Visit to see Santa

Godfather took Joshua downtown this evening to see Santa. He, Josh, was a bit nervous and didn't actually make it to Santa's lap without tears but he did see Santa. Ellianna and Kim & Ryan were there, too. Afterwards, he picked out his ornament for the year, a train, of course. Then it was home to bed.

First Snow

Today it snowed a couple of inches. Joshua went out in the morning with Memaw and rode his trike while it started snowing. Then in the afternoon Alex took Joshua outside to play in the snow and go sledding for the first time ever! We didn't have a sled so they rode on the top of a rubbermaid tub which worked just fine. Judging by the fact that they were outside quite a while, I think Josh liked it.

Joshua has also learned to button. He has a puzzle that has zippers, snaps, buttons, buckles, ties and other fasteners. He was able to do the zippers and snaps before but now he can also do the buttons. He is so good at detail stuff!

His vocabulary is exploding and he is picking up phrases all the time so we just crack up at the things that he says. But, he has also become very ornery and is challenging us at every turn. I guess it comes with the territory. He is very excited about all the Christmas music, videos and decorations. He even rode around the neighborhood in the dark on his trike the other day with Memaw to look at Christmas lights. What a treat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joshua and Jason are just now going outside to enjoy the glorious day. It is in the 60's and sunny so they are going for a little bike ride. Joshua is very excited about going to Memaw's house. It has been a long time since we were out there and he loves seeing all his cousins. I can't wait to see how he likes Thanksgiving dinner. He is enjoying eating regular foods now and I bet he will love the Turkey and all the treats! We will hit the road just after Josh wakes up from his nap. I can't wait!

Photo Upload

I finally uploaded the pictures from our trip to Vegas. Yes, the one in Sept/Oct. I uploaded the pictures as a set since there were 91 :-) I also put up a few views from the coach, photos that I have taken of the mischief maker in the past couple of weeks.

Dylan and Memaw are back for the next week days. Amy and the gang were out last night and brought dinner, yum yum! Joshua likes all the visitors since he gets to PLAY!

Little Helper

Joshua has his moments. Sometimes he is completely wound up and unmanagable. Having people come in and out every few hours is challenging for him. He tends to get excited everytime there is a new face and takes a little while to calm down. However, on the flip side he can be REALLY helpful. He will take trash to the trashcan, empty dishes to the table and bring me mail. Of his own accord, he even took the cheese we were done eating and put it back in the refrigerator. It is amazing to watch him. Right now, he is playing with Alex, our neighbor, he loves time with Alex.

Riding my tricycle

feeling so free....Jason took Joshua down to the park and Joshie rode his trike most of the way. He peddles like a pro these days. It has gotten quite cold and so we are digging out the hats and mittens. They are especially necessary on the times that Joshie spends an hour out running and playing and riding. Alex came over yesterday to entertain Joshua while Jason did homework. Josh had a blast while he and Alex play trains and then later went outside to play. It was a really bit help to have Alex here.

Watching Joshua

I think I need to keep my camera with me on the couch. Watching Joshua with Memaw is a lot of fun. He is certainly keeping her on her toes. They read on the fireplace, ride his trike outside and play, vacuum, play trains and run errands. He is doing a good job with all the changes and even helps some with taking things to and from mommy and picking up items up off the floor for me.

Things Change...

Ah the joys of pregnancy and motherhood :-) Joshua, although he has a cold, as been great. I guess this is when the crossover between pregnancy and having a family occurs. As of last night I am on full bed rest until further notice. I will see my primary OB on Monday and hopefully get a better picture of the plan and timeline. I am at 25 weeks and having preterm labor.

Joshua is handling it as well as can be expected. He doesn't understand why mommy can't get down off the couch, why she can't pick him up or play with him. But, Memaw is here and that is an immense help. I imagine the days when I don't have a helper are going to be very challenging but we will get through. We have a lot fantastic family and friends who have already been offering very generous help.

Happy Halloween!

Joshua loved Halloween! We went to a neighbor's house for pizza and other food and then left as a group for trick or treating. It only took two houses for Joshua to get the hang of things. He would walk up, say 'Trick or Treat', take a candy, say 'Thank you' and move on. The scary decorations didn't bother him at all and soon he was running between houses, 'Another House!' he would say. We did about four small streets and then headed home. After we inspected the candy and removed the stuff he couldn't eat we let him have one piece. He chose a mini Reese's peanut butter cup which he proceeded to carefully open and eat, slowly. He, of course, loved it and wanted more.

Today, when we left to run errands he asked if we could go trick or treating again. Ah, Halloween comes but once a year!

Fun & Games with Joshua

When he's not being a typical 2-year old, Joshua is simply pure fun! Tonight, he and I were out riding his tricycle and he actually pedaled for about 6ft at a time... he's done a bit of movement before, but this was the most by far. He also helped me carry in the heavy (50lb) bags of doggy food: after deciding he couldn't lift them them out by himself, he enlisted Daddy's help, and helped carry all the way to the door, held the door open and proceeded to help carry them to the food spot. Excellent helper, grunting and giggling the whole way.

He love watching my new indoor helicopter (from Grandma and Papa) fly as well... it's often a very effective way to get him to eat his food: if you want Daddy to fly the helicopter, take another 3 bites of food... :-)
-daddy

I think someone abducted my child...

and replaced him with a child that eats his vegetables! Joshua has been eating peas, green beans, brocolli, corn and carrots. It is a miracle! He has been eating pretty good meals, it takes him about an hour to eat, but he is getting the food in his little body! Yippee! We are able to 'bribe' him to take bites and try new things so he has actually been eating some of what we are eating at dinner. Life is good.

He's a Fish (Again!)

Joshua and I went to the pool after a long break between our trip and busy time before hand. Anyhow, we were back in the warm pool again, which Joshua just loved! He was smiling and swimming better than I have seen him do to date! It was great to have him so comfortable in the water. I think if we keep up going several times a week then he will be letting go and jumping in in no time. Plus, it was great exercise for me! I'm pooped!

