Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoyed a few more Christmas pictures. I'll have to work on some new ones tomorrow for the start of the new year.

It's so hard to believe that 2007 is wrapping up in the next few hours. I apologize that I haven't posted in the past few days. We've been spending our time cleaning up from the holidays and getting ready to usher in 2008. Joshua has been very busy playing with all of his new Christmas presents. There aren't any major plans at our house to celebrate the New Year. My bet is that I will be asleep LONG before the ball drops in New York City. A party animal I am NOT...not that that's a mystery to any of you.

First, let me wish Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig a happy first anniversary. I can't believe a whole year has gone by since your gorgeous Christmas wedding last December 29th, but you two are a perfect match. Congratulations on your first year together and our wishes for happiness for 60 or 70 more!

Joshua's walking is quickly turning to running, met with the occasional wipeout (usually due to slippery socks on the wood floor). He's very into hiding right now for some reason. This is especially the case with his new stacking blocks that he LOVES! You'll build him a tower and he'll come running over to it. He'll giggle, say something in Russian, and then knock down the blocks, after which he runs away and hides behind the side of the couch until you build up the blocks again. This can go on for an hour before he tires of the routine.

The "dada" strike has ended. Yesterday he started saying "da" or something that sounded very close to "daddy" for Jason. It was very cute and we were both thrilled to hear it and know that he meant it. This morning when he woke up he kept saying "da" until Jason came over to his room to say good morning.

We had a very cute "kissing" pattern going on last night. Joshua brought a puppy book over to Jason to read with him. Every time he'd turn the page, he would kiss the puppy on that page. This went on for about 5 times through the book. He just loved those puppies and couldn't get enough.

Our wishes for a very safe and happy New Years celebration to everyone. Enjoy your pork and sauerkraut tomorrow!

Around the world in 5 days...

Hi all! We've returned from our travels after what seemed like a bit of a whirlwind tour. What a wonderful Christmas it was!

We headed out on Friday morning for Lewistown and spent four wonderful days there. There wasn't a dull moment, that's for sure! Friday night my dad treated us to a pretty fantastic batch of seafood chowder. It was awesome! We had a great day with them and tried to rest up for the next few days and all of the excitement they would hold. We played at my parents' house, I baked a cheesecake for the party on Saturday and we just enjoyed some down time with Nana and Pap and Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig. Joshua lit up at the sight of Libby, just like he always does. I swear, he likes her better than us.

Saturday was the party with my Grandma Shirley. They had the party at my parents' house, which was a plus for Joshua's sake. At least there he has some idea what he's allowed to get into and what he isn't. We had ourselves prepared for him to be very overwhelmed and freaked out by the mass of people in the house. But after a few minutes of looking around when he got up from his nap, he seemed to really enjoy the party. Of course it didn't hurt that everyone started showering him with presents when he woke up. Toys always help! He ended up being quite the entertainer all weekend, showing everyone all of his tricks and making up with quite a few of my cousins and family members. It was really fun to watch Joshua enjoy Richard Christmas celebrations as much as we do. The biggest hit of the day was Joshua's discovery of Nana's swiffer- which we shortened for him. He "cleaned" all day and giggled the whole time he did so. We had a precious video of him giggling at Libby while swiffering...the sound of that laugh is like music to me.

Sunday we got up and went to church. I wound up spending most of the service in the nursery with Joshua. The funny part about that was that a friend of mine from when we were growing up was in the nursery with her two little boys, and then another friend came in with his son, and then yet another of the "kids" of my generation came in with their own babies. We enjoyed quite a chuckle over how times have changed and enjoyed watching the kids play while we caught up. We didn't do a very good job of listening to the service, but Jason filled me in when we got home. HA! As always, it was great to catch up with the church family that meant so much to me growing up.

Sunday afternoon we worked with mom to get the Christmas dinner ready. Since we were going to be home at our house for Christmas day, mom and dad decided that we'd celebrate Christmas as a family on Sunday evening. Mom made a wonderful turkey dinner- complete with filling balls and sweet potatoes (my favorites). Libby and I actually made the filling balls this time with a little coaching from the Filling Ball Police- Dad. After we stuffed ourselves, we opened presents with them and had a blast! Joshua especially loved a big box that he insisted on climbing into. He was blessed with some wonderful gifts, all of which Jason and I appreciate so much. He got some adorable outfits and wonderful toys and has been playing with them since we got home.

