Can't get enough of this cute face!

Caleb and I are absolutely smitten with this little boy! We laugh all day long and love, love, love life with Josiah. Sweet, sweet baby.

14 months and quite the busy little boy

Josiah has made himself quite busy and useful around the house these days...
If he's not sweeping up (one of his favorite pastimes), he's out running errands in the car.

He hardly ever makes a mess...

...and I often find him multi-tasking.

We decided we'd waited long enough...it was high time to invest in what every one-year-old is entitled to: A cell phone. This happens to be a donation from the charity at church that provides old cell phone to domestic violence shelters. I am sure the good Samaritan who donated this beauty will be glad to know their act of selflessness is being put to such good use. I pretend to use this one periodically so Josiah still thinks it is worth his time.

Josiah's little personality is blossoming in so many amazing ways these days. His absolutely favorite game is tag...only I am ALWAYS "it". I guess in his mind tag is a game where mom and dad always chase Josiah and Josiah always chases Shep. At least those are the rules as far as I can tell. Thankfully, I don't mind chasing as much since I always get darling smiles and hysterical giggles from the chasee.

Si is still throwing us for a bit of a loop in the allergy department. He appears to just need to throw up more than most children. We have taken him off all milk products but have had trouble finding a good combo for him. For instance, do we go with Almond or Rice milk but add Calcium and Vitamin D supplements and extra fat to his diet? Or do we go with a soy milk and add a stool softener? After multiple attempts at different combinations we have put him back on Formula; a soy/toddler formula...and a stool softener...and reflux medication. No wonder this poor kid is so messed up! It's a good thing he sleeps and eats like a champ or this allergy thing might seem a bit more daunting.

Milk is supposed to be the "mild" allergy; paling in comparison to the "severe" allergy he apparently has to our dog. Notice we haven't done anything to remedy that one. We just decided to blame milk.

Josiah has a very favorite spot and he beelines for it every time we go outside. Several months ago we bought a shed. Rather than move or level all the rock on which the shed now rests, we decided to put down a plywood "foundation" for the shed. The plywood sticks out about a foot in front of the shed and makes a perfect little porch for Si. He could sit on his porch all day long I think. It really is his favorite place. We daily sit on the porch and chat and toss rocks across the sidewalk, we decorate the shed, sidewalk, fence and porch with colored chalk, we talk on the cell...you get the idea.

Josiah is a giggle monster! Being tickled ranks second only to being chased and we are ever-so-happy to oblige. When he wants to be tickled (usually after a good chase), he sits down on his bottom and leans way back like he is falling over backward (he's got good abs) and he fake-giggles until you come over and tickle him. He has a really good fake laugh that he has been working on and it is quite darling.

It is so fun to see his preferences emerge...like his favorite book right now is "Where The Wild Things Are". As you may know, that book leaves lots of room for interpretation. One page has no words but the picture indicates that Max and the Wild Things are howling at the moon (at least in the Fields home that is what's happening). From the second we get the book out Josiah starts howling...awhooooooo. Last night I was driving home and started reciting the book (because I obviously have it memorized) and without even having the book physically present, it only took my saying a few words before Josiah was howling from the backseat.

Unfortunately, his second favorite book is "Everyone Poops". Which I also have memorized. Thanks to Caleb, that book also comes with sound effects.

I was especially proud today when Josiah went and hunted through his toy box to find the shapes that go in the shape-sorter and then found the shape-sorter (because they rarely get put away together) and THEN put the right shapes in the right holes all by himself!

Josiah is also a water fanatic! He has yet to meet a body of water he didn't love! Puddles, splash pads, pools, bathtubs, dog dishes...just can't keep our little fish out! And note to self, swim diapers aren't really diapers in the "keeping it all in" sense. Josiah also loves brushing his teeth, not altogether unrelated to his love for water I am just realizing. When I mention brushing, he will run to the bathroom and point to the medicine cabinet where his toothbrush and paste are kept. I have no idea how I got so lucky to have a child to loves this mundane chore. They must put something pretty special in that Elmo toothpaste.