2 year checkup

Joshua had his two year check up this morning. As usual we brought with us a list of all the things Joshua is doing now. As usual the dr was impressed with all his skills. I wonder if this next baby will be more laid back? He is now 36" tall and 28.5 pounds. That puts him in the 80th percentile for height and 60th percentile for weight. The dr. has been please how consistently he has grown. Although he hated the checkup and really hated the flu shot she did get to see him climb all over me and hop around a little bit. Maybe next year will be better.

After the dr appointment we took the dogs for a walk, walked down to the park and filled the bird feeders on our return home. He ate a fantastic lunch of 5 chicken nuggets, peas, a couple of bites of banana and juice. I was shocked to see him eating peas again! I hate to get my hopes up though that he would consistently eat veggies like he eats fruit.

He is back on track potty-wise now. We had a bit of a problem when we got back as it seemed he had completely reverted while we were away but after he got the constipation straightened out the potty skills came back, too. I imagine we might have a little hiccup in February, too.

On Sunday we went to a local farm and took a hay ride out to a pumpkin patch where Joshua was able to pick his own pumpkin. He had fun doing that and has been talking about 'riding the tractor' since. The cashier at checkout gave him an apple and I think that was another highlight.

transition

Well, the return home was very good. I have a fantastic traveler! He was a bit challenging in the airport mostly because he is two and is interested in everything even at midnight and after hours of travel. But, on the plane he just fell asleep after the plane took off. We have been getting back into the swing of things here at home. Daddy's birthday was Friday, Happy Birthday Jason, and we had fun celebrating with him. We are slowly moving Joshua back into east coast time but bedtime has been problematic. I guess he got used to having me sleep in the room with him. I am sure he will adjust. It is just going to be challenging for the next few days.

Joshua was a very lucky boy for his birthday and received LOTS of clothes (his drawers are bursting!) and toys, books and puzzles. Just like his mommy & daddy did/do, he has been loving the legos from Grandma and playing with them a lot. I think we'll need to plan to rotate in the other toys. Even for me, as an adult, it has been overwhelming with all the new fun things.

Today, Joshua went to an Autocross with Memaw and Grandad. He liked watching the 'race cars'. We stayed about 30-45 minutes but Joshie also wanted to run around, not an option. Tomorrow, we hope to go to a fall festival or pumpkin picking. Mommy's favorite!

Happy 2nd Birthday Joshua!!

Wow! Two years. It doesn't seem possible!

Grandma and Papa threw Joshua a fantastic birthday on Saturday with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. The party was some of Joshua's favorite characters: Thomas AND Elmo! He was in his glory with balloons, singing, presents, toys, cake and Jasper & Sawyer to share them all with.

We have our last day of visiting Uncle Josh and Aunt Trina tomorrow (Tuesday) and then we head home. We can wait to see Daddy!! Hopefully Joshua will continue to be a fantastic traveler as he has been this whole trip.

Story time

We are having a good time out here visiting with Aunt Trina and baby Kirra. Uncle Josh is away for the next day but he'll be back tomorrow. Aunt Wayneen and Uncle Bud are coming for a visit tomorrow, too.

Today, we went to story time and had a blast. There were tons of kids and this library does a great job. Next, we stopped by an awesome park nearby (the same one that Jason, big Josh and little J went to on Friday) and Joshua played in the water sprinklers. He also saw ducks and turtles. Kirra enjoyed the adventures out, too. She was very good in the car and slept for most of the outings.

Now, everyone is resting and the mommies should be, too!

Visiting Baby Kirra

We've been out visiting Uncle Joshua, Aunt Trina and Baby Kirra. It has been fun to see little Joshua's reaction to and interaction with Kirra. He wasn't very interested at first and even came up to me when I was holding her and said, 'Mommy all done the baby.' But now he will bring her toys and blankets. We have to be careful though because he isn't very gentle and kind of 'chucks' them at her. He is not allowed to touch her. We did set that rule. He has been pointing out her features though, hands, feet, hair and today in the car we were working on opposites. I would ask him, 'Is baby Kirra awake or asleep?', "Are her eyes open or closed?" and he would answer.

He and Daddy and Uncle Joshua went to a fantastic park on Friday. They had a lot of fun. As soon as I can get the photos off of my camera I will upload a few. Joshua needs lots of time to let out energy and that has been a little challenge. We have been going for walks, going to the parks, running around in the backyard and playing with Gigi the dog.

Today, we went with Kirra and Aunt Trina to the library to pick up a few books. There are lots of storytimes so we will try and do one of those while we are here. We'll also probably try and go to the park we when to at Christmas when the ducks attacked us.

At the end of the week we are heading out to Grandma and Papa's house. Grandma is planning a birthday party for Joshua which I am sure he is going to love. He loves birthdays, the cake, the presents and especially the birthday song. I think that was one of the first songs he sang!

Everyone is napping but I need to get some work done so I will go for now. I'll keep you posted with pictures and stories as I can.

Visiting Baby Kirra

We've been out visiting Uncle Joshua, Aunt Trina and Baby Kirra. It has been fun to see little Joshua's reaction to and interaction with Kirra. He wasn't very interested at first and even came up to me when I was holding her and said, 'Mommy all done the baby.' But now he will bring her toys and blankets. We have to be careful though because he isn't very gentle and kind of 'chucks' them at her. He is not allowed to touch her. We did set that rule. He has been pointing out her features though, hands, feet, hair and today in the car we were working on opposites. I would ask him, 'Is baby Kirra awake or asleep?', "Are her eyes open or closed?" and he would answer.

He and Daddy and Uncle Joshua went to a fantastic park on Friday. They had a lot of fun. As soon as I can get the photos off of my camera I will upload a few. Joshua needs lots of time to let out energy and that has been a little challenge. We have been going for walks, going to the parks, running around in the backyard and playing with Gigi the dog.

Today, we went with Kirra and Aunt Trina to the library to pick up a few books. There are lots of storytimes so we will try and do one of those while we are here. We'll also probably try and go to the park we when to at Christmas when the ducks attacked us.

