A friend of mine from work took some photos of Joel earlier this week. I LOVE them! He looks so handsome, I could just smooch his little face all day long. I can't wait to get them printed. I already went to Home Goods today and bought some frames so I can put them up on the wall. Too cute!

Quick note to Joel

Sweet Baby,
You just might be my biggest love. Tonight you were extra cuddly as you sat in my lap and had your night time sippy cup of milk before bed. You leaned back more and more as I held you head of curls in my hands and massaged your head. When I put you down in your crib you laid down for a second and then sat right back up. You looked at me with this silent grin. I ran my hand down your cheek and said, "Goodnight angel. Have sweet baby dreams. I love you." Your smile got a little brighter and then you laid right back down and smiled at me until I had to shut the door behind me. You never made a sound, just smiled. Melt my heart, why don't you? I love putting you to bed. You rarely get upset. Most nights go just like tonight. Little do you know I'm the one with a lump in my throat and tears blurring my eyes as I shut that door. I am so lucky to have you. Love you baby.
-Momma

Daddy's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. Joel and I sneakily woke up early and cooked Benny his favorite breakfast, french toast and bacon. I had made Benny a goodie bag of all his favorite drinks and treats and we got him a book, cd, and a nice shirt. I can't wait for Joel to get a little bigger so he can be more involved in the present making process. I remember trying to paint his hand for that turkey shirt I made. He hated it. So while those do turn out cute, I don't want to torture the poor guy when he doesn't even understand WHY I'm torturing him. :)
Later that day we went over to Papa and Mackie's house for lunch/dinner. Joel was kind of fussy, but in his defense they do schedule "lunch" at the weirdest times. Two o'clock lunch- but once we get there we don't actually eat for another hour, so it's this weird in-between time that throws our meals off all day. Well 2:00 is also right smack in the middle of Joel's nap time. So he wasn't too happy to be there, but he did his best.
He is definitely a daddy's boy. He's going through I guess a phase where he wants Benny ALL the time. He'll let me pick him up, but almost like, "ok, pick me up and take me to my dad please." It's pretty understandable though. They are spending a lot more time together since I am teaching summer school. Joel stays home with Benny 4 days during the week and only goes to Pat's 1 day since it's summer.
He loves saying "el low" now. He'll pick up phones or anything somewhat resembling the shape of a phone and hold it to his ear and say "el low? el low?" Too cute. Pat told me he also says it right when he wakes up from his nap.
Benny has been taking him to the zoo a couple times a week since they have a pretty cool toddler area there. There is a little beach area with water and then an indoor play area as well. He loves it. I got to go with them last Saturday, so it was neat to have Benny show me around and see all the things Joel has been experiencing.
Joel loves to sit atop his perch on his playscape we have upstairs. One side has a little climber with foot holes and the other side has a slide. Every now and then he'll go down the slide, but he mostly just gets up to the landing area and hangs out. He'll peek around the side of it at us and giggle. I love it.

What a difference a couple weeks make...

Joel has really started to walk A LOT lately. If we are home and he's shoe-less, then he's walking. I haven't been so great at keeping shoes on him, like ever, so he's still adjusting to walking in those. But just within the past 2 weeks he has really changed so much in his development. 

So besides the walking, we are now 100% bottle-free. Thank the Lord! We used Dr. Brown's bottles, which are great. But not so great having to clean 5 parts to a bottle every time you wash them. Sippy cups are much easier. 