Monday was a quiet morning, but the evening certainly made up for it in terms of commotion. We spent all day playing at my mom and dad's house. Joshua couldn't even finish his lunch from being so tired, so he wound up going down for his nap around noon. Jason, Libby and I had some quiet time that we actually got to visit, so that meant an awful lot to me. Never enough sister time, in my opinion! We woke Joshua up at 3:00 to head over to Pap and Freda's for their Christmas Eve party. We had such fun there. I was nervous about Joshua getting into things he's not allowed to touch there, but he did great. We ate too much, enjoyed each other's company and had a blast. Just like Christmas Eve is supposed to be. The Richard tradition of many years ago was always my pap reading The Night Before Christmas to all of the kids. The youngest would sit on his lap and he'd read to the rest of us. Well, Joshua happened to have his "Santa" book out and he sat in Pap's lap to be read to. It was a special moment, although I'm pretty sure Joshua just thought it was story time. He'll understand someday. All the rest of us "kids" sat on the floor in front of pap and listened like we always did. We headed out around 6 when Joshua started to show signs of getting cranky. Now, I had some serious concerns about our travel home given Joshua's loathing of riding in the car after dark. In order to keep him from screaming, I had to sit beside him in the back seat and we rode home with the back seat light on. But he didn't scream. Merry Christmas to mommy and daddy for sure.

Christmas Day was spent at our house as a family in the morning, and then with Jason's family in the afternoon and evening. We had a ton of food (leftovers at our house for WEEKS!) and a ton of presents. Joshua is quite the gift opener, that's for sure. He ripped into one of the presents Aunt Sheri got for him before they made it into the living room. Just couldn't wait for his inch worm, I guess. We always have a great time spending the day with Jason's family, and it was extra special this year to have Joshua enjoying himself so much. He was doing a great job playing Santa. We'd hand him a gift and tell him to take it to Grandma or Grandpa or Aunt Sheri and he'd take it right there. And then help unwrap it, of course.

Construction on the new wing of the house will begin in the spring. Just kidding--- but we had to do some serious shuffling to find spaces for all of the toys that now live at Greenbriar Drive. I'm sure Joshua and Grandma are at home today bouncing from toy to toy. The big hits of the Christmas celebration this year for Joshua are his Elmo driver toy from Danaca, his lounge Elmo that we got for him and his new dump truck. He also is really enjoying his new Sesame street singing books from Nana and Pap and his Elmo sweeper from Grandma and Grandpa. Some of mommy's favorites were his "Mister Irresistable" onesie and his baby Gap jeans from Aunt Libby. There's nothing he got that he hasn't already played with and enjoyed, so we thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity. It was the gift of everyone's time that meant the most to all of us, so thanks!

When the dust and wrapping paper settled last night, I couldn't help but sit back and be thankful for all of the blessings of the Christmas season. We are truly lucky- and I hope that never gets lost in all of the hustle and bustle of the season. I will always remember this Christmas. It's true that Christmas is for kids, and it was such a blessing to experience that with Joshua.

We hope that all of you enjoyed a blessed holiday. Enjoy some pictures from the festivities!

Baby Horoscope

I received a new Parents magazine in the mail yesterday and just happened to flip through it before putting it in my bag to go home. I came upon an article that I just have to share. It was about baby horoscopes and although I don't really believe in that kind of thing, I do find it interesting.

So here's the reading for our October 25th Scorpio. I'm wondering if maybe they did a case study on Joshua before writing this paragraph.

"Your child's intensity and perceptiveness are striking (and at times challenging). Even as an infant, he'll read and respond to your emotions, so manage your anger and frustration in front of him. Because your little one is especially determined to get his own way, you'll need to put your patience into overdrive. And since Scorpions are prone to shyness in large social settings, make frequent eye contact and let him know you're there to protect him. Also, keep your home well-stocked with objects that appeal to your child's probing nature: he likes soft stacking rings, toys with different textures and open-the-flap books."

Ummmm......pretty much spot on. Maybe there's something to this after all. And if so, perhaps we'll look to the stars when planning Joshua's brother or sister to find the calm, easy, always pleasant child who likes to sleep. Hee hee!

Thought you'd enjoy that.

Snowed in for lunch...

Check out the hair...this is what happens when Joshua rubs his juicy hands through his hair after eating peaches at dinner. Bath time quickly follows.

"Buh". I don't know why, but this is how Joshua likes to play peek-a-boo at dinner. He lifts the tray cover off of his high chair and covers his face with it.

Playing in the office. The toys aren't usually so neatly put away.

Today I find myself snowed (correction: iced) in at lunchtime, so I'll write a blog entry instead of running out to grab a bite to eat. Our parking lot is covered with a thick 2 inches of solid ice from yesterday's storm.

