A Very Belated Post On The Real Birthday

As noted, Joseph celebrated his 2nd birthday several times, only one of which (the party with his Brazier cousins) has been adequately documented on this blog.

His actual birthday started out with a cupcake and candles for breakfast, and he opened a present (a DVD to watch later that day).

Todd took me to work and then he and Joseph went to the airplane display.




After work, we went out for pizza (one of Joseph's favorite foods) and then took Joseph miniature golfing.

He had a grand time. He was only interested in golfing the first couple of holes, and eventually got distracted by the pond, but had a lovely time nonetheless.








Then it was back home to more cupcakes, candles, and singing.

Professor Goldsmith

During law school, I worked for Professor Michael Goldsmith, a dynamic and accomplished man with big ideas and a fantastic sense of humor. Many of our friends who read this blog also survived classes in Evidence and Criminal Procedure from him.

Recently, Professor Goldsmith was diagnosed with ALS (a.k.a. as Lou Gehrig’s disease), a disease for which there is currently no cure.

Although ALS does not affect the intellect, the disease takes away the brain’s ability to control voluntary muscle movement. Symptoms of ALS include muscle atrophy with sufferers experiencing impaired use of their limbs, as well as difficulty in breathing, speaking, and swallowing.

Last year, Professor Goldsmith wrote a piece published in Newsweek magazine (link) calling out Major League Baseball for having failed to do something meaningful about the illness that ended the career and life of one of its greatest players nearly 70 years ago.

Thankfully, Goldsmith’s idea of commemorating the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s historic farewell speech resonated with people.

Here’s a NBC news report from last Saturday:

A New York Times story quoted Professor Goldsmith:

“I have spent more than two decades exhorting law students to take a proactive ‘can-do’ approach to the law and life in general. And I have tried to lead by example, showing them how creativity and commitment to a cause can produce positive results. The success of this effort demonstrates yet again how the power of one can make a difference.”

To our classmates (and anyone who was moved by that video): here are some useful links--

https://www.als.net/join/donatenow.asp
https://www.alsa.org/donate/secure/default.cfm
http://www.als-mda.org
http://www.projectals.org/getInvolved/donate.shtml

Fireworks

Last night, we went out to watch the fireworks with Joseph's cousins. We figured he'd either be enthralled or bawling because of the noise and the late hour.

Turns out it was more the former than the latter. At first, the loud sounds bothered him, but he was riveted by the sights. He would watch quietly, but as soon as a a lull in the explosions came around, he would briefly let out a yell to voice his displeasure at the noise before being distracted and totally silenced by the next set of fireworks. That only lasted for the first few minutes, and for most of the show, he just stared up with his jaw half-open and a twinkle in his eye while giving a running narration of the colors and lights.

The Toddster's favorite Joseph comment of the night: Joseph looking up at the sky and describing the fireworks as "wild!"

Erin's favorite Joseph comment of the night: Before he zonked out on the way home Erin asked him who went to see the fireworks.

Joseph responds by naming one of his cousins.

Erin asks "who else?"

Joseph names his uncle.

Erin asks "who else?"

Joseph, realizing that this game could go on for quite some time, responds "people."

Hiding Place

I was missing Joseph (he was up at his Nana's house) so I asked Todd to send me some pictures. This was my favorite. It's of Joseph in his "hiding place" (a.k.a. a cubby intended for electronic devices such as DVD players, etc -- but we don't use it since Todd built a nifty contraption up higher so that we can keep said devices well out of Joseph's reach). As you can see, Joseph loves hanging out there.

Fat Communist

Usually Todd does an amazing job keeping Joseph handsome, well-groomed, and well-dressed. Every once in a while, however, I come home to find Joseph in an outfit that makes me embarrassed for him.

For example:



These shorts are (1) too small and (2) clearly not meant to be worn with tucked-in shirts. I think he looks sort of like a communist or young German schoolboy or something.

