joseph's favorite hiding place

because if he can't see us, then we can't see him, right?!

sleepy joe loves mama

animal imitations

my sweet angel

the poop is going to get you

for the second time . . . .

my sweet smelling (usually) angel smelled somewhat not so sweet soon after I had changed another not-so-sweet smelling diaper earlier this evening. So I did the diaper check - you know - where you use one index finger to pull back the top of the back of the diaper so you can peer into it and see if something foul awaits. Only - I didn't even have to peer. Immediately my index finger came into contact with goo. "OOOOOH" and I rushed to the bathroom to scrub my finger and scrub it some more. (thank you Christopher for refilling the soap dispenser). Joseph just giggled.

OINK

I was reading one of Joseph's favorite books last night before he went to bed. We went through the Cow saying Moo and the Sheep saying Baa. We talked about the singing pigs and then the "no, no - that isn't right" . . . . and as I was reading "Pigs say oink". . . a loud voice beside me was saying. . ."O! . . . I!. .. . N! . . . K!"

silly boy - but he sure does love his letters . . .

so tuckered out. . . .

Joseph had a playdate with Connor at the Children's Museum this morning and had a ton of fun. We followed that with a trip to Wal-mart and then met up with some moms and kids at Chick-fil-a for lunch. With all the construction on the house it's been hard for Joseph to get a good nap in the afternoon - so my plan was that he would fall asleep in the car on the way home and then I would transfer him to our bed. This usually works if I'm transferring him to the crib - but he immediately woke up and started bouncing around. I let him play for awhile and then I put in his favorite movie. He made it through about 3/4 of it before it finally all caught up with him.

because at Santi's . . .

the food is finger-squishing good.

And in other news - click here for a profile featured in this edition of The Catalyst (MUSC's student paper) which references Santi's . . . among other things.

sweetest words ever heard. . .

"love you dada"

"love you mama"

just makes you want to eat him all up.

Vocab

You've probably noticed that Joseph's vocabulary has grown quite a bit in recent months. Given that he's a boy and boys usually take longer to talk, it's been really nice to be able to have conversations and to be understood. Of course, I still don't always understand him but that's getting better too.

Here is an example of a conversation we have several times a day:

Joseph: Momma?
me: yes, Joseph. . .
Joseph: Momma? Why blah de blah du blah bo blah
me: well Joseph - I'm not sure but how about we change your diaper?
Joseph: huh uh! (while running into the other room)

Joseph: Momma?
me: yes, Joseph . .
Joseph: Momma? How blah du blah bo blah
me: well Joseph - I don't know exactly what you're saying so why don't we pick this conversation back up when I can understand the rest of your words
Joseph: (thinks his momma is silly)

Very inquisitive little guy. . . can't wait to until he can actually ask all the questions and I can actually understand them. . . and answer them. . . over and over and over and over and over. . .

new chair

So - monogramming is great - but what do you do with all your monogrammed items when your child outgrows it? You give it to another, very appreciative, child with the same name. Thanks to Melanie and Joseph for this hand-me-down. Our Joseph loves it.

Little Chef

vision update

So many of you Lil' Big Joe fans know that there were some concerns that he might have a little lazy eye issues. We took him to our pediatrician who didn't see anything but referred us to a great ophthalmologist at MUSC's Storm Eye Clinic. The results are that Joseph looks a bit like his momma and inherited the wide-set eyes she also had as a toddler. Because of the broad bridge between his eyes and the heavy folds in the corners, he appears to be a bit cross-eyed or have a lazy eye at times. As his face develops, the appearance of this should go away.

So - no eye-patch. No dressing him up like a pirate and saying "he's going through a pirate phase." But at least he knows how to say "arrrrrgh" now.

Bye George!

When I was in Indy for the 4th of July, I picked up this Curious George jack-in-the box at Mass Ave. Toys. It's a fabulous toy store - lots of vintage, wooden and educational toys. Visit it if you ever get the chance. Back to my story. . . . . . Joseph loves this toy and after he turns the crank and George pops up, he brings it to me to push George back down and says "BYE GEORGE!"
(the next installment of Mass Ave. Toys will feature the vintage ABC magnets I picked up this past weekend)

Other tidbits from the weekend

in no particular order:

1. On the plane ride home - Joseph would stand up on my lap, look back at the rest of the plane and say "hello everybody"

2. Joseph likes to sing but is very picky about what is sung and when. We go through a whole list of options before he'll pick an acceptable one. Currently "Old McDonald had a farm" is acceptable and the "e-i-e-i-o"s are sung enthusiastically

3. The Target store in my parents' town is so much better than our Target stores here. And I found Joseph's favorite ABC puzzle - so now we have back-up pieces. How do they get lost so quickly?

4. Sleeping in the same bed with Joseph is no picnic. Especially not when he thinks that 2 am is prime playtime. Fortunately, when given the option between snuggling with momma and something, errr, a little more painful, he always chooses to snuggle.

5. Fun games on an airplane -

A. sliding the window shade up and down while proclaiming "UP!". . . "DOWN!"

B. waving to cars, trucks, buses, etc. while taxiing to the runway and saying "Bye car! Bye truck! Bye bus!"
C. reading the letters on the back of the tray table in front of you.

6. Joseph loves She-crab soup. That's our Charleston boy!

Another weekend away

Joseph and I flew up to Indy this past weekend for my high school reunion. In my hurry to get to the reunion after my flight and 3 hour drive north, I left my camera behind that night. But I did get some great shots the next day of Joseph running around "owside" with Grandpa.

Another Breakfast Club Wedding

This past weekend we celebrated the wedding of "uncle" Eddie and "auntie" Lindsay. Unless I've missed my count, we (The Breakfast Club) just celebrated our 9th wedding. We've also expanded by 4 children. Wedding #9 and child #5 are both expected in October. Joseph had a lot of fun dancing with daddy. . . and momma . . .and "aunts" and "uncles.""Uncle" Eric entertained Joseph with cars and goldfish.Jason & Tina - soon-to-be parents. . . even Schlanger showed up. . .

Shetler Family Vacation Day 6 - evening

Friday evening we went out to dinner and Joseph was the entertainment . . .". . . if you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. . . "

Shetler Family Vacation Day 6

Our camera died on Thursday while at Animal Kingdom so we're relying on others for these pictures. Here are some I borrowed from Megan. More to come later when I can get the ones off of Grandpa's camera.

kids in JapanViking KimmyViking MeganBros-in-lawSisters, sisters . . . Dakota in ChinaDante in ItalyIn search of Nemo. . .

Shetler Family Vacation Day 5 - evening

On Thursday evening - grandpa & grandma graciously took care of putting the kids to bed so we "older kids" could go to Epcot.

Shetler Family Vacation Day 5 (a.k.a. Family T-shirt Day)

On Day 5 - affectionately known as Shetler Family T-shirt Day - we went to Animal Kingdom. The rain didn't keep us down.
We went to a character breakfast at the Tusker House. Fun for the kids - not so much for the adults. We must really love the kids.
Kimmy hitches a ride.

Heavier than she looks. . . ?

Petting zoo time. The patient zoo-keepers answered lots of questions. (thank you. . . )

Dante was so excited to see Rafiki. It made his day (maybe even his week)

Our rainy safari. . .

Joseph was a trooper and took a nice long stroller nap in the afternoon.

Another great thing that happened on Day 5 - we benefited from Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams." Uncle Christopher took the kids on a ride and when they got in line a worker asked them to step to the side so she could give them a prize. They each got a certificate with their name and date. Then they got to go straight to the front of the line and get on the ride. When the ride was over, they got to stay in their seats and ride again. Thank you Disney for this surprise.