Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Happy 57 months, Joshua!

My oldest son turned 57 months on Saturday, June 18. I can't believe he's almost five years old! With each new birth in our house, I'm reminded of his rough start in life. Making his debut seven weeks early after many gestational issues, he weighed less than a bag of sugar. Now he's completely caught up and doing well. I'm SO thankful for my miracle child!
One change I’ve noticed in Joshua lately is his imagination – his play with toys is now more interactive where he gives them each roles and acts out scenes. He also was pretending that he was on a beach the other day and told me where the sand was, etc. It’s hard to describe, but I LOVE to watch him play and see what he comes up with. Many times, he’s cracking me up with his sense of humor and wild imagination!

The above picture is one of his silly faces that he loves to do. We call them 'cross faces' depending on why he's making them. These drive me crazy. I hate weird faces, and he loves to strike a pose. On this particular night, he was doing it for Daddy to take pictures of him and he could see them, not because he was angry or offended. I'd like him to be able to vent his frustration, and yet the faces do bother me. So... we're trying to teach him other ways to 'vent.' BUT, that said, doing strange faces is better than hurting himself or others, so we struggle to find the fine line of parenting. I want him to be the best Joshua he can be. We tell him how much we love to see his smiling face instead, and we hope that these faces become another memory for the books...
Joshua is by far my biggest helper. He cleans up his toys, he gets things for me when I ask him to, and he even helps Caleb at times when he's struggling (say to figure out which way a shirt goes on when it's inside out, etc). I love to see Joshua jump in and help, even when he's not asked to. He is a good big brother. Daddy is teaching him how to be the best big brother he can be. After all, Daddy was a big brother in his family! Joshua smiled wide when he heard that. :) He wants to be just like Daddy!

Grandpa Georgia asked Joshua what he wants to be when he grows up. Answers in the past for us when we've asked have included (in order): a police officer, a tractor trailer driver and a professional baseball player. His latest answer, though, was "I want to be a grandpa when I grow up." How cute! I told Joshua he can't grow up on me too fast!

Joshua has really been enjoying his puzzle books from Mamaw (thanks so much!) that come in the mail. He loves to put the stickers in place, connect the dots to make pictures, solve word puzzles and picture puzzles, etc. We work on them together, and it's amazing to me to see how his brain works. I think he's super smart (but all parents think they're kids are amazing, I know!). He's getting better at writing, too, and he can sound out words and is starting to spell some. I think he'd be reading already if I had more time this summer to teach him. I know once Ryan gets on a better schedule, we'll be able to work more together on it.

Joshua still loves music and singing, which I adore. He highly enjoys playing outside, too, and doesn't seem to mind the heat on most days. We've been blessed with sunshine lately! Hallelujah! My boy loves to play soccer outside and would really like a pair of soccer cleats. He also wants a rocket/space ship for his birthday this year, he tells me often. He's anxious to go to kindergarten since some of his friends are heading there, but I'm glad he'll be home with me one more year. I want to spend all the time together that we can!

There's so much more I could write about my beloved boy, but alas, the baby is crying. So, I must run. Happy 57-month birthday, Joshua Bean! I love you!

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