A little fun

I grabbed this little quizzy thing from the Living Like the Kings Blog which I have been reading lately. I know it is not really about Joshua... but this IS a blog about a family and mommyhood too :) so here she is. Copy this and leave a link to your blog in the comments so i can see!! (Also stolen from living like the kings hehe) Enjoy!


1. Four TV shows that I watch: 

• House
• The Office
• Grey's Anatomy
• Parks and Recreation

2. Four things that I’m passionate about:

• My baby
• Food 
• Family
• Friends

3. Four words/phrases I use a lot:

• Wicked
• NO! (10 month olds don't really get this... nor do husbands on many occasions)
• "Don't put that in your mouth!" (again, 10 month olds don't really get this)
• What do you want for dinner?

4. Four things I’ve learned from the past:

• No matter what you plan, life has a plan for you and it will always win over yours.
• When people tell you that you don't understand tired until you have a newborn... believe them.
• If you think you are out of shape now... wait five years, then look back and see what you think...
• I get really really irritated when I'm hungry.  If I'm snappy, I'd suggest feeding me. (I'm stealing this one because it's true, and Joshua is just like his mama :) we are generally happy unless tired or hungry)

5. Four places I would like to go:

• Paris
• Alaska
• Italy
• California (to visit Matt Chan!)

6. Four things I did yesterday:

• Went to the gym
• Had lunch with Katie
• Took a nap when Joshua did
• Freelance work

7. Four things I am looking forward to:

• Joshua taking his first steps in the very near future
• Joshua's first birthday in the very near future (I can't believe it!)
• Getting a new phone....eventually....
• Having Mexican food for lunch today

8. Four things I love about winter:

• Snowboarding
• Cuddling under lots of blankets in a cold room
• My baby's birthday
• ice skating (even though i haven't in awhile)

Pacifiers... for the baby or the parents?

Now, I don't think any parent enjoys listening to their little human crying. So we do many things, from funny faces, to singing horribly, to giving pacifiers to calm them (and us.)

This week, since I am home from work all week, we decided to wean our little human off of his pacifier. He only really used one when he would sleep, or on long car rides anyways before. But among the many things we were told, and the jubilee of advice we were given, we were told by many that getting rid of the pacifier before he turns one is the way to go.

I think part of the reason is because of the fact that babies younger than one don't really remember things once they can't see them anymore, objects anyhow. I've had friends tell me this, and our pediatrician as well so we figured we'd give it a go. 

The first day he cried for awhile before he could settle himself down to sleep. But on the second day he took his naps no problem, and we still have him one with a cut off tip (another thing we were told to try) and he went right to sleep then too.

However, last night, he fell asleep without it, but then woke up a couple hours later screaming and could not settle back down unless he was being held (after hours) we decided to give him the tipless paci for the night time. I know people say to let them "Cry it out" so we have been trying. But Joshua has never been the kind of kid who has been able to calm himself down easily without help so I am trying to figure out how long we are supposed to let him cry, or if he is even really ready to be rid of the pacifier completely. As I write, he his screaming in his crib, refusing to take a nap, even though he is clearly exhausted. As much as I hate to hear him wailing and crying so hard he is coughing . . . part of me thinks, if I let it go, after a couple days, he will have forgotten all about the pacifier and found a new way to comfort himself back to sleep again (I hope)

Once of the things I heard somewhere is that pacifiers are more for the parents than the babies, because babies will eventually find other ways to fall asleep, and sooth themselves. But, there is not much that can sooth a parent when their little one is wailing and there is nothing really wrong, and nothing you can really do to make it better besides giving them that little piece of plastic.

What's a mother to do? I think I am going to be strong and let him cry. He DID fall asleep yesterday without, so I know it's possible. 

What advice do you other parents have with pacifiers? And letting kids cry it out? When did you start letting them wail and not running in to save them at night?

The quiet time between wails is getting longer now, Perhaps he'll be asleep soon . . . time to get some coffee!

Joshua's First Christmas

Little man had a busy, busy Christmas weekend! He is still recovering I think, his sleep schedule has been off ever since, which I guess I should complain about because he has been going to bed about a half an hour later and sleeping in about an hour, to two hours later! (wahoo!)

