The Saga Continues...

I hope to finish the retelling of this story here, now so that it can be closed in 2006 and not revisited ever again! So, the urgent care dr. diagnosed Joshua with Fifth's disease, which is a virus. They made their diagnosis based on the rosy cheeks that he had developed that morning on the ride from Vegas. I asked about his lack of eating and drinking and my concern for dehydration and the dr said that he was ok, that once he got the medicine in him then he would start eating and drinking again. As long as we could get a little water in him every hour, he would be fine.

We returned home, picked up the script for Zyrtec and gave it to Joshua. He was pretty sleepy. We had a wonderful visit from the Owens side of the family and then Christmas Eve, Trina and I went to church. The guys and Mom and Dad O stayed home preparing and putting Joshua to bed. It was a nice service and it felt good to be at church.

Christmas - Joshua woke up a few times in the night and when he did I offered milk to him to drink. He had a few sips. He woke at 6:30am for the day and I brought him back to bed and gave him the bottle to finish. He finished it... and then threw it all back up on himself, Jason and me. Needless to say, we JUMPED out of bed and ripped the sheets off and then went to clean ourselves and Joshua up. The morning after that was fairly normal. Joshua was very tired but he did show interest in some of the wonderful presents that Santa, Grandma, Papa, Aunt Trina, Uncle Josh, Mommy and Daddy had brought for him. He got a Radio Flyer Tricycle and some very adorable clothes (to name a few things). He ate a couple of bites of food and had a few sips of water all morning. The lack of eating and drinking was getting scary. We gave him his next dose of medication when he was supposed to have it and took him for a walk, he fell asleep so we put him down for a nap. The rest of the day/evening was very business with the big family Christmas. He was very clinging, he continued to not eat and drink and he threw up once on Jason and then once when we went to put him to sleep. Finally, at 9 or 10 when the festivities had come to a close I was able to look up some information. The fifth's diseas diagnosis had been worrying me because he should have been getting better. When I checked the internet, I found that he only had one symptom of the virus, the rosy cheeks, but he had about 8 of the symptoms of dehydration. The site said we should be feeding him a teaspon of liquid a minute but he would take anything. I started trying everything to get him to drink - we had already tried pedialyte, pedialyte pops, water in a glass, milk, an eyedropper of fluids, nothing was working. I set a timer and tried to feed him fluids in his sleep. It worked once. Jason came in around 11:30 from the living room - we decided that it was time to seek help and called our dr in maryland. The dr said he needed to go to the emergency room. So at midnight on Christmas night we headed to the hospital.

The wait was two hours before we were seen. Once the Dr. examined him and determined that he was indeed dehydrated, she started him on an iv drip of 200 mL per hour. He screamed hysterically for one hour until they gave him tylonel with codeine. He was admitted to the hospital at 5am and the drip was decreased to 10 mL per hour. Once hydrated they needed to try and get him to want to eat and drink on his own. That finally happened on Tuesday evening but the dr. had already scheduled to have him stay the night and I was grateful that he would be in hospital one more night under supervision. They discharged him Wednesday morning at 10:15 am. He was a different boy - alert, playful, skin bright and full, lips no longer dry, eating and drinking.

We went back to Grandma and Papa O's house to nap and get ready for our red eye flight home. Joshua did well on the flight. I thought with the cold and congestion that he still had he would scream the whole way but he was ok. He had diarhea on the first leg but the dr said to expec that. We got into our home airport at 8:45am and were home to our house at 11:30 ish. Grandma V came home with us to help and we mostly just ate lunch, took care of the dogs and napped. That brings us about up to 3:25pm Thursday, where I began typing this story.

Joshua is doing great now. He is bright and happy. He is eating well and he will never remember any of this. If only Mommy and Daddy were so lucky. We will be happy to ring in the new year and put the last week behind us.

The beginning of the story...

We flew out to Grandma and Papa's on the 17th. Joshua still had a cough but he was doing well and he had a great flight. This being his third flying trip he is now a well seasoned traveler. :-) Monday and Tuesday were pretty low key days, we were just adjusting to the time zone and visiting. On Wednesday, Joshua visited with his cousins Sawyer and Jasper and got to see Aunt Nancy, Joy, Tami, Shannon and Grandma. It was a fun visit. He liked having other LP's (Little People) to play with. On Thursday, he went with us to visit Jason's friends for pizza and lights. Although, he konked out before we got to the lights and returned to Grandma and Papa's house to sleep. He liked it at Kelsey's(3) house, especially the large floor piano that she had. She was a bit concerned that he might try and leave with one of her toys but she did like the company.

Friday morning we were up early to head out to see Uncle Josh and Aunt Trina and the gang out their way. That is when the bad, deep cough began. We called our dr. and she told us the signs to look for if we needed to take him in. He already was eating only a little bit. He hadn't been eating well for a many days. His nose was runny and he was a bit cranky. The crankiness, coughing, inability to sleep well only got worse on Saturday and Sunday. He did however in that time enjoy a nice Christmas dinner with Aunt Wayneen, Uncle Bud and everyone on their side of the family. He got to see the Belaggio Christmas decorations, which were fantastic, and he went to visit all sorts of animals at a nearby state park. He saw ducks, geese, chickens, peacocks and horses. That was a highlight of the trip.

Sunday, on the way back from Aunt Trina and Uncle Joshua's we stopped at the urgent care center to have him looked at. The had crossed the threshold of what our dr. said were the signs that he needed to be taken in. more later...

How I spent my Christmas Vacation

You would expect a title like this from a school essay following summer break but I thought it was appropriate for our trip out to California this year. It was a hard trip and for anyone that has been in touch with us since Christmas that know what has been going on you understand what I mean when I say that it was 'a hard trip'. Coming home has been a relief but we still have not had that deep relaxing sigh you often take when returning home after a long trip. I will fill you in on what has happened since 3:25pm yesterday afternoon and then I will back track to Dec 17 when we left for our vacation.

We had gotten a follow-up appointment for Joshua for 4pm yesterday after returning home and were just about to walk out the door when he slipped, dropped the bowl of cheerios that he had been carrying and it shattered then he fell on it. He almost escaped unscathed but did end up cutting his hand. We were already on our way out the door to the drs office. Our neighbor, a paramedic, said that he should be ok so we left, with a butterfly bandage over the cut and got to the office. Luckily, the cut was deep but not wide and the dr said it would not need stitches. His dehydration has been rectified although he has lost a lot of weight and we need to work on packing on the pounds now. He will have a weigh check in a month or two when he is all better.

His cough was the next concern and after listening to his lungs the dr. put him on a nebulizer machine with albuteral. He responded well so we now own a neb machine and will be treating him twice a day until tuesday when he will be rechecked. He has infant asthma which is not uncommon for children who have excema and a family history of hay fever type allergies.

