Off To The Races!

At 7 months and 1 week (this past Friday), Joshua finally decided that he wanted to be mobile and started to crawl. He had been taking 1 or 2 crawling steps throughout the previous week but never more than that. But Friday, after coming home from daycare, he finally put it all together and made it across the living room. He's not zooming all over the place, and he hasn't 100% caught on yet to the fact that he can now get wherever he wants to go, but if he sees something across the room that he wants to explore, he knows that he can get there now.

In the back of our minds, we had kind of been wary of him learning how to crawl, just because it opens a whole new world of things to worry about, but honestly, we are both so excited for him that we're not even thinking about that. The only real changes now are baby-proofed cabinets and trying to remember to close the bathroom door.

Copper is the one who should be scared. Joshua has always been fascinated by his puppydog, and has always been tempted by her big floppy ears and constantly wagging tail. Previously, whenever Joshua got close to her, Copper could just move over 6 inches or so and be out of his range. Now that Joshua has unlimited range, she's going to have to learn a new trick (not easy for an old dog... ba-dum-bum). He did snag her tail on Saturday night, which she was none to pleased about.

This past month has just been amazing to watch this kid. He has learned to pull himself up to standing all by himself, he's crawling and has been babbling like crazy the past week or so... including the "m" sound today... "mama" could be the next big thing! It is so awesome to see him develop into this little person, with his own little personality, and even though every baby learns how to do all this stuff, we can't even begin to tell you how proud we feel right now.

Stay tuned, he seems to be doing something new every week!

Sit JBird Sit... Good Boy

Apparently these past few weeks Joshua has decided he is going to do EVERYTHING. Last night while we were eating dinner, Joshua was on his tummy getting kind of ticked and scooting backwards a little bit. Then he got one of his legs underneath him, did a pushup, scooted back some more, and voila! He was sitting up! All by himself, with no help from mommy or daddy. Shortly after that, he got himself on all fours and was moving around his hands, moved them forward a bit, then one leg went forward with it!!! So he kind of crawled, although it was only one step. He's not racing around the house yet, but it can't be far away!

Look What I Can Do

Just a quick update on the boy who is growing up way too fast. We aren't quite to crawling yet, but he has taken a big step forward. A few times over the last couple days, he has been able to get up on all fours. He doesn't spend a ton of time in that position, but he has definitely learned how to get himself in that position, and will be crawling before we know. On one hand, we are sad to see him grow up and are a little wary of what this new mobility will bring (I'm sure Copper won't be too fond of the fact that he'll be able to chase her). However, it is so exciting to see him develop, and even though it is just something as simple as crawling, you feel so proud when he hits those big milestones.

Also, he has suddenly decided that he can pull himself from a sitting to standing position. Don't remember the exact day, but one of us had our hands out in front of him, and he just grabbed on with both hands and yanked himself up! No help from us, just a little counterpressure, but no lifting on our part whatsoever. Of course now anytime we try to do something to him while he is sitting, he tries to pull himself up. It makes putting on a jacket quite an adventure!

Christmas (A Week Late)

J-Birds 1st Christmas was a busy but memorable one. We started out the holiday weekend with a trip to great-grandma's. Later on, Joshua had his first church ministry experience when he helped Mommy and Daddy welcome people to the 3:30 Christmas Eve service. That was followed up by attending the 5 PM service with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Maple, and Auntie Andrea. We couldn't have asked for a better behaved child. He sat quietly in his stroller while we greeted, fell asleep as soon as the 5 PM service started, woke up with about 5-10 minutes left and played quietly on Mommy's lap. After church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Maple's to open presents and have dinner. Joshua did a fantastic job opening his presents, and was happy to see all of his other relatives as well. Once we got home, Joshua opened his first ornament from Mommy and Daddy. We have a tradition that we buy each other one ornament every year, and it has to somehow relate to something that happened during the past year. It makes decorating the tree much more fun.

Joshua slept great that night, and we opened our presents when we woke up on Christmas morning. Santa brought Joshua's favorite present, a LeapFrog Learning Table that keeps him entertained for extended periods of time (it's our favorite toy too!). After opening all of our presents, we drove out to Grandma and Grandpa B's house for breakfast and presents and a fun time with the Grandparents, Aunt Kerri, Uncle Paul, Great Grandma Eleanor, Auntie April, and Uncle Dan. Joshua got a ton of presents, including what seems like half of the VeggieTales DVD library. All the gift unwrapping must have worn him out, because he took a hardcore nap afterwards.

Christmas Day ended with a visit from Grandma and Granddad Duncan, Auntie Lori, Uncle Dom, and Cousin Jacob. We had a great Christmas dinner (free Honeybaked Ham is the best kind!), and opened a bunch more great presents. Afterwards, we all piled in our cars and went to see Christmas lights in 2 different neighborhoods (another Christmas tradition). One of the houses even has a walk-through version of Bethlehem in their backyard!

