Big Head

We were watching Dora this evening and Brian said "Gee Dora has a big head" Joshua piped up "Dora has a big head..." and Brian and I gave each other the "man he is a parrot" look. But then Jsohau added ..."just like you" and pointed at his Dad. LOL.

Merry Christmas and the Tummy Monster

Merry Christmas!!

Joshua had a fantastic fourth Christmas. We have been joking about putting another room on to accommodate all of Joshua's new toys. Joshua was very excited Christmas morning once I reminded him what day it was..lol. He had hung up 2 stockings as one was larger than the other. The larger one was filled by Santa and Joshua eagerly opened all the goodies inside. Then he went through his room and said "I am just checking... oh it is empty" He thought maybe Santa would fill both stockings..haha.

On boxing day after a lovely lunch at Granny's Joshua crashed out asleep for the afternoon. When Brian woke him to say we were going to Grandma's to have leftovers Joshua asked "Will there be more presents?" Wishful thinking lad. Unfortunately Joshua puked all over me at Grandma's and put an end to the Xmas cheer. He has been sick since then but today finally improved somewhat.

Yesterday night he had a terrible dream which ended in Daddy being told to get rid of the monsters. Brian said they are all gone but Joshua insisted there was one left so Brian had to walk around the room to banish it. Next morning Joshua said to Brian "There were 2 monsters in my room last night. One was in my tummy. They had 3 eyes, 3 mouths, 3 arms, 3 legs and 3 bottoms!!! And they go to work during the day" Brian and I were in fits ... 3 bottoms?

Toilet humour Part 2

Yesterday before the juicy incident Joshua let a ripper of a botty rumble off while sitting in the loo and said to his Dad, "It sounds like a carwash in my bottom" !!!

Toilet Humour

The day after our Korean dinner Mum commented on Joshua's breath saying it stank and asked if he had been eating garlic. The next morning Joshua was on the loo while I had my shower. I opened the shower door to a fierce smell and said "ewwwwwww stinky poos" Joshua grinned and said "yeah, they are garlic poos!"

Then tonight when he did big poos at Grandmas he looked down between his legs at the poos and said "Juicy"
Juicy?! When did that become an adjective for describing poos. Master Joshua certainly didn't get that from me!

Dunking!!

Joshua had his first spa of the summer today at Aunty J's. He loved it. He got goggles for his birthday so Daddy taught him how to go under the water today. Joshua had a ball and didn't swallow any water.

I think the water and the subsequent trip to the park tired him out and by bedtime he was a bit past it. Still that didn't prepare me for what the little rascal did tonight. Lying quietly having cuddles before sleep Joshua suddenly bit my hair and ripped some out with his teeth?! Where did that come from. Needless to say he got himself to sleep tonight. Grrrrrrrr.

Peanuts...

Joshua had a feast of imaginery peanuts today. He was carrying them around just before we went out to get dinner and he tripped out the doorway and landed with a thump on the deck. I was expecting him to cry but he just said "Oh no I dropped my peanuts" and then got upset because he needed help picking them all up. I helped (as much as one can we the object is invisible) and Joshua ate the peanuts in the car on the way to dinner. (He said they were chocolate peanuts). It must sound like the poor boy is starved!! Believe me he is far from it.

We went to a Korean restuarant and ordered two different BBQ meats to share between the 3 of us. Joshua polished off almost one whole serving by himself as well as a plateful of lettuce, 2 dishes of flavoured bean sprouts, rice and some other veges of unknown origin (beans maybe). We would be able to live in Korea or Japan as Joshua loves the food from both countries. I think the staff were quite surprised by how much and what he ate, but we eat Japanese and Korean so often at home that he would go hungry if he didn't eat it.

Preschool Xmas Party...

Amazing how Joshua was suddenly all smiles when the food came out after the play.
Maybe I should have fed him up first. ;o) 

Preschool Xmas show...

This was Joshua as a Shepherd at his show. Mr "I don't like change" lasted 2 minutes on the stage before assuming this position on Mummy's lap!! When he cheered up a bit he set about trying his hardest to remove my bra straps!!!!!!!! Arghhhh I thought great "let's flash all the parent s at Wetminster "Christian" preschool!" Little monkey (that reminds me when I say he is a little monkey he gets annoyed and says "No, I am Joshua Dennis Green. I am a little boy" 

new leg

Joshua got a Spiderman that grows in water for his birthday. We grew him to full size but he is a little fragile. Today in the bath his leg fell off much to Joshua's consternation. I explained that i couldn't fix it but he was having none of that "just buy a bigger STRONGER leg Mum..." Hmmmm Joshua seems to think everything is fixable and everything is for sale. Might need to work on these! ;o)

Trying Threes

Oh so very trying!! I don't really remember Joshua being a "terrible two" he was never really that terrible. But he is most certainly a "trying three"
"Can we go home now, go home now, go home now. Are we going home yet. Go home NOW!" is the mantra Joshua repeats endlessly while we are out shopping. It is like a jack-hammer to the brain. Or white noise torture. Basically when this starts i lose all ability to function mentally and can not focus on anything but that endless moan. I can't think to shop so Joshua wins. He even said "I'll just stay in the car" at one shop. When did that become an option for Mr newly turned 3 year old? He needs another 11yrs before I can consider leaving him alone to shop. Hmmm well i did consider it yesterday but seriously it is not worth it. Christmas is meant to be about love and family so I need to take a chill pill and just spend some time with Joshua instead of trying to drag him round to shops. It is not worth the agro (for either of us) I asked Mum to remind me in October next year to sign him in to fulltime daycare for the pre-christmas rush. LOL. As if i would - I would miss the little monkey!

FORK!!!!!!

Joshua found a golf ball in the garage and has taken to rolling it down the pathway to the house. I told him he needed to say FORE when he did that so everyone would get out of the way. Joshua yelled FORE the first time but then the next time he yelled FORK! very loudly and I laughed and said "No, not fork. What are you meant to say?" Joshua quickly yelled "GOLF!!"

Joshua turns 3

Joshua has a headache after his party
(Thanks Julia, Joshua H. and Emma for the cool doctor's set. Joshua is modeling the bandage here)















Joshua is on top of the world after his party!
Actually this is the new bracket for Daddy's TV! Joshua was just testing it for strength.

















Joshua having fun....

















Joshua as a shepherd at the Mainly Music christmas party. Who would have thought that my Japanese dancing underwear would ever be used as a shepherd costume!!

Meltdown

Joshua was a bit under the weather today and his mood at times reflected this. His first meltdown was in a bookstore when Daddy said he couldn't carry him anymore. I was able to get down to his level and talk him out of that particular meltdown (an older lady saw it all happen and said afterwards, "that was amazing. It was just like watching an episode of The Nanny" Lol she should have seen our house this afternoon for meltdown number 2. It was a good example of how it all goes wrong. Joshua grabbed the broom off me and said "Joshua help" I wasn't impressed by his lack of manners and grabbed it back asking him to remember his manners. He then quickly said please but i decided he needed to wait until I was done since he only said please after prompting. Joshua went off in a fury and said "Joshua throw something at Mummy. I find something" with that he picked up a lump of dirt and hurled it at me. I grabbed him and marched him upstairs to his room (we just made it up the stairs and he was dangling upside down by the time we reached his room...wiggle monster) Anyway he ranted and raved for a bit then called me through. I thought he sounded slightly calmer so I walked toward the gate. It was a trap. "I throw this at Mummy" Joshua screamed manically as he hurled a toy car at me. It missed luckily and I took my leave again. I left him for another couple of minutes ranting about throwing a ball at me and then tried again. I said that I wouldn't come to him if he was going to throw the ball at me and was going to go back to my room unless the ball was put down. He quickly put it down and them apologised and agreed that it is not nice to throw things at people. Let's hope that he doesn't do that at preschool.

Smile....

Hmmmm no Santa photo for Joshua this year. When we asked Joshua to smile on Santa's lap he pulled a face similar to the one in this photo but with a bit more grimace to it!! The camera guys jumped up and down like loonies but he still grimaced and clenched his eyelids together like the light was really bright. He provided great entertainment for the passing shoppers and in the end we gave up. Next time I won't ask him to smile I'll just ask Santa to tickle him or tell a funny joke. 

