New Toys!

I got a new toy on Tuesday. It's a new camera! A Nikon D60 to be more specific. Needless to say, I've had it attached to me for the past 48 hours. Oh how I wish you could see the pictures full size. They're really amazing. You can see Joshua's tastebuds! Each little eyelash! All the fibers in the carpet! The veins in the flower petals! And best of all, when I ask it to take a picture, it doesn't even have to think about it. It just does it! I can't wait to take this thing to Paris! :)

Joshua also got a new toy. Auntie Jodi and Tio Jay sent him a tummy time mat that is supposed to help strengthen his arms and back. It's a play mat with a water feature! That sounds strange, doesn't it? Here...let me show you... When he gets tired of playing, it doubles as a pillow! :) He really liked playing on it. He smiled nonstop! Of course, having the camera out all the time helps bring out the smiles too. :)

And the camera is really out all the time now. This morning, I couldn't resist getting a few shots of him fresh out of the shower...

The wrinkles! I just want to eat those wrinkly toes up. That's what new cameras do...make you want to eat baby toes. :)

Hip, Hip, Hooray for Cookies!

Happy belated Valentine's Day to all of Joshua's valentines! There has been lots going on in Joshua's world! A few weeks ago, we traveled to Fayetteville, North Carolina to see Auntie Jodi and Tio Jay. Joshua was wonderful on all the flights, usually falling asleep shortly after take off. Auntie Jodi got lots of snuggles and she was nice enough to share Joshua with Tio too! :)Joshua had a great time visiting with Auntie Jodi and Tio Jay. Of course, because Josh was in a new place, away from his bed and had not slept more than two hours at a time for many, many, way too many nights, it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine...but the tears were few and far between and there were plenty of smiles afterwards.

On Valentine's Day, we went down to Addison, NY (near Corning) to visit Chris, my mom's best friend. Joshua got to spend some quality time with Nana and Chris while Ben and I drove to Corning to wander around the town. We didn't last for long though...it was COLD! So we drove back to Chris' house and watched Joshua play with Tucker. This was Joshua's first experience with something so large, but he loved it. He loved to watch Tucker walk around the house. Maybe there will be a doggie in our future. Way, way, way in the future. :)

Joshua's newest and biggest accomplishment came in the form of a cookie. Josh's therapist brought over some Arrowroot biscuits (cookies) because she thought that Josh might be able to hold them and would like to chew on them. And he did!

I was in complete shock! He held the cookie, he chewed on it, he processed the large pieces that came off! This is HUGE for Joshua. He has an aversion to putting anything near or in his mouth. Oh, he'll put his hands or your hands in his mouth, and a pacifier of course, but he gets a little squeemish when it comes to anything else. Even spoons, spoons with food on them, are kind of iffy sometimes. So to have him hold the cookie first off...wow. What an accomplishment! But then to put the cookie into his mouth and chew on it?! Holy moly! Hip, hip, hooray for cookies!!!!

Josh has also started to make some progress in the language department. He's not saying any words yet, but he'll mimic sounds and tone. It's hard to get a video of him because whenever he sees the camera, he poses. Like this...

(Notice the red rimmed eyes? That's because he was SCREAMING 2.5 seconds earlier. The camera came out and so did the smiles. Am I a bad mom for pulling the camera out just to stop the crying? :))

So back to Joshua talking...I did get a couple videos of him "talking"...check them out. :)

So that's all for now. We're leaving for Virginia tomorrow. Ben is going down to visit a building site and Josh and I are tagging along so we can visit our friends. I'll let you know how it went when we get back!

Love,
us

Mark Your Calendars!

May 17, 2009.

That's a pretty special date, my friends. Why is it a special date? Because it is the date of the first ever Rochester CMV Walk N Rollathon! I've been helping organize the walk here in Rochester and I'm really excited about it. There are other walks scheduled in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Tucson, Houston, Long Island, Omaha, Detroit, Iowa City, Indianapolis, Idaho, and Raleigh/Durham that will all be raising money for the Brendan B. McGinnis Congenital CMV Foundation (website HERE). The Foundation will be giving some of the money to research to help find a vaccine and some will be put into their public awareness campaign.

I'll give you more details as we get closer to the date. Ahh, May...the trees will be in bloom, the flowers will be up, hopefully there won't be any snow! If you already know that you're interested in participating, leave a comment or email me or get in touch with me somehow so that I can send you more information.

