(This site is our archived Newsletters and is for us to remember all the great and wonderful things God has done.)
Zechariah 4:6b "...It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies"
Zechariah 4:10a "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..."

Friday, March 30, 2012

Joshua's 7 Month Update


Joshua is now 7 months old! As I began to think about what I wanted to write, I originally thought that not much was new this month. But as I made out a list, I found it to be quite the opposite. Tim and I are daily amazed at the Lord's handiwork, how He knows exactly what He is doing and we certainly do not! Yet by His grace, God is faithful to provide us with all the wisdom and knowledge we need, to be just what He has created us to be, and just what Joshua needs.

At Joshua's most recent doctor's appointment he was 28 inches long (97th percentile again!) and weighed 17 pounds 7 ounces (50th percentile). I told the doctor that Josh is sleeping about 8 hours at night. The doctor said that was good but he thought Josh should be sleeping 10-12 hours, so he asked me to start feeding him even more so he will sleep longer without waking up to feed! Can you imagine? So far Josh is still just sleeping 8-9 hours, but he appreciates eating more! :-D

Speaking of eating, Josh has now tried many different fruits and vegetables and we will soon begin combining them. So far bananas and butternut squash seem to be his favorites and he certainly does not like peaches. More for me! Josh still only has the two bottom teeth but his poor little nose has been running like a faucet again so we are thinking maybe the top ones are on their way soon.

Joshua has been in his new car seat now for a few weeks. It is more cushion-y than his infant seat and he falls asleep in it quite readily.  Joshua has outgrown his infant bathtub that we used in the kitchen sink and is now taking bathes in the tub with a bath mat so he doesn't slip.
Josh is not crawling yet although he has gotten very good at log rolling and scooting himself around. There is a small number of babies that never crawl, just go straight to walking. And as strong as his legs are, Josh just might be one of those babies! Because Josh has gotten more "mobile" recently, we got out his playpen, filled it with toys and let him play around. It's so nice to have because he is still free to move around more than in the activity center yet he is still contained enough that I am able to place him in it while getting things done around the house.

Besides all the physical changes, Joshua has had many advances in his social skills as well. He "talks" and "sings" using several different syllables and pitches. With his recent discovery of his hands, Josh is beginning to wave "bye-bye" and play pat-a-cake. Joshua is also at the age when separation anxiety is setting in so Tim and I are having to re-evaluate how that is going to work with how often we are at church. Currently, I am just spending a lot of time in the nursery with him. This too shall pass. It's so nice to be needed.

Things are going well for Tim and I. Tim has healed from his Shingles. There is still some pain from time to time both nothing like it was. And Tim was recently rewarded for his diligence in working unto the Lord: his supervisor called him earlier and informed him that he will be getting a pay raise! Thank you Lord! He is so faithful to provide for our needs. Guess what the first thing was that Tim said? "Now we can afford to have another baby!" I just gave him "the look" and laughed.  Not yet anyway.

I am continuing to enjoy my ladies Bible study group and am slowly learning to be more of a "Mary" and less of a "Martha". That's hard for this task-oriented woman to do, but the Lord is so gracious. And I am slowly seeing the stress leave in areas of my life as I learn to let go and give it to the Lord. How freeing!

Here are some updated pictures from the last month

Silly 7 month old boy
In his best Italian voice: "Hey! You lookin' at me?"
Playing in the park
"Oh, grass!"
At one of Joshy's little friends' birthday party
in the "big boy" bathtub!






Saturday, March 3, 2012

Has It Really Been Six Months Already?

Joshua turned six months old last week! We can't believe it. The time really is going fast. Our baby is now 1/36 of the way to being an adult :-) this month Josh got his first two bottom teeth, just two weeks apart. And now that they have made their appearance (just two weeks ago), he is now starting to get the top ones as well. We were hoping to get a little bit of a break but it doesn't look like that will happen. Oh well. The better to eat solid foods with. And Josh is doing great. He really enjoys eating his carrots once a day and next week we will start him on peas for one meal a day.

Josh continues to do well with sitting up unsupported although he can't quite sit up on him own yet. He is enjoying being on his tummy more often and tries pulling his knees up under himself. It just a matter of time before he's up on all fours.

The friendship between Josh and Coco continues to grow and it is so cute to watch. Coco is trying to teach Josh the concept of "fetch". She brings her toy over to him and drops it in front of Josh, he picks it up and waves it around for a bit, Coco steals it back and runs around the room in circles all the while Josh is cracking up laughing! It's so funny.

Joshua only has doctors appointments every other month now so he hasn't been weighed or measured in awhile. But he has definitely outgrown the safety standards on his infant car seat (the one that is hypothetically supposed to fit him for one year) and next week we will venture on down to Costco for a new 3-in-1 car seat. It will be nice to have a new car seat that will grow with him for the next several years from rear-facing until his birthday to forward-facing and then a booster seat as a toddler up to 100 pounds.

Well, a shorter update this month. Enjoy the sweet pictures and videos below of our smiley growing boy.  Turn up the volume for the video of Josh snoring.

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6 months old
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"No Mommy, I want the camera."

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"And I'm not going to smile so you can see my teeth, either."

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Looking cute in his little hat from the neighbors

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First bites of carrots

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Mommy and Me

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At Bible study with Mommy



Joshua Blowing Bubbles


Joshua Eating Carrots


Joshua Snoring



Tim got the privilege to teach at the Monday Night young-adult service at our church a few weeks ago. The Lord did a mighty work in and through Tim. It was amazing to hear.
(Tim didn't want to boast about what he was doing but just wanted to have a Bible study about what God did for us and how great God is. So this may be the first time your hearing about it.)


Josh and Coco play fetch



Coco kisses