Grain of Rice

Goodness, I don’t know where to begin…We apologize greatly, especially to our dearest Joakim that there hasn’t been an entry since October! Parenthood and our difficult schedules just took over…Things will continue to be chaotic until our big move in August, but we have many exciting new things coming up and couldn’t be happier for what’s ahead, especially for Joakim! We’re moving back to the states where Saxton has a wonderful new job AND we just bought a house! Joakim will have a house and yard to play in AND cousins right across the street. It’s sounds like a dream to us, too good to be true…but it really will be our life come August. :)Joakim will be 1 1/2 years old this Friday. He is a gorgeous, extremely energetic and happy child. Midst staying very active, he generally has a sweet and gentle disposition. He LOVES to be outside and with people. It seems like our whole complex knows Joakim. He’s so friendly - greeting everyone and their pet. He’s a true toddler (has been since he started walking!). He runs, plays and is very curious - getting himself into trouble daily. He goes up and down our stairs with no problem, which is very scary. Often, he goes into the kitchen and opens the fridge and the contents within. I find him in a lovely puddle of milk, syrup or ketchup and eating pickles, a tomato or an onion. He adores the bathroom - he can turn on all of the faucets and flush the toilet. He also loves our cats! Poor Zuc is a tormented and tortured creature now. He is such a good sport and lets Joakim do whatever to him…:(Joakim is also starting to test the waters and does not like the answer, “No.” He’s a little rascal trying to find a way to do what he’s not supposed to do. He’s also trying very hard to speak and has a nice little language working for himself, but when it does not work and he can’t get what he wants, he screams at us. Not pleasant!He’s very silly and fun, always wanting to play a game, hide or play with balls. He also loves singing and dancing, although I’m the one doing most of the singing and dancing. Once I finish a song, he says, “Ma, ma, ma.” meaning more - probably from mas in spanish. I usually sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy, Bitsy Spider, etc. at least 25 times a day! We go to a Kindermusik class in Spanish every Friday. He really enjoys it, but doesn’t really understand the structure part yet!He has gone through many stages with words already. He usually begins saying them well, but then over time they evolve into his own little language, usually always having 2 syllables - for ex. Ball became ba-ba, Trash became tsha-ra. it’s very cute! His comprehension level is astounding and his fine and gross motor skills seem incredible to us. He’s starting to do puzzles with me - it’s very cool! He knows how old he is and what the number 1 means. My heart melts every time he holds up his cute little chubby finger when I ask, “How old are you?”I could go on and on about our little grain of rice who’s become a giant plump cooked grain of rice…He’s a complete joy and we still can not believe that we have this amazing child! We are very blessed and so grateful BUT can not believe he is 1 1/2!Enjoy the new pics of him and our soon-to-be new home. There are also new videos of him on our flickr page! Enjoy and much love!