videos!

The past few weeks Joshua has picked up some HILARIOUS qualities. It only seemed fair to share them with the world...

First, he learned how to move his eyebrows up and down.

In this next one, there's a mirror to my left and you can see Joshua hamming it up! He also recently learned how to look through his legs (so everything's upside down) and does it all the time now!

And I guess he doesn't do anything particularly funny in this next video, but it's a pretty good glimpse into how he acts normally. Which I still think is pretty funny. His new favorite food is bananas (which he hated for the first 10 months that I tried to feed it to him!) as you'll see... :)

baby sign language

We've been teaching Joshua a tiny bit of sign language to help us communicate with each other until he learns to talk. I tried teaching him when he was around eight to ten months old, with absolutely no success. :) But since he's turned one, he has been able to pick it up so quickly! He can sign "more" (which sometimes functions as "want" or "again"), "all done", and can understand "water" (but doesn't sign it yet). I'd been thinking of teaching him something to communicate that he wanted help with something, such as the sign for "please". Today seemed like the perfect opportunity, since he kept asking me to open something for him (a container in which he was dropping magnets). He figured it out in no time.... and it might be the most adorable thing I've ever seen. :)

joshua's on the move

As I mentioned in this post, Joshua began walking on Christmas Day!

I can hardly believe how quickly he has gone from "very wobbly toddling" to "confidently walking"... I think it's only a matter of time before "over-confidently running". And since we know it's a bummer for grandparents, aunts, and uncles (and other friends!) to not be able to see him walking in person, we've tried to capture him on video a few times. 

To be honest, not a lot happens in these videos... it's pretty much just a minute of Joshua toddling around. Which might be cute for some but probably boring for others, sorry!

favorite places tour: camana bay, part two

Yesterday I shared a little bit about Camana Bay and how much we love taking Joshua there. One Saturday morning we took him there to let him walk around and burn off some energy and he took a liking to one of the fountains. Nope, not one of the fountains for kids to play in... this is definitely a just-for-decoration fountain. 

a few (more) of joshua's new tricks

I seriously can't believe how fast this kid is growing up! It seems like he's learning something new every day. Here are a few things we've managed to capture on video:

First, a follow-up to this video from a similarly titled post:

Joshua has a Noah's Ark blanket in his room and he loves looking at the animals. A few weeks ago he started pointing to each animal and waiting for us to tell him the name. Last week, I asked him if he knew where the zebra was.. and he did! He pointed right to it. 

I guess this last video isn't about anything he's learned... but it's hilarious. Who doesn't love hearing a baby giggle??

a few of joshua's new tricks

Just a quick post with two videos of Joshua...

Here he is being hilarious, wearing sunglasses and learning to give a "high five".

And here he is showing off his crawling-up-the-stairs skills. While you watch, I'll be buying every baby gate I can find on island.

P.S. The video cuts off at the end but rest assured, he didn't fall. :)

on stray chickens and making a fool of myself

We mentioned in our October update (if you aren't receiving our email updates, and would like to be, let me know!) that we have stray chickens on the island:

"The island is overridden by wild chickens. We don't know where they come from; multiple people have told us they were released from a chicken farm by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, while others insist this is just a natural outcome of a Caymanian tradition of keeping "yard fowl" for meat and eggs. The roosters crow all day and night (though particularly at dawn); it was a nuisance at first, but we're getting used to them." 

To elaborate, here is a short video of what our side yard looks (and sounds) like at 8am on any given morning.

We have actually gotten fairly used to the noise, and I hardly notice it anymore. The novelty has not yet warn off on Joshua, though, who loves to point, wave, and squeal at any chicken he sees. (This also applies to iguanas).

I've been told that you can usually identify a tourist (or a newbie) from a local based on their reaction to the chickens. I've been trying pretty hard to avoid the tell-tale "new to the island" giveaways, but I'm sure I'm outing myself by pointing out to Joshua every chicken in the grocery store parking lot. I just love seeing him so excited! I guess that's probably just part of motherhood - making a fool of yourself for the sake of a one-year-old - right?