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! 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love how cozy our living room feels with the Christmas decorations up. Pictures don't do it justice. We got our tree Friday night and Mike decorated it Saturday (Yes, Mike did it.  I did the rest of the decorations around the house...but honestly I don't have the patience for decorating the tree... so many lights & ornaments... but Mike loves to do it so it works out well!)  This is my favorite tree yet... we actually picked it out super-fast... ran to Lowes and looked at two trees, grabbed this one and headed home, and it's looks great!  :)  

I also got this basket today to put Josiah's toys in for the living room....(trying to organize the chaos) and tonight I decided to sit HIM in the basket and he loved it!  He was sitting up so well all by himself. I can't wait till he can do it really well... he's a heavy boy to carry around! 

First Thanksgiving

Josiah may only be 4 months old, but he totally understood what to do on Thanksgiving:  Eat lots, sleep lots and have fun with family! We had a great day with Mike's side of the family. Mike got to fry a turkey, and it was a beautiful day outside!  Just a few of the things I'm thankful for are: a great husband, my adorable little boy, and lots of loving family!  Now we're just busy decorating for Christmas!  It's busy, but I love this time of year.  Here are a few pictures from this week: