McWane Trip

Our friends Lisa, Silas and Anna kindly invited us to join us at the McWane Science Center last week. It was a great way to use up some cooped up winter energy.

Checking out the jellyfish

And the light board

Stomping out some tunes

The sand area

Fixing the car with Silas

Josiah's First Composition?

As I mentioned before, Josiah makes up lots of little "songs." Most of them are just babbles and humming, no words or melody really.

But this one confuses me because he sings the same words and melody consistently. It goes something like, "Must be someone loving..." I keep asking him where he heard that song, but he insists he didn't hear it anywhere. I even Googled the "lyrics" to see if they existed elsewhere. I'm starting to think he actually made it up. Does it sound familiar to anyone else? Sorry for the train table banging that makes it harder to hear.

Why Daddy Is Fun

The other day Jonathan and Josiah had been playing outside and then came in for dinner. I asked Josiah, "Did you have fun with Daddy?" Then commented on how fun Daddy is. Then he said, "Mommy not fun." I must have looked offended because he quickly followed with, "Mommy a little bit fun. A little bit fun." Here's one of the reasons why Daddy is way more fun than Mommy.

Snow in Alabama - Again!

What a crazy winter! It snowed here yet again. This time it stuck around for more than an hour.

Josiah was very excited about making snowballs.

Nana and Pop had already planned to come in for a visit and to babysit Josiah that night while Jonathan and I had a Valentine's date!

Nana getting some loving after Josiah's nap.

Josiah doing his normal post-sleep comforting hair twirls.

And some Mama-loving too.

Daddy came home from work and did some Josiah-lifting.

Watching some Thomas the Train with Nana

And Pop

Out in the snow on Saturday

Sledding with Mama. We finally got to use the awesome sleds Mimi gave us many Christmases ago.

Narrowly avoiding the small tree at the bottom. Josiah kept cackling when he got to the bottom, and he'd say, "Let's go again!"

"1-2-3 Go"

Not bad for 23 weeks pregnant, right?

A trip down with Pop

Pop liked to aim right for the tree.

Ending the Drought

Sorry for the blogging drought! With the cold/rainy weather, life hasn't been very photo-worthy lately. Luckily my child could play with trains forever. We've also had our house on the market, which has meant lots of cleaning for me!

Here are a few tidbits about Josiah lately:

• Characters. At least three or four times a day, he changes his identity and ours. He'll say, "You be Thomas, and I'll be Percy" or "You be Mama Bird, and I'll be Baby Bird" or "I be motorcycle, and you be kiwi truck." (No kiwi truck is not a character; he just made it up.) When we become a character, we stay that way for a while, and he'll end every sentence addressed to me with my current identity at the end ("Where are we going, Elmo.") He'll also remind you that he's not Josiah, he's Cookie Monster. It's really quite amazing to see his imagination go wild. It's also very helpful because he can make anything a character (i.e. rocks, pens). He also does this regularly with his food, which is a good and bad thing. Good: it means he can entertain himself sitting in his chair for an hour. Bad: very messy. And it backfires when you're in a hurry.
  
  
• He's gotten more brave on playgrounds, not that we've gone much. He actually went into the play set at Chick-fil-A. He tentatively went through the tubes, other children lapping him several times. Then he finally went down the slide with a big smile, and "I did it!" We also busted out our Thomas tunnel the other day, and he really liked it.
  
  
• He's singing more. Sometimes known songs, sometimes ones he makes up.
  
  
• The weather and house showings have brought us to the library quite a bit. He gets in "ruts" with the books. He only wants to read his new library books. Currently, we've read the same five library books for every nap and every bed time for four days straight. I'm happy it's these five because the last set of books were really long and boring.
  
  
• He's finally counting. He's still not consistent every time, and prefers to count correctly on his own initiative, as opposed to a request by Mama.
  
  
• He's super-friendly. He'll say hello to other children in stores or restaurants. He said "hi" to everyone who passed by the checkout lane yesterday. When they don't respond, he's a little offended and says, "That little boy not say hi to me."
  
  
• Developmentally, he's very conscious of emotions. He regularly identifies emotions of characters in books or other children. "That little boy upset" or "That engine is mad" or "He's happy!"
  
