Moving to OK: Part 2

OK, so once again, my pics are out of order, backwards, sort of. Because I was going to show the apt. first and random stuff last, but it's not a huge deal. Just read the captions on the pix.

This is Josh with the remote (which he thinks is a cell phone) and my shoes on. He's slightly obsessed with shoes right now...

OK, a little explanation is in order. The Thur. after we got here (we arrived on Sat.) we had a huge storm with tornadoes forming overhead, and winds destroying a LOT of stuff. The power was off for about 24 hours at our apt, but on base, it was off for like 3-4 days. So we had our friend Matt staying at our apt. over the weekend, so he could have AC and stuff. It was kinda fun, and Josh liked him alot. So these next two pix are of Josh "helping" Matt carry his suitcase out to his car. He actually pulled it out there pretty much all by himself!! He's so strong!

Peek-a-boo!! Josh's favorite game!
Did you know he could climb a rock wall? I didn't, but he can, with a little help!
Josh on a seesaw
Josh on the slide...he still insists on trying to climb up,and doesn't want to go down them.
This pic is Josh and Matt playing/talking about the Euro Cup and keeping him (Josh, not Matt) out of the way while I was making dinner one night. Thank you to Matt!
This is the bird's nest that I put the rescued baby bird back in several times...as an update, I haven't seen the baby or the parents flying up in there at all lately, so I'm kind of afraid that something bad happened to the baby after all. Sad...
This is a little pavillion that has the grills and picnic tables in it at our complex...just a few steps from our apt. Inside the little house is the workout room, and next to it (out of the pic) is the new pool.
This is taken after the storm, and as you can see, the fence is completely smashed and the gutter is hanging down...a big huge chunk of tree fell on it.
The picnic pavillion
Josh heading to the little play area in the complex
Josh and Daddy fencing in the hallway of our apt. The doorway you can see is Josh's room (left) and behind AJ is our room. To the right of AJ is the bathroom and the laundry closet and hall closet in a row down the hall.
This is Josh playing in one of the kitchen cabinets...he had a lot of fun in here.

His new favorite thing is to climb into/on top of things. Here he is inside the drawer under the oven...luckily it wasn't on!! He actually laid down in it completely...I could have closed it with him in it, but I don't think either one of us would have liked that too much.
Matt and AJ watching the Euro Cup. They actually bought 100 more satellite channels to be able to watch it. Crazy boys!

OK, so I still have some more random pics that I'll attempt to put up here someday...
Josh and I are leaving for the week tomorrow, though, and then AJ and I are going to Charleston to look at houses over the weekend of the 4th. So I won't be able to post for awhile, just to let you know.

Moving to OK

OK, so if you've been ignoring my blog, or just forgot, we're transitioning from Germany to Charleston, SC, and AJ has to do a TDY en route, which means we don't have money to buy a house till we move into Charleston, so we're living in a small furnished apt. in Altus, OK while AJ does his initial spin up on the C-17. It's so fun, there's so much to do in this bustling metropolis...ok, so I'm slightly sarcastic.
Anyway, AJ has been here for almost 5 weeks, and Josh and I drove up the end of May. We stopped in Plano (near Dallas) and then in Denison (about an hour up the road) to visit my Mamaw and my Grandmom. My mom went with us, in her car, helping us lug all our junk along with the dog, Josh, toys, dog kennel, etc. As I was driving, I looked back and saw this several times, and managed to get a picture of it. And I didn't even get in a wreck!
This is at my Mamaw's house, and she always gets out toys for Josh, some new, some are from when my sisters and I were young, and some are even from when my Dad and his sister were little. Josh really enjoyed this little red wagon.
He also liked this stool...he took it in the middle of the floor, turned it upside down, and stood on it!
Like this.
She has this little ride on bike from when I was little...didn't really know how to make it go too well.

Having a ball...with Sidewalk Chalk!

Josh is playing with his ball...obviously having a great time! I couldn't even get him to look at the camera!
I found a bucket of sidewalk chalk at Target for $1 and thought it might be fun. Josh scribbled a little, but mostly he just liked to carry the bucket around with him. He did get pretty filthy, though. And Mama had fun drawing...!
Notice the new shoes...big boy running shoes! So cute, and they were cheap, too! I love Target...
The boy with his bucket.
See all the chalk all over his bottom?
Cute boy...probably some of the last pictures of him with the binky you'll see. He's now using it only at nap time and bed time...and we take it with us when we go in the car, but he only gets it if he's being sooo fussy that whoever is driving can't concentrate. Or if he's sleepy in the car...or causing a huge scene in a store b/c he's so tired. But on an every day basis, he's only having it when he sleeps, which is awesome!

