Update

Okay, so I am a slacker. Readership is now probably down to about 2 people on this blog, and that includes me =P So, here is a super-sized update:

Physical - Joshua is crawling around at light speed. It's actually kind of amusing when he gets going because his arms and legs kind of flail out a little bit, and for some reason he looks a little like a spider. Copper is not very amused by the crawling though... he has taken to charging her at full speed and head butting her side. He can pull himself up on just about anything these days, which means our end tables are now very clean and our glass patio door is not. He can cruise quite well, but no walking just yet. We bought him a push-behind walker (which for some reason is made to resemble a mail-cart. Reach for the stars kid... you can work in the mailroom when you grow up!!!) and he absolutely loves it. He is getting the hang of pushing it around and will do laps between rooms with it. He resembles a little old lady while he's using it though. He pushes it out in front of him, then takes a couple steps. All he needs are the little yellow tennis balls on the front and he's set.

Health - He had his weight check today, and he gained a full 1 pound 6 ounces in the past month alone, which means he is now up to 18 pounds 11 ounces (13th percentile). He was in the 5th percentile last month, so that is a great improvement. His iron actually registered a little lower than last time, but the doctor said that since he is gaining weight and developing normally, she is not too concerned about it. He is going to stay on the iron drops, and they will probably recheck it at 12 months. Teeth numbers 7 and 8 have officially broken through and are no longer causing him pain. However, tooth number 9 is working its way out, and this one is a molar, so we are having lots of fun. He is actually handling it fairly well and is still sleeping good at night. But he has had his rough patches during the day. Hopefully it will break through soon so the little guy won't be in so much pain. Not much else to report, the doc said everything was perfect.

Development - Toys are becoming more and more fun for the J-Man. He has developed the motor skills to put balls into the right holes in his toys, and loves to take things out of one thing and put them in another. We just bought him a shape sorter, so that should be a hit in the coming months. The coolest thing is that he has started to mimic some of the things we do (no more flipping the bird on the freeway Brenda!!! j/k). The two things he mimics most often are smacking his mouth with his hand to make the ba-ba-ba sound, and blowing razberries on one another. As far as talking goes, we don't have words just yet, but he is babbling a ton, and he understands what a few words mean (mama, papa/dada, puppy, "fall back"). He will probably be a late talker, as I was a grunter as a child, and Brenda was apparently a squealer (spare us the pig jokes please!).

That is about it for now. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will try to post a little more often. Until then...

Having A Ball

In our neverending quest to get a few minutes of freedom, we have discovered a great distraction for Joshua: balls. A couple of his toys have come with bright plastic balls, and he will spend up to 30 minutes at a time picking them up, aimlessly tossing them 5-10 feet away, crawling after them, and repeating the process. He has even started throwing them underneath the end table and then crawling through it to get to them. Whatever makes him happy... we're just glad to have a few moments of peace!

For the most part, Joshua has been such an amazing joy in our lives lately. Sure there are the back-of-the-mind worries about his weight/anemia, and the afternoon feedings and naps will have Brenda's hair turning gray soon. But he is just developing the sweetest, most playful personality, and he just lights up the room with his smile. He keeps amazing us with his growth and development. One of his toy balls went behind and between the trash can & recycle bin. Instead of giving up and finding a new toy, he tried to get it from a few different angles, crawling on all sides of it. He still couldn't reach it, but you could see him using a little bit of logic to figure things out, and that is just so cool to see him figuring stuff out like that.

Update

Nothing super exciting to post, but I had the time so figured I'd throw something on here. Joshua has been babbling up a storm lately, and is especially amusing when he is practicing his "P" sound. He will sit there making a soft, breathy "puh" sound over and over, like a little puff of air. Tooth #7 is still trying to work its way out. It doesn't seem to bother him too much, although he did have a little trouble getting to sleep last night. He has really picked up the speed crawling, and can turn on the jets if he wants to. We should enter him in some baby races! He can take the entire flight of stairs in about a minute now, which is pretty good considering there are about 15-20 steps (I'm too lazy to walk down the hall and count them). He has been much better eating in the evenings; we moved his 3 PM breastfeeding to 6 PM, and his 6 PM solid foods to 4 PM, and that seems to have done the trick. And we've also discovered that the boy has a hankerin' for the Nilla Wafers. If you ever want 5 minutes of silence, hand him a cookie (that works with daddy too!)

Happy Birthday!

No Joshua isn't 1 year old yet, we've still got 3 months to go before that milestone. But he does want to wish a happy birthday to his newest cousin, Chevlynn Ann-Renee Smith, who was just born on March 18th at 7:44 PM! Congratulations to proud mommy and daddy, April and Dan!

9 Month Checkup

Joshua had his 9 month checkup yesterday and it went fairly well. They apparently screwed up measuring his length last time, because they said this time that he was 29.5", which is just about what it was last time. He has definitely grown since December (the crib rail hides less of his face), so they goofed somewhere. In any case, that is in the 75th percentile, so he has slowed down a bit in his quest to be the world's tallest baby. The doctor was a tiny bit concerned because his weight was only 17.5 pounds, which is in the 5-10% range. A quick blood test showed that he is slightly anemic, not enough to be worried about, but enough that the doctor prescribed him some iron drops and scheduled a checkup in a month. She said that having anemia may cause him to be a little skinnier, so hopefully these iron drops will fix the anemia and fatten him up a little bit too =) We're not really worried, as he is hitting all of his developmental milestones. We just don't like hearing that something is wrong with our little man, and you can't help but feel that it is something that we are or aren't doing properly. But more likely is that no baby is 100% perfect and this is just one of those little things that we'll barely remember a year from now.

