All the way to Afghanistan...

Today is Tio Jay's birthday, so we want to wish him a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even though we can't be together to celebrate, we will be thinking of you today. Joshua is very proud of you, Jay! We all miss you & can't wait to see you when you come home. :) We love you!!!!!

5 Months Old & Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Joshua decided that this was the week to experiment with not sleeping at night. Turns out it's not such a hot idea. I could have told him that if he had asked, but you know how these kids are...have to find out for themselves. :) Since Joshua wasn't sleeping more than 3 hours at a time, I wasn't sleeping either. By Friday, I was a walking disaster! So Joshua and I had a talk Saturday night and I told him that since daddy's birthday was tomorrow, he had to sleep through the night. And he did! And the angels sang and Ben and Jamie rejoiced! Last night, Joshua was up every 3 hours again. DRAT! Oh well. When it's 3am and I've been up for hours with a baby who refuses to sleep, I remind myself that these days won't last forever. Before we know it, Josh will be far from getting up all hours of the night and instead will be dragging his feet to get out of bed! So Joshua is now 5 months old. He is such a loving little boy. He loves giving kisses (mostly to mommy!) & loves to snuggle. He has a really pleasant personality as well. He smiles and talks to almost anyone and rarely cries. If he's crying, its because he's hungry or wet or wants to cuddle. We are enjoying every minute with him. These are such precious days!

We are still waiting to begin Joshua's therapy. I'm hoping it starts to happen soon. He seems to know that he is "severely delayed" (that's the term they used on the report that they sent us after his evaluation), and is working hard to correct it. He has started to try to roll over, and works hard on it every chance he gets. He's so strong! He hates being on his back and tries to sit up whenever we put him on his back. He is also working hard to use his hands to grab, push & hold toys. It's frustrating as his mother to watch him struggle. I can see what he wants to do and then I have to watch helplessly as he tries again and again and again to work it out. I want to make it easy for him and help him, but I know that he has to figure it out on his own and learn his own way of making things work. When he finally gets it though, I'm the proudest mama ever. :) We have a book called "That's Not My Bear..." that has different bears with different textured body parts. "That's not my bear...it's nose is too rough.", "That's not my bear...his tounge is too scratchy." You get the picture. We read this book often with Joshua and he loves all the textures. The other day as I was reading the book to him, I noticed that I didn't really even have to put his hands on the textures. He knew what to touch! The last page says, "That's my bear! His ears are so fluffy!" and Joshua went right for the ears. The second time we read it, I took a video of him doing it. You can see how he struggles to get his right hand to where he wants it...that's what we're working to correct.

"That's my bear! His ears are so fluffy!" from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

In other news, Ben celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday! Happy Birthday, Ben!!!! (This is Ben at 6 months old. Does that smile look familiar? :) If you can't quite place it, head down to the end of the post...you'll see what I'm talking about.)

Joshua started the day by signing Ben's birthday card -

and then we went to the Highland Park Diner for breakfast. It was really, really, really good. I had the most delicious strawberry covered waffle, & Ben had Nantucket Benedict (crab cakes, english muffin, poached eggs & hollandaise sauce!). It was definitely worth getting up and out before 9am. We finished the day by taking a walk along the canal in Fairport, followed closely by enjoying some gelato & cake at a cafe. It was a great birthday.

Finally, I want to show you what a difference 3 months makes (as if you didn't already know)! Here is Joshua on Father's Day in June: and here he is yesterday:My, my, my how fast he's growing up!

Video Extravaganza!!

Ok, so there are only two videos, but hey, it's my blog and I can use whatever title I feel like! :)

So if you've been following the blog, you'll already know that Joshua loves, loves, loves to sing. Usually, as soon as I start to sing, he'll join in. It's hard to get a video of this, partly because I don't really want to make you listen to me sing and partly because when Josh sees the camera, he fixates on it and won't sing anymore. I finally got a video of him doing a duet with nana, however, and it is priceless.

"You are my sunshine"...a duet with nana from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

I also wanted to give you a feel for what it's like riding in the car with Joshua. We have a mirror on the back seat so that I can look in my rear view mirror and see what he's doing. The mirror has a monkey on it and Joshua just loves it. Yesterday, we went out to Sodus Point for a get together. It's about a 30 minute drive and this is what we heard the whole way there. Really. For 30 minutes. Sorry about all the brightness & bumpiness...I was turned around in the front passenger seat taking the video at a very awkward angle. :)

Joshua in the car from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

My life is so, so, so good. :)

Big Changes!

