13 month update

I'm writing this post almost a week late...just goes to show what a crazy, eventful time this has been.  This month has been marked by dramatic highs and lows.  We kicked off this month with Josiah's 1st birthday party, which was wonderful despite my stressing out and last-minute crafting efforts (thankfully with my sister by my side).  It all came together in the end...but the sweetest part was seeing how happy Josiah was during the entire party.  He must be an extrovert because he was smiling and laughing the entire time, gleefully being passed around from person to person.  Not one tear, not a single shriek.  And given how "spirited" he's been these days, that was nothing short of a miracle!  All in all, we had a great time surrounded by family and friends who helped us get through the past 12 months of joys and trials that came with being new parents.

In contrast to that joyous occasion, we suffered a big loss at the end of July with Shaggy's father passing away from a stroke. This same community of family and friends has been critical in getting us through this difficult time and we are so thankful for everyone's generosity and support.  Even family members, like our cousins from California, came from afar to mourn together, as well as celebrate the amazing life that he led.  Although my father-in-law had been frail for awhile, we had been seeing progress and were hopeful that he would continue getting better.  This was, and continues to be, hard to accept that he is no longer here with us.  We know that he is with God in heaven and that he is no longer suffering...but that doesn't mean that we don't miss him.  I regret that Josiah won't get to know him well, but I am also left with the sweet memory of how happy his Grandpa was at his birthday party and his constant declaration that "he is going to be a great man"!  Please continue to pray for the family, as I imagine the sadness really never goes away.

As we do our best to move on, we are reminded of the fragility of life and how each person in our life is a gift.  And as I look at my beautiful son, I have to be thankful for each day we have together....even when he throws screaming fits and food at me!  I believe I am just getting a glimpse into what terrible-two tantrums will be like...and I am so not prepared.  Luckily these new developments, both good and bad, come in stages.  I am convinced that God knows what we can handle and gives us what we need to overcome.

Here are some other random highlights from this month:

• J is losing his rolls, slowly bur surely.  At his one-year doc appointment, we saw his weight had not changed since his 9 month appointment!  
• He has not yet taken his first steps.  While he loves crawling and cruising around, he's still extremely cautious and nervous about taking the plunge.  When we try to lure him over, he gingerly gets on his knees before making a move.
• We are now on whole milk.  While I was ready to celebrate the end of mixing formula bottles, I found that Josiah will only drink the whole milk when heated.  Sigh, one step forward, two steps back.  The next transition is the sippy cup, but we are trying to pace ourselves.  He's gradually getting better at it, but gets really frustrated and throws it on the floor.  He still does not hold his own bottle...I think he is getting used to us doing all the work for him.
• We are officially off purees and onto table food.  This makes food planning more difficult.  He loves eating whatever we are eating, especially carbs.  I am trying to teach him how to sign when he is no longer hungry, but to no avail.  Instead, he spits everything out of his mouth when he's done.
• He is quite the talker.  He's picking up more sounds and babbles away in all kinds of intonations.  We love waking up to the sound of him talking to himself.  He laughs and imitates funny sounds like "ahchoo", "vroom" and "brrr".  He still refuses to say "umma" and "appa" though :(
• He's got tricks!  He claps, waves "buh-bye", gives high-fives, picks up the phone (and all kinds of objects to say "herrro", and sometimes blows kisses.  He occasionally will lean in for me to kiss him too.  I am waiting (patiently) for the day that he actually wants to hug or kiss ME!
• He is very playful.  He tries to do somersaults in his crib, bounces balls (and loves throwing them out of his playpen), gets really into his puzzles and books, gets mesmerized by nursery rhymes ("wheels on the bus" is his fave), and cruises around in his new buggie.  Apparently he is a social butterfly as everyone on our block seems to know him!
• He hates being restrained and started resisting his changing pad, high chair, and stroller.  Like anything else, I am starting to get immune to his screams and kicks.  Luckily, he stops screaming and quickly as he starts it, with the help of something distracting...like the iphone :)
• While he first hated it, he now loves brushing his teeth.  He stares at it when we put it in his mouth, grips down on the brush and slurps the gel. 
• He's getting more and more coordinated, particularly his feet.  From birth he seemed to have an affinity toward using his feet over his hands.  Even now, he's constantly kicking, pushing, or grabbing things with his feet - our little monkey man!

The next few weeks are going to be busy.  We are heading up to Lake Placid for a wedding, followed by Spokane/Seattle for a wedding and vacation.  We are praying that the car and plane rides will be uneventful and that the trips won't be too stressful.  I'm looking forward to some R&R time before the summer is over!