After the dr.'s visit we stopped to get his medication and some food and headed home. He fell asleep in the car and slept from 6:20-8:00 when we were getting ready to head to bed. We got him up, fed him and did our normal bed time routine. He went back down but didn't stay asleep. We finally got him to sleep at 10:15pm and he has been asleep ever since (it is 9am now) He is exhausted from many hard days and nights of little sleep and a lot of stress. We all are and are looking forward to a low key, laid back weekend.

I hope that is where our story ends. I will fill you in on the beginning later. For now, it is time for breakfast and a soothing cup of tea.

Another Tooth

We have been watching Joshua's bottom left molar. It has been pushing and growing and making it's way into Joshua's mouth and lo and behold we missed the tooth above it breaking through!! Joshua has about 4 teeth on their way now.

Preparing for Grandma's

This week has been busy as we prepare for Grandma's. We had Joshua's Christmas pictures taken on Monday at Walmart and we have been getting together with friends and family to exchange gifts and celebrate the season. On Sunday we had the Godparents over for dinner, Monday was Kim and Ellie, Tuesday we went to the Jacksons... Busy, Busy, Busy... but lots of fun.

Here is Joshua checking out a new ornament on the tree:



Here he is looking a lot like a photo I have see of his Grandma O.:

Joshua FINALLY got some sleep. Jason put him down when he woke up last night and Josh ended up sleeping 13 hours and then taking a two hour nap today. What a relief. He was still tired today and it looks like he is coming down with a virus but he is in good spirits.

After nap time today we went with Stephanie and her father (our neighbor) to a local farm and had fresh ice cream. Yes it was 41 degrees today but we got Christmas flavors (pumpkin, peppermint, etc) He had fun.

Noella will likely come home tomorrow after they remove the drain from the incision. I'll update here when she does. She is doing well.

I tried Christmas outfits on Joshua today. I found one I liked at JC Penney so I may go tomorrow and pick it up. I haven't really been happy with any of the ones that I have found so far. Let me know what you think of the ones in the photos....

Bath Time!

First of all, I visited Noella again this afternoon. She is much more swollen and bruised today. In fact, she is unable to open her eyes because her face is that swollen. However, this is not un-expected. She is doing VERY well and they have removed all of the iv's from her little body. She is only being monitored for heart rate and temp and she still has the drain in her head. She is eating well and moving around. She has been pulling off her bandages so she is feeling spunky :-)

Joshua had a terrible night last night. He went to bed ok and then woke up at 11:45pm. Determined that I was not going to bring him back to bed AGAIN I decided to try and get him back into his own bed.... 2 hours later Joshua won. He then woke up at 5:30 am and got up for the day at 6:45am. Definitely not enough sleep. Sonja was able to get him down for a nap at 10:15am and she and Jason woke him at 1:30 since they wanted him to sleep tonight. We then put him to bed early - 7pm. We are hoping for a better night tonight.

He did have fun tonight splashing in the bathtup with Jason taking photos. You can see them on our flickr account here is just one:

climbing

Joshua is climbing everywhere! Here he is on the kitchen table. He climbed up here about 5 times. I finally just moved the chairs into a room that he can't access so that I could cook dinner.

Noella is looking wonderful. I went to visit her today and was soooo happy to see my little princess :-)

Good News!

Noella's surgery went as the dr.'s had hoped and she is now recovering. They will be moving her down a floor this morning. We are hoping to visit around lunch time. They expect to discharge her Saturday or Sunday.

Joshua is down for a nap (9am) he was up at 5:30am and didn't sleep well last night. Mommy is going down for a nap now too!!

Praying for cousin Noella

Today is a day of prayer as Joshua's cousin Noella undergoes surgery on her skull to correct her bones from fusing prematurely.

Joshua likes to add words in groups. Yesterday he said, 'duck,' 'quack-quack,' 'Nettie,' and 'apple'. Language is really clicking for him now and he likes to add the names that he is learning to the objects that he is seeing.

Friday and Saturday

Yesterday was a monumentous day for Joshua. While I was at work he climbed out of the pack-n-play. We knew it was only a matter of time since he was showing signs the other day of climbing out of the crib, hence the reason we moved him INTO the pack-n-play. He hasn't done it again but the ability is there!

Also yesterday we went downtown to see Santa arrive on a fire engine. Josh was a little bit freaked out by the siren of the engine. But he did like seeing Santa. We didn't make him sit on Santa's lap. And, we were all impressed when Santa waved his arm and the Christmas tree lit up. He is amazing!! After that we walked around to a Christmas Shop and Joshua picked out his ornament for this year. It began to down pour while we were in the shop so we just stayed and wondered around. Joshua loved all the sparkling lights, bells, and little moving things to look at.

Today, we mostly just hung out. Jason is working on his final project and busy, busy, busy. This evening Joshua and I went to the church's going away party for our pastor. It was a surprise party and a lot of fun. Joshua finally eat a real meal. It has been since he got sick about two weeks ago that he has eaten anything substantial. He had a huge meatball, bread, cranberry sauce and a cookie. Since he has been looking a little bit thin, I was very pleased to see his appetite return!

Words, Words, Words!!

Today was another beautiful day. The weather was warm and the skies were blue. I had Joshua run around outside with me while I cleaned up the yard. He found my marigolds and picked one. Then he proceded to wonder around the yard saying, 'flower.' He also added 'Dirty' and 'Pretty' to his list of words. He now can say about 45 words not including the signs and sounds that he makes. It is wonderful to hear him communicating. Some of his words are very clear like Bye-Bye and Eyes and others like, 'flower' are more like 'ow-er'.

He also decided to try and climb out of his crib today. He throw his little foot up to the top of the rail. Other objects that he has done that to he has succeeded in mounting withing a week or two. So, tonight we moved him into his pack-n-play so that if he does climb out he is not falling as far. We will be getting a bed and moving him into that maybe this weekend. This should be an interesting transition.

Noella's Baptism

Today was Joshua's cousin Noella's baptism. She was joined by Nanny Grandma, Aunt Jo, Me-Maw, Grandad, Dylan, Mommy, Daddy, cousin Joshua, me and her other set of Godparents.



Noella's surgery is scheduled for December 6 at Hopkins. We are all praying for the doctors that will be performing the surgery and for Noella that she may be healed.

