Welcome to Moe's

Saturday night we went to dinner at Moe's, a burrito place. When you walk in the door, all of the employees shout "Welcome to Moe's." Joseph loved this! As we stood in line telling them what we wanted on our burrito, people kept walking in the front door. Joseph joined in the shouting, "Welcome to Moe's!" The employees and customers all loved it. As we sat eating, everytime someone would walk in, Joseph always joined in the welcome--even from across the restaraunt.

Now, you have to understand when he says it, it sounds like "Mucka Moe's" and he says it with gusto!

Joseph hasn't forgotten the phrase and just this morning after waking up, one of the first things he called out from his crib was "Mucka Moe's!"

Chinese Dinner

A woman in Marc's program is from China. Her name is Tian, and she drove up to DC with us last weekend and stayed at Marc's parents' house. Tian invited us over on Sunday night for a Chinese dinner. It was so much fun! Tian and her friend Li both really enjoy Joseph. The food was excellent, we looked at pictures, visited. It was a lot of fun. Joseph was quite well behaved, too. He likes going places where they offer him grapes and rice --and give him lots of attention!
Li is the president of the Chinese Student Scholar Association. It is the largest organization on campus with over 500 students. They hosted a really fun Chinese New Year Celebration a couple weeks ago that we went to and really had a fun time. At BYU we used to joke that I had a Latina soul. Maybe it is really Chinese?

February 17, 2008

Washing the Car

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Morning Ritual

Almost every morning, Joseph wakes up before we do. Our morning routine has evolved--and I think I quite like how it is shaping up. Marc goes in to get Joseph, gets him out of his crib, takes him downstairs, gives him a sippy cup of milk, turns on some music in the CD player and lets Joseph play. Marc comes back to bed and we lie there, half trying to pretend we could go back to sleep and half listening for any danger noises downstairs (we always try to Joseph-proof things before we go to bed at night--lock the fridge, put away the lap top, etc)

This routine started after Christmas. Since Joseph got so many great toys, he can't seem to wait to get downstairs and start playing. He used to come play in our room-climbing on our bed, finding treasures in the bedside stand, etc. Now it is straight downstairs--though sometimes he comes in to give me a kiss first.

Here is a picture of Joseph in his pajamas playing with his matchbox cars in the morning.

Be Mine

This year I received my favorite Valentine's Day gift ever. Joseph brought me roses in bed, coached by his dad in the background. It was possibly the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I wish I could have captured his face--so gentle and deliberate and proud of himself!

I was completely surprised--they picked them out together the day before when Marc took the afternoon off to be with Joseph so I could meet a grant deadline (another great gift from my husband).

After Joseph went to bed (gotta love 6:30 bedtime), I made pasta alfredo with shrimp. Very good--you can't go wrong with butter, cream and cheese!

February 14, 2008

Visiting Northern VA

Last week we went to Arlington to stay with Marc's parents while Marc attended a "New Partners for Smart Growth" conference. We had a lovely time. Joseph loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. They even got him a brand new dumptruck! He played at the park, took walks with Grandma, played ball, played with Grandpa, had waffles at Aunt Rachel's house, got to ride the metro... It was a lot of fun.
Saturday morning while Marc was in classes, Rachel and I took Joseph downtown on the metro and to the Air and Space Museum. In true Joseph form, I think his favorite part was throwing rocks outside the museum.


Joseph really liked riding the metro. Aunt Rachel and I took turns trying to keep him from running up and down the aisles.
This picture is dark, but look closely and you can see Rachel and Joseph at the bottom of this cool plane.
Rachel and Joseph look down from the first floor at all the hanging planes.

Saturday, February 9, 2008