Yummy Avocado... Or Maybe Not!

Josiah slept 11 1/2 hours straight last night!!!! Maybe it's no coincidence that the first time he slept all the way through the night was right after he had some real food! I had been waiting until after Christmas to start Josiah on solids (other than cereal) for several reasons. Even though his doctor gave us the okay at 4 months to start feeding him solids, I've read that it's better to wait closer to 6 months, so I was in no rush. But I figured 5 1/4 months was good enough, especially considering that he's a big boy and has always been a good eater. Also, I plan to make his baby-food myself, so I needed the time to figure out what I was doing!

With the encouragement of Aunt Stiney, we decided to let him try some avocado on Sunday. Avocado is supposedly a great first-food for babies... and we happened to have some in the house, so I mashed it up and got started. Ha! He definitely was NOT a fan! At first he was just a little confused, and then he made it clear that he thought it was gross. So we've moved on to sweet potatoes now. I'll try the avocado again later, but I'm not gonna force it. He's doing much better with the sweet potatoes, although he's still not so sure. He took the oatmeal/pear juice cereal well from the start, so I was a little surprised at his uncertainty with everything else... but I'm sure it'll just take a little time. Anyway, here's a video of the avocado-adventure. No, there is not a strobe-light going, that's Aunt Stiney snapping tons of pictures for us! :)

Better Think Twice...

You may want to think twice before you have a drink at our house.  Haha!




*Actually, this was just at the end of the jug, and I didn't want to dirty up another glass... and Josiah wanted in on the fun! He always wants our drinks, so sometimes we let him pretend.

Fun First Christmas!

Josiah's first Christmas was quite a whirlwind, but we are so blessed to live near both sides of the family and while it was a bit exhausting, it was so much fun!  We spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house, then Christmas morning at home (my parents and sister were here to see Josiah open his presents) and then Christmas day at Mike's parents' house. The end result: Our living room now looks like a toy store!  Josiah may not have really known what was going on, but the smiles on his face were priceless.  He was such a great sport... he is truly a happy baby.  He got lots of fun toys, that's for sure.  And I think he is learning to smile for the camera... which I love!  :)   We, of course, took tons of pictures... you can see them here:   http://picasaweb.google.com/mrs.melissawellington/JosiahSFirstChristmas  but here are a few highlights:

5 Months Old Today!

I kept eyeing this outfit at BabiesRUs ever since I knew I was expecting a boy... but it was a bit pricey.  A couple months ago, it finally went on clearance and I snagged it for half price!  Little did I know that when I bought the smallest size it came in (12 months), I would be putting it on Josiah at 5 months old and having to leave his pants unbuttoned because they are so snug!  :)  But it doesn't matter... he looked irresistible in it!  He was definitely the star of the show Friday night at my parents' Christmas party.  My baby is already a handsome little man - I can't believe how much he's grown! 

New Pictures

Well, here are a bunch of pictures from this month. Josiah has been doing lots and is soooo much fun! He is rolling over all the time... although he has to be "rescued" once he's on his tummy... seems he forgot how to roll back over! He is sitting up really well... but we still sit close because he does still topple. He LOVES to jump... and Suzanne let him borrow their jumperoo and it's his new favorite thing. He doesn't like to be taken away from his toys (as you can see in the last picture). He is all smiles for everyone he meets. He had a great trip down to Raleigh and kept his eye on Lily! (She's 9 months older, but hey, his dad went for an older woman too, and that worked out well!) He is also enjoying eating from a spoon. We haven't tried anything new yet (just oatmeal & pear juice which he's had in bottles for a long time), but after Christmas we're going to start expanding his food-horizons. I can't believe he'll be 5 months old on Sunday!!

A New Record

I haven't blogged in 9 days.  Oops!   Well, we were out of town since last Thursday visiting our good friends, the Hortons.  Josiah had soooo much fun and it was cute to see Lily and him together.  If he's like his daddy and goes for an older woman... Lily would be our pick!  She's really just 9 months older and although they are about the same size, she's definitely a bit ahead of him, walking and climbing and playing and eating and being a "big girl" ...but he'll catch up soon! 

Unfortunately Josiah and I both came home with a cold... thankfully, mine's much worse than his so far.  Anyway, we'll just be laying low this week trying to get all better before Christmas.  And speaking of Christmas, we're super-excited that Aunt Stiney (my sister, Justine) will be flying in from Hawaii next Tuesday.  I'm so glad she'll get to spend time with Josiah at this age. He is sooo much fun!

