Go, Go, Goooo!

28 Apr 2013
Dear Josslyn,

The past few days have been pretty normal. The bruises, and scrapes on your forehead and nose have healed up really fast. You just have some tiny scrapes that look like freckles. You've had a good attitude the whole time, even though you're suffering through a pretty stuffy nose, which apparently is entirely unrelated.

Friday, I came and picked you and your mother up for lunch and we drove all the way to North Bend after I stopped to do some quick work at Issaquah Glass. The weather has been sunny and warm,and it is real hard to stay at work when you and I could be outside playing. Your mom hasn't been feeling well lately either. I've been sneezing but I think I'm developing some allergies to decent weather in eastside Seattle. You did a great job eating lunch at Arby's. You take after your parents in your love of roast beef sandwiches and curly fries drenched (literally in your case) in Arby's sauce. It was that same Arby's location that you first "dip, dip, dip"-ped your food. You ate half of your junior roast beef as well as the fries and sauce. Watching you learn and develop the skills to feed yourself has been one of my favorite things to watch and do with you. Your speech development has been fun too. You've been talking lots lately and will have a stretch of a few minutes straight where you repeat words I'm saying. You point to the words and pictures in your books and say out loud what you're reading. Though us grown ups struggle to comprehend your undifiled language, which has to be frustrating for you at times. It's not just your books you read, anything that has letters or numbers works for you. The warning tag that hangs on your car seat is how you pass the time traveling in the car. It was actually this week that I pointed out to your mom that you are more actively incorporating what you observe others saying into your own vocabulary. As an example, I pointed out to her that you had been saying a new phrase that mimicked the sloth character named "Belt" in the movie "The Croods." We took you to the movie not too long ago in our first return to the theatre since you didn't quite last through "The Avengers." You enjoyed the movie as much as a 15-16 month old can, leaving the dark theater for the lighter more able to explore lobby area about every 8 minutes. You do love the snacks at the movie theater though. In the movie, Belt the sloth uses the "duh, duh, duuuhh!" doomsday sound effect that often used for dramatic emphasis in movies. It took me a while to realize it, but since we saw the movie you have been saying a similar phrase using the same tone as Belt, but saying, "go, go, goooo!" I pointed it out to your mom who dedicated the next 24 hours to attempting to record you saying the phrase on camera. Despite your usual efforts to keep the adorable things you do off camera, mom did finally catch you, and immediately sent it to Grandma and Grandpa Sedgwick. Friday ended with some spaghetti ohs for dinner and some playtime and then we had big plans for fun on Saturday. Things didn't go as planned, however, you and mom didn't sleep very good with your stuffy noses, and dad ended up playing video games. The weather turned cold and rainy, so our plans to be outside and explore the area turned into being at home mostly. I made you and mom some french toast for breakfast. You ate a whole piece then shared a half with me. You helped with laundry, read books and we played with your toys. We did make it out of the house to visit Fred Meyer to get mom some psuedophedrine, facial tissues, and popsicles. You had a blast saying "Hi" to everyone at the store walking the aisles, and made all of their days better. It's that power that you have, and your love of doing it, that obligates me to share you with the world at least a, little each day. We capped off the trip with a smoothie at Jamba Juice. They were playing music there and you stood in the middle of the room dancing. You walked around trying to get the rest of the adults to participate with you. I caught a few of them dancing a little bit, but they all smiled remembering when they danced freely with no fear of judgement. You and I ended the day with a trip to Petsmart. You and I were sick of being in the house and I knew there would be animals there. You loved the birds, but you also met a four-year-old rescue dog named Bitsy. She was small and timid but loved the attention you gave her. We came home just as mom was putting dinner on the table. She made calzones and you actually ate more than your mother did. Sunday started early and strange, especially for you and mom. You both weren't sleeping when I wake up a few times early in the morning. Church. Tough sacrament. Pre nursery. Mom piano. Nap. HT. Bug. Muppets. Sit outside cement. Popcorn.