Well, let's see. What's been going on around here? Well, Joshua has been battling a couple of colds and I think teething. It looks like his 2 bottom teeth want to poke through any time now. I think he's also battling a case of frustration. Frustration over wanting to crawl forward but not being able to yet. He can crawl (actually scoot) backward and can shift his body sideways to get to toys or whatever suits his fancy but going forward is alluding him. He has finally made some progress but it's pretty slow going. So, I think he's getting frustrated because it seems he wants to move around more efficiently but just can't. He tries to get things going by rocking back and forth on his hands and knees all the time. It's so cute to watch. Anyway, other than that he's just hanging out. He's now tried puffs and some yogurt bites that melt his mouth. He has successfully grabbed both with his thumb and index finger and put both in his mouth a few times. We're working on that skill.

Emily just spent a little over a week in Sick Land and has finally returned. Even her voice was affected by a small case of laryngitis. So, the mixture of her different voice and her uncharacteristic crankiness made me feel like I was living with a familiar stranger. I missed her so much and I'm glad she has returned. The other night she went all night without peeing in her pull up. I was hoping it would be a new trend but I think it was just a fluke. But now I know she can do it so hopefully she's on her way to not needing a pull up at all. She has also been successfully peeing in public bathrooms. Which I am thrilled about. The girl used to scream when we entered a public bathroom. She was deathly afraid of the hand dryers. It was too loud for her. She's still nervous but not to the point that she can't use the bathroom. She just makes sure she leaves the bathroom stall before I flush the toilet. Apparently public bathroom toilets flush too loudly for her too. Emily has also picked up a habit I'm trying to break. A few weeks ago I noticed that she was biting her fingernails. It is now a daily habit. I don't know if she learned this from watching her daddy do it or if she just picked it up randomly. I don't know if I will be successful but I'm gonna give a shot.

We've just been hanging out around here. Playing outside, getting a used swing set broken down and moved to our house (it was a pain...for Josh. But it was free so it was worth it) and setting up Emily's first dentist appointment. Let's see how that one goes. Other than the everyday mundane activities, we've gone to the NC Museum of Life and Science with grandma to check out the Animal Grossology exhibit (Emily had a good time and I thought it was pretty cool too) and taking an overnight trip to Charlotte to see Josh's parents. Emily was so excited to see them.

We're happy about the warm weather. It means getting the swing set set up and a new play area set up for the kids, going to the beach with my family, Emily getting to add to her expanding rock collection (she is a rock nut) and doing other fun things outside. It's nice to get out of the house after being cooped up for the winter.

My Itty Bitty Baby Boy

I can't believe Joshua is over 7 months old already. As usual, time is flying and he's growing quickly. He's been an independent sitter for over a month now and has been trying out solid foods since he was 4 months. He's tried his green and orange veggies and most fruits. Of course he prefers fruits but he'll eat anything you put in his mouth with the exception of meat. He does not like meat so far. Can't say I blame him because that pureed stuff is grainy. He's rolling all over the place and scoots backwards while on his belly. He's finally getting used to being on his belly and doesn't hate it so much. He loves his exersaucer and his jumparoo. He can jump around contently for a long time. He's already had his first haircut. I tried this tricky task in early February because his hair was getting long around the ears. His doctor also thought she saw a tooth trying to make its way through when we were at his last check up. He certainly acts like he's teething with all the chewing and drooling. But he's been doing that since he was about 3 months old. He's such a sweetie and so easygoing. I always thought no baby could get much easier than Emmy was. But Joshua has proved me wrong. If he's not hungry or tired, he just hangs out,plays, and smiles. He LOVES his sister and no one is funnier to him. Baths and his doggie blanket are also tops with him. He's sleeping well at night. For a while there, I was getting up 4-5 times a night just to put his pacifier back in but he's gotten much more restful since he was about 5 months old. Now I occasionally get up once in the wee hours of the morning to put it back in. He also has a bit of a 'tude. He'll grunt like Tim Allen (only way I can describe it) while flexing his arms downward. He also makes a face that involves him snorting. Which causes him to scrunch his nose and squint his eyes. I have tried to get a picture of it but he always looks dumbfounded when I put the camera in his face. Just like his sister did. I am enjoying him and this stage in development so much. I know it's the calm before the storm because my itty bitty baby boy (as I like to call him) is going to be crawling soon. I think I'm going to have to up my coffee intake.

