18 Months

Josiah turned 18 months over a week ago, but I've been busy and we just had our doctor's appointment on Friday.

Height: 32.75 inches (50-75%)
Weight: 25. 1 lbs. (50%)
Head Circumference: 18 3/4 inches (50%)

The weight percentage is interesting to me because he always gets comments from strangers about what a big boy he is, but really it's just all in the cheeks.

A few other things for the memory books:

• I haven't counted his teeth, but he's got a lot.
  
• His favorite foods are bananas, grapes, Ritz crackers (I buy whole wheat, so that I can sleep at night thinking he has something nutritious in him), scrambled eggs and goldfish crackers. He really likes all kinds of fruit, but none of the good stuff is in season. He's still not crazy about meat, but he'll occasionally eat some.
• Favorite toys are anything with wheels and balls. He can spot any car or truck around ("Da! Ackum!" Imagine driving down the highway and hearing over and over.) He does well with his shape sorter too, but we normally direct him to the correct area.
  
• He's not really a climber, but is starting to do really well on playground equipment. He prefers to go down stairs standing up, holding on to someone's hand.
  
• He still loves books. His attention span for many of them is surprising.
  
• He got his first black eye (TV table) and scraped his nose pretty bad (driveway) this month.
  
• He can repeat some of the alphabet after us. He loves to sing after we sing, though never the same song.
  
• He's doing well with a spoon and fork. Not perfect, but good for a toddler.
  
• His vocabulary is growing, but I've lost an official count. I'd say he's picked up a lot more directional words: up, down, out, in, back. Other recent notables: cream cheese (I'm not kidding. hysterical), too cute and of course, calculator.
  
• He says "hi" and "bye-bye" to nearly everyone he see in public places. Most people smile and respond, others don't notice. Which is a shame because it's a real day-brightener. He also points out anyone who is wearing a hat.
  
• Still goes to bed at 7 p.m. most nights. Wake-ups depend on when he hears Jonathan get up, but anywhere from 6:15-7:30 a.m. We've had some friends put him to bed recently, and they all comment on how easy he goes down. Naps are a different story. I think we've finally moved to just one nap. It has been a very gradual process, and not a particularly fun one. It's a long story, but we may switch back for a few weeks.
  

Fist Bump

Calculator

I apologize in advance for my baby voice in this video.

Winking

Amy's Baby Shower

Jonathan's brother David and his wife Amy are expecting a little boy, Caleb James, mid-May (although we thought he might jump the gun a little early for a while). The Pike and Fisher women threw a lovely shower for her last Sunday at the Washington Duke Inn. All the women in these three families, plus Amy's mom and grandmother, were able to make it, and we had a wonderful time sharing stories and celebrating baby Caleb and Amy.

The table setting with adorable stuffed toys at each of the daisy arrangements.

The Pike women: Courtney, Mary Alice, Lindsey and Mrs. Pike
(Jonathan grew up with them and still calls her Mrs. Pike, so despite the fact I met her as an adult, I feel the need to call her Mrs. Pike.)

The Fisher ladies: Mrs. Fisher and Lori

My unbiological sisters and me

Telling some funny story

The "kids"

Amy got some adorable outfits

The whole group

A Duke student's attempt at being artistic, placing the flower arrangement branches in front.

Snow Day

We missed the three inches of snow they got here in Birmingham, but we got almost as much in Raleigh (their second "major" snow of the year). I was jealous seeing all my friends' pictures of the first snow, so I was glad we got to enjoy it this time, despite the fact that it delayed our flight home for a day. We were sad to miss the fun with Dada, but glad that we had lots of other fun playmates for the snow.

Not a fan of sledding by himself. He was a little freaked out by the snow at first, but eventually he adjusted. He laughed when we'd throw snowballs.

Loved sledding with someone else

Not much of a hill, but it did the trick

My cute outfit is courtesy of Mrs. Sharon, as is Josiah's hat underneath. I didn't pack snow clothes for a trip in March of course!

Watching a snowball fight with Grammy

With sweet Anna

Walking through the woods with Granddaddy

Finally "warming up" to the snow and daring to touch it on his own

Finally, An Update!

Sorry for the long delay in posting! It has been a very busy week, which included an out-of-town interview (Josiah's first stay in a hotel), a trip to North Carolina to see the Moseleys, Amy's baby shower, SNOW and a safe trip home after a delayed flight.
Last Tuesday, the Moseley Great-Grands and Uncle Ron and Aunt Joyce were in town for a doctor's visit, so we got to grab lunch with them.

Skip forward to Saturday. We were up early to catch our flight to NC. Josiah didn't like getting dragged out of bed early, but was a trooper for both flights, despite spending a lot of time on the runway because of the stormy weather. He conked out for 3 of 4 of our flights. Huge blessing!