But he was happy enough to wear them in public to the park. He was also happy to wear them riding his new tricycle.




Our big birthday present to Joseph was this tricycle. It's very well-made (German, so I suppose the outfit is fitting) and a big selling point for Todd was that it will sustain up to 400 pounds of weight. I guess Todd is worried about Joseph getting really really fat.

I'm not too worried given that the kid has not put on a pound since he turned 1. But, considering his diet at times, I guess it's possible.

Joseph recently went through a difficult phase where he did not want to eat ANYTHING. It is particularly bad when we are traveling and he's more interested in new surroundings than eating. My family can attest to the fact that I would chase him around the house when we were in Utah trying to feed him cookies, cake, anything that he would eat because I was worried he was starving to death. Todd's family found this solution:



Yep, Trix and French Fries. Yum!

Even at home, his tastes are odd. He's really taken with salt lately, and did this to a potato and then said, "salt! yum!"



He also likes to get into the pantry and dig around for the yellow bag he knows contains CHOCOLATE (chips), so we have to hide them now. So it's comforting to know that Joseph will still be able to ride his tricycle for many, many years, and many, many pounds, to come.

Buddies

Joseph's friend Matthew got a new baby sister this week, so Matthew came over to play one morning. Matthew is pretty patient with Joseph, who struggles with sharing since he usually has all of his toys to himself. But Joseph was apparently happy to share his motorcycle:


This motorcycle was a birthday gift from Joseph's Goodsell cousins. He loves it!

At one point, Matthew hit his hand with a golf club and started crying. Joseph, who was across the room, started crying too. Todd was comforting Matthew and told Joseph that Joseph hadn't hurt himself and didn't need to be crying. Joseph promptly (and intentionally) hit himself on the head with a golf club, and started crying even harder. Good times!

Unabashed Bragging

Warning: this post does not contain pictures. I do not have time. To those (three of you) upset with our lack of blogging, I say: blogging falls by the wayside when one (i.e. me) is working 10-14 hour days every day. Blech. Anyway, ten tidbits about some awesome tricks Joseph has.

(1) When asked who the President is, Joseph usually responds "Barack Obama." Occasionally he responds "Gramma White," for reasons that remain to be determined.

(2) Joseph is into planets and the solar system lately. This trick is hit-and-miss, but frequently he will identify "the tiniest planet" as "Mercury," the next planet as "Venus" (his favorite), the "planet we live on" as "Earth" (or sometimes, "San Diego"), the red planet as "Mars," and the "big planet" as "Jupiter." We're working on the last couple. He really likes looking at pictures and videos about planets lately, though.

(3) Joseph can now identify a few letters, especially "W", and likes to say, "One, Two, Three" for no particular reason.

(4) Joseph is a great singer. We listen to kid's songs in the car and he will sing the main phrases that repeat a lot. He also gets very demanding about which songs he wants to listen to, so we have to skip around a lot. He can sing most of Old McDonald with a little prompting.

(5) Joseph has started to pretend to make things out of play-dough. The other day, he pounded it for a while and then announced that he had made "Tiger Woods." He likes to make "robots" and "tunnels" to put trains through, and pretend food (like french fries and pizza, two favorites) and pretend to eat them.

(6) Speaking of Tiger Woods, the other day he was practicing his swing outside with his dad, and, upon making a good shot, exclaimed, "Tiger Woods!"

(7) He also attempted to hit the moon during said-golf outing. He'd hit the ball as far as he could, look at the moon, and say, "Almost."

(8) Joseph loves hummus. So whatever they say about nature v. nurture: this kid is with his dad an awful lot but sides with mom on the hummus debate.

(9) Joseph has discovered that saying, "Daddy snuggle!" is a great way to get what he wants. "Daddy snuggle! Cupcake! Daddy snuggle! Paci!"

(10) Joseph is still not into giving kisses (but gives great hugs). I circumvent this by tricking him into pretending to "eat" my cheeks.

He is really a joy.