Riddle Me This

What's 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide?
Me!
I was convinced I am now as round as I am tall, so I measured myself yesterday. I am 4 feet around. I am a weeble wobble. It is time for this baby to come out!

Tattoo You

Here Josh is showing off his two mean new tattoos--a "Mom" heart and a "Dad" heart--on his arms, along with his rolled up sleeves. He was sauntering around class without his shirt while changing from wet to dry clothes after some exciting times playing in the sink, and inspired his teachers to tattoo him to go along with the 'tude he was sporting. He was so very proud of his tattoos. They also complemented his black eye nicely.

Haircuts in the fast lane

Josh gets his hair cut at this cute kids' place in the suburbs. The barber's chairs are all converted toys, so Josh has chosen from the jeep, rocket, race car, and other choices I don't remember. (Observe the Barbie jeep in the background of the photo below, for example.) They have toys, movies, and a play area for before and after, and we love taking him there. He still doesn't really enjoy the actual hair cutting part of the visit, but the staff is great at being very quick, so we manage to make it through. And I love seeing him in his little barber's cape.


Here he is modeling his new shorter 'do, as well as his impressive new shiner (which looked even worse in real life, but is somewhat whited out by the flash from the camera).

Fort Daddy

Josh has also recently discovered the joys of building forts. Here he has found some structural support in Daddy, whose legs he covered with his blanket to make sides, and then brought out pillows to make doors. He has made some similar constructions using other "beams," with the same blanket and pillows. Then he crawls in and hides, and asks us (from his hiding place), "Do you see Josh anywhere?" The fact that he is asking the question, and is a mere inch below John's body, does not make him any less hidden from us, in Josh's opinion. It's pretty freaking cute. This picture is of one of the "peekaboo" moments after we failed to locate Josh.

Recent Goings-On

Josh has discovered a love for washing his cars. Here he is using the sink, but I have also found him in other sources of water, including Sammy's water dish. This orange car is getting a thorough sponge treatment. You can see in Josh's face how earnest he is about this.


This wasn't the right angle, but here is Josh eating rice with his chopsticks. He is better at it than I am. A true Markley. This was breakfast, by the way (which is why he is in pajamas). That kid really loves rice.


Kids playing in boxes--a staple of childhood.


Another example of my size. Unfortunately, my doctor informs me that my hope and optimism that I am progressing toward labor is a little too optimistic. Baby is still pretty high (but head down at least) at 36 weeks. So it seems there will be no new arrival for at least another two weeks, at which time he will be officially full-term (38 weeks) and I will officially start sending him signals to come on out.


We stopped by the playground yesterday evening. It was cool but nice out, blue sky, and we were the only people there for about half an hour. It was weird, I couldn't believe the place wasn't packed now that it is dry out. Josh happily went round and round and round clearing dirt off the sand pit walls with the trucks.