Joshua said, 'Papa', today. We have photos of his Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents that he doesn't see often in his room and we often point them out to Joshua so that he knows who they are. It was wonderful to see that he is aware of them and can recognize them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joshua enjoyed a wonderful visit from his Aunt Jill and Aunt Tara over the Thanksgiving Holiday. He would have visited with everyone else more if his cold were not still lingering. As it was, he was only able to spend Thanksgiving Day with his cousins, aunts and grandparents. In spite of the cold, he has been adding his words and tricks to his repetroir including screwing the lid on the oranged juice bottle, saying 'brush', 'dirty', 'baa' for sheep and breakfast. He helps us read the book, 'Five little pumpkins' by 'ooo' ing and blowing at just the right time and he now will point to pictures and say their name or sound without prompting. It has been a busy week!

Sick Day

Joshua had a sick day today. He will probably have one again tomorrow. He has a bit of a cold and so his nose is running and he is irritable. But in spite of that he still had a pretty good day. He is repeating everything we say and repeated 'who-wee' :-) after Jason said it. He has been playing with his shape sorter and sat in his booster seat at the dinner table for an hour while I prepared dinner and then while we ate and played with his toy and ate. He is also climbing all over everything. We had to move the couch and an end table because of his more dangerous climbing adventure. He got a 'time out' chair from Great Uncle Ray and was using that to climb on. He also liked moving it around the house (it wasn't that small!)



He says 'bye-bye' now when someone leaves, when he leaves and when he hears someone else say it. That is his favorite time to talk, when you are having a conversation and he picks up on a word he knows, he'll just respond to it. It is great because it is so out of the blue!

Yesterday and then today again Joshua got to spend time with Meemaw (Grandma V.) She came out to watch him while Jason and I went to the Opera and then stayed the night. They had fun playing with cars and the shape sorter.

New Words

"Choo - Choo" for the train and he now says "Toes". He is climbing all over everything and loves to take your hand (figure maybe) and lead you to whatever he wants

Goodnight stars, Goodnight air....

Joshua's word of the day (yesterday) is 'star' and he points to the picture when he says it :-)

First Blood Test

Joshua had his first blood test today. It was part of us 12 month check up (just done separately). The technician was great and Joshua did awesome, much better than mommy and daddy usually do!



Last night, Joshua matched pieces of his animal puzzle book to the correct pages. He is climbing all over everything and identifying items he recognizes. He loves to take someone's hand and point to, touch or lead them to an item he is interested in.

His sleep has been off for over a week now and we are unsure if he is getting his molars in but that may be causing the upset. I hope we can get him back on a regular sleep schedule soon.

Big Photo Upload

I uploaded a bunch of photos from this weekend. I didn't have time to add descriptions but at least they are up and ready to be viewed.

An attempt

... to photograph Dylan and 5 children under 3 years old...

From left to right, Lily(2), Stephanie(2), Dylan(9), Violet(4 mo) (on Dylan's lap), Joshua(1) (sliding off the couch in a tantrum), Noella(5 mos).

Goodbye Pop Pop

Today, we said goodbye to Great Grandpa. He passed this morning at the hospital where he was being treated for pnuemonia. It was a sad day. We have been remembering the good memories of all the years passed and missing him already.

Weekend

Today was a big birthday party. We celebrated for Jason, Amy and Omar today with a lunch out, cake and presents. Joshua did great at the resturant. This was his first time out since Jason's birthday Oct 12. We vowed after that day to only take him out when necessary. While at Grandma's we dressed him up in his costume for Halloween so that everyone in Eldersburg could see him.



Joshua is responding now consistently to 'Old McDonald'. You need only say the name of the song and he replies with 'ee-ei-ee-ei-ee-ei". He hasn't gotten the 'o' part yet. But, if he only hears the tune he will add the chorus at the right time. If you sing the song, he will chime in when appropriate. It is so fun! Also, when listening to his car music cd he laughs after the tong twisters because the little boy resiting them laughs.

He is distinctly saying the words door and shoes now and we think he said, 'Josh' today. He has about 20-30 words now that he will say or sign.

Frosty Walks

Joshua has been enjoying the cool weather and we are still going out for walks. We just bundle up before we go...



He has been waking in the middle of the night for some reason and having a hard time getting to sleep on his own. However, this morning after his 4:30am waking and going back to his bed at 6am. He slept until 8:45am when I finally went in to get him up!! He is down for a nap now and has been asleep for almost 2 hours.

He is a photo for the magazines, the soft light and silouette makes it wonderful!

New Words

Today was story time at the library, same as every Tuesday. There are a few routines that we have in place :) He has been saying lots of new words. Recently, it has been almost one a day. Yesterday, I handed him the Bible that he received from Mom Beam for his baptism. I said the word, 'Bible' and he said "Bible.... Bible, Bible, Bible" :-) It was cute. He has repeated that one a number of times since then. He likes 'B' words. He said, 'kitty' today and 'upstairs' today. On Sunday, he said 'magnet' but I don't expect he will repeat that one for a while. Sometimes he just repeats what we say but doesn't really understand the word.

Yesterday, we visited Pop-pop in his new home. The ladies there liked him :-) We also visited Nanny and had dinner with her and then went over to Grandma V's and Grandad's to say 'hi'. Grandad fed Joshua lots of grapes and bananas which he liked.

He is getting a bit pickier with his food choices recently. Things he liked last week he will no longer eat this week but in general he is still eating well. He likes most fruit, yogurt, ice cream, whole wheat bread, chicken, brocolli and PEAS. He likes to spear his peas with fork.

He is beginning to understand relationships, hats go on your head, shoes go on your feet, etc. For fun, Joshua will spin around until he is dizzy, or shake his head and walk. Yesterday he nodded, 'yes' instead of just the normal 'no' shake.

He is in bed now for a good night's sleep, hopefully :-)

'Round and round he goes, where he'll stop, nobody knows!

Joshua had a busy day today. First he visited Gr' Goshmommy Beam :-) Although, much too short, we had fun playing with kitty balls as rattles, the piano and a flute/recorder type instrument. He received his first Bible and wonderful board-book version with latch and handle. After that visit, we went to Trey's (born 4 days after Josh) First Birthday Party. Josh at a fantastic lunch, which he hasn't done in days, and had fun playing with the other kids. Then we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home.

At home this evening, while getting ready for bed, he started spinning around in circle. It was cute and he got himself a little bit dizzy, also funny :-) He said two new words yesterday, 'bottle' and 'banana'. He likes 'b' -words. He is getting really good a the word 'balloon' of which he has two left over from his party last week. He pulls on the ribbon attached to the balloon so he can bring it down to his level.

Last night, while watching tv, because a ball came bouncing at us, we turned to find him sittin on an end table with his legs dangling over the edge. It must have taken some effort to get up on top of the table but he did it quickly and quietly. He is generally very careful during these adventures and doesn't bump or fall. He very stealthly slipped off the table moments after throwing the ball.

He is also able to open doors. We have the kind with lever handles. Nothing is safe.

