I Love You Choo Choo

The other evening, on the way home from the grocery store, Joseph said his first unprompted "I Love You". But rather than directing these sweet words to me, his beloved mother, his exact words were: "I love you Choo Choo." We were driving alongside the Metra tracks, and Joseph was trying to coax a train to come along. "Choo Choo, where are you? Come on Choo Choo. Come on. I love you Choo Choo..." Joseph has always loved watching the trains chug along the tracks. But it is only recently that this mild interest has morphed into a full-blown obsession. Joseph absolutely loves Thomas the Tank Engine. It's usually the first thing he asks for when he wakes up in the morning. Heck- we have even heard him say "Thomas" out loud while sleeping! Nama (Grandma Linda) recently brought Joseph a small, adorable Thomas train set. As you can see in the pictures- he is crazy about it! So if you are wondering what Joseph is up to these days- it most likely has something to do with trains. Stay tuned for Halloween pictures. Joseph is going to dress up as Thomas the Train!

Another favorite of Joseph's is his blue bunny rabbit. As many of you have seen first hand, Joseph sleeps with his bunny every night. He got it as a gift from our neighbors Laurel and Vanessa for his first Easter. When Joseph began getting teeth (a year ago), he started chewing on the bunny's little puffy tail. Youssou and I washed that bunny religiously, but over time, even the heat of the washer and dryer could not keep that tail from being mangy. So recently, the bunny underwent tail-removal surgery. We are pleased to let you know that his tail was removed without complications, and he is still much loved by Joseph. If you look closely in the picture above, you can see the surgery scar along his rear end, where his tail used to be.

The Diatta family is once again moving. This is one annual habit that we most definitely need to break! We tried to renew the lease of our current apartment-even though we have never liked living here- but there have been some complications with our landlord. So we are now packing up and heading out. We will e-mail out our new address. Our new home seems to be very nice. We'll be back in Oak Park, the community we feel most at home in. We are moving on November 1st- the day after Halloween. So after we take Joseph trick or treating- we will be up all night to finish packing. And if you are wondering why I am writing such a long blog now- it's because I am tired of packing! But, I had better quit procrastinating and get back to work!