At the end of the week we are heading out to Grandma and Papa's house. Grandma is planning a birthday party for Joshua which I am sure he is going to love. He loves birthdays, the cake, the presents and especially the birthday song. I think that was one of the first songs he sang!

Everyone is napping but I need to get some work done so I will go for now. I'll keep you posted with pictures and stories as I can.

Tackle Daddy!

After finishing dinner, Joshua wanted to play with the Daddy... little did I know what I was getting into! We began by rolling a roll of duct tape, then throwing a ball around. Daddy ended up in his usual spot: sitting on the floor of the family room. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Josh comes barreling towards me with no intention of slowing down... and we collide in a bundle of giggles while rolling on the floor. This turned out to be the highlight - so repeat 25 times: Josh runs back to the kitchen, turns around, yells "GO!" and runs to tackle Dad.

The one time I didn't fall over, Josh made a confused noise and said, "fall over, daddy". It was all planned out...

Always something new!

Joshua continually surprises and amazes us. He learned how to paint on Tuesday and loved it. When daddy came home he showed off his picture and was so proud. He layed it nicely on the table and waited for Jason to look at it.

He has leared to count to 15, I think thanks to Sesame Street! That was out of the blue and fun. He can also sing his ABC's now. Don't ask him to though because he will say, NoOooooo. That is his answer for everything these days. We have both been enjoying the cool nights and mild days of fall with walks, trips to the park, riding the tricycle and just playing outside.

On Wednesday we went to the park and when Jason got home that evening he asked Joshua what he did today. Joshua answered, 'Go to the park.' So Jason asked him if it was fun and Joshua said, 'Had fun riding the slides.' That was a surprise! He has also be trying more foods lately and eating a bit more. He is now 36.5" tall but I wonder if a growth spurt is on the horizon.

Soccer out in the 'burg

Joshua and I enjoyed watching Dylan play a fantastic game of soccer on Saturday. He and his team were great, the really kept the ball in the other team's part of the field and it worked! They won! Go Dylan.

I uploaded a few photos from the game and from the little cousins playing on the sidelines.

The Beach

We just couldn't help ourselves! We took one more little escape to the beach with our friends Ron, Christine, Yanna and Val. It was a whirlwind last minute ie planned Wed left Thursday trip but it was great. Each trip we take Joshua loves the water and beach more and more. By the last day he was saying, 'Go to the Woecean, YEAH!' everytime he saw the water. And he would say, 'Ready... GO!' and run into the surf. Next time we will have a life jacket for him since he no longer has water aversion. He loves the sand, too and spent a lot of time digging in it and bringing buckets of water back and forth.

We told Joshua last week that mommy's belly has a baby inside. He talks about it, 'Be careful of the baby belly' and will come up and point to my belly if you ask him where the baby is. Unfortunately, in true kid form, he tried to generalize this information. And he was pointing to other pudgy bellies and saying, 'Baby Belly.' But alas, all those folks were just a little chunky and not really pregnant. So we then explained that mommy is the only person that has a baby belly. That seems to have solved it for now.

Other cute things, Joshua calls music, 'sugick'. In spite of the mispronounciation, he loves to sing along and dance at every chance he gets. He knows "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Happy Birthday" and "Ring Around the Rosy" to name a few. He even sings to the old 'Pac Man' record that Uncle Josh put on a cd for him. Uncle Josh, you will understand this... he says, 'I am shadow' at the right spot.

It is late and I better close. I try and add more soon!

More visits and plans

Last weekend, brought the arrival of my cousin, Bill. He was out visiting on a business trip and came to our home for the night. You can see the photos of the BBQ that we had on Sunday. It was a fun visit. This week there was not so much new with Joshua. Just mostly our regular schedule. Memaw came to visit and help with projects on Thursday. Godfather Chris came for the evening on Thursday to watch Joshua while we enjoy a small cruise for our anniversary. Jason is home for a long weekend and we are celebrating our anniversary, my birthday and painting the deck, which is in much need of repair.

Visitor

We had a wonderful visit from Auntie Heej yesterday (my close friend from college). She won over Joshua's heart early on by brining him a Thomas Train Track set. After that, he thought she was the best! So, we had lunch out, went to the park and then came home to relax. She played songs for Joshua on the piano and he played along, too. It was wonderful to see him connect so quickly with someone new. Today was rather cool and I brought out Joshua's long pants only none of them fit! I am sure I have size 24 mos/2T somewhere and I am going to need to dig them out for cool days like today. After finding one pair that fit we headed off to the barber for a hair cut. It is adorable. See below...



After the hair cut it was story time and then home for a nap. Speaking of which, it is mine turn to sleep, too!

Gone Tubin'

This Friday was Aunt Carie's 30th birthday. Geez, everyone is turning 30 this year!! Her housemate and close friend arranged a day of surprises which we were happy to partake in. The first event was a tubing trip at a local state park. Jason, Aunt Carie and Janet did the tubing while Joshie and I splashed around in the creek. We had fun exploring the water, listening to the birds and sitting on rocks. The water came up to Joshua's waist and he fell down twice, which he did like. But we saw fish, a humming bird, a crane, butterflies and lots of water bugs. He liked climbing on the rocks and stomping up a stream that flowed into the creek. Afterwards we all got ice cream at Rita's. It was a great afternoon/evening!

The night before we attended a baseball game with friends Ron, Christine, Yanna and Val. Josh loves the cheering, music and watching the ball. He is a good baseball fan and claps along with everyone else. The highlight of the game was him wearing his ice cream as a white sticky beard :-)

Antics

Joshua is a riot and really starting to understand the English language. Tonight, he was running around with the squirt bottle and telling us about all the things he was NOT allowed to squirt. "No squirt 'cycle", "No squirt Mommy"... "Squirt Daddy" to which we replied "No squirt Daddy" and he responded, "Squirt Daddy's Shirt" and proceeded to follow through. We were all cracking up.

I am busy uploading photos all the way back to the beginning of June. There are a lot that I missed previously so I will try and get them up as I can. We have been busy the past couple of weeks. The weekend before last we went out to visit Uncle Josh and Aunt Trina and go to a baby shower for them at Grandma and Papa's house. Joshua is a fantastic traveler and did great in the car and on the airplane in spite of the red eye flights. No sicknesses or emergency room visits this time either which was a relief and we got to swim every day! Joshua loved that!