He had a very good dr.'s visit on Thursday. He weighs 22 lbs 7 oz and is 32" tall. The dr. was impressed with his language development and motor skills and he seems to be healthy.

Happy FIrst Birthday, Joshua!!

Today, Joshua Lang turned one year old today. We had a wonderful weekend with family and friends. Grandma and Papa, Uncle Josh and Aunt Trina came into town on Saturday morning. After turning Joshua's car seat around to face the front, we all hoped in the car to go pumpkin pickin'. We found a farm that had bins of pumpkins as well as some on the ground and Joshua had fun wondering around through them all. Grandma help him pick one that was just his size and he proceeded to carry that little one all over. We also picked up apples, cider and acorn squash. Next we stopped at a dairy for fresh, home-made ice cream. It was a fun, rainy afternoon. Later we went home for soup, bread and wine. A perfect ending. After Joshua went to bed, Trina and I iced the cake (a dog, like blue's clues) and made favors.

Sunday was the big party day, Joshua knew something was up and was very irritable and wouldn't take a nap. The big event took place at 1:30 in the afternoon. We had lots of fun games planned. Everyone came, Aunt Jill, Aunt Tara, Aunt Amy, Tio Omar, Dylan, Stephanie, Noella, Great Grandma, Aunt Jo, Neighbor Stephanie and company, Mom-mom and Papa Cameron as well as Uncle Chris and Aunt Carie. In between games, Joshua had his first piece of cake and opened presents. After the party, with those stayed, we had a cook out dinner. The day couldn't have gone any better. It was wonderful.

Today, for Joshua's real birthday things were more laid back. We took a nice long walk with Papa, Uncle Josh, Aunt Trina and the doggies and then went to lunch when Grandad and Grandma V arrived to celebrate Daddy's birthday. After lunch we had brownies and cake at home before The west coast gang had to had back home. Ellie and Miss Kim came over for the desert and Joshua tried to feed Ellie his bottle. Daddy took everyone to the airport, Grandma and Grandad V. when home and the house was quiet. It was a good day but it was sad to see everyone go.

We are excited to see what this next year will bring. Joshua has been the most wonderful gift in our lives and brings us joy every day. I suppose every parent knows that but how awesome to experience it!

Lots of updates

Joshua is just full of new things these days. We have been playing lots of games with him. One of them is to put several objects (ball, boat, duck for example) in front of him and ask him to point to each one. He has that down. We can now ask him to bring us a ball and he will go and dig one out of his toy bin. Another game is to hide a toy under a cup and nothing under another cup and see if he can find the toy.

We have been showing him a magazine photo of a baby every day for at least a week. Every day we point out the baby in the photo's feature and the corresponding ones on Joshua. We then ask him where the baby's nose, eyes, mouth, etc are. He has take no interest and usually just crumbles the photo up. However today I asked him where the baby's nose was and he pointed to it and said, 'nose'. It was awesome! So I guess he has been listening.

As of Sunday he has been trying to feed himself with a fork. He has decided that he doesn't really like to be fed by someone anymore. Unfortunately, he is easily frustrated and it comes at a time when he is already hungry. But he is making great progress. He started out Sunday, spearing peas and then gagging himself with the fork. Now he can usually get something on the fork and the fork into his mouth pretty well. Today he started using a spoon with yogurt. WHAT A MESS!! He had a great time and eat just about the whole container on his own.

I am sure there is more but that is all I can think of now and it is getting late. I'll post more photos tomorrow...

Daily Happenings

I made a big entry yesterday and it must have gotten deleted somehow. :-(

Uh-Oh

Joshua has added 'uh-oh' into his repertoire of words which now includes dog, moo, dada, mama, ba (for ball), meow, down, and no. Joshie is a busy baby. No snuggling for him :-( But his ultimate cuteness makes up for it.

Giggling and making faces at Dad at dinner are "da best". Oh yes - he also shakes his head "no". Well, maybe more of a waggle, rotate, tip, dip, get dizzy shake, but still - shaking. I'm waiting for the up and down nod: "Yes, mommy, whatever you say."

I love my baby!

More pictures

Well we are back from traveling around the world in 7 days. We had an awesome time at the beach and I have posted some photos from that trip as well as California. Enjoy!

Other new things

The weekend was so busy I forgot to mention some of the other highlights including... Joshua got THREE new teeth between Wednesday and Sunday. He really starts DANCING whenever he hears music now and he will give you five if you put your hand out palm up. We had a great time and are very much looking forward to heading to the beach tomorrow. At Joshua's Dr.'s appointment this morning he weighed in at 22 pounds.

Visit to Grandma and Papa O

We arrived Wednesday around midnight and were home by 12:30ish. We put Josh down immediately but he didn't go to sleep. He was too excited. He finally fell asleep around 2:15 am and then woke up again at 5 am. He survived the airplane ride rather well but wouldn't sleep in the airport... way too exciting. So our first night he had about 5 hours of sleep total. He was a good boy though. Thursday we hung out for most of the day until Josh and Trina arrived in the evening.

Friday, was Tami and David's wedding. Prior to the big event we went to Sears and had family portraits taken. Josh just wouldn't crack a smile but he wasn't crying either. We had a wonderful lunch at BJ's Brewery. The wedding was at 6 in the evening and it was just beautiful. Tami looked spectacular and had chosen navy bridesmaids downs with a corsetted top which seemed to flatter everyone. The reception followed immediately and was a fun evening of visiting, dancing and eating. Joshua did great at the wedding and enjoyed meeting and seeing all the cousins, aunts and uncles he doesn't get to see very often. Aunt Donna lulled him to sleep and Aunt Trina held him while he slept for a good deal of the reception.

Today, we met with Jason's friends from high school and had pizza and played games at a 'Chucky Cheese' type place. We had a wonderful steak dinner with Josh, Trina, Grandma and Papa in the evening. Joshua pulled out three new tricks today. He started clapping, playing 'peek a boo' himself and blowing kisses. ALL TODAY! Amazing :-)

Visit to Grandma and Papa O

We arrived Wednesday around midnight and were home by 12:30ish. We put Josh down immediately but he didn't go to sleep. He was too excited. He finally fell asleep around 2:15 am and then woke up again at 5 am. He survived the airplane ride rather well but wouldn't sleep in the airport... way too exciting. So our first night he had about 5 hours of sleep total. He was a good boy though. Thursday we hung out for most of the day until Josh and Trina arrived in the evening.

Friday, was Tami and David's wedding. Prior to the big event we went to Sears and had family portraits taken. Josh just wouldn't crack a smile but he wasn't crying either. We had a wonderful lunch at BJ's Brewery. The wedding was at 6 in the evening and it was just beautiful. Tami looked spectacular and had chosen navy bridesmaids downs with a corsetted top which seemed to flatter everyone. The reception followed immediately and was a fun evening of visiting, dancing and eating. Joshua did great at the wedding and enjoyed meeting and seeing all the cousins, aunts and uncles he doesn't get to see very often. Aunt Donna lulled him to sleep and Aunt Trina held him while he slept for a good deal of the reception.