Potty Training Success

After almost a whole year of potty training, I can finally deem Emily officially and successfully potty trained (when she's awake anyway). After months of going number 2 in almost every pair of pants she owns, she quit this nasty habit cold turkey about a month ago. I didn't want to make any announcements until I was sure it wasn't a fluke. She might backslide at some point but a whole month without having to get out the latex gloves to clean that icky brown stuff out of her pants has been a great big step in the right direction. And a wonderful reprieve. I was getting really tired of cleaning that crap up (and yes that pun was intended). So proud of her and so happy for myself.

They've Got Skills

Emily has been full of surprises lately. First of all, she LOVES books and learning. I guess the knowledge was bound to stick. Anyway, she brought me "The Little Bears" book the other day. Some of the pages have trees drawn in rows on them. She wanted to count the trees with me. She proceeded to count and I assumed she would count to the typical 20 (that's as high as I thought she could count)and be done. Well, she got to 20 and kept going. She got all the way up to 29 and then went to 20-10. I then had to teach her 30 and so she went on to count all 37 trees on the page. I had no idea she could count that high. Granted she skips 14 and 15 almost every time she counts now. For some reason she used to know these numbers but now has something against them because she almost always says "13,16." I was proud of her anyway. Another surprise came when I wrote out her name. I then asked her to tell me the letters in her name and she could tell me each letter. She also can recognize her name when she sees it. She also knows 20 of her letters. Since I didn't know what she had rolling around in that noggin of hers, I wonder what other skills she has hidden. Maybe she knows how to speak Chinese too. We did used to joke that her baby babbling sounded like Chinese. Anyway, Joshua is developing some skills too. He can now hold his bottle very well and get it back in his mouth if it comes out. He can roll pretty well and has started sitting a little by himself. He has to lean forward to do so. I usually put his boppy pillow behind him and so haven't tested his skills completely. So, we'll see how well he does without it behind him (not that I won't be there to catch him when he topples over, I just want to see how well he can support himself). He's also doing really well eating his baby food. We're up to orange veggies now. He's such a curious little guy and has become a wiggle worm. He wants to touch everything and of course taste pretty much everything. When I hold him and face him towards me, it's hard to get him to focus on my face because he wants to look at and touch everything around us.

Green veggies and vacuums

Last week I discovered two things about my kids that kind of surprised me. One, Joshua likes green veggies. I wasn't expecting him to dig them since they aren't the most tasty when mushed with no detectable seasoning. But he actually likes almost anything you put in his mouth. The kid is very interested in food. So, I guess he's not too picky. And surprise number two, Emily laughed at the vacuum while I was vacuuming her room. She has been extremely afraid of the vacuum since before she was one. I mean blood curdling scream afraid. So, I have had to limit vacuuming around here and when I do vacuum, I have to make it quick and make sure the door of the room I'm vacuuming is closed. Well, I threw caution to the wind the other day and just went for it. Leaving her door open and everything. I was doing my thing when I heard her approach from behind me. I had started in her room while she was playing in the living room. I had decided not to look at her when I heard her come into her room because I was convinced I would see tears streaking down her face. But as I was vacuuming away, I heard joy in her voice and turned to see a smile on her face. Was that laughter I heard? She was laughing? I couldn't believe it. Don't get me wrong, she and the vacuum are not bff's. She was very thrilled to see it go back to its home in the closet. I think she was just trying to deal with her fear of it by laughing at it. Even if she's lying to herself and telling herself that the vacuum isn't scary, I'll take it over the blood curdling scream thing any day. It's progress and I'll take it.

