Teeth: I just discovered Joshua's fourth tooth. His teeth are coming in a very unusual pattern. Here are the ones he has so far:
Look out, young female "Twilight" groupies -- at this rate, my son is going to be a Vampire Baby!
Talking: Recently Joshua started saying "Da da" very distinctly. Yes, he uses it for general babbling. But this week it's obvious he's using it to mean his father. Whenever he sees Daddy, hears him on the phone, or even sees me answering a call, he starts cheering, "DA DA! DA DA!" It's quite adorable.
Eating: Joshua may only have four teeth, but he's not content to eat mush anymore. He may let me spoon food into his mouth for a little while, but then he tries to grab the spoon and cries if I don't give it to him. I tried a food grinder this week (thanks for lending it to me, Katie M!), and he enjoyed trying to scoop the tiny pieces up off his tray -- but boy did that make a huge mess (see above photo). The grinder makes tiny pieces suitable only for spooning into a baby's mouth -- the pieces are way too small to eat by hand. So now I'm just tearing up my own food into small pieces. I'm nervous about it, but he seems to be doing well so far. He's downing Goldfish, turkey, ham, bread, grape pieces, mashed potatoes, Cheerios, green beans, and anything else he can get his tiny little hands on.
Tiny? Well that may not be the best word -- he's over 20 lbs now, closing in fast on his big sister.
My friend Mary's brother Dana is getting his 15 minutes of fame right now, thanks to the prominent role Facebook played in his wedding. You have to see the video to appreciate the audacity -- and humor -- of it all. :-)
For many years now, I've been compiling CDs to give out as Christmas presents. Each year I pick a section of Scripture, find songs inspired by that passage, and compile the songs into CDs. I love the whole process, and find that listening to the final result not only encourages me to worship, but also helps me learn Scripture. I can find passages much faster, I've memorized more verses, and I've absorbed more of the meaning as I've "soaked" in the songs.
This year I've compiled two CDs based on The Book of Revelation, since that's what I've been studying this year through Community Bible Study (CBS). It's been such an uplifting process to meditate on themes like:
Worshipping the Lamb who sits on the Throne
How to live our lives with the urgency and assurance that comes from knowing what's ahead
The fact that Satan is fighting a losing battle, and that Christ has already won
Looking forward to a time with no more pain or sorrow
Knowing that we will be gathered with other believers who have passed away
If I know you personally and you'd like a copy of these CDs, I'm happy to send them to you. Just let me know. I'm also happy to send you other CDs I've made in previous years:
Psalms 1-20
Psalms 21-30
Psalms 31-40
Psalms 41-60
Psalms 61-80
May you be as blessed listening to these CDs as I have been in creating them. Also, if you know of someone in the music publishing business, a friend has encouraged me to look into possible distribution opportunities, so please connect me to them if you're willing.
At 7 1/2 months old, Joshua is nearly 20 pounds. He can stay in a sitting position indefinitely (though he typically doesn't want to). On Nov. 8, he started flipping over from his back to his front, which means he flips both ways now.
Joshua is also a very different personality than Katie. While Katie wanted to perform for people at even six months of age (see the Baby Dance), Joshua's main desire is to always be the center of Mommy's attention. Whenever we're out of the house, this is usually how you'll see us:
Joshua regularly naps in this Ergo Carrier as well. And when I set him down, he's constantly watching me to make sure I don't go anywhere. Notice that when I put him in front of a mirror, he's typically watching ME and not himself. Joshua doesn't mind occasionally being the center of other people's attention too. That might be why he's eating Uncle Daniel in this photo:
Joshua has a few great dislikes. The first is whenever Mommy walks away, even if others are still around to play with him. SCREAM! CRY!
The second is baths. I still give him spongebaths on the sink counter because he hates the bathtub. This is his first time bathing with Katie -- it lasted about ten seconds before the screams began. :-)
The third thing he hates is his car seat. When he was an infant, he screamed THE ENTIRE RIDE. Now he only screams about half the time, and even less if I'm sitting in the backseat with him (which I typically can't do and drive at the same time). Let's just say that when we go to the beach, we're AWFULLY happy to finally get there. See, Joshua can't sleep unless he's cuddled up to Mommy or on his stomach. Neither of which easily translate to his car seat. Here's one creative pose he managed to find when he was desperate for a nap.
Joshua loves seeing new things, like the fire Daddy built for us during our first cold weekend -- the same weekend Mommy got the flu.
Joshua loves women. Mommy is definitely his favorite, but Grandma and Oma are big faves as well. And whenever we go out to eat, he flirts with women at the other tables. I'll glance over at the other table and find strangers making faces and cooing noises -- only to discover that Joshua has been doing the same to them the whole meal. The other night a woman sat down behind Joshua without looking at him, and he stared at her back until she turned around and gave him attention.
The woman who watches the babies at Community Bible Study has a special fondness for Joshua as well. He falls asleep in her arms most weeks, and she is usually very reluctant to hand him back to Mommy when I arrive.