Today, we met with Jason's friends from high school and had pizza and played games at a 'Chucky Cheese' type place. We had a wonderful steak dinner with Josh, Trina, Grandma and Papa in the evening. Joshua pulled out three new tricks today. He started clapping, playing 'peek a boo' himself and blowing kisses. ALL TODAY! Amazing :-)

More Photos

I posted about 20 new photos from this past week. We are getting ready for our trip so things are busy! Joshua's latest sound/word is 'Achew' when he pretends to sneeze.

A,B,C...

Joshua's language skills are improving daily. He added "no" to his vocabulary last Friday and used it successfully last night with Grandad when Grandad told Joshua not to get into the cat food :-) He added "down" on Tuesday when getting out of his stroller. He added "bye" today when I was out to lunch with Miss Dorothy. Tonight when I read the lines, "Goodnight light and the red balloon" out of his story book he reached out for the light above his head. It is so much fun to see this communication appearing!

Since the 10th when we last posted we went to Ladew on Monday the 14th. There are photos. He loved looking at the butterflies an bugs flitting around, running on the grass towards the fountain and touching the flowers. On the weekend we went to the art fest downtown and had fun watching people and dogs wonder around. On Sunday we also went to Aunt Carie's birthdy party and had fun running around and playing outside. He thought he was a big kid! Tuesday Aunt Amy and Grandma met us to go shopping with Dylan, Stephanie and Noella, too. We also went out to eat. Wednesday we visited Nanny & Pop-pop then went to Grandma V's house. We also got a photo with the Dylan, Stephanie and Noella at Sears. Thursday we visited Miss Dorothy. It has been busy.

We are getting ready this weekend for our trip west and the beach after that. Check out the photos as I am adding new ones regularly. Tonight I posted a bunch from a photo shoot I did of Noella.

Baby Signs

We are working with Joshua on a few baby signs to help him communicate (not scream) what he wants to share with us. We have about three so far: waving 'bye bye', opening and closing his hand for 'more', and panting for 'dog'. We are also working on 'all done' and 'kitty'. He can already meow like a kitty. It is already helping a bit during dinner time. We are hoping to take the lead from Joshua as he begins to try and communicate more with us.

Beach, Birthday and More!

Over the weekend we enjoyed a visit from Aunt Beth, Uncle Ray, Janet and Matthew. It was the first time for Joshua to meet them and he did great. He is enjoying meeting new people now and warming up a lot faster. Here we are at the beach on Friday. We also went to First Fridays downtown that evening.



On Saturday, we visited everyone at Grandma's house. Then Sunday was a down day to recover from all the weekend festivities. We went swimming in the evening with Ellie, Kim & Ryan. Joshua went under water for the first time and did very well. He would have stayed in the water all night if it hadn't been dinner time. We had a fun hot dog dinner at Kim and Ryan's after the pool.

Tuesday was library time and then we spent the afternoon with Grace, Caleb, Chloe and Ben. We did it again on Wednesday, too. Wednesday was also Joshua's 10 month birthday. He measured about 30.5 inches and 21 pounds. My scale and measurements are not quiet as accurate as the dr. but we don't have another appointment anytime soon. His next one is 1 year.



Yesterday evening we had a visit from Joshua's godmother, Carie. She shared dinner with us and then went for a walk with Joshua and me. After that was bathtime, storytime and bedtime. It was so nice to have her there for our little routine.

First Word...

Joshua distinctly said his first word tonight, DOG. He was petting Jack at the time and said it twice.

This weekend we met with the other couples and their babies from our birthing class. It was neat to meet the babies and hear their birth stories. On Sunday we celebrated Stephanie's 2nd birthday at my parent's house. Today, Amy and Michelle came up with Dylan, Stephanie, Noella and Trey for a play date. It was a fun afternoon.

The weather is miserable so we are not getting out for our walks. We are just trying to keep cool.

Another Tooth

Just today I noticed that Joshua has another tooth coming down, his top right incisor.

We went to story time today with Kim, Ellie and Ryan and yesterday we met Carol Ann and her girls for lunch. After lunch we went to Grandma V.'s for a visit with the clan out there.

Tonight at dinner he took the fork I had loaded with food and fed himself. Then he proceeded to try and spear his own food, he was sort of successful and it was fun to watch!

This weekend we are meeting with the other families in our birth class, the first time since all the babies were born. It will be exciting to hear their stories and meet their children. All the babies are a few weeks apart except one that should have been born in December.

Dinner with Ellie and Kim

Tonight Joshua and I had dinner with Ellianna and Kim. It was a lovely meal followed by popsicles and a dip in the kiddie pool. Since it has been 100 today the pool was a lot of fun as was all the splashing. Josh and Ellie had a great time playing and did very well through dinner.

A few highlights

Joshua has a new voice... Donald Duck. He makes the silliest quaking sound and I don't know where he picked it up!

He likes doing laps in the kitchen now, up and down the hall around the island and repeat... When reading, Joshua turns the pages and when playing he puts the stacking blocks we have one inside the other.

We met with the other young moms in the church today and he played with Cassy, Ellie, Grace and Caleb. Now he is down for a nap.

9 Month Check Up

Joshua received a clean bill of health today. He now weighs 20 lb 6 oz and is in the 50th percentile for height (29") and weight. The dr is very pleased with the milestones he has reached and happy to see that he is eating and sleeping well.

I forgot...

Joshua has his two top teeth coming in, they cut through last night.

Wheels and things

Joshua received a special gift from our neighbors yesterday, a new car! It is a little car that he can sit on and move around or stand up and push from behind. It has all sorts of buttons to push and storage in the seat! He loves it! Here he is riding it in the kitchen today...



Also, yesterday we had Ellie, Kim and Ryan over for birthday cake for Ellie. It was a fun evening and the babies were great. We caught a few photos of them smashing cake. Today, Grandma and Grandad brought over the family piano for us to borrow. We can wait to practice on it. Joshua was enjoying pressing the keys this evening.

He is sleeping now, tomorrow will be another busy day. We are planning to go to a birthday party and swim!

He did it!

Joshua put himself to sleep last night. We laid him down, he fussed for 5 minutes and then put himself to sleep. The night before we check on him once and he continued to fuss but then put himself to sleep before we went up for a 2nd time. Sleeping is going much better as well. He wakes up once (twice at most) and is sleeping longer.

