Some job prospects are emerging for Joel based on his personality/interests…

Military – Joel likes to bark orders (in mostly his own language) at people and dogs. He’s kind of our little drill sergeant… The best example is if we ask, “Joel, should we feed the dogs?” He’ll start running from wherever he is at top speed, yelling at the dogs, and if they’re slow to come to their food area, he’ll get behind them and physically push them, continuing to scream at them (because heaven forbid they miss a meal)…

He’ll also yell at us to get the bowls to their right places and yell at us to pick them up when the dogs have finished their meals. He’s kind of like this about other chores too – he wants things done right, and he wants them done now. Also, his life motto seems to be, “Never leave anyone behind.” So pretty much everyone present in the house needs to join him for bedtime or whatever else he’s doing, and if they try to skip out, he’ll go get them!

Waste management – Joel loves taking out the garbage and picking up trash in general. He also loves to watch out the window when the garbage truck comes by. He’ll pick up the tiniest trash (dirt) particles from the floor to throw them away, or, if there’s no real trash to pick up, he’ll pretend to pick up trash. Sometimes, if he isn’t in the mood to do it himself, he’ll point to whatever it is he wants picked up and demand that someone else do it. I can just see him driving a trash truck someday, screaming at a co-worker who’s inadvertently allowed a piece of trash to escape into the street.

Something related to construction – Joel’s favorite books all have to do with dump trucks, and he can correctly point to all of the different “trucks,” so I’ve had to learn to properly identify a concrete truck, skid steer, excavator, bulldozer, boom truck, crane, backhoe, flatbed truck… I’ve probably missed something…

Homemaker – Joel knows what needs to be done to manage a household and will help make sure it gets done (especially unloading the dishwasher because NOTHING is more exciting). One day his babysitter Emily came over and Joel pointed to the vacuum, so I was like, “Hey Emily if you could just vacuum for like ten minutes to appease him, that’d be great…” Well about two hours later she was still vacuuming, because every time she tried to stop, Joel yelled, “Ma! (More!)”

We recently interviewed someone for nanny help, and she kind of turned up her nose when I implied that we’d expect her to do light housework (like WTF?), so then I was like, “Well actually, it doesn’t matter what we expect, because Joel will be expecting whoever it is we hire to do light housework.”

Basketball player – I mean… The kid’s tall.

Baseball player – Joel can throw things a mile. (I swear it’s a long way for his age, but also, like what the hell do I know? Because we get about zero interaction with the outside world around here, because hello, anxiety and flu season, so I have no method of comparison here…) It just sucks when it’s a book he’s throwing at your head.

Pilot – We have like 1,800 planes fly over our house each day, and Joel points to every single one of them (at least it seems this way), even if we’re inside the house and he can’t see them. He’s usually the only one who hears them, as I guess everyone else just tunes them out.

Shepard (does this exist in the modern day?) – Joel loves to attempt to corral the dogs from the backyard into the house. He’s like a cattle dog herding other dogs.

Barista (or barrister?) – Joel loves to help people make coffee and carry coffee cups around and pretend to drink coffee. He has strong microwave skills and could probably heat up a spinach feta wrap. He’s basically ready for Starbucks.

It’s fun to see Joel’s personality continue to emerge. I’m thinking we have a strong willed child on our hands. My doctor (who’s seen me through all of my pregnancies) recently implied it might not be possible for Mark and I NOT to have a strong willed child, so there’s that… Hehe.

Also, I may or may not be writing these lighter posts because I have no time, and it’s just easier, but maybe (I’m hoping) I’ll be able to dive into something deeper later…