Christmas time...

... in Phoenix is WEIRD! It's been in the mid-70s until just recently, and it's just strange. Sometimes I sit on the couch and pretend that the leaves blowing around outside are snow. The snuggly, cold-weather feeling only lasts a few seconds though. We decorated our tree last weekend, and Little J ignored it for a few days. Then, one morning he started pulling ornaments off left and right. So, the ornaments start about two thirds of the way up the tree, away from his little fingers. 

He also discovered candy canes. Uh oh.

He loved sharing them even more!

I swear, this kid was genetically predisposed to do Yoga! His pose of choice is Carpet-In-The-Face.

It's been raining for the past few days and it's been wonderful. I love the smell of desert after the rain, and it's a little awesome to see a saguaro dripping with water. We went out in the desert to explore and give Little J to test out his wagon in the great outdoors.

He was very persnickety when he was picking out the rocks to go in his wagon. He's a very discerning 18 month-old.

He loves sticks. But then again, what boy doesn't?

Silly Human Tricks

So I've been trying to teach Little J some sign language. So far it's been less than rewarding. The only sign he uses quite often, without my prompting, is the bird sign. If he sees a bird on TV, or when we're out driving or if we're in the desert, he looks at me, makes his ubiquitous guinea pig noise and signs bird. I love it. He knows all done, please, thank you, water, more, bird and I'm trying my darndest to teach him potty. He has used it once. He walked up to me and signed potty, and he had pooped! Mother of the year award to me!

We're also working on identifying body parts. So far, he's killing it. I don't often brag write about his accomplishments, but he is doing great with this. Here's proof: