Spring 2016

Springtime brought an explosive growth in Josef’s physicality and dexterity.  As the weather improved and invited outdoor play, he began honing the important boy skills of climbing trees, swinging on ropes and jumping off of things.  He also took his continual love of roughhousing to new levels–now our battles have become quite pitched and frenetic.  He really loves to clamber and leap all over the place.

He has also finally begun handling self-care activities that require a little more dexterity.  He can put on all his own clothes and shoes he can adjust his covers just the way he likes them.  He can put toothpaste on the toothbrush and things like that.  Sometimes, when he is not quite ready to sleep, we will find that he has slipped out of bed and gone and grabbed a book off his shelf and is reading it quietly to himself (looking at pictures).  After all the struggles to have peaceful bedtimes, this little bit of self-management goes a long way!

He is also better able to clean up spills and messes that he has made, and can now helping me with yard work in the form of operating the leaf blower to clean up lawn trimmings and such.  All of these new developments have made him all the more delightful to be around.  The scales are beginning to tip from burden to companion.  I am so proud of the little fellow he has become.

During this time he has become very aware of the concept of “good guys” and “bad guys.”  This seems to be the main game he plays with his friends in preschool.  There is always a jail, and a guard, and various evildoers and lawmen populating his world.  He is also now aware of the concept of “first” or “best.”  It’s interesting how these things creep into the psyche…  I like to utilize his desire to be first as a tool for getting things done quickly!  Heaven forbid I am the first one to get the box of Legos cleaned up!

With the end of Winter finally came a nice extended period of good health, which was most welcome after such an extended period of illness for us all, but especially me!  There was a week or two in April of glorious warm sunny days and it did wonders for my spirits.  This winter seemed especially dark and wet and I was glad to see it end.

I finished my first tax season and it was a blast and a wonderful learning experience.  Since I still have my old job, I was only working 20 hours/week on taxes, so I never got burned out or overwhelmed.  It was a thoroughly positive experience and I feel like I have chosen my new profession wisely.  I continued to take a weekly tap dance class with my mom. Tai Chi classes from my brother-in-law, as well as my regular game-night sessions, so there was lots of amusements to look forward to during the week.  Rachael and I got away for a long overnight trip in Portland that was incredibly joyful fun, and romantic.  With all that is asked of us as parents, it is easy sometimes to forget that we are best friends.  A couple days away together was a great reminder of how much fun we can have together.

The Spring was closed out with a trip to visit Oma und Opa in Florida.  I think that trip is deserving of it’s own post however.