Jan 2011 Update

Well, the holidays are over and for a few days it made me a little sad. As it does every year. All that build up and as quickly as the season came it seemed to go. Emily had a great time getting all her presents. We spent Christmas morning at our house and then journeyed over to Josh's granny's house in Sanford. We had a good time with her and some of his extended family. Emily loves playing with her third cousins. They always have such a great time together. We then stopped by my parents' house on the way back to ours for a quick visit. The next day (the 26th) was supposed to be the day we celebrated at my parents' house. We had to wait for my sister and her family,who live in Colorado, to get into town. A snow event prevented them from flying into Raleigh on that day so it got postponed to the 27th. I was just glad the snow melted on our road so the truck could make it up our hill. Anyway, we had a good time over there as well. We've now settled back into our normal life and I finally got all the Christmas decorations down (except for the small tree in Emmy's room). Joshua is doing well. He just turned 5 months on Jan. 11. Time is flying as usual. On one hand it feels like he was born just a couple months ago and on the other it feels like he's been around longer than 5 months. It's weird how the mind gets so used to something that it can hardly remember life without it. He doesn't have a whole lot of tricks up his sleeve yet but it seems that he is changing all the time. He can grasp things well and he loves putting whatever it is he has just grasped in his mouth. He has been chewing on his hands since he was less than 3 months and he drools like crazy. He also spits up like crazy. Which has caused a rash on his chin. No matter how hard I try I can't keep that area of his face dry for long. He also enjoys his exersaucer. His legs have always been so strong and he has preferred standing to sitting since he was about 1 month old. We just started him on rice cereal about a week ago. He's getting the hang of it but a lot of it still ends up on his bib or on his face. He grabs the spoon from me and shoves it in his mouth and gums it for a while. Like I said he loves to put everything in his mouth. He's still a very happy baby. It's very easy to get him to smile. He's also very content. The only times he fusses are when he's tired or hungry. He has rolled over a few times but for the most part he wiggles and squirms and fusses when you put him on his tummy. Emily is just now starting to enjoy him. For the first few months she generally ignored him. Let's be honest, newborns are kind of boring. Sweet but boring. So, now that he is starting to "play" with things(aka shove them in his mouth) and can stand in his exersaucer she has been interacting with him more. She seems to really love him. She even tells me she does from time to time. He thinks she's hilarious. I LOVE watching them interact. It's probably my favorite thing in the whole world. Emily is doing well also. She is still fighting us on the pooping in the potty but is getting slightly better at using it. She is probably the funniest person I know and the most upbeat too. She starts most days off with a smile and a "good morning." Sometimes she's a little too upbeat. And I used to let it get to me quite often. But now I have learned to embrace it and roll with it. I know that she can't help it and so I must start looking at things more positively. Since I've decided to do this, life has been much easier and fun. She can be so adorable and quirky too. She makes up words and songs and I just pretend I know what she's talking about. Usually it makes me giggle. The other day she came into the kitchen where I was and said to me "you're a great mommy." I can't say I agree but I thought it was soooo sweet of her to say. She's just a delightful little blessing. And so is her little brother. Oh yeah, here's some pics from December.

My Sweet "Little Dude"