This past weekend we had visits from Aunt Jill, Aunt Tara, Aunt Jo, Memaw and Grandad and we also saw Dylan. We'll have to make an effort to see the Izaguirre Crew since it has been a while since we made our way out to see them! Noella is starting to walk and I hear giving everyone lots of smiles in the mean time!

The Zoo

On Tuesday, Mom and I took Dylan, Stephanie & Joshua to the zoo. I am not sure if the kids had more fun looking at the animals or riding next to each other in the stroller kicking their legs and laughing. They did great and loved the exhibits they could ride, crawl on, slide down or hide under. Joshua loved the farm animals best and even got to hear a rooster crow. He also liked the penguins, they were very playful and were splashing around on their bellies and backs. He left with a stuffed elephant from Memaw to remember the day.

Seasame Street

Joshua has discovered Seseame Street and Elmo and loves it. So every day we watch one that I have taped. He has fun dancing to the music and waiting for Elmo and Mr. Noodle to come on.

He has stayed dry now every day through naptime even for the past three days. He can take himself to the potty which I think he likes a lot. He pushes me away if I try and help him on and for the most part he just runs in and takes care of things himself. It is hilarious. So the only step now is that he learn to go standing up and then that he stay dry at night but I don't think we are very far off since naptime is improving.

I am posting a few pictures of our playground fun with Yanna, Val and Mr. Ron from the other day. He is such a monkey on the playground!

A Monumental Occasion

and I forgot to put it in the blog! On Sunday, Joshua made a leap forward in his potty training. He started pulling his own pants off, getting to the toilet, climbing on and off and flushing all by himself! If the pants are too tight the whole plan is foiled but he is doing a really good job when he can get them off. It is great! Next we need to work on him standing to go but inspite of our recent efforts he has shown no interest in that.

Take me out to the ballgame!

On Friday, we took Joshua to his very first baseball game. The first of many I hope! He loved it! He loved the mascot, the clapping, the music and cheers. He even watched some of the game from our shoulders. He clapped and cheered on cue with the rest of the fans. Because it was an evening game we left at the 5th inning but we all had a lot of fun. I think it was just the right amount of time for him, too.

Saturday, we went to Memaw and Grandad's house (mommy and daddy then went to see harry potter) and Joshua had lots of fun playing with Stephanie, Noella and Dylan. Memaw even took him to see a train!

Today, we mostly just rested but we did go to Miss Christine and Mr. Ron's house for dinner. Joshua did great playing with Yanna and Val and he ate a fantastic dinner. He had THREE drumsticks, some corn on the cob, a piece of water melon and ice cream. I was shocked.

Opinion

Joshua loves noodles ('Noo-noos") but doesn't like ANYTHING on them. They must be unadulterated. So, after finished off what I put on his plate, I gave him one of mine. It had alfredo sauce on it. "I don't like it," says Joshua. Mind you, he hadn't even tasted it but he took his plate and set it on the table (instead of his tray). The little stinker.

He is doing great in his big boy bed and has actually been sleeping until closer to 7 most mornings. Yeah!

At the beach

On a whim we packed up and headed to the beach yesterday. We stayed overnight and came home today. It was a fantastic trip! Joshua loved the sand this time (last year he wouldn't touch it) and we even got him to go in the water. We had a lot of fun playing with him: building sand castles, digging holes, scouring for rocks & sea shells. We are looking forward to our next trip!

Happy 4th of July!

We took Joshua to see the fireworks tonight downtown over the water. It was a late night as the show didn't start until 9:30pm but Joshua loved it! We thought since he liked the fireworks at Godfather's birthday party (small ground ones) that he may enjoy the big ones but the size and noise are so much bigger we just weren't sure. He did great and spent the entire walk back to the car saying, 'Watch the fireworks'. We hope that he will sleep in a little bit to make up for the three hours late bedtime.

Big Steps!

Joshua's social calendar has been busy these past couple of weeks so he hasn't been available to update his blog. However, he did make a huge next step and moved into a twin sized bed on Friday. The transition was actually pretty smooth. We had been letting him play in his new room for a couple of weeks. He now goes right to that room instead of his old one to get dressed and go to bed. Guess he doesn't miss the nursery! He has done all his sleeping and naps in that room since Friday and it is going well.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The weather has turned hot and humid. It is going to be a long summer. We are getting out now in the morning before 10am for our walks and after 6pm in the evening. Last night, when Jason came home we ate dinner and then headed to the outdoor pool at the gym. We spent over an hour swimming with Joshua. This trip I remembered to grab a few toys and the duck ended up being a good choice. He really kicked hard to get to the duck. He went under several times, jumped in from the side and swam between us. It was a great evening.

Jason has been playing games with Joshua to learn numbers and we have been working on colors, too. If you ask him what color something is he will by default say 'blue'. But if you ask him to get the green ball ( when there are multiple colors) he will pick the correct one. So it is clicking.

Family Portrait

Hop Hop, March March

Another busy weekend for Joshua! We drove first to my parents house to attend the baby shower of a close friend and then Saturday we headed out to Ohio for the graveside service of my Grandfather who passed away in November. The service was Sunday and then we headed home. It was great to see lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. We came home last night so we could have one day of rest. It was a long drive but worth it since Jason is not feeling well and really could use a day-off!

Joshua has been 'marching' around the living room recently and this morning he started trying to 'hop'. He wasn't getting both feet off the ground a the same time but he is trying. It is fun to watch!

Time for oatmeal breakfast!

Big Boy!!

Our little baby is so not a baby anymore! Just the other day he stood at the sink and washed his hands. He is almost potty trained except for naps and night time and he is growing like a weed! He is now 34 inches tall, he was 32 at his last checkup in April? Maybe they didn't measure right then. I can tell he has grown a lot though because his pants are too short and they fall off at the waist. He needs a little belt.

