The BIG 6!

Months, that is.

Elijah has hit the six month mark.  It is unbelievable to me.  Life sure does march on.  This has been yet another big month with the start of solid foods, sitting up all by himself, striving to crawl, suffering from Roseola, and the re-start of good sleeping habits.  He also got bit for the first time – twice.

I wanted to have Elijah started on solids before his 6 month appointment so that I could ask any questions and hopefully encounter any skin issues before then since he does have a very mild smidge of eczema.  Sweet potatoes were his first food.  He was not so crazy about them and made terrible faces.  He pretty much refused to open his mouth at first, but the last three days he suddenly decided he wants to eat and he does great.  Rice cereal went a little better, but he still wasn’t loving it until now.  Apple sauce still makes him foam at the mouth :)  He did love his first taste of ice cream though.  I realize he’s not supposed to have it, but he grabbed Josiah’s spoon and had it in his mouth before we could intervene!  He is my kid, after all!  I remember it being frustrating with Josiah at first, too, and he turned into a great eater, so no worries. 

  He had some dirty faces, but was easily willing to smile, as usual.

The big feat for the month is sitting up!  He’s awesome at it and became a pro in a day.  Maybe I should have given him more opportunity sooner?  He and Josiah are loving this more face to face playtime.  He’s also able to get up on his hands and knees.  At first he face planted when he tried to move forward, but now he does a nice rocking motion.  He’s so funny to watch go through all of his tricks for practice.  It won’t be long before I’m struggling to keep him out of trouble, I’m sure.  Does anyone have any tips about how to keep the non-age appropriate toys away from him without encouraging “mine” issues and selfishness by telling Josiah to keep “his” toys away from him?  I don’t really want them to have individual toys yet.

Sitting up like a big boy!

On the health front, Josiah came down with what we presume was Roseola and Elijah followed suit just a few days later.  Thankfully it was a short, fairly easy course for both of them.  Apparently it is extremely common, no big deal, and they never get it again.  One down, hundreds to go!  Also, while I’m not going to claim success until we have been to the doctor, there have been no more eye infections and I’m hoping we have escaped the surgical procedure by the skin of our teeth!  Praise God!

Between travel and sickness, this month’s sleeping habits have been all over the place, but as it comes to an end we find him consistently doing better than ever before!  We had two weeks of terrible nights at the beginning, though, then a stuffy nose interruption last week, but now he takes good naps and falls asleep much easier than before.  He’s even staying asleep pretty much until our goal time.  Yay!  We’ll see what next month brings.

Here’s Mr. Sleepy himself.  This is what I found one day when I had to wake him from a 3 hour nap.

As far as the biting goes…Josiah did it.  Hard!  The first time I didn’t see it but heard the crying and Josiah told me he did it.  I gave him a time out then asked him why and assumed it was jealousy or just plain meanness, which was weird because he did it while they played happily.  I warned him I’d bite him next time he did it!  (I can’t believe I’m that parent!  But I wanted to put a quick stop to it and hoped the threat would work.)  I saw it happen the second time and things started to make sense.  Elijah had grabbed Josiah’s hand and chewed on it, so before I could stop him Josiah put Elijah’s hand in his mouth and bit it.  I made good on my word and bit him (can you believe it?) only to show him it hurts when you have teeth and that he couldn’t do that.  I didn’t have the heart to do it too hard and worried I didn’t make an impression and bit him for nothing, but it worked!  No biting since!

I couldn’t decide which smile I loved more, so I picked three!

Oh, and still no teeth.  I can’t say I’m sad :)  And now that cute toothless mouth can say “bah bah” and “dah dah”.

He’s just Oh, so cute!  He loves splashing like a madman in the tub.

Random Fun In Pictures

The weekend after the first cool snap of the season, I actually had a Saturday off with flexible plans.  We took advantage by going to the park with a lunch from Subway.

Josiah still kind of prefers the baby swing because we push him higher in it.  Every now and then he lets go with one hand and gets a bit wobbly when he’s in the big boy swing.  It scares me to death to watch!

He can be talked into the big boy swing, though!

Josiah prefers running around like a lunatic and playing with the rubber ground cover to playing on the actual playground equipment.  It is a bit frustrating seeing as how we can do it at home!

Elijah was Mr. Popular.  No, we don’t know these people!

