Our Little Wind Up Toy

Joshua is getting better at unassisted walking. It seems like overnight he went from 0 - 60. He went from holding two hands, to holding one hand, to holding a finger, to holding a little of anything on your body such as a shirt sleeve or pant leg. This morning, Joshua turned into a windup toy. I stand him up, let go, and watch him go. He can take many unassisted steps. Like a wind up toy, once he is down, he can't get back up. And also like a wind up toy, he can't start to walk unless you stand him upright. (I am adding a disclaimer in here... Old school wind up toys. I know all about the "Tickle Me Elmo", and that thing just won't go down. I still have nightmares about it). It is just a matter of a few more weeks before he is running, and then I will really be getting my exercise. Did I really need to get that Wii Fit?

Of course, it happened!

At 15 months, I expressed my concern with the pediatrician that Joshua was not walking. They said it was ok as they don't really get concern until 18 months. However, his muscle tone in his feet felt a little low and there is a free program through the county. So, the pediatrician said that it would be a good idea to have them come out and evaluate Joshua. Of course, the program is through the government so it took a month for them to come out and evaluate Joshua. He scored very well on all aspects of the testing except for the gross motor skills - walking. So, we set up physical therapy to come to the home weekly to assist Joshua with his gross motor skills. To start, the therapist recommended for Joshua to get orthotics in his shoes to give him support. We got those about 2 weeks ago and it has made a world of difference.

Today was Joshua's first session with the Physical Therapist. Guess what Joshua did today? He walked! Of course, he starts walking just as he starts the phyical therapy. Isn't that always the case?

This was the best birthday present ever!

What Can I Say?

I thought it was fitting at this point to figure out how many words Joshua is saying. When asked, my usual answer is "Uh, I don't know. Maybe about 10".

So, here is the official list:

Dada - his first word and still his favorite word. I was the one who carried him like a beach ball in my belly, yet this is his first word.

Mama

Phone - probably his first word other than Mama and Dada. (Are we in trouble?)

Hi - Usually only said when he puts the phone to his ear or an object to pretend to be the phone.

Dog

Car

Ball

Up

Down - although, I haven't heard this in awhile. Can he forget that he knows a word.

Go

No - his new favorite word. It is usually said while pointing a finger and repeated many times. "No, no, no, no no".

This

That

Go

Duck

Run

Elmo

Ut Oh - his newest word. He likes to drop his sippy cup off the highchair and say this word.

Cheerios

Banana

Some of these words, you wouldn't know it was what he was saying unless you were Keith or I.


There is back and forth with signing to a baby with the thought of it is a good way to communicate with the baby before he can speak or signing inhibits language development. Joshua does a little signing and speaks, so I think it is helpful for us. He knows the sign for more. (I think he abuses this sign as everything is more - more food, more drink, more tickles, more song, etc..), drink (he puts his finger to his mouth), milk (making the milking a cow gesture, all done (looks like "safe" in baseball. Yet, throwing his food on the floor is an even more prominent sign), and cheerios (makes an "o" with his fingers).


He also makes some animal sounds. "Moo" for cow was his first sound. He now says "woof woof woof" for a dog and will make the sound if he sees a dog in a book, on the street or if we ask. The woof woof woof sounds more like wow wow wow, so we are not sure if that is how he hears it or if that is how our Spanish-speaking nanny says it. Joshua says meow for a cat and neigh for a horse too. Basically, I sing a made up animal sound song to him, and he has picked some of the animal sounds up. I wonder if I start singing math equations to him if he will turn into a math genius?

16 Months

Future Terps fan

Joshua's favorite ride - the laundry basket

Having fun at Izzy's 2nd birthday party

Displaying the "more" sign

Getting lost in the balls

Dance to the Music

Joshua loves music. Lately, every time he hears music, he starts to dance by bouncing up and down. It is so cute.

Pass the Baby

Joshua is just shy of 16 months and NOT walking. Am I concerned? Yes and no. Part of me likes that he is not walking and feels that he is still my "little baby" and once he walks, he turns into this "big boy toddler". The other part of me is ready for him to start being a little more independent as comes with walking. Joshua has 2 toy walkers and has done really well with them. He really enjoys standing behind them and walking up and down the living room floor. He is also doing much better holding our hands and we can even let go and have him hold one hand. Today, Joshua finally started to stand on his own. We would walk with him and let go, and we would stay there for a few second - about 5. That is a huge accomplishment. Keith and I even had a little game with Joshua to help him walk. We sat on the floor facing each other and "walked" Josh to each other. We even tried to let go to see if he would take an unassisted step. After a few times back and forth, he did take one unassisted step. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen some great progress, so we know it is now just a matter of time before he is walking on his own. With walking, Joshua is just being a little more cautious, so we anticipate he is going to be one of those kids who just one day all of a sudden walks as opposed to a slow several month process.

Nursing No More

When Joshua was first born, I said that I would love to be able to breastfeed for a year. (Between you and me, I had a secret goal of 6 months as I knew that one year was probably not going to happen for me. I don't why I didn't have faith in myself, I just didn't think it was going to be feasible for me and 6 months is pretty good timing). I went back to work when Joshua was 4 1/2 months and I got very aquainted with the pump. At first, I was pumping 3 times a day and thinking to myself that there is no way I am going to be able to keep this up for a year. I spent more time in the pumping room than at my own desk. Then, to have to lug the pump bag plus the milk bag plus my work bag to work each day... I don't have a word to describe it. After a few weeks, I realized that I could reduce the pumping to twice per day. That helped, but it did not alleviate the lugging of all of the bags each day. I then started to have a love/hate relationship with breastfeeding. As each month went by, it started getting closer and closer to one year. So, I knew that I had to stick with it. There were weeks where it was easy, and there were other weeks where it was hard. As Joshua went to bed earlier and my milk supply got a little lower, I had to really pump before bed which became a hassle. I had also been pumping first thing in the morning while nursing Joshua, but as Joshua got a little older, he didn't exactly like the pump there while he was trying to nurse. Nursing Joshua right before he went to bed was a nice bonding time for us. As he passed the one year mark, I knew that the nursing was going to start to wind down. The pumping at work went to once per day and then just nursing him first in the morning and last at night. I did that for a couple of weeks and then I just nursed him at night. Then, one night, I stopped nursing him at night. The weaning process was really easy for both Joshua and I. I was truly amazed at how well it worked out for the both of us. Of course, it helped that I got sick at the end, so that took my mind off the nursing process. (Maybe, I got sick because I stopped as they say that your immune system is built up during nursing. Who knows.) There are times that I miss nursing and the closeness and bond that we formed, but I know now that he is getting a little older, we will build new and different bonds.

New Years 2009

For New Years Eve, we took a trip to PA to my friend from high school's house, Kellie. She had a bunch of families over for NYE. All the families had little ones and many were the same age. We let Joshua stay up late that night - 8:30pm! After he and the rest of the kids went to bed, the adults hung out and did what adults do when kids are not around. Yum, lots of alcohol. A lot of the families slept over and there was breakfast for everyone the next morning. It was a fun New Years, and we have already been invited back for the party again next year. I guess Joshua behaved enough and didn't break anything. Joshua and Kate on New Years

Joshua and Kate posing for the camera