Happy 18 months, Josiah!

I'll be honest, I am really liking this age and I know it only gets better from here! Communication is blossoming and we are back to being able to do more fun things as a family. It is hard to believe that when Sarah was this age I was about 6 months along in my Josiah pregnancy. In fact, it makes me tired just thinking about it . . . So glad our little boy is here and growing and giggling. We do lots of giggling!

Weight: 28 lbs 4 ozs (92%)
Height: 35 in (99%)
Head: 19 in (72%)
Diaper: cloth and size 5
Clothing: 18 and 24 month, some 2T, shoe- size 6

Likes: markers (we don't always like that he likes them!), sandbox time, swinging, holding a finger, whispering, saying "amen," being chased, doing whatever Sarah is doing (especially when she is pretending or showing me what she has drawn), rough-housing with dad, maracas and the tambourine, water bottles, tickle time (especially his feet)

Dislikes: being dropped off at nursery (though he really loves playing at church and settles down quickly), new people (sometimes- he doesn't fuss, but he keeps a firm grip on mom or dad), not getting the food he wants to eat (so don't let him see doughnuts before dinner!), pooping (he was a little constipated this month), Sarah swinging in the baby swing before him

Schedule: When we are home we still stick to this routine and we try to always be home by 1pm when Sarah also has a rest time.

7 am: Up and at 'em
9am: Nap (when we're at home)
11am: Wake and eat
1pm: Nap
3-4 pm: Wake and eat (then eat a little more at dinner)
7 pm: Bed time!

Sleeping: Again, I can say we are so thankful that Josiah usually is happy to stay in bed until 7am. We don't take that for granted with this boy! He is also still generally napping in the morning when we are at home, but we don't sweat it if he doesn't. I find that even if he just lays down upstairs for an hour he is more likely to happily make it to his 1pm nap. The 1pm nap is the nap we really fight for since it is when Sarah also lies down. When everyone is healthy we are at church three mornings a week and are probably out one other day for shopping and such, so he probably takes his first nap about three mornings a week- I love it!

Eating: Josiah loves his "muk" (milk) and asks for water more than Sarah ever has between meals. He usually has eggs or banana with peanut butter (with peanut butter because Dave did it for Sarah and Josiah wants to be like Sarah) for breakfast. For lunch we have leftovers or a peanut butter sandwich. His favorite sides are mozzarella cheese, fruit (haven't found one he doesn't love), and crackers. Still doesn't love vegetables, but eats them in small regular doses. The sweet boy definitely has a sweet tooth!

Moving: He is an active boy. He loves it when we let him walk up the stairs with us and likes to try to jump. Josiah loves to slide. Climbing is a favorite activity now and he sometimes surprises me. I recently put him in his booster seat to color and pushed him up to the table, but didn't strap him in. Rather than calling me when he was finished, he slide/twisted down and surprised me by showing up by my side. He still loves to jump on the couch and turn the lights and fan on/off.

Communication: This is the area where I feel like he has blossomed the most and it is super fun! He will repeat any word we ask him to say, though, of course, he says it quite his own way. He says "thank you", "please", "hi", and "bye bye" really consistently, often without being asked, which makes us so proud. He also likes to say "bite", "shoe", "crayon" (but he now means marker!), "down down" (when I'm holding him), "amen", "baby", and "night night."

Teething: I don't even know :) I seem to remember his being fussy and we thought it was teething a while back, but I don't remember now!

Random:
-He had his first cold of the season last week. It was not fun for anyone. He didn't mind having his nose wiped so much, but generally became quite the fussy pants. So glad our little guy is feeling better now!
-Recently he accidentally elbowed Sarah in the nose and I asked him to say he was sorry and he just kind of smiled, so I asked him to give her a kiss and he leaned right in and gave her a good open mouth smackeroo!

Next appointment: Monday, May 5, 2013 at 10:20am

Let's travel!

Everybody loves a good baby swing :)

Bubbles!

Dad is getting him started early

He has many smiles, but I think this is my favorite :)

"Look, Mom, I have eggs on my toes!"

Those cheeks just need pinching

The beginning of his love of apples

My favorite way to spend lunchtime this fall- pack a lunch and eat outside at Starbucks. We all love September/October on the Cape!

Playing in the jelly house at the Osterville Farmers Market

Getting geared up for trick or treating

Business as usual. . . until he went down the slide. Then he decided he was not a fan of the snow!