  
• He's a little obsessed with "happy." I was having a few, er, less happy days in a row. He was always asking, "Mama, you happy? Be happy Mama." This comes into play with discipline mainly. I'll tell him it's time for bed or to clean up toys. He'll start crying and say, "Make me happy, Mama." Most of the time he's manipulating me, so Jonathan and I will say, "Obeying will make you happy." I'll point out that it's not about making Mama happy, but about making God happy. And I want him to know that I love him no matter what, but his sin doesn't make me or God happy. If he's complaining, I'll try to remind him of Scripture about that and focus him on being thankful instead. I'm still searching for the best way to handle it. It's not something I've run across directly in any parenting books lately!
  

Happy Sweet 16, Anna!

Raleigh drivers beware! My sister-in-law turns 16 today!
In all seriousness, we're so proud of you and the beautiful woman of God you have become and are becoming. And we know you'll be a great driver :)
Here are some birthday wishes from your nephew.

Baby Bump - 21 Weeks

Here is a baby bump picture for those who are curious. My husband doesn't really understand the point of these pictures, but he obliged me and did a very good job, I think.

For comparison sake, here is me at 20 weeks with Josiah. I wasn't wearing maternity clothes yet in these pictures. Yikes - I've been in them now for several weeks! It doesn't look that much bigger, but I feel a lot bigger with this pregnancy.

The Claw

Josiah was a little ray of sunshine while we were in North Carolina at my grandma's funeral. He didn't feel the need to be somber all the time. Parker started tickling him with "the claw." Initially, he may have scared Josiah, but then Josiah figured out, "It just a claw." He proceeded to claw attack all of his relatives.

My favorite part of this one is where Josiah mimics "I overpower you."

It's a BOY!

Here are 20-week pictures of our little boy. That's right, Josiah's going to have a little brother.

The ultrasonographer switched to 3D at the end. Isn't he handsome?

This one reminds me of one of Josiah's ultrasound pictures, though I think Josiah's cheeks were chubbier even in the womb.

"Hi everybody!"

A boy indeed.

Little Tar Heels. We're trying our best to even out the current male-female ratio at Carolina.

Precious

Here's the conversation Josiah and I had at lunch:

Josiah (spontaneously, several minutes after we blessed the food): Dear God. Thank you for my food. You're great. Amen.
LL: That was great praying Josiah. It makes God very happy when you talk to him.
Josiah: I make God happy. I make God happy and sad.
LL: Yes, God is happy when we pray to him and thank him, but sad when we sin.
Josiah: Where God go?
LL: God is in heaven.
Josiah: God in heaven with Jesus.
LL: Yes, God and Jesus are in heaven together.
Josiah (with a big smile): And Granny Louise...

Wow. I couldn't believe he said that because I don't even remember saying that specifically. I know my child can't completely understand these spiritual truths, but God sure is using him to minister to my heart. Thank you, Lord, for these precious moments.

Christian Clayton Cherry

My cousin Jaclyn and her husband Hank welcomed their little boy into the world on Wednesday. Christian was 6 lbs., 13 oz. and 19 inches. He's beautiful, and I can't wait to meet him!

ABCs

Josiah's never really sung a song by himself until recently. He'll fill in the gaps when we sing. And he can name all his letters, but this is the first time he's sung a "full" version of ABCs or any other song. He's doing the tambourine because I had sung the ABCs with it earlier. I asked him to sing along; he refused. Later he hopped over and did it all by himself. I love how he engages his audience - eye contact, smiles... He always applauds for himself after too.

Love You Grandma

My Grandma Louise passed away this morning. Words are eluding me right now, so I'm using pictures.

My favorite, maybe ever. Picking collards and smiling big at her great-grandchild.

Yesterday, Josiah sobbed with me on the couch, upset because his Momma was upset. We got it together and made some pancakes.
I asked him, "Josiah, do you know what it means for someone to die?"
He answered, "Umm. Jesus."
I'm so glad my little boy kept me focused on the big picture. Grandma's with Jesus. That's all that matters.

Pump It Up

For our Mom and Tots playdate on Friday, we went to Pump It Up, which is a huge warehouse filled with inflatables. I choose it because I knew the other kids would love it, but Josiah has been pretty wary of such things in the past. I think he really doesn't like unstable surfaces (trampolines, sands, etc.). I brought him in the bounce house. He said, "Don't like this Momma. Want get out of here."