 

Here’s some random fun:Not the greatest picture, but you get the point.  Elijah is now sitting up and Josiah is enjoying the improved opportunity to play.  Yes, Josiah likes to line up his trucks, trains, and automobiles :)

These days Lilah is a bit more cautious around Josiah.  She still likes to hang out near him, but she seeks safety under the couch that he likes to play with his toys on.  These are their normal spots.

 

Josiah painted for the first time at church last Sunday night and he LOVED it!  He begged and begged to paint more and it was the first word out of his mouth the next morning.  Jacob bought him some watercolors and brushes that day and he painted for an hour.

 

And yesterday Jacob didn’t have to work in the morning so he watched Elijah for me so that Josiah and I could have some one on one time together.  We went to the splash park and had it entirely to ourselves!  I haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy Josiah by ourselves since Elijah was born and it was great!  I forgot how fun he could be when I wasn’t having to tell him “when Elijah takes a nap…” or “when Elijah wakes up…”  I enjoyed just focusing on him.  Such a sweetie!      After the splash park we hit Subway – a semi healthy favorite.  We even had a blast there.  He broke his cookie into a million tiny pieces to eat it, just for fun.  Normally that would annoy me, but we were just taking our time and laughing about it.  I did learn a lesson, though because after this we hit the grocery store.  I should have called it quits on a good note rather than filling his belly and delaying naptime.  He was good, but coming home was a chore rather than a fun ending.  At least he crashed for a long nap!

Laughter IS The Best Medicine!

Cream!

Josiah and Jacob made me laugh out loud harder and longer than I have in awhile the other day.  They were playing in Josiah’s room and Josiah had put Daddy to bed for a nap in his toddler bed.  Despite his best pleading Josiah wouldn’t let him get up.  Josiah is great about not getting out of bed until he is “released”, so I guess Jacob was just respecting that.  I gave Josiah the idea to get Daddy out of bed and change his diaper.  His face lit up!  He liked the idea.

Jacob thought he’d been freed and came into the living room, but Josiah was hot on his tail with the diaper changing rug (a new addition in our home).  He made him lay down on it, then ran away to get a diaper, rash cream, and wipes.  After some sweet pleading, Jacob finally let him get his pants off, but drew the line at his boxers :)  Josiah just stood there, cream in hand, innocently asking him to let him put on cream, as though it was perfectly natural.  I was dying laughing.

Jacob refused to let me get a picture.  Go figure.

 

Stretch!

I enjoy writing and as a result I have several posts that I’ve never posted.  I was going through them the other day and found this one from before Elijah was born.  Jacob wouldn’t let me post it at the time because so many people would be looking at the blog when Elijah arrived.  Maybe it is safe to do now :)  Here it is:

Just a funny story – sometimes you get it where you can.  Warning, this may be more than you want to know!

When we were at the hospital on Sunday the nurse was examining me.  Now, remember that on the previous Friday my OB said I was 5 cm dilated.  The nurse was busy doing her thing and I about freaked when she said I was a 7.  She had already said that she and my OB never agree on a number and that she always estimates larger than Dr. Million.  When she saw my reaction, she said “well you are definitely more than a 5, and a good 6 for sure, but if I S-T-R-E-T-C-H (ouch!) I can get a 7!”  Holy cow! 

Jacob must have picked up on my facial expression because when she left the room Jacob said, “my mouth is this big” (as he opens it wide), “but if I S-T-R-E-T-C-H it, (he inserts his index fingers into the corners of his mouth and pulls) I can get it THIS big”!  Then he says, “but that hurts and it’s not meant to do that!”

Sometimes he does make me laugh!

By the way, the doc on call confirmed a 6.

A Tease Of Fall

Wednesday we had just a hint of fall in the air!  It was overcast yet beautiful since we could play outside and not sweat to death, though I’m sure it will be short lived.  Elijah was recovering from a fever, but we still enjoyed it.  While Elijah napped I opened our backdoor and “kicked” Josiah out while I did laundry letting the cool breeze in the house.  I noticed Josiah repeatedly looking at the door where I was so I called out to him and he said, “look Mommy!  Baby birds!  Baby birds, Mommy!” as he pointed to the ground.  I yelled to him not to touch and ran out.  This is what I found:

Just an empty nest, thankfully.  He was so excited about it.  He filled it with rocks…typical Josiah.

Then Lilah joined the fun and he played with her with a stick.  She kept attacking it and biting it, so he kept telling me Lilah was trying to eat the stick which later turned into him literally trying to make her eat it.

Isn’t he just cute?