Drumroll please.....(insert your own drum sound here)....Ben was offered a job!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!! Pending a drug screen & background check (Ben says, "let's hope they don't find out about those two years in prision in Trinidad!" Just kidding, mom!), he will be employed full time by Wegmans. If you don't know what Wegmans is, you obviously haven't talked to me enough. It's the best grocery store in the world. His job title will be Mechanical Estimator and he will be working with the construction side of Wegmans. I can explain more later if you're really interested, but for now I'm just excited to be able to tell you that he's employed. Full time employed! With a salary, medical benefits & two weeks vacation employed! Two months without a job was really getting tough for us. God was faithful though, as always, and gave us something just perfect! Yippee!!


Enough about Ben, let's talk about Joshua! I can't believe the progress he's making already. He is such an amazing little creature. You can actually see his brain working and learning and I am in constant awe of him. His determination to master things is incredible. I told you last week that he had been evaluated and was a little bit developmentally delayed. The physical therapist that evaluated him showed us some things to do and so we've been working with him on the exercise ball in front of a mirror to strengthen his neck and back muscles. He talks to himself in the mirror and has a grand old time! Although sometimes he just stops and stares at himself. And who could blame him?! Seriously, I didn't put him in this position...he did it himself. We've been doing some compression and massage on his right arm to begin teaching his right hand to release from a fist and we've also been working on his posture. His core muscles are hypotonic (low tone = weak), so he has a hard time controlling his core and stabilizing himself. By stretching out his arms and rotating them back, it forces his shoulders to go back and makes his back & core muscles work. The best part about all this work is that he's really getting it. And so quickly too! Over the weekend Auntie Jodi was here for a wedding. She was working with him and he saw his rattle (from Ben's Aunt Mary & girls...you guys rock! The rattle is so perfect for him!!), reached for it, picked it up and smacked himself in the face with it. Then he tried again. And again. And again. Finally, he brought it straight to his mouth and started sucking on it. I was so excited I forgot to video it. But I gathered my senses and took a video a little later on while he was still practicing. You can see his right arm posturing in the video. We're working on that still. :)

Rattle in the mouth! from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

Of course, now that he knows how to grasp, he's practicing it non-stop. My earrings are a favorite thing to grab, as is the hair on daddy's arms! It's all ok though, we're just happy he's getting it.


Over the weekend we went to the Renaissance Festival here in NY. Before we left, I made Ben try the MobyWrap. Hahaha! Needless to say he wouldn't wear it out in public, but he did admit that it's much more comfortable than the babyBjorn! Anyway, we had a great time walking around and being outside at the festival, Joshua especially loved all the music. When someone started singing, so did he. We got a few dirty looks from a drunk guy because Josh was singing so loudly during a show, but it didn't phase Joshua! He just sang his little heart out and talked the whole time we were there. Of course, singing is tough work and it really took a toll on Josh. So we headed home. It was a good weekend. :)

Oh! Remember a few weeks ago I told you about the onesie that I wish I had picked up from babyGap? The one that said "Charm courtesy of dad"? Auntie Jodi and I found it this weekend. Soooo cute! Thanks, Auntie Jodi!

Updates & pictures!

It's been a while since our last post. Sorry! Not much has changed in our world - Ben is still looking for a job (keep praying about it!), Joshua is still stealing hearts, & I'm still loving spending all this time with my pudgy little bug!

One of the things we were most excited about when we decided to move back to New York was all the festivals in the summer. Every weekend there is something going on & somewhere to go. A few weekends back, we went to the Park Ave Fest. Joshua loved being outside and seeing all the people. We found a hat that actually fits his head and he wore it all afternoon! It was a beautiful day for a festival too. Not too hot, not too cool.

