We’ve been known to let our boys run around and play in sprinklers in the yard in less than decent attire. It’s the beauty of country living. I don’t post the naked sprinkler fun (though the pictures are hilarious), but who can resist this? I think they have more fun the less they wear! There’s something about spontaneous play where there’s no time for dressing appropriately that makes life extra fun.
Joshua is now six months old! Our smiley, drooly, noisy, mobile little guy is growing and maturing at a faster rate than I can grasp. He’s too cute to resist and his brothers even fight over who can sit in front of him sometimes. His sleeping habits have continued to improve and he has started solid foods.
Well, ready or not, Joshua is becoming more mobile. He uses his rolling and dragging skills to move across the room in the blink of an eye to get to the big boy toys, which he prefers to baby toys. He’s also making attempts to get up on his knees, but he’s a long ways from success. Joshua is also at the very beginning stages of trying to sit up, though he needs to be focused on one object in order to not topple over.
On the health front, Joshua survived his first head cold. It wasn’t too severe and we made it without a doctors visit, but the first one always seems rough.
The boys are so in love with their precious brother. After a few months of observing Josiah with Joshua, Elijah has decided he wants to embrace the big brother role more fully. He demands his own one on one time and taken on the task of comforting Joshua when he is upset.
Joshua’s sleeping habits at the beginning of the month usually involved one long nap and two short with a little bit of disrupted sleep at night. This was good compared to what he had been doing, but over the course of the month he’s improved even more. He sleeps better at night and if he wakes early from a nap or night time sleep, it is often easy to pop his paci back in and leave him be.
A week before turning six months old, we started Joshua on solids. So far he’s only had oatmeal and sweet potato. The reports I get back from Cindy and Jacob are that he eats great, but he doesn’t do so well in my hands. If I remember right, the other boys were that way, too.
Our sweet baby has stolen our heart. It will be so fun to watch him mature over the coming months. Admittedly, I can’t wait to see how his hair turns out :) The coming years will be fun, too. Who will he be? Sometimes when I’m holding onto his sweet, tiny hand, or when it grabs my nose or handful of flesh to pull and scratch (Ouch!) I think about how those hands will one day grow into big man’s hands and I hope they do good work.
This Mother’s Day there was a baby dedication service at church where we had Joshua dedicated. Our church takes this very seriously and emphasizes the importance of family and church working together in keeping the focus on God while raising children and we sincerely strive to do this well.
Every year we try to go out to the flower field to get whatever family picture these little rascals will allow. This year was no different. It’s kind of fun to look back at the pictures and see how our family has changed each year. This year, Josiah and Elijah gave us some really cute shots, but Joshy just wasn’t having it! Mom went with us so we were able to get a couple of family shots as well.
Elijah is always wearing a different face!
Sometimes it’s hard to just pick one:
This Crazy Redhead:
