Six Month Update

18 lbs 8 oz, sitting up, pivoting on his stomach, rolling over to move across the room, army crawling, second bottom tooth finally broke through, trying new foods but only liking fruit

He Is

For my Valentine that I didn't get a card for ... 

He is the assertive to my passive,

The “live a little” to my penny-pinching,

The even keel to my hot and cold,           

The five minutes early to my five minutes late,

The always trusting to my occasionally questioning,

The big picture to my list of details,

The “get er done” to my drag it out,

The six hours of sleep to my eight,

The quick wit to my slow wit,

Our servant leader,

Our hark-working provider,

Our patient listener,

Our spontaneous singer,

Our tickler and tucker-inner,

Our daddy, lover, and friend.

Fun in the Snow

 

3 Years Old!

Over a month ago, our big guy turned 3! Needless to say, I'm behind in writing down all of his developments. At the end of December, he was 38 inches tall and weighed 34.25 pounds. I didn't pay attention to what percentiles those measurements were in, because I was too busy trying to hold him still for his physical exam. As much as he likes to pretend to be a doctor or patient, he didn't really enjoy being there.

The past few six months have been a whirlwind, so it's been hard for me to sit down and reflect on what Joel is like at this point. All I could come up with was loud, energetic, and talkative (because that's how I perceive him some ... okay ... most days). We are a lot alike, and honestly, that has made the twos and early threes difficult for me. With that said, I don't always take time to sit and enjoy the unique things about him.  Anyway, Adam was quick to come up with a more accurate description of Joel. Here are a couple of things that he shared.

• Joel is resourceful and imaginative. He can play with anything and turn it in to a grand adventure.
• He is a storyteller, and he often lives his life out through story. "This is like the time when .... You pretend that you're such-and-such, and I'll be the other character."
• He has a good sense of direction. He often asks what town he's in and where we are in relation to places that he's familiar with.
• Joel genuinely cares about his baby brother. He frequently attempts to make him laugh. He loves to wrestle, snuggle, tickle, and kiss him. He is very good about helping out with him, too.
• He like to help in the kitchen. He enjoys mixing, cutting/chopping (with help), throwing things away, washing, wiping, and taste-testing! He also likes getting to use his step stool to do those things.
• Joel seems to be musically inclined. He can carry a tune and stay on beat when banging on pretend instruments, marching, or dancing. I'm personally excited to see how this one plays out in the future!

Once Adam got the list going, I was able to come up with a really long list of things that I've noticed about Joel lately. Here are several.

• He's been saying, "I love you," without being prompted. Melts my heart!
• He can dress himself, at least most of the time.
• He can take himself to the potty and yell when he needs to be wiped.
• His memory is insane. He remembers things from 1.5 - 2 years ago. "Remember that time when ...."
• Joel enjoys going to the library to pick out books. I think the real reason he likes to go is because he gets to paint on the computer, though.
• He is detail-oriented, especially when telling Bible stories. He will test us on those details, too. "Mom ... who saw the Holy Spirit come? John or Joel?" (That one was easy.) "Mom, where was Jonah going when he got on the boat? [Me: thinking] Tarshish!" The next one was tough! I had no idea what he was talking about. "Who was David's son that got his hair stuck in the tree? [Me: Huh?] Absolam!"
• He's started recognizing numerals, but still has a difficult time counting objects on a page (past 6 or 7). He definitely does better counting when objects are in his hands.
• He seems to be geometrically-minded. He likes patterns and puzzles. Then again, it may just be that he's detail-oriented. He's recently been in to picture finds and puzzles that ask you to find differences or things that look out of place.
• He can write his name unassisted, but it definitely looks better when traced.
• He is very independent. He does not like to be talked into anything. I've especially seen this with reading. If I try to get him to sound out a word, he gets frustrated. If it's his idea, he'll attempt and ask you lots of questions about it. "Well, what if I add this letter? What's it say now?" [Sidenote: He did this on Skype the other day with my brother and sister-in-law and spelled "A-N-U-S".] I've backed off of the whole reading thing lately. I was trying to pursue it because he seemed interested, but it needs to be fun and totally his idea. We'll just stick to me reading and him retelling for now.
• Joel's started to draw stick figures. They currently consist of a body and head with two eyes. Usually, the figures are named David and Goliath. Surprise, surprise!
• Joel likes opening doors (especially electronic ones). He can also carry light bags and packages. I am excited that we're getting to the point where Joel can help carry in the groceries!
• Joel is getting to the point where he can do small chores. He's pretty good about putting his dirty dishes in the sink, and he likes helping with the dishwasher. One of his newest chores is putting away the clean silverware. 

I'm sure there are other things that I should be remembering to write down, but that's all I have time for now. Writing these things has been good for me. I know that I know this, but I need to act on the fact that I sometimes only have 15-30 minutes a day with just Joel. I need to be making the most of that time and enjoying what is unique about him!