The First Kitchen Update (aka Why I Love Craigslist)

Since we moved in I've been lamenting the lack of a dishwasher. It is one of the basics of a kitchen, after all. However, in order to get a standard dishwasher, we'd have to give up two cupboards and two drawers...and that is precious space in our kitchen! After all, we only have three full size cupboards and three full size drawers. The other two cupboards and drawers are 8" miniatures.

One day as I was perusing Craigslist, I found a dishwasher that would actually work for us. It's only 18" wide! So we bought it, brought it home and gazed lovingly at it for a week. This past weekend, Ben decided it was time to install it. Yippee! Ben cut out an 8" cupboard & drawer, reframed the space and hooked up the plumbing. Joshua watched with great interest. He LOVED the sound of the sawzall and all the hammering. So without further adieu....this is what my kitchen looks like now!Oh my gosh...isn't it beautiful?! It works perfectly too! I've never been so excited to do dishes. :)

First project down...many, many, many more to go. Isn't owning a home fun?!

10 Months!

Joshua is 10 months old today! And how is he celebrating? With a breakfast of papaya & oatmeal, an early morning trip to Wegmans in the snow, some rattle banging and lots of yelling.

Our little boy is growing up. And part of that growing up is the transition of all his love and affection from mommy to daddy. If Ben is around, Joshua wants to be doing what he's doing, eating what he's eating, just wants to be held by daddy.

It's sweet really, but it makes me feel a little sad. Of course, when he's tired or upset, mommy can still make it all better. :)

At 10 months, Joshua's sitting has improved dramatically. He can now reach for toys while sitting and sometimes even look up to see what's going on around him. He still topples over after about a minute, but it's really amazing to see how far he's come. He's completely obsessed with his toes and loves to pull his socks off at night when he's getting his jammies on.

He also loves sitting in his high chair and playing with the blocks

and yelling. Oh, how he loves yelling. He also absolutely loves being startled. When he's not paying attention, if I yell 'BOO!' at him, he jumps and then laughs hysterically. That he definitely does not get from me. I HATE being scared. I hate that stupid email that goes around every once in a while that has a nice wooded scene with a bear or a girl riding a bike or a red dot that you have to follow. You know the one....all of a sudden there's a terrible face screaming at you? It makes me cry. Not just a few tears either. I full out sob. I hate it. So I'm not sure where Josh gets this love of being startled. Must be from his daddy.

Joshua is a champion eater. He loves sweet potatoes, squash, peas, spinach, green beans, papaya, mango, apples, pears, blueberries, apricots, canteloupe...but he's not a big fan of meat right now.

He's now weighing in at 18 lbs, 2 oz and is 27 1/2 inches long. That puts him between the 5th and 10th percentiles for both height and weight. He's such a peanut! I don't really realize how small he is until I see him around other children his age. They all seem so big. Of course, I'm extremely thankful that my little one is so little. I can't even imagine carrying around a larger child all the time.

As you saw in the video, Joshua is trying so hard to talk. We had him evaluated by a speech therapist who said that he was behind in his expressive speech (he's at about 6 months), but was functioning between 9-12 months for his receptive language. So he's understanding everything we say, but just can't respond. I'm still waiting for 'mama' or 'dada'. What a sweet sound that will be. :) And we will be overcome with joy when he finally is able to say those words. For now, we just enjoy each new sound he explores (lately there have been lot's of 'F' sounds!) and relish each moment with him.

Joshua in Toyland

I wanted to share some videos of Joshua's favorite toys and his skill with them. He loves playing and all of these toys are they are all being used as therapy as well. This is his newest toy. It's supposed to encourage crawling because it's weighted in the middle and will roll away and then roll back. In therapy this week, we used it to isolate Joshua's hips and give them a good workout. Josh's therapist says that the rocking is a precursor to crawling and that this will definitely help him learn to crawl. We're one step closer! :)

This is another one of Joshua's favorite toys. He loves to 'box' the ball and the fishes. He's so good he doesn't even have to look!

This truck was given to Joshua by Uncle Brian and Aunt Carly. Joshua loves it when I stack the blocks up for him to knock down. He has also gotten really good at dumping them.

This video isn't toy related, unless you count nana as a toy. :) But it's awful cute.

