Joel

This boy keeps us on our toes.  And is so much smarter than a 12 month old should be.

Any animal is a baa but says da for duck and  oofff oofff for dog (and someone in the nursery said he looked at a picture of a horse and said horse very clearly) His animal noise is mostly "RARRRR" - especially dinosaurs

can climb onto any couch, chair, bench, ottoman in our house. He can get down off most of them but it still makes me a little nervous. Especially the ottomans under the front window. Thats his favorite place right now since he can look outside the window. Sometimes after nap time I catch him trying to figure out how to climb out of his crib.

The other day I walked into the dinning room and Joel was dancing on top of the dinning room table - he had climbed up a chair and pulled himself onto the table

Loves loves loves books and will bring me book after book and plop right into my lap to read them.

Can climb up a slide and then go down by himself now - small slides - i'm a little too nervous to let him do the big ones by himself

will wave to any car that passes by

when he gets upset he will run crying right for momma.  Love that :)

He likes to go into rooms and shut the door. Then can't get out. Yesterday I walked by the bathroom and heard "momma!!!!!" I opened the door and Joel was in there.  He hasn't said momma in a while - lately its all dadda :)  At least he knows who to call when he's in trouble.

Likes to put money in a piggy bank. It will entertain him for a long time.

Also likes putting thing together, putting blocks back in the box, or toys in their bins.  He also loves to help me put the sippy cup straws together - the little straw into the bigger straw.  He'll concentrate on it for a while but is very proud of himself when he gets it. 

Joel watches anything Colin does and then tries to copy it.  Colin was playing with those plastic army men and going "boom boom boom" and shooting the bad guys and Joel found an army man and came to me and went boom boom.

I'm sure there is more but he just amazes me every day.  He's still my baby but acts so much older.  In fact this week we had some friends over and Colin leaned over to Noah and said "Noah I have to tell you something. Babies are bad news!"  (since joel has been into everything Colin does - a few days before Colin told me that babies are trouble) Noah looked at me and said "When is Colin going to get his baby?"  Noah's baby brother is 6 months old and  I guess he doesnt consider Joel to be a baby.  Especially when all the big kids have to deal with Joel wanting to do everything they do.

Its a fun stage to watch them learn all this.  Just didnt think it would be so soon. Joel you will outsmart us soon enough - if you haven't already.