This weekend we had the honor of celebrating Aunt Tara's graduation receiving her masters degree. It was wonderful to be with her on such a special day! We are so proud!! There are, of course, photos which I will post sometime.

Time to go and relax... Joshie is so busy, he wears me out!

Mr. Explorer

Well, Joshua has joined the ranks of the many children before him who locked their mothers in the basement. Luckily, I had a screwdriver small enough to pick the lock and I was out before he knew what he had done.

This morning, if Jason had not been there to witness it you probably wouldn't believe what Josh said. He pointed to a magnet on the refrigerator and said, 'Magnet'. I said, 'Yes, Joshua, Magnet" and he replies, "I just said that". Jason and I were in disbelief! He certainly keeps us on our toes with his antics!

Yesterday was storytime at the library, always a highlight of the week and in the evening Jason took his rc mini out and drove it around for Josh before bedtime. Both the boys had a lot of fun with that.

Happy Mother's Day!

It was Mother's Day weekend at our house :-) On Friday, since Jason had a day off we celebrated by having time together on our bike ride. Yesterday, I hosted a tea in the garden at our house. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful day to boot! I'll make you drool by telling you what we served :-)
Tea - a variety
Fruit Tray
Sandwiches - chicken salad, egg salad, cucumber mint
Yellow Squash & Basil Soup
Trifle, Lemon Squares, Orange Poppy Seed Bread, Cupcakes
Apricot Sage Scones with Devonshire Cream & Lemon Curd



I posted a number of photos from yesterday. It was nice to since the kids playing nicely together (for the most part) and it was so enjoyable to relax outside.

We love daddy being home!

Jason has been finished with class over a week now and it's been great! He got an A again :-), which is fantastic and now he is having fun hanging out with us. On Tuesday, Aunt Janet & Uncle Bob came and visited. I posted a few pics from that. Joshua is enjoying saying 'Uncle Bob' now. He liked that Aunt Janet got down on the floor to play with him.

On Friday, Jason, Joshua and I got the bikes out and went on a trail ride at a local state park. We stopped at the dam and had a little snack we had packed with us. While enjoying the beautiful view we saw Orioles, Herons, Geese and a bald eagle. It was fantastic. We road back and drove to a dairy for dinner. They had sandwiches and salads and soups. Afterwards we got yummy homemade ice creams. We sat outside so we could watch the tractor plowing the fields and Joshua could run around.

Right now, Jason and Joshua are out at a hobby store together and I am taking care of things around the house. :-)

March of Dimes

Joshua and I did the March of Dimes yesterday morning. It was a glorious day for it and we had a lot of fun. The walk was 6.2 miles and took about 2 hours. We found another mom and baby to pair up with and had a wonderful time conversing. I think we will need to make it an annual family tradition. Through the generous support of family and friends we were able to raise $210, which I thought was fantastic!

After the walk, Joshua tuckered out in the car ride home and slept another 2 hours at home! We all laid down at the same time and had a family nap. Then afterwards, Jason, Joshua and I headed over to the pool for some swimming time. Joshua showed off his swimming skills to daddy, who hadn't seen him swim in months, and everyone had a great time.

It was a memorable day.

Today, we drove out to see Dylan in the musical at church. He had a solo and did a great job! He has a lovely singing voice, was clear and loud enough to hear. After the play we went to lunch at Me-Maw and Grandad's and now we are home. Joshua played with Stephanie and Noella in the nursery at church during the performance. It seems they are getting along pretty well these days.

A step in the right direction

Yesterday, aside from his nap, Joshua stayed dry all day! He is finally telling me that he needs to go potty before he goes. We had a little bit of a setback with him being sick but it looks like he is back on the right track. Last evening, I put him in underwear with no rubber pants and he stayed dry from 4-7 including a trip to the pet store and grocery store!

We also went to the gardens yesterday to walk around. They are about an 45 min from our house. Joshua just ran from fountain to foutain, 'Water!' 'Water' he would say as he made his way to each one. We also saw flowers, a frog and lots of ba-ba-bees (bumble bees)

Glorious Spring Days

Today, was spectacular. We played in the yard, went for a hike and then Me-maw, Grandad and Nanny came over to go out for Me-maw's birthday. We missed going to her birthday party because Josh was recovering from being sick tha weekend. Tonight though, he did great at dinner and then we went for ICE CREAM which he loves. We've been out for ice cream three times this week.

Yesterday, Joshua was so dirty when he came in from playing out in the yard that he had to have a bath before his 11 am naptime. He loves being outside. In the late afternoon, I took him for a walk down by the water and into town with Kim, Ryan and Ellie. We picked up pizza on the way home.

Friday, I made muffins for us and Joshua absolutely love them. He had four the day I made them. I guess I'll have to make more!

There are more photos from early in the week but I'll have to go back and post them later.

That's all for now!

Thursday

Yesterday was a wonderful day! Memaw came over to visit with us and brought more Easter goodies and a motorcycle for Joshua. They played outside with the motorcycle in the backyard. After his nap, we all went to the gym to swim. That was a lot of fun. Josh was a bit hesitant having not swam for a couple of weeks but he was getting into it by the time we left. He even swam between us a little bit. Memaw left from the gym, we ran errands and headed home. Daddy was home when we got home and played outside with Joshua again. After dinner we all went for a walk. We ran into Ellie and Kim on the walk and did a little jaunt with them.

Joshua has learned to give Eskimo Kisses, we call them Noses. Here is a photo to make your heart melt:

Budding Artist

Joshua has graduated from scribbling lines to scribbling in circles now and pointilism. He is currently sitting next to me and dismantling the crayons. He is a lot like his uncle in that he likes to see how things work and put stuff together. It has been cold and windy but today it will be 50 so we are hoping to get out for a walk. Maybe we will go to the local gardens. Joshua is pretty much recovered from his last illness so I am taking him out again and working on sterilizing the house for any little playmates he might have here.

18 mos Well Baby Checkup!

Joshua weighed in at 25 lbs (50th percentile) and 33 inches (75th percentile). He impressed his dr. yet again with all his words and skills. He did very well with the shots today and didn't scream the entire visit. :-) He did color a picture of circles for the doctor.

