A Video Too!

He definitely loves these little animals on his bouncy chair.  Everyday he loves sitting there trying to reach them! Sorry the video is a little dark... (If you can't see the video here, just go to this site:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuCH8hIueCY )

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

Josiah is really starting to enjoy some of his "toys."  He loves his crib mobile:

He loves to stare at the numbers on the wall when he's getting dressed:

Here he is "surfing" on his tummy-time mat:

And here's a fun one of us together:

What a Cutie!

All Mixed Up

Usually Josiah is good for two long naps in the morning/early afternoon... about 1 1/2 -2 hours each. But this dumb cough keeps waking the poor baby up after like 30 minutes. So he gets just enough of a catnap to be a little re-engergized, but not near long enough to be totally content. And he's confused about when to eat and so am I. So we're a bit of a mess today. Right now I am watching him emerge from the "miracle blanket" (or what I call: his straight-jacket) in the swing and he's smiling at himself like he's so proud that he got that arm out. Little stinker. Ok... that's it for this post - duty calls.

A Few of our Favorite Things

Aren't his baby feet just the cutest things?!























Josiah now loves to eat his right fist!


















He loves to get dressed (and undressed)!























And he loves bathtime!

Top of the Charts

At 2 months, here are Josiah's stats:

Height: 24 1/2 inches (95th percentile)
Weight: 13 lbs. 15oz. (93rd percentile)
Head: 17 inches (95th percentile)

So he's a big boy, but he's very proportional! :)

I was really nervous for him since I knew he'd be getting shots today, but he did so much better than I expected. Maybe it's because I've already been through having him circumcised, watching him/holding him down to get x-rays at 3 weeks which was really hard on both of us and then he had blood drawn on Friday which was rough too... so the shots today were nothin! Well... he may disagree with me on that one, but he really didn't cry long at all. All else is going well. He rolled over again today (belly to back) for the doctor to see. He's basically sleeping and eating just like he should be for this age and if we can just get him past this cold, hopefully he won't be back to the doctor until his next well-baby visit at 4 months.

And can I just say: We absolutely LOVE his pediatrician. She is the most kind and thorough and patient doctor I've ever met. Mike and I leave there each time saying "Wow, we really like Dr. Charette so much! She is really good." She never seems to be in a hurry, she takes the time to thoroughly explain everything and she takes extra-steps to really consider all factors before just making a recommendation.

My 2 Month Old

Our little cutie is 2 months old today! He's still a little sick, but definitely on the mend... here are some cute smiles from this morning.

Chillin with Daddy

Sick Baby

Well, our first out of town trip didn't last long. I had been sick with a cold but was starting to feel better and so far Josiah seemed fine, so Wednesday afternoon we packed up the car (it takes soooo much stuff to travel with a baby!!) and headed up to Northern Virginia. Mike had a conference at the NIH on Thursday and I was going to spend time with friends. Well, by the time we got there, Josiah had the sniffles, but was still happy. He did great on the ride. He slept well that night... and then woke up burning hot with a fever and didn't want to eat or sleep or do anything... he was so pitiful. I had to call Daddy and have him leave the conference and we decided to pack back up and just head home. We thought it would be a tough ride because he was so upset, but he didn't cry once, just slept the whole way home.

He started feeling better last night and thankfully the fever was gone this morning. The cold is still there - he's stuffy and red-eyed and sneezy, but he's been all smiles today. Well...except for when we were at the doctor's office and they had to draw blood. :( But he was a trooper. And a chunker! He weighed in at 13 lbs. 13 oz. this morning! At this rate, he'll outgrow his carseat by the time he's 6 months! So we just have to keep a close eye on him... hopefully he'll stay fever-free and this cold will just run it's course and he'll feel better soon.

8 Weeks Old!

I can't believe Josiah is 8 weeks old, and my 8 weeks of maternity leave is over. I am at work (and yes, blogging... today's a little slow because I'm waiting for a meeting to get caught up on my projects). I have to admit, today has actually been MUCH better than I expected. I kind of enjoyed getting up and showered and dressed and wearing heels and being out the door by 7:45 this morning. Well... 7:55. And being at work has actually not been so bad. I did get to go home at lunchtime and see my little cutie. And he was soooo sweet. He woke up when I got there and was all smiles for mommy! And then he just cuddled on my shoulder after he ate... he doesn't do that real often so it was quite the treat! Maybe he missed me afterall! Of course I really have it pretty good considering I'm only working 2 days a week and Josiah just gets to spend those days with Grandma or Daddy. So now if I can just get rid of this cold before we head out of town tomorrow night, I'll be great!

Tonight we are going to spend one last night with Aunt Stiney :( She moves to Hawaii tomorrow! In all the whirlwind of me being a new mom and her having such a busy schedule, her time here has gone by way too quickly. It doesn't seem quite real that it'll be so long before we see her again and that she's moving to the other side of the world. Geez. I really do need to figure out our webcam so she can at least see her nephew online. We'll miss her lots.

