Merry Christmas!

I love all holidays but Christmas is my favorite time of year. Decorating the Christmas tree and putting up the lights are at the top of my list. Just ask my mom, I am an excellent helper. Don't even get me started talking about wrapping presents, because if you know me at all, you know I have a very, very intense appreciation for scotch tape. I just love the stuff and I love to put it anywhere and everywhere. Mom says at least that I can put my obsession to good use at Christmas time when it is time to wrap presents (rather than wrapping the tape around door knobs or on counters or my little brother).

This Christmas was the best yet, as Joshie is older now and could really participate and have fun with me. We would lay down together next to the tree on our tummies and discuss what might be in the wrapped packages. Grandma Anne and Grandpa Jack sent a package that would giggle when you touched it and it drove all of us literally nuts. We would sit and marvel at the lights and ornaments. It was just all so exciting.

This year we made cupcakes for Santa instead of cookies. I think he really liked them as we left two for him and he ate both of them.

My most favorite gift that I received was from mom and dad and it was my very own Fisher Price digital camera. I absolutely love it and have taken about a million pictures. I am really getting good at taking pictures and will post some at a later date. I have taken pictures of the toilet, the ketchup bottle, our Christmas dinner and my brother and my parents. I can't wait to show my pictures to you soon! Merry Christmas!

Josh's Big Boy Bed (December 15, 2009)

One night in early December, mommy received a call from Dad on her cell phone. She had just finished her final exam in her psychology class and was shopping at Safeway on her way home to pick up some groceries. Upon answering her cell phone, Daddy said "We have a little problem!" Bracing herself for some news, Daddy reported that Josh had figured out to get out of his crib and was getting out of his crib over and over and over and over.......

Now, if you know Josh well, or even if you had just met him, you would be able to determine that he is a tricky little guy. He is very adamant that he likes his way. He should have "My way or the highway" tattooed on his little arm. Anyway, once he figured out how to get out of his crib there was no going back. In fact, mommy said that his future probably lay in gymnastics as the way he flipped himself out of that crib was an absolute gymnastic feat worthy of a gold medal.

Needless to say, that particular evening and the one that followed were difficult nights for the Fletcher family. Both nights, Josh basically ended up sleeping in his rocking chair. He refused to stay in his bed, but upon getting out of the bed, he couldn't get back in. When he would fall asleep in the rocker, daddy would go put him in the crib...that is, until he woke up again, got out of the crib, etc.. You see the pattern, no?

Anyway, the following day mom and dad went to the store and purchased a toddler bed for Josh. It had a "Cars" headboard and a matching "Cars" blanket, sheets and pillowcase. Josh was thrilled over his big boy bed and sleeps there every night. Well, that is after conversations with me at the gates to our room and generally a little unhappiness at bedtime. But we are getting there and things are getting better. The little guy is definitely growing up!

Mom and dad gave me a little gift for being such a helpful big brother throughout the process. For example, one of the first nights Josh was crying at his gate and mom and dad were getting frustrated. Of course, I just said, "Josh, it's okay baby, just calm down and go get in your bed and go to sleep". Of course, Josh replied "OK, Matthew, good night" at which point he lay down and went to sleep. Ha, ha!

Snow Day! (December 7, 2009)

Josh and I have seen all kinds of movies and shows about snow. One of our favorite stories is "Frosty the Snowman"; however, we don't really know what snow is or feels like. It is just some kind of magical thing that everyone talks about has yet to appear or exist in our world, that is until December 7. It actually SNOWED at our house - can you believe that? Mommy and Daddy were shocked to see it outside and couldn't believe it. Mom says that she read that the last time it snowed down below 500 feet here was over 20 years ago or something liked that. Anyway, I rushed downstairs to look out the window and was absolutely in a state of excitement. Upon seeing the snow, I yelled "Yeah, no school today!" Mom just laughed and laughed and I didn't understand why, but apparently our particular "SNOWFALL" didn't qualify as the kind of snowfall that shuts everything down. Argh! Upon asking if I could make a snowman, I was again shut down. What a drag.

Anyway, we got to go outside and see it but it was all gone by early afternoon. Mom and dad said that we are going to go up to Lake Tahoe this winter to see real snow. It should be lots of fun!

Her biggest fan (December 6, 2009)

I am my mom's biggest fan. She is a happier person when she can run and therefore, that makes me happy too (heck, it makes us all a lot happier). Upon returning to home from her marathon in early December, I made a big congratulations sign for her, gave her a huge kiss and then, of course, said, "What did you bring me back as a surprise?" Ha. Ha.

Love ya mommy. Here she is with my dad at the end of the race! Go Mom!

