Friday, January 9, 2015

17 months!

I thought I would do a bit of an update on Josh, simply because I'm so proud of him lately and I really think he has grown so much in the past month in every area!


Measurements: He's 23 pounds and I'm not sure how many inches (but he's TALL!) He's got a skinny little waist, buddah belly and short, wide feet :) For the most part he's in 12-18m clothes although he needs bigger pj's for the length and in shorts he's in 9-12 month size. 

New Skills:  Running, climbing stairs without help, climbing EVERYTHING, using a fork and spoon, brushing his own teeth and tons of new words this month! He can also point to his belly, head, nose, mouth and ears...for some reason he doesn't realize he has eyes yet haha!

Working On: Colors (he thinks everything is blue), using words instead of pointing&whining (oh the whining!!!), and not hitting & biting. His dad was a biter too, and he grew out of it so I'm not too worried.

Favorite Foods: He's starting to be a little pickier these days although he's still a pretty good eater. He loves fruit and has really loved oranges this month. He also likes bagels with cream cheese, hot dogs, mac & cheese (daddy's boy!), and spaghetti and meatballs. For vegetables he likes peas, avocado, and broccoli the most. I've been trying to implement the "you eat what we're eating" rule so I don't make him something different but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes he gets PB&J...not gonna lie.

Favorite Activities: He's an outdoor boy and begs (points to the door and whines) to go outside. He's having fun with all his new Christmas toys and especially loves his car ramp and basketball hoop. He loves swinging at the park and climbing everything. He also loves watching the squirrels in our backyard (he calls them "girls") and wrestling with daddy. He likes to watch Curious George and his Baby Einstein videos while mom cooks dinner. He also likes going to "Mi's" (mimi's) house! We are getting Sea World passes next week for the year so I'm sure that will quickly become a favorite activity as well!

Words: I've always felt Josh was more of an observer than a talker/babbler and I guess he still is sometimes, but his language has really grown this month as far as saying understandable words. His receptive language has always been really great and he follows 2 step commands really well already. He now has over 20 words in his vocabulary and is starting to be a parrot with repeating things! His newest words are "baby", "orange", "oh no", "Elmo", "noodles", "star", "heart" and "hot". He's fantastic at naming shapes (he knows 8 so far!) and his animal noises (the fish is my personal fave). I'm so proud of him! He also babbles a lot with lots of expressive inflections but I have no idea what he's saying :) It's the cutest.

Milestones: This month he had his first haircut! I love his hair but it was super long and starting to curl into his ears (LOL!) so I took him to Rose, who has been cutting my hair since I was Josh's age. He did great! No fussing and only slightly annoyed at all the touching on his head. He looks so much older now! My baby is growing up so fast!







His first artwork from Sunday School! 

"helping" mama!

Getting ready for the haircut!


I love this pic!

He did so good!


Wubba and Ms. Rose! She's the greatest <3

My silly boy! 

He loves his couch...notice he's in the Baby Einstein "zone"


Saturday, January 3, 2015

Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas season! I am always sad when the holidays are over and we pack up all our decorations, but I am grateful for the memories we made!

We celebrated Christmas a few days early with my family before we left for Charlotte. We had everyone over for pizza and presents and had a blast. My family is loud, crazy and just the absolute best! I sadly didn't take many pictures because I was just enjoying our time (and playing hostess) but here's a few!

Our living room was full!

Da boys


I loved having everyone in our home!

Sweet little cousins





The next day we traveled up to Charlotte, NC to spend Christmas with Jon's family. It was such a fun time! We got to stay for a week which was the perfect amount of time (although Gigi wouldn't have minded us staying longer I'm sure!) and I'm so glad Josh was able to spend time up there again! I tried to remember to take pictures so here's a look into our week!

Snuggles and snacks with Gigi

Jon and our newest nephew, Darren

Winnie


Ho ho ho!

This little guy gives me baby fever!

Winnie, Taylor and Josh

Pop Pop's head makes a good drum!

Christmas Eve tradition of opening new pajamas!


Reading books with Memere 


Santa came!


Waking up on Christmas morning

Toddler Jon :)

Christmas breakfast!

Feed me!


This light up ball was the first thing he opened and that was all he wanted to play with!



New blocks!

Tower master

The traditional legos for Jon

New cars

New puzzle

Storm trooper from Uncle Tay and Aunt Steph


Snuggling with his giant Olaf pillow

Hugs for Aunt Stephy

Opening girly things :)


I don't even know

Brown sibs
The stairs were his favorite!

Christmas dinner (and all the babies were sleeping!)

Bath time!


Oh that hair!

Reading with Aunt Stephy (and Darren who is in the basket :)

3rd Annual gingerbread house competition - guys' house

Girls' house (and the winner!!)

This smile is my most favorite

Watching the cars

Totally a VanLue face right here

Getting kisses from Dolce


Oh. Hey.

Giving kisses to the baby

Cousins making music together

Give us all the snacks!

Wrestling with Dada

Josh holding his new cousin.

"baby! baby!"


We took a day trip to the mountains to visit Nana and Da! They hadn't seen Josh since he was 10 months old!


The sweetest


Josh loved their yard!







We love you Nana and Da!

Brothers. They never take a normal picture.

Miri is definitely the prettiest of this bunch!

Love this girl!

Snuggles with Tay Tay

Love!
Giving Winnie hugs before we left

And kisses...Josh wasn't too sure about those




He loves Miri!

I love this one!

Haha! 

Loves his Pop Pop and Gigi



Last hugs before we come back in February!

Merry Christmas!