I love this boy...

...and let me tell you why. He has an infectious giggle and the cutest little toddler voice. As evidenced by the photo, he has a sweet tooth just like his mama, and he could care less if he gets chocolate on his face. He truly believes I have magical powers to heal any "owie" with a kiss. His favorite part of his blankie used to be the tag on one corner. Then it fell off, leaving a small hole under the silky border of the blanket. The hole keeps getting bigger since he decided that is his new favorite part. I swear each flaw makes him love that blanket more. If something breaks, he loves to try to "fisk it" with a "skoo-diver." Just the other night, he finally mastered the word "hippopotamus." He always returns my hugs and kisses after being in time-out. He tried to eat the carrot nose off the snowman he built in the front yard with his Dad. He regularly uses "please," "thank you," and "you're welcome" at appropriate times. He will do anything it takes-- stacking boxes, climbing up stored kitchen appliances-- to reach the box of fruit snacks in the pantry. He still sleeps at least 12 hours every night. When he wants to say hi to the baby, he will pull up my shirt, pat my belly, and say, "Hi baby!" Then he'll rub my belly for a moment or two before tugging my shirt back over my belly and saying, "Bye-bye baby!" He still sucks two fingers when he's content. He has the longest dark eyelashes ever... longer than mine, even. He will eat an entire avocado for lunch. He does fabulously well with babysitters, and all of them rave about how fun he is to watch. His love for cars has expanded to airplanes, helicopters, tractors, trains, and even scooters and roller skates. I guess this boy just has to be on the move! Whenever he's trying hard to do something, like open a bag of fruit snacks, he'll make little frustrated grunts and say, "I can do it! I can do it!" Each night after I lay him down for the night, he whispers, "I want to go to the mountains." We then have a hushed conversation about all the beautiful places we will visit together someday. Then when I say goodnight he says, "I love you Mom." It melts my heart.

I could go on and on. But there's a quick Joshua update. He's such an amazing little boy.