Stoopid Mummy

Joshua's favorite word is STUPID and it is all my fault :o] Ooops at least it is not as bad as bugger (kindly taught to Joshua by Grandma...though she will deny it). I couldn't understand this last week why everything was stupid with Joshua ... stupid big stupid book..... stupid bird.... stupid cat...see the pattern? Then I coughed with my stupid cough that rattles my bones and has hung around for weeks and i exclaimed "stupid cough" Oh... I guess saying stupid cough 20+ times a day after every cough is a surefire way to teach your child how to use the word stupid. Tsk tsk.

The world's my oyster

I forgot another funny from Matakana.
When we first arrived at the house in Matakana (after Joshua had got over the waking from a daytime nap grumps) he raced outside to see the view. He stood on the top of the ridge, spread his arms wide and announced "Look, it's the world"
The view is very impressive so I guess to an almost 3 yr old it did look like the whole world was at his feet.

It's just not cricket...

On Sunday we headed up north to Matakana for a family renunion. Brian's Uncles savoured the fact that there was an impressionable young mind there and tried teasing Joshua and implanting unhelpful suggestions. (This is an artforn the Uncles have practised since their own children were young and impressionable!) Anyway Joshua seemed to be quite aware of what they were trying to do and Uncle Paul was the recipient of more than the odd glare or two!

Everyone was forbidden from mentioning the B E A C H word as if it was mentioned Joshua would be like a broken record until he went there... the family did make an effort not to mention it (maybe because I said the first person to mention it would be the one taking him.... the beach was a 15min drive down a winding rd with sections of gravel so there were no takers...lol) However after lunch we all decided it was time to hit the beach and announced this to Joshua. Uncle Mark piped up "You can't go to the beach cause the sand has all disappeared" Joshua looked very serious.. opened his mouth a few times to respond but just ended up doing a goldfish impression ...until he suddenly blurted out "But the sand came back!" Take that Uncle Mark. So we headed off to Omaha.

On arriving Sarah's Paul got the cricket set out and said to Joshua "you don't need to go swimming. Let's play cricket" Joshua thought about it and said "yes, let's play cricket.... in the water" Two birds one stone!!

Pickle Toothpaste.. say what?

Joshua woke up this morning, came through to my bed for a cuddle and promptly asked me if i like pickle toothpaste...say what? Yes I heard right..."Pickle toothpaste"... he says".... it is green. You like it?" "Ummm, no not really. " I say trying not to laugh.
Where did that come from? I really do wonder what Joshua dreams about each night.

STOP!!

Joshua was watching "Cars" - the Disney movie with Brian and I and the girls on Sunday night. He was really enjoying it until the reporters found the main character at Radiator Springs and went on a camera frenzy, jostling each other for the prime spot. Joshua couldn't handle it, he suddenly yelled "STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!" and then uttered "Take turns and share!!" It appears that Joshua does pay attention to what Mum and Dad tell him. Poor Joshua was really distressed by the scene and we thought he was going to cry - amazing what upsets him?! It wouldn't have thought that would bother him... Although he is one for rountine and order so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

On the routine front, yesterday we popped into a factory shop that we regularly visit. The usual lady wasn't serving and Joshua was quite put out. "She's not here! Where is she...?" Lol, the lady in the shop actually went and got her to say hello. Joshua was much happier once he had said hello to "his lady" I think she ws quite touched that he was asking for her. What a sweetie (odd but sweet).

The two J's - double trouble

Today was preschool day for Joshua and Joshua H. Joshua H's Mummy was sick so I took the two boys - yay! Joshua won't complain if I am dropping him off with his buddy I thought.... hmmmm the boys had other plans! As soon as we arrived my lad said "I want to gooooo home" i tried to ignore this and make preschool sound exciting. Then I went to the otherside of the car to get Joshua No. 2 - as soon as I opened his door I got "I neeeeeeed a cuddle" Right! I bundled them both out of the car, tried to get them to carry their own bags (silly me - my Joshua just looked at his bag blankly and Joshua H. said "It's tooooooo heavy" So carrying all the bags and trying to hold their hands I shepherded them into preschool. I signed them in as Joshua H. continued his "I need a cuddle" mantra - I was giving him cuddles but it didn't help - and my Joshua was giving me sullen "I want to go home now" looks! I quickly found a teacher to give them cuddles. I popped Joshua H. on the lovely Mrs Carole's lap as he protested loudly "I want to go hooooome" then I had a quick chat outside to Mrs Jacqui (and noted that Joshua H. was now quite happily amused inside) and then took my leave at which point my Joshua said "I neeeeeeeeed a cuddle" They not only have the same name but the rascals are learning each others lines too!!

GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is a GOLD! One GOLD to Joshua......

Joshua has an issue with the word "goal" He was playing soccer in his room tonight and every time he scored he ran around the room screaming "GOLD!!!!!!!!!!! GOLD!!!!!!!!!!! I got a GOLDDDDDDDDD"
Brian decided to be nasty and threw the word "GOAT" into the mix but luckily Joshua didn't catch on. Grrrrrr Daddy it is not nice to complicate things further.

Work Mummy Work!

The other night I said to Brian that after Joshua had gone to be I had work to do. Joshua has big ears (literally and figuratively) ... That night when we put him to bed he asked for Mummy cuddles first but then changed his mind and said "Daddy I want cuddles. Mummy, you go work. Do your work Mummy!"
Yes Master....

Joshua's surprise

Michelle came to stay the night last night after Joshua had already gone to bed. So this morning I took Joshua downstairs saying I had a surprise for him. We went to the back room and when he opened the door and saw his wonderful 'Chelle he grinned from ear to ear. Then we left Michelle to get ready for school and went to the kitchen where Joshua suddenly stopped and said "hang on, hang on..... which door is Tasha behind?" very sweet but Natasha wasn't staying so he was a bit disappointed.

First swim this summer

Joshua and I hit the beach this morning with Aunty Katherine and Baby Alex. Despite the wind it was lovely on the beach and Joshua's paddle soon turned into a full body experience. As we approached the water Joshua said "Mummy, take your clothes off now..." LOL no way!
Baby Alex really enjoyed his first swim and tried to crawl head first into the surf. Yay for the sunshine.

So modest.........

Yesterday Michelle came in and asked "How are you Joshua?" - his reply? "I'm soooooooooo cute"

TV Free Day!!!!!!!!

I am amazed. I just realised that Joshua did not watch any TV whatsoever today. He woke up in a beautiful mood which lasted most of the day (my apologies to Joshua's preschool teachers who had to deal with the uber meltdown there. Mrs Carole saw first hand what happens if you suggest he may need a sleep... his sad tantrum turned into an angry one... poor Mrs Carole) Ms Frizzle, Janet and Arnold (all I.Fs) were at The Green house at the crack of dawn this morning. We played a board game together. Ever see an I.F trying to roll a dice? Amusing... Then Joshua and the gang grabbed the disco ball, headed for the hallway and danced to Joshua's sweet tune "Disco, disco, disco in Mummy's hallway" The gang even had breakfast with us. A place had to be set for Ms Frizzle but Janet and Arnold were fine with their imaginary utensils. Joshua even ate breakfast at the dining room table without complaint! I like these friends.

How old?

Joshua is an old lady magnet. Most old ladies can't help but comment on him or have a chat with him (and many young ladies too) On Sunday at Mitre 10 Joshua was singing a tune while we waited at the counter. The old lady behind us commented on his lovely song before turning to Joshua and asking "Are you at school now or are you still in Kindy" I laughed and pointed out that he won 't be 3 until next month. She looked incredulous and said "Gosh he is a big lad"

Poor Joshua, because he looks 4 or 5 most people assume he should act like a 4 or 5 year old including an old lady today who gave him a filthy look when he was doing his noisy jumping bean impersonation in Foodtown :op Although another customer enjoyed his antics and asked him if he had had beans for breakfast since he was so full of beans. Then as we were paying Joshua was exchanging winks and hi-5s with the lovely Indian lady at the check out. What a boy!