I have one last video for you. It's an example of terrible parenting. :)

Go ahead. Laugh. I did! And don't worry, Joshua was not hurt in the filming of this video. He actually just reached over and played with the fishes and laughed. Rough and tumble...that's my boy.

Votre Attention, S'il Vous Plait...

You'll notice a new ticker along the top of the blog. A ticker counting down the days to Joshua's trip to PARIS!!!!!!! We are going April 19-27 to visit friends who will be living in Paris for a year. We're SO EXCITED!

Joshua's paperwork for his first passport is all filled out and waiting to be sent. I think it's hysterical that the form asks for his height. I mean, he's going to have this passport for 7 years or more. It's going to change dramatically! So when we travel somewhere in 5 years, his height will still officially be 2 ft, 4 inches. :)

It's Happening!!!!

Joshua has a fun new trick and I have some very big news for you...but you'll have to wait a minute or two for the big news. :) Oh, that was mean, huh?

So here's Joshua's new trick:

He knows "so big"! He also knows, by the way, where to find a nose and eyes on a face. He's so smart! :)

Ok, I can't wait anymore to tell you about the big news! JOSHUA CAN SIT!!!!!!!! Of course, it's not for very long and he's not terribly stable just yet, but he can do it! I was playing with him today and plopped him down in front of me and let go. Because he didn't tip over right away, I started watching the clock. 10 seconds, 15 seconds (this was his personal best so far), 20 seconds (I started getting excited), 30 seconds, 40 seconds (I was holding my breath), 43 seconds....and then he tipped over. Holy cow! 43 seconds! That's amazing!!! In addition to the awesome sitting that was going on, when he started to tip over he put his hand out to catch himself. Oh my goodness, my heart just about stopped. Do you know what this means?! It means that all the therapy, all the work, all the time, all the effort is paying off!!!! It also means that his core is getting stronger. And sitting will help make his core even stronger. Which will let him be able to crawl eventually. And then walk. I don't even think I can tell you how exciting this is for Ben and me. Since I wasn't prepared for Josh to sit, I didn't have a camera or anything to document it. So I grabbed my camera and tried to get him to do it again. He didn't sit for that length of time again, but you'll get the general idea. :)

Sitting! from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

It cracks me up that once he sees the camera, he refuses to look away. He loves the camera. Maybe he'll be a news anchor. Or reporter. Or movie star!

I'll post one final video for you since I'm on a video kick. Joshua loves the theme from Bonanza. He HATES the theme from Green Acres. How do I know? Well, because every time he hears the Green Acres theme, he frowns. Not just looks displeased, he flat out frowns! But when you hum the Bonanza theme he smiles and laughs. What a crazy kid. :)

Green Acres from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.

I promise there will be more sitting videos soon. :) Yay for achieving goals!!!!!

Happy New Year!

Ok, ok, ok! Call off the dogs! I'll post, I'll post! I've been getting all sorts of comments about how my posting has fallen by the wayside. I know, I know. I'm a slacker. But I've had good reasons! We moved into our house and have been trying to get settled. And our laptop screen is dying so it flickers and is really hard to look at for long periods. And Joshua is on another sleep strike. And I'm just too tired. I realize that's not an excuse for you hard core blog followers (I'm looking at you, Jodi Rivera), but it'll have to do. :)

Ok, here we go....

Christmas was, in short, wonderful. We celebrated Christmas with the Nodine family first. Dinner was spectacular - prime rib, twice baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cherry pie...mmmmm! Joshua was showered with attention and wonderful gifts as well, but I think he liked the attention the most. :) Grandma got some fun pirate hats from the boys for future make believe play. Won't both the boys be the most adorable pirates on the high seas?!

It was a wonderfully relaxing evening and we enjoyed it more than any other Christmas in the past. See, in the past, we were always shuttling back and forth between Webster and Red Creek. Talk about tiring! But this year, we got to enjoy spending the day with our family and then we got to come home and sleep in our own bed. It was perfect.

We had fully intended to spend Joshua's first Christmas morning in his new house. But the best laid plans...you know how they go! We were just feeling too much pressure to be unpacked and settled and in the end we decided that we'd spend Christmas at nana's. Auntie Jodi was in town and the weather wasn't terrible...it was so nice! Christmas at nana's house was all about Joshua. Both Ben and I enjoyed watching Joshua take it all in so much more than we enjoyed opening our own gifts. Josh loved the lights on the tree (of course!) and loved tearing the paper on his gifts. He got really good at it too!

