Look Who's Walking

Joseph started walking with his toys this week, and as you can see, he's quite pleased with himself. Given his latest development he will be moving into the next room at daycare in a week, where the kids walk on their own, eat while sitting in a chair, and make the dreaded switch to one nap a day. (I don't think I'm ready for one nap a day, but that's part parental concern and part selfishness, the morning and afternoon breaks are kind of nice!) Last night we went to our first Brewers game of the season, and amazingly we stayed until the 7th inning without any fussing or crying (though he was visibly tired). He was still in bed by 8:30....but compared to normal that is a very late night for our little man. Not sure yet if we'll be paying for that today....he was a little fussier than normal this morning but calmed down by watching 20 min of Finding Nemo (just when I was getting into the movie he started crawling around again and pushed the power button on the DVD player and ended our cinematic experience). So today we're just hanging out at home, waiting for the supposed snow sprinkles to start. (a few words come to mind: insane, unbelievable, you've got to be kidding me....) Hopefully we'll be outside playing again by mid-week!

Snackin and a Rockin

Playing With Water

Which is much safer than playing with fire. The picture with Jay is an attempt after breakfast to get all of the bananas out of Joseph's hair. The funk that remained served as the "glue" to spike his hair. The picture with me was taken at Bubbie Sarah's swimming pool yesterday afternoon. I taught swim lessons when I was y0unger, and I thought the mechanism to shut your mouth underwater was instinctive, but apparently I was wrong. Two attempts and several mouthfuls later, Joseph was still gulping the chlorinated water. We'll try the repetitive counting method next time. Despite the dunking, he still seemed to enjoy chasing balls around the pool and watching his Aunt Gina blow bubbles. He's taking his morning nap right now, and then we'll head outside to play with Rosco and peruse the yard. He hasn't started eating sticks or leaves yet, so it's nice to just be able to set him down and let him roam. (Which is only possible due to constant poo removal and monitoring of Rosco's back end activity) I shudder to think of what could happen....

Joseph the Alien

Still lovin bath time...and movin up a size in towels! One change though, is that it seems Joseph has accepted that bath time does come to an end, and he no longer screams like crazy when you take him out and try to get his diaper on. A sign of maturity? Probably not....I'm betting he doesn't get as cold now that it's a little warmer. Or it's a fluke, as most things are. The other night while bathing Joseph tried to grab the bar of soap....and when I responded with "ah ahhhhh" he put on his frown, huffed and puffed a few times, and then burst into tears. Tears in the bathtub? (Not buying that shampoo anymore, talk about misleading your customers!) But last night when he tried the same thing and I responded with "ah ahhhh" and threw a bunch of other toys in his direction, and this time Joseph responded with only a momentary pause in the splashing instead of a fit. Maturity? Doubt it...but I will chalk it up to mastering the art of distraction and flagrantly abusing the methods of substitution!

And might I add....I had no idea until I did the spell check that "bath time" isn't one word! We're going to have to leave spelling and geography as subjects in the dad department. I'll stick to math and reading!

One Year Stats

Height: 32 1/4 inches (97%)

Weight: 24lbs 7oz (75%)

Head: 46 1/2 cm (50%)

Joseph's 1st Birthday!

Future Mailman in Training

It's the little things that Joseph enjoys most....pots and pans, the dog bowl, running water, and mail (as we discovered last weekend). It's warmed back up to the 50s again so Joseph had fun playing outside today at daycare, and he's made it through the week so far without a bottle. He's even learned to tilt his head back by himself to get the milk out of the sippy cup when he gets towards the bottom. Another week and I think I can officially pack up all the bottles!

Bathtime is still Funtime

As soon as he hears the water running, Joseph does his fast crawl to the bathroom and leans over the tub. (the other night he actually tried to catapult himself into the tub but I snatched him up as he was getting ready to dive head first into the water.) He also climbed up the stairway from the basement to the landing by the side door by himself last night (yes, I was right there in case he slipped), and he's drinking vitamin D milk, AND his third tooth on the bottom is now visible (plus the other four he has on top). Joseph's not such a little man anymore!

Happy Easter

Me and My Dog

Joseph is playing more with Rosco these days, and was ecstatic this morning to see that there were new furry friends to greet him....not sure who he likes more....the big white german shepherd or the little walking rag doll. (we made it to Winona before the big snow storm hit)

Awwwlllllll Better

Joseph is back to his normal happy, sleep-thru-the-night self (gotta love drugs....the cure for the common ailments). He stayed awake until almost 7pm tonight, crawling around and banging away on the piano. He's even been uttering what sound like real words, the most impressive of which is his exclamation of "Awwwlllllll Doooonnnnn" after he appears to be finished eatting and we prompt him and ask several times "All Done?". We sound a bit overly eager repeating the same phrase over and over, but we love hearing his almost perfectly intelligible response.

Double What?

Ok....I've learned my lesson. I thought I'd adjusted to mommyhood, come to terms with not needing to go to the doctor for every cold, and become quite the expert on caring for a baby. And today the universe put me back in my place.

Double Flippin Ear Infection!

Good thing the nurse persuaded me to take Joseph to the doctor when I called to ask about the snot oozing out of his eyes.