A day with Thomas

We went to Joshua's little friend's birthday (Ben) on Saturday at Glenbrook Railway Station where Thomas was visiting for the weekend with all his friends. Joshua has just recently got really into Thomas after finding a blue Thomas set at Grandma's so he was thrilled to ride the real thing. After the first ride on the train Joshua said to his Daddy that he wanted the train to start bouncing again! I guess that is what steam train travel feels like.... bouncy. He didn't like how noisy the trains were and both Ben and Joshua jumped out of their skin when Dianna blew her whistle. :o) Joshua could be seen with his hands over his ears for a large portion of the day.

Joshua really didn't want to leave (it helped that he had napped in the car on the way there. For the first time ever Joshua put his head back and said "I might just have a sleep in the car" I was gobsmacked but sure enough he slept all the way to Glenbrook.) On the way home in the car he was wide awake talking non-stop about the railway and asked if he could go the next day.

On Sunday he asked us repeatedly to take him back to see Thomas and was most upset when we refused. I will have to keep and eye out for future Thomas visits. In the meantime we have started to look for blue Thomas track to extend his set (we have just discovered the down side to Thomas... the price!!)

Daddy's Boy

Joshua experienced his first Guy Fawkes night on Saturday when we went round to a friend's house. Brian put on a little pyrotechnic show for us all. Joshua and his best-buddy Joshua H. (yes it does get confusing) were a little concerned by the noise of the fireworks. It seems that our Joshua was most concerned as he refused to remove his hands from his ears. Joshua H.'s Daddy saved the day by producing a set of earmuffs which Joshua gladly wore. He happily watched the fireworks with his earmuffs on and was so comfy on Mummy's lap that he fell asleep despite the fireworks going off in every direction around him. Joshua H. had more staying power and even started hassling Brian when one firework went mental and shot everyway but up... Joshua H. piped up "Silly Daddy Brian!" How gorgeous.

Our Joshua then made Daddy play fireworks with him at Mum and Dad's 4oth Anniversary party on the Sunday. He made Brian stand in a certain spot, then they lit the firework and ran away. Finally Joshua pretended to be the firework and acted out its explosion. Classic!

Daddy is very popular with Joshua at the moment. At bedtime he only wants Daddy cuddles and whenever I tell him off (which is quite a lot recently ..grrrr) he says "I just want my Daddy"Last night the lads were snuggling on the couch watching Shrek (Joshua's latest addiction) when Joshua turned to Daddy took his face in his hands and said "Daddy your sooo cute" Awwwwwww how sweet.

Black hole....

Joshua was eating lunch outside with Natasha at a small wooden table. Joshua spotted a knot in the wood and said "Tasha look! It is a black hole and it goes round and round. Ms. Frizzle jumped out of the black hole. And she bumped her head!" It was quite cute. Joshua regaled Natasha with stories about Ms. Frizzle all day. She (Ms. Frizzle) even accompanied us to the post office and Joshua provided Natasha with a running commentary on what Ms. Frizzle was saying and doing. What an imagination!!

Happy Halloween!!

Chelle and Joshua get ready to go trick or treating

Joshua tries his Alien powers on Mummy

The original Little Green Thing (it is written across the front of his space suit!)

Joshua got into Halloween in a big way. He has a bag full of lollies from friends and family and has managed not to eat them all in one sitting! I wonder if he will dream about being an alien tonight? The past two mornings Joshua has woken up with dream remnants on his mind. On Monday he woke and asked for "Smiley Face Tomatoes for breakfast, just like Barney gave me" and this morning he wanted me to find his "green Magic School Bus gloves" and refused all of the real gloves he owns. It is hard when his dreams blur into reality like this because he is so sure that he has those wonderful gloves and did a great job describing the yummy tomatoes (Interestingly enough in the real world Joshua usually hates tomatoes!)

Joshua was healing with his hands again yesterday. He bumped my face and when i said ow! he quickly came up waved his hands over me and said "I will take the pink away.... psssssssssssssssssst! all gone, the pink is all gone. Mummy better now?" The way he healed me was so amusing that I couldn't help but feel better.

Joshua had an interesting moment tonight when we were eating dinner. He looked out the window and said "Poppa is in the tree" and I said "Who" Joshua said again "Poppa, poppa is in the tree" Hmmm Joshua's Poppa was most defintiely not outside swinging in the branches so that only leaves one other Poppa (Brian's late Poppa).... Hmmmm Happy Halloween Poppa, good trick!

Funnies

Here are a few short funnies from Joshua.

FLASH...
Granny complimented Joshua on his "flash gumboots" to which he responded "No, they aren't flashing."

MARK...
Joshua was talking away to himself while I prepared food for a BBQ in the weekend. "Who are you talking to?" I asked. "That little boy there. Mark" he replied. Hmmm so Mark is not just a preschool I.F. (imaginery friend) He is a home-based I.F. now too. Joshua took his hand and ran off to play. Should I be concerned about the large number of I.F.s in Joshua's brain?

TEDDY...
Joshua got a new teddy yesterday from a guy Brian fixed a computer for. Daddy gave it to Joshua and asked what the teddy bear's name was. Brian then popped into the kitchen and as he walked back into the lounge he overheard Joshua say "Teddy bear, what is your name?”

Another Zoo Trip

Joshua and Mummy enjoy a picnic at the zoo.

Joshua's awesome preschool had a zoo trip last Thursday. Luckily Daddy was on holiday andwas able to join in the fun. Joshua enjoyed having Dadddy there. Joshua really liked watching the Sealions get fed; it was very exciting. He also liked the monkeys (being a little monkey himself he probably feels a close connection with them. LOL) We managed to cover most of the zoo and Joshua was tuckered out by the time we headed back on the bus and was asleep in minutes. I think Daddy had a good time too. I only had to remind him to look like he was enjoying himself and to uncross his arms once... 

Roomba Rocks

For my birthday Joshua and Daddy gave me a Roomba Robot (in addition to the tummy bug :o)
The roomba is wonderful. Joshua rushes to clear the floor of any room so robot can go to work and vacuum up all the dust and crumbs. So not only are my floors the cleanest they have ever been but all of Joshua's toys are up of off the floor on the shelves were they are meant to be. Roomba rocks! When Brian charged it and was ready to use it for the first time Joshua ran and jumped on to the couch, picked up his drink and said "Robot! make me a sandwhich!" It was very very cute.

Kelly Tarltons....

Joshua at the helm of a big wooden Goldfish
Now if I turn this...
...then stick my finger in here.....

Joshua loved the machines at Kelly Tarltons but wasn't fussed about the fish. He loved the snowcat ride through the penguin habitat but 99% of his attention was on the tracks not on the penguins. We will definitely have to go to MOTAT soon!

Third nipple

Joshua likes to name all the parts of the body and takes particular enjoyment out of proclaiming "Joshua's got NIPPLES" very loudly. So last week when Michelle was drying Joshua in the lounge after his bath I wasn't surprised to hear him chattering on about nipples but I thought I better rescue poor Michelle from this awkward topic of conversation. Imagine my surprise when I heard Joshua announce "joshua got another nipple. Three nipples" Don't panic, it turns out that the third one was actually a mosquito bite!

For my birthday Joshua gave me....

a TUMMY BUG!!!!! Blergggggggggh it was awful. As a result I have not been able to blog much for the past week or so which in turn means that now I have to have a mammoth blog session to catch up :o)

Here goes......

Doctor Joshua...

Michelle was at our house this afternoon and was a bit sad and tearful. Joshua thought she was sick and when a hug and kiss didn't work he got out the big guns. He started with water. She wouldn't drink the first glass so he got her a second saying "drink, Chelle, drink it" while pushing it to her lips. That didn't stop the tears so next he decided she needed medicine. Into the kitchen he disappeared and we heard a chair being moved. He was at the medicine cupboard with the door open saying "I am just picking Chelle's medicine. (Remind me to get a lock for that cupboard!!) He got her a multivitamin animal (approved by Daddy) but that didn't work either. Next he appeared with a soft winnie the pooh bag round his neck and announced "I am going to fixing you Chelle" Fixing Chelle involved Joshua holding his hands above her head and making odd sounds. It was very funny and even poor Chelle couldn't help but laugh at that. So he cured her. Hooray for Doctor Joshua!