Joshua is a much happier baby these days and so playful! His walking is improving overnight. He pulls up on everything and walks about halfway across a room before sitting down. I 'baby-proofed' the kitchen and living room so he is currently crawling, pulling up and walking around these two rooms while I write.

For the 4th of July we just stayed close to home. Maybe next year we will catch a few fireworks for Josh to see.

Mini Meet East 2006

We spent the weekend in Frederick at the Mini Meet East. Joshua was a great traveler. He really enjoyed the RC Car Race, which Jason won for his group, and the autocross. Here is a shot of Joshua trying to 'help' Jason with his rc mini...



The autocorss really wore Joshua out, maybe it was the heat, anyway, he finally tuckered out at the end of the races...



It was a really fun weekend and now Jason is picking out his own 'real' mini.

First Steps - Solo

Joshua took his first steps on his own tonight (he is about 8 1/2 months old). He let go of one of the tan chairs he was using to hold himself up and walked towards Jason. After that, we made him repeat his new trick over... and over... and over. We got a little video, too. Can you tell we are proud parents :-)?

Kissy Kissy

Joshua started making kissing sounds yesterday and did it non-stop! He hasn't really associated the word 'kiss' to the sound but it is still pretty cute. The sleeping is going well and now we can put Joshua in bed, let him cry for about 10 min and then lay him down and he will go to sleep. He was definitely getting too big to 'walk' to sleep like we had been doing. He will usually sleep at least a couple of hours before needing a bit of formula or potty then he will usually sleep for 5-7 hours. What a huge improvement! Naps are now twice a day for 1.5 hours each and they are pretty much to a schedule. He has one at 9am and the second at 1 or 2pm. The next step to remove the need for us to lay him down after he fusses for 10 minutes. I think it won't take long to make that change, he is almost there already!

Here is a cute photo of Joshua after a bath:



Isn't he adorable!!!

Sleep Tight

Joshua slept 7.5 hours last night! I guess I am jinxing his success by writing this but it is exciting. I hope that it will happen again tonight. He is waving and doing 'so big' all the time. We are excited to see what else he can do :-)

This morning we will be going for a walk with Ellie and Miss Kim. We have to get out of the house before the temperature spikes and makes the humidity unbearable.

Joshua has been eating all sorts of new things including lumpy oatmeal, pieces of watermelon, banana and potato and spoonfuls of spaghetti o's.

So Big!

Joshua made the 'so big' motion at lunch today after I asked, 'How big is Joshua'.



Joshua loves eating table food. He has had Tibetan food, beef stew and chicken pot pie. Today he ate little pieces of bananas and watermelon. He is such a big boy!

That's it! I am goin' to Aunt Trina and Uncle Josh's

Joshua is all packed and ready to go...



I wonder if the airline will take him?

Weight Check

Joshua went to the dr.'s today for a weight check and passed! He had not been gaining as well as the dr. had hoped for the last two visits so he was back in today. He weighed in at 19 pounds 13 ounces and 29 inches long. Yippee!



This weekend he drove to Connecticutt for the first time to visit Aunt Jill and Aunt Tara. He did great! We went to see Jill perform on Friday evening and had a wonderful time out. Joshua did well for Grandma and Grandad babysitting. On Sunday we surprised Jill for her 30th birthday. Joshua had lots of time to play with cousin Stephanie. He did better towards the end of the trip but early in the visit every time Steph would squeal Joshua would lose it (cry). Such a sensitive child! Joshua also ate table food for pretty much the first time (mostly because I forgot his food!). So, Joshua's first food was Tibetan and he loved it. He is such a world traveler :-) He had a yogurt dish and a potato, avacado curry salad.

Happy 8th Month Birthday Joshua!

Joshua is eight months old today. In a few minutes we will be heading to CT for his first trip to Aunt Jill & Aunt Tara's house. We are going to see Aunt Jill perform tonight. Joshua is all over the house now crawling. Jason says that he is a 4x4 vehicle plowing through pillows, steps, toys and anything else in his way!

He is getting close to walking and often lets go of whatever he has pulled himself up on. Better get going...

Little fishie...

Joshua had his first dip in the pool yesterday and we are planning to go again today. He was a little bit concerned at first. We put him in slowly but was soon splashing and chattering along. We picked up a little floating device with a sunshade to put him in.



He now can move across the floor 'crawling'. He sticks one leg out to the side and folds the other underneath. It is quite a funny site but he can move! Now he is busy trying to get into things he shouldn't like the dog food bowls, climbing on the book case and dumping everything off the coffee table.

Have a great Memorial Day!

It won't be long now!

Joshua is really rocking and scooting now. I don't think it will be much longer until he is crawling. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to add an update tonight!

He is starting to gain weight again, too. It is nice to see those chunky thighs and chubby cheeks back. He takes formula during the day and mommy's milk at night. He has been eating a lot, too. His favorite foods are bananas and yogurt but he also eats oatmeal, sweet potatoes and pears. He only takes a few bites of peas and carrots but we are working on it.

Some more milestones...

Yay! Joshua can now get himself into a sitting position from either his tummy or his back. He also loves to stand up by himself by pulling up on anything in the vicinity (including the doggies!) I suppose we can't put off the baby-proofing any longer...

He also just started picking things up with his thumb and forefinger. Time to start some finger foods...

We'll try and get some more pictures posted this weekend :-)

A Day at Ladew

Joshua and Jason took me to Ladew Topiary Gardens today for Mother's Day. We spent the afternoon wondering around, smelling flowers and watching the leaves blow in the breeze. Joshua loved all the sights and sounds. He was tired but didn't fall asleep, he didn't want to miss anything!



When we returned home, Jason turned on music while I fed Josh YoBaby yogurt and Joshua bobbed his head along. It was hilarious! He also started waving. It is intermittent but I am sure he will pick up the frequency!

Happy 7th Month Birthday!

Joshua is 7 months old today. The past couple of weeks have been busy with firsts. First

• plane ride out to California
  
• meeting Jason's Aunts, Uncles and cousins
  
• drive longer than 1.5 hours and visit to Las Vegas
  
• walk around the inside of the pack n play
  

He now pulls himself up regularly and then just lets go. Litte dare devil. He is at a very fun age and we are enjoying the time.

2nd Tooth

Joshua cut his second tooth today in the afternoon. Grandma V. came over to help me pack by keeping Joshua occupied. They played together, napped and took a long walk with a stop at the playground. When daddy came home, Joshua pushed up to all fours for the first time. This is the first sign he has shown of crawling... won't be long now!

Happy Easter!

