For Peter

It has been brought to my attention, thanks Peter, that I have not updated this blog in over a month.  Josh is still alive and well, don't you worry.  He's been staying very active and is perfecting the art of 'mouthing off'.  It's quite the adventure.  Good news first....Josh is actually pretty good at Tennis!  I know, crazy.  I signed him up on a whim and am so glad I did.  Before the first lesson even started, he asked if I could sign him up again next year.  I told him that we needed to wait and see how it goes but that we might be able to.  Less than 10 min after his lesson starts, he hits his first ball and then comes running to the fence saying "Mom! Do you see how good I'm doing?  So can you sign me up for next year?"  I just laughed.  I wasn't going to base my purchasing decision on the fact that he hit the first ball that was thrown to him.  Now, 2 weeks later, I'm amazed at how well he's done. They take turns hitting the ball and even though he has to wait for 4-5 other people before it's his turn again, he's managed to stay focused the whole time.   I think we might have found his sport!  But don't worry, it wasn't all peaches and cream.  After emptying the ball cage, they would ask the kids to go and pick them up.  Josh was awful at it.  He would S-L-O-W-L-Y make his way over to ONE ball, pick it up, and then bounce it or toss it in the air until he would eventually make it to the ball cage.  Then he would try to toss it in from 2-3 feet away, usually missing.  Then he would repeat the same process after running after the SAME ball.  So while the other kids have picked up 80 balls, Josh has managed to get 1, maybe 2 balls picked up in the same amount of time.  I guess he can't be good at everything!

One day during spelling homework, I asked him to spell 'eggs.'
"E-g-g-s" he said.
"Great!" I replied.
"I'm like the master at 'eggs' spelling" he proudly boasted.

While eating Ritz crackers one day he said "Ritz are my favorite cracker because they have salt sugar on them."

Last week we went miniature golfing with Mike.  Josh was so excited because I told him that our pass included golfing, the 3x movie thing, go-karts and the batting cages.  I then told him that they did NOT include the arcades.  After a round of mini golf and a couple of movies, he turned to me and said "The arcade games aren't included.  Don't you think that's a burn off?"

Josh's best friend use to be Bode. They would play together all the time.  At the end of the school year, Bode went on a trip and was gone for a few days.  Lonely, Josh asked to play with our 10 yr old neighbor, Wesley.  (Side note: This is the brother of the sister who's finger he bit in first grade.) Anyway, I let him go and play and they had fun.  They tended to play inside more often though and Josh was always very vague about what they had done.  Then later something would accidentally slip and I would find out that they had been watching movies I hadn't approved or playing the wii.  When Bode got back, Josh went right back to Bode but Wesley was not too happy about it.  Wesley would go find Josh and Bode and then only invite Josh to come play.  After telling them that they can all play together I was surprised when I saw Bode alone again and Josh and Wesley on the other side of the street.  Josh finally told me that Wesley said that Josh could be both their friends but that he could only play with them one at a time, because Wesley wouldn't play with Bode.  I was pretty bugged.  How dare he! I tried to set Josh straight but he wasn't really listening.
 Last summer Wesley had spent 2 months living with his Dad in another state and I was hopping that would hold true for this summer too.  I figured I just needed to wait it out.  Then on Sunday, I finally asked Wesley's mom about it and she said they were staying here all summer.  Drat!  Josh has been refusing to play with Bode even when Wesley isn't home.  So this week I've finally bribed him to play with Bode a few times.  "Josh, if you play with Bode then you won't have to do piano today."  Or "you can either come and help in the yard or go play at Bode's house."  He grudgingly chose Bode both times and then this morning I gave him a choice again.  "You can go inside and get your work done or you can come with me to Bode's house."  He chose Bodes house but he didn't have a grumpy attitude this time.  He ended up playing over there with Bode and some other neighborhood kids for hours.  I was so happy!  Then Wesley came over :(  He lured Josh home with talk of Skylanders but luckily everyone else came too.  They ended up playing on the wii for hours until one by one everyone else went home and only Josh and Wesley were left.  That's when I started hearing it.  "What the crap!" I knew immediately that it was Wesley but then after about 8 from him, I heard Josh say it.
"Josh!"  I yelled.  "Come here please."
"What mom?"
"I just heard you say 'crap'.  We do not say that word."
"I didn't say that mom, it was Wesley."
"No, it wasn't.  I heard you."
He then got this very offended look on his face like he couldn't believe I would accuse him of something so outrageous. "I didn't say it!  It was Wesley you heard."
I wanted to believe him so bad that I kind of dismissed it then and reminded him that we don't say that word and then let him go back down and play.  Less than a minute later I heard it again.  This time I knew for sure that it was Wesley and Josh.  I headed down the stairs and stopped and listened for a minute before heading in.  Josh swore 4 more times in less than a minute.  I was shocked.  I walked in and while I was standing there he said it one more time.
"What the crap!"
"Wesley" I said "I need you to go home now, Josh can't play anymore." I then had Josh turn off the game and sat him down to talk about what he had said.  I reinforced that it was not acceptable even though it was something that Wesley said constantly.  I told him that I would not put up with it and then said that he had to stay in the house for the rest of the day and that he was not allowed to play with Wesley for the rest of the week.  He was kind of upset and then asked "But can I still play with Bode?" I bet you can guess what I said.;)