"I'm 3 1/2!"

Joseph turned 3 1/2 on June 7th!  A lot of his friends turn 4 this summer so he keeps talking about turning 4 so we talked up turning 3 1/2 a lot and for days he would say, "Guess how old I am today?  3 1/2!!!"

Here is the fun photo shoot from June 7th...he was in a silly mood which the pictures definitely portray and which is why I had to include them all.

 The most normal one I could get!  "Cheese, I'm 3 1/2!"

 And here are some of his favorites at age 3 1/2:

Favorite sayings-

Not really "sayings" but here are some of his most memorable quotes recently:

-"Mom, when is God going to be done making your baby grow?"

-I told him to clean up the books on the floor and put them back in the basket while I took out the trash and he walks out to the garage and says, "Mom, I'm not happy" and then proceeded to tell me that he wasn't happy since he had to clean up all by himself.   

-Instead of "cutie pie" (which we often call Ella) he calls her "cutie pot"  

-“Pow, pow, pow” (He is in total superhero stage right now which is where this one comes from.  Daddy and I find this fascinating since he has never seen a superhero movie or cartoon show or even read a book about them but must be something instilled in kids which gives most of them a love for superheros at such a young age.  And, just for the record, we are trying to break the "pow pow pow" and often he will say "squirt squirt squirt" because he then tells us that "water guns are ok, but real guns are not ok."   

Favorite food-"My favorite food is grilled cheese and Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches”  That pretty much sums up his lunch every day-one or the other.  He continues to be a good eater but definitely is pushing the buttons with sitting at the table during meals and we have resorted to having a sand timer at meals to help him stay in his seat...it works about 60% of the time.  He enjoys taking a bite and then hopping over the couch and then coming back to his seat and often wants me to feed him; however, he has no problem staying in his seat for dessert!    

Favorite friends-"Claire and Norah and JJ Watts and Will and Elsie and Kolton"  Claire and Norah moved away a year ago and I just think it is is the sweetest thing that they are still at the top of his list.  He has a good little group that we hang with and all of the kids get along really well-it has been so much fun watching them grow up together.  

Favorite color-"Blue is and green and orange and yellow and purple and pink and black. “  I like blue, blue is my favorite.

Favorite number-"I like three."

Favorite animal-"My favorite animal is a lion, no actually it is a tiger.” 

Favorite song-"my favorite song to sing is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”  This is so random since I don't think I have heard him sing this for about a year but oh well.  He did ask me recently in the car to listen to "big boy music" (the radio) instead of "Nona's cd" which is what is normally on repeat.  

Favorite thing to do outside-"My favorite thing is to play baseball”  He is still a huge sports fan and loves anything sports related.  He is also getting really good on his bike and much more confident (still with training wheels) but has learned how to make skid marks on the street which he is pretty proud about and ride with one foot out (which Daddy did one day a few months ago and Joseph thought it was the coolest thing ever!)  

Favorite drink-"My favorite thing is orange juice to drink.” He pretty much sticks to milk and water, although he doesn't seem to love milk as much as he once did.  We don't keep juice in the house except occasionally orange juice and whenever he sees Daddy or I drinking it he always wants some-I still put water in it and last week I just poured it into a cup and he told me, "Mom, you forgot the water!"  Ha!  He does love sipping gulping Daddy's gatorade when he is getting ready to bring it on a workout with him and we normally let him get juice if we are at a restaurant.  

Favorite book-"My favorite book is Firefighters!” This boy can't sit still during the day with the one exception of when somebody is reading to him.  We recently checked out the book, "The Whingdingdilly" from the library which is 60 pages (yes, 60!) with small font and a lot of words on each page and he sat through two books before it, then that book and then asked me to read another book after it.  He has always loved books from an early age and continues to do so.  This summer we are going to the library weekly, sometimes twice a week, and right now I think we have 17 books checked out!!  I just hope that his love for reading continues as he grows.  

And a few other tidbits at 3 1/2:  Joseph continues to make us laugh on a daily basis and although he still struggles with listening at times and definitely gets frustrated when having to share with friends (or his sister) which brings out a bit of a temper (not major but he will definitely hit, grab and then get upset if he gets hurt in the process) he also has a very sweet side and still loves to snuggle and cuddle.  Overall, he is still really sweet with Ella but it definitely has gotten more challenging as she has come into her own personality and doesn't take much from him anymore and will let you (and everyone else in the vicinity) know if she is upset by him!  He is often very worried about her and always checks on her if she falls or hurt herself.  He loves the water, loves picking up bugs, loves playing Superheros, firefighters, triathlon, "going on adventures", and most times loves doing art projects (he makes a pretty great lion :)   He can count to 30, can count to 10 in Spanish (to 20 with a little bit of help) and can identify most letters of the alphabet and we are still working on writing his name and numbers...he doesn't show much interest in it!  He goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. and is up most days by 6:30.  He no longer naps but is normally pretty good about doing something quietly next to me if I need to work on something and often asks to watch PBS kids on my phone during Ella's nap (he could watch PBS kids on my phone for hours if we let him!)  He talks a good amount about the baby and still hopes for a boy. Daddy and I still call him "buddy" all of the time as he really is our little buddy who is just getting too big too soon!  Can't believe we are halfway through the year to his 4th birthday!!  Can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for him!  Love you lots Joseph-happy 1/2 birthday buddy!