How do they do it?

So...
Joseph isn't ordinarily allowed to watch television. A sort of laryngitis-fever combo is sweeping through the house and, well, television is such an anesthetic for sick babies.... and it was just PBS, right? Joseph has had no way of knowing that there even was a Barney- how did this little Barney worship session start? I watched the show with him. I mean, the messages are sort of lovey, upbeat, love the less fortunate kid type stuff. Today they were dancing and singing about popcorn and penpals. I have decided that it is not the content of Barney that gets to me. It is the strange voodoo like zombie power it has over toddlers. Just look what happens when you ask the child to back away from the television:
I should really look into dusting the television set!!!

Going

Hello!

It has been a while, hasn't it? I realized that I had not uploaded any pictures from my camera in ages. All of these pictures are fairly new. I must give some of the photo credits to Joe (II). Actually, I have no idea which photos were taken by Joe. I am certain that I took this photo of Joseph in the red sweatshirt. This sweatshirt was originally worn by my brother and myself in the late 70s. Yes, Joseph wears some of the same clothes that my brother and I wore more than twenty years ago. The stuff held up pretty well! Remember when most clothes was not made by underpaid children in foreign countries? ... clothes from a little golden age. Anyway- Joseph looks very cute in it.
He is outgrowing all of his clothes-
and taking all of those shaky little steps- (SIGH)
We are excited to see him grow up, though- Lots of fun!

For example: Here he is busy with his 'business'. I had an old notebook lying around. It is crammed full of old mail and shopping lists, etc. Joseph found it and has been busy making his notes.

He is very good with a pen. We cannot trust him with crayons (eats them) or markers (a purple one left him looking like he had a black eye last week) yet but he is doing very well with a plain old ballpoint pen (supervised, of course).

I tried setting him up with a proper sketch pad and crayon and he was not nearly as interested. For some reason he likes the old notebook.

I flipped through it a bit after he was done. Almost every page has a little something on it.

Another recent favorite pass-time: Mess. Joseph is becoming very proficient at dismantling the entire living room. This is roughly the state I find things in just after I put him to bed.

(I am including this shot of big Joe. I made him pose for a random picture)

I am trying to think of what to update about.... Joe and I have sort of invented this concept of 'super saving' months. January is the first official month that we use the plan. We are eating mostly rice, beans, and vegetables (good for us, too). We are not indulging in many (ideally any) little perks. All business, all month. It seems to be quite do-able. We are quite proud of ourselves. It is interesting to see how many things people don't actually need to consume to be happy.

Joe has a bit of a natural talent when it comes to mixing different foods together and finding just the right sauce to embellish them with (see curry and egg picture on this page).

We did allow ourselves one indulgence this month: an old school, am/fm, battery powered radio. Such an old, basic piece of technology. It is revolutionizing our life! The television has been off every night. I can move it easily from room to room when doing the housework... I have even spent less time on the computer.

I didn't even know that Portland had "AirAmerica". Where have I been? Jerry Springer actually has a respectable little left leaning (note I say 'leaning') political talk show? I got to hear that infamous Al Franken gig. I can get the news on the half hour!!!!

I guess that is about it for us, for now. Things are going along pretty well. We were big fans of that January thaw (it is officially over today:()(I am sort of getting anxious to break out the sled and pull Joseph around again). I am sure we will update again in February if not sooner.:)

donair vs. poutine

we decided that in our home: donair wins-
i think the results are different next door-

i would also like to say:
pictures and update coming soon.... maybe even tomorrow

i have to go clean up joseph's (III) mess now

yay!

2006!!!

I have slacked on pictures lately. Seriously, I have only this to show for the entire holiday stretch!!! My excuse is that sometimes I cannot be bothered with the act of stopping to take a picture. I made a little promise to myself to not become crazy detail mom and to just let holidays happen and to let them be a restful sort of fun. Funny, it turned out to be the first year that I managed to get most of my cards out and gifts done! How did that happen?

Our Christmas was great. Ate enough, drank enough, slept enough... We had a Bruce Lee marathon- We opened our gifts, ate our indian take-out, watched The Children of Heaven (see it, such great little actors, such a great little plot), slept, got up, walked, visitted with my parents, had Pook's Christmas dinner (errr... uhm... filled up on her appetizers!!! We ate a lot of appetizers!!), vowed never to eat again(!!), went out to eat the next day with my parents!!

Joseph was a model child the entire time. We think that something strange happens to him when you put him in a sweater vest. I had no idea he had it in him.

The last night of 2005 was spent with the baby at a Pirates game. Yep, a Pirates game, rink-side. It was sort of a sudden decision but ended up being a lot of fun. We left during the fume-y indoor fireworks... all sort of very crazy, our first little family new year celebration- Joe and I topped it off with champagne and pickles at home:)

Happy 2006 everyone! I have enjoyed the picture taking break, sorry to say... but here... isn't Joseph funny in his little hat and scarf?