18 Month Birthday!

In all the hoopla with Joshua being sick, I forget to mention his 18 month birthday was on Monday. Today, Friday, he is starting to feel better. He has kept things down for nearly 24 hours now. I don't expect that we have seen the last of the diarrhea but I am hoping the vomitting is over. He has been thirsty and eating this morning which is great. Jason, unfortunately, came home yesterday from work feeling flu-ish. He has pretty much been sleeping since 6pm yesterday so I hope that he can recover quickly.

Ups and Downs of Easter

Well, we left to visit Aunt Jill & Aunt Tara on Friday morning (April 6). Joshua did well on the drive and we made pretty good time. Aunt Tara was still in the hospital from her surgery on Wednesday and I was able to get over to visit Friday night.



Saturday, we all went to the hospital to visit and while we were there she received her discharge orders. So we went home to wait. Aunt Jo and Uncle Phil came over for dinner, Tara was home by late afternoon, and we had a nice family dinner. After which we let Joshua dye eggs. Everyone left the room for that but he did a great job and didn't throw the eggs or drop them in the dye. His hands were pretty colors afterwards :-)



That night, at 10pm, Joshua awoke vomitting. He did it 3 more times before morning so we scrapped our Easter plans to head home. If we needed to see a dr we wanted to do it on our turf. He had diarrhea before we left and throw up in the car as we were driving out of town. Thankfully traffic was still light and we got home around dinnertime. We had been encouraging Joshua to take sips all the way home. He was showing signs of dehydration and we didn't want to end up in the hospital again, like Christmas. So when we arrived, Jason and Josh sat at the table and Jason provided him with a sip of whatever drink he wanted, rotating the choices and feeding fish crackers in between. He had some diarrhea before bedtime but no vomitting. We continued to wake him up every 30 min then hour through the night until 3 am when he seemed to be acting more like himself. He slept until 6:30 am and when he woke up he was in bad shape. He was asking for a drink but he was not himself. I fed him soymilk and we rested. Jason came down and we were discussing calling the dr when Josh threw everything he had just drank back up. We we got in the car to go to the emergency room. He was diagnosed with dehydration and seriously low blood sugar. It was a long morning, trying to push fluids through IV and sugar orally. They admitted us and we stayed in until Tuesday evening. He had more diarrhea and vomitting in the time but was acting more like himself.

He ate some crackers and drank orange juice last night for dinner and slept well until 4:30. I gave him soymilk then. In the morning he ate a good breakfast then had a really awfully diarrhea. We saw the dr at 10:15 and she said he was no longer dehydrated and to keep up with what we were doing inclucing introducing high calorie foods. He ate some lunch, took a good nap, drank some milk and then threw up everything from the day. After talking to the dr, again, she said it would be 2 steps forward, 1 step back and that this would last a while. I have just been trying to keep fluids in him. He had rice, crackers and a pancake for dinner and is now asleep. I will be waking him to feed fluids in the night.

It is so hard knowing that this situation can go from bad to worse in an instant inspite of our best efforts. The official name for what he has is 'rotavirus' and most if not all children get it at some point. It is highly contagious and not easily killed and lasts for a long time on inert surfaces. And, having had the virus you can still contract a different strain sometime later.

So, keep Joshua in your prayers that he will keep his food down and not return to the hospital.

I wish we could have an Easter 'do-over.'

Joshua's Newest Cousin

These tickers are so much fun. Here is one to track Joshua's newest cousin. To be born sometime around 9/15/07



Today it looks like Aunt Trina is 16 wks 3 days along!

Roar!

We were reading a picture book with jungle animals to Joshua. We would turn each page and ask him to name the animal and the sound it makes. So we got to the last page, a tiger, and asked Joshua, "what is this?". He says, 'ROAAR!'. We said, "No, Joshua what IS it?'. He said, 'It's a ROAR!'

Sunny Spring Day

Today was lots of fun! We did a little bit of gardening in the morning and Joshua explored the worms that were crawling in my garden. I tried to show him how they squish and stretch to move along the ground but when I said 'squish' he thought he should squish them so we moved on to just digging in the dirt. Then we went for a walk along the water to look at the ducks before story time. After the library it was lunch and naptime. Next we went to the gym but I forgot our gym bag so we didn't get to swim. We had Ellie and Kim over for dinner and the kids had fun on the slide after dinner. I had picked up a few of those rectangular ice-cream sandwiches, it was just that kind of day, and the kids loved them. Kim pulled the kids around in a wagon and then it was time to go our separate ways.

Rainy Days are Fun, too!

Joshua and I have been exploring the great outdoors the past couple of days. Yesterday we went for a walk, splashed in mud puddles, felt the rain fall on our heads and watched an earthworm creep in the crack of the sidewalk. Joshua loves getting wet so I don't think he realized he was getting dirty, too!

Today, we went to an equistrian center that also had hiking trails. Since it was rainy, I knew that the park would be quiet and it was. We walked through an old covered bridge, watched the water in a stream, saw horses, geese, a turkey vulture and hawk. We saw flowers, too and picked up a nice smooth rock. He walked out a ways on the trail and then I piggy backed him back to the car. He fell asleep on the ride home but then woke up and had a drink of milk before going down for his nap at home.

Josh has been doing great with potty training. He is now using the little blue potty we have for him and as long as he doens't have pants on to fuss with he can get himself to the potty. Then when he is done, he picks up the potty, takes it to the toilet and dumps it in. That part is a bit unnerving for Jason and I to watch! But he is doing great!

Springtime Fun!

Joshua and I have been having so much fun outside! It was a beautiful day yesterday so we went a got a few flowers. Joshua played in the front yard while I dug in the dirt. He periodically came back to water the flowers or dig around a little himself. We ate dinner outside and in the evening we got a new slide for Joshua. It was time for bed but we let him play instead, in his socks!! They were filthy but we all had so much fun!

Tuesay, Ellie & Kim joined us at the pool. The kids same for an hour! Joshua now jumps off the side and kicks like a frog to the side. He goes under the water, runs along the shallow end of the pool and blows bubbles. He is a fish!