It was great first Christmas, and Joshua was so amazing throughout the whole thing. He didn't get too fussy, despite all of the travelling around, did a great job unwrapping his gifts, and got to see all of his family. Hope everyone else had as merry a Christmas as we did!

You Give Me Fever

Apparently 3 immunizations and a flu shot is a wee bit much for the J-Bird to handle. He woke up this morning a bit cranky and a bit warm, sporting a 100.4 degree temp. Infant Tylenol helped bring that down below 100, but when Brenda got to Grandma's after her afternoon Christmas party, his fever had cranked up all the way to 102.5!!! We didn't freak out and call the doc or rush to the emergency room though. He was still acting fairly normal (although a bit blah and cuddly), so we gave him some Infant Motrin and by the time we put him to bed it was back down to 100.4. That is definitely a record high temperature for the little guy though.

Gigantor

J-Bird went for his 6 month checkup today (yes, he is somehow already 6 months old). He is continuing to stretch further and further vertically, and not so much horizontally. If he keeps it up, he is going to be even taller and skinnier than his father. He is a whopping 29-1/2 inches long (97%) and 16 lbs 8 oz (40%). To put his height in perspective, he is the height of an average 11 month old. He also got a flu shot today, as well as a few other immunizations. He seems to be taking it all in stride though, and continues to be his happy-go-lucky self. I guess there isn't much to be sad about when your only 6 months old!

Say Uncle

This past Saturday, Joshua welcomed a new uncle to the family. New Uncle Dominic married Auntie Lori in a beautiful ceremony. The three of us couldn't be happier for Lori, Dom, and Jacob, and Joshua knows that he is gaining what promises to be an awesome uncle. Congratulations Dom and Lori!

Bottle, Chew Toy, Whatever

Apparently Joshua is going to have a full set of teeth by the time he is a year old. Or at least it seems that way. He will be 6 months old in a couple days, and he has his 2 bottom teeth, his top 2 incisors, and the top 2 next to those are just starting to show. For those of you counting at home, that is pretty much a tooth for each month. They just keep popping out!

Unfortunately, with all of this teething, it is disrupting his bottle feeding skills. Granted he only takes 1 bottle a day (sometimes 2), but it is still a problem. He will take a few sucks, then shift the nipple over to the side of his mouth and start chewing it. An entire feeding, which used to take 10 minutes or so, now take 30-40, and usually isn't a full feeding. Luckily he only does this with the bottle, and Brenda has stayed safe and unscarred! If any of you parents reading this have any suggestions on what might help, leave us a comment. We are going to ask the doc in a couple days, and may try a sippy cup to see if that helps.

Catchin' Up

Wow, it has been a long time since I have written anything. Something about a 5 month old saps your energy and along with it, your will to keep a blog updated. Here's the scoop since the last post:

Joshua has conquered Stage 1 baby food, and really seems to enjoy eating something besides breast milk. He's not suite sure of peas, but he still takes 'em down. No funny faces, much to my dismay. We tried to get him going on Stage 2 baby food, but he's not quite ready yet, still gags on it a little bit. But he is up to 3 solid meals a day, along with his milk. Brenda is still a trooper and we have yet to give the kid any formula.

He continues to develop physically at an amazing rate. He is now about 28.5 inches (98%) and about 16 pounds (50%). Yes, he is still long and skinny like his daddy. But he is starting to put a little bit of meat on his bones... you can't see the kid's ribs anymore, which is always nice. His two bottom teeth are all the way through, and didn't cause a ton of pain. However, the top right tooth is now coming in, and seems to be bugging him a little more. He's still taking it like a champ though, and luckily most of the discomfort has come during "awake" hours.

No crawling yet, but we are getting closer. He can extend his arms all the way on his stomach, and he can get his butt a good 6 inches off the floor, but he can't quite do both at the same time. Once he figures it out, we think he is going to be an active one. He sure seems to want to go places. Although he can't pull himself to sitting, he can sit up pretty much without supervision now. He still topples over every now and then, but he seems to have it mastered.

He went through a 3 week or so period where you heard nothing from him but grunts, groans, and screeches, earning him the nickname "Mongo". But he seems to be growing out of that, and has started babbling within the last few days.

I'm sure I am forgetting some things, but that is all I can think of at the moment. Keep on checking the pictures, we're keeping them updated. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Teef Ain't So Tuff

So I come home from work one day this week, pick up my little man, and he's wailing like I stuck him with a pin (I rarely ever do that). Anywho, he didn't seem to want to stop crying, and that is definitely not normal for Joshua. So, like any normal parent of a 4 month old would do, I stuck my finger in his mouth. Nothing stops crying like gagging. Just kidding. I ran my finger along his lower gums, and lo and behold breastfeeding is about to get a little adventurous, because J-Bird is sprouting a cute little tooth! In keeping with his laid back mentality, he actually hasn't really complained too much about it. In the 5 or 6 days since we spotted, he's really only cried specifically for that reason maybe 3 or 4 times, and for no longer than 10-15 minutes. No Tylenol, no Orajel, just a chew toy, er, teething toy and a little gum rubbin from Momma and Poppa. He is just the greatest kid in the world, which means our second child will probably come straight from the gates of hell. Maybe we'll give that one up for adoption and go straight to the third (just kidding, I think).