It was a great weekend here. Jason and I enjoyed a bit of a night out on Friday evening for the State Farm Christmas party. There was karaoke, in which I did not participate, other than trying to pick funny songs for everyone else to sing. When we left, things hadn't gotten out of control, and I don't suspect they did after we had departed. It was a pretty mellow crowd by State Farm standards.

Saturday was a day of some running and last minute Christmas preparations. With the yucky weather, we did some quick errands in the morning and then tucked in for the rest of the day. Saturday night and Sunday gave no options for any travel outside of the house. The ice hit us hard, so we were home bound for sure. I got some holiday baking done and surprised the mail carrier and a very busy friend of ours who does shipping business and is quite busy this time of year with a little care package today. We cooked a tasty dinner yesterday and I even got tonight's dinner prepared so that it will be ready for us when we get home tonight. Baked spaghetti for the Dugans tonight. Yummy!

In Joshua developments...

Joshua is on a wonderful schedule right now. His two quick naps have morphed into one long afternoon nap. I have to be honest, I now know exactly what I was wishing for during all of the super tired, super stressed days when it seemed you couldn't get a single thing done before your "quiet" time was over. Joshua has been a quick napper since he was born. His schedule since about this time last year was a nap in the morning (about an hour around 10:00) and then a nap in the afternoon (45 minutes to an hour around 2:30). You would no sooner get him laid down for his nap and get something started- maybe eat some lunch or start a load of laundry or Heaven forbid go to the bathroom- and you'd hear him on the monitor. I remember many times thinking "Surely a whole hour hasn't gone by yet." Well, lately we've gone to this new, amazing schedule where he's up and playing and generally happy throughout the whole morning. Right after lunch, around 12:30, he starts to rub his eyes, grabs Bear, motions for his bink and then curls up in your lap and drifts off to dreamland. He stays that way until about 3:30! I hardly know what to do with myself. Based on the pace I've learned to run during these hour naps over the past 14 months, I can basically move a mountain in THREE HOURS! So, needless to say, I'm appreciating this one nap phase very, very much. Merry Christmas to us.

Even better, bed time is moving a bit earlier as well. He's now starting to yawn and rub his eyes around 8:00 and is usually asleep by 8:15 and has been sleeping until about 6:30, mostly without a middle of the night meeting. (Of course, I've now jinxed us by writing that.) So, by all accounts, I'm appreciating this stage much more than I knew I would.

I have to tell you about Joshua's "boo" trick. He loves playing peek-a-boo so much right now, which I'm pretty sure all babies do, but I've been trying to teach him to say "boo" for a while now. This weekend he started repeating after me when I'd say it. It usually comes out more like "buh" than "boo", but it's a start. The funny part is that if he's trying to sneak up on you, you hear the "buh" much sooner than you see his little smiling face. We were playing around a doorway last night. I'd hear him running down the hall saying "buh" long before I saw that toothy grin the doorway. But he was having fun, so that's all that matters.

The repetition of sounds is really fun right now too. I was trying to get him to say "Rex" for his dinosaur toy on his changing table. He hasn't said "Rex" yet, but he does say "ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh". It's very cute. He'll also try to say "quack quack" when you ask him what the duck says. He actually says "cack cack" but in his defense, the "qu" sound is a little tricky.

Pointing has taken off to the nth degree. It takes quite a while to read a story now because he has to point to EVERYTHING and have you tell him what it is. I'm continually amazed at his ability to comprehend what I'm asking him. On the back of his Sandra Boynton books are pictures of all the other books that she's written. Most of them are books that he is now very familiar with. Well, when he flips over to the back cover and I ask him to show me where a particular title is, he'll point right to it, even if it's a book he hasn't read in weeks. Their little minds are incredible! It's so much fun to watch him learning and discovering. Honestly, as much as I loved having a little tiny newborn to cuddle, I am thoroughly enjoying the interaction that this age is bringing.

This week starts the fun holiday preparations in high gear. We're almost all wrapped and are working off of a list of things that need to get done by week's end. I'll post as much as I can throughout the week. We're off and running starting on Friday.

Talk to you all soon!

Bigfoot!

Happy Monday everyone! I have some random, but funny, tidbits from the weekend, so please forgive the disjointed stories this morning.


