A Bunch of Random Updates...

Ok...lots has been happening in Joshua's life so it's time to update you all. :) First and foremost, we saw the pediatric opthamologist this week and he said that Joshua's eyes look perfect! For this, we are so thankful.

Josh recently got to visit with a new friend. Some of Ben's best friends had a baby boy in August and this was our first opportunity to go meet him. Little Shaun is such a sweet little boy. He is just precious. And as I'm holding this little tiny baby, I realized...this is why people have more than one baby! There I am, rocking little Shaun, and I got all teary remembering how little Joshua used to be. And I wanted that back. Then I smacked myself on the forehead and remembered that I haven't slept more than a few hours at a time for almost 8 months and decided that for the time being, it's just best to visit little babies. :)
The weekend that we went to meet Shaun, Aunt Jodi also came for a visit. Yay!! (Dear Jodi, I'm sorry that I'm posting a picture of you in your cupcake jammies on the internet, but the picture is just too cute! Joshua loves you!) Notice how straight Joshua is sitting?! That's something we've been working on in therapy. .It's coming along quite nicely I think!

We've also had some down time at home. Joshua and Ben enjoy watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Saturday mornings. And I enjoy watching them. :)

I just had to post these pictures as well. When Auntie Gina came to visit in October, she brought along a present from soon to be Uncle David. This adorable sweater! It was too big on Josh then, but I tried it on him the other day and it fit perfectly!
(oh my gosh, I LOVE the back!)

Joshua got his hand splint yesterday. We've decided to splint his right hand (only 20 minutes a day) in an attempt to prevent him from keeping it fisted ALL THE TIME. It's a custom splint, made just for him. :) So we tried it out during therapy yesterday, and he did so well! He was able to hold a toy in his right hand for a really long time and he even used his left hand to play with the rattle! I was unbelievably impressed. Therapy was full of surprises yesterday! Joshua has an aversion to putting anything in his mouth and we're trying to remedy that with the z-vibe. He's recently allowed me to put it on his tongue, on the sides of his mouth and on the roof of his mouth for a brief second. Yesterday, Joshua decided that it was about time to chew on his z-vibe!

Finally, here are a few videos of Joshua's other recent accomplishments.

First, Josh recently started playing his little bongo drums, and boy was it exciting! We've tried to find toys with BIG buttons so that he has more success when playing with toys. This bongo drum is perfect for him. It also collapses so that when he starts to crawl, we can roll it and he can chase it. Genius! By the way, if you have sound, you may want to turn it down a little bit. I get crazy excited when Joshua accomplishes something and I'm sure you don't want to hear me cheering him on. :)

Joshua playing the bongos from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

Second, Joshua has figured out how to wave! I don't think think he has any idea what it actually means, but he's doing it! Whether it's mimicking me or whether he knows what it means, who cares! Something else to note...he's using his RIGHT HAND to wave!
Joshua waves 'hi'! from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

Oh, he's so smart! Must get that from his mama. :)