Si is getting lots of little words...many with their own inflection and obvious meaning; but most sounding something like Da Da. He is talking all the time. Sometimes I come up with games, or encourage games that I know I will later regret. Like the other day I initiated yelling in the house. It went Si: Yell, giggle; Mom: Yell, giggle, repeat repeat repeat. Then there was the time I let Si stand on the toy box (which is also our coffee table). I regretted that one almost instantly! Thankfully he didn't seem to remember how fun those times were the next day. phew!

Oh, in the spirit of admissions, I think I would be remiss if I didn't share in a 14-mo update that I called poison control for the first and hopefully only time today (well, certainly it was the only time today, hopefully, it will be the only time ever). I walked out of Si's room to grab some more baby wipes and seconds later when I returned Si had the Purel pump bottle in his mouth. (that is not good.) He seemed fine and I wasn't sure he even got any in his mouth, but although I was thinking "it's just alcohol, right?", I decided to call...and move the Purel to a higher shelf. Thankfully, the Purel pump is not likely to expel a dose potent enough to do any lasting harm. Phew!

Well, that seems like a pretty good way to end an update. Josiah, I hope you forgive your mom for sometimes placing the Purel within reach and for sometimes forgetting to brush your teeth twice per day, and for sometimes not catching all your puke fast enough to keep it from getting on your clothes. Somehow, we keep learning and growing and giggling together! What a fun ride!

our favorite time of day...

Well summer in Mesa is hot, that's all there is to it. A hard time of year to have a newly walking kiddo who prefers running around outside to just about anything. That being the case, our favorite time of day is dusk when the temp is most likely to dip to a tolerable 95. Our after-dinner ritual involves a half-naked baby, a dog and a lot of shade in the backyard....oh, and at least one parent running like crazy to make sure all the dog poop gets scopped before said baby picks it up. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.

Here are a few pictres and videos of Si playing outside in the evening.

Look at Josiah's little white body! He is obviously a kid whose mom doesn't let him out during the day. I was hoping there were some recessive olive skin tones somewhere back in the gene pool, but if there are, Si didn't get any of them.

When we are outside, Si prefers dog toys to his own plethera. This one is especially dirty and slobbery...Perfect.

Josiah will be 14 months old this week. If that isn't a great reason to take a ton of pictures and to get another post on the way, I don't know what is.

Lincoln City 2010

I will not give up!!! It has been a rough summer for my dream to be a real blogger but I have not waived the white flag just yet. In fact I am going to make up for it with more pictures than anyone really wants to look at.

We took a fabulous vacation to Lincoln City, OR in mid August with the Mock's and the Hovis'. Since it took me the better part of a month to get these pictures up (this is a tiny fraction of a very overwhelming number of pictures), I have decided to let them speak, for the most part, for themselves.

Isabelle and Claire are 5 and 3. They did amazing with their baby cousin, Baby Josiah and are very excited to be big sisters to their brother in October!

This was the first trip we'd every made a fire on the beach! It was a hit! Doesn't get much better than hot dogs and smores!

Lincoln City is always overcast and freezing but we had some great weather a few days. We spent one of them at the dunes at Pacific City. What a beautiful place! I miss OR.

We have far too few opportunities to get these kids together! I am so thankful for each moment we got to soak up together.

We actually spent the first two days of our trip in Portland and got to see some friends from when we lived there. It was a great time but I have yet to convince my husband to email me the pictures he took on his cell phone. Sorry to those of you who know you saw us and are now feeling soarly under-represented!

We are now back safely in AZ, gearing up for fall and all that that brings. My hope is to keep posting so I can brag about my walker...no runner, who continues to amaze me everyday with the things he has learned and the goof-ball things he does (or that I find myself doing!).