Now, he's doing pretty much NOTHING on the potty front...except that he pooped in the bathtub a couple of days ago, and last night, just after I took off his diaper before bath, he peed all over the floor...aaargh! He wants to sit on it sometimes, but doesn't ever do anything. Hopefully soon...I know he's still a little unsettled from the move, and it's not over yet, so we just have to be patient.

OK, I've got about a million pictures to put up, but instead of doing one huge post, I thought I'd put several posts over the next few days with pictures. So I hope you like them.

Nicknames

So I've decided that we have reached the level of absurd with the number of nicknames we have for Josh. It's a little crazy! So I've decided to list the ones that I can think of off the top of my head here to show you.

• Joshua William (when he's in trouble)
• Josh
  
• J
• JJ
• Lil' J
• J bit
• Lil' bit
• Buddy
• Bud
• Mister Man
• Jib
• Jibbers
• Jibber roo
• Roo
• Jiblet
  
• J Dub
• JB
• Snuggle Bug
• Lil' Man
• Lil' mister
• Roo bit

Then of course there are all the normal ones like sweetie, baby, lovie, etc. And when he pretends to be a doggie, we call him doggie...go figure. This happens more and more. He really likes to pretend this and go in Gus's kennel. Sometimes he'll close the door and whine or occasionally bark, although he still doesn't think that's what a doggie says when you ask him. He even tried to lap water up out of Gus's bowl when we were in Plano visiting my grandmother. GROSS!!

OK, that's it for now. I'll try to get some pix posted tomorrow...I'll try to get them uploaded tonight. No promises, though...

Call me the bird rescuer...

...or maybe the bird undertaker...or both.

Today, as AJ went out the door for his afternoon sim, I saw him stop and look down and just kind of stand there...so I went to see what was going on. When I stepped out and looked, I saw a tiny little birdie lying on it's side and panting. It was soooo sad!!! AJ had to get to work, so he couldn't help, so I ran inside and called my mom. Frantically I asked what she thought I should do. She asked if I thought I could put it back in the nest, and I looked out at it again, and there was another one!! This one was on it's little floppy feet, but obviously no older. So my mom and I discussed gloves and putting the birdies back, but by the time I got out there, the one bird that was lying down, had died. POOR BIRDIE! But there was still the other one to think of, so I ran and got AJ's flight gloves (new ones, with no gas fumes on them), and a kitchen chair, and gathered up the little floppy bit of nothing, and attempted to put it back in the nest. It wanted to stay out on my hand, but I finally managed to get it back in. I then went back inside, so as not to scare Mommy Bird away forever. She came back, but seemed pretty distracted by the baby on the ground, so when she left again, I grabbed a paper towel, and a plastic bag, and went to do a birdie funeral. It was SO SAD!! I was praying the whole time that the other one would live.

So awhile later, I looked outside, again while talking to my Mom (I had called her back to give her an update), and I saw that other little bird that I had rescued flopping around in the grass. Not sure how he landed in the grass as opposed to on the concrete...but I think it was a God thing...maybe he knew I'd be heartbroken if another little bird died on my doorstep today, but anyway, put back on the gloves, grabbed the chair again, and ran out to play SuperBirdRescuer again. He REALLY didn't want to go back in this time. So I managed to get him in, then grabbed a big beach towel to put on the concrete under the nest.

Good thing I did that, b/c the silly thing kept wiggling toward the edge. So I went and ripped a paper bowl in half, and some thumb tacks and punched holes in the bottom. I pinned it to the eaves by the nest, but then the mommy bird wouldn't go in. I thought it was too small a space for her, so I cut a notch in it. Didn't work. So I went and got a paper plate, cut it in half, tacked it up with holes in bottom, thinking it's flatter, but still has a little lip on it, so maybe the baby wouldn't fall out. The mommy still wouldn't go in. So I started getting worried about the baby not eating, so I finally went and respread the towl (it had blown up, b/c of all the wind), and then pulled down the plate. That worked until the baby fell out AGAIN! Again, it fell on the towl, and not on the concrete, but I'm a little concerned still. However, this time when I put it back in the nest, I shoved it farther up, and so far I haven't seen it fall out again. The Mommy has been feeding it, and I'm feeling a little better. However, now I think it's about to storm, so I'm hoping the parents will be able to fly up to feed baby and that it won't blow out of the nest again. I'm keeping the gloves and chair handy, though.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the little bird either pooped or threw up on me the middle time I put it back. The reason I'm not sure is b/c there were whole seeds that came out, so I'm not sure. Anyway, it was a lot, too, for such a little thing! It got all over the gloves, my shirt and on my skirt, too! Yuck! I guess that's part of dealing with babies.

I just checked again, and I don't see the little bird poking out anywhere, so hopefully it's far enough up in the nest that it won't have another issue...tonight, anyway!

OK, I'll keep you all updated on our baby bird's progress...hopefully he'll decide to wait till he has feathers to go adventuring outside the nest again!!