Another funny from this evening: Brian had to work so wasn't at home to give Joshua a goodnight kiss. The girls were here still so they read Joshua a story, said "Night night" and headed to Uncle Brian's computer to play quietly. They were very quiet but once and only once the chair rolled a little and Joshua said "I want Daddy" I explained that Daddy was at work and that he would pop in and say Goodnight later when Joshua was sleeping. Joshua gave me a shocked look and said "but WHO is sitting in Daddy's chair?"

More machines....

Joshua just keeps on inventing. Today when Cheryl and John popped in Joshua came into the kitchen announcing that he had "a BRAND new sheen" I asked him what type and he said it was another "green sheen" with doors and buttons. He said "come on everybody. I show you." But he wanted to go upstairs and show everybody and got a bit grumpy when we said no. Mean old parents.

Then later at Grandad's birthday party Julie was telling us all a story. Joshua interrupted with "excuse me, Aunty Julie. Excuse me" (Ever the stickler for manners) "I have a new sheen. It is green. It has buttons which you press and then .............." But at that point he got too excited and started talking a hundred miles an hour and lost us all. Maybe he will be an engineer when he grows up? I could write a book about "Joshua Green and his marvellous green machines" I wonder if his predilection for green is a result of his family name? Brian, Yumi and I had a running joke when she stayed here that everything green was wonderful because it was green of course. Joshua is unwittingly perpetuating this joke!

Do I look like I am having fun?

Despite appearances Joshua actually loves climbing this pohutakawa at the local park even if he ends up hanging on for dear life!!
 

Joshua in Action

I finally downloaded my mobile phone pictures and thought I would share a few with you. These were taken a couple of weeks ago at a local park. Joshua was very brave and tried out the big flying fox (Mummy was not so brave and had to run behind him ready to catch him if he fell. It was good exercise lol)

Our little Spaceman

This was taken at the planeterium last Saturday. Joshua tells us that he wants to be a Space Doctor when he is big like Daddy. (The green blur is Tasha making sure Joshua didn't require anymore stitches by falling off the pedestal) 

Sprinkler Fun

 

It feels like summer....

It was a beautiful spring day in Auckland today. In fact it was so hot Grandma and I set up the sprinkler in her back yard today. Joshua has been asking to use the sprinkler for months and my standard reply has been, "not until summer." So today when I set it up and let him go crazy with it and then asked him if it was good, he said "yes, it feels like summer" Very cute. Joshua and Chesa had a ball even if Chesa did bark a bit loudly.

When he was playing in the sprinkler Grandma offered Joshua a piece of dried pineapple which he took saying, "thank you sooo much" he sounded like a posh little Englishman. Then later he was chosing a video to watch at Grandma's and turned down all the kid's ones. Instead he asked for the planets ones. I opened the appropriate cupbaord and asked "Do you mean the Cosmos ones?" He said "yes, yes, that is what I need" very proper like. It always makes mewant to laugh when he says things in his posh manner as it is so odd coming out of the mouth of a not yet 3 year old. (Especially when he still refers to speakers as speedles and such like).

Stitches

The stitches were successfully removed on Monday after preschool. Joshua was a model patient and sat nice and still for the nurse. He was very happy because Doctor Mules came to say hello and check out the scar (He told Joshua he had to take more care of his head from now on). Joshua did not cry at all during the removal process, he just created in the waiting room beforehand as he is "sharingly challenged" and then he bawled afterwards as his lollipop broke (Joshua does not like his food broken before consumption AT ALL - he is very picky about this so it was a disaster when the lollipop broke in half almost as soon as it came out of the packet). I am not sure who he inherited this quirk from as Brian and I will take our food anyway it comes as long as it is not raw!

Joshua was walking around Mainly Music yesterday saying "look at my stitches" and pointing to random parts of his head. It was very cute.

Glasses

Joshua wants glasses! Mummy has made 2 visits to the optometrists in the past week and both have ended with Joshua suffering a near critical meltdown because he wanted a pair of the little children's glasses. I had to basically drag him out of the shop last time as he was pretty insistent that he needed those glasses. Then this morning he told me not to put on my new glasses because my old ones were "nice and sparkly" (they may be sparkly but they are also scratched to blazes!!)

The Green Machine

Joshua had a horrid night's sleep as did Mummy and Daddy of course. Joshua must have been dreaming as at one stage he told Daddy to "get the snake, take it out and shut the door" His dreams can't have all been bad though. After he woke up this morning and hopped into our bed for a cuddle he said "Good Morning" to us both and then said "hold on a minute.... I have a green thing. I plug it in and it has things that goes up and down and has doors. The doors open and close" It sounded very interesting indeed. "It is a sheen" he announced.
A sheen hmmm, "A sheen? Do you mean a machine?" I asked.
"Hang on, a machine, hmmmm yes that's what I mean" (Spoken with a very professor like voice that made me want to giggle)
"It is in the back room. Joshua take a have a look" (take a have a look is not a typo. He really says that) He took a had a look in the back room and the sheen wasn't there. But after breakfast he finally found the sheen. It was in the middle of his bedroom floor. Joshua plugged it in and turned it on. He put a little boy in it (don't ask me where he gets these ideas) and the doors closed and then opened and out came Jessie (from preschool). The second time Mark popped out (Mark is also from preschool but isn't real... confused yet? Try living with Joshua!!) It turns out that the sheen makes little boys (I did consider pointing out that Jessie is a girl...) It is also very noisy. Joshua is very safety conscious and likes to keep tight control of its operation. "Mummy, don't you touch my sheen. It is Joshua's sheen. You don't touch it" Daddy was made to sit on the bed with his feet up so as not to interfere with operation of the sheen. Joshua eventually decided to turn it off as the noise was too much for him.

We went to the planetarium show today so I am wondering what fantastic machines Joshua will invent tomorrow morning.

Joshua loved the planetarium especially the vortex simulator. (A red ball rolled around a yellow piece of plastic with a elongated hole at its centre) He appeared to like the Stardome much more than the zoo. At the zoo he was very quick to want to move on to the next animal and said "Joshua go home now" when we were about halfway. His favourite animals were the servals. Joshua saw the servals and said "they are Joshua's cats" Possessive or what? At the tiger enclosure the only thing separating Joshua and the tiger was a piece of glass that the tiger was squished up against. Joshua was in awe... not of the tiger but of the seam joining the glass. At the cheetah enclosure he was more interested in the information boards which were circular and could be spun. I think MOTAT may be more up Joshua's alley.

I wonder if those vortex simulators are for sale? Joshua was mesmerised........

Discovery

Joshua made an interesting discovery this afternoon. Granddad lent down to help set up Joshua's skittles when Joshua stopped suddenly, looked at Granddad quizzically and said "Oh, you've got no HAIR" Poor Granddad didn't catch it at first and was curious as to why I was splitting my sides laughing. Luckily he saw the funny side when I told him. He even let Joshua pat his bald patch!!

Talk swtich

The girls think Joshua's head injury triggered his talk switch as he has been impossible to silence the past few days. In some ways it is nice that he is talking all the time as he does have a lot to say, much of it cute and amusing. However it is not cute nor amusing when he goes in to repeat mode. On the way to Aunty Julie's he was very much in repeat mode "we going to Aunty Julie's now, we going to Aunty Julie's now, we going to Aunty Julie's now, we going to Aunty Julie's now, we going to Aunty Julie's now....."
Then 2 minutes after we got there he started "Joshua go home, now. Ok. Joshua go home, now. Ok. Joshua go home, now. Ok. Joshua go home, now. Ok. Joshua go home, now. Ok......" Argghhhhhhhh. Natasha said "imagine you were on an aeroplane to Japan and he did that. Then what would you do when you got there and he started on the "go home now" part" I don't want to even try to imagine it, it is tooo scary. We might wait til he is past the repeat stage before we make international travel plans (please nobody tell me that they never outgrow this phase)

Another Wedding Story

Granny popped in to see Joshua last night (and check out the stitches) and while she was visiting she told us another funny from the wedding. Just before dessert was served Joshua was a bit restless so Granny took him for a walk outside past the nearby shops and restaurant. When they passed the restaurant she said everybody inside was oohing and aahing about how cute he looked. Then on the way back a waitress came out to talk to him. "Don't you look lovely all dressed up. Where have you been?" she asked. Joshua answered "a wedding" to which she responded "well I think you look very handsome" Now what do you think Joshua would say to that? His response.....

