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Joe's first Easter "egg"stravaganza
Post that was supposed to be published on April 23rd. Oops again.
Joe had an eventful day on Easter Sunday. After the usual morning ritual (cuddling in bed with Mama and Dada), Joe discovered that “someone” hid eggs in the living room. And they were all filled with candy! (6 jelly beans and 5 M&Ms, one in each egg.) Then Joe found the Easter basket that the Easter Bunny (read: the Easter Bunny trifecta: GrammiLo, Nani Deer, and us) left at the front door. Joe loved his new cars, bath squirters, and one very annoying animatronic bunny (in bunny slippers, thanks Deb).
Dressed in his Sunday best
Once we got ourselves cleaned up and ready to go, we had brunch with Noni P and Nana at the Atria Inn in Lakewood where Noni P lives. Joe received more Easter baskets, candy from admiring seniors, and then had the chance to do some more egg hunting. Well, it wasn’t much of a hunt. The staff at Noni P’s place had eggs laying all over the ground in the hallways in plain sight and Joe had a field day running from one to the next. Of course, he didn’t wait for the hunt to actually start before grabbing an egg, cracking it open, stuffing whatever was inside in his mouth, and then running to the next one. But how do you explain that kind of patience to a 23 month old? So, we let him run around and have a blast…but tried to scurry him past as many eggs as possible. In the end, he was only able to suck down the candy from about four of them. Most had foil-wrapped chocolate, which Joe couldn’t figure out. Whew.
What happens when Joe "colors" Easter eggs
We headed home for Joe’s nap, then spent the afternoon visiting Zack and pals at the Gallegos’ house. There, Joe colored eggs (and himself…and the floor, sorry Shawn) and participated in his third egg hunt of the day…if you count opening eggs, realizing they contain stickers and toys, then dumping them on the ground in favor of playing downstairs while all the other kids were in the throes of the hunt or admiring their collected stashes. Oh well, that’s our Joe.
Easter was as much fun for us as it was for Joe. He was so little for his first Easter that he didn’t have as much fun as he did this year. It’s so exciting for us to watch him grow and develop and experience things for the first time. This is definitely the beginning of the cool part of parenthood, I think!
Joe and Z with dads at Gallego's Easter gathering
Old post I forget to release on April 22, 2009 (oops)
Joe has been one busy little guy in the past month or so. And he’s gone through some growth spurts and developmental leaps. We suspect he’s about 27 lbs and somewhere around 34-35 inches (he’s taller than Maggie now, even with the fro pushed down). He’s sort of in between the 18-24 month and 2T sizes in pants. The waist fits in the smaller sizes, but the pant length can be a little iffy; he’s definitely in 2T tops. Joe’s Flintstone feet are at a 7-1/2 to 8 W and growing. No wonder he trips so often!
Favorite Sport: Joe started playing toddler soccer at the local indoor arena with Li’l Kickers. He’s now a “bunny” in the 18-24 month class. This Saturday will be his fourth class. Go Joe! His friend, Zack, joined too. Neighbor Sadie also joined this past weekend. Maybe Maggie will join soon since her dad is way into soccer (hint hint). Overall, Joe enjoys it (when he’s not sick, teething, or suffering from hay fever), but he’s still getting used to the group activity. Well, “group” is a little generous. The kids all get to kick around their own soccer (or rubber) ball. And they spend most of the time doing drills to help them learn to use their feet instead of their hands. But they do it all together, so it’s parallel play. Click here to see a short video of Joe doing a team cheer and giving his dad a double-handed high five.
Favorite Clothes: Joe has been increasingly obsessed with wearing jeans. Last week, he threw a fit when I dressed him in his camo pants and has ever since demanded “jeans Joe” when we get dressed. I’ve only barely been able to coax him into his PJs by promising that he can wear a pair of jeans the next day. Apparently the jean overalls don’t count as “jeans,” but he does recognize the black jeans. And the jean shorts. Whew.
Favorite Words: Joe has finally started using two-word “sentences.” The most common ones are: “jeans Joe,” “hat Joe,” “up Joe” (though that can mean up or down…despite that fact that he knows the word “down” and used to say it often). I think I heard him say “cute Joe” today. (I ask him every day to turn around so that I can see if he’s cute…usually when I’m fixing his hair.) MILESTONE: Joe now says “Mama.” We’re not sure if he’s referring to me since he often chants in repetivitely, but at least we know he can produce that sound. I’m not too worried. He’s a boy and he’s super active. Joe just doesn’t have time for frivolous chit chat (although he has started to chatter and lecture and engages in a lot of self talk).
Favorite Toys: ducky (duh) and drill. He drags them around the house, while sucking on his favorite pink binky.
Favorite Food: he’s getting pickier, but always loves fruit. Lately, he’s enjoyed chili and cornbread, and mommy’s deceptive spaghetti (plus a number of things that Nanny Nicole makes). And he loved Nana’s Asian barbeque ribs! I’ve been relaxing my rules about snacks and sugar a teeny weeny bit. At Easter, Joe was allowed to have some candy (jelly beans and M&Ms mainly). And he loves chocolate avocado pudding.
Favorite Outing: riding in the “caaar” or “tuck” to any destination where he can run. He enjoys parks most of all. Although sometimes he just wants to drive around.
Favorite Jammies: the Cars pjs that Joe’s “pajammie Grammi” sent, hands down.
Today Joe had his first visit with the Easter Bunny. (After three traumatizing trips to Santa over the past couple of years, we decided to hold off on giant “stuffed” animals…)
The outlook was good this time. While we were standing in line, Joe seemed pretty interested. He watched other kids sit on EB’s lap, waved several times to “the” bunny, and even shook his hand. But, when it came time to sit on the big, white, fuzzy lap, it was a no-go. So, he sat with Daddy, next to EB. Joe was pretty skeptical, but at least he wasn’t screaming. This was as close as we could get to a smile from him. (Those photographers at Flatiron Crossings earned their keep, making several attempts to win Joe over. But he wasn’t having any of it, though he did try to steal the “clapper” noisemaker they were using and several styrofoam Easter eggs.)
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