8 Months!

Our little man is 8 months old. He is quickly trying to leave babyhood behind as I see him beginning to play and interact with us in more mature ways, but thankfully I still see the baby in him quite frequently for now. This past month has been a month of perfecting old skills and getting glimpses of new tricks yet to come.

Josiah’s “speech” has become louder and more interactive as he loves to “talk” back and forth. He loves to yell just to hear himself. I have yet to decide if this is behavior that needs to be curbed or if I should just let him enjoy the sound of his voice. He has such a look of delight when he does it, that I haven’t tried to quiet him down yet.

He has definitely formed preferences lately and will let you know he is unhappy with things. The other night we were letting him play on the floor naked after bathtime (which he loves to do), but when it came time to put on the diaper, he pitched his first, and so far only, fit. He screamed and rolled around making it very difficult to finish the job. Jacob and I looked at each other in disbelief and braced ourselves for our future!

He has become quite proficient at creeping on his belly to the point that I was thinking he may skip the crawling stage altogether, but just in the last week he has begun to get on his knees briefly. Just yesterday he started to rock back and forth on hands and knees, so I guess he will be crawling soon after all. I will be glad because it has become difficult to keep his pants up!

Josiah has done this fake sounding cough from very early on, but only this month has it become evident that he does it to copy anyone who coughs. I think it is his first real imitation that can be done on cue. He is also beginning to learn to wave “bye bye,” but he picks and chooses when to do it.

His diet has broadened to include cereals, sweet and white potatoes, peas, green beans, avocado, carrots, squash, banana, pears, apples, peaches, rice, rice cakes, and of course puffs. Mango and pumpkin are next to come, I think. He is advancing on towards using the pincer grasp, but as soon as he picks food up with his thumb and forefinger, he transfers it to his palm. He perfected the pincer by picking at the carpet…which drives me crazy. I have no idea why some of the carpet pieces stick up higher than the rest, but he finds every one of them and stretches them further.

Josiah’s upper left incisor made it’s appearance this month, although it is taking its merry time coming in and is only halfway there. His less than symmetrical teeth made for a perfect Halloween smile.

This month we have enjoyed some time at playdates, the library, the mountains, the pumpkin patch, and probably some other things I can’t think of at the moment. However, the one problem I can’t seem to resolve is the weekly meltdown in the church nursery. This too shall pass…

We have so much fun rolling and playing with Josiah on the floor and what we call “wallow time” on the bed. He loves rolling around like crazy on the bed, with or without us in it. So far there have been no falling accidents and we plan to keep it that way.

All in all, we have had a great month spending some extra time together (meaning Jacob is home more now) and watching Josiah grow. He is a delightful blessing.

Here he is enjoying some swing time at our house and on a playdate!

His eyes look a little dizzy here because he was trying to watch the little girl, Drew, swing next to him.

Soakin' up the sunshine and trying to dry out some drool.

Who could resist these next two faces?

I love my cat and my baby, so how could I just pick ONE of these next pictures?

So nice! Dont they both do a good job?

"No, your other right, Josiah!"

A stomach full of sweet potato, a place to sit, and a nice thumb...life is good.

I couldn't resist this. I guess we need to invest in a protective cup!

More Fall Fun!

Last weekend Jacob, Josiah, and I went to the North Georgia Mountains to see the changing leaves and do some hiking. We started planning this trip before Josiah was even born and had originally planned on leaving him behind with grandparents, but we later decided we didn’t yet need a break from him, after all, and that it would be fun to have him along. We both crossed our fingers and held our breaths hoping we wouldn’t regret this decision. Lo and behold, he did fabulously! He didn’t even cry for the whole 4 days except for the last hour of driving on the way home…during which, he screamed…it was a wonderful way to end the trip.

Jacob and I have always enjoyed each other’s company, especially doing things like this, but I have to admit, we had so many more laughs with Josiah in tow than we would have had without him. Jacob even said he felt more bonded to him than ever. I chalked this up to the fact that he had never before spent four whole days with him. Not to mention he had Josiah strapped to his back or chest the whole time we hiked. I told him it was like being pregnant because I felt quite bonded to Josiah before he was born, too. However, I gained 35 lb during pregnancy and he only had to carry around 16 lb! Granted it was a wiggling, giggling, squealing 16 lb.

Like I said, we were so proud of how well Josiah did. He spent a lot of time in the carseat, was flexible with naps and feedings, and coped well with long hikes in cold weather. He even wore his hat, which he hates any other time.

We had to laugh because we were walking all of these trails that were fairly busy due to the season, so their were people who were trying to enjoy the quiet scenery, but here was Josiah screaming at the top of his lungs just to hear himself, then making fart noises with his mouth, then giggling. Some people appreciated it, some walked faster or stopped all together until we passed. Old men love him. His favorite was when he faced outward on Jacob’s chest and I walked in front. Every now and then I’d turn around and jump at him. I was addicted to the squeal and giggle that followed. See? I just couldn’t have done that if Josiah wasn’t there, I’d look stupid doing it repetitively to Jacob.

Other than the hour of screaming at the end of the trip, the only bad thing that happened was that our camera’s SD card malfunctioned and we lost most of our pictures of our baby’s first vacation. We only have some from the last little bit since we had a spare card. So sad.

Ok, enough about the baby, right? On to the trip itself. We went to a cabin (which will remain unnamed because we don’t recommend it. We prefer the last one we stayed in.) just outside of Blairsville. The area was beautiful! The leaves were perfect! I hadn’t seen the leaves like that since the first grade, so I was in awe. It rained quite a bit the first day, but we still managed to see a few waterfalls that day. The next 2 days were very nice, though. We enjoyed some of the best waterfalls we have seen in GA, and this was our 3rd hiking trip, so we were happy.

On another note, Jacob is leaving next week go to southern North Carolina to hike some special trail for 4 days. He will be roughing it all the way through. I’m just hoping he comes back alive. More to come on that.

Here are some of the pictures we did get:

My cutie pies having fun at the base of Dukes Creek Falls.

The only decent picture we have of all of us. Anna Ruby Falls.

On one of the nicer trails - Dukes Creek Falls.

Unfortunately we lost the pictures of the best waterfalls, but this will have to do. Anna Ruby Falls.

Dukes Creek Falls

The river at Anna Ruby Falls.

Some fall colors at Dukes Creek Falls.



More at Dukes Creek.