I know, thank you!!

:o)

Menace

I guess it is our fault for giving Joshua the middle name Dennis. He tries his best to live up to that name sometimes. Michelle and Natasha have stayed the past few nights as it is school holidays and they have provided a pleasant distraction to Joshua's head injury. Unfortunately they have, at times, born the brunt of his temper and menacing qualities. Case in point, I heard a ruckus yesterday morning and rushed upstairs to see what was going on. When I was at the top of the stairs Michelle sped past at full speed yelling "No, no, Joshua no........" in her best girly voice. Joshua was on her tail yelling "Joshua hurt Chelle, Joshua hurt Chelle" while menacingly brandishing a marble in his hand. The marble got hiffed at poor Chelle before I could intervene.... But he did get severely reprimanded and made to apologise.

Ouch!!

Joshua is following in Daddy's very big footsteps. But not always in a positive way....
Today Joshua and I headed off to Long Bay for a picnic with my old work mates while Daddy stayed at home to do some work (poor Daddy). We arrived, said Hello, had a ride on the train and then hit the playground. Joshua loves the big capsule playground at Long Bay and was having a great time in it. It is not my favourite piece of play equipment as it seems somewhat dangerous and probably not intended for not yet 3 year olds (he started playing on it when he was 1.5yrs though :o] ) So I went through it with him the first couple of times then he went in it on his own. I managed to get him to go on the more age appropriate equipment but that lasted all of 2mins and we ended up back at the capsules. I went to go up in it with him but he told me to go stand at the bottom of the slide and being Mr Independent I wasn't too worried about him. Seems I should have been! Joshua climbed to the top and was having great fun inside yelling "Anybody home?" down the slide etc. But then I heard "thump thump" followed by the type of scream no parent likes to hear. He was still up top crying so I rushed up the stairs and into the darn thing but he had gone down the slide by that time. I quickly followed him down and gave him a cuddle only to be told by a concerned onlooker that he ws bleeding from his head. It was streaming out. I rushed him back to the picnic and Dr. Pedja took a look and decided he would need stitches so off we went to the A&E clinic. (Brian was told to meet us there) Joshua was being very brave and seemed to become even braver when Daddy arrived and showed him his scars. Boys love being "just like Daddy" The stiching was little traumatic as it involved Joshua being wrapped in a blanket and held on the table by three adults. He was remarkably calm and liked showing the nurse how he could roll his tongue (it was the only distraction Mummy could think of) But he was extremely happy when it was all over. Especially when the lollipops came out. Daddy took Joshua home and treated him to McDs for being a brave boy while Mummy went to retrieve our belongings from the picnic. We are still not sure how he did it but I am pretty sure that it would be a good idea for me to invest in a good first aid kit and first aid classes. Stich Tally: Joshua 2 vs Daddy 80+ (This is one tally that I hope never increases)

Too cute

 

Mortified

Today was the big day for Brian's cousin John and his bride Cheryl. Joshua looked very handsome in his tuxedo (When asked what he liked most about the wedding he said "The clothes" ) and looked very cute and innocent sitting in the church waiting for the service to start. But then just as John and Cheryl had said their vows "Oh no, I need to go toilet" "Just hang on Joshua" I whispered through gritted teeth. "but I have to go POOOOOOS" Poos is in capitals because it was said very loudly. I quickly ushered him off to the toilet which unfortunately is at the front of the church (bad, bad, bad design people) His lordship sat on the toilet and gave a botty rumble and announced he was finished. Grrr he could have done that sitting on Daddy's lap! We crept back in as they were exchanging rings and thinking to cause the least amount of disturbance I sat down in the choir stalls with Joshua. Big mistake. "I want my Daddy. " "Shhh Joshua"...."But I just want my Daddddddddddddddy" Arrghhhh we made the dash, dumped Joshua on Daddy's lap and then I tried to diappear into the seat. John and Cheryl, we are truly sorry for the disruption... thanks for being such great sports.

Strange but true. .... Joshua also felt the call off nature as soon as the speeches started at the reception. Grrrrrrrr.

This week's highlights...

Here are a few of Joshua's special moments this week....

Gloop: Aunty Sarah makes the most fantastic gloop. Cornflour, water and food colouring make for a messy yet fun afternoon activity. Gloop is the weirdist stuff. It feels quite firm to the touch but dissolves in your hands. Joshua loved it and so did Mummy until Joshua clapped his hands and dispersed the pesky stuff across the kitchen. Do you know how many times you have to wipe cornflour up? It always seems to leave a white powdery residue even after wiping many many times. Yay for Gloop!

Proof: Joshua filled up a cup in the bath and said "Look Mummy it is proof" Proof of what you may ask.... and I did. "Proof of Jupiter's Red Spot" was the reply. Who says children don't learn anything from TV (All credit to the Magic School Bus)

Chemistry: Joshua filled up another cup in the bath with bubbles on top this time. "Proof?" I asked. "NO Mummy, it is a chemical reaction" Of course, how could I have been so silly. Every mother of a preschooler should be able to spot a chemical reaction at a glance :o) I guess Joshua liked doing the vinager and baking soda experiment last week. Children's minds really are sponges.

Can't like Medlab...

Joshua accompanied me to the Medlab today so I could have a blood test. At first he was quite happy to sit and play in the waiting room with me but then he must have remembered the last time we went there. Last time we visited the Medlab Joshua had a blood test, an allergy test and a nasal swab to test for whooping cough. Very traumatic but long forgotten or so I thought. Obviously not. He got very agitated and wanted to leave. Even when I assured him it was me that was getting the needle. "No, Mummy not get injection. No, Joshua can't like it" He was almost in tears. When it was my turn I explained to the nurse why he was being difficult. She was great and tried to calm him too. I distracted him as well as I could but even when the needle was gone he still looked like he might cry. Until... the lovely nurse drew a special monster face on a plaster for his hand. He was very chuffed with his cool plaster and left medlab smiling. Thank goodness for fantastic nurses. Maybe next time we go he won't be so upset.

No such luck...

Joshua unfortunately did not wake any sweeter than when he went to sleep. He slept for 2 hours but woke with bone shaking "botty rumbles" and accompanying tears. When Daddy arrived home Joshua was sitting with Mummy on the couch looking very sad. Daddy cuddles and some food sorted him out though and he finished the evening bouncing and doing Roly Polys on Mummy and Daddy's bed.

Oh yeah... last night Joshua and Daddy were playing downstairs in the super hut while Mummy checked her email. I must have left the gate open and Joshua appeared by my side. "Hello, How are you? Joshua is back" was his greeting. I asked him where Daddy was. "I can't like Daddy" was his cryptic reply. Anyway he started playing games on my computer. 10mins later Daddy appeared looking for Joshua. Joshua had left the hut to get a book and never returned. Brian had waited patiently for 10 mins. LOL. Poor Daddy.

Mr Independent

Joshua is Mr Independent with a capital I!! He goes to the toilet on his own with the door shut, dresses himself apart from buttons and likes to do (try to do) everything himself. He played with Michelle and Natasha all morning and was all tuckered out and grumpy this afternoon. So when i told him off for playing with the video player it caused a full scale meltdown. Mummy wasn't too impressed by this and put Joshua in his room to "think about things" He protested a fair bit at first and then I heard him pottering around his room. I popped my head in to see if he had finished thinking and was ready to come out, but he told me to "go away" I complied but not before I noticed that the curtains had been closed and the light was now off. I left him for a few more minutes and popped back to check on him only to find him sound asleep in bed under the covers!!!!!!!!!!!! Joshua is not a daytime sleeper usually and to get him to nap at all even when sick takes extreme coercion. But sure enough today he put himself to bed. Let's hope he is in a sweeter mood when he wakes up.