Saturday morning, Joshua got another chance to visit with Santa at the Kiwanis club's annual breakfast. He sat on his lap, but appeared pretty disinterested in the whole thing. Santa is Pete, a Kiwanis friend of ours, who was extremely hot sitting next to a fire place. So if he looks a little less than jolly, that would be why. He said to us half way through the three hour event that he thought it was a bad idea to have worn a heavy flannel shirt under his Santa suit given the position of his seat next to the fireplace. Poor Santa.

Saturday afternoon we took Joshua for his first real pair of shoes. Up to this point he has worn Robeez and Pedipeds which are soft-soled shoes. But since the weather is getting wet and yucky and he's walking like a champ and very uninterested in being held anymore, we figured he should have something a little more substantial on his feet. So we took him to Leesers, the only real place around to get his foot properly fitted and to purchase good Stride Rite shoes. He was originally sized at a 5.5, a normal size for his age. Mr. Leeser checked them and said they weren't big enough. So they got 6's, which apparently also weren't big enough. He came home with a 6.5 wide sneaker on his foot! I asked Mr. Leeser if Joshua's feet are exceptionally large. He said "Put it in his baby book that the shoe guy predicts he'll be at least a size 13 by the time he's grown. His feet are really big and wide for his age." But at least he has shoes. Now, being a first time mom, I really didn't know quite what to expect as far as pricing goes. Figuring he'll wear these shoes for a few months and then need a new size, it makes the fact that these shoes were $50 even more upsetting! I can honestly tell you that I've not spent $50 for a pair of my own shoes...ever.

On the way into the shoe store, we had another calamity with Bear. He fell into a mud puddle. So he had to get another wash in the washing machine. When I pulled him out of the dryer, I noticed that his seams were starting to come open. So Bear got some stitches on Saturday night too. Sadly, the only color of thread that I had was black, but Jason said it gave him "character". So I stitched him up and tucked him back under Joshua's arm in his crib while he slept. Poor Bear. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Here's a picture with the beloved Bear...Joshua is "loving" him.



Yesterday was an around the house day. Joshua slept through church, so I went without him. We got a good chuckle out of him yesterday because he started to clean things. I had been wiping off the counters and he was reaching for my rag, so I gave him one of his own. Then he started going around to all of the cupboards and the chairs at the table to clean them off. Now granted, everything is only wiped off at about knee level, but if you're crawling on the floor on your hands and knees, it looks like the house is spotless. Too funny. Here's a picture of him cleaning the front of our garbage can.

This picture was from Saturday afternoon's fun. Joshua was covering his face with a blanket and then trying to walk. Needless to say he had more than a few close calls. He has a hard enough time trying to stay upright let alone covering his eyes and walking. What a character.

Nothing exciting...

There hasn't been much to report in the land of Joshua these past few days. He is increasingly interested in the Christmas tree and the lights on our staircase. He wants to touch and unplug things which makes me nuts. But we (over and over and over and over again) redirect his attention to something else. Such is the life of parents of a toddler I suppose.

Joshua is unbelievably enamored with Daddy in the past few days, which Jason is loving! All he wants to do in the evenings is play with his daddy. They laugh and hide from each other and have a great time. It's really fun to watch. Something tells me that this is foreshadowing of all the times they're going to go off and do "boy things" where there are no girls allowed...not even mommy.

His words are taking off, though not with any regularity. He is making great efforts at repeating what he hears. The ones I can make out are still "mama", "duck", "pap" and "hot". He's trying really hard to say "book", but it's coming out like jibberish still. In the past few days he has, on occasion, said "ho-ho-ho" when I ask him what Santa says. I will note that he does not like to be on display, so if we're with others and I ask him to do something to show off one of his tricks or say any new words, he'll just give you a blank stare as though he has no idea what I mean. He still says a lot of things that sound like "bagel" or "diggle" and I have no idea where he's going with that. I just nod my head so he'll keep practicing. Eventually that's going to turn into something that we can understand--- at least I hope so. Or else he'll go to Kindergarten saying "diggle" for everything.

A cool new trick in Joshua's ability to communicate his wants to us, even though the words are scarce. If he wants you to do something with him, he'll grab on to your hand and literally pull you wherever he wants to go. Yesterday, as soon as I got into the door, he gave me a kiss then grabbed my hand and pulled me to the stairs. He wanted to go upstairs to play with his truck in his room. He did the same thing to Jason. It's adorable...and much easier than the grunting and grand gesturing that we started with. Once we get a few more words going, we're going to be in business!

We have discovered two more teeth- top molars- that have appeared in the past week or so. That might explain our late night meetings over the past few weeks. There were no other teething symptoms with those, though, so they snuck in on us.