 

And later in the afternoon, when Elijah was awake and feeling better, we went for a wagon ride, though it was a bit warmer.  This is how we do wagon rides.  You have to excuse Josiah’s funny face because he was enjoying a snack.  Aren’t my boys fun?

In a previous post I noted how Josiah is testing his limits lately and that I think it is related to the craziness of our lives recently.  Well, now I’m convinced.  Since he was sick over the weekend and then Elijah caught it, we’ve been forced to slow down and hang out around the house.  It seems to have been good for him because he has been a joy to be around for a few days now.  I guess he just needed a chance to chill out and be a family with no place to be.  What a great reminder to slow down and put our babies first.  Hopefully we can make it last.

 

Thursday was even more beautiful.  Here is some of what we did:

We had a repeat of kicking Josiah out to play while I did chores with the door open, except this time Elijah got to join in the fun and sat on the porch in the various infant seats we have.  Later, I packed Elijah into the Moby wrap and we went on a walk.

This isn’t from today, but serves the purpose to make a point.  This is what Josiah did during our whole walk of at least a quarter mile with the second half being uphill.  My boy will have the strongest legs and back in his whole preschool class one day!  By the way, this thing squeaks terribly!  It was a nice walk anyway.

After lunch and naps, we headed to Grandma’s to steal some ingredients for dinner.  She wasn’t home so we left her a surprise on her driveway.  I drew everything Josiah asked for and he made nice dash marks everywhere.

Notice the red hair? Honey is Mom’s cat. Allison is the neighbor and her horse came to the fence to watch us.

The end.  Work on Friday :(

Racing Into Boyhood!

Josiah, or “Siah” as he calls himself, is now two and a half!  Though if you ask him he’ll say he is four, since that is his favorite number.  With some coaxing he’ll come clean and say he’s two.  I guess we can officially kiss babyhood goodbye and welcome boyhood and all that comes with it.  I know that the first year of life  is supposed to bring about the most change, but surely this phase is a close second.  I can’t believe how much he has grown and developed.  I can have whole conversations with him without even thinking about it and he is physically capable of so many things that I can’t even keep up with it in order to challenge him a little.

Josiah “helped” Jacob put mulch out with his dump truck.  He loved it and still talks about it.  I’m thankful for a husband who takes the time to do tasks with his son for two reasons.  One, I believe it is good for both of them on many levels.  Two, it gets him out of my hair for awhile!

Josiah is excellent (one of his favorite words – so cute to hear!) at puzzles.  So good, in fact, that I’m often surprised.  His new favorite song is “Row, row, row your boat” and he enjoys “Ring Around The Rosie”, too, except he says bad words when it comes to the “ashes, ashes” part, if you know what I mean.  This summer he has taken great delight in experimenting with his swimming skills.  He is still a great eater, though a bit more opinionated at times and pizza is still his favorite food by far.  His newest thing is to ask for a “party” at the end of his meal.  This started one day when I had made him Jello for the first time and told him that I had a surprise for him.  “Surprise” somehow turned into “party” and now that is what he calls Jello.  When I correct him he just calls it “prize” instead.

Josiah is also becoming pretty good with catching, throwing, and kicking balls.  He’s pretty good with his t-ball set, too, but you never know what direction the ball will go!

He seems to know his numbers and colors pretty well, but he picks and chooses when he’s willing to show his skills and he pretty much won’t do it with me for some reason.  I’m not sure about his knowledge of the alphabet yet, mostly because that often involves the song and, again, he’s not fond of singing any song with me except his current favorite.  But, in general, he always seems to know more than he lets on, then one day he just comes out with things you never knew he knew.  I guess he listens after all.  It’s like he’s a teenager.

Speaking of teenagers…he is now in a big boy bed!  Later I’ll post pictures of his whole new room, but here is a sneak peak of him in his horse bed.  He made the transition really well and does not get out without permission, though I have caught him holding onto the sides and jumping.  Bad boy!

Jacob couldn’t resist taking this bed head picture.  This was after he slept in until 10:30 the other day when he was sick.  We knew something was wrong then because he always wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30.  By the way, I think he looks SO much like Jacob as a kid here.

Aside from dirt and stains, we have had our first home damage due to a rambunctious boy – we have a hole in the wall.  He knows he’s not allowed to hit the walls with his toys or run the ride-on toys into them to stop and he’s usually really good about it.  However, we discovered a hole low in the wall that neither of us can account for and it looks mysteriously like it was a result of being a backstop.  I’m sure it is the first of many, though I’m not excusing it.