Disco Fever

We had a busy morning outside in the garden after Joshua decided that it would be fun if Mummy cut the grass and he helped. He was VERY helpful and managed to get grass clippings up his nose and in his ears!! But Joshua has been off colour for the past 5 days and after cutting the grass he was a bit tired. This afternoon he watched way more than the recommended TV viewing time for preschoolers :o) But Mummy is sick too so I wasn't complaining. Joshua perked up a bit just before bedtime when he was playing hide and seek with Daddy. He must have got a second wind because he suddenly started the screaming memies... This invloves screaming and giggling as loud as possible while running manically around the room. Soon after this outburst Joshua decided it was disco time. He turned all his bedroom lights off, grabbed his disco ball (courtesy of Aunty Kath) and jumped/danced around the room singing "Disco, disco in Joshua's room" at the top of his lungs. Sometimes I wonder what our neighbours can hear and what they make of what they do hear?! To set the record straight Brian and I did not teach Joshua how to disco. His lovely cousins, Michelle and Natasha, are to thank (or should I say blame) for that.

Actually

Brian and Joshua made the "super hut" in the back room yesterday while Mummy was flaked out on the couch with a bad cold. The Super Hut is very cool. It has tunnel entrances and emcompasses most of the back room floor area. Joshua, Mummy and Daddy were in the Super Hut today (I told you it was big) and Brian suggested that Joshua go get TWO books. He dutifully went off and came back with 2 books that we enjoyed reading. Brian then suggested he take those 2 back and get another 2. Joshua went off and returned a short time later. Brian said "Good boy. You got another two books." Joshua's little voice echoed out of the tunnel "I got one book ACTUALLY" It was so proper sounding Brian and I had to laugh.

My turn next

Joshua has to be one of the few children who actualy cries about NOT going to the Doctor and NOT having his haircut. He had a total melt-down on Wednesday at the mall when Daddy went downstairs to get his haircut. "No not Daddy's turn. Joshua's turn. I want my haircut! I want my haircut" We followed Daddy downstairs and when we got to the hairdressers they had that "uh oh here comes a brat who doesn't want his hair cut" look. But when we explained that he wanted it done but it didn't need done they laughed and gave him a balloon and lollies. He fussed on Wednesday afternoon as well as I was off to see a new Doctor and he wanted to go. He came with me but when i asked if he liked the new Doctor he said "Not, really. I didn't get a stamp." Just as well this Doctor is only a specialist and he will still get to regularly see the famous Doctor Mules with his cool lightup stamps.

Visitors

After spending the past 2 days shut up at home with a rotten cold Joshua and I had some visitors round today to liven things up. Joshua made half a dozen phone calls in the morning organising the visit and then after lunch stood at his bedroom window all excited about their arrival. He must have seen them coming down the driveway 'cause he ran to get me so I could open the door. He greeted Ms Frizzle with two hands and gently lifted Liz inside. Janet unfortunately wasn't welcomed so kindly as Joshua sort of chucked her in the door. After Joshua introduced them all to me he took them upstairs one by one. Janet got to go up last and she must be unluckly as Joshua dropped her down the stairs and had to come back for her. Joshua played hide and seek with his new friends for a good 15mins until he came down the stairs crying because he couldn't find Ms. Frizzle and needed my help. Hmmmm how do you help your son find an imaginary friend? He eventually found her and they had a great time. He told me all about it after they left. But then Ms Frizzle rang to say that they were coming back. This time I insisted that we vacuum before anymore guests came so Joshua gave me a hand doing the lounge :o) Joshua had some extremely indepth conversations with his friends about going to preschool and Mainly Music etc. I was beginning to get a bit worried that I would start to hear someone actually responding. I wonder who might come visitng tomorrow.


(If you are not up on kids TV it may help to know that these characters are off the Magic School Bus. Janet is the most annoying character so that perhaps explains her mistreatment.)

Would you like sugar with that?

Joshua had a fantastic day. Michelle and Natasha stayed the night and we all went to the mantinee performance of Beauty and the Beast. Joshua was soooo excited he woke up at 5am. We managed to keep him upstairs until 7am by which stage he was dying to wake the girls. After a morning of play and shopping we headed off to the show. Joshua was truly captivated. That is until about 5mins from the intermission when he dozed off. I wondered if the early start would cause problems. I gave him a poke and some lollies and he made it to intermission. An icecream during the break helped cool him down and boosted his energy levels no end. Although part way through the second act Joshua said "Mummy I NEED more sugar..." The sugar worked and he lasted through the show, and the trip back to Aunty Julie's, and the trip back home and was still lasting when it was really time for bed. After every sugar high comes a low and we hit it at bedtime. First it was demands:"I want my plane" "I want my glowstick" when that didn't work he tried reasoning "I can't like my room. I can't like my room. I can't like....." When that didn't work he just tried plain old anger until of course Mummy threatened to leave at which point he rolled over and went to sleep!!

By the way Joshua was very brave and didn't freak out at the very realistic Beast. Unlike the child in front whose Grandma had to calm her with "Beast is just a bit grumpy" a line we taught her just before the show started. The guy in the row in front of her may have wanted to borrow that line too "I want Mummmmmmmmmmmmmmy. I wanna go home NOW. I wanna go home NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Daddy I'm scared. I want MUUUUUMMMMMMMMMY" The Dad did what every self respecting male would do - cut his losses and ran. Joshua just looked at me and said "hmmmmmmm yeah Beast IS grumpy"

See how sensitive I am......

S.N.A.K. : Sensitive new Age Kid

Joshua is most definitely a S.N.A.K. I had no idea how sensitive he was until he started having mini-meltdowns at preschool recently. The first was 2 weeks ago. He just suddenly started crying for no apparent reason. Then he was unhappy about going for the next three drop offs. Then on Monday it happened again. This time though the ever observant teachers managed to make the connection. 2 weeks ago the music teacher went on holiday so Mrs Jacqui took Music = meltdown No. 1 and then on Monday the regular music teacher returned = meltdown No. 2 It appears that Joshua does not like anyone messing with his world and is very resistant to change. I hope it is a stage he grows out of...

Still on the sensitive theme. Joshua is a total Mummy's boy. Daddy gets told to "go away" if he tries to calm Joshua at night. "I want Mummy" is the familiar night time call of the local wildlife! Mummy is also Joshua's pick for shower buddy (Mummy misses those long peaceful showers where there is no little monkey trying to use her buttocks as a drumkit - I know they aren't small but please) Last night Brian was lamenting the lack of love from Joshua to which I jokingly said "awwwwwwwwwwwww" to which Joshua quickly added "poor Daddy!"

The Scareys got me...

So may be the Scareys are not as harmless as we thought. Joshua has been hunting them all week with a torch and dispatching any he finds with an over arm chuck and "ch ch" sound effect. But last night the Scareys had their revenge!! Joshua woke at 12.30am sobbing and repeating "the Scareys got me, the scareys got me" over and over and over again. Mummy lay down with him and eventually he went back to sleep. This morning when he woke though the first words out of his mouth were.... you guessed it "the Scareys got me" The boy doesn't forget a thing. Then Joshua went into more detail "the Scareys were a bit grumpy... like Beast with Belle [see Beauty and the Beast]....they got Joshua... they tickled my back" Tickled my back!!?? What is scary about having your back tickled? Hmmm they must have been too rough.

Doctor Doctor

Joshua LOVES our doctor. Yesterday Brian had to go to the doctor so we dropped him off before heading to Grandma's. Joshua was very very upset "No, Daddy not go. Joshua's doctor!! Joshua go doctor" So he was happy today that he had to go to get somemore tummy medicine (reflux) When we arrived he said loudly "this is Joshua's doctor. Joshua see his doctor...yes Joshua see my doctor!!" The doctor ushered us into his office and Joshua stood there arms outstretched for a cuddle. The doctor laughed and scooped him up for a cuddle. Joshua was very happy!! This afternoon Joshua was Doctor and checked Mummy's ears and nose... Who would have thought that Joshua would idolise someone who a few months ago shoved tweezers up Joshua's nose in a vain attempt to remove the seeds he had planted up there!!

Happy Father's Day Daddy - you're blushing....

