J-O-S I-A-H, J-O-S I-A-H, J-O-S I-A-H

(Oh yeah!  That's how Josiah learned to spell his name last week!  :-))

Last Monday marked one and a half years of being home with Josiah!  Each and every day I'm seeing something new in Josiah, and it's SO exciting to watch!  I want to take the time to record a few before time passes too far.

"I love you, too!"--Josiah has been saying it the past several weeks!  He has said " I love you" before, but never as often.  He just says it out of the blue.  "Mommy, I love you, too!"  I think it is precious that he started adding the too at the end.  It makes me smile because it means he already knows he is loved.  He's heard and believes those words. 

"God loves you"--The other day, the boys and I were running late leaving the house.  Not unusual.  I was snippy with Josiah and in a rush.  Unfortunately, not out of the norm.  As we pulled out of the neighborhood, Josiah piped up from the back seat, "Mommy, I love you, too.  And God loves you!"  Then he started singing "Yes, Jesus loves you!  Yes, Jesus loves you!  Yes, Jesus loves you!  The Bible tells you so."  I was overwhelmed!  My sweet boy was being loving and thoughtful even though I was being rude to him.  And the child who up to this point has primarily referred to himself by name rather than using personal pronouns, just substituted "you" everywhere "me" should be.  Woohoo!  AND most important, it's the first time I've ever heard Josiah start talking about God on his own!  Thank you, Jesus, seeds are being planted! 

Give me a J--In addition to working on spelling his name, we've been working on letter recognition.  Somtimes that means doing something like playing Fisher Price online games.  Sometimes it just means asking him about the letters he sees around him.  Yesterday he pulled out this shirt.  I pointed to the letter J and asked him what it was.  He told me.  Then he pointed to the next letter and told me it was an E.  That surprised me a bit, so I continued asking him the letters on the blocks.  He told me each one.  I had no idea he could recognize those, especially U!  I know that's not one we've really worked on.  It's all starting to sink in and take hold!  Yay!  (I was thinking that maybe I need to have him wear this shirt more often.  Some days, I just need that in-the-face reminder!)

Big Brother--Josiah is improving in this area, too.  I think, in some ways, it's actually a little bit harder being a new big brother to a baby this age rather than the newborn.  Before, Isaac would need something, but then he would go back to sleep.  Now, Isaac is awake most of the day.  That makes it harder for me to spend as much one on one time with Josiah.  I'm proud of how he's been willing to share time and read books with me or play games even though Isaac is on my lap.  More and more, he asks to hold Isaac or plays with him while I'm trying to do something.  He does still have moments where he moves away because he doesn't want Isaac touching him, but there are a whole lot more shared smiles, too.

Skating--We may have the next great speed skater on our hands.  I am shocked and thrilled at how well Josiah is doing with skating!  He had his third lesson tonight, and he loves it!  He has no fear out there.  Last week, he zoomed across the ice so much that he would spin in circles.  He's falling down a lot less, and gets right back up when he does fall.  The teacher tonight asked, "Does he always smile so much?  It makes me want to let him do whatever he wants."  Hmm, we're in for some trouble, aren't we?

So proud of our big boy!  He truly is a blessing!