16 Month Resume

I have so many thoughts about how fast time is going and how fast Josh is growing from baby to toddler. 16 months and brings us fully out of the baby stage. I know it's time to start treating him more like a little boy and expecting him to follow the rules a bit better. Oh, I am not looking forward to the tantrums that are coming in these next few months, but at least Josh is the cutest little tantrum thrower you have ever seen. =)


Here's Josh's resume at 16 months:

Nicknames: Josh, JT, Josha-bee,

Skills: Climbing, going up and down stairs, trying to run, throwing, "beading," stacking, destructing, rocking horse, bouncing, high fives

Attitudes: joyful, daredevil, embraces new situations, independent, calculating, testing boundaries, experimenting with tantrums, trying to be a big kid

Activities: school, swim lessons, tagging along with big brother

Favorite Toys: balls, hoops, "in and out" activities, bag of frogs, bath-ketball, the M&D barbecue set, off limits areas!

Teeth: 4 fully in, 4 more FINALLY working hard to reach the surface

Words: still hiding, none of the standard mama, dada, dog, or ball have shown up, though he seemed to mimic "hello" and "all done" today

Reading: only when tired, simple books with flaps or textures are best, some rhyming books are starting to take hold

Health: constant bump or scrape on the noggin, building immunity this winter (aka, constantly fighting a bug)

Sleep: Ready to switch from one nap to two; in bed by 7:30, up by 6:30; night visits from mom and dad are rare - yes!!

Foods: voraciously picky. We think (hope, hope, hope) he must be growing because Josh has suddenly decided he wants to be snacking ALL THE TIME, but only crackers and specific fruits (mandarin oranges) will do. He will literally nibble dinner, toss it on the floor, indicate "all done," and then get down and head for the pantry.

Loves: people!

And people love Josh. What a joyful blessing he is in our family!

A Little Different

We've never been much for the "traditional" Valentines' Day activities. This year, Owen was pretty into it - making valentines for everyone at preschool and requesting that we eat dinner in the dinning room because it has a red table cloth. After a weekend fraught with illness and injury (stomach flu, snotty baby, sinus headache, bitten through lip), we pulled together a classy dinner of leftover waffles and egg strata - both cut in heart shapes... we go all out.

After a super special dessert of leftover brownies, the boys got "loud" gifts - a train whistle and play microphone from the dollar store, Scott and I exchanged modest gifts, and then, my three valentines put on a lovely display. Nothing says I LOVE YOU like caveman grunts and muscle moves. =)

On Health

We have returned to health. Mostly. I'm sure we have a few more rounds of ickies awaiting us these next few months of winter, but I am praying we are through the worst of it. I'm grateful most of our bouts have been relatively minor thus far, but I was just tired of being tired. What worked?

For Josh, we had a "restoring health" weekend. The dumping of snow pretty quickly eliminated our weekend plans anyway, so we decided to just keep Josh home and encourage as much sleep as possible. I also pulled out my "Natural Baby" book to evaluate homeopathic remedies. (No cold medicines for kids anymore and I'm not so keen on the chemical stuff anyway.) After reading about all sorts of roots and extracts and feeling overwhelmed - where might one buy any of this stuff and how do you know how much to use?? - I flipped to the resources section and logged on to the suggested website. Sure enough, you can figure it out on your own, or you can hit your local Hyland's retailer... which for us, now means Safeway! Of course, the makers of our favorite teething tables also have a cold remedy, and we had Josh popping "C-Plus Cold Tablets" all weekend long.

On Tuesday, he finally traded yellow snot and nasty goopy eyes for teething drool. Hooray for health... and a few more teeth are certainly welcome, too!

What worked for Owen? Eating dirt? Somehow Owen is the only one to remain relatively healthy this month. He did manage a rather scary playground accident - biting completely through his lip. But it healed quickly on it's own without a trip to urgent care. (Nice to be good friends with an orthodontist who could reassure me that I was okay heading home for "observation" despite the initial fountain of blood.) I am continually amazed (knock on wood) that we have made it to 3 1/2 without an injury visit to urgent care or the ER.