As far as talking, Joel is now saying:

1. Mama
2. De De
3. no (everything is "nooo")
4. ball
5. ba-ta (bottle/sippy cup)
6. Go
7. DA! (doggy)
8. eh low (hello)

He is also following directions really well. If we ask him to go get his ball, he'll look around for it and go get it. We can tell him to put the ball in the box and he knows just what to do. He has also taken to picking up balls and launching them across the room or straight down to the floor. Such a cutie :)

I took Joel for his 1 year check up the other day. He's 26 lbs. 12 oz. and 31.5 inches long. That puts him in the 91st percentile for both height and weight. I'm glad his height is finally catching up. He's been in the 90+ %tile for weight since about 2 months, but length was always around the 75th. He's just an all around big guy, and I love each and every inch of him. He has such a sweet personality. He loves to giggle with me and Benny and he loves to snuggle with me on the floor. Joel's version of snuggling is to stand up above me while I'm lying on the floor, purposely fall down on top on my head, lay next to me for about 30 seconds, then stand up and repeat the process about 10 times before he finally lays down and stays there. Joel also likes to probe my face with his fingers. Poking my eyes, sticking his finger up my nose, in my mouth, pinching my nose, pulling my fly-away hairs out, you name it. Ouch! Needless to say, we're working on being "gentle". :)

So that's what's new with Joely Bean. We went to the beach last weekend, but I will write about that later and add some new pictures. 

What's cute with yellow and green icing all over?

Today we had Joel's birthday party! There was a lot of hard work involved, mostly because I put off cleaning house until last night, but it was all so worth it. We were surrounded with our loved ones, which makes me feel so blessed. I love that Joel has people in his life that want to celebrate his life.
Today we welcomed Grandma Carol, Papa and Mackie, Oma and Opa, Great-Grandma Doris, Aunt Niccole, Grandpa David, Debbie Grandma, Uncle/Cousin Thomas, Aunt/Cousin Jessica, John and Lindsey. We all (I hope) had a great time visiting and playing pass Joel around. He was such a good boy just like he always is. I know he won't remember, but the first birthday is mostly for the parents I think. A day for me and Benny to say, look at our precious baby boy. He has given me the absolute best year of my life, so the least I can do is set aside a day to celebrate him. :) Man I love that kid more than words can say.
So everyone showed up around 11:00-ish. Joel had taken a nap in the morning, so he made it through most of the day before he crashed around 3:00. We had burgers, chips, appetizers, and the famous chocolate fountain made an appearance with all the yummy dipping items. Thanks Carol!
After lunch we opened presents. Joel got several little bike things in different themes- Buzz Light Year, Radio Flyer, and Winnie the Pooh. He always looks so proud of himself when he rides those things. Grandma Carol got him the coolest thing- a ball house with tunnels! I got inside it with him and I thought it was cool! I can remember being a kid and building forts out of sheets in the living room, I would have LOVED to have something like that. Lucky butt.
Our big present to Joel was a little climber thing with a slide. He has already learned how to use the foot holes to climb up the back, but then he just sits on the platform. He's not too keen on the slide just yet. Oh, and my dad got Joel an awesome swing. I pictured them getting a little plastic one with ropes to tie around a tree, but they got him an actual little kid bucket swing like you'd see at a playground! Awesome! That thing will last for years.
My favorite part of the day was the cake. As we brought in Joel's own little round cake with the candle lit and everyone singing his little face just lit up. Everyone was singing "Happy birthday" and I got the biggest lump in my throat. I think it was a combination of realizing this day had finally come and being a little overwhelmed with happiness. How lucky am I that I get to give my baby such a special day? I hope I can be there for a 100 more birthdays for Joel :)
It was a great day. I'm exhausted and I now know why many parents have parties at Chuck E Cheese and other places, but I really enjoyed having his party here. How in the world I will make it through when there are other kids and actual birthday activities involved I do not know. But I will, and I love every minute of it. Well maybe not the sweeping, mopping, and dusting, but you get the idea.

Go Baby Go

Joel took 6 steps yesterday! Benny and I were playing tickle fight on the floor with him and we both turned around to see him Frankenstein walking towards us! He has taken one step here and there before, but this was the first time he did several at one time. So exciting!
He is also saying "No", "Ba (ball)" and more "Mum ma" and "Dada"
We're working on sippy cups, but he's not too into it most days. Sometimes he will drink from it, but most of the time he just pushes it on the floor. Only two more weeks until his birthday! Crap!