I'll post pictures soon of Lily & Josiah...but I'm too comfy and sleepy to get up off the couch and go get my camera.

Hope everyone is well!  10 days till Christmas!

Oh the things people say...

Well, I thought the comments I got when I was pregnant were funny... but now that I'm toting my off-the-charts 4 1/2 month old around, I get a few more.  Sometimes I wish people would think before they speak, but for the most part, I just have to laugh.  I know he's cute.... and I know that I was actually fatter than him as a baby and I quickly grew out of it.  (I weighed 20 lbs 8 oz at 5 months, but I was much shorter... only 24 inches!)  Here's just a few of the things we hear, from friends, from family and from lots of complete strangers!:

"Oh my goodness... he's is just soooo big!"

"My kids were 95th percentile, but he must be off the charts!"  (yep!)

"Now that's a healthy baby!"

"What have you been feeding that boy?"

"He's even huge-er than last time I saw him."

"How old is he?"  (I respond: 4 1/2 months)  Big eyes... "Oh my!"

"Ha Ha... look he's the same size as that 12 month old!" (although to be precise... Josiah's head was bigger!)

"Those cheeks!  I love those cheeks!"

"Mama, what are you doing carrying that chubby baby? He's too big to be carried!" (What am I supposed to do... make him walk?!)

"Look at that belly... what a big boy!"

And tonight, my new all-time favorite....  "Oh my goodness... look at that big piece-a-meat! I just want to eat him up... He is a big piece-a-meat!"

True, sometimes I do get tired of that ALWAYS being the first thing people comment about, but for the most part, I just smile cuz I think chubby babies are adorable.  :)   And it won't last but so long anyway...once he gets moving, he'll shed some chub.  And that's happening quickly... Josiah really got the hang of rolling over today... and then, my crazy boy tried to crawl!  Seriously... he didn't quite do it, but he was up on his knees and reaching forward with his arms and he was trying SO hard to scoot forward.  I'm not ready for a crawler yet!  He's supposed to give me at least 2-3 more months of staying where I put him! :)

This is Josiah with his friend, Luke, who is 9 months old.   We actually gave some diapers to Luke that Josiah had outgrown... didn't think Josiah would be the one handing things down to Luke since he's 5 months older!  :)

In Case You're Interested...

So this is the "Miracle Blanket" (or straight jacket as I liked to call it) that we used to swaddle Josiah in (picture quality is bad... it's from my cellphone, and yes, he looks like a little mummy since it's a cream blanket, but anyway, this worked so well for him up until now): 

And this is how he is sleeping now:  In one of his "Sleep-Sacks" (Basically, it's a zip up blanket so he's cozy, warm and it's safe since he doesn't have loose blankets that he could get up to his face. This one is a Carter's brand fleece which I think I like best, and we have some light-weight Carter's too, but there are also other brands like Halo at BabiesRUs) Night #2 unswaddled went sooooo well.  He slept a 7 hour stretch and then about 3 more after he ate: 

Bye-Bye Swaddling!

I have been struggling in my mind for the last month about how to start working with Josiah to get him to fall asleep on his own while he's still swaddled.  I just couldn't bear leaving him to cry when he couldn't even get to his hands to suck his thumb or anything.  So I kept delaying and kept delaying (although seriously... he's only 4 1/2 months... why was I so anxious?!)  Anyway... last night he woke up like 4 times in a row not long after we put him to bed, so I finally just unwrapped him and he fell right asleep!  He woke up about 3 hours later and after I fed him, I put him in a sleep-sack and laid him back down.  No problem!  And all day for naps, we've just done the sleep-sack instead of the miracle blanket so he still feels snug, but his arms are free... and he's done GREAT!!  Naps have been a little short today, but that's to be expected.  I can't explain what a HUGE relief this is to me... we will still work more on getting him to fall asleep on his own and go longer at night without feedings in the next few months, but I really didn't want to do any of that while he was swaddled, and I thought he'd freak out if we didn't swaddle him.  He surprised me!

Friends!

We got Josiah and his friend Katelyn together again today.  It's worked out that Melissa & Katie are in town about every month, so we've gotten these two together each time. They are trouble!  Katie (who is rolling all over the place now) rolled right up to Josiah, linked her arm in his and then he grabbed her dress and kept pulling it up. Haha!  They'll hate us for these stories when they're teenagers! 

Josiah also just loves Shelby.  He loves to stare at her and try to grab her.  She always makes him smile.

Last week he also discovered his tongue.  He kept sticking it out constantly... and will imitate us if we do it...so funny!