Checking the safety instructions. At least he obeys the flight attendant :)

After we got in, we had lunch at Bojangles with some giddy grandparents and Anna. Then I got to hang out with my friend Laura, while they spent some quality time with Josiah. Uninterrupted, adult conversation is a rare luxury for mommas, and I enjoyed catching up with my dear friend.

Climbing the stairs with Anna. Lots more pictures to come!

Redneck Paradise

Nana and Pop came up this weekend, so we went to the new Bass Pro Shop to check it out. It was insane, almost an amusement park.

Exploring some bass boat options. "Check me out Cousin Hank!"

Inspecting the fish tank

"Ish! Ish!"

Trying out one of the ATVs. He was very much in awe of all the tractors and trucks. A little boy's dream world.

Bye Bye Game

Jonathan and Josiah's game right now is Bye Bye. It's one of Josiah's favorite words and whenever he says it to Dada when he's home, Jonathan wrestles and tickles him. So Josiah keeps saying it so that he'll get "attacked."

I love the laughs his Dad gets from him. If I could bottle that stuff, I'd make a fortune.

Valentine's Outtakes

Will You Be My Valentine?

Sorry I'm a little late asking...

Trip to the Zoo

My Dad came to see us because Mom was out of town. We made Josiah's first trip to the zoo and had his first train ride.

Josiah was in quiet observation pretty much the whole time. Stunned at riding on a "real" train, stunned at seeing animals that were huge and really moved. He wasn't scared, just taking it all in.

This was pretty much his face the whole time looking at the animals.

We saw zebras, ostriches, giraffes, lions, a white tiger, kangaroos, monkey and other primates, toucans and camels. Some of the animals couldn't come out because it was too cold, but we were excited at all we got to see.

He was the most animated when he found something familiar at the Australian themed kangaroo exhibit.

Here's some video from the train ride. Dad got us a new camcorder that makes videos really easy to post, so you may be seeing more!

A little camel noise at the end, and me trying to explain camels.

Bamboo Boys

We enjoyed the beautiful spring-like weather on Sunday by visiting the botanical gardens with our friends/neighbors Lisa and her little boy Silas, who is just a few months younger than Josiah.

There is some unspoken rule in Birmingham that when you're at the gardens with children, you must take pictures. So I obliged. It is a popular spot for portraits, but I've never seen any in the bamboo section.

Cutie Silas. He's not walking yet, so the bamboo was perfect for pulling up.

Hey handsome.

He really liked exploring nature. Like father, like son.

Off to conquer the world.

A Few Good Recipes

I've made some new recipes and some favorites lately, so I thought I'd do a big yummy post for you all.

I made Brown Sugar Glazed Pork for dinner tonight along with Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

Paula Deen's Chicken Noodle Soup was the best I've ever had, although I can't recall ever having homemade chicken soup. I actually made it with a leftover turkey breast, frozen from Christmas.

I love making homemade granola, even though it's a bit time consuming. This is a quick recipe though. I love it with soy milk or yogurt especially.

I haven't made this To-Die-For Pot Roast recently, but it's easy and delicious. I bring it as a baby meal a lot, and people think I've slaved away making them pot roast. Not the case.

And finally, I made this cake as cupcakes for Erin's baby shower. She deemed them "stupid good," which, if you know her, is a compliment. They were indeed the best cupcakes I've ever made, and I'm actually not a huge cake fan (more of a frosting fan). I highly recommend. It'd be great for Valentine's Day. I was worried the dark chocolate would be overwhelming, but it was very smooth. Now I just need Carrie-Anne to post the recipe of the sugar cookies she made, because they were the best sugar cookies I've ever had. It was not a diet-friendly shower!

Dark Chocolate Layer Cake
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (I used light and some molasses)
2 eggs
2 oz. sweet dark chocolate, melted and cooled (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 T vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add cooled chocolate and vanilla, beating until blended.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and end with flour ixture. Beat at low speed after each addition. Pour batter into 2 greased parchment lined 9" round cakepans.
Bake at 350 for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rocks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

White Chocolate Frosting
1 1/2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 (4 oz.) white chocolate baking bars, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 t vanilla extract
2 t fresh lemon juice

Beach cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add cooled chocolate, beating until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Add vanilla and lemon juice beating until blended. Cover and chill 45 minues or ntil spreading consistency.

Valentine's Moms and Tots

We had a great play date with JCRMA's Moms and Tots yesterday at Jennifer's house (aka a child's dream world). I posted more group pics on the JCRMA website. These are more Josiah-focused pictures.

Conquering the slide. I think being around older kids makes him more daring.

Scaling the climbing wall

Callin' his peeps

"This play date rocks. You should totally crash this party."

They had these two AWESOME trucks. Needless to say, Josiah spent a lot of time with these.

"Ba"

Josiah is tearing tissue paper for the fun craft. Mommy "helped" him stick it to laminating paper and then cut it in the shape of a heart. It turned out really cute.

Checking out Carter, who is enjoying some of the yummy snacks