Joshua's first Easter was a wonderful day spent with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents. We attended church in the morning at my parent's church and then went back to Grandma & Grandad's house for Easter dinner. He ate bananas for the first time yesterday and had them again today this morning. He also ate more than a tablespoon of food tonight (sweet potatoes & oatmeal with peas for desert, yum!) a first! It must be that tooth that cut through yesterday :-)



Yesterday, Joshua enjoyed a day of shopping with Aunt Amy, Aunt Stephanie (my cousin), little Stephanie, Lily, Great Aunt Betty & Nanny. He tooled around in the umbrella stroller we are borrowing from friends and fell asleep in it. He did great with being passed around and meeting new people. We were so proud of him!

Good Friday

Today, Joshua met his Great Aunt Betty and Uncle George as well as his cousins, Stephanie, Kurt and Lily. Dispite Uncle George's best efforts, Joshua screamed at him for the entire drive to get ice cream. He apparently took right to Stephanie, and she entertained him on the ride home. He even let her hold him :-) Tio Omar showed Joshie all around Bomboys Candy Shop and introduced him to raspberry ice cream which he liked very much.

Pulling Up

Joshua hit another milestone yesterday, he pulled himself up. We had just finished a nice walk with Kim and Ellie and were enjoying the sunny 70 degree day in the backyard on a blanket. The stroller was parked near the blanket. Josh was sitting and reached forward, grabbed the wheel of the stroller and stood up. Now all he wants to do is sit or stand, no more laying down for this little one!

Joshua also had his 6 month checkup yesterday morning. He is now 17.5 inches long and 18 lbs 2 oz. He received several vaccinations.

We are getting ready for our trip next week. If you didn't receive the email about our plans for Cali, please give me a call or send me an email, I'll fill you in on the details.

Baptism

Yesterday was Joshua's baptism. It was attended by his Grandma V., Grandad, Tia Amy, Tio Omar, Dylan, Stephanie, Aunt Jill, Godfather Chris, Godmother Carie and family friends Richard & Donna with their children. The service was wonderful. Pastor Fritz had the children bless the font during the children's time, he incorporated baptism into the sermon and then there was the ceremony after the sermon. The congregation welcomed and blessed Joshua as we walked around the church so it was a very special time.



This week Joshua has been sitting up on his own for extended periods of time. He can rebalance himself if he is leaning over too far. He also started pulling himself up in the pack n play so he is no longer safe in there alone.

We are going out for a walk now since it is a beautiful day out. I hope to get on and write more later.

Long time no hear!

Wow! It has been two weeks since we posted... sorry for the delay.

Jason was out of town last weekend but Joshua and I survived. Joshua loves seeing daddy come home every time. He is really warming up to people (other than mommy) now. Looks like he is starting to get over the 'stranger anxiety' that he has been suffering from. The trick we found was to have whomever was holding him ignore him until he makes gestures to interact. Seems to be working.

He is rolling back to front and front to back now and likes to be on his tummy. He now sleeps on his side or his tummy because he puts himself in those positions. Sleep is no longer still, he moves all around these days but on an upside, he is starting to sleep longer. I think a lot of his sleep problem for the past two months had to do with the terrible rash that he had. We are working on fixing that and everyone seems happier.

We have been working on oatmeal, the sippy cup and sweet potatoes. He likes the sweet potatoes the best. We just started those last night.

Today, we all spent a good deal of time outside working on the yard. Still more to do. Josh likes to be outside when he can see mommy and daddy. So, we put him in his jumper to play along side of us.

Next weekend is his baptism. We are really looking forward to that. It will be during church service on Sunday.

Friday & Saturday

Friday, was a beautiful day of almost 80F. We took a nice walk with Ellie and Kim to the swings.





On Saturday, Jason, Joshua and I got ourselves going early and headed to the National Aquarium in Baltimore with Ryan, Kim and Ellie. We had a blast. Joshua loved the fish, sharks, birds, frogs and all the people we saw. After the Aquarium, we ate at 5 Brothers Burgers & Fries then headed home. It was a great day and Joshua did a very well. When we returned home, Stephanie & Harry had us over for more burgers and brats with beer. Josh, still in a good mood, wooed the hosts then after a fight, fell asleep for the night.

Happy 5 Month Birthday!

Today we took things easy since I was sick... but we did get outside to enjoy the sunshine. It was in the low 60's today. A regular heat wave!!

Joshua had a good 5 month birthday and is now in bed. Be sure to check on the pictures from today on Flickr.

Updates

Joshua has figured out how to use the jumper now and loves to spend time in it. The dogs often walk over to see what he is up to, he gets excited and jumps and they get banged in the head.

He is rolling all around now. Diaper changes have become more interesting because of this. But it is fun to see him pulling his legs up and flipping over at will.

He is grabbing everything he sees these days. Nothing is safe!

Over the weekend we drove to the 'burg for Aunt Jo's birthday dinner. We had a nice long walk with Grandad and Mr. Mark. He loves walks! He was most disagreeable however when we tried to pass him around.

On Monday, we went for a walk with Kim and Ellie and swang on the swings at the playground for the first time. He loved it and ended up falling asleep to the gently swinging.

Today, we met CarolAnn and Abby at the mall to visit and then drove to see Mary, Amelia and Rebecca at their house. He did pretty well but his naps were all messed up and he became very grumpy by the end of the day.

Several people have said, 'He's teething' so that may be the case. We'll see when the teeth come through!

Just the usual

Nothing much new is going on. We are still working on sleep. This weekend Joshua decided he no longer liked the crib and has been waking up 5-15 min after we put him down until we decide to bring him into bed with us. Then he sleeps for 2 hours. He went to the dr yesterday to have a diaper rash checked out. Seems the little whipper snapper has sensitive skin and a rash that just wouldn't go away. Things are looking a bit better today after following the dr's recommendations. He weighed in at 18 pounds yesterday.

I look this photo yesterday. He loves chewing on this cup. He also likes his rings and a big plastic safety pin rattle.

Playing in the Snow

Joshua had a long playtime with Grandma and Papa via our video chat. Since we had a good snow last night (about 10-12 inches) we bundled the bambino up in his bear bunting and tossed him in the snow. He was curious and sneezed a lot since it was so bright. We kept the event short since it was time for his nap but we did get pictures which I will post later.

Feb 10

Today Joshua had another babysitting session with our neighbor. He gave her a bit of a hard time. Lots of hollaring as soon as I left. I suppose this will get better.

4 Month Birthday

Joshua turned 4 months old today. He went in this morning for his 4 month checkup. His weight is 17.5 pounds (95th percentile) and height 26.5 inches (90th percentile). He had his next round of vaccinations and did very well.

He has learned to blow raspberries and has been entertaining himself with this new trick. After the dr. appointment, Joshua enjoyed a visit from Miss Kim and Ellie.