Last week, we went to Red Creek to visit with the Nodine's while mom was in California. We went out on gramma's birthday. Perfect timing! We had a fun time celebrating at Uncle Brian & Aunt Carly's house until the mosquitoes decided to feast on Joshua. Then it wasn't so fun anymore. I can't really blame the mosquitoes, I nibble on him all day long too! :) Gracie, Uncle Brian & Aunt Carly's dog, really enjoyed the empty beer bottles left on the lawn. They really were empty...don't worry. :) The picture is just too funny not to post! Aunt Carly made a delicious boston cream pie for gramma's birthday. The candles were having a hard time staying lit in the breeze, but Aunt Carly was determined to keep even a few lit so gramma could blow them out. We got to visit with most of Ben's relatives while we were out in Red Creek. We especially enjoyed seeing the newly built Duvall mansion (they have 13 kids now & the house is really really big), and visiting with Ben's cousin, Melissa, and her boys. Koby, Melissa's youngest, was the perfect host (thanks again for the brownies, Koby!) and loved playing with Joshua. Josh also really enjoyed watching the fish in their tank!We really enjoyed our time with gramma, grandpa and the rest of the Nodine's. It's so nice to be able to visit whenever we want to. I'm glad we're close enough to see these two grow up together!

Today, Joshua was evaluated for the Early Intervention (EI) program. A special ed teacher and a physical therapist came to see him to evaluate whether or not he was delayed enough to get services. They determined that he is right on schedule cognitively, but his motor skills are behind. He is delayed enough to qualify for services, so an occupational therapist (OT) will be coming to see Josh twice a week to work on his motor skills. We're excited that we'll be getting some help for him and we are really hopeful that it will make a big difference in his future. He gets frustrated so easily when he tries to grasp toys. His right hand is much more stiff than his left and he has a hard time getting all his fingers to open up. He also has really low core strength so he has a hard time sitting and lifting his head to proper position. That being said, these are all things that we can work on and hopefully find ways to do things that work for Joshua so we're not that worried. I mean, being really, really, ridiculously good looking and having great motor skills would just be too much to handle I guess! So the motor skills had to go. :)

Joshua and the Nail Clippers

I hate cutting Joshua's fingernails. Mainly because each time I go to cut a nail I start to shake and break into a cold sweat. This is a direct result of the first time I clipped his nails and accidentally took a little chunk out of his finger. :( Don't look at me like that! It's hard! Those things are so tiny! Besides, I'm sure you mommies have done it to your kids. And if you're not a mommy yet, when you are a mommy you'll do it too. Ben seems to be better at it though. Maybe Josh can sense his confidence. Either way, it makes for some cute pictures.

Joshua: "Daddy, you'll be careful right?"Ben: "Don't worry, buddy. I'll be careful."Joshua: "Ok. Here we go."
Joshua: "Oh no! Not the toenails! This makes me nervous!"

"Thank goodness daddy has it under control! Mommy may have chopped off a toe by now."

In other news, Nana flew out to California yesterday to visit Auntie Gina & soon to be Uncle David. What I haven't shared on here just yet is that Joshua is going to have another cousin! Auntie Gina & soon to be Uncle David are expecting a little one to be born at the end of November. :) Joshua is really excited for the spring because he'll finally get to meet Auntie Gina & soon to be Uncle David (he can't meet Gina until she isn't pregnant anymore because of the CMV...we don't want to pass it on!). So we now have this big empty house all to ourselves and we're just too lonely. We decided to pack up and head out to Red Creek today to spend some large amounts of time with Grandma and Grandpa!! Yay! We'll be out there until Saturday. I'll post lots of pictures when we get back. :)

**Editor's Note**

Have I ever told you about the time I almost failed Writing 101 in college? My prof said I needed to learn to proofread and edit before I submitted my final draft. I hate to admit it, but I refused to edit any of my papers (mainly because I'm stubborn and lazy). I squeeked by with a C+ even without editing. Now, 10 years later, I see where editing and proofreading would be a great thing. If you read the post below, you'll see that we had dinner with Uncle Brian, Aunt CARLIE and Timothy. We didn't really. I'm not even sure who Aunt Carlie is. I'm sure if she had been there we would've enjoyed her company though. In reality, we had dinner with Uncle Brian, Aunt CARLY and Timothy. Sorry Carly!! :)

Pictures Taken This Week...

I know it's blurry, but it's my favorite out of the 65 pictures that I've taken of him so far this week. I'm obsessed with taking pictures of him! We have 1,673 pictures of him since he was born. Looks like we're gonna need a bigger hard drive! :)

Here are some of my other favorite pictures taken this week...

Yesterday we had dinner with Uncle Brian, Aunt Carlie & Timothy and then went for ice cream. I love these shots of Ben & Joshua looking at the lake! I even love how some of them ended up mostly silhouetted. There's nothing quite like a picture of a daddy & his boy. :)