Joshua has a few girlfriends his own age too, like our best friends' baby Selah:
Of course, Joshua's favorite little girl is his big sister Katie. Even though Joshua's not mobile or verbal yet, he and Katie have a lot of fun together. They crack each other up, hug each other, wrestle with each other, fight over toys, and are always happy to see each other. She even thinks it's funny when he pulls her hair.
October 24th was a day for my family to celebrate. First, my brothers Stephen and Mike ran their first marathon -- and finished! YAY! Way to go, bros!
Second, while most of my family cheered on my brothers, Katie won our neighborhood costume contest! If you'll remember, she placed 3rd overall two years ago (her first contest) and 2nd overall last year. This year, they divided up the age groups and she won the "Two and Under" contest -- beating out her poor little brother for the prize. Don't worry, Joshua -- your turn is coming!
Grandma and super-pregnant me at my baby shower for Katie
Grandma with several of her desendents (l-r: Katie, my mom, my brother Daniel, my dad, me, and my brother Mike)
My grandma died last night. Her health and memory had been quickly declining for two years, so it's not much of a surprise. Recently she was only a shell of the woman I had known and loved. I miss her, but I've BEEN missing her as I've lost more and more of her over time.
I'm lucky in that I've lived almost my entire life within thirty minutes of my dad's parents. Even so, I didn't see them extremely often growing up. We saw them for every major holiday and birthday -- usually a formal fancy dinner at their house or a nice seafood restaurant. We also spent many of our Independence Days over there -- most notable because my grandfather would allow us to shoot off (illegal) firecrackers in his backyard while my mother hid inside, trying not to imagine the potential consequences.
My grandparents were extremely generous, but always a little bit distant emotionally. Still, my grandmother's love for me was demonstrated on a few very memorable occasions.
The first was in the mid-80s. Christmas was approaching, and I was one of the millions of little girls who was desperate for a Cabbage Patch Kid. My other grandma, being the practical and blunt one, thought the best solution was to pop my bubble. I still remember her hissing to me over the phone, "They're UGLY! UGLY!!" as she tried to convince me I didn't want one after all. But not Grandma Roberts. Grandma Roberts somehow managed, against all odds, to get me a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas that year. It's the Christmas present I will always remember best. And I've always imagined my frail little grandma getting into fistfights with other moms and grandmas as they battled for the only Cabbage Patch Kids at the toystore. She denied that was the case, but I enjoy my grandma fistfight memory and have decided to hold onto it. :-)
The second time I knew how much Grandma loved me was when I was trying to explain to my grandpa that I wanted to be a missionary overseas. He was very unhappy with this idea and was trying to talk me out of it. ("How about the Humane Society? They always need help.") Grandma couldn't have been thrilled with the idea of me spending my life on the other end of the world, and she wasn't especially fond of missionaries in general, but for her my happiness was the important thing, and she let my grandpa know this in no uncertain terms. "LEAVE HER ALONE, BILL! Whatever Jennifer wants to do, let her do."
When my grandpa died just over five years ago, we all grieved his passing. But the sad event also had a silver lining. Now that Grandma was all alone, I started spending a lot more time with her. On days when I was "working from home," we'd go to lunch together. I took her to some of her doctor's appointments. We started building a friendship we'd never really had before. (With five kids in my family, it was hard for any of us to get much one-on-one time with any of our grandparents.)
And then I started having kids. Within hours of Katie's birth, my grandma was sitting by my bedside holding her great-granddaughter.
Shortly thereafter, my grandma's health began to decline and she needed to move into assisted living. For several weeks Katie and I went to see her every other day, and for months after that we visited weekly. Grandma loved seeing Katie grow, and Katie enjoyed showing Grandma her toys and books, and as she got older she would "perform" for Grandma, demonstrating the new words and songs she was learning.
Once, when Katie was only ten months old and asleep in her stroller, Grandma started reminiscing about her courtship with my Grandpa, and about their marriage and early life together. I am so glad I pulled out my camera, because I got to record fourteen minutes of my Grandma and Grandpa's love story. Seven months ago, Joshua started coming along on our visits too. Although Grandma wouldn't remember us much from visit to visit, she was always happy to see the kids.
Last week I decided to go visit Grandma. It had been several months since I'd last seen her, and even though my grandma's mind wasn't all there anymore, I missed her. So even though Joshua was in desperate need of a nap, I threw the kids in the car and headed to the nursing home for a short visit with Grandma. I'm so glad I did. It was a very special visit and it ended up being the last time we would see her alive. Katie said "Great-Grandma" for the first time, which charmed Grandma's socks off. And whenever my mom wheeled my Grandma down the hall, Katie would take my Grandma's hand in hers and "help" her. It was so sweet watching them go down the hall hand in hand that I took a photo of it. As far as I know, it's the last photo ever taken of my grandma.
What a way to leave -- hand in hand with your great-granddaughter. I hope and pray that Grandma will be walking hand-in-hand with Jesus for eternity.