So here is how his Christmas adventures went (I will try to keep it short while cramming 4 days of events into one blog post)

December 23:

My mom, Joshua's Meme came to get us on the 23rd because my good friend Matt Chan (pictured below) was back in town from across the country and we had to visit him, and also had a lunch planned with some other good friends who I never get to see. AND that let Mama have some yummy drinks and food (while warm still) and baby-free, and let Meme and Pepe spend some one-on-one Joshua time, which they rarely get living so far from us! Joshua got a lot of great presents, clothes, toys, new books, and even some hand-me-downs (which we LOVE... since I swear he gets bigger and taller every single day and in constantly outgrowing clothes)

December 24:

Another busy day. Uncle Matt Chan came over to my parent's house bearing donuts and coffee to hang out with us for a little while. Joshua was acting a little shy at first, which is new for him, but warmed up pretty quick once he had a quick cat nap and got to have some playtime.

After that, My mom (his Meme), Joshua, and I headed next door to visit Joshua's Grand Meme. We brought his doorway jumper because she has great wide doorframes so Joshua got some good jump time in and seemed pretty happy about that. Unfortunately, when we got home he was being quite a fussy gus, so while the rest of the fam went to church, Joshua stayed home and napped with Auntie Krista and Jay. Once church was over we all met up at my Aunt Julies for our traditional Christmas Eve celebration, which consists of a lot of food, a lot of drinks, and a lot of fun. Joshua got an awesome cuddle blanket made by cousin Jenni (super cute!) New clothes, bibs, books. And of course, he still only wants to play with the remote and cell phones.

December 25:

The boss slept until about 8am, which never happens, but he had a real late night the night before. When he got up we all had breakfast and opened presents and stockings. Joshua got a rocking giraffe made by the company rock-a-bye. I love them, my friend Becki told me about them (her son has the octopus.) He got a lot more toys from his aunties and more books and clothes (the kid made out like a bandit) After presents, we gathered our ridiculous amount of things and headed back to NH. Joshua was surprisingly good on the way home, slept awhile and didn't cry once (which is a small miracle for him on a long car ride.)

When we got back to NH, we dropped the dog off at our house and hopped in the car to head to Jay's Aunt Karen's house to see that side of the family. More great food, and people, and gifts of course! And another late night for Joshua. By this point, Joshua had had enough and was letting everyone know, he was clinging to me and not a happy boy.

December 26:

After a good night's sleep in his own bed, the little man was back to his usual self. We let him open the presents we had gotten him now that he was more up to it, and then headed down south again to Jay's Grandma's house for Christmas with the other side of the family. He was in a much better mood and smiling and playing with everyone, he even took a couple good naps for us there.

So that was that . . . Here are some pictures from the festivities! 

Joshua and Uncle Matt

Helping Meme cook

Presents!

Cuddling his cuddle blanket

more presents!

my happy boy

Christmas morning

Look what Santa brought!

Among the gifts

There are way more photos than this, check my flickr set for more if you want. There is a link over to the right :-)

10 months old!

And here are the photos.

Almost Christmas! EEK!

I can't believe it, but Christmas if fast approaching! 

This year, as you all know, will be Joshua's first Christmas so we are trying to make it special for the little man. Our Christmas schedule is kinda nuts, since our families live so far apart form each other and we like to make the rounds and see everyone. I am just waiting for the day when we finally have a home big enough to host these family events and people can come to us (more than one small group at a time too!) but alas, that is neither here, nor there. 

So I am GOING to remember to bring my camera with me everywhere I go this year, AND even remember to use it. I have no excuse at Christmas since I am not in charge of cooking anywhere we go hehe.

Christmas time is making me nostalgic, remembering what it was like at this time last year. I remember how quiet and clean our house still was, how HUGE I was. Joshua was about two months away from making his grand entrance into the world, and we were busy setting up the nursery, washing lots of baby clothes, and trying to imagine what our new lives would be like. Now he is here, almost a year old already, and getting ready to have him very first Christmas and I wouldn't change a thing (except maybe the size of our house, but again... neither here nor there) Christmas is making me realize how loved and cared about we really are, with all the cards we get in the mail, and all the great friends and loving family we have, we are truly blessed and could not be who we are, and do what we do without them. There are so many willing to help us, from babysitting, to party planning, we couldn't do it without you all, and you know who you are! So in case I don't say it enough, thank you, thank you, thank you! and I love you all :-)

Sorry to get all sappy on you, but hey. It's the holidays, when the food has no calories, and everyone is thankful for what and who they have, right?! Now if only I could get all of the Christmas cards I made up sent out I'd be good to go! here's a sneak peak (in case they aren't in the mail by Christmas) I will be sure to update with photos and maybe some videos of our first family Christmas as soon as I can.

Happy Holidays to everyone out there, from our family to yours!

Happy Holiday PJs

Candy-cane Jammas. Everyone should have a pair.

He knew he was a fake . . .

Today Joshua met Santa for the first time. It went a little something like this.