Congrats to Kenny & Stephanie!

We had a full but fun weekend celebrating Kenny & Stephanie's wedding. Mike & Justine were both in the wedding and everything was beautiful. Josiah did amazing... he slept through the ceremony and was having fun with all the family and friends that passed him around during the reception. Here are a few shots of the fun:

I like to think...

I like to think that one day I would have the time, motivation and skill to make one of these: Baby Clothes Quilt. It will probably never happen, but it's a cute idea, right? :)

It's the Little Things...

Josiah's milestones may seem pretty small right now, but it's so neat to watch him grow and learn and do new things. This morning I had put this little snuggly moo-cow next to him in his crib so he'd have something to look at and then I stepped out of the room. When I came back, he had it tucked in his arm and was pulling it into his mouth. He continued to do it for the next 15 minutes.



He is also really watching people/us now. He will completely turn his head and follow us with his eyes when we move around the room.

Let the Madness Begin

• Thursday - Grandma babysits while Mommy & Daddy go to bachelor/bachelorette parties
• Friday - We all go to the Rehearsal Dinner
• Saturday - We all go to Kenny & Stephanie's Wedding & Reception
• Sunday - Aunt Stiney's Going Away Party :(
• Monday - **Take a breather**
• Tuesday - Mommy's first day back to work :( - Grandma babysits
• Wednesday - Aunt Stiney gets on a plane to move to Hawaii, we all attempt Josiah's first road trip up to Northern VA.
• Thursday & Friday - Visit friends in Northern VA
• Saturday - Head back home

Yikes!!! Josiah's not on a strict schedule or anything at this point, but this is definitely a lot of deviation from the normal routine... I just pray it's not too overstimulating for him! It might be a little much for me! :)

2 Great Years

Two years ago today... I married my best friend. I am one lucky girl to have a husband like Mike, and seeing him now as a dad only makes me fall more in love with him. Here are a few pictures from our wedding day 09-08-07.

7 Weeks Old?! Really??

I can't believe Josiah is really 7 weeks old today... pretty soon we'll be counting in months instead of weeks! :) He is continuing to do GREAT on his new soy formula, and is becoming quite the happy little boy. He has fun just laying next to us and looking at everything. He can really follow things with his eyes now. He will turn his head and watch us if we move around the room, and he smiles at us quite a bit! He's starting to fall into a more predictable routine... still not quite a "schedule" that I could plan around, but he's eating 5 oz. every 3 hours during the day and he sleeps from about 10pm - 6am with just one middle-of-the feeding around 2am.

Life has seemed so much more pleasant, normal and manageable this weekend. I've been able to cook several meals, bake a cake, clean the house, shower daily and spend quality time with family and friends. All of that was pretty impossible during the first 6 weeks... we made it through, but we're just glad he's finally feeling better and now so are we.

We See Things a Little Differently

Melissa's idea of beautiful yellow & blue in the Fall:






















Mike's idea of beautiful yellow (maize) & blue in the Fall:

My Chunky Monkey

I forgot to mention that Josiah weighed in at 11 lbs 13 oz. today! He's gained 2 lbs in the last 3 weeks and we can really see a difference in his cheeks and thighs! :) And here's a picture Daddy took tonight...

A Good Day!

Today was a great day. It started with a visit to the pediatrician to try to figure out formula/medicine options for Josiah to help his tummy (he has reflux and gets lots of trapped air/gas). I expected him to get really fussy (ie: scream like usual) but he was happy the whole time! He fell asleep on the way out and my mom and I got to have brunch at IHOP before heading home.

Then our good friends Suzanne, Aaron & Lily came to visit from Raleigh, NC. They spent the whole afternoon with us and we had a great time. Josiah did really well - he was happy pretty much all day and took a nice long nap. We had lots of fun with Lily - she's so cute!!

Now Josiah is sleeping again and we're hoping tonight will continue to go well. We've just switched him to a soy-formula to see if maybe it's a milk protein issue that's causing his digestive issues. The next step would be to try a hypoallergenic formula (= expensive & stinky) so we're hoping that we'll either see a good improvement with the soy, or that we can just eliminate the milk-issue altogether and just stick with a more basic formula.

We're happy to have Daddy home for a long weekend, and are hopeful that this new formula will help Josiah have a happy weekend too.

Anyone have Target Coupons??

Yesterday I got a pack of Target coupons in the mail for their store-brand items. There is one for $1 off the formula we just started Josiah on, so I'm wondering if anyone else got these coupons... and if you don't need the formula one, could you hang on to it for me? It's only $1, but every little bit helps... formula is definitely an extra expense we were hoping to avoid, but thankfully the Target brand is a much better deal than the other name brands! And Target rarely sends out coupons, so we'd definitely appreciate getting as many as we can! :)

Thanks!!