Helping Dad finish up the enormous task of pruning the rhodys 

Cupcake moustache!

Vacation Part 2: Adventures in Our Nation's Capitol

One of the really exciting things about going to DC was that we got an extra day of fun (a day we would have been driving to Niagara Falls). So we arrived late Friday night and started our Saturday morning with a big breakfast (thanks for being such a good customer, Papa!). We set out to tackle the metro and take on the city. 

The Smithsonians were at the top of our to-do list since they are free and kid friendly. We started at the Natural History Museum where we saw a really neat photography exhibit, dinosaurs, one extra-large squid, the Hope Diamond, and lots of rocks. For lunch we took a break to eat a hotdog on the National Mall. We then quickly went through the American History Museum and saw an old American flag, famous guitars, dresses worn by First Ladies, and Dorthy's red slippers. By this point not even Sarah was excited to see sparkly shoes, so we headed back to the hotel for naps. We went back into town for the evening and walked around the White House.

The next morning we got on up, had another awesome breakfast, took the metro to Union Station, walked toward the Capitol, watched lead runners in the Marine Corps Marathon at about mile 15, continued walking around and marveling at the Capitol, and walked up the road to Capitol Hill Baptist Church for worship. We all had a great time at church, though perhaps Josiah the best of all, as he promptly fell asleep in the stroller on our walk to lunch. We enjoyed some yummy queso (a novelty on the Cape!) at Qdoba and headed back to the hotel for naps and football- go Pats! For our last evening in the Capitol City we walked past the White House, through the WWII Memorial, and up to the Lincoln Memorial. I think President Lincoln left quite an impression on Sarah who has spent the day telling us that President Lincoln died. The sun was setting as we walked through the campus of George Washington University to a Whole Foods to pick-up dinner to-go and hop on the metro to go back to the hotel.

Monday morning we enjoyed one last mega-breakfast and hit the road just before 10 a.m. We had several memorable potty stops along the way, but by the Lord's grace made it home just in time to get the kids settled into their own beds. It was a wonderful vacation full of good memories and rest from the normal routines of life these days. We return home with full and thankful hearts!

Vacation Part 1: Adventures in the Smokies

Our vacation started early, 3:50 a.m. on Monday morning, to be exact. We hit the road at 4:15 a.m. bound for Townsend, TN and a quick visit with GiGi and Pappy. With two stops at McDonalds and two stops at Chick Fil A, we arrived in the mountains to loving and open arms at 11:15 p.m. Needless to say, we slept well that night and were thankful that GiGi and Pappy got up with the kids in the morning!

Josiah loves to attack an apple, so we would give him an apple when he got frustrated in the car. 
This particular apple somehow ended up all over him.

We spent Tuesday around the house and neighborhood. There was plenty of fun to be had, including walking down the driveway (aka a walk down the mountain) to a neighbor's swings and sandbox, a walk around the neighborhood pond, and a trip to the local natural spring.

There is lots for a girl and her Pappy to discuss on the walk up the driveway.

You aren't the only one, bud! We all left very well fed :)

On the path around the pond, after feeding the fish.

On Wednesday we ventured out a little further and took a nice hike to Laurel Falls. It was a paved path and about 2.6 miles round trip that yielded lovely views of the color and ultimately a nice waterfall. We were all pretty cold by the time we reached the bottom, so we hopped on over to the Sugarlands visitor center and enjoyed the unique displays of local wildlife.

I was telling her all about Niagara Falls :)

Trying to keep the babies warm!

 Thursday morning Sarah and GiGi made special cupcakes with a chocolate surprise in the middle. Then we all went for a leisurely ride through Cade's Cove, always a favorite. Sarah especially enjoyed the mill this year.

You'll have to ask Pappy who jumped the biggest when Sarah accidentally honked the horn :)

She was quite fascinated by the mill.

"Ummm, so you're telling me I can't have another?"

Friday morning we packed up and cleaned up. GiGi and Pappy were headed home and we were going to continue on to Niagara Falls for the rest of our vacation. A little last minute research turned up two troubles. 1) The high at Niagara Falls over the weekend was in the 40s with snow in the forecast. We weren't prepared for that kind of cold! 2) The two attractions we were most excited about, the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds, had each just closed for the season. Also, Dave's passport expired six days before our arrival, so we would be bound to the American side of the falls. We did some quick thinking, lots of calculations, made a few phone calls, said goodbye to Pappy and GiGi, and headed toward Washington D.C. instead!