As a special treat for Father's Day Joshua decided to serenade Daddy with a very very loud rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Only problem was that he decided to do it in the middle of the supermarket whilst holding Daddy's hand. It was great - Mummy couldn't stop laughing and Daddy went very quiet and looked for a hole to jump in to. To top it all off when he had finished each song (yes, it was repeated more than once!!) he demanded that Daddy clap, "Daddy, Daddy clap now..." Anyone who knows how much Brian loves being the centre of attention will have some idea of how uncomfortable he looked as shopper after shopper looked at the loud singing child and his father.

That thing called Granny and a tree called Bob

Granny came to visit Joshua this afternoon and when Daddy arrived home Joshua shyly pointed to Granny and said "that thing is Granny" Suprisingly enough Brian did recognise his own Mum and didn't need to be introduced to the "thing" that was visiting. I might need to work on the use of the word "person' with Joshua.

Today when admiring the view from Joshua's bedroom window he pointed to the large tree by the front entrance and said "That's Joshua's tree! " I asked him if it had a name and he thought for a while and then said it is "tree bob like Bob the Builder" Treebob sounds like a lovely name for a tree. Joshua then typed the name into his imaginery keyboard on his imaginery computer that was conveniently located on the windowsill.

Pat-a-cake is for babies according to Joshua. I was playing pat-a-cake with him today when he suddenly took offence and said "No, I can't like pat-a-cake" I asked him why and he told me "it is a baby song and Joshua not a baby!" I amended the words by replacing "baby" with "Joshua" and he was happy. He "can like" it now... I am so glad!

I can't like it

Joshua can't like a lot of things at the moment. When I asked him if his little 10month old buddy could sit in Joshua's booster chair for lunch he said "No, I can't like it" and kindly offered us a normal chair and suggested his buddy sit on my lap (Interesting that he will share Mummy but not his chair - strange toddler values.) He also can't like having a banana as a snack when there are biscuits in the cupboard. He also told Grandma not to sit next to him (but not as nicely... "go away" were the words used) at lunch because "he can't like it" Mummy "can't like" this stage much especially the go away part as Daddy is regularly being told to go away because Joshua wants Mummy. Poor Daddy... and poor Mummy too as it means that I can't skive off and let Brian see to Joshua :op

Everybody...

I am really beginning to wonder who else shares this house with us. Today when I told Joshua it was time to leave for music he ran back into his room where he had been playing happily on his own (why on earth can't he do that at 5am?) and yelled "Bye everybody" and gave "everybody" a big wave goodbye. Then as soon as we got home he ran in to the house yelling "Hi everybody. I'm back" Mind you this morning I told him rather sternly (you'd be stern too if you had been woken up at 4.50am) to use his manners so maybe he thought it was important to greet the Scarys and whoever else shares our abode. By the way we made a discovery today: there are no Scarys at Grandma's house... Lucky Grandma!

The wake up song

Joshua woke up at 4.50am this morning. He was wide wide awake but there was no way Mummy and Daddy were going to get up yet so we tried to get him to have a snooze in our bed. That didn't work and at 5.30 we turfed him out of bed and turned on his bedroom light in the vain hope he might play quietly in his room. Joshua turned on our light and then disappeared for about 5mins so we thought he had gone off to play and tried to catcha few more zzzzzzzzs despite the lights being on. But Joshua wasn't playing - he was composing. He appeared at our bedside (Daddy's side thank goodness) with his electronic piano in tow announcing that he was going to play the "wake up song" He sang this "wake up song" with great gusto and we couldn't help but love the beat track that accompanied the tune. Brian and I had to laugh and once we did that we knew we had lost the battle once again. Joshua 2 vs. Mummy and Daddy NIL.

Wee ruffian

Joshua has suddenly turned into a wee ruffian. He had a friend round today and his friend had done something to Joshua and was being made to say sorry and give Joshua a hug. The hug ended up with Joshua lying on top of his crying friend. I thought they had over balanced... but no five minutes later Joshua offered his friend a hug. How cute you say - I thought so too until I caught the evil glint in his eye. In an instant he had wrestled his pal to the floor. However there was justice to be had as it wasn't his friend who got hurt in the fall. Joshua hit his head on the way down and ended up bawling, and to add insult to injury was forced to apologise by Mummy. I thought the injury would have taught him a lesson but it seems that children don't learn that quickly and Joshua tried to wrestle his buddy to the floor at least two more times in the next hour (that we saw...) Rascal!

The Scarys revisited

Hmmm there seem to be an inordinate number of Scarys living under motorway bridges!! Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a birthday party in Manurewa (which is miles away from Glenfield.) At the lights before the first overbridge Joshua suddenly started whispering "Shhhhh there are Scarys under there, be quiet or they'll bite me" and pointing to the dark corners of the bridge. This continued for most of the journey down the motorway until we came to a bridge that didn't have the usual deep triangular corner - this particular bridge had walls at right angles to the base of the bridge. Anyway Joshua didn't alter his voice under this bridge and I questioned him, "Won't the Scarys bite you if you aren't quiet?" "But Mummy there are no Scarys under here!!" he stated very matter of factly... gosh silly Mummy - you'd think that I would know where Scarys live by now!! But I won't be caught out again as I have worked out the secret of the Scarys... they only live in triangles!!

By the way Joshua got a bit noisy under one of the bridges and I asked if he got bitten. "Yup, they bit me" he said happily ?! I asked if it hurt... "No Scarys don't hurt, Mummy" he said in a tone that made me feel even dumber.

So in summary here are the things I have learnt about Scarys (this may come in handy if you are ever alone with Joshua)
1. Scarys are NOT scary
2. Scarys bite
3. A Scary bite doesn't hurt but you should be quiet anyway to avoid one
4. Scarys live in triangular spaces only and have a predilection for motorway overbridges.

Ready or not...here I come....

Hide and seek is the game of the week. At the beginning of the week Joshua wasn't particularly good at hiding as even though he found great places to hide the fits of giggles eminating from the hiding place sort of gave him away. But this has improved in the course of the week and he was able to jump out of his hiding spot and surprise me this afternoon. When Joshua is looking for Mum or Dad hiding somewhere, the giggles strike as soon as he spots your location. It is very cute even if the giggles sound a bit manic at times. Joshua is also a fantastic cheat. He goes into the kitchen to count to 10 but suddenly announces a change in rules saying he will count to 3. He counts to 3 very quickly so that means poor Mum and Dad don't have much time to find a good hiding spot!!

Engrish... toddler style

I have noticed that Joshua has a few peculiar pronunciations and thought that should try to note them down

penguin = pinguroo (something to do with the fact that a penguin appears in the outback in the Koala brothers show. A penguin pretending to be a kangaroo?)

girls = giddles (only uses this pronunciation when he has been hanging out with Grandma as when she rolls the r in girls it can sound like a d)

speakers = speedles (I have no idea where this came from)

He sometimes sounds like he should be in Glasgow "Hod on a minute" "Get doun" To my surprise complete strangers in shops have picked up on the Scottish influence in his speech. Poor boy, he might end up being asked where he is from by every other New Zealander he meets....

Night terrors.......

Joshua just had a night terror. It is one of the freakiest things to watch. It started with Joshua screaming "No, it's mine" which was followed up by lots of hysterical crying, tossing and turning with fair smattering of "No"s thrown in. We thought it was a bad dream and I tried to comfort him with a cuddle but he didn't wake up and pushed me away. In all it lasted about 5mins. It seems that he takes after me in his sleep habits. Apart from the odd freaky night terror when he gets over tired he also has the annoying habit of grinding his teeth very loudly. The sound makes me cringe and I worry that he will have no teeth left by the time he gets to primary school. We even tried worming him in the vain hope that it was worms making him grind those gnashers. But no it seems that it is all my fault as I am a teeth grinder too. I hope Joshua doesn't start walking about in his sleep (Hmm we might keep the gate on his door for a bit longer).

... could be a STAR!