Getting too big for my britches! (November, 2009)

Just a fun post. I have a very funny little sense of humor and sometimes I do the silliest things. On this particular day in late November, I thought it would be funny to try on Daddy's pants. Mom is always telling me how big I am getting so I thought I would see if I could borrow some of Dad's clothes. Hey, at least it might save her a trip to the store to buy me yet another size in jeans.

Here I am in Dad's jeans! Maybe if I eat just a bit more dessert they will fit me by next year.

Thanksgiving (November 26, 2009)

This year for Thanksgiving, we had Aunt Lori, Uncle Jeff and my cousins, Lindsey and Justin over for dinner. They were leaving for a Thanksgiving cruise the next day (you will understand why mommy feels this info is important in a minute). Anyway, we had a wonderful dinner (thanks Lunardi's grocery store and mom's ability to heat and serve) and were having lots of fun with our cousins. See the attached pic of all of us actually sitting in one place and happy at the same time!

Lindsey was reaping the benefits of being the only girl cousin (or maybe she was weeping) as it seems all the boys decided to become her babies. Baby1, Baby2 and Baby3 were all pretending to cry and she played the role of little mother. It was very funny and actually Baby3 (Josh) was actually the best baby of all and looked on at myself and Justin like were had gone nuts at some points in the evening.

Also, see a pic of my family as well. If you received our Christmas card this year, yep that is the same pic, but mom wanted to post it on the blog as a keepsake at least.

Now, why did mom feel it important to tell you about our cousins going on a cruise? Well, after making sure that everyone was well and having everyone over for dinner, Josh became very ill in the middle of the night! And he continued to throw up for a day or two after. Argh! Mom worried for days that the cousins were going to get the throw up bug on their cruise!! How awful??? No? Additionally, she was freaked out that she was going to get sick as well. She had been training for her upcoming marathon for months and it was just a week away. Well, it all worked out and none of the other Fletchers got sick (well, except for me!!!)

Pumpkin Patch (October, 2009)

Every year around Halloween time, we go to a nearby pumpkin patch to pick out our perfect pumpkins. This year, we picked out four pumpkins (a daddy pumpkin, a mommy pumpkin, a Matthew pumpkin and a Joshie pumpkin). Since we were running a little behind with things, Mommy said we were going to decorate our pumpkins in a "special" way. We used stickers and other decorations. If you ask me, she just didn't want to get into all the mess!

See the attached pics of us at the pumpkin patch and on the tractor (the patch is on a real working farm). Mom and Josh posed with our pumpkins below as well.

Halloween (October 31, 2009)

One of my most favorite times of the year is Halloween! I get to decide what costume I want to wear and then I get to go out and trick or treat. I had lots of fun last year, but this year I was really excited about the whole idea of Halloween....in fact, mom seems to remember that I had already decided to be Spiderman sometime over the summer. None of us are quite sure how my fascination and interest in Spiderman developed. I am not allowed to watch the cartoon (well, just the one time that Daddy let me and unfortunately, mommy walked in as some man exited a car and started blasting a machine gun and Spiderman was no more for our household - RATS!)

I was really excited to go and pick out my Spiderman costume and I wore it around the house (including the face mask) for all the days preceding Halloween. Josh loved it and we would chase each other around and I would "spin webs" and "save" Josh from all sorts of peril and dangerous situations. Josh perfected his "Spiderman, save me!" plea. It was all quite funny.

My mom's friend loaned an Elmo costume to us for Josh to wear. It was the most adorable costume, but Josh (as he is a product of my mother's DNA) decided he would be stubborn and refuse to wear it. Mom got it on him after a bit of a struggle but all he would do was cry. Therefore, mom and Josh stayed home and handed out candy. About two weeks after Halloween, Josh decided that he would "allow" mom to put the costume on him and he was the most adorable ELMO there ever was. In fact, once he put the costume on, we almost thought we would never get it off of him. Enjoy the pics!

Joshua's 2nd Birthday (October 30, 2009)

Can you believe that the little guy is already 2 years old? Mom and Dad say that it feels like Joshua has grown up faster than I have. Well, I am only four and have little concept of what time is, but I don't think that is possible. Maybe, they are just moving so fast all the time that it FEELS like time has been moving along more quickly over the last two years.

Josh didn't have a big birthday party like me so instead we had our friends the White's over on Halloween evening. Before we all went out trick or treating, we had delicious cake and ice cream and sang happy birthday to my little brother. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing, but he loved it, smiled a huge grin, and blew his candles out like a champ. We then all had cake and got into our costumes for the rest of the evenings festivities.

Mom says I am an excellent big brother and we went shopping together for Josh's birthday presents. I was very helpful at Toys R Us, but occasionally I did see something that I might like to have. Mom kept telling she would "make a note of that" and we went on our way. We picked out several great gifts for Josh including a shopping cart, a Mickey Mouse motor speedway and a "spike" the junior dinosaur.