On the brighter side, the doctor said that the reason that he has been fighting his dinner is that he may be bored with baby food and may want to try to feed himself a little more. She suggested that we cut up food into smaller pieces and let him try to self feed at that meal (which provides a nice quiet distraction during our dinner as well). We tried eggs, strawberries and toast last night... he wasn't quite sure what to make of it but got a few bites in his mouth, and more than a few in his lap. I'm sure he'll be an expert in no time!

Catchin' Up

So by now, anyone still reading this has lost all hope of getting a weekly update. Time and brain power definitely seem to be at a premium these days. The little man is ALL over the place. I love the kid to death, but dude, sit still for like 5 minutes! No wonder he's so skinny, he never stops moving =) But it is so cool to see him crawl all over the place, cruise on the furniture, pull himself up on absolutely everything, and to think that at one point all of us were doing the exact same things.

Joshua seems to have finally kicked cold #2 or 3 (can't remember how many he has had). Still has the remnants of a cough, but the rest of it seems much better. We also think that he may have had a mild case of roseola, which is very common and harmless. Basically they have a fever for a couple days, then a flat rash for a couple days, then it's done. The rash seems to have gone away, so we're not even going to bother with the doctor, especially since his 9 month appointment is on Monday anyways.

As you have probably figured out by the last post, we now have the ability to post videos online. I didn't say we had the time to download them from the camera and edit them, but we can certainly post them!

As far as development goes, he is moving right along. He is eating like a little piggy, mostly in the morning. He is eating about 18-20 ounces of baby food, 16-20 ounces of milk, and 2-3 ounces of water a day. He is still babbling, hasn't quite put words to objects yet. He is also finally holding bottles by himself. Apparently he has actually been doing this for a while, but he rarely gets a bottle at home, so we never really see it! On the downside, Joshua has discovered that he can hit things. It's cute when he hits his toys, his high chair tray... not so cute when it is our faces, the dog, a food-filled spoon, other kid's faces at daycare. Okay, so the last one is kind of funny, at least in the mental image sort of way. Oh, and we also think that he is working on teeth #'s 7 and 8.

Joshua still loves the light on the stairway landing. He has also discovered the joy of bubble baths, although I think Mommy enjoys them a little more than he does =) One of his new things is to carry a random toy around with him when he is crawling around.

I'm sure I am completely forgetting some things, but that is about all I can remember. New pictures are up, be sure to check 'em out!

Video Test

Long Time No Post

Wow, it has really been a long time since I have posted to this thing. I don't really think that Joshua has done anything majorly groundbreaking since the last post, but he just continues to develop in such an amazing way every single day. He is crawling like nobody's business now, finding every little nook and cranny of the house. Each day we find ourselves saying "Joshua found such and such, guess we need to find a new spot for that now!" "Such and such" would include Copper's water and food dishes, the dish towels hanging from the oven door, the coasters from the end table, and a million other things. He has also mastered crawling up the stairs, although we definitely don't let him do that alone. He loves the hallway light on the landing, smiling and laughing everytime he sees it, so that gives him a little extra motivation. He is also pulling himself up on everything, including stuff that is shorter than him (he kind of hunches over stuff... being so tall he better get used to it!). He is babbling like crazy now, and we think that he may actually know what "ma-ma" means. He says it quite a bit when Mommy is around. He is currently getting over cold #2. This one hasn't lasted as long, but the cough/congestion has been much nastier. You can hear the gunk rattling around in his chest from time to time... I need to teach him to hock a loogie so he can get that out of there. He was doing much better today, so I think we are on the tail end of this one.

Mommy and Daddy finally got their new computer (we are hoping to reenact a scene from Office Space with our old one), so once I get the right cable and play around with some software, I should be able to post some movies online. We just added some more 7 and 8 month pictures to the photo album, so be sure to check those out!

Observation

A few observations of mine today (at the risk of sounding like the parental version of Jeff Foxworthy):

You know you are officially a parent when your kid is sitting on your lap and makes a puke sound and you instinctively hold out your hands to catch whatever might come out (luckily it was a false alarm).

You know you are officially a parent when you can walk around all day with someone else's boogers all over your shirt and not really care.

I'm sure Brenda could add about a million more of these...

Sick Boy

Joshua is in the middle of his first real illness. After 7 months of having nothing more than a sniffle or cough here and there, he came down with a pretty nasty cold. His fever has been hanging around for the last 2 days, his nose is running like a faucet and when the Motrin starts wearing off we get the saddest looks we have ever seen. The doc checked him out and said it was definitely just a virus and not an infection, so no need for a prescription, just keep giving him Motrin, booby juice, and water. I'm sure he'll be fine by Monday morning, and it is definitely amazing that we haven't run into a cold until now!

Jungle Book

It's probably just the little goofball trying out new things, but we may have a Mowgli on our hands (watch the Jungle Book if you have no idea what I am talking about). On Monday afternoon, Joshua was apparently getting in his crawling position, then raising his butt straight off the ground while keeping his feet and hands planted. Funny stuff.

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!