Cherry Blossoms

Joshua, David, and I went downtown with my parents yesterday and saw the beautifully peaking cherry blossoms around the tidal basin. Ah, the fresh, sweet fragrance and the delicate blooms of spring! The boys had fun but they were more interested in the double-decker tour buses than the flowers.

First Musical

Joshua and David decorously attended their first musical today, our church youth group's excellent presentation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We were especially amazed that even David paid rapt attention and appeared wholly interested and engaged in the show. The boys really enjoyed the music, the dancing, and the bright colors! The group did an outstanding job with the show; we would highly recommend it! There are two more performances next weekend. Click here to learn more.

What about Joshua?

Well, he still loves his trains! And we're discovering that there is ALWAYS more to learn about trains.


This is a deeper subject - and a deeper love - than we realized. I think he's hooked for life.

For the past 6 weeks he took swimming lessons with Daddy. I was allowed to watch during the last class and of course my "fully charged" batteries died after about five shots. I was disappointed that I couldn't get more photos because it was clear that Joshua loved taking swimming lessons and having special time with his Daddy! He did have an awful, full-body eczema flare-up as a result though, and the poor child has been itching for over a month. We finally got some stronger cream from the doctor and it seems to be working. Hopefully the outdoor pools in summertime won't affect him the same way.

Thankfully, Joshua has interests besides trains. He recently went puzzle crazy and can't get enough. We searched all over for puzzles and finally seem to have enough variety and challenging enough puzzles to keep him busy. (And, as shown above, it's always nice when you find an unfamiliar train puzzle at the library!) Our parental challenge is keeping track of all the pieces because David most enjoys taking the completed puzzles apart and strewing the pieces everywhere!

Bye Bye, Baby...

...hello, little boy! Our little David is growing up fast. He learns so much in a short time and then continues to build on earlier skills and learn new ones each day. It's amazing to see him beginning to understand more complexities of his world and be able to express himself and interact with his surroundings in a more purposeful and effective manner. He still has a liking for hats (as you can see by the colander on his head). The other picture was taken in the library, where he found a velcro fishbowl and fished for almost the entire hour we were there. When he wasn't fishing, he still carried the pole around with him to other activities! Some of his latest accomplishments include finally cutting his seventh tooth, learning to stand himself up from the ground without pulling himself up on anything, inserting a puzzle piece without physical assistance, communicating that he wanted to hear a specific song ("Your Love" by Bob Kauflin) on the cd player, and spontaneously labeling "bus" and "ball." He and Joshua have been playing together so nicely the past few days. Yesterday they chased each other around the house giggling while I sorted through paperwork in the dining room. It was such a blessing to be able to take care of necessary tasks and still know that they were having a good time being brothers!