Josh's favorite thing to say prior to his birthday (and unfortunately, he continues to say it to this day) was "Guess What?" Then you say "What Joshie?" and Josh says "Its my birthday!" Very cute.

Happy 2nd birthday little bro, I love you very much!

My fourth birthday! (September 5, 2009)

September was an exciting month at our house. Not only did I turn four years old but Daddy also had a birthday and mommy returned to school at the end of the month.

My fourth birthday was absolutely the best birthday ever! Not only because it was a big exciting day, but to tell you the truth I don't really remember that much about my previous birthdays anyway:) Our theme was Spiderman and mom and dad got a cake with spiderman and friends. We had Spiderman goodie bags for my little guy friends and the girls received a princess goodie bag. We had my party at the same place as last year and that was my choice as it is such a fun place. There is a big slide, jumpy house and rock wall. I think my parents and their friends had as much or more fun as me and all my little friends on the rock wall. Almost every single adult tried to climb the wall. What a blast!

See the attached pics to celebrate my big day all over again. Until next years party!!!

A family affair (August 2009)

So, yes you may note that we haven't posted anything since July. Well, we have had a lot going on and I will update you on all of it in time. There is just too much to tell you in one post. Let me begin by going back to August when we had an almost complete family reunion (at least on the Parson's side that is) here at my house. Not only did Grandma Anne and Grandpa Jack come out to visit, but also my Uncle John, Marla and cousin Gail. To top it all off, mom's cousins Anne and George also came out.

I love to be around lots of family and Josh and I absolutely loved every minute of their visit. We did all sorts of fun things including driving out to Stinson Beach. I loved the ocean and running from the waves and Josh enjoyed playing in the sand with cousin Gail. See the attached pictures of the visit and enjoy!

Adorable Quotables

Mom says she may be a little bit biased (I have no idea what that means) when it comes to me and my little brother, but she is constantly telling us that we are very smart and cute and very verbal little men. Here is a collection of our most current and most notable quotes that we have said in the last few months. I continue to amaze mom and dad with my vocab and Josh is catching up quickly. His most recent words include pancake, bumble bee and Mickey mouse. His most common sentence these days is "I WANT (insert here) ! But he is also generally polite enough to add a please and thank you to his toddler demands! Enjoy!

Matthew quotes:

1) When daddy was cleaning the side of the tub, I told Daddy "Here daddy, let me show you how a professional does it!"

2) "I am so frustrated right now!" "I need a break!"

3) "I need my privacy please".

4) Upon seeing an infomercial for a multipurpose wood working tool I said to mom "Hey mom, we can buy that and cut a big hole in the wall in the toy room. Then we can use the multi-tool to fix the wall again!"

Josh quotes:

1) Upon injuring himself (which is quite often these days) or when holding anything at all which needs some comfort, Joshie always says "KISS IT!"

2) Upon receiving anything from anyone "Thank you!" or upon hearing Thank you from someone else "You're welcome!"

3) When he has something and he gives it to you he says "Here you go!"

I am sure there are many others to list, but these are the most recent ones. See you soon!

Pool boys

The weather here in San Ramon has been cold one day and hot the next lately, but a week or two ago it was really hot and it was time to pull our little pool out of the garage. Daddy filled it with air using the "air conditioner" (also know as an electric air pump) so that we could fill it with water, cool off and have some fun. As most of you know, I love to swim and I love water so I couldn't think of anything that could be more exciting than playing in the pool. Josh was a little hesitant about getting into the water at first, but once the water warmed up and he realized I wasn't going to drown him, he also jumped in and had some fun.

I had lots of "destructions" (also know as "instructions") for Joshie about playing in the pool, but he didn't really seem to be following my lead. After a while I just gave up and let him play the way he wanted to and we still had lots of fun. See the above pictures of me and my little brother enjoying our time in the pool as well as running around the backyard and playing.

After our swim, Mom brought out the picnic blanket and we had a picnic of delicious grapes and cheese. As you know, we love to eat, so this was especially fun for us.

Could we be any cuter?

A visit with "Pa"

Grandpa Marvin came to visit us a few weeks ago and we loved seeing him. Josh now affectionately refers to him as "pa" but I still like to call him "Grandpa". We kept him VERY BUSY the whole time he was at our house. We did catch him trying to take a little cat nap while he was outside watching us play in the pool, but we took care of that by making sure water was splashed on him or by tugging on him. We literally sat on him alot, made him watch us eat (which is generally all the time) and had him read books to us. We showed him all of our toys and he accompanied us to the park on more than one occassion.