Up until 12/18/10 I hadn't had to deal with anything that I would classify as overly difficult. Sure I've had my share of crappy things to deal with and I've dealt with my share of stress. I also complain about not having enough money quite a bit. I complain about a lot of things that really don't matter. Yeah, we need money to survive in this country but I almost always figure things out and for that I am blessed. I've lost a couple of loved ones but never someone who was such a big part of my life. For that I am blessed. I've always known of the phrase "you don't know what you've got til you lose it." Thank you Phil Collins. I know he's not the person who coined that phrase but he made it famous. I didn't really appreciate that sentiment until 12/18/10. The day I lost one of "my littles" (as in one of my little dogs). Jack was a dog we mainly bought to be a companion to Mattie. Josh and I both worked at the time we got Mattie and we felt bad that she was by herself all day when we were at work. So, another Shih-tzu was my only specification. I love Shih-tzus so much. I have even told some people that I'm not a dog person, I'm a shih-tzu person. Jack was a sweet boy from the beginning. He was always happy to see us and so loving. He was also a pleaser (for the most part) and so it was easy to get him to mind us. The same can't be said of my spoiled rotten Mattie. He became a part of our family and for the next 7 years we were blessed with his presence. Before 12/18/10 we had 4 dogs (2 outdoor, 2 indoor). Jack was the youngest at 7 years old. Sarah (one of the outdoor dogs) is our oldest and about 10 or 11. I naively thought she would probably be the first to go. I actually thought Jack would be the one dog still hanging around after the other 3 passed. He seemed so healthy and he was,after all,the youngest. But that mindset changed drastically on 12/17/10. The day started out like any other. Feed the kids,change some diapers,take the dogs out. For the past few months Jack's behavior had been a little off (he'd wander up the street more often, he'd be a little more disobedient at times, and just do things that weren't Jack like). But I didn't give it much thought because it wasn't overly alarming. Anyway, on that Friday he wandered up the street. It had been a few weeks since he had done this so I went back to punishing him by putting him in his kennel for a time out. When I went to let him out he squalled as he was coming out. Mattie has had hip problems for years and sometimes it acts up and she gets a little extra limpy and if you touch her in that area she will yelp and squall. In the past year, Jack had done this from time to time as well. I just chalked it up to hip problems (Shih-tzus are prone to hip dysplasia). So, when he did this I didn't think much of it. Now looking back at these incidents I realize he never limped. So, it must have been something else bothering him. Anyway, within the next hr or so Jack laid around as usual and the day progressed as any other day. Then I accidentally bumped into his sensitive area and he proceeded to squall like crazy as he walked away. I was beginning to get a little concerned because he didn't usually carry on quite so badly in the past. So a little more time had passed and Jack made his way under Emily's table in the living room. A little while later Emily accidentally bumped him like I had earlier and so Jack squalled and ran away from her. A couple of minutes later I looked behind me to find Jack in our shoe basket. I found that to be really strange. He was struggling to maneuver his way out of it. He finally did and I looked away for a minute and then heard a scuffling in the bathroom. I thought it was Josh at first (he was supposed to be sleeping off a very long shift at work) but I soon realized it was Jack trying to make his way into our bathtub. He was in there to get away from us. It was then that I was beginning to think that something was seriously wrong with him. At that moment I decided to wait until Josh got up so he could assist me in examining the area of Jack's back that seemed to be bothering him. I didn't want to try to do this by myself because I honestly thought he might bite me. I thought 2 people might be able to manage it better. Anyway, after I got him out of the bathtub I decided to let he and Mattie out to do their business. I was then going to put Jack in our bedroom with Josh so we wouldn't bump into him anymore. I wasn't sure if he would even go outside. Boy was I wrong. Jack went from being frozen by the bathroom door to bolting out the front in seconds. I went outside with them (something I don't usually do) because he had wandered up the street earlier that day. As soon as Jack got out of the door he bolted into our neighbor's yard. I went yelling and chasing after him. He disappeared from my sight. I then caught sight of him running across the street into another neighbor's yard. By the time I got there, I could no longer see him. It was at that moment I had an overwhelming feeling that I would never see him alive again. He had never run away before and so I knew something must be seriously wrong. In spite of my feelings, I rode around the neighborhood looking for him a few times. Since I was almost certain he would not return to us alive I hoped that he would either be taken in by a nice family (if he wasn't going somewhere to die) or if he was going to die somewhere that he would go peacefully. The next day he was still missing. I kept thinking that he must have known he was dying and so he ran away to die somewhere alone. But I really wanted to know what happened to him so we could bury him here where he belongs. I got my wish around 12pm that day when my next door neighbor rang my doorbell. He delivered the news I knew was coming. He had discovered Jack lying on the side of the road on his way home. He asked me if I wanted to go get