Wednesday, Memaw came over for a visit and Joshua showed off his eating skills. We played outside with bubbles, which he loves, even though it was not very warm at all! In the evening, we went to Kim, Ellie & Ryan's for dinner. Afterwards, Ryan and I took the kids to get a free Italian Ice at Rita's. It was freezing but we sat out on the picnic table and ate the ice cream. The kids didn't mind it was just Ryan and I that were remarking what we'd do for free food :-)

Hollow Leg

We have found that Joshua has grown an extra hollow leg since the beginning of last week, which also was the major start of the terrible 'two's. In the past several days Joshua has given us a run for our money when it comes to eating AND he has added vegetables back in to his diet. This, to me, is an absolute miracle. I just hope it continues. He was a good eater before his first birthday and then he became VERY picky. So this is a welcome change.

The temper tantrums have given us a number of humorous moments. Including, finding Joshua HANGING off the outside of his crib (by his hands, like a rock climber), listening to him EMPHATICALLY say 'no' to every request, even to things it obviously wants, teaching him to say, 'YESH', well that is how 'yes' comes out. We have to laugh, we'd go insane otherwise :-)

Joshua has also shown a strong interest for being outside. We bought a little jungle gym from our neighbors (ome of the toddler ones) and we have been spending a lot of time outside. We go to the park, go for walks, garden, blow bubbles. He is just happier outside.

Lastly, he is becoming so familiar with a handful of books, that he can 'read' them. He will say the correct words on the correct pages and know what is coming next. He can also identify pages out of order. It is a lot of fun. He also knows which books he would like to read and will look for a specific title.

We can't wait for the warm weather at the end of the week and the melting of the latest snow. We are ready for full blown SPRING!

Do wonders never cease?

Joshua, my picky eater, who we coax to eat his favorite foods surprised us both tonight. He asked for what we were eating, an Indian Cauliflower dish, we gave it to him thinking that like other things he had asked for he would leave it on his plate. But he didn't! He ate that and several more bites. So I guess cauliflower with tomatoes, fennel, cumin, red pepper and onion is on Joshua's favorites list along with black beans, meatballs, blue berries, yogurt and pancakes. Very interesting.

Beautiful March Day

Today was a gorgeous March day so Joshua and I spent a lot of time outside.



He even helped me clean up the yard. There is a lot to clean up from the winter but since he likes to be outside so much I don't think I will have a problem taking the time to do it.

Joshua is getting into his 'terrible two's' He screams whenever we have to change activities or we do something he does not want to do. His use of the word 'No' is getting a lot more emphatic. But, he is very playful and is starting to understand humor. It is really fun to see his personality emerging.

On the Mend

Today, Joshua is finally feeling better. It has been one week since he came down with the Norovirus (stomach bug). He started to feel better on Monday and then just had random sick times. Yesterday he was really miserable but today he seems to be doing rather well. He is eating again as of this morning and not so clingy.

Aunt Tara had another procedure on Friday and is doing well from that. She is recovering at least!

Since it is 60F out right now, once Joshua wakes up from his nap we will go for a walk and enjoy being outdoors after all of this VERY cold weather. I think we might also venture out for a shopping trip. Papa's birthday is coming up soon :-)

Joshie's Visit by Aunt Tara

Joshua Lang made a visit to see Aunt Tara (recovering from surgery) and Aunt Jill (recovering from Aunt Tara recovering from surgery.)
He had a drive with mommy and did such a great job in the car. They made it to visit us on Saturday. They left yesterday.
Josh was a little apprehensive at first about Jill and I and who were we and why was he in our home.. but he settled in quickly and did a lot of laughing and giggling and playing. He became quickly fascinated with our stairs and our treadmill. (I knew my prayers would come to fruition.)
He chatted up a storm and we got to hear his cutest little raspy voice say such things as mommy, daddy, jill, tawa, skoolbus,toofbrush, fisssshie, i love you, bunny, kitty, doggie and the other gazillion words this genious baby says.

He has his first throwup episode of his life at our house.. yes.. I am honored...He threw up three consecutive nights with a flu of some sort (i drew a picture of the projectile vomiting that I am adding to this post.) Jill got his flu, so Nettie took her into the clinic. She did a lot of vomiting also. Nettie and I remained clear of this. My mom and grandmother came to visit along with the G's next door who also believe that one Joshua Lang is an ADORABLE SMART gorgeous little boy.

We played Skip-Bo (nettie did not win ever.) Jill and nettie made gorgeous bead projects.. I slept. I did a lot of sleeping , but was thrilled to have my nephew and sister in law here.. it meant the world. Lil JLO (as I call him.. JIll calls him schwa) is awesome...

my potential runner.

Fishie

Joshua was a little fishie today at the pool. He was blowing bubbles in the water and stepping off the stairs then kicking his legs and moving his arms to swim (since he couldn't touch). He was in the pool about 30 min and was showing no signs of wanting to get out.

He did great in the nursery at the gym... no tears! He was looking forward to playing with the trains today that they have there.

We think he tried to pull down his pants to go potty because he said pee-pee and then Jason looked down and there was a huge puddle on the floor but Joshie's pants weren't wet.... When Jason lifted Josh's shirt though to assess the damage his little part was hanging out! What a surprise, I laughed my head off!

lots of photos

I've been meaning to post but things have been busy. There are lots of new photos to look at. I didn't get titles put to all of them but at leas they are there. Joshua said, 'Happy Birthday' to Grandma O today and he learned how to drive Jason's RC car this week. He also played in the snow and had his last swim lesson this weekend. I'll fill in the details later.

Building Blocks

Joshua over the last several days has shown a strong interest in building things with his blocks.



He will spend over an hour putting blocks together, taking them apart and stacking them in different shapes. He is also spending more time playing on his own: looking at books, putting together puzzles, making meowing noises with his stuffed kitty and playing with little people.

