The Beach

The last week of August, we went to Margate, New Jersey for vacation. "The Jersey Shore". We stayed near the area where I used to go when I was growing up. It definitely brought back nice memories. The weather was beautiful, and we had many nice days at the beach. We spent the week with my friend, Lexi, and her family. Lexi has a 15 month old daughter, Maddy. It was funny to see the two of them interact. They are only 4 months apart, but right now the age differnce is very apparent. Joshua would be playing with a toy, and Maddy would come over and take the toy away from Joshua. Joshua would just sit there, and look at her. We would give him a different toy, and then she would take that toy too. It was funny. Joshua really liked the beach. After the first day of trying to eat the sand, he handled it much better and enjoyed playing on the beach.

A Democrat

I guess Joshua is a Democrat. Joshua saw a little bit of the DNC. At one point, he heard everyone on the TV clapping, and he started to clap too. Keith was hoping Joshua would vote for McCain. Oh Well!

Almost There

In just 3 short weeks, Joshua will be turning 1. He is changing and growing every day.

He is now pulling up on anything that he can manage to pull up on...our bed, our night table, the coffee table, the sofa, some toys, in his crib, Keith and I. Joshua is getting pretty good at pulling himself up to a standing position and staying there. Sometimes, he gets a little cocky and lets go of one hand so he is just holding on with the other hand. If he gets real daring, he may let go with both hands and stay up by leaning his body. When Joshua forst learned to pull up, he would have a prblem getting down, so he would get a little frustrated. Now, he is so proud of himself when he lets go. He falls on his bottom and into a sitting position and then he claps. Even if no one is watching, every time he sits back down from a standing position, he smiles and claps. It is really cute. Yesterday, he also taught himself how to climb up the steps. Well, it was only one step, but he accomplished it. (Great, now we have to install yet another gate in the house).

We are finally getting somewhere with food. For so long, he only wanted baby food (spoon fed food) and Cheerios. He wouldn't really self-feed anything else. Yesterday, Joshua picked up some cheese by himself, yeah! We also tried Dr. Praegers broccolli pancakes - which he loves. (Thank you, Lexi. Although, it is pretty messy and I wasn't warned about that part). Today, I tried some canteloupe - eh, still working on it. For dinner, I gave him some peas and bite-sized carrots. He ate a few - better than none. Part of the problem is they are small and slippery. I have trouble picking them up myself. How am I supposed to expect Joshua to pick them up? I still am a little freaked out about giving Joshua finger food and wondering if the piece is small enough and if he will choke. (He still only has 2 front teeth). But, rumor has it that I am normal with this thought and most moms feel this way too. Yet, Babies gums are hard, and babies chew their food and it is ok and there is no reason to be worried. --- So, Kellie when you go back and read this posting when Kate is around 11 months old, know that your freak outs with solid finger food is ok too. :)

Curly Q

Joshua's first curl has appeared. It is a little curl in the back of his head. With Keith and I both having naturally curly hair, we knew Joshua's straight hair couldn't last very long. Joshua is changing every day and as his hair grows in, his changes are going to be that much greater.

Sleep N Play... No More

When Joshua was a newborn, some genius invented an outfit called a "Sleep N Play". Basically, it is exactly what it sounds like, it is an outfit that a baby wears to sleep and to play. As a newborn, I guess sleep and play are pretty much the same thing. The outfit is versatile that you can take the baby out of the house and they don't necesarily look like they are wearing pajamas. This genius invention had the sleep deprived mom in mind. When half of our babies don't know the difference whether is is night (sleep) or day (play), why does it make a difference what they wear? You can see by the pictures, Joshua modeling the versatile outfits at different points of the day for different things. He must have had at least 10 of them. They still make these outfits in the 9-12 month size, but don't you dare take your child out of the house in one or you are probably going to be perceived as lazy. Sleep N Play outfits for the almost toddler just don't work anymore. So, from now on, we are taking the Sleep N Play outfits and reserving them for our lazy Sundays lounging around the house. Does that even happen anymore?

11 Months

11 months. I always start the monthly post by saying, " I can't believe Joshua is x months old". In just one more month, Joshua is going to be a year. I can't believe how fast time flies. Each month, I say that as well. My little baby is not a little baby anymore. He is really growing up into this little person. He is extremely talkative and happy, and if you use one word to describe Joshua, it would be "mellow". He is a pretty calm baby. Just the other day, he started to pull up to a standing position. He is crawling everywhere but doesn't seem to be close to walking yet. Joshua can now blow kisses, and he has developed several different types of laughs. He loves to look at himself, whether it is in the mirror or a picture. It always makes him smile. It make mommy and daddy smile too. :) He continues to try new foods, and we are constantly trying new things to move him away from the baby "mush" and more adult food. He now decides whether he likes food by the color of it. I still haven't figured out what color is his favorite. Cheerios are his favorite food. If that is all that he ate all day, he would be ok with that. So, I guess his favorite food color is beige.

Pulling Up (Next Stage)

Today, Joshua pulled himself up to a full standing position for the first time, and we caught it on video. He is starting to act like a little man and my baby is growing up. In one short month, he will be turning 1.

Twins

Cheesy or cute? You decide. However, there is one thing that can't be debated. We did something nice for this world by donating money to Africa through Gap.