Monday, February 16, 2009

Solids! (kind of)

Yesterday Joseph had rice cereal for the first time. And I think he liked it. What stayed in his mouth, anyway.

Supervising the mixing...

The first spoonful...Hmmm... how do you keep it from dripping back out?
A happy tummy
Today I offered it to him again and he seemed to enjoy it even more. He actually started fussing when I stopped half way through the bowl... so I gladly gave him the rest.

Monday, February 9, 2009

4 Months Old!

Our little Joseph is getting so big. He laughs, smiles, grabs things near his hands, kicks his legs when he sees Scott, Ian or me, and cries when I put him down and leave his line of sight. He plucks out his own binkie and can also pop it back in if it is placed in his fingers (still working on releasing it though). He still loves to be swaddled and last night I perfected a two-blanket technique that he couldn't escape from during a 12 hour stretch! His eyes are still clear blue, his new hair growth is blonde, and he seems to be pretty tall.

He had a double ear infection a few weeks ago, and during that visit to the doctor he weighed in at 14 lbs 5 oz. His reflux has (thankfully) subsided in recent weeks and now Joseph eats much, much better. It looks like he is putting some more weight on those cheeks of his, too. Now that he is more comfortable in his little body he is an easy-going, serene, cheerful baby. And forgiving. No matter how many times Ian knocks him on the head or steals his binkie, Joseph still adores his big brother and saves most of his attention and many of his biggest smiles for Ian.

Here is a look back at Joseph's first bath back in October. This was taken this week.
Even the cutest little guy...


...is more adorable with a star on his behind.
Tummy Time is still a favorite activity, and now when he grows tired of it he just rolls over and sucks his fingers.
Doing Tummy Time with his buddy Andrew
Joseph still doesn't get my jokes, but at least Ian thinks I'm funny.
While Ian usually scoots away with a disgusted look when Joseph accidently touches him, Ian thinks that having Joseph lay on his stomach is the coolest thing. This activity routinely lasts for 10 minutes.

Ian patiently awaiting the garbage trucks.

Ian watches for the trucks daily and I frequently remind him that the trucks come only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A few days ago I was explaining this to him again and the conversation went like this:
Me: The garbage trucks won't be coming again until Wednesday.
Ian: And Saturday. A special day. The day we get ready for... church.

Ian brings me his shoes several times a day and asks to go outside. If I tell him we will go outside later on, he brings me another pair of shoes to persuade me to go outside sooner. He loves having snacks outside, especially in his car.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Assorted Cuteness

My Satsuma tree. I am amazed that it survived it's first year. Happy Anniversary, you poor neglected tree!


Joseph doing Tummy Time. He loves looking at toys that have eyes.

My guys in blue polo shirts.

With da Bunny. Not only does he love to stroke da Bunny's ears, but he also likes having the ears in the corner of his eye. It's strange what he finds comforting.
Ian doing puzzles.Butterfly kisses.
Did you notice this blog is less than 10 away from 7,000 visitors?!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Precious Ian

Ian has said and done some funny things lately.

I was eating some fancy chocolates, and didn't want to share. But Ian insisted, and pointed to the fancy chocolates and said, "I want some in da mouff!"

When Ian trips, he always looks back over his shoulder and demands "tackle me?" as if he is wondering who took him down.

He wants things to be special lately. At meal times he asks for special apple juice. Which is really just apple juice with a better title.

Zippy-Do-Da = Zipper. Example: "Mommy, open da zippy-do-da, puh-weeze."

I was eating some candy and got caught (again) by Ian, who naturally wanted some too. Ian whined "puh-weeeze" over and over until suddenly he stopped and sweetly said "Ticker-treat!"

Recently he started saying " Ummm hmmm" while nodding instead of "yup" like he used to. He must think he sounds like a grown-up.

He knows the word 'camera' but recently started calling it a "smile fing".

Even though Ian knows the word of an item he wants (usually food) he likes to experiment with 'this' and 'that' instead. It ends up sounding like "Who's on first". For example:

Me: Ian, would you like a craker?
Ian: Ummm Hmmm. Dat one.
Me: Which one? This one? The craker in the red box?
Ian: No dat one. (pointing very generally)
Me: Oh! You want that one right there.
Ian: No DIS one right DERE!
Me: This one?
Ian: Yeah! No DAT ONE right here!
Me: This one right here?
Ian: No DIS ONE!
Me: This one?
Ian: No. Da one da wed box.
Me: Thank heavens.

Ian is obsessive about shutting doors. If I am getting out breakfast items and don't shut the pantry door between trips to the breakfast table, Ian will repeat "Feegot ta shut da door!" until I shut it. He'll also leap up from whatever activity he is involved in to go shut the bathroom door if it has been left open for more than 3 seconds.

He calls lids doors. So if you leave the syrup lid open, he'll repeat "Feegot ta shut da syrup door!" until you shut the lid.

Ian still isn't used to sharing things with a younger brother. The backseat of the car, especially. I usually load Ian into the car first, and when I bring Joseph's carseat out to the car Ian always protests "No bing Joooooooseph! No bing Joooooseph!"

He makes daily requests for the "Garbage Truck Song". Since I don't know any official "Garbage Truck Songs", I make up some new lyrics to the tune of Yankee Doodle. He loves this.

If you ask Ian a question he doesn't know the answer to, his response is always, "Uhhh, applesauce."

He is getting very good at identifying colors. To Scott's dissapointment, Ian is most accurate (and enthusiastic) about the color pink.

Ian saw a chainsaw cutting tree limbs a few days ago, and has been in awe since. He mentions it all the time, and when he came across a few rolls of wrapping paper they became chainsaws too. I walked in on him 'playing chainsaws' and he pointed to a roll on the floor and said "Dat's mommy's chainsaw right dere. Yet's go!" and ran down the hall.

Sadly, one of my favorite Ianisms, "hit it with my foot", recently became "kick".

At Sam's Club last weekend, some group was giving out balloon animals and stuff. Scott selected an orange sword balloon for Ian. Ian was ecstatic about his "baseball bat" and waved it all around. On the car ride home, Ian giddily poked us in the back of the head (and when able, the face) with his "baseball bat" and really enjoyed making our hair static-y.

Dutball (football pronounced with a d) is Ian's favorite sport, and BYU football is Ian's true love. He asks to "watch BYU Dutball" daily. At a recent playgroup (which is overrun with adorable little girls and often not any other boys) Ian lovingly pushed a football around in a child's' stroller, and fed the football in a miniature high chair.

Yesterday, Ian sat on Joseph's face, with his full weight. I heard poor Joseph's muffled cry, and when I removed Ian, I saw that his denim pants had left little jean-like patterns across Joseph's forehead and cheeks. So mean. But also kinda funny.