I’ve had a gigantic bubble wand in the closet for about 2 years and I finally broke it out the other day.  I should have done it much sooner.  So cool!

In the past Josiah has been pretty attached to Jacob and I and has preferred to stay with us.  Even though he’d stayed there on occasion in the past, there was a time period where he didn’t even want to stay behind at Grandma’s to allow us to go on a date, much less spend the night.  Grandma is a softy and didn’t have the heart to make him (though we were willing!).  He loved being there, he just wanted us there, too.  Last month, though, out of the blue he started wanting to go home with Grandma when she left our house and to stay behind when we left hers.  So we took him up on it and he stayed at her house one night and had a blast!  He’s been willing ever since, but finding an opportune time is tough.  Grandma is much more fun than us so I have no doubt it is more fun than being with us!  It is cute to hear him say “bye Mommy, bye Daddy” when we are trying to get him to come home.  He also kicks us out of his room that way at night.

We continue to struggle with Josiah’s GI problems, though we are relieved that it is not to the same miserable intensity.  It seems to fluctuate from one extreme to the other and we just can’t get it under control, despite our best and tiresome efforts.  I’m really looking forward to potty training because I believe he’d do great (mentally and cooperatively), but I’m just not sure his GI tract will allow it.  We’ll see.  The other thing we have been working on is the thumb sucking.  I also wanted to do this sooner, but with the GI stuff, the room change, bed change, and new baby, I’ve put it off and let him have it.  We’ve been working to only allow it in the car and when he sleeps (two times that seem impossible to end at this point) and he’s been doing really well with it except when he’s tired and grumpy, then we compromise. 

  Here they are on the bobcat driving over to our neighbors house to help do some work.  Josiah loves this!  Here he’s saying “bye Mommy” and waving.

The other thing that has become a bit of a struggle is the “terrible twos”.  I can vividly remember having a conversation with Jacob when Josiah turned two that I was worried that he wasn’t learning discipline and things that go along with behavior modification because he was always so well behaved and we very rarely had to punish or correct him.  Well, those days are over!  He is still a very good boy, but whether it is due to his age or having a new baby in the house, he has begun to test his limits – sometimes tirelessly.  Though he obviously loves Elijah, we think there is a direct link there, not to mention the increased stress in our household not only due to the needs of an added family member, but also due to Jacob’s busy season and my return to work.  So, we are now making conscious efforts to counteract that and we’ll see how it goes!

Before Elijah was born I read several things saying that the older child will often revert back to baby-like behavior after they observe the new baby.  Some examples were refusing to feed themselves or no longer using the potty.  This is what Josiah does…he asks to be held like a baby.  It is farely rare and is usually short lived, but it is very sweet while it lasts.  This particular day was after naptime when he got some juice.  He ran and got his blanket, then asked Jacob to hold him and feed him his juice.  He refused to hold the cup himself.  He could also be doing this just because up until about 2 months ago we rocked him in our laps at night while reading a Bible story and drinking milk before bed.  Now we just lay in bed with him, so he may miss that.  Thankfully he’s too active for it to become habit!

A Testimony Of Love

We said goodbye to Deda last weekend.  This post is super long and is full of the many thoughts I’ve had while laying awake at night lately.  Writing is what I do to clear my mind and I thought about not posting it, but I want to remember, so here it is.  I suppose I write this more for myself than anything, but you are welcome into my reflections if you’d like.  There are no pictures, however, since the time was chaotic and emotional and I neglected to take any. 

Friday night was Deda’s viewing.  The first two hours were open casket time for the family.  I was worried about taking Josiah since he seemed to understand what we told him about Deda going to be with Jesus in heaven and no longer being with us.  I didn’t want to confuse him by showing him a body, so we went late and he stayed in the lobby with his daddy at first.  However, after going in I saw that I hardly could even recognize Deda.  He looked so sick, pale, and old.  It made me sad to see, yet content to know that he passed at just the right time.  I knew Josiah wouldn’t recognize who he was so he got to join the family and did well.

The next 3 hours were closed casket and open to all.  It was only supposed to be 2 hours, but it took 3 for everyone that came to get a chance to come in and pay their respects.  I have no idea how many people came, but I’d guestimate 200, including one of our Gainesville friends that didn’t even know Deda.  Deda touched so many lives!  I hope when I’m old I don't just sit home and get older, but instead use that time to be active and be with people.  In fact, Gram and Deda are so loved, that from the time I can remember being at their house growing up, they very frequently had people drop by just to see them.

