Monday, September 27, 2010

Local Carnival

I saw signs for a carnival at a local church and we stopped by two weekends ago. It was a small carnival, but still fun. Parts Josiah loved: the dunking booth (hilarious), face painting, balloons, cotton candy, shaved ice. Parts he did NOT like: inflatables (refused to go near them), reverb from the music, the "strong man" game (where you hit the bottom with a mallet. Hated the sound it made. Drove him crazy.)

All the girls thought Josiah was adorable getting his face painted like an orange dog. He chose orange.

Micah had a good time too.

We're like this a lot. Seriously considering investing in an Ergo.

Maybe looks a little bit more like a basketball than a puppy.

Naming all the letters on the sign. Unprompted.

Helping the lady with his purple flower balloon. Did you know purple is his favorite color?
The Morgans were also there for the first part, but I failed to break out my camera until later.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Micah at 3 Months

Micah was 3 months on September 14. He's the chunkiest, sweetest, smiley-est baby, and we are very blessed.


Most of the pictures came out blurry because I was trying to get those easy smiles he gives and take the pictures.

It's blurry, but you can still see that grin!

Attacking Mr. Giraffe.

How does he taste?

Not too much has changed. He's obviously gotten even more chunky; he's already in some six month clothes! He's responding to his big brother more. Still not sleeping through the night, but did his first 7-hour stretch the other night. We discovered he doesn't travel quite as well as Josiah did because he doesn't fall asleep right away in the car seat. Overall, he is a content little guy!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Josiah at 3


Josiah had his three-year-old check-up on September 8. He was leery at first, having observed several of Micah's not-fun doctor's appointments. But the weight and height check were pretty fun. Then he had fun getting his eyes, ears and mouth checked out and was so tickled when the doctor saw Lightning McQueen and Mater in his ears. He had fun with the vision test. Then the shot. Not fun. It's one thing with an infant; they forget the pain pretty easy. Josiah took a long time to recover!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 30 lbs. (40 percentile)
Height: 37.75 inches (65 percentile)


(I'm a little confused about the percentiles. Those are what the nurse wrote down for me, but the doctor said something more like 30 percentile for weight and 75 for height. Either way, he's tall and skinny, which is not much fun for shopping for pants!)



The developmental diagnostic revealed what I'd been observing. He doesn't jump with both feet yet. He can draw lines and curves, but not circles. He's obviously very developed in other areas: language!


We also discussed potty training, a topic I've not discussed much on this blog because it makes me feel like a Mommy-failure. I really should be more transparent. He does well with #1, but refuses to do #2, despite the fact he has had occasional success. It's become pretty much a control issue now. We've battled back and forth, but right now, we're trying to be patient and not push the issue too hard. Honestly, there's not too much more we can do until Josiah decides he wants to do it.

Josiah loves being with his family. When we're at home, he'd rather run around in circles near us downstairs than be upstairs with toys alone. He goes to nursery and preschool easily, but sometimes he's told us, "I had fun, but I with I could be with my family." I think Micah need to grow up fast, so Josiah can have a playmate!


We're currently in a more difficult phase in terms of his obedience and behavior. The picture above summarizes it well. I'm asking him to turn around to take the picture. He says he doesn't want to or distracts himself with something else. He's "defining himself" by not wanting to do anything we ask him to and hesitant to try new things. I'm hoping he phases out soon, but we're learning lots about discipline!


Memory Book observations:
-Still sleeps pretty well, but we have had issues with leaving his bed, "monsters" and saving his "accidents" for bedtime. Still takes a nap in the afternoon for normally 1.5-2.5 hours.


-His favorite foods are mac & cheese, chicken nuggets with sauce, any kind of fruit, peanut butter and jelly, pancakes. He prefers raw veggies (carrots, celery and broccoli) with ranch dressing or hummus. He's still not a huge meat fan.


-His favorite toys: trains, cars, trucks. He's enjoyed puzzles, especially easier ones that he's already good at. We've started challenging him with harder jigsaw puzzles. He prefers paint and play dough and chalk to crayons. He's gotten more hesitant at playgrounds since we moved. I think he has to go back to same one several times to feel comfortable.


