Joseph's first photographs

I haven't posted any pictures lately, so I thought I'd share some that Joseph took. Here they are. Isn't he talented?

Baby talk

I’m not sure it was much of a conscious decision, but Tony and I haven't really told Joseph anything about his new brother or sister. It’s like Catherine Newman said about her son Ben in her book Waiting for Birdy, “We’re trying not to talk about [the baby] too much with Ben: for someone who goes nuts in the one second it takes you to pull the top off his yogurt, nine months might as well be a thousand light years.” I kind of feel the same way, but there are plenty of people who have talked to Joseph about it. I don’t mind so much really. Usually they just say something like, "Are you going to be a big helper for Mommy?" Or, if there happens to be a baby nearby, "Are you going to have one of those pretty soon at home?" He doesn’t seem to get it, but I know better than to assume he’s not taking it in.

At some point, however, someone must have mentioned something a little more specific, because he seems to know something is going on with his mommy’s HUGE belly. At first I thought he was just confusing the words. He would say, “belly.” But then a word that sounded maybe something like “baby” would come out. Now he does it all the time. If I say, “Does Mommy have a BIG belly?” He’ll often say, “baby.” And then the other day it started to get a little freaky. He grabbed my shirt, looked under, looked at my belly button, and then after saying “baby,” he looked at me and said, “Get it.” I told him I couldn’t because the baby wasn’t ready yet. He seemed satisfied.

At first I thought that this must be very strange to a little kid just learning about the world. But then again, I bet most things are pretty strange to him. Everything must be so new and weird – or maybe just new, not weird. I mean, we keep bowls in the cupboard, toys in boxes (well, for the most part), food in the refrigerator. Why wouldn’t there be a baby in Mommy’s belly? Now we’ll have to see what his reaction will be when we actually “get it,” and can’t put it back.

Do you know what I need?????

I need an "extend-an-arm" or a grabber, or something like that. You know, the things they use when they pick up trash on the side of the road? One of those. That's what I want. Because, let me tell you. I am DONE with the whole bending over thing. I am seriously finished. Besides, our house looks like the dirty side of the road right about now, and I'm going to pass out if I have to pick up one more Cheerio. (Oh yeah, this thing needs to be able to pick up something that small.) So, anyway, that's what I need. That and another ENTIRE pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

One of life's sweet disappointments

As the weather has been getting a little nicer, we’ve been spending more time outside. Joseph LOVES being outside. He can barely think of anything else. He likes pushing his “broom” (really it’s a rake, but he calls it a broom) around the yard or down the sidewalk. Sometimes he’ll even sit for a second on the porch, but mostly he likes to climb up and down the steps. He also loves climbing on the deck or into the flowerbed. I’m pretty excited to get out of the house every once in awhile myself, but sometimes after hours of supervising his unsteady running all over the sidewalk I need to come back in the house. This is one of Joseph’s least favorite things to do lately (coming back in the house). It doesn’t matter how long we have been outside, or even if it is raining. He shakes his head back and forth and throws one if his little tantrums that are becoming more and more frequent lately. He cries “Side! Side!” (translation: “Outside! Outside!)

The other day, I decided to try and distract him from some of the same things he does over and over again. I brought out his little watering can filled with water. Joseph knows that you have to give plants “water” so that they will “grow.” He says these things, and has seen me give our houseplant (yes, we only have one right now) water. He even used to take a cup and “water” our Christmas tree last Christmas. I just wasn’t really sure how well he understood what he was doing and seeing. Well, I think he did understand (for the most part). He took his watering can and poured some water on this little flower that is growing in our flowerbed. He also poured a little on some things that might actually be weeds, but I’m not sure since this is our first spring in this house. He emptied his watering can and told me to “take it.” Then he just looked at the plants. He got really close to the flower and waited. Then he started saying, “Grow. Grow.” Tony and I told him that he needed to wait, that the plant also needed time and sunlight. We would have to be patient. He tried to repeat the word patient, but the concept was clearly lost on him (besides, this was not the first time we tried to explain the concept of patience to him). We could tell that he was expecting the flower to grow and bloom before his eyes, and he was clearly disappointed that that’s not how it worked. I of course couldn’t explain to him that I completely understood how he felt. I know what it’s like to be so excited that you wish something would grow faster so you can see how wonderful it will become, and that sometimes it’s a little boring being patient. I know that he wouldn’t understand if I tried to tell him to just enjoy the flower the way it is now. I’m not sure I always understand myself.