Merry Christmas, Joshua! from Jamie Nodine on Vimeo.


Of course, there were times that he thought that the paper looked so pretty he should just take a little taste of it....
Now, he's really into tearing paper. He loves tearing napkins, paper tablecloths, bills...whatever he can get his hands on!

Joshua was given really great clothes...and some fun toys...and some really beautiful books!The day after Christmas, Honorary Auntie Diana came for a visit and finally got to meet Joshua. He took to her pretty quickly and decided that he liked having Aunties...regular or honorary.

While Auntie Diana was here seeing our new little home, Tricia and Bill stopped by, and then my cousin Jon dropped in too. It was an impromptu housewarming party! Tricia brought food (she owns the yummiest bakery in Webster) and Joshua really enjoyed the cookie tray. Just kidding. He didn't eat any. But the rest of us did! Mmmmmm.

Joshua is changing every day it seems. He's getting so, so, so much better with his hands and can now grab anything he wants. It's funny to me that Ben and I get so excited about every little accomplishment. The other day, Joshua pulled my camera off the table. I caught it just in time, but what struck me was that instead of being worried that it would break, I was thrilled that he had been able to grab it so quickly. Josh loves to sit in his high chair and play with toys while I'm washing dishes or getting things done around the house. Of course, I don't usally get much done because I'm watching him play. He has also gotten really good at 'SO Big!'. You know, the game where you say, "How big is Joshua? SO big!" and he responds with throwing his arms up in the air. I tried to get a picture for you, but this is the best I got... When I asked him to do it again, this is the look I got...He was obviously not going to do it again. I'll get a better picture soon.

So that's it. You're all caught up. Happy 2009 everyone! It's going to be a great year. :)

ps...I shamelessly stole this from Amanda's blog because I loved it. It recaps the year pretty well I think.

1. Where did you begin 2008? Reading in bed in Virginia.

2 What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Had a baby, bought a house, and a bunch of other things that pale in comparison.

3. What was your status by Valentine’s Day? Married and hugely pregnant.

4. Were you in school (anytime this year)? Does the school of hard knocks count?

5. How did you earn your money? I lived as a kept woman. :)

6. Did you have to go to the hospital? Yep. Once for a very happy reason, twice for not so happy reasons.

7. Did you have any encounters with the police? Nope!

8. Where did you go on holidays? Holidays in the european sense of the word? Nowhere. Holidays as in Christmas? Home with our families.

9. What did you purchase that was over $1000? A house!

10. Did you know anybody who got married? Not this year.

11. Did you know anyone that passed away? Thankfully, no.

12. Did you know anyone who had a baby? Yes! Yay for Tori & Jay, Niki & Troy, Bekah & Dave, Rob & Lynn, Jodi & Jon, and Gina & David! I'm sure there are others I'm blanking on!

13. Did you move? UGH. Yes.

14. What concerts/shows did you go to? None. :(

15. Are you registered to vote? Yep.

16. Who did you want to win Big Brother? Seriously? Do people still watch that show?

17. Where do you live now? In a cozy little house with Ben and Joshua.

18. Describe your birthday. It was AWESOME! Photoshoot with Amanda, dinner out, snuggles with Ben and Joshua.

19. What’s one thing you thought you’d never do, but did in 2008? Hmmm...I'm sure there are things that I just can't think of now.

20. What has been your favorite moment? March 28, 10:33am.

21. What’s something you learned about yourself? I'm good under pressure and am a good mommy.

22. Any new additions to your family? YES!!! Why else would you be reading this blog?

23. What was your best month? March

24. What was your worst month? March

25. What music will you remember 2008 by? World Baby Celtic Lullaby cd.

26. Who has been your best drinking buddy? I don't have drinking buddies. But if I did, I'm sure Ben would be it.

27. Made new friends? Yes!

28. Lost friends? Only by moving away.

29. Favorite night out? Date nights with Ben.

30. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier
ii. thinner or fatter? compared to last December, I'm thinner.
iii. richer or poorer? my life is richer. My wallet, not so much.

31. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 28. It's the moment I became a mommy! I'll never forget that day. :)