The Molter Family: Joshua is 11 months old!

Joshua turned 11 months old today and I am actually writing this on his birth date instead of a week later as usual! Though every day is a busy day with a baby in the house, this month seems to have had a little bit of a slower pace. We enjoyed a nice 4^th of July here in town with a BBQ and games. That evening we went to our regular Wednesday night church service and watched fireworks from the parking lot after. Joshua enjoyed the fireworks, complete with “oohs” and “ahhs”. It was nice that they were at a distance so he wasn’t afraid of the loud boom when they went off.

While Joshua didn’t have a doctors’ appointment this month, I did weigh him on the digital scale recently and he had gained about half of one pound. So he is now about 20 pounds! He is wearing his 12 month clothes now and they seem to fit him well, so I guess he did have a little bit of a growth spurt. Joshua has also gone back to taking longer naps again. Yay! He has been sleeping for about 2 hours in the later morning and then an hour or so in the afternoon. I think he is storing it up for more growing. Not to mention that he keeps popping out new teeth as well. He now has seven and I just saw another hole in his bottom gums opening up today. There are now four top teeth and three bottom ones with the new one on the way. All the better to eat birthday cake with!

Joshua keeps teasing us with his walking. He is getting so good and pushing his little push toy around, you might think that he’d be walking any day now. He can steer the push toy very well by himself; even turning it around when he gets himself into a corner. Josh has been standing without holding anything for support but as soon as he realizes what he is doing he sits down. He did take three little steps on him own but again he realized what he was doing and I think it scared him because he actually fell down and began to cry. He hasn’t tried walking again since then. So it will still be a little longer until he can get some more confidence and try again on his own.

Joshua continues to improve with his baby sign language. He now uses the sign for “more”, “all done”, “no” and waves bye-bye. We are still working on getting him to use the signs for “please” and “water”. The sign for “more” is still his most prominent sign as he is still eating up a storm! Joshua has increased his “chattiness” and jabbers all the time. Sometimes he says things that sound like certain words or phrases but we’re not sure if it is really intentional.

Joshua is also becoming very good a “helping” around the house. He just loves to play in the drawer of Tupperware and often will “help” me with dinner by pulling all of the Tupperware out of the drawer and pulling all my dish towels off the oven handle, putting them all over the kitchen floor. When I am folding laundry Joshua “helps” by pulling all of the laundry out of the basket and onto the floor, as well as pulling all the clothes I just folded out of the drawers they were just put in and onto the floor. Joshua also enjoys “helping” us rearrange our bookshelf by once again pulling all of the books off the shelf and putting them on the floor. Do you see the pattern here? Silly boy!

Our home fellowship family Bible study has just finished its first month and is going well. There are a few other couples and their children coming but it has been so good to foster more close relationships with those families. It gets a little hectic sometimes during our study time with the three babies and older kids that we just don’t know how having any additional families would work! God knows exactly what He’s doing.

Several weeks back, Tim signed up to participate in a walking for fitness campaign through his company so we have been trying to get out for a morning walk most days of the week before Tim begins work. Tim has commented that he already feels a decrease in his stress level and an increase in his energy level. I’m very thankful that he is getting out and getting some exercise and that we are able to do it together as a family.

I have made three attempts to get in contact with the pro-life clinic that I turned in paperwork to volunteer for and I have not heard anything back. I am considering it a closed door from the Lord and while it is a great cause it is just not what God has for me right now. Tim has received an open door from the Lord and is currently going through some online training with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He will be helping with their new online outreach called "Search for Jesus" and will be able to share the Gospel and disciple new believers in an online environment.

We hope you are well and have a blessed month. Let us know how we can be praying for you! As always, pictures and videos of Joshua are below.