Joshua is full of antics

On Monday, Joshua and I were in Target. We were in the bathroom as was another woman who was trying to go. Let's just say that she had a lot of noisy toots. Joshua, being the master of toot sounds, was doing a great job of mimicking her. Oh it was bad, I was trying to keep him quiet but was not very successful. It was hilarious!

He loves to answer, 'no' to anything we ask him. If he doesn't respond, he means, 'yes'. On Wednesday, appropriate for Valentine's Day, he said 'I love you'. It is really cute and comes out 'I wuv oo'.

Right now, he is busy pulling everything out of Jason's desk drawers, climbing on the printer table and doing all sorts of things to drive us batty. It is so much fun!!

too much winter!

This winter is driving me nuts! Joshua was feeling better and then yesterday started again with a running nose and headache. It feels like he has been sick since November. I hope he gets all the immunity he needs for the next 10 years out of all these colds!

We are expecting a bit of snow. I am not sure when it is supposed to come but Joshua and I got out for a walk yesterday since it was in the 40's and we are unsure when it will be warm enough again to do it. I am looking for alternative places to take him to play.

Joshua's favorite word now is 'NO' which he uses often. I would like to erase it from his vocabulary! He likes to stack blocks, play with puzzles, ride his trike, dance and read. Oh and he helps us read 'Hop on Pop' now. He says 'Up Pup, All Ball, He Me and Walk Walk' usualy on the correct pages. He is also repeating a lot more while we are reading any story.

Pink Eye :-(

Joshua has now added pink eye to his list of ailments. AND he picked up Jason's last cold. So he is coughing, AGAIN and stuffy, AGAIN :-( I can't wait for this winter to be over!!

We have pretty much stayed close to home the last couple of days not wanting to infect anyone else with his sickness.

We did go out yesterday and Joshua had his first hair cut. He did really well and sat without screaming on my lap. The hairdresser was very patient. We took him specifically to a kids hair salon.

Joshua is really figuring things out these days. Today, I gave him a cereal bar. It had the wrapper with it. He took the bar out of the wrapper, walked over to the trashcan and threw away the wrapper. Then when it was bedtime, he picked up the balls put them in their container and put the lid on. So cool! He said 'Grandma' and 'belly button' today.

First Sentence

Not only did Joshua say a new word yesterday, 'yogurt'. He said it in his first sentence, "Eat yogurt." :-) He now says, 'cheep' for birds and 'roar' for lions. He said, 'Bye Daddy' this morning when Jason was leaving for work. His vocabulary is amazing to me!

Also, it snowed! Finally a nice sticking snow. It wasn't much but I took Joshua outside for about 10 minutes to check it out. He didn't really seem to notice. When it is deeper, I think that he will be interested.

15 mos. Well Baby Checkup

Joshua had his 15 mos. well baby checkup today. He weighs 24 lb 8 oz now and is 32" tall. The dr. was very pleased with all of his words (he showed a few off :-)), physical capabilities and said he looks like a healthy, happy 15 month old. Great news!!

Tip Toe Through the Tulips, through the tulips...

Joshua started tip toeing around the house tonight. He was doing laps around the kitchen island and up and down the entrace hallway. So silly!

He still has a little bit of a cough but it is clearing up. He is still a bit fussy.

This weekend was pretty fun. We had swimming class on Saturday morning and he lasted about 15-20 minutes before getting too cold and getting out. We came home, had family naps, and then went to Memaw and Granddad's. On the way we stopped to check out furniture for our living room. Today, was lazy. We all stayed in pj's, took naps and played. It started snowing after lunch. It has been coming down slowly since then. I don't think we will even get and inch by morning but it is our first snow so we are excited.

Updates

Although he still has the cough it is not nearly as bad and he took a 3 hour nap today. I hope that tonight he will sleep until 6 or 7 in the morning. That would be great!!

It has been really cold. Looks like winter finally hit. So, we are not really going out for walks. Although, last night, we did put Joshua in a snow suit and boots and throw him in the stroller. It was nice to get out. We made it quick (only 30 min) because we didn't want to freeze our faces which are harder to cover.

Sick Again

Joshua has had a cough again this week. He is irritable and tired and not sleeping well and we can't wait until he feels better, AGAIN! I guess he is building up his immune system.

Happy Birthday Nanny Grandma!

Joshua and I took Nanny out to lunch today. Afterwards, Nanny suggested going to the library, which we did. It was a lot of fun. They had a wonderful children's section and Joshua loved looking at all the books and climbing on the sculpture they had.



Joshua has been testing limits a lot recently and we are working on helping him learn the rules. He takes his job as 'Rule Tester' very seriously!

2007 going great!

Joshua is having a very good year so far :-) The weather here has been fantastic. Unseasonably warm at 70 degrees, we have been able to enjoy lots of outside time. We went to the park with Ellie, Kim and Ryan on Thursday afternoon. Joshua loved the playset and running around. Also on Thursday, Joshua went to the dr. for a followup appt. His lungs sound much much better and he only needs the nebulizer on an as-needed basis. Saturday was his first swimming lesson. He loved being in the water and jumping in from the side of the pool. After swim class we went to Grandma and Grandad V's house to open Christmas presents there. We also took a nice walk in the afternoon. Today was a lazy day which we all needed!

Other highlights: His molar is definitely coming in on the bottom and he has two teeth (one right, one left) coming down on the top. He can say all sorts of new words including potato, better, milk, door. He can open round handled doors and he likes closing them, too. He likes to turn lights on and off. He LOVES pushing his vacuum around and this activity takes up a good portion of his day. He is eating and drinking well. Today he had black beans for lunch and applesauce for dinner. Whatever works!

Happy New Year! Back on Track

Well, Joshua is really back to his old self these days. He is busy getting into trouble, climbing on the chairs and tables, running around the house, laughing like a crazy man and talking up a storm. We are so happy!!! Jason and I are still on the mend but we are doing ok with the help of tylonal and sleep.

Joshua sat and read this story to himself the other day:



He loves his new vacuum and finds it in the morning when he wakes up:



Here he is after a successful climbing onto the chair and sitting at the kitchen table:



He also has another tooth in and the molar has finally broken through.

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...