Unfortunately Grandpa Marvin had to go back to his home in Ohio, but not before Josh picked up almost every single object in our house, brought it over to Grandpa and told him what it was called. Grandpa's vocabulary must be very advanced now:)

See the attached pictures of us with Grandpa Marvin. We miss you!

In the clouds (at least mom's head seems to be there!)

Hey, I think I forgot to tell you that Mom has officially gone nuts...squirrels in the brain...early dementia, etc. as a few weeks back she seemed to completely forget her MANDATE to my dad that Josh and I would not be able to go for a flight in Daddy's plane until much later in our little lives. YES, you guessed it - the old girl caved in and we all went for a flight in the plane together. Much to mommy's dismay, everyone loved the flight and did very well. Of course, our first flight only consisted of a few trips around the pattern at the airport, but still, it really made Daddy's day. Needless to say he is a VERY happy camper! Don't worry, Daddy is an excellent pilot and our carseats were transferred from the car to the back seat of the airplane to ensure we were safe as possible.

Daddy took just me for a flight one other day too and Daddy said I was a great co-pilot. Once Josh is a little bit older, Daddy has big plans (of course, with Mommy's approval always) for us all to take mini family trips in the plane to nearby fun places such as Monterey, San Diego, etc.! How fun! The only disadvantage that I currently see with Daddy's plane vs. the big airlines is that he doesn't serve the little drinks in a cup and offer little snacks.

See above for a few pics of me and Josh and Mommy at the airport hanging out. Mom and Dad especially love the last picture above as they say it most accurately captures mine and Josh's personalities! Hmmm, I wonder what they mean by that?? Mom says for you to just take a look at our expressions and you will understand what they mean!

San Diego or BUST!!!

Mommy says to tell you that she is sorry we have been so slack at posting to our blog lately. For some reason, she seems to think that she has a lot going on and a lot of distractions and people to take care, etc. Really, what is so hard about managing three boys?!? (Ha, ha, I hope Daddy is in a good mood when he reads that one, but you know, it really is the truth!)

We all headed to our favorite vacation spot a week or so ago - San Diego. This time we stayed in a hotel and Josh and I thought it was the most fun thing we have ever done. We were both excellent travelers per mom and dad. We were both good listeners, happy and polite at the airport (even with a 1 1/2 hour delay right at dinnertime) during the flight and upon our arrival that evening. We searched every inch of our hotel room including opening every possible cabinet and door until we felt satisfied that there was nothing else to see. We both went right to sleep in our own sleeping places (J in crib and me in a big bed all to myself) and slept all night without a peep from either one of us!

The next few days were filled with trips to Sea World, Legoland and the San Diego Zoo. We really had a blast and I can't wait to go again. Another fun perk of staying at the hotel is that we also got to go swimming twice in the indoor pool which I absolutely LOVED! Josh and I were also very taken with the super huge KOI fish in the atrium and the all you can eat breakfast bar that was available to us every morning. Josh would yell at the top of his voice "FISH" upon exiting our room every morning. It was very funny!

Mom and Dad asked me during our last night what I thought was the most fun thing about our trip. Mom and Dad both said that they liked Sea World the most, but you know what I said?....I said that I liked staying at the hotel!!! Ha! Ha! Enjoy our pictures and Mommy says that she and I will post another update very soon this time.

Hi, NO, and who's your Bobby?

Baby J is now walking and talking up a storm, however, a lot of the things he says don't really make sense and make me laugh and laugh. He definitely understands "Hi" and loudly greets anything and everyone who comes across his path. He waves his little hands and everyone who sees him gives him a big grin, greets him and laughs. We love this and hope it continues.

A less desirable use of his communication skills involves the word "NO". For instance, whatever question you ask him now is vigorously responded with a head shaking "NO". I think this is hilarious, but mom and dad don't really think as much as of it as I do. I like to say "Josh do you want to do {insert here} and he responds in his cute little voice "No" and shakes his little head side to side. It really is very cute, but I am helping mom to also teach him to nod his head and say "Yes"! It really doesn't matter what you ask him, you will always get the answer no. Tonight daddy asked Baby J if he wanted to ride a pony and eat cupcakes all day long and guess what response he received? You got it!

Um, by the way, did I mention that Mom and Dad say that I was INSTRUMENTAL in teaching him this new "NO" skill?

The other funny thing that Baby J has been doing is calling everyone "Bobby". We are not sure where he came up with this - perhaps Bobby is poltergeist that only Baby J can see or perhaps he is just messing with us, but it is funny as ever. He just says it over and over and addresses people as Bobby. I can't wait until we meet someone that is actually named Bobby - they will think the little guy is a genius! Of course, we all think he is a genius anyway - I mean, come on, he is MY brother!

Later.