Sleeping in Class

J-Bird started daycare on Wednesday, and Mommy went back to work too. Both of 'em did great! Brenda is very happy to be back at a job she loves, and she is still able to spend a good chunk of the day with Joshua as well. Joshua, well, I don't know if he notices much of a difference. Apparently he has slept through most of his first 2 days at daycare, so I guess that means he likes it, or is at least very comfortable there. It has been cool to spend a good chunk of time with him in the mornings, because that is when he is happy, quiet, and alert (a great combination!).

God continues to show Himself in little ways too. When I dropped Joshua off this morning, I forgot to tell him "I Love You". Since I forgot to do that on his first day as well, I had this thought in the back of my mind that the teachers would be judging me a little bit or whatever... silly and stupid, I know. But apparently when Brenda picked him up today, one of them commented on how proud of a papa I am. Just a little encouraging boost from the Big Daddy, reminding me that I am doing a good job, and shouldn't be so harsh on myself.

Catchin' Up

Yup, it's been a couple weeks since I've been able to post an update, probably due to a combination of no real exciting news, and being super duper busy. Joshua has still been a great little kid, and continues to be the cutest darn thing I have ever seen. His hair is finally starting to grow back after he had a receding hairline for a couple of weeks. It's definitely staying brown. His eyes still haven't decided what color they want to be, but I keep seeing hints of brown in there as well. Poor kid is destined to look like his dad =P

In Tummy Time news, he has gotten pretty good at lifting his head 90 degrees and keeping it there for 5-10 seconds. He hasn't quite mastered pushing himself up with his arms, but he's getting there. He also LOVES to be standing (with us holding him of course). The whole time he'll be looking around and smiling at random things (coasters, the couch, a blank wall). I have a feeling he is going to be mobile, and ahead of schedule.

He had another doctor's appointment yesterday, and yes, he got another shot. He did MUCH better with this one. Of course he screamed when he got it, but he calmed down much quicker this time, and actually slept on the car ride home. Apparently this particular shot tired him out, because last night he slept through the night for the very first time! I don't think we'll see that happen again for a tiny bit, but it sure was nice (especially for Brenda!). He went down about 8:45, and didn't wake up until 6 the next morning!

There will probably be another entry tomorrow, as Mommy goes back to work, and Joshua starts daycare. I'm sure that both of them will do just fine. Until then...

Count Your Blessings

It may seem cheesy to some people to say "Oh, we are so blessed to have such and such baby in our lives now", and from the outside, you wonder how anything can outweigh sleepless nights, poopy diapers, and the need for constant attention. Well, here are just a few ways that God has blessed Brenda and I through the first 8 weeks of Joshua's life. First and foremost, He has blessed us with a beautiful and healthy baby boy, and that takes so much worry out of your life. We are blessed with Joshua's amazing smile, which lights up his entire face, and can brighten even the darkest of my days. God has brought Brenda and I closer together in this time... some couples cave under the stress of all the new responsibilities, but God has really given both of us the hearts of servants during this time, and we are working as a team, instead of keeping score of diaper changes (she's winning by the way). We have been blessed financially... we saved a good chunk of change to allow Brenda plenty of time off, and so far, we have had to use far less of it than anticipated. I can also say with 100% certainty that if we were not tithing 10% of our income back to God, this blessing would not be in our lives right now. We have been blessed to see the miracle of life... not just the pregnancy and the birth, but just seeing Joshua learn little things every day. To see how we come into this world, knowing absolutely nothing, and to see how we develop, it is just awesome. We have been blessed in knowing that we have an amazing group of people around us, including our church family. To see so many people willing to help us, to love us, to pray for us... to all of you who helped us those first few weeks, it meant more than you know. And we have been blessed with an amazing child... he seems to be ahead of the curve physically, sleeps extremely well at night, isn't overly fussy, and just brings so much joy into our lives. Sure, there are times when both of us get a little frustrated and just need a break, but when push comes to shove, our little J-Bird is worth all of the poopy diapers in the world.

Thumbs Up

J-Bird has discovered that he has thumbs, and along with that, has found out that they fit nicely in his mouth. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite developed the coordination to smoothly stick them in his mouth, so when he gets his druthers to do a little thumb-suckin', there's quite a bit of shakin and twitchin and fussin going on.

We're Goin' Back to Cali...

Actually, we already went back to Cali. The Weaver family reunion was in San Diego this year, and since we don't get much of a chance to see those folks, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to fly the nest and show off our little J-Bird. Joshua is usually pretty good in the car, but has never been on a trip of this size. Thoughts of endless hours of back seat crying (his, not mine) in the middle of the desert bounced through my head. But those fears were unfounded... Joshua was great! Since J-Bird is a morning person, we hit the road by 6 AM. He slept a good portion of the way there, and we only needed to stop once to calm him down. The rest of the drive was smooth sailing.

Once we got to San Diego, Great-Aunt Connie was the first one to meet him (in the parking lot of a Von's, how picturesque!). We all trekked down to Seaport Village for a couple hours, and J-Bird went shopping with Connie and Grandma while Mommy and Daddy took a well-deserved lunch break. Later that night, he got to meet most of the rest of the family at Jim's trailer on Mission Bay. Despite being surrounded by 20-30 crazy people, he did alright! And that was pretty much just a warmup for the next day. The reunion was at Great Aunt/Uncle Diane/Randy's house, and there were probably about 40-50 people there that day. Joshua did as good as you could expect a 7 week old to do in that situation, and made plenty of new friends.

The trip back to Phoenix was almost as good as the trip back to San Diego, and we all look forward to doing it again soon!