed upstairs to spoil each other rotten with presents. 

A snowboard for my 2 1/2 year old?!!   Grammy of all people did this one... we're going together to Massanutten in a few weeks, and I guess she couldn't resist :)

We spent Christmas morning at home with just the 3 of us.  I had all intentions of trying to keep it to a modest 3 presents for Josiah, but once we found a fourth gift, we just somehow kept going.  Nothing too elaborate, but he had lots to open and he's enjoying his Ikea easel, Jungle Junction toys, Chuggington trains, and Little People amusement park. 

The rest of Christmas Day was spent with Mike's side of the family.   Once again, Josiah got lots of fun new toys (including an electronic drum set, picnic table and lots of cool cars).  Mike even got some toys of his own, and we had another delicious fried turkey and a great day with family.

The one thing I don't have pictures or video of, was probably the best part of our Christmas season:  reading our Advent book together each night.  Josiah really learned the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, and he amazed us by his ability to recite much of it himself.  He also really enjoyed giving gifts to people, and since he was with me when I did most of the shopping, I had to remind him not to spoil the surprise by telling people what we bought them (which he did anyway on several occasions).   I hope the rest of you have had a wonderful holiday.  As always, it goes by too fast!

No Hermits Here

It is so fun to experience things with Josiah at this age.  Watching him learn something new or see something for the first time is such a blessing.  He doesn't miss a beat, that's for sure.  He's figuring out how everything works and it's amazing how much he remembers.  We have thoroughly been enjoying our memberships to fun places like the Zoo, the Aquarium, and the Children's Museum.   In fact, I think our Zoo membership expires in a week or two, so maybe we'll take advantage of this nice weather we've been enjoying and go one last time in the next few days.  Anyone want to go? 

It's kind of funny because Josiah really just LOVES to play at our house... he could be a total hermit if I let him, but if we're being really honest, Mommy gets a little tired of playing cars ALL day everyday.  So we go out a lot.  :)  Once he's out, he's happy as can be too, so it's not like I'm dragging him around miserably.  And since he turned 2, it's been really nice to have so many opportunities for him to interact with other kids and to burn some energy.  

We love going to the park in our neighborhood, and he always asks if there will be other kids there.  He loves making new friends.  In fact, even when we go to the grocery store, he introduces himself to other kids we pass in the aisles.  "Hey boy, what's your name?"  ;)  "Hey (insert new friend's name), do you like V8 juice? (or whatever else is on the shelf nearby)"  "Mommy, what is (new friend's name) doing?"  He definitely doesn't know a stranger.  Every Thursday morning, we go to the "Just 2's" Storytime at the Oceanfront Library and it's GREAT.  We occasionally hit up the Toddler Tuesdays at the Aquarium, although that one is a little crazier.  And when I can get moving early enough, we drive out to the Children's Museum in Portsmouth.  There is so much fun stuff to do there!   It's kinda neat because I actually remember playing in the little Grocery section of the old museum when I was a kid!    Here are some pictures of our last visit a few weeks ago:

Shopping at the Market:

Anyone know what this thing is called?  

Driving the City Bus

Fishing

The Art Room

The Percussion Room

Brushing Teeth

Fighting Fires

 Lots of Trains

 And a Picnic in the Car 

Touch-A-Truck

Mike heard about this event called "Touch-a-Truck" that he knew Josiah would love so we trekked all the way out to Chesapeake Square Mall one Saturday morning and boy was it worth the drive!  It was like a little boy's dream land!   Trucks of every kind that the kids could climb up in, honk the horns, push the buttons and gaze in amazement at!   They were even passing out candy at each truck since it was close to Halloween.  He got in a monster truck, dump truck, cement mixer, grader, tractor, school bus, tow truck, mack truck, fire trucks, ambulance, swat team truck, rescue boat, police car, motorcycle, bobcat... you name it!   What a fun fun day!

The Costume I bought Twice

I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, although I don't mind some of the non-scary aspects, so we were kind of half-hearted about what we'd let Josiah participate in this year.    I did find this cute zebra costume at Target back in September so I had picked it up, and shown it to Josiah then.  He liked it, but when we put it on him, he wanted it off after 30 seconds.  So I decided to just take it back.  Why spend $20 on something he wouldn't wear anyway?   Well then last week, someone asked him if he had a Halloween costume, and his reply was a very excited:  "I have a costume in my closet.  It's a zebra!"  I cringed!  This was like 3 days before Halloween!  Well... he ended up talking about that zebra several more times in the next couple of days, so the morning of Halloween, I didn't make any promises about finding it, but I told him we could go to Target and look for a costume!  Thankfully, I found it in his size stashed among Lightning McQueen and a few lingering Princesses and as soon as he saw it, he said that was what he wanted!   So...  we decided to let him dress up and go to Trunk-or-Treat with his cousin, John, at Nana & Buddy's church and Grammy & Gramps church which are right across the street from each other.  

It was a hit.  He wore it, hood and all the whole night.... and loved getting candy (especially smarties - which were my favorite as a kid too!)  John (a.k.a. Black Spiderman) was his usual sweet self with Josiah, holding his hand and showing him how to "trick-or-treat."  I'm so glad they love each other so much and I know as they get older, they'll have even more fun together!