For the funeral, there were lots of people again and most of them came over to the house afterwards for lunch (there was LOTS of food!) and visiting.  It was a graveside service and was quite hot, but thankfully the cemetery is covered with live oak trees.  There was a time when people were invited to the podium to speak.  Such wonderful things were said – all true.  My cousin by marriage, who is not technically Deda’s granddaughter, spoke of how she and her sister were taken in and loved as though they were granddaughters and how it was Deda and Gram who got them involved in church.  (There is actually a great story there with lots more to it, but this is not the place for it.)  Someone else that I don't even know got up and talked about how she had always rejected God, but was saved just by them taking her in.  She said Deda never pushed her about God, but over time she just grew to want what he had, she told him so and he helped her find it!  She referred to him as “Uncle Bill” though she is not family at all.  The preacher also spoke about how the first time he came to visit Deda they went outside so that Deda could show him his fish “pond” (a pool with fish in it) and with tears in his eyes, Deda got to talking to the preacher about when he first started tithing and how faithful God had been to them in response.  The preacher was laughing saying NO ONE ever broaches that subject with him and especially not as a first conversation!  But that was Deda.  He was so impressed with how God had taken him from nothingness to having more than he needed and he was happy to share the testimony and give God the glory.

My emotions have been all over the place.  Anywhere from being on task to do what needs to be done to being so sad that a big part of my life has ended and that my kids will miss out on him.  But my emotional/sentimental side has caught up with my practical side as time progresses.  This weekend I shed tears as I heard Gram say goodbye to Deda (using that term of endearment)  in his closed casket at the end of the viewing, followed by the firefighter in his dress uniform paying his last respects in a salute, turning on his heels, and marching off.  (I’m sure I used all the wrong terminology to explain that!)  It just seemed so final.  This might sound so morbid, but it saddened me to shut the door on him forever especially since he got so claustrophobic in the end.  And then to put him in the ground…..   At the service the solemness of the uniformed firefighters, bagpipes, and Gram getting his fire helmet and a medal presented to her, followed by family placing roses and seeing the tears of the men in my family was tough.  Gram, being the tough cookie that she is, held it all together.  She is so strong.  She spent Friday night on her feet greeting EVERY guest with such graciousness and was so hospitable Saturday, though I’m sure she will have her private moments of grief in the days, weeks, and months to come.

My brother, his wife and son, Jacob, our boys, and I stayed over at Gram’s both nights.  Again, Gram was so gracious giving up her bedroom so that our families could have nice accommodations while she slept on a mattress on the floor, which she insisted upon.  When we left her Sunday somehow it just seemed so final.  I felt sad leaving her alone, but I know she enjoyed our company.  I asked her what her plans are and she has a long to do list for herself already before she returns to work full time next month.  She had retired, but when she called the post office to tell them of Deda’s passing her boss said he’d love to have her back and that he hadn’t submitted her paperwork yet if she’d like to come back.  I don’t think she even thought about it before eagerly agreeing.  I’m probably the only person with a 75 year old grandmother who does hard work simply because she wants to.

On a different note, when my brother, Caleb, and his family were driving down for the funeral on the interstate, they were rear ended going just below 80 mph!  It is a blessing they are ok.

Also, at least one good thing has already come from the funeral.  A woman who lives in a travel trailer on Gram and Deda’s property until she can get her feet back on the ground after some hard times (yet another soul my grandparents have been gracious to) liked the preacher who did the service and wants to go to church with Gram on Sunday!  Praise God!

When I think of what I will miss of Deda, so many memories flood my mind.  I think of how before he lost the use of his arms he used to pull me to him tightly, give me a big sloppy wet kiss, and tell me how much he loved me with tears in his eyes.  I remember roughhousing with him as kids yet him being gentle enough to fix my hair or pull a splinter from my finger.  There were bonfires, marshmellow and  hot dog roasts and lots of popsicles, though Gram had lots to do with the food part :)  He also put an emphasis on education and put his money where his mouth was to support it (and him being a very intelligent man with a GED).  But most of all, I loved how he loved my husband as one of his own and when my boys were born, he loved them, too.  Then there was my annoyance of him telling me exactly how to do the most basic tasks, but that was Deda and I loved him!  I always wanted him to be proud of me and I think he was.