him while he and his wife watched the kids or if I wanted them to go get him. Honestly, I didn't want to go get him. I had never seen one of my pets dead and I also didn't know what state his body was in. I was scared. It was at this time that Josh called from work. I told him I didn't know what to do. He told me to get some gloves and go get him. After I hung up, my neighbor again offered to get him. I took him up on that offer. He and his wife took a box to put his body in and placed it in the front of our house. I couldn't bring myself to look inside that box. Josh left work early and he later told me he cried all the way home. When he got home he began the very sad task of digging a hole to place our "little dude" in. His final resting place. Before placing him inside his grave I asked Josh if he looked in the box to make sure it was him (I knew it was but I just needed to be sure). Josh said it was and he advised me not to look inside that box. He apparently had been hit by a car (I wasn't sure since I thought he might have died without any assistance from outside forces). I asked no further questions and proceeded to continue with my crying binge (I had been crying pretty much since 12pm). It hurt even worse to know he had been struck by a car. The guilt of not being able to keep up with him a day earlier intensified at this news. Today I found out that he went quickly judging by the severity and location of his injuries. I felt so terrible when hearing this but Josh reminded me that that meant he went quickly and that was merciful. If he did go somewhere to die it could have taken a while and so at least he didn't have to suffer for too long. But the image of him being hit and lying dead on the side of the road haunts me. Even though I wasn't there and I never looked at his body. I feel that he deserved to die at home where he was safe and loved. I know he deserved that. So, now I have lost someone who was a big part of my life. He was always there. He loved his Mattie and he loved us. He was one half of a pair. Mattie and Jack...it's like peanut butter and jelly to me. One without the other just doesn't seem right. He was great with Emily and we'd make him stay in her room at night to comfort her at times. She loved trapping him in her room and playing with him. I don't think he was overly keen on it but he put up with it. That is a good dog. When some sausage that I was cooking last night fell to the floor, I thought Mattie is going to be happy because now she is the only dog that gets the scraps. It made me sad. Coming home to be greeted by just Mattie made me sad. Looking at the blanket he slept on at night laying on our bedroom floor makes me sad. For 7 years he was a part of our family and now he is gone. Thinking of his broken body laying in a cardboard box in our backyard makes me sad. Though I am glad he is in our backyard and not lost somewhere out there. Through all of this I have learned a few valuable lessons. One is that life can change in a heartbeat. Jack gave us no indication until the day he disappeared that something was wrong. Just three days ago he was with us and being his normal lazy happy self. Another thing I learned is the aforementioned "you don't know what you've got til you lose it." Jack and I didn't always get along. Though he was overall a great dog, he did have his moments of stubborness. I also didn't spend enough time playing with him and loving on him. I thought I had more time. I took him for granted. The little things that have changed since his passing seem so much bigger to me. He was a bigger part of my life than I realized. He generally just laid around the house but he was a big part of this family. And now that he's gone I realize the significance of his presence was much bigger than I realized. Yet another thing I learned is that Emily is quite intuitive. On Saturday morning before I knew his fate, I was sitting there bummed because I wanted to know where he was. I hadn't mentioned him to Emily or anything. But she looked at me and said "you sad because you miss Jack?" She knew. I also learned that even though God allowed him to be taken from us he also protected us. He protected us from having to drive by the spot that Jack was hit. He was hit on a road we rarely go down. I am so glad we don't have to drive that way. He also answered one of our prayers by allowing our neighbor to spot him and allowing us to bury him here. I knew Jack was gone before he was discovered so I didn't pray that he was okay because I knew he wasn't. But I did pray that he would go peacefully and that he would be found. In a way both prayers were answered. If he went quickly, then I guess he went peacefully. The last thing I learned is that my husband is awesome. He was brave enough to look inside that box, he was sensitive enough to advise me not to, he was strong enough to dig a grave (and in the cold rain on top of that), and brave enough to let his tears flow. Men have been told not to cry but sometimes they have to. If they want to deal with the grief, they have to. I was proud of him for not bottling it up. Though it hurt me to see him that sad it also brought relief because I knew he needed to let it out. We stared at a box containing our beloved boy and we wept. He was then laid to rest. This morning, when I looked out at the place he was buried I said hello to him and goodnight to him tonight. At first I was bummed to know I would have to see his gravesite anytime I took Mattie outside but now I'm glad I can look out and see where he is (well, his body anyway). I now know loss at a deeper level. Though I hate it, I know it will help me grow. I know that I need that. I wish it wasn't through the loss of my Jack but it's not up to me. I am blessed with a wonderful family and in so many other ways. I am also blessed to have known such a wonderful dog. He will forever be loved and missed.

