11 Months Old

It is time to play catch-up a bit and no better place to start than with an update on the now 11 month old little boy. As Josh enters his final month of "babyhood", the count still stands at 6 teeth. Other than oatmeal with fruit in the mornings, baby food is a thing of the past and the boy loves his meat. Oh, how he loves his meat, which is funny because it still takes some cajoling to get Emma to eat meat unless it is on pizza of course. The other thing that he loves is applesauce and smacks his lips after a bite. Josh loves to stand and chases people around the room so that he can pull up on them and nobody is safe. As long as there is a warm body and it doesn't matter whether he knows them are not, they are fair game. He is quite the chatty little guy and I will swear that last weekend he said "hello" back to Lesa and I while we were in the car. This morning at breakfast Josh was playing "peek-a-boo" and I will also swear that he said "peek-a-boo" back to me. He is really starting to point at things and somewhere has gotten the idea of how to use a pen or marker. Brad and I first noticed this one night while he and Emma were in the bathtub. He got hold of one of her bath markers and was holding it correctly and then making some writing motions. I gave him a crayon the other day and before he tried to eat it, he put it to paper and did a little "drawing". He also picks up his brush or comb and fixes his hair. He has become quite the challenge to change and dress but there is so much to do and so little time. I am sure that Josh will have all kinds of new tricks for us over the next month and we're so looking forward to eating cake and celebrating his first year!

This is fun...
...or maybe not!
Look Ma, one hand!
Animal cracker face!

A Little Josh

Here is a little clip of Josh walking with his Daddy-sanctioned push toy (he's gotten a lot faster since this video was shot) and as an added bonus, a little bit of rocking out.

Just Because...

I have been too busy lazy by the time we actually get our two little monkeys to bed to upload new photos and videos, this blog has been neglected. Since I still haven't uploaded new photos and videos (including the little man walking with his push toy), I will leave you today with two quick Emma stories.

Yesterday we pulled into the garage and Emma says, "When I get bigger, I'll sit in Mommy or Daddy's seat up front and listen to 'Jesus Loves Me'. When Daddy gets smaller, he'll sit in my seat." This morning she also said that Josh would sit up front with her which I guess relegates Brad and I to the backseat. However, she did agree to drive Josh to wherever he needs to go and do the grocery shopping.

There is a house we pass by every day on our way to daycare that has a statue of the Virgin Mary in the yard. I am not sure that Emma has ever taken notice before and apparently the Virgin Mary looks like Jesus because as we passed by today, Emma shouts out "Jesus! Mommy, I saw Jesus!".

More updates to come soon!

Birthday Party Weekend #1

Last Saturday, Emma and I headed down to Riverfront Park for her friend Collin's birthday even though his actual birthday isn't until December. Rather than trying to plan a celebration with a lot of energetic preschoolers in the winter, his Mom is smart and celebrates his half birthday in June. Emma absolutely loves playing in the fountain at Riverfront Park and we have made several trips down there recently. It is definitely a great place to get some relief from the hot summer we have had so far. Emma had lots of fun with her friends, cupcakes (although she only ate the icing of course), and bubbles. Unfortunately the poor thing may have been traumatized by her first trip into a port-a-potty but there was no other option in the vicinity. Not surprisingly, she suddenly lost the urge to go and did manage to hang on until we got home later. For days afterwards, she kept asking me why the potty was so yucky. Enough potty talk and onto the pictures!

Emma & the 1/2 Birthday Boy!

Channeling the Incredible Hulk?
"Bubbles, Do I See Bubbles?"
Caught Off Guard!

Ten Months Old

It was a month full of achievements for Mr. Josh. He kicked off month 10 by sitting up, starting to crawl, and pulling up and that was all in the first weekend. By the end of the first week, he had advanced from two to three strides at a time to a full-fledged crawler. These days he is anywhere and everywhere and constantly pulling up to standing. He hasn't quite mastered the art of cruising yet but I am sure that will come momentarily. He definitely loves his new mobility and has reminded us that we need to be on guard since everything goes into his mouth.

Additionally, at the start of month 10, the little guy had zero teeth. Now as the month closes out, he has four that have broken through the gums and two that are really close. Thankfully he has been a good sport with teething since it has been pretty well constant for the past several weeks. The new teeth must feel somewhat funny to him because his tongue is constantly hanging out his mouth to one side or the other as evidenced by most of the recent photos posted on this blog. The best is when the tongue is hanging out and the drool is pouring down.

We have made the transition to primarily table foods this month and the boy loves it. So far he hasn't met anything that he didn't like other than canned peaches possibly. One of the favorite foods of both Emma and Josh is black beans, which is great because I use them a lot especially during the summer.

I really can't believe that we only have two more months until the little boy is a year old and can't wait to see what he does in his eleventh month. My personal wish is to finally hear him say "Mama" but we'll see!

Ode to Emma

Seems like all posts lately have been primarily devoted to the little boy and whether that is truly the case or not, it is time to pay homage to Miss Emma who loves nothing more than to walk around in my shoes or "kwoppy kwops" as she calls them. I think this is derived from the fact that they go klop, klop when she walks but the "l" has become a "w" and well, there you have it.

Does it mean that we frequent Starbucks too much when Emma starts referring to the one we stop at on the way to daycare as "our Starbucks" and if we go to a different location, tells us that she wants to go to "ours"?

One of the new things when Emma and Josh are riding in the car is for her to look over at him and start yelling "Well hello Josh" over and over. Eventually she will stop and say "I'm loud". Yes you are but you are also entertaining your little brother so by all means, carry on.

Every Thursday morning they go to Chapel at daycare. Every week we ask Emma what Pastor talked about and without fail, her standard answer is "God the Father". How can you argue that one?

Tonight as Brad was leaving the house to go to a dinner, he told Emma that he loved her very much. She responded with "I love you very much too Daddy and I love Josh"; my heart melted.

That is just a few highlights of the darling Miss Em and here are a few photos of her enjoying her new sandbox.

Wordless Wednesday