What worked for me was Yoga. I haven't been since early December (yes, way back in 2010!), and I had been avoiding signing up again until I was feeling healthy, but last week, the kids were on the childcare schedule (you have to book 2 weeks in advance), so WE WERE GOING. The minute I stepped into the class, I was regretting my decision. You know, "inhale through the nose... exhale through your nose..." In the moments that I CAN get any air flow through my nose, it's not something that anyone would want to listen to in close proximity. But 10 minutes into the class, my airways cleared up and I WAS BREATHING. All those forward folds did what the last 3 weeks of Kleenex and Sudafed could not accomplish. It was awesome. More please.

On a somewhat related note: Scott took his first yoga class over the weekend and I think he's going to be hooked. He's occasionally done this hokey yoga DVD that we had, and I keep telling him that it's nothing like the real thing. Kevin dragged him to a great class at Groove Yoga - rockin' music, hard work, no new age mumbo jumbo. "I expected to be sore, but not in so many places!"

Looks like Scott is still fighting the latest round of lingering germs, but the early morning (5:30 AM on Wednesday) and last evening work hours probably aren't helping. We are grateful to have a job in this economy... we are grateful to have a job... we are grateful...

Did you think there would be pictures at the end of this one? Not on your life.

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Day

Hammered

This was my Facebook Status on Sunday, and I thought it was worth repeating here. No wonder I am feeling a little exhausted and feeling quite behind at work...

"February for our Family of 4: double ear infection, fever, allergic reaction to antibiotics, hypersensitivity from allergy that looks like the plague, 3 new teeth, stomach bug, runny noses on overdrive, lip bitten through (no stitches!), head lice at daycare, and itchy eyes that had better not be pink eye! How many more days in this month?"

Though apparently we are in good company. The church we've been attending offers "Soup Night" every Wednesday. It's a free meal for families in the church (we can all use a night off from cooking!) and an outreach to the community. The ladies that cook do an amazing job and are really creative in putting together a different menu every week of the school year. Anyway, I just got an email that tomorrow's Soup Night menu is "Everyone is Sick Chicken Soup" and they're including a "Drive Through" option, so families fighting the winter crud. You better believe we're getting drive through soup tomorrow!

Early Valentine

Owen pulled out the construction paper and scissors and went to town while I was doing dishes earlier this week. He was on a mission. The cutouts went in the envelope and he dictated a letter (no prompting or editing from me). I guess he was getting a jump on Valentine's Day...



I posted this on FB and our friend Luke pointed out that many men could probably take some romance tips from our 3 year old: Start with a compliment, provide something for the home, share your feelings. Nice work son.

Month In Review - Jan 2011

In looking at our pictures from January, a solid theme is emerging. No longer do I have pictures of Owen's activities and cute pictures of Josh doing his own thing on the floor. No, we have shifted into full interaction mode. Nothing can be done without both boys fully engaged.

Making cookies (slightly treacherous with only one stool, Josh!)

Light saber fights with 3:

Saturday morning doughnut trip with Dad:Owen's imagination continues to amaze me. Amid the explosion of Christmas debris, he built himself a fort and then pretended to take nap... though he gave himself away by asking to "see pictures of me sleeping."

Family weekend visit to the High Dessert Museum to see the butterfly exhibit. They were so brave this time - the butterflies and the boys!




My favorite look of the month:

Hello-ha!

We enjoyed another wonderful week in Ko Olina (on Oahu) with my parents and my brother. The plane rides over and back were pretty rough with a toddler that won't read books, watch a video, color, or sit still for ANYTHING, but Owen was a dream traveler and Scott and I just took hour-long shifts wrestling with Josh. The work was well worth it to enjoy the picturesque setting and 80 degree sunshine for 7 straight days. Lovely!

It was the first "full" family vacation we've all taken together since Scott and I got married. Owen enjoyed learning about cribbage from Uncle Todd and giving him the "stink eye." Plus, once you have kids, vacationing with extra adults around is always a welcome treat - a date night for us, extra entertainment for the boys, and lots of laughs playing games and watching my parents learn about Angry Birds after the kids crashed for the night.

Other highlights:
A visit to the North Shore to see the big waves and amazing surfers
Watching larger than life athletes stroll past our resort (Pro Bowl Week in Ko Olina)
Owen picked up two new words: Mahalo (thank you) and Hello-ha!
A phenomenal date night dinner
A golf day for the big guys
Walking to get ice cream with the little boys
The four of us successfully sharing a room all week
Owen was an amazing trooper walking all over the resort and up and down the beach
Reading. By the pool. By myself.
Pool - beach - pool - beach - pool!

Bring on the pictures...