He's growing!

Two Monday's ago was Josh's one month check-up at the pediatrician's office. The visit went well. He's still in great health- praise God, but has a rash that we are treating around his diaper area with a prescription cream (they said it was a yeast growth or something like that!). We're hoping Josh will grow more by the next visit. Currently, he's in the 30% percentile for weight and 23% for height. So, hopefully he'll have a growth sprut this week and get on up to around 50% percentile. Since then, Josh has grown. His arms and legs are getting a bit chubbier and his head sits higher up on the Baby Bjorn. Yeah- Mommy and Daddy are very happy.

This past week we've been very active. Josh has had his daily exercises on the chest and floor working his neck muscles (tummy time) and Mommy has walked everyday this week. We've had a great time exploring local parks and spending time with friends. The weather and company has been great. And yeah to today- we're finally getting some rain to wash away. All that pollen- ah chooh!

Right now Josh is asleep in the Baby Bjorn while I gently sway back and forth writing. We are slowly catching up on old emails and finally making another post. Tomorrow we are off for our first out-of-town visit; a trip to Pendelton, SC. Have a great weekend everyone!

Here are a few pictures from the past two weeks...

Josh and Daddy chatting on the webcam with Nanna and Gee


Josh and Gentoo hanging out


Josh in a family cradle made around 1850. Photo taken 3/18/07

Josh's Firsts

This week Josh experienced some new firsts. A trip to the mall, the grocery store, and...

Here's his first trial of the Baby Bjorn with Daddy. He's in there, just hard to see him.





His first bath; notice the cute puppy towel : )



And finally, a visit to Dad's office!



Notice their matching outfits? Josh is already to learn how to code just like Dad.

My new do

What do you think?

Outgrowing his premie outfits

Little did I know before having a baby that often the "newborn" outfits that the stores sell are too big for most newborns. Josh wasn't a premie, but did fit very well into premie outfits. In other words, these clothes didn't swallow him whole! Since he's growing and all, I figured I may as well do a photo shoot of some of his outfits. Here's some that were taken in the past two weeks : )

His ocean critters outfit...





Sporting a beaver hat and socks...







Not so sure he likes this dinosaur outfit...



And in case you're wondering, NO he doesn't always wear animals. Here's what he's in most of the time...

A few of Josh's visitors in the past few weeks

More proud grandparents, Oma and Opa.









Josh and Wayne III, Josh's proud cousin


Rebecca Dosch, former roommate




Ashley Phillips, experienced mommy, with Josh


Jason with Ashley's son, Nathaniel


Thanks Ashley and Nathaniel for all that you've let us borrow!




Best friends, Chris and Catherine, preparing for parenthood.


Stephanie, one of our neighbors, trying to get over her baby fever.


Walt, one of Jason's college friends, stopped by to meet Josh.

Josh's first walk 2-22-07

Some photos

From Jason's co-workers- THANK YOU!!!




Almost asleep.



Lushious lips!



Joshua smiling at his Daddy.



Josh sporting his handknit hat and blanket. Thanks Kathy for the beautiful blanket, and thank you to my student Monica for the hat.

Burps, Poops, and Pees

When we got our wondeful dog, Gentoo, I noticed how our adult conversations began including discussions of poops and pees; an essential part of a dog's life, of course. Now that we have a baby (oh my goodness!), this topic has risen to almost every conversation now! Before Josh was born I was aware of how often babies went to the restroom (well- I should say, I knew how often the went in their diaper!); however I don't think this factor really registered until the second week of his life. After changing our wonderful diaper champ (thanks Becca) for the second or third time, noticing the weight of all these diapers, it began to register. Man, he sure does go often!

It gets better though... the conversation that is. First, there's the burps. We have all practiced encouraging Josh how to do this. Lots of fun for the family, and boy can Josh burp well! Second, are the poops. The "exciting" part, so to speak, is what comes before the actual poop (I can't beleive I'm actually writing about this). You know what I'm talking about- the GAS! Often I'll feed Josh, burp him, and he'll simply fall asleep for a few minutes that is. I'll put him down, and he begins his grunting soon to be followed by grimacing looks, a red face, and some crying; all the ingredients for gas and number two. The hard part is watching or hearing him experience gas; a very common thing for babies so I've heard. He seems to be in so much pain and there's really nothing I can do to help him. While it's difficult, it can also be hilarious- the sounds he makes, whew!

Onto the third thing, peeing. A baby needs to pee within their first 24 hours of birth. Josh hadn't until the day after when he was being circumcised. My mom and I were their to witness the event and the sounds went something like this: "Whew," "Incoming!" and "Watch out!" Josh kept a tradition of peeing when being changed after this. The next pee occurred when Jason and I were changing him at home and he decided to bless the wall; fortunately I hadn't hung anything up. Since then, things have improved as mommy and daddy learn the techmniques of diaper changing and everything else.