Unfortunately, it would appear Joshua takes after his Mama in this regard. I supposedly was not a fan of Jolly 'ol Saint Nick either . . . until I realized he was the one who brought us the good presents haha. Christmas card photos, take two! Happy Holidays, friends! 

First Thanksgiving and 5th Tooth

So, I forgot my camera for Joshua's first Thanksgiving last Thursday. So there aren't any pictures from that. But we did have a second Thanksgiving on Sunday here and I managed a couple pictures (I state again, I am horrible at remember to take photos at family events, it always starts good, and then i forget all about my poor little camera.)

Joshua had a nice first Thanksgiving. We went to Grammy Nikki's house (Jay's grandmother). Of course, this year, the Patriots were playing so we had to work around the game. But it worked out well. I woke up early and headed to Concord, NH for the galloping gobbler 4 mile Thanksgiving day road race (I survived) then hurried home to shower and get ready to go. We got down to Salem around noon time and had snacks, settled in Joshua. The men sat in front of the TV and watched football, and the girls got dinner ready. Dinner was set to be done during half time, but since eating takes longer than half time, the men had a special "man" table set up in front of the TV so they could have both at the same time. Joshua even got to try some of the "big-people food." He had some squash, potato, carrots, and I think that's all.

Joshua was the center of attention for most of the day and was pretty OK with that. He did well for most of the day, and even managed to nap when it was time for the adults to eat, and again when it was time for dessert to come out (for the first time in the history of the last 9 months!). He got a little cranky towards the end of the day as he was getting tired and overwhelmed with all the people and being in a new place, I think. When we got back home he got to play for a little while, but pretty much, ate his bedtime snack and went to sleep.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we noticed that his next top-middle tooth had cut in, which may have contributed to his on and off fussiness for the past few day.

Sunday, we somehow crammed 11 of us into our little condo for my second Thanksgiving. We had up my parents and sisters, my aunt and uncle and cousin, and Jay's Dad and Stepmom. My first turkey was a hit, as well as everything else! I asked everyone to bring a dessert, because I am better at cooking than baking and figured then I wouldn't need to make any desserts. Now, we will be eating leftover Thanksgiving food and desserts for the next week and a half (which isn't a bad thing.) Joshua was the center of attention again. He loved spending time with his Meme and Pepe and everyone else he doesn't get to see very often. He was in a good mood most of the day and got to eat some of my homemade squash too.

Joshua's Thanksgiving outfit

Joshua with food in his mouth and Pepe.

Pepe giving Joshua his snacks. 

And then there were 4 . . . teeth

Joshua cut tooth number 4 this past weekend. He now has 2 big bottom teeth, and the top 2 teeth on the right side. So he's lopsided! Funny, I was always told the middle two on the top came in after the bottom middle two. But he got the right side fang, then the right side middle on top first haha. Hopefully the other top two that are pushing on his gums break soon because they are bothering him still. I can see the white edges of them, so it should be long now!

Since I can't get pictures of his teeth because he won't let me look in his mouth. Here is a picture of him right after he woke up from a nap. I guess he has enough hair now to have a bad hair day!

Joshua's first finger foods

Lounging in the exersaucer

Joshua waving at Mama and dancing (kinda)

Pumpkins and First Birthdays

These are just some catch-up shots I had on my camera that hadn't made it to my computer yet.

Joshua's Pumpkins

Joshua at Charmingfare Farm for Liam's 1st Birthday Party

The whole group

He was starting to get pretty cranky by this point 

And the adorable birthday boy!

9 months down!

Yesterday was Joshua's 9 month birthday! I can NOT believe it has been 9 months already! This means there are only 3 more months until her turns one, which means I have LESS than 3 months to plan his party, oy!

We had Joshua's 9 month checkup a couple of weeks ago, and big man is weighing in now at 20.5 lbs and 28 inches. He is right in the 50th percentile now and seems to be growing and changing every day! Here are some of the things Joshua does now:

-He crawls (very quickly when he wants to)
-Pulls himself to standing on anything he can
-Walks along furniture
-Talk a LOT (not real words but a lot of babbling)
-Says 'Mama' and 'Dada' and 'Hi' though i don't think he knows what the words mean yet
-He waves, with his whole arm
-He dances to music, loooves dancing!
-He is eating stage 3 baby foods and can eat the baby puff cereal and teething cookies now, his doctor said we can try giving him our soft foods too if we want, like mashed potato, etc... as long as it's not seasoned and no lumps since he isn't a pro at chewing yet.
-He loves jumping, if you hold him, he'll hop on you
-He loves being read to, and things that light up. he will interact with you when he is played with now

I think that's it! I have some catching up to do, I finally put the pictures of the pumpkins we carved for Joshua on my computer, and the pictures from Joshua at Liam's first birthday party, and also a couple more videos. Once it's all uploaded I will post more! Until then, here are his 9-month pictures, more on Flickr of course!

monkey!

clearly very excited for a photo shoot

showing off his bottom teeth

close up. I love those eyes!

I think he was talking in this one haha

Such a happy little man!

This is his serious face

again

sitting on my mat...wondering why i am still taking pictures

Love for Mr. Monkey

Usually Joshua loves his Mr. Monkey by body slamming him on the ground or tackling him, today he's decided he wants to scream at him, and chew on him. Whatever floats your boat I suppose, little one.

Joshua says, "Mama"... right?!

I've been telling people for awhile now that Joshua can say Mama, and I now have the video evidence to prove it. That IS a "Mama," right? I think it's official enough to put in the baby book, yes? :-)

The first black eye . . . and so it begins

I told you I was slow at updating this thing lately! Keep in mind, this happened on Monday, and I am just now remembering to write about it. Also, I have not taken my usual photographic documentation as of yet, hopefully, for photographic evidences sake, I can get one tonight, even though it's just about gone now.

So anyways, on to the story!

Now that Joshua the Terrible can crawl, and stand, and dance, and hop. Those are, of course, his favorite things to do! He thinks it is especially funny to stand at the end of the coffee table, opposite my computer and play peek-a-boo with me. This is what he was doing when he hurt himself. He had crawled over to the table and pulled himself up and squealed with delight, as he often does (see video in previous post) and was walking along the edge of the table. He got the point where he could watch me hide behind my computer and poke out at him, which makes him laugh and was pretty happy standing there for about 30 seconds, (typical attention span of an 8-month-old i think) and then, something else caught his eye.

I'm not sure what he saw, but he was looking at something on the ground and hopping a little bit, then he squatted down to reach for said object. He was doing fine until he leaned back away from the table, edge at eye level, and went to grab something out of reach and hit his face smack, on the edge of the table. He cried for a couple seconds, and then he was fine, he wasn't bleeding, and it wasn't swollen, and didn't look bruised yet so I wasn't worried. The next morning though, he woke up with a full-fledged shiner. He is a boy, and i suspected it would happen sooner or later, but somehow I thought he'd be walking on his own, but our boy is crafty, and curious, and never ceases to surprise us with the things he can do. 

So that is the story of Joshua's first shiner. I'll try to get a picture up here too! Below is a picture I took on my cell phone of him playing peek-a-boo behind my computer while I was working one day. How can anyone not love that face!?

Tomorrow Joshua and I are going to Charmingfare Farm for Liam's first birthday party! Happy birthday Liam! 

Tooth #3

Joshua's 3rd tooth cut it's way through yesterday, finally! The top four middle teeth have all been right on the edge for what feels like forever now, and the last month, I'd say he's been going through fussy fits, and having stretches of not sleeping through the night and hating naps. I had guessed it was those darn teeth finally getting ready to make an appearance and I think I may have been right! He was over his Great Grammy Nikki's house yesterday while we worked and he was in a sour mood for most of the day from what I hear. When we got home at the end of the day I took a peek in that little mouth again even though there was nothing new cutting that morning, and there was the tooth! Funny though, I was told the two top middles came in after the bottom two, and he got the right side tooth that is next to the middle two first haha. Though, I think the other 3 are right behind that one, I have a feeling in the next week or two they will all be cutting through. I can see all the edges of the little teeth poking on the gums from the inside, they just haven't forced their way out yet. Now, I can only hope that they all come through at once, in the night, while he is asleep, and he doesn't wake up while it's happening... that would be good.

It's the great pumpkin!

Today Joshua, Jay and I went on a family trip to Mack's Apples in Londonderry. Joshua had his first pumpkin pickin' experience. All the pumpkins were out of the fields we wanted to go to so we just went to the main farm stand and took some pictures and picked out a pumpkin and some other goodies.

It was a brisk 45ish degrees outside so we were glad we dressed Joshua warmly and in a hat, and not glad we didn't wear hats ourselves! But it was a great day for photos and we got some good ones, Joshua was in good spirits and sat and smiled wherever we put him. He even got to go for his first wagon ride, which did not last long, because he kept trying to eat the dirt and grossness that was on the bottom of the wagon. Typical. But we picked out a nice big pumpkin we are going to carve later, and bake the seeds, got a home made chicken pot pie (which was delicious) and some cider and apple cider donuts (also delicious).

Here are some select pictures from the trip, the rest are on flickr and there are some on facebook too. Enjoy!