Home Sick

This picture was taken before the virus invaded our home on Monday. The smiles have mostly vanished though they are starting to appear again in small pockets today in between doses of grape flavored tylenol. It's the first cold that has actually put Joseph into a horrible mood and caused his temperature to go above 100. Seems to be a popular bug as it was going around the office and the neighborhood before it hit us....Jay has been in the clear so far but minus the temperature I have the same congestion that the not so little man does. So he and I have stayed at home the past two days, spent some time watching baby einstein videos (had to bust out the big guns), and Jay has been getting up with him at night. We have high hopes of going back to daycare tommorrow. ;)

Gettin In To Things

Joseph discovered his thumb this weekend, only when we tried to take a picture of it he stopped sucking and started smiling. I guess I've trained him right! He's spending more time in the kitchen with us, and now that we pick Rosco's water bowl up off the floor, Joseph's new favorite cooking activity is to bang on pots and pans with wooden spoons. It may sound annoying but we are actually the ones who have taught him this trick. We prefer loud clangy noises as opposed to high pitched screaming or a baby soaking wet with dog drooled water. Downstairs he's started admiring both the dog cage and the dvds, and is trying to figure out how to crawl up the stairway. In one of his attempts to escape last night we thought we saw him stand for a few seconds while pushing himself up on the bottom stair and today he actually stood himself up when Jay and Rosco came back inside from a walk! Jay's been practicing with him off and on ever since. We're so proud....and.....SCARED.

All Smiles

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Joseph now crawls on hands and knees, forward and backward, and pulls himself up to knee-standing position. The other morning he found a piece of dog food on the kitchen floor and I caught him just as the disgusting morsel was about to enter his mouth. He then diverted his attention to the long dangling phone cord a few feet away so we were able to escape the "mommy just took something away" tantrum that would normally have followed. Last night Jay kept Joseph amused with a different activity every five minutes until about 6:20, when we had to cave and put the little man to bed. We're hoping that when we spring ahead in another month we're able to push bedtime past 7 oclock. We're also hoping to do away with bottles (WOO HOO!) and we're down to our last two cans of formula (WOO HOO with a cha-ching $!)

5 New Phrases to Describe Joseph

1) Attitude - well no surprise on this one, it was bound to surface at some point! Joseph does not react kindly to having anything taken away from him, and we've used "substitution" as our main form of combat in this regard. Wiping his face, hands, or nose will also set him into a fit of rage.

2) Separation Anxiety - not exactly anxiety....but at times he does get upset if you walk away from him and for the first time at daycare this morning he actually got upset when I left. (I think it's determined by his mood, because he only does this when he's tired or has just gotten upset about something else).

3) Socialite - the little man does enjoy going out on the town, interacting with people, looking around at things, and playing with other kids. He's very easy to take out to dinner at this stage, so we've been doing it quite often. (Though we're on a ticking clock while we're out as he is ready to pass out by 7)

4) Food Lover - he just can't get enough of it! We made homemade mac n cheese for him, he's had pancakes, meatballs, gnocchi, and has experienced an endless variety of other foods....and I swear he can pack in as much as a 10 year old. Which is probably why we couldn't get a pair of his pants to snap the other day.

5) Mobile - he may not be doing it in the most elegant manner, but he is definitely crawling. It doesn't always look like crawling, but he can move from one end of the room to the other in a matter of seconds.

Hmmmmm.... if you change "separation anxiety" to "extrovert" or "doesn't like being alone" I think this description may actually fit me. (except that I generally stay awake past 7 and do not object to washing my face).

Happy Valentine's Day!

Brrrrrrrrrrreakfast

Emphasis on the Brrrrrrr. We just got back from breakfeast at our neighbors, and it's a whopping -4 outside (which doesn't take into account the "arctic winds" the weathermen have been weathering about). Joseph doesn't seem to mind though and he continues to amaze us with his many developments.....he started waving goodbye, he claps and dances while sitting, and basically will mimic whatever you do. One night he looked at us during dinner and said "Ma ma". Though I'm sure he had no idea of the magnitude of his statement. But it was a distinct two syllable "Ma ma" as opposed to the usual "ra ra ra ra" or "ma ma ma ma ma". (I immediately tried to start teaching him "Da da" instead.) He's actually quite the talker now, and loves to listen to himself make noises and plays with his hand against his mouth to make all sorts of funny sounds. Sleeping however, does not come as quickly as it used to. One morning this week I walked into his room and found him sitting in his crib, happily playing by himself. Jay and I were so proud of our little man, and so happy over his newest achievement. But we soon came to realize that this meant that putting him down for a nap or bedtime was no longer as simple as it used to be. So sometimes he falls right asleep, other times he sits up and plays and then falls asleep in a hunched over face plant position, and for the past two nights he has actually freaked out after rolling on to his belly and then won't fall back asleep unless you stay in the room with him. I have now resorted to crawling out of his room on all fours so as not to wake the monster inside the crib. Yes, I'm now one of those parents.

Mobile Madness

Though not quite crawling, Joseph is defintely "mobile". He scoots, rolls, and slides his way across the room to get what he wants, which these days is his football. Our favorite move is when he gets on all fours and makes his way backwards across the floor, which you can usually tell by the look on his face, is not his intended direction. Couldn't quite capture that on film, but as you can see he also enjoys mealtime, though I doubt broccoli will always trigger such a happy reaction. But for now, it's apparently as good as having cake!