So he stuck to the cars and the air hockey table. I tried the obstacle course which was an even bigger disaster.

Finally I convinced him to try the slide. He refused to climb up; 5-month-pregnant Mama had to carry him each time. But he loved going down!

A friend got some shots of Josiah and me, and Jack and Melanie going down together. Fun!

I convinced him to try the bounce house again. He cracked a few smiles, but certainly didn't go wild! Hopefully he'll get to try it sometime with Daddy.

Getting sweet with Bailey.

Cabin Fever

The weather is getting warmer, but last week was really cold! We spent lots of time indoors, so we finally broke out the play-dough. Josiah didn't show lots of interest the last time, but this time he loved it!

His main activity was tearing the dough into very small pieces. He let Mama and Daddy do most of the sculpting, but he loved playing with the pieces we made for him: a little boy and girl, mouse, cat, a bed. He's requested play-dough several times since then! His imagination is really blossoming!

Did I Forget to Mention...

that we're expecting Baby #2 in June?

Most people probably have heard the news, but we thought we should do an official announcement. I'm almost 18 weeks along, and we find out January 19 whether we're having a boy or a girl.

Our due date is June 10. This will be interesting considering Jonathan finishes residency June 30, and we'll be moving shortly afterward to his new job, and we'll be trying to sell our current house. God's timing is perfect, and we know He'll work everything out.

How have I been feeling? First trimester was a little rough. With Josiah, I felt nauseous most of the time, but didn't get sick very often. With this pregnancy, I didn't feel the constant nausea, but a wave would hit and I'd have to be sick. Josiah can now do a great impression of Mama throwing up. Jonathan taught him when Mommy's sick to go over and just pat my leg or shoulder. Whenever he heard me, he'd come running, saying "Mama sick?" Sometimes he got tired of it ("No get sick Mama"), but most of the time he did well. All the sickness has faded with the second trimester.

It's been so encouraging to see Josiah around babies lately. He's really sweet to them, patting heads or arms gently or snuggling them. We have a big brother book we read him. He was actually the one to share the news with his grandparents. We rehearsed him: We said "Josiah, what do you want to tell ___?" Sometimes he'd say, "Our news." But then he'd say, "Baby in Mama." We know he'll be a great big brother. He'll definitely have lots of transitions at once: new brother/sister, new house/city, maybe preschool, maybe potty training. We could definitely use your prayers!

We have a new doctor and will deliver at a different hospital this time around. We were pleased the last time, but switched for insurance reasons. Several people have had good experiences at this hospital, and we like our doctor a lot.

Are we hoping for a boy or girl? Jonathan is fine either way, now that he's got a boy. Mama's hoping for a girl. Partly for the cute clothes, partly because I like the idea of having one of both. I definitely know this time that boys are fun, so I'm not scared of the possibility. What do you think? I set up a survey at the side of the blog so you can vote!

I started feeling some movement last week. I also started wearing maternity clothes because they're just way more comfortable. I CAN still wear regular, but I feel very chubby when I do.

Happy Birthday, David!

I just love this one of the two of you. Have a great day!

Post-Christmas Christmas with the Pages

After Christmas, we headed to Atlanta for Christmas with Nana, Pop, Parker and Rachel. Aunt Marisa came down for a few days too, and we all got to love on Baby Davis and see Ryan and Susan too.

Exchanging gifts

Rachel showing Josiah his new train shirt. He was a typical kid at Christmas: breezing by the clothes to the toys (And books, which might not be normal. He'd seriously stop opening presents to sit and read a new book. Love it!)

New Thomas trains and cars from the movie Cars!

Helping Nana with her gifts.
Josiah: This my prez.
Family Member: No, this is ___'s. There's no toys in this one.
Josiah: Yes, it's toys. Want open prez.

Like a kid on Christmas :)

Getting some help from Uncle Parker

Nana and Pop's double staircase is pretty fun.

Lovin' on Aunt Rachel with the cute moose shirt they gave him.

Aunt Marisa cuddling Davis.

Uncle Parker learning about Josiah's world of trains. You can also see the cool floor mat that Aunt Marisa gave Josiah.

I tried to grab a picture of Josiah and Davis together before Josiah headed to bed, but he wasn't really into it.

Josiah "helped" take down the tree by taking this candy cane off their hands.

Jammin' With Aunt Rachel