Speaking of late night meetings, we had quite the rocking session last night. Joshua awoke at 11:42 (I remember because I swear I had JUST closed my eyes). I gave him until after midnight to put himself back to sleep, but instead of getting settled, he got more and more angry, so I figured this wasn't going to get better without some attention. When I peeked around the corner into his room, he was standing in the crib with Bear tucked between his shoulder and neck looking very irritated that it had taken me 20 minutes to respond. The look was so expressive that I would not have been shocked to have heard him say, "Mama, what the heck took you so long? What happened to our "I cry" and "you come running" system?" And people wonder why the cry it out method would not work with this child. Case in point. Anyway, after a diaper change and a bottle he was still wide awake. And so, I rocked and rocked and rocked until the clock struck 2 and Joshua was finally asleep again. I got to thinking that they should really put some kind of a pedometer contraption on rocking chairs because I'd love the see the miles or hours that we've clocked in that glider rocker. Goodness--- it would be impressive.

It's funny what all goes through your head at that hour. But there's an essay brewing in my mind about a whole train of thought I got onto while rocking and staring at our little prince. I got to thinking about my expectations of parenthood and what reality has turned out to be. It may be comical, so if it turns out well I'll share.

More to come. New pictures soon...but for now, enjoy Joshua and Santa.

The day we lost Bear...

Anyone who has ever spend any time with Joshua has invariably met Bear. He's a green blanket with a bear head attached to the top of it. His ears are a little crusty, even after several washings, from being sucked on and chewed on. His flat head is perfect for cuddling when Joshua is tired, and is usually tucked in the crook of his neck as he walks around the house. He loves Bear.

Saturday morning, Joshua and I headed out for a quick trip to the Lycoming Mall. I had an outfit that needed to be returned to Gymboree that I've been putting off doing in the interest of time. But I had time for a quick trip on Saturday morning before Aunt Libby got here to visit. So off we went. Joshua was napping in the car on the way to the mall. And where there's a nap, there's Bear. When I got to the mall, he was still asleep and had Bear cuddled in his arms, so when I lifted him out of the car seat, Bear followed. Into the stroller they both went. And then we proceeded to cover every square inch of the Lycoming Mall- in and out of Borders, JC Penney, Bon Ton and finally Gymboree (all on different ends of the mall, mind you). With a successful shopping trip under our belts, we headed back to the car to get Joshua home for his milk and his lunch (I was pushing it on both). And that's when I realized that we had lost a member of our party. Bear was gone!

I panicked. The first thing I thought to do after searching the car, the diaper bag, my purse, etc. was to call Jason at home. I think the conversation went something like this. "We have a CRISIS!" Jason says, "Oh my goodness. What's the matter?" I say, "Bear is GONE!" Then I headed back into the mall to retrace my steps. I looked at every rack we had browsed through. I talked to every Customer Service desk to see if anyone had turned it in. I even stopped two janitorial staff in the hallways of the mall to see if they'd picked up anything in their travels. No one had seen Bear. Interestingly, the people who did not have children looked at me like I was a complete loon. Those who were mothers just looked broken hearted and said they were so sorry...they had been there once themselves. So, dejected, we went home. I was a mess about it. The only way I can describe it is that I felt like a terrible mother. I'd lost my son's best friend. What kind of a parent could let that happen?

Naptime came and went, and he slept just fine with a substitute Bear (now affectionately referred to as "Blue Bear") that my mom had made for just such an occasion. As it turns out Bear was handmade and can't be replaced exactly, but Nana's version did the trick for naps and bedtime on Saturday. Apparently I was much more devastated about the loss of Bear than Joshua was.

On Sunday morning I thought I'd do one more round of phone calls to the stores we were in as well as the mall's main number to see if, by chance, Bear had been located during the night's cleaning. All of my calls were turning out to be dead ends until I called the Bon Ton. The woman I talked to came back to the phone and said, "What color is this Bear?" When I told her he was light green she said, "I'm holding him in my hand." Jason went to rescue Bear from his night at the mall on Sunday afternoon. After which I promptly put him in the washer. I think Joshua was happy to see Bear after their night apart. And I don't think Bear will be leaving the car the next time we go to the mall...

Before I was a mom, I would never have dreamed that I would be running around the mall during Christmas shopping season on a search for a green bear blanket. But that's exactly what we did. I'm just happy that Bear is home.

Joshua and Daddy were playing on Sunday morning. Jason thought Joshua needed to have his "home boy" look going with the hood. Cute, right?

Notice the great job he was going with the Swiffer on our wood floors too. He loves that thing- don't ask me why.