Oh, and a quick update to the prayer request from earlier. Ashley Pfeiffer came home from the hospital on Saturday, and Mommy, Daddy, and Ashley are doing fantastic.

Hola!

J-Bird and Mommy flew solo this weekend. Pappa Bird spent a weekend away from his 2 favorite people, but it was for a good reason. Our church partners with a church and an orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico, and about 7-8 times a year, we send a group down there to help them out with various things. In September 2004, a group of us travelled down there to help them paint the inside of their church, which is really just a renovated warehouse in the barrio.

I felt God calling me to go again this year, and my wonderful wife was kind enough to allow me to leave her for a weekend alone with a 4 month old. On this trip, our main focus was on helping them put on a fall carnival. Our group of 12 people left the church parking lot around 5 AM on Saturday, and arrived in Mexicali sometime around 10 AM. Shortly after that, most of us guys started putting together a donated wooden playset. Although we didn't have assembly instructions, the person who disassembled it was smart enough to number all of the joints, so it only took us a few hours. We also cleared the parking lot of quite a few loose rocks, set up some carnival games, and then waited for the carnival to begin.

Each one of us was in charge of running a carnival game. The game that I chose was a "football toss" game. Three mini-Nerf footballs, a piece of plywood with 3 different sized holes, and a huge box of candy. As basic as that sounds, the children there loved it (and some of the adults too!). A large number of these children came from the surrounding neighborhood, which honestly, makes your worst part of town seem like a nice middle-class neighborhood. These kids really only have the bare necessities in life, if that, and to be able to bring them a night of fun and joy, it just fills your heart to the top. Despite my very limited Spanish vocabulary, I was still able to communicate a little with them, give them high fives and cheers, and smile a smile almost as big as the ones that they were wearing. The carnival lasted about 4 hours, and about 350-400 people showed up. About halfway through the carnival, there was a time of worship, and the pastor spoke for about 10-15 minutes. I have no idea what she said, but it was very moving to see a different culture and their style of worship. Two days later, my body is still aching and weary, but it was so completely worth it.

Another highlight of our trip was the church member that I stayed with Saturday night, Mario. Unlike my last trip, when the people I stayed with spoke no English, Mario speaks English very well. This was such a huge blessing, to be able to communicate with each other, and really made this a memorable trip. Mario, Dan (one of the other missionaries), and I sat on his patio talking for about an hour on Saturday night, learning about each others lives, and talking about spiritual things, and just growing together in Christ. On Sunday morning, we woke up to a fresh pot of coffee, and then Mario took us on a tour of Mexicali, showing us the downtown area, and many different neighborhoods. It was very enlightening, to see how this culture lives, and it reminded me of how amazingly blessed our family is. Some of these people have to work so hard just to survive, yet here we are, coasting through life, completely oblivious to how well we have it. In any case, after our little tour, Mario took us out to a delicious breakfast, then we returned to the church and drove back to Chandler. Mario was such a wonderful host, such a kind and generous person, and I can tell that God truly has worked something special in his life. We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and hopefully will be able to stay in touch.

I just wanted to share my experience with everyone. Some of you out there helped me out with the funds for this trip, and I am very grateful. Just like last year, this trip has renewed my fire for God. It has reminded me how blessed we are, and how important family and friends are as well. I will have pictures up in a few days, and will post the link as soon as they are there.

Next Up...

Green beans! Yum. They looked ever so appetizing, that nice green, creamy paste. Gotta get me summa that. Anywho, Joshua has mastered the sweet potatoes, and we introduced green beans in to the diet last night. I don't think he liked them quite as much as sweet potatoes (or a store hanger for that matter), but he gobbled 'em down. He did crinkle his brow on a few bites, but we are still in search of the ever elusive squidgy baby face. He did, however, fall asleep mid-meal this morning.

Prayer Request

For those of you out there that are of the prayin' persuasion, we have a request. Friends of ours, Steve and Nancy, were due to have their first child, Ashley, in early December. Unfortunately, Ashley decided that she was coming on Sunday night, 8 weeks early. She weighed in at 4 pounds, 7.8 ounces, and they have been told that she is doing extremely well and she has not needed any help breathing. Nobody foresees any problems, but she will probably have to stay at the hospital for another 3 weeks or so. Please pray for Ashley's health and for a short hospital stay, and for Steve and Nancy so they can keep their heads together through all of this and turn to God when they need strength.