A-ja-liath the Giiiaaannt and other Bible stories

I don't know if I'll ever forget this, but I want to write it down just in case. Joel has been obsessed (I mean OBSESSED!) with the David and Goliath story for about two months now. We've been trying to get him interested in other stories, and our plots have worked for a couple of hours at a time, but he always comes back to David and Goliath. When I say obsessed, I mean he wants to read it, listen to it, watch it, act it out, sing about it, color pictures about it, spell it, and use stickers dealing with it. He asks his family members, friends, nursery workers, and random people we meet at stores and restaurants about it.

The conversations go something like this ...

Joel: Okay mommy, you be David the shepherd boy, and I'll be A-ja-liath the Giaaaant. [Cue man voice] My name is Ja-liath the Giant, and I am niiiine feeeet talllll.

Me: My name is David, and I'll fight you.

Joel: No, no, mommy. You have to say, "I will fight you in the name of the God of Ish-ray-ul!"

Me: Okay. My name is David, and I'll fight you with help from the God of Israel.

Joel: Huh, huh, huh ... no one can defeat me!

Me: I'll grab five stones and my sling. [Pretend to sling something at him]

Joel: Keeeeer-plunk! [falls down slowly] The Israelites won the battle!

Moments later ...

Joel: Okay mommy, YOU be Ja-liath, and I'LL be the shepherd. [We play.] Okay mommy, you be King Saul, and I'll be David. [We play.] Okay mommy, you be Jesse. I'll be David, and Judah can be the brothers. [We play.] Okay mommy, Judah can be the Philistine soldiers ... 

Me: Joel, can we play something else. Please!

Ridiculous, I know! But it doesn't stop there. I find slings with rocks (socks with random toys shoved in them) lying around the house at least twice a day. [Sidenote: I'd like to give a shout out to Uncle Butch for making him his first sling shot. The checker tied on a shoe lace has been used many times as a weapon.]

On the occasions we've been able to distract Joel from Goliath a little, he's told some really good stories. For example, he added the plague of the hippos to the ten plagues in Egypt. I also overheard him telling random children in the play place at Chick fil A, "You be Moses. You be Aaron. I'll be Pharaoh." How do you tell your child that's not normal?!  When pretending to be an Israelite in the bathtub, he sang, "I've been working on the bathtub, all the livelong day." I can't make this stuff up!

I also walked into the house one day to Joel telling his daddy, "I'll be Samson. You be dat durl! What's her name? Deliliah? Yea ... you be her." How promiscuous (you might be thinking), but when it came time for "Delilah" to trick "Samson" into going to sleep, Joel said, "Okay, let me read you a bedtime story so you can fall asleep and I can cut your hair off." What a funny kid!

Samson holding up the walls

The really funny/frustrating part is that is these stories always come back around to David and Goliath. I am honestly so tired of that story right now! I am very appreciative that Joel loves Bible stories. It's always worth the tenth time telling the story when he opens the door for an elderly lady at Belk and says, "I can do big things with God's help, just like David!"

Judah's Four Month Appointment

Ju Ju, as his brother sometimes calls him, was four months old on November 28th. He had a great healthy check up, weighing 16 pounds and 6 inches (75th-90th percentile), measuring 26 inches long (50th-75th percentile). These are pretty big increases since birth! As round as his head is, he was surprisingly only in the 50th percentile for head circumference.

Right now, Judah prefers assisted standing or sitting rather than being on his tummy. In fact, tummy time has been a challenge. He won't tolerate being on his stomach very long. He has been getting more and more comfortable each week, but soon I won't be able to keep him still. Judah has recently started to grab his toes, roll from front to back, and roll from back to front. I wouldn't call him proficient at rolling yet, but he's done both a few of times. In fact, he rolls to his side to sleep.

Judah also loves laughing and squealing. He gets so excited and kicks and squeals and smiles. He has sort of a man laugh, too. It's very sweet! His personality seems to be hot or cold (kind of like me), so when he gets overwhelmed or tired, he will quickly turn from happy squeals to an "I'm done" cry. This usually means it's time for him to go back to sleep.

Judah very much likes a schedule. He is like clockwork with naps. While they aren't always at the same time, I can tell you within about ten minutes of when he is going to need another nap. He lasts about two hours and will fall asleep within five minutes of me picking him up and swaddling him. (He's still liking his Love To Dream arms up, zip up swaddle. We'll have to transition him out soon because of him learning to roll over.) As part of his schedule, Judah seems to naturally be an early to bed and early to rise kind of kid. He wants to go to bed between 6:30 and 7:30 every night. This is very different from our night owl, Joel, who wants to go to bed at 10:00. Judah is still waking 2-4 times each night. He's been stuffy lately and cutting his two bottom front teeth, but when he's been healthy, the wake ups are much more manageable. 

Overall, Judah is a very sweet little guy. I'm trying to enjoy any alone time we get together. It may only be 10 minutes a day, but I cherish that one-on-one time. That sort of snuggly, quiet time is much harder to achieve the second go round.

Fall Photos

Our fall photos taken at Bisset Park in Radford (thanks to Insightful Images by Katie Larimer)