-He still loves books. We read before naps and bedtime for 20-30 minutes a day. Three books plus a children's Bible story or two. Then he likes to look at books on his own before sleeping.


-His imagination is off the hook. We're always pretending to be something: a train, book character, or animal. He makes his food into characters, rocks, straws from the pantry - anything!


-Favorite TV shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, SuperWhy, Dora the Explorer. Our favorites have shifted with our time change after moving. The only movies he's really seen are Cars, Finding Nemo and Thomas the Train.


-Loves to sing right now. Old hymns, Andrew Peterson songs, kid's classics, Veggie Tales.

In the picture below, he's scared because he hears an airplane. He's become a little more fearful in general lately, and sounds in particular bother him. He asked me if it was a "fighter jet with soldiers in it."

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Duck Adventure

Jonathan happened to be home early one day, and the boys were up a little early from naps, so I suggested we go on an adventure!

I'd taken Micah on a walk to this park earlier and discovered this fun boardwalk with tons of ducks and geese.

Feeding the ducks

Snuggly baby boy

Daddy explaining some cool things about nature

Mommy and Josiah wanted to get into the water. Mommy was also excited about getting her picture taken with the boys until she realized she left the house without a stitch of make-up on.

Splashing

Sandy toes

Sleepy Micah and Daddy

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Micah in the Bumbo

Guess who started joining us at the dinner table?

He loves being part of the conversation and babbles and smiles at us.

It's tough to get those chunky thighs out of that seat though!

Yes, Yes, I know this is against safety protocol, but we are sitting within arm's reach of him.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Parker Reunion

After our stop in Wake Forest, we headed to east for the Parker Family Reunion. We stayed at Grandma's house with Mom, Dad, Uncle Ronnie, Aunt Gail, Jaclyn and Christian. My Granddad's side of the family gathers every Labor Day weekend. Our branch of the family had over 50 people present, and Micah was the youngest family member present. My Dad did a great memorial for my Grandma Louise, and we also remembered my Aunt Jean and Uncle Wallace. I didn't get any pictures though, sadly.

Dad grabbed this one of Josiah playing with a gigantic Frisbee at the reunion.

Josiah opened his birthday presents from Nana and Pop.

As I look at that picture, it reminds me of all the Christmases we ripped apart our presents on that floor.

Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Gail gave Josiah The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He's reading it to Christian. Josiah loved playing with Christian and giving him hugs.

Micah bonding with Nana.

Josiah got to play with lots of cousins. I think he's probably confused as to what exactly a cousin is! This is "Silly Sarah" as Josiah named her; he really took a shine to her.

Sarah is Josiah's second cousin, once removed.
Christian is his second cousin.
Caleb and Jacob are his first cousins.
In case you were wondering.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Four Boy Cousins

Last weekend, we stopped in Wake Forest to visit the Moseleys on our way to the Parker Family Reunion.

Caleb was napping when we arrived, but when he woke up, Josiah went up to him immediately and said "HI CALEB!" and was super excited to see him. They did a few laps through the house.


Getting a Big Brothers shot

The best attempt at trying to get a shot of all four.

And break downs: Josiah the tornado, Caleb still unstable after nap wake-up, Micah the chill-baby and Jacob the newborn (also woken up from a nap).

The Moseley dads and their boys

The grandparents and their boys


Doing a little carpentry between photo shoots

Uncle Jonathan spending some quality time with his newest nephew.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

First Day of Preschool

Josiah had his first day of preschool last week. He'll be going two mornings a week at a local church. I would say it was weepy and emotional sending him off, but he just hopped right in his class room and started playing. I had hoped to get some pictures of him next to his cubby, but he was too busy to hardly even say goodbye!

I think it's going to be a good experience for both of us. Mommy gets lots of time to run errands or workout. I think he's going to learn a lot of important skills and have lots of new, fun experiences.

He's been able to tell us a lot about what he's learning. He's coming home dirty from the sandbox and snack, with a new piece of art and a smile every day. It makes him seem like such a big boy!