I Yam What I Yam

Rice cereal was a big success, and he seems to have mastered the art of swallowing something that isn't breast milk. So this weekend, we hit Phase 2... real food! Well, real baby food. You probably won't see me crackin' open a jar of Gerber Phase 1 sweet potatoes. But J-Bird definitely loved 'em! He gobbled them down like nobody's business. We busted out the camera in hopes of catching an amusing facial expression, but he maintained a blank stare before and after that first taste. Initially we thought that maybe, like Bart Simpson on the NYC subway, he was born without taste buds. But that proved to be false when he licked a hanger at Babies R Us the next day and scrunched up his face in a look of disgust.

Oh, and in case anyone cares, and I am sure you don't, we are now referring to baby poo as "The Deuce". It's quite sad that we've talked about the deuce so much that we have started to come up with nicknames for it.

Doctor Doctor

She gave us the news, and he does NOT have a bad case of loving you. Sorry. However, he is doing just great. He weighed in at 14 pounds 10 ounces (50th percentile), and his head circumference is in the 50th percentile as well. Keeping to the long and skinny Maple trait, he stretched the tape measure all the way out to 27 inches (97th percentile!!!), meaning he is about 2 inches away from being half as tall as Grandma Balthazor =) He also got another 3 stabs in the leg, which is not the type of present I would really want for my 4 month birthday, but being healthy is a nice tradeoff I guess.

Yum Yum Yummy

Breast is best, but rice cereal is...uhhhh... ethereal? Anyways, on Sunday the J-Meister took another step towards big-boydom when he chowed down on some rice cereal. And a few spoonfuls of it even made it into his stomach. Most of it, however, ended up on his face, bib, and various other areas. I'm guessing that Copper will be warming up to him fairly soon, seeing as how he will have a little flavor now. He'll be doing 2 feedings of rice cereal a day for another week or so, and then we can bring on the Stage 1's. Pictures will definitely be updated frequently, as a sloppy baby is one of the great joys in life. That and reruns of Fresh Prince and Saved By The Bell.

Misc.

Nothing extraordinary to update, just thought I would take the time to post. Joshua has strayed a little bit from sleeping through the night, waking up for some grub each of the last 2 nights. No midnight crabbiness though, so it's all good. We think that he may be ready for a little bit o' solid food, so we will probably try that sometime in the next week or so. He did his little scooting thing again the other day as well, so it wasn't a complete fluke. And for the last few days, his idea of a good time with daddy is to stand on my lap, get his face about 2 inches from mine, grab onto my ears, and make a noise that can only be described as a screech and a grunt all rolled into one. But at least he's taking a break from kicking me in the crotch during diaper changes... so I got that goin' for me.

Scooter McBooter

Okay, so Joshua is about 27" long, has been wanting to stand since about 6 weeks, and is still just amazing us with his physical development. He only did it once, but a few days ago, Joshua decided to practice a little Army crawling, and scooted about 6-12 inches on the floor, on his stomach, completely by himself. At 3-1/2 months. He has never seemed to be too content just sitting around... me thinks he's gonna be an early crawler. Which means we should probably start safety-proofing a few more things (and prepping Copper for the inevitable beagle vs baby races).

All Night Long... all night..all night... All Night Long...

Sorry, had a little Lionel Richie flashback there (minus the cocaine). Anywho, this week, the J-Bird has decided that overnight feedings are way overrated, and 5 out of the 7 nights, has pretty much slept all the way through. I say pretty much because a few of those nights he decided to do a little wailing at midnight for 15-20 minutes. But they weren't hunger cries, and he wasn't bleeding, so we let him cry it out. And when we say sleep through the night, we don't mean go to bed at 11 and wake up at 4. Joshua is going to sleep around 8:30, and usually not waking up until 5 or 6. Mommy is usually about ready to burst at that point (I know, TMI), but we are definitely not complaining. He has always been a fantastic night sleeper, going right back to sleep after feeding, but we think he has turned the corner on sleeping through the night. That sound you hear is Brenda and I jumping and shouting for joy!

Dedication

Today was a special day in the Maple house. Brenda and I dedicated Joshua to the Lord today. What's that you say? Our church, like most non-denominational churches, does not believe in the baptizing of babies. We believe that baptism is a choice that each and every person needs to make on their own, when they are knowledgable enough to make that decision. So what we did today was basically have a prayer of blessing by one of the pastors from our church, and Brenda and I have committed ourselves, before God, to raise Joshua in a way so that he will know who Jesus is, and why He died for us, and what all of this means. And when he is old enough, we pray that he will choose to be baptized, and turn his own life over to Christ. We took pictures and video of the ceremony... I will get the pictures in the photo album soon, and once I get the right stuff and figure it out, will try to post the video online.