Tissue Anyone?

We are sooooo proud of Joey's progress with walking before his second birthday! But along with the walking comes a whole new level of things Joey can get into. Lately he climbs the couch....and from there he can reach everything on the endtables and back of the couch (places I used to consider as "safe") where he can reach things like the box of tissues. He used to eat them...now he just takes them all out of the box and spreads them around.

The worst part is...

because it is so fun watching him do this...

I am more inclined to grab the camera then I am to stop him...

Nothing seems to make him happier than making a huge mess for us...

Wiped out (literally) from all that fun!

This was almost as fun as tearing apart toilet paper in the bathroom.

And now that he stands so well he is comfortable reaching for new places he couldn't reach when he needed his hands down lower to steady himself. Like reaching the counter in the kitchen.

Are there no safe places anymore?

Somebody's Starting to Walk!

Monkey Hat (and other news)

Is this a cute hat or what!

One of the attorneys I work with, Serena, made Joey this adorable monkey hat for Christmas. As you can see from the pics he really likes it!

Serena is so talented! Thanks girlfriend!

I also thought I should address something I alluded to in my last post...Joey becoming a big brother someday. For those friends who only keep up with family news via the blog...we are actively trying to make Joey a big brother. I want so badly for him to have a sibling! However, this has proven to be a bit more difficult of an endeavor than I anticipated. There was the ectopic pregnancy in June and more recently... I had a miscarriage at about 8 weeks into a pregnancy this past December. I had not blogged about that pregnancy because...well your supposed to wait until after the first trimester in case you miscarry...Right?

Well I don't agree with that old social norm anymore. If you keep early pregnancy to yourself then you end up suffering alone when there are difficulties with it...and I need the support of my family and friends in this endeavor!

So in the future I want to be more forthcoming with such news...even if it does not work out.

So yes...our plans are to make Joey a big brother this year!

and we will keep working on teaching him how to be gentle with his baby doll!

Promised Pictures From The Holidays

At last...here are some of the pictures from Christmas 2010 that I have been meaning to post. If only I were not soooo tired all of the time. Anyway... As you can see from the numerous pictures below, we had a wonderful time with my family down in San Diego.

But before I get to those I wanted to share a few more pictures and talk about Joey's visit with Santa. As I mentioned before, Joey was not the slightest bit intimidated by Santa...in fact he was not bothered a it at all.

Behind us (in the 40 minute line we waited in) there was a family with a 7 year-old boy who I am pretty sure had Ds too...but I was not 100% certain so I did not raise the subject in the short conversation I had with his mother. He was a beautiful boy and I tried to engage him in conversation when I was trying to decide whether he had Ds or not. He was fairly quiet and was (sadly) very hard to understand when he spoke...but he was so sweet and loving with his mother and 11 year-old sister...and when he smiled he had the beautiful almond shaped eyes that I see when Joey smiles (and which I love so much about Joey when he smiles). I wanted to say something but was afraid of being wrong and offending her. Now that I think about it there were so many ways I could have brought it up but I totally chickened out. Oh well...next time I will know what to say and do because I have played the situation out in my head a thousand times since.

When we got down to San Diego Joey was fascinated with the Christmas tree. We did not get one this year because we are still in the two bedroom condo and there simply was not a place we could put it while maintaining some separation from Joey's play areas (and I did not want to be yelling "no" at him all the time).


We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with my two sisters, my sister's family and my aunt and cousin. Joey looks like such a big boy here!

Here we are about to have Christmas Eve dinner, just hanging out with my Dad (pa pa).

Opening gifts on Christmas Eve. As you can see Joey got into the gift opening...although I think he enjoyed the paper, bows and sitting on the boxes more than the gifts themselves.



And here Joey is getting to see his kitchen set from Grandma and Pa Pa on Christmas morning.



Of course he got a few accessories (such as stainless steel pots and pans and fruits and veggies...lots of pieces to spread all over the house). Funny how he knows exactly what to do with the food and the bowls, spoons and cups.



Our little family on Christmas morning.

Christmas day we went over to my sisters, Auntie Cara's house. Joey was being silly while playing with his cousin Ellie.

And he loved sitting in this little chair...we got some animated faces from him in the chair.

Silly Joey...

On the drive home (all 500 miles of it) Joey was playing nicely (sort of) with his baby doll. The doll was a Christmas present from my Aunt Jonni. We are hoping to teach him how to be gentle with a baby...as you can see it is going to take some work.

He also enjoys poking its eyes....we have a lot of work to do before Joey becomes a big brother someday.
Once we got home, Joey still enjoyed playing with his kitchen....

Babysitter Update

One of the best things about 2010 was some of the people we met. Not only the Sisters we had the pleasure of meeting through the Ds sisterhood and their beautiful babies, but also our new babysitter. When Jen told us she was adopting Sofia early this year and we realized that we were going to have to find a new babysitter for Joey, we were terrified that we would not be able to find someone that loved, and took as good of care of Joey while we work, as Jen did. Fortunately, our fears were unfounded.

Shannon has been watching Joey since April of 2010 and (although we miss Jen), we are very fortunate to have connected with Shannon and her family. Joey seems very happy there. Check him out with his new buddies, Shannon's son Blake and Gia (one of the little girls Shannon also watches).

We know that Shannon and her family will be a part of our family for years to come. Shannon's son Blake is only a few weeks younger than Joey and Gia is about a year old.

As you can see from the pictures, Joey enjoys spending four days a week at Shannon's, playing with Blake and Gia...

and the bunnies!

And although I would love to be there with him...knowing Joey has always been well cared for and happy (both with Jen and now with Shannon) while we work makes being away from him so many hours a week (somewhat) bearable.

Happy New Year to everyone and I promise to post more Christmas pics and a 2010 year in review real soon!

Merry Christmas 2010

We went down to San Diego for Christmas. It was an all around really nice Christmas. Here are a few of the pictures....I will add more later this week.

Here Joey and I are on Christmas Eve.

With Tony...

Here Joey is Christmas morning with his new kitchen set. Thanks Grandma and Pa Pa...it was a huge hit and I am excited to get it home. I hope this becomes his new obsession (instead of emptying my kitchen cabinets!).

We hope everyone else had a nice Christmas as well!

Santa Clause

Here is the official picture with Santa Clause. I was shocked he did not scream!

Thankful

This Thanksgiving we have a lot to be thankful for. Our health, family, friends. But most of all I am thankful for Joey. And I am thankful that he is making the strides that he is. Check him out

Yep he is one step closer to walking on his own!

Tahoe & Other (older) Stuff

A couple of weeks ago we met my parents up at Lake Tahoe. We had a really fun weekend.

Joey and his Daddy!

Me, Mom, Dad and Joey.

The whole family out at Emerald Bay.

Joey playing with a slinky in the room.

My mom finally gave me a cd that had some pictures from trips to San Diego and Vegas earlier this year.

Here are some of my favorite photos from her camera (yes they are a bit of a flashback)
Here is a pick from Easter morning (Easter 2010)

Checking out the contents of his basket on Easter morning.

Joey with the Easter Bunny.

And not sure what to do with Grandma's ferrets.

I just love his face in this one.

These are from our trip to San Diego in August.

Coming next time....pictures (or video) of Joey litterally one step closer to walking! We are soooo proud of his progress!