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.