Joshua started school a couple of weeks ago.  Through the county’s Infants & Toddlers program, Joshua & I are enrolled in a program for late talkers.  He attends a pre-preschool class with a speech therapist & special education teacher while I attend a parent class to learn techniques for parents of kids who have speech difficulties.  From what I can tell so far, Joshua is doing very well & he loves school (he says that school is “cool”).  Josh was one of only a few kids who had no problems being left by mom in a classroom of strangers.  He had such a good time that he didn’t want to leave when it was time to go.  I hadn’t expected that I’d be packing a lunch at only 2 years old but they have lunch with their class.  The class talks a lot about animals & he comes home with an animal-related art project each time that I wish I had room for on our fridge.  This program lasts until December so for now, his regular speech therapy sessions at home are on hold.  Joshua will miss playing with Miss Ada but she’s promised to peek in on him when we’re at the school.

Other than school, not a whole lot has happened since his birthday so there’s not been all that much to report.  Joshua has gotten 2 new teeth so he’s up to a grand total of 14.  He’s still missing 2 of his lowers & all 4 of his 2-year molars but the others are coming in nicely—finally.  Joshua’s eye injury healed after a few days of looking like he got punched & then at the end of August, one of his toenails mysteriously fell off.  I have no clue what happened but it didn’t bother him in the slightest (he didn’t even seem to notice), & it’s already grown back completely.  Weird.

Joshua is talking a lot more, which I’m excited about.  If he keeps this up, he won’t even be eligible for speech therapy!  He can say his name—although it’s pronounced “dah-dah”—& so many other new words.  The J is a hard one for him but he can recognize & say the other 5 letters in his name.  He always wants to go over the letters in his name that hang over his crib whenever he goes down for a nap or at bedtime, usually with his stuffed monkey pointing them out.  Joshua knows his colors & can say the names of all 8 of his crayons.  He loves pointing out things & saying their color.  His latest favorite to say is a very well-enunciated “brow” (for brown).  Joshua even knows his left & right, something I remember my brother having trouble with in elementary school (sorry, Adam).  He doesn’t always get them correct, but he’s right (or left!) most of the time.

Joshua tries hard to show 2 fingers & loves to tell people that he’s 2 years old or when he sees 2 of something.  He doesn’t quite have the hang of the victory sign yet but he’ll cross his ring & pinky fingers, tuck his thumb in, & hold the index & middle fingers up.  It’s a start.  By the end of USC’s football season, I anticipate that he’ll get it down pat!  Joshua’s fine-motor coordination are getting much better & his artwork is looking more detailed.  Joshua draws circles, lines, & dots all over.  He can draw a pre-face with a circle & dots that he calls eyes—the rest of the facial features aren’t quite there yet, but I’m sure they’ll come along soon.  Josh spends a lot of his quiet alone playtime with his magna doodle, drawing, erasing, & drawing again.  He’s used it so much that I’m afraid it will fall apart from overuse!

We’ve had a few neat excursions in the last couple of months.  We went to the Montgomery County fair with a friend of mine & her 2-year-old son.  The boys enjoyed seeing all the farm animals, climbing on the John Deere tractors, & exploring a school bus.  The parent-tot group in the spouses club had a fun welcome social at a fire station nearby so we got to watch a real-live firefighter get dressed up in his full uniform.  They do that for little kids so they’re not afraid of a scary person wearing all that gear.  Unfortunately, lots of kids are found dead because they hide from the firefighters when they go into a burning house to rescue them because they’re scared.  At this point, Joshua is one of those who find them scary.  It took a lot of coaxing to get him to give the fireman a high 5, but he did eventually after the man took off the oxygen mask—when he was safely in Mommy’s arms.  We got to see an ambulance & Joshua had fun climbing in it, as if it was somewhat familiar from his past…  Erick, Joshua, & I metro’d into DC to see a muppets exhibit at one of the Smithsonian museums.  It was fun to have a little family time for a change, even if it was just for a few hours.  With Erick’s schedule, we’ll take what we can get.

My dad came for a visit which Joshua & I enjoyed.  Dad was here for a few days then went on a cruise, then came back for a week.  Joshua was in heaven with Ga-ga around all the time, & I was happy to be able to run errands sans toddler.  I even went to a fun moms’ night out with some friends!  Dad, Josh, & I went to the national aquarium in DC one day.  It’s nothing like the cool aquarium in Baltimore but Joshua had a great time running around & looking at the fish, frogs, & other marine life.  We also went to the zoo for the CNMC heart institute’s annual fall festival.  It was nice to see our friends but unfortunately it was super muddy from all the rain the couple of days before the event.  Joshua didn’t enjoy the fact that I kept him out of the mud when most of the other kids were running around (& falling) in it, but that’s OK.  He still had fun, & he also enjoyed running around in the small mammal & great ape houses on our way back to the car.  The 3 of us also went to Mount Vernon to see George Washington’s home, which I’d never done before.  Joshua’s favorite thing there was playing with rocks, which he did almost the entire 20 minutes Dad was on the mansion tour!  We had such a good visit that Dad is coming back in November for a couple of weeks—yeah!

Josh had his 4 follow-up appointments from his 2-year doctor visit, & they all went well.  His vision & hearing are great, his adenoids don’t need to be removed at this point, & he’s allowed to have nuts (although med student Erick disagrees).  We’re also in the weaning process, which should put people’s minds at ease since so many seem to have a problem with our extended breastfeeding.  He’s down to once a day & we’ve even gone occasional nights without it.  Joshua doesn’t seem ready to give it up anytime soon & it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, so there’s no need to stop for now.  Even if it’s largely for a comfort rather than nutritional reason at this point, it’s still good for his health so why mess with a good thing?

Erick just left for 8 weeks to do more med school rotations.  He’s in Honolulu right now, then he makes a stop in LA for a few days to take the next part of his boards, & then to Pensacola, Florida for another rotation.  He’s due back the night before Thanksgiving (although I bet he’ll miss his connection & be stuck in Atlanta because he’s got 7 minutes from when his first flight lands & his second one boards, & they’re likely to be on opposite sides of the airport—on the busiest air-travel day of the year, no less).  It’s going to be hard to talk much for the next few weeks because of the 6 hour time difference but we’ll try to fit in some video chats when we can.  I don’t know which of the 3 of us it’s hardest on.  Medical school is certainly not meant for families!  But we’re looking forward to being together again & Erick actually wants the 3 of us going away together during his winter break so that will be nice (yeah!).