Similarities

I have noticed a few similarities between Emily and Joshua. First of all, Joshua reminds me of Emily when she was a baby. When he was born it was like deja vu. I felt like I'd gone back 3 years and was staring at a newborn Emily all over again. As he grew and got less puffy (you know how puffy they are after they're born) he began to look less like her but they still resemble each other a good deal. The similarities don't stop there though. When Emily was a couple of months old I noticed that she liked to rub her fingers across whatever was underneath her over and over again while she fell asleep in her crib(this was usually a burp cloth or blanket). This burp cloth or blanket usually laid flat and if I could tuck it between the mattress and crib I would. This was to help prevent suffocation. After a little while I decided that she needed something she could hold while falling asleep. I didn't want it to be a big blanket due to the aforementioned suffocation risk. So I thought I could find a very small blanket. When I went to Walmart I discovered a very small blanket (silky on one side,fuzzy soft on the other) attached to the head of a bunny. Bingo. She has had a bunny/blanket to go night night with ever since. When Joshua reached the same age I noticed that he liked to hold his burp cloth (aka cloth diaper)between both his arms. I then began noticing that he liked to touch it with his fingers over and over again. He now likes to knead it while going to sleep. Though it's a different method, it's the same concept. My kids like to touch something soft while going to sleep. Good thing I already got Joshua a doggie/blanket before he was born. I actually used to carry around a cat stuffed animal and liked to rub it with my fingers while sucking my thumb. Speaking of sucking, the other similarity that I've noticed is that they both love pacifiers. Emily has kicked the habit and has been pacifier free for 10 months now. Not only is she a former pacifier junkie and he a current pacifier junkie, but they both like the same kind. I tried different kinds on her after she was born (a few different kinds that Gerber makes,Mam,and Avent).She quickly began to prefer Avent. Of course, she would choose the most expensive of the ones we tried. Anyway, we did the same for Joshua and he too quickly took to Avent. Just a few more similarities and then I'm done. They both hate sleeping on their backs (both prefer their sides), both are good eaters, both love baths, both are light sleepers, and both are good natured. The end. Well, not the end of their similarities I'm sure but the end of this post.
Oh,and here's some picture evidence...

Emily(1 1/2 months)on her 1st Halloween 2007


Joshua (2 1/2 months) on his 1st Halloween 2010

The Little Mandingo and his Big Sister

Josh came up with "Mandingus" but I didn't like the "dingus" part and so I modified it to "Mandingo." Well, the Little Mandingo is doing pretty good. He is such a sweet and smiley boy. If he's not hungry, tired, or has a burp that's trapped he is so happy. I know babies change all the time and this might not be his permanent temperament and I know boys are more prone to ear infections (which can wreck things a little) but I'm enjoying it and I'm hoping he stays this way. Because he is making being his mommy so much fun. At this point he is talking (aka cooing) and laughing. He is also starting to bat at things and put toys in his mouth. We also recently discovered that he is ticklish. It's nice to get an easy laugh out of him. His sleeping patterns are still a little erratic at night but usually his pacifier and making sure he's on his side (I know I'm breaking the rules and not putting him on his back but if that's the only way he'll sleep I'm not going to argue with him) will get him right back to sleep. We just got Christmas pictures taken of him and Emily. They both did great. Color me relieved. As far as how big sister is doing, she is still her crazy little self. She is usually so upbeat and sometimes a little too upbeat. The girl has two volume levels : silent and loud. But she's a sweet child to her core and she says some of the most funny and endearing things. Now if only she could learn how to lower her normal speaking voice so I wouldn't have to constantly tell her to keep it down when her brother is trying to sleep (he does that a lot). She is still fighting us on pooping in the potty. We're now resorting to major bribing and it's not really working. We're also taking away her shows (she LOVES her shows) and that's not really working either. What's the most random of it all is that some weeks she will poop in the potty 2-3 days in a row but go right back to pooping in her pants or underwear. Gross topic I know but it's what's on our minds around here. Aside from Santa of course. This year she is so excited and so that makes me excited. She finally gets it to the point that she can truly get excited about it. She also still doesn't care about getting specific things so she hasn't asked for anything (well except for a big candy cane). But if you give her something she likes she gets so excited about it. So I've been able to pick out things I'm pretty sure she'll like without the pressure of getting a particular toy. I know it'll change but I'm living it up this year. I always have to post some pictures so here they are. They're from the past couple of months so it's got some from the State Fair and Halloween.

Bath Time

I think the expressions on his face say it all. He LOVES bath time.