A Picture Plus 1000 Words

Well, aside from my singular picture and video, I figure it's time for a proper update.

On December 22nd, Josiah turned 4 months old.

The next day, Josiah had his 4 month wellness check up. The appointment itself went really well. Josiah now weighs 16 lbs. (72nd percentile) and is 27" tall (97th percentile).

***As a side note, Jesse remarked as I was holding Josiah last night that he is so big compared to me- nearly half my size. I agreed, responding that since Josiah is over 2 ft tall and I'm 5'1" tall, he really is nearly half my size. Then Jesse said he wondered how long it'd be before Josiah outgrew me. My guess is age 12... :-) ***

Anyway, at the dr.'s appointment, Dr. Young told me that we could begin feeding Josiah solid foods. I was pleased with this news as some dr.'s won't let you start until 6 months old and Dr. Young is a stickler for the rules. A few things he said about it surprised me, though. I always have heard of rice cereal as a filler food, allowing your baby to feel fuller and sleep more throughout the night, primarily fed by bottle. However, Dr. Young told me to feed Josiah with a spoon and to only use a bottle if he's having trouble keeping it down. He said the primary purpose is not to feed Josiah, but to teach him HOW to eat. In addition to that, he told me that if we keep Josiah's hands down while feeding him, we are teaching him self-control (something I never thought about at this age). When I mentioned rice cereal being used to help your baby sleep through the night, Dr. Young said his 4 children were exclusively breastfed and always slept through the night... because, obviously, all children are the same... (insert sarcasm here). It doesn't matter much to me, though. Up until 2 nights ago, Josiah had gotten into a routine of sleeping 7 hours at a time before eating and going back to bed for another 3 hours! It was perfect... unlike a few nights last week where he woke up at 1:30, 2:30, 4:30, 5:45, 6:40. 8:00 and so on.

I can also feed Josiah regular baby food or make my own by steaming veggies, mashing them up, and freezing them in ice cube trays. Dr. Young didn't go into any detail about it, but I know that you are only supposed to introduce one food at a time from one color group at a time to watch out for allergies, saving orange veggies and fruits for last because they are sweeter. So far, I have given Josiah rice cereal about 4 times. He's taken it really well. He made funny faces the first time and spit most of it out, but the 2nd time he ate everything I made and kept it all in. Starting today or tomorrow, I think I will introduce one vegetable.

Josiah also got his 2nd round of vaccines. He did cry, although he got over it quickly, but his shots seem to make him pretty fussy and not feeling so well the following days. Being that he got his shots on the 23rd, he spent all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day really cranky and difficult. I tried to get him to sleep as much as possible, which means he missed most of the festivities (better than screaming through them, as he did during some points of the days).

As far as festivities go, our days have been full of them. My brother came into town on the 15th:

On the 18th, my family got together and baked/decorated cookies together. These are mine:

Then on the 19th, we had an Ugly Sweater Christmas party at our house:

 

(My penguin sweater isn't hideous, except when paired with these crazy accessories, but it made me happy)

 

(Jolyn and Tim, Ben and Ginger)

 

(Melissa and Camron)

 

(Josiah, David, and my mom)

After the party, a group of us drove over to the coast at midnight and stayed in a condo for the weekend.

(Our massive bed in mine and Jesse's room)

(The view from our balcony)

On the 21st, Jesse and I drove further down the coast to visit his biological mom's family. His mom died when he was 5, but I feel so blessed to be able to still be a part of her family. They are a wonderful group of people and I love seeing them (which isn't nearly often enough!). We spent the day with Jesse's grandpa, two aunts, one uncle, and a cousin. They all got to meet Josiah, and we got to catch up on each other's lives.

(4 Generations)

(The family, minus the cousin who had to go back to work)

(Jesse's cousin)

(Josiah with his great-grandpa, a 90 year age difference)

The neatest moment of the trip was as we were saying our goodbyes. Jesse's aunt told him how grateful she was to still have a relationship with Jesse even though his mom has been gone for so long. She said that even though Jesse may not remember her, they do, and Jesse is her living legacy to them. They were all in tears and I know it meant the world to Jesse. He has struggled for years with the unfairness of losing a mom so young and then having a stepmom who wasn't exactly nurturing. When his mom's family sees Jesse, though, they see his mom. He looks so much like her. And it's a connection to a part of him that he lost long ago.

On December 23rd, Josiah had his 4 month appointment.

On the 24th (Christmas Eve) we had our siblings and parents over for dinner, presents, and a movie at our house. It's our annual tradition, but it was different this year to have Jesse's family along with mine. We enjoyed ourselves, but Josiah slept through everything. I was glad to have him sleep. After having his vaccines the day before, he was quite irritable and needed a lot of attention or would have an old fashioned meltdown.

On the 25th, we went over to my mom's for breakfast and then to my aunt's for the rest of the day. This is our annual tradition as well.

This year we did Secret Santa's and every gift had to either be a handmade gift or a service for someone. My aunt was my Secret Santa and she gave me a platter with our last name's initial on it as well as 4 coupons to babysit while we go out for a date night. I had my cousin's girlfriend Ginger (see earlier picture). I made her a Hello Kitty scarf and hat, a robot, a giant clothespin, and a photo cube covered in pictures of her and my cousin, robots, and love stuff (all things she is interested in).

    

The rest of December was spent with various family activities before my brother leaves again, as well as everything that makes up our daily schedules.

For New Years Eve, Jesse and I, my brother, and my best friend Jolyn and her husband Tim dressed up and went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant. We were going to go to dessert as well, but we were way too full. Afterwards, we went over to our friend's house (Camron and Melissa's) and met a few other people there to spend the night playing games together. It was fun, and I was glad to spend it with good friends. My mom kept Josiah overnight. I didn't get any extra sleep, but it was nice to go out with friends and not have to worry about Josiah. I was fine with him being away too because I trust my mom and knew he was well taken care of.

 

(Midnight- Now 2010!)

The next day, we went over to my cousin's house to watch the Oregon Ducks compete in the Rose Bowl. For those not in the know, that's our local college football team. I'm not really into football, but the Ducks are a big deal around here. So, we sported our gear to watch the event. We lost, but enjoyed family time.

 

After all of that, Jesse and I took Saturday to stay home and clean our house and not do anything else.

Today (since it's after midnight now), Jesse starts his first day back in college. He's going to keep working full time and go to school full-time. Most of his classes are online, but since he has a fitness class and needs time to study, he'll be at the school even when he's not in class. This is going to be a BIG change for our family. I'm used to him being home at 3:30 every day and making dinner and helping me out with the kids. I'm going to be by myself a lot more. Dinner is now up to me (which is no easy task as I'm a horrible cook!). And I've got to handle Josiah and the other daycare kids alone now. Furthermore, when Jesse does get home, he'll only have a few hours before going to bed early. I know that it's important for him and we'll just have to make some temporary sacrifices to get further in the future. And, lastly, I will begin watching Jolyn's daughter beginning today in addition to my two cousins that I already watch. I also have 2 more probable daycare clients this month. When I was trying to figure out my daycare clients back in July, I met a girl on Craigslist who was moving into my neighborhood. Everything seemed perfect, but then just fell completely through. We got back into touch with each other again last month, and it looks like I will start watching her son soon, as well as her sister's son (on an occasional basis). So business is picking up, which is good for our finances.

Busy much? Heck yeah!

Are you still with me? Good job! But I'll let you go now. Someday, things will slow down enough for me to update more often... someday....