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!

Photos

I have posted 53 new photos on flickr. You can access them by clicking on any of the pictures in the column to the right of this paragraph... Enjoy!

Christmas

Joshua had a wonderful Christmas. He loved the time spent with Aunt Trina and Uncle Josh. In the beginning, he would only go to them for 5-10 minutes at a time. But, after a couple of days, he was very comfortable and only came to me for eating and changing needs. He took naps with them and played.

On Friday, we all went to my parent's house for the weekend. Aunt Jill and Aunt Tara were there and Aunt Amy, Tio Omar, Dylan and Stephanie came, too. We had a fun weekend of eating, sleeping, playing and opening lots and lots of presents! Christmas morning with 13 people is quite an adventure!! Santa figured out where everyone was and made sure there were presents for everyone. Joshua received many clothes, toys, a bond and a stroller.

On Monday, before going home and before the 3 hour 'packing-the-car' event, we took Joshua for a walk in his new stroller. He was quite comfortable and slept for most of the trip. He woke up just as we were arriving home. He is looking forward to many, many more walks. I liked how smooth of a ride he had and my back liked not having to carry Bruiser for a little while.

Now, we are home and getting back into our daily routine. Joshua had a tough time with naps as he didn't want to miss a thing! Makes for a not so agreeable baby. But, last night, he slept from 10:30-5:45. Oh, and I don't want to forget, he had two highlights. Last Wednesday, he grasped and held on to a toy for the first time and yesterday, he squealed with pleasure for the first time. It is so fun to see him developing every day.

visit

Joshua has been having a lot of fun with Aunt Trina and Uncle Josh. We have a ton of picture but just haven't posted them... not too helpful, eh? There are 3 new ones on flickr. One with him playing with his new puppets from his Auntie and Uncle. He loves them! Especially the camel and the tarantula. We are planning to go to Philadelphia or Brandywine Valley (near Philly) today. More to come...

Movies!

Ok, I finally got some movies compressed - but not edited, so you are hereby forewarned... The easiest way to get them is to just use your browser's mechanism for "Downloading the linked file", I didn't use embedded QuickTime...

Without further ado, here they are


Reading to Joshua... About 5 MB.


Josh hanging out with Dad... Around 11 MB.


Josh gets a bath! Very cute. Around 27 MB.


Joshua's first playing session! Very long, and possibly boring to someone other than his parents ;-). Around 38 MB.

Have fun, and hopefully we won't overuse the Godfather's bandwidth.