Christmas Morning!

Merry Christmas everyone! I thought I would share some pictures from this morning.

He ran in and exclaimed "BIG Melmo!"

Looking at our presents!

Santa brings him a brand new chair, so he sits in Elmo's lap... go figure!

Eating our candy cane

Lincoln Park Zoo

We went to Lincoln Park Zoo with my family to see all the Christmas Lights. The lights were cool :-D Joseph really liked seeing the animals. The jaguar made him squeal with joy! Enjoy some pictures!!!

My Smart Boy

Joseph amazes me with how smart he is. He was sitting in his high chair eating his cereal when he started counting it!!! He would take out a fruit loop one at a time saying "one.... two.... throo (we can't say three yet)" and then he would repeat it. He counted to three, three times! And yes, when he was finished he had 9 fruit loops on his tray. I don't know, maybe this is normal 2 year old behavior, but I was so proud that my boy could count to three!!! He is also learning his colors!! His favorite color is green. He loves to point out green things in his book and say "greee". He has also already learned how Santa is, or as he calls him "anta". We had to cancel our picture with Santa due to illness, but I'm thinking we may try again because Joseph loves him! He has a little toy Santa that he plays with everyday.
The other day mommy learned a good lesson. When your boy runs up to you and says "itty" while pointing outside... take a break from cooking dinner and go to the window. Just because your cat is sleeping in the back does not mean  your neighbor's cat hasn't gotten out and is sitting on your porch.
Other cuteness in the Divelbiss Household... Joseph now dances to Micky Mouse Clubhouse. For those of you who have kids that watch the show, he now does the Hot Dog Dance. He also waves and says hi to all of the characters as they are introduced in the intro. I LOVE IT! Sorry to all of the other moms out there, but I think my boy wins the Cuteness Award for the month :-D

Decorating our tree

We will be spending Christmas in Illinois this year, so we thought it would be a good idea to get us a Christmas Tree. For those of you who have not seen our apartment, there isn't a lot of room. We really didn't want to move out a table or something in order to find room for a Christmas Tree, so we got a 4" table top tree. We had fun decorating it, and Joseph was greatly amused. Here are a few pictures :-D

Putting on an ornament 

Beaming at the tree

Finished Product- Missing the presents of course

Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween. Joseph was a Duck this year, and he picked it out all by himself! We were worried he would keep his costume on, but he did great! First, Joseph went to a Halloween Party with some of his friends from church. After his nap we went down to spend Halloween with my parents. Joseph did a great job trick or treating. He picked it up so quickly and was absolutely adorable! Once he figured out that these houses would give him candy he took off, sometimes dragging mommy along with him or leaving his parents in the dust. I honestly thought he would go to about 5 houses and call it good, but nope! Joseph went to about 15 houses before it was getting too cold, and mommy made him go inside. Joseph can't say "Trick or Treat" yet so he would grab a handful of candy, put it in his bucket, and then shout "Bye!" as he ran to the next house. I have tried to attach a video so everyone can see my adorable toddler :)

He loved Grandma's candles

Digging through our candy

Running to the next house

He got the hang of it quick

More Joseph-isms

Here is more examples of my toddler being adorable!

1. Joseph saw the garbage truck pull up and them went sprinting for his books. He quickly found his truck book and opened to the garbage truck page. He got so excited! He pointed to the book and then to the truck outside. I love how my boy is making real world connections!

2. I put Joseph down for a nap and after a little while I assumed he fell asleep. It wasn't until I heard singing from his room that I knew I had been wrong.

3. Joseph LOVES to count. Our front office has 3 pumpkins in front, and Joseph would count them almost everyday. I guess one of the pumpkins was taken or went bad because on day there was only 2. Joseph counted the 2 that were there, and then began to search for the missing pumpkin. When he couldn't find it, he ran into the office and informed them of their missing pumpkin. And by informed I mean he pointed to the pumpkins saying a whole bunch of toddler jargon and then "pu-tin pu-tin pu-tin" followed by a whole bunch of more toddler jargon.

4. Joseph's pumpkin that he got from Goebert's Pumpkin Farm has been a good little pumpkin considering the amount of toddler abuse it has seen. One of the cutest things he has done was when he got down on his hands and knees and started to roll the pumpkin with his head. He rolled it all over the family room with mom and dad just laughing away.

5. Joseph has figured out that if he suddenly starts laughing.... everyone else will start laughing. So whenever he sees someone new, he will smile at them and then start laughing. If he really likes you then you just might get some kisses. He is over giving kisses on the cheek, nope you'll get one right on the mouth! This kind of presents a little problem at the park...

Hope you have enjoyed some of these  Joseph-isms!!

Fantastic Day

The past two days have been wonderful! Matt finished his school work early yesterday and got to spend some time with his son. Last night we went out to dinner with my parents at Nick's Pizza and Pub.  I haven't been there in years and it was good to have their wonderful pizza again. We also placed our 2nd Geocache, this one out near my parent's house.
This morning we had a few errands ( you know necessary things like food). Then this afternoon my parents got to spend the day with Joseph at Goebert's Pumpkin Farm, and Matt and I actually got to go on a date! Matt and I found 6 geocaches today, most of which were not quite toddler appropriate due to the high levels of bushwhacking. Then we went out for ice cream at Baskin Robins (everyone should try Trick Oreo Treat- its yummy). We walked around Petsmart and almost adopted an adorable black kitty named Shade. Then we went out to eat at At the Border. We had never eaten there before, but we are glad to have found a pretty good Mexican place in IL. We were pretty spoiled in Utah with lots of Mexican choices and we have missed it. It was a fun date :)
Grandma, Grandpa, and Joseph has a wonderful time at the Pumpkin Farm. Joseph showed them each and every pumpkin. He picked out a cute little pumpkin that comes equipped with the perfect toddler handle. He also had fun watching all of the horses and climbing on their toys. After 2 hours at the Pumpkin Farm it was finally dinner time (McDonald's of course) and then he ran around Woodfield Mall. Grandma and Grandpa did a wonderful job of tiring him out.