Today Joshua and I went to Mainly Music as we do every Wednesday morning. But today turned out to be not your average Wednesday. When we arrived we found out that the leader of the session was sick and if someone else didn't volunteer the session would be scrapped and the kids would just have morning tea and a play. Now Joshua loves the music part of the morning so somehow I managed to volunteer myself despite the fact that when I agreed to be on the Mainly Music team it was on the one condition that I never had to sing up front. I was very nervous but managed to get through the session - dry mouth, cold sweat and all. Joshua on the otherhand had a fantastic time. He loved being right out the front. He sang his little lungs out and danced up a storm. His antics almost made me forget that I was standing out the front trying to lead the session. He truly soaked up the attention and was radiant. He clearly hasn't inherited any of Brian's shy genes. He is such a little showman.

Wired!!

Totally wired!!!!!!!! Joshua has so much energy. In fact I think if we could harness his excess energy we wouldn't have to worry about petrol and power prices as we could run everything on little green power. Joshua's display of uber energy began today at 4.30am (that's right AM grrrr). Daddy was beckoned forth from the comfort of his bed by a pleading little green thing "Daddy, Daaaaady, Dadddddddddddy" Brian entered the room and then the tears began shortly after Daddy said no to Joshua's request. Now what would any normal child want at 4.30am.... a drink.... a toilet stop....... ? In the immortal words of Joshua "I say NO." No, those things would be too common, too ordinary, too boring for Joshua. No, his request was "I wanna play puter" You should have heard the indignant screams of protest when Daddy said no to that perfectly reasonable request. After all every 2.5 yr old should be entitled to play on the computer at 4.30 in the morning. Arggggggggghh. Then I made the fatal mistake of taking him into our bed. I was wriggled for the next 1 and a half hours until 6am at which point we gave up all hope of Joshua sleeping and loosed the wee monster on the world. Joshua had a full day playing with Granny in the morning, and off to preschool in the afternoon, but even so he was still able to run screaming gleefully around the lounge for most of the evening. I was exhausted just watching him. It is awesome that children have so much energy and will just play until they drop - I wish I had even half his energy. Oh and we made a discovery this morning... Joshua can now turn on all the lights without getting a stool. Pity about how this discovery was made though. I think it went something like.... "Mummy get up" (demand ignored, of course) ..... pitter patter.... bedroom lights all flicked on blinding Mummy temporarily but making it impossible to ignore the following demand "Mummy get up! I want food"

Our little con artist

Well Joshua had an absolute blast at Grandma's last night. They played the chocolate game, watched videos and had lots of good fun (the sort that can only be had at Grandma and Grandad's house cause they are willing to indulge the kiddies more than Mum and Dad...) Michelle and Natasha put Joshua to bed with lots of cuddles and then walked out and turned off the light telling him to go to sleep now. And... he went to sleep. Grandma told me all this when i picked him up this morning. My reaction? ...I've been had. Surely we can't be talking about the same boy who pleads "Mummy lie down toooooooooo" "Joshua wants cuddlesssss" "Pleasssssssssssssssse" everynight when we turn the lights out? Most nights our little green thing falls asleep being cuddled by Mummy or Daddy. We do have stages where he will happily settle himself but we are not currently in one of those stages. Hmmmmmmm so is it a con job then?! Surely if he can go to sleep on his own in a strangish house then it should be even easier at home. I know Joshua can manipulate us quite well but now I am convinced that he is a ni-dan black belt master of manipulation. Oh well soon enough he will be saying "Yuk" to hugs from Mummy so I guess I will just make the most of our sleepy warm cuddles at the end of each day and try to convince myself that I am not being manipulated.... Lol who am I kidding....

The Scarys

Joshua talks about the Scarys a lot. Despite the name, he normally is quite happy when he discusses the Scarys and shows no fear at all. Today he told Daddy that the Scarys live in the triangles in his ceiling (where the roof is gabled) and that they had to be quiet or the Scarys would bite Joshua. I was worried about the Scarys when they first came to live at our house but, despite an urge to bite if the noise gets too loud, they seem an amicable bunch who don't eat much and never make a mess. I expected Joshua to have nightmares about these fellas living in the roof but it seems they are creatures with similar tendencies to the ones in Monsters Inc. If you ask Joshua what sound the Scarys make he does a classic deep throated "grmmm" sound that makes me laugh every time. Since the Scarys arrived Joe and Steve haven't visited as much as they used to. Joe and Steve are named after the guys off Blue's Clues, we think. Steve lives in our toilet wall (there is a little door, you see.... well actually only Joshua can see it!!) Steve sometimes comes out visiting with us and appears randomly in other peoples toilet walls. Maybe Steve has a beaming device that allows molecular travel to multidimensional toilet walls?! Timmy hasn't been around much either which is a relief because I have no idea where Joshua got the name Timmy from so that "friend" was a bit spooky. Bobby and Mark from preschool sound cute too but unfortunately the preschool teachers have never met them so can't tell what they are like. I hope Joshua doesn't want to send them all party invites when his birthday rolls round because it might get a bit crowded in the imaginary party guest area... Sometimes I wonder if Joshua is living across dimensions and can really see things we don't as he can be very convincing when talking about his "friends" Joshua is staying at Grandma's tonight with "his girls" Michelle and Natasha. I wonder if the Scarys have gone with him... not sure that I want to go in his room without the light on...grmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Our little green thing

Our little green thing is not so little now. Joshua will be 3 in 4 months time. He is often mistaken for a 4 year old though as he is tall like his Daddy. If I had to pick one thing that I think Joshua will become in the future, it would have to be the class clown. He loves to joke. My biggest problem disciplining Joshua is trying to keep a straight face and authorative voice. For example two nights ago when trying to get the lad to sleep he suddenly says, "Mummy, Mummy, my finger..." in a distressed manner. So like any concerned parent I quickly ask what is wrong with his finger. The response? "It's a drum stick Mummy. Look...boom chicka boom chicka" Argggggggggghhhh how can you not laugh!! I didn't fall for it last night though. His cries of "Mummy, Mummy, my finger..." were ignored while I repeated the "It is nighttime, bedtime, time to go to sleep" mantra while furiously trying hard not to giggle.

Joshua adores anything musical. He was pretending to play the pan pipes on a bamboo sushi mat today. His current favorite video is "Beauty and the Beast" This is a welcome change from "Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat" which I must have watched 60 times in the last 6 months. Joshua knows most of the words to "Any dream" and a large number of the words to the other songs. He adores Donny Osmond as Joseph and it is quite funny but I just heard that Donny is to play Gaston from Beauty in the Beast on Broadway. Joshua must have similar tastes to Donny. LOL.

Apart from music Joshua loves anything to do with space. He will beg his Grandad to put on the Cosmos videos and sits there with an astronomy book finding the planets that are being discussed on the video. We are all quite surprised by how long a Cosmos video can hold his attention. The narrator has quite a droning voice that puts Grandma to sleep fairly quickly but even so Joshua loves those videos. Joshua has a inflatable solar system hanging from his ceiling and likes to name all the planets and the sun before going to bed each night. At the moment he is purposely saying Pluto after the Sun then laughing and pointing to the "real" Pluto.

Joshua also breaks the boy mould by showing very little interest in trucks. He has had so many trucks and trains given to him as presents but they largely collect dust until another child comes to visit. Maybe No. 2 will be a girl who likes trucks (whenever No. 2 happens...)

Anyway despite his quirks Joshua is like most 2 and a half year olds in that you have to be very careful what you say around them. Case in point: While reading a trashy magazine at Grandma's today I made the mistake of saying "these magazines are rubbish" Well whaddya know a certain little green thing appears and asks for the magazine. Thinking he wanted to look at the picture on the page I was reading I handed it over, only to be told "Joshua put it in the rubbish" Oooops I did say it was rubbish but that is not what I meant.........

Carpe diem

I have finally decided to blog. Why? Because the recent and extremely tragic death of a friend's young daughter made me realise that life is short and so so precious. Everyday when Brian comes home from work I regale him with stories of things Joshua has said or done, and now I realise that these little stories are truly precious and yet so easily forgotten in the daily hubbub of life. Hopefully when Joshua learns to read he can sit down and read all about his antics and one day share those stories with his children.....

And to the wee poppit who taught us all so much in her 20 months - we miss you dancing up a storm and beating up the boys...