Going for a Walk

It was a a little chilly out, but I bundled up Jo-Mo for a walk around the neighborhood. For our neighborhood walks, we've switched to our big boy stroller. I think Josiah can see more of the world than just the sky in it, so our walks are more "educational." He seems to like it and makes a lot of squealing noises while he's in it. I can't figure out what the noises are in response to though.

I really like this stroller. It rolls well and looks really comfortable for Josiah. One feature I like is like is the top shade has a window so I can see what Josiah's doing. Plus he has a cup holder for his baby latte.

I'm ready to roll, yo!

At the start of the stroll...

And the end...

I must admit, this is often the goal of my walks - to get the little one to sleep! The negative of this stroller is I can't just lift him out in the car seat and sit him inside. I have to take him out, which sometimes wakes him up. I would just roll the stroller into the house, but we have all steps leading into our home.

He's so beautiful asleep. Beautiful awake too, but peaceful beautiful asleep.

Bath Time

Happy Birthday, Uncle David!

Happy Halloween!

I know what you're thinking. Aren't you a few holidays behind, Laura Leigh? Indeed, but a friend just sent me a picture she took at this Halloween parade Josiah and I attended, and I thought it was too cute not to post. And what better day to post a Halloween pictures than New Year's Day?

Josiah has changed so much since then! He looks so little...

Pushing Up

After a week of being held constantly and not having much tummy time, I thought that Josiah would have a lot ground to make up. But when we started back to it, he started pushing up on his hands, which he had never done before. I don't know who was more proud, me or him. Every time he did it, he'd squeal and try again. Here's some pictures of the action.

For those who aren't familiar with "tummy time", it's come about from the research that revealed that sleeping on his or her stomach increases a child's risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. But children also have to figure out how to crawl, which is difficult if they're always on their backs. So the powers that be now recommend back to sleep, tummy to play. Thus tummy time.

This picture also represents Josiah's big phase right now: sticking out his tongue. We don't know why he likes it so much. Sometimes it's when he's concentrating on something, like above, but other times he just looks at us and sticks it out, very proud of himself. He had a phase a few weeks ago where he really liked blowing raspberries, or sputtering his lips. It was hilarious, but faded quickly.

Jump Around

When we got back from Christmas travel, we introduced Josiah to his jumper. We expected we would like it because he likes standing up and moving his legs. He doesn't jump a lot in it, but he does walk, turn and bounce. I think he likes the freedom of it, as much freedom as being strapped to a bungee cord allows. Some of these pictures were extraneous, but just cute of him.

We have it hanging by the kitchen, and it works really well for me to put him in it while I fix meals.

This is the second time I put him in it, and he was really tired and I didn't put his hands on the outside like you're supposed to. So he was content to just eat jumper.

Christmas Day

We drove Christmas Eve back to the Moseleys to spend the day with them.

Jonathan getting some giggles before going downstairs.

Granddaddy and Mama Jo drove up from Birmingham.

Grammy and Granddaddy got Josiah an exersaucer and he loved it. He still hasn't figured out some elements on it (pressing buttons, etc.), but he loves exploring all these new things. Thanks guys!

Opening gifts with Grammy and Anna.

Granddaddy Olive always makes quacking sounds for Josiah; it's his trademark move.

Christmas Eve

My mom's side of the family gathers every Christmas Eve for a family reunion, meal and gift exchange. My mom's dad had six brothers and sisters, and five of them live within 10 miles of each other. Josiah is one of the first of the fourth generation on this side, and the only one there that evening. The gift exchange is always fierce, done Chinese Christmas style. We didn't participate this year because of the little one, but it's always fun.

Parker held Josiah while we got food. He looks a little frightened...

GP holding the sleepy elf.

Josiah just sneezed or drooled or something.

Kiss sandwich! Hard to resist!
We left shortly after this, and it was very emotional. Everyone was crying! We had such a sweet time with everyone.

Picking Collards

Josiah got to stem his first collards up in Eastern North Carolina. He hasn't gotten to taste any yet though, maybe next time. Grandma makes the best collards around, no contest. If you don't like them, it's because you've never had hers. If you're a Yankee and don't know what collards are, they're similar to mustard greens or turnip greens.

I adore this picture. Grandma's face just lit up like this every time she saw Josiah. I was happy to capture it on film.

Four Generations, Parker Edition

And here are four generations on this side of the family. It's freaking me out how much mom and my smiles look alike in this picture.

OK, in case anyone is confused, my mom's maiden name is Parker, and this is her side of the family. That's how my brother Parker got his name. He's actually named after his great-granddaddy, Stonewall Jackson Parker. But that's another blog entry.

Exchanging Gifts

Christmas Eve Day we exchanged gifts with my side of the family. I don't know if exchanged is really a fair word. We and Josiah were showered with gifts, and we presented a few offerings. Everyone was so incredibly generous. It's irresistible to buy for babies. Josiah is the first grandbaby and great-grandbaby on all sides (where there are great-grands still living), so he's pretty popular.

In his cutie Christmas outfit. He's going to hate this picture when he's a teenager.

Josiah inspected each of his presents by placing it directly in his mouth.

Parker and Rachel gave him this puppet. It came in handy for appeasing him on the car ride home.

The puppet also wanted to give Susan a kiss

All the "kids." When we were leaving that night, Rachel told me that she was glad God put us in the same family. I couldn't agree more.

This is what we look like not holding a baby.

With Mimi.

We did hit one home run with the gift giving. For both sets of grandparents we designed a book online filled with pictures of Josiah. It came out really professionally. We did ours at Photoworks, but I saw several other sites with it available. I don't scrapbook, but I have done layouts, so this worked out well.

Finally...

Josiah got to meet his Great-grandmother Parker, Uncle Ronnie, Aunt Gail, Jaclyn and Hank. And he got reconnected to Uncle Parker and Aunt Rachel. They were there when he was born, but never got to hold him because he was whisked away to the NICU. Then they moved to Boston, so Parker could study at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. Needless to say, they were starving for some quality time with their nephew!

Grandma and Josiah got along very well. She was always coming up to him, and he'd grin at her. He loves trying grab her nose and eat her bright-pink fingernails.

Some hang out time with Uncle Parker. He was teaching Josiah to read the paper. We said read, but Josiah heard eat.


Aunt Rachel had lots of fun with her nephew. She got lots of smiles too.

With Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Gail, actually GREAT Uncle and Aunt.

One of the things I love about going to Stella is that family and friends just stop by for visits. Cousin Jill came over with her daughter Eva Grayson. We all thought it was so cute because when her grandma and mom held Josiah, Eva got really upset and jealous. Eva and Josiah are technically second cousins once removed, in case you were wondering.

Josiah with Aunt Gail. Parker and Rachel gave him the onesie he's wearing. It says, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night."

With "Aunt" Jaclyn. Josiah's face is hysterical.

Susan taking Josiah for a walk.

Josiah fell asleep with Uncle Ronnie while we were all opening presents. I don't think he minded.

Moseley Christmas Card

Back in Wake Forest, we took a Christmas card picture with the Moseleys and had dinner before heading on to Grandma Parker's house. We tried to travel during Josiah's sleep times, but I don't know if it made much of a difference; he slept terrible the whole week. I don't know if it was all the activity or sleeping in new places.

Awww...

This one cracked me up: Josiah's cute little frown and my geeky smile.