Busy Bee

After Joshua's big roll-over last week he has only done it one more time. And, to Jason's disappointment, that time wasn't in front of him! I think everyone thinks I dreamed Joshua rolling over BUT... I have evidence on video :-)

Last week, we had a nice visit from Grandma Vasbinder and also Aunt Jo. We are working on the sleeping still. He had 4 nights of 5, 4, 3.5, 3.5 long stretches but then last night was another 1-2 hour night. I think that what we are learning from 'the no-cry sleep solution' is working but there will always be fluctuations. We have started back working on IPT again. I needed to get Joshua sleeping longer again before I went back to the potty time. So today we begain again and have had a good deal of success. We are still working on eating. I trying feeding him the rice cereal 1-2 times a day. So far we have yet to get a full ounce in him in a day but we will keep practicing!

This week Joshua will turn 4 months old and have his 4-month dr checkup on Thursday.

Sitting UP and Baby Sitting

Joshua sat up on his own for the first time yesterday evening. Jason had him sitting on the island (I think I would have chosen a lower location... but Daddy was right there the whole time) and he was just sittin' holding his rings, which he loves.

Today, he went to Ellianna's house while I went to work. Kim watched both the little ones. When I came back, both he and Ellie were sleeping on Kim and Ellianna had her arm around Josh, how sweet! Kim said he did pretty well and that babies just played together and entertained each other.

A Family Stroll

Today was a bad day for naps... but we did get a nice stroll in around the neighborhood. We bundled Joshua up, well not too much, it was about 50 F! Very warm for January. He fell asleep towards the end of the walk. Afterwards, we let him sleep in the stroller while we enjoyed the warm afternoon on the front steps. He woke up and we tried a little feeding again. He likes to help move the spoon into his mouth. Check out the photos to the right, there are more on flickr.

first bites

Joshua had his first taste of solid food yesterday. After dinner we fed him a bit of rice cereal mixed with my milk. I am not sure how much actually ended up in his stomach. He was wearing most of the cereal on his bib when we were finished but I think all in all the event went rather well. We will try again today. Jason took video so maybe we can get that up for everyone to see, soon.

Rolling Over

Joshua grabbed his feet and rolled over today!

Here he is after he did it the first time.

The weekend

Joshua had a busy weekend with Grandma and Grandad Vasbinder out for a visit. They arrived on Friday evening and we all went to Pennsylvania on Saturday to enjoy lunch at a brewery there. Sunday, G & G joined Joshua and I at church. I think he wants to join the choir! He has good lungs. Grandma thinks he is going to play the bagpipes ;-) Monday, Joshua and Grandma spent lots of time together while, Grandad and I worked on the room in the basement. Jason was working on Uncle Josh's software.



The swaddling is continuing to work and has helped us to establish a bit of a schedule. He has a night time routine that begins at 7:30pm with a bath, pj's and then snuggling/nursing time. We put him down, swaddle him and turn on his music. Then he usually wakes once within the hour and just wants a bit of help getting back to sleep. He wakes about 4-5 times in the night. He has been waking in the morning about 7-7:30pm. Then he takes a morning nap, a noon-time nap and a longer afternoon nap. As long as we are at home, I swaddle him and put him in his crib to sleep. If we are out it is either the carseat or the sling. The routine has been great and I hope it continues for at least a little while.



He is really beginning to respond to Jason. Daddy plays silly games with Joshua's legs and makes funny faces at him. He squeals with delight and I think is beginning to giggle!

Nap Time

So, the past several days have been an effort to move Joshua towards better sleeping patterns. Up until recently we allowed Joshua to fall asleep in our arms, while nursing or just go to bed when we did (with us). But this was benefiting no one. So, on Sunday we began the battle to put Joshua to bed without a major event. It has been trying but today I may have found something. I don't want to get too excited but he has now gone done for two naps and one bedtime without screaming for one hour before hand (the routine of the past 5 days) Today, I swaddled him tight enough so that he couldn't wiggle free. He took two naps in his crib (very unusual) and is now down for the night, in his crib. He fussed a little but since (I guess) he couldn't squim and thrash, he fell asleep. I hope this is a new trend, my ears could use a break ...

New Routines

This has been quite a weekend with Joshua. On the upside, he began sitting forward while in his swing yesterday. The swing was in the seat position, not the recline, and he was leaning into the tray. Won't be long before he is sitting on his own!

We had started to get into a pattern of Joshua going to bed around 7:30pm-8:00 that was interrupted by New Years but he got back into it early in the week. Then Thursday and Friday he decided to fight sleeping so he screamed until nearly midnight and then woke up for his usually nightly feedings and got up for the day around 6:00-6:30. Needless to say, everyone was tired and no one was happy. He finally went down on Saturday for a 3.5 hour nap in the late afternoon. Jason and I scoured the books, magazines and even internet support groups for help on sleeping, sleep routines, bedtime, ect. We decided to really try a bedtime routine on Saturday and stick to it.

Joshua knew we were up to something. We changed him and laid him in his co-sleeper at 9:30pm. As soon as he hit that bed, he started screaming. Jason read him two bedtime stories through the screaming and turned on his lullabye music. He continued to scream. Jason played peek-a-boo with him until he started to settle down. Then on one peek, Jason ducked below the bed so Josh couldn't see him, we both snuck out and Joshua feel asleep. He did his night time routine of feedings and woke at 8:30, not bad.

He took a nap in his co-sleeper at 10:30, one in the car at 1pm and a long one starting around 3:30-5:15 with me. So again tonight we started our bedtime routine. He fell asleep while eating but at 9pm we went up, changed him and laid him in his crib. Mind you, he was already sleeping when we did this. But, he woke up and screamed until 10:15. That was when Jason, despite valiant efforts, gave up. He lasted longer than I would have!! When I went in for my turn, Joshua had worked himself hungry so I fed him, he fell asleep and I put him to bed. He is still asleep, now and I am off to bed.

We will try again tomorrow. But to our credit (mostly Jason's) we didn't leave the bedroom, we didn't turn on the lights and we stuck to our guns that it was bedtime. So, maybe Joshua will learn.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve, we had a few people over. Including, Kim, Ryan and Ellianna. Here are Josh and Ellianna holding hands!



Joshua has started breaking into a routine. If we can get him to bed around 7:30-8:00 for the night he will sleep until about 7:00-7:30 in the morning (with eating breaks of course). He is still fighting sleep but it usually happens when he is overly tired. Mornings consist of naked time, reading and playing. Afternoons are for naps and evenings are for snuggling, more playing and toting him around the house while I cook. We have also started practising E.C. and are having fun with it. Joshua seems to like it, too. Although we have a long way to go, I am starting to recognize the signs that he needs to go and catching him before it is time. For more info on this, check out the website Natural Infant Hygiene

Here's another photo from flickr:



He's starting to look like a little boy!