Josh Oliver--Right Now

• Josh Oliver has decided that he likes to share his daddy's toothbrush. It grosses Ben out beyond belief! Josh says it's okay if he uses it because he is also willing to share his own with Daddy! Since Ben found out just how often his toothbrush is being "borrowed" it has since disappeared from the toothbrush holder.

• He currently likes to pretend that he is either a dog or a cat. He meows or barks at us, crawls on the floor, and occasionally gives a lick or two. He's my only one who has ever done that. I'm hoping it passes quickly.

• Although I keep trying to hide it from him, Josh keeps appearing with a two-sizes-to-small-for-him Santa hat on his head. He also has been insisting that he wear his army crocs which are a bit to small for his feet, but on the flip side, he also frequently wears Luke's rainboots which are way to big for him. At our house, we pay no attention to sizes.

• He always wears his underwear backwards. Henry use to do that a lot just because he didn't take the time to look at the tag. Josh, however, insists that he has them on the right way because he thinks he should be able to see the big pictures that are suppose to go on the bum. It's a decent argument.

• Today was the first time he saw Aunt Michele with her new hair-do--or just plain lack of hair. He wasn't a fan of it. He then spent the rest of the lunch making pirate faces at her and saying "Aye-Aye Matey." We all decided that he must have thought she was dressing up like a pirate because she had a scarf on her head the way the boys do when they play pirates. We all had a good laugh about it!

• Most nights he has been waking up around midnight and crawling into bed with us. Sometime he stays up for a couple of hours. I have learned to make him go potty before he is allowed in bed, otherwise I risk waking up in a puddle of pee thanks to stolen sips from drinks by our beds. (Other than that he has been 100% potty trained since the end of December!)

• He is now super self sufficient. He gets himself dressed and undressed, can get his own drinks and snacks (thanks to some helpful kitchen reorganizing a few months back), puts away his clothes, is learning to make his own bed, lets the dogs in and out for us, and is just all around helpful when he is in the right mood. Life is so much smoother now that everyone is in "big boy" mode.

• Everything is currently revolving around his birthday. If you offer him a drink, or a bite of your food, or a crayon, he asks if you are giving it to him for his "birfday". If that's the level of birthday presents he wants, he is going to be super excited on his actual birthday! Today, however, was the first day that he actually told someone he was going to be 3. Before, he would argue, "no, I'm goin' be 2".

• He's developed a laid back attitude when being punished, especially when we are out in public. Several times now, after he's been pulled away from the excitement for a couple of minutes, I have asked him if he's ready to go back and behave and he just casually tells me no. I haven't really figured out how to handle that yet. Usually he's willing to wait longer that I am, but I have to give him credit for being honest.

• He has collected up every loose battery in the house and has been carrying them around in a suitcase for the last two or three weeks. It seems very irresponsible of us to let him keep them, but they really are quite a treasure to him, plus he just looks so darn cute waddling around with that heavy suitcase!