29 months / 7.5 months

Our dynamic duo

This post is a week late, coming off the heels of a bunch of crazy work weeks.  I just came back from LA - my first trip without my baby girl. Although I had some mixed feelings leading into it, I was too engrossed with work once I got there to really miss the fam back home. And I'm not gonna lie...not having baby-duty at night and getting to attend events at nice restaurants and Universal Studios weren't bad consolation prizes at all. But even with that brief taste of freedom, I still missed my hubby and kids and wished they were with me to enjoy the fun and sun!  I guess "freedom" and "fun" are never easy to achieve as a mom!

At home, our dynamic duo are doing well, but just going through the expected sibling phases/pains together. They generally play well together - Josiah shows affection toward "Baby Sa-man-ta" and will ask about her when she's away in her crib.  And Samantha is constantly watching her brother, both out of interest and self-defense, perhaps. Despite limited motor skills at this age, she always seems ready to kick or scratch at all times.  I'm actually quite impressed by her reflexes and strength at such a young age!  Uncle Ed would be proud by her martial arts potential.  And I don't know if it's deliberate or not, but she only wants to play with (aka suck on) Josiah's toys!  If we give her a rattle, she will throw it down and reach for his legos or puzzle pieces instead.  That's usually followed by his scream and her growl back.  These little tussles remind me of my brother and I growing up.  And like her, I was the sneaky and annoying sister =P

Sammy burrito

Speaking of our little "munequita", Samantha has transformed into a DIVA this month!  She literally went from calm/angelic/easy to hyper-sensitive/loud/demanding in just a matter of weeks! She's still a sweet baby, but definitely has her bouts of screams, growls and "jjing-jjing" whines to make us crazy.  I'm not sure if something like teething pain or moving her into Josiah's bedroom prompted the change, or if she's just more aware of her place in the world.  In any event, our spoiled days of just dropping her into the crib and walking away are long over.  Instead, she wants to be held constantly and will freak out if she spots us walking away even for a second.  Our saving grace is that she still effectively self-soothes with her fingers or with a paci (but only likes the silicone kind).  She has certainly found her voice, and is not afraid to use it! On the flip side of these angry screams, she also laughs more heartily - with a snort and squished face too!  She gives the biggest grin when Daddy swings her around.

Perhaps she screams because she's just hangry? :)  She's still fascinated by our food but doesn't seem keen on her own. She still struggles at drinking milk and will push the bottle away roughly when she's had enough. However, she actually holds the bottle when she drinks, which Josiah never did!  We are still not too far into solids and are still early on in the canned food rotation (I never ended up making my own...sigh).  She will barely open her mouth for purées so it's frustrating to feed her.  And peas just make her heave, which I totally don't blame her for. I wonder if she wants to just skip to the good stuff?

She's got two little teeth on the bottom of her mouth....one of the reasons I decided to wean her completely this month. It was a tough decision, but with work demands and this business trip, I couldn't balance it all. Luckily, Samantha (like Josiah) seems to like formula better anyway! Maybe because we're using "Gentlease" formula, which has been working well with her sensitive/gassy tummy.  It is nice to be off the hook for feeds, but the expense and process of preparing formula is annoying.  And the poop is worse...but at least more frequent. Ironically, I was juuuust starting to enjoy the bonding moments with Samantha during nursing (particularly morning), but I'm trying not to look back. 

Jiggy, our mad scientist

Josiah is still my sweet-talking, silly, little man. He still sounds like a minion and will literally talk to anyone and anything...when he's not moody, that is.  He often says to strangers "Hi Friend, I'm Josiah.  What you name?  What you doing?" He continues to pick up funny lines from TV, like "hold onto your hats", "that was gross", "I'm a superhero", and "that's what I'm talking about!" Beyond just being a parrot, he can actually carry more of a conversation these days.  Some of my favorites: "I'm ok", "What about me, what about Josiah?", "I'll do anything" (when he wants something), "that's not scary, that's a (name of object)", and most recently "how about sleep together?" when he didn't want to go to bed alone. And of course my favorite is when he spontaneously tells us "I love you Mommy and Daddy.  Group hug!"

He sure knows how to work us.  He's equal parts sweet and sneaky.  Recently, he curled up onto my lap to cuddle and then quickly grabbed my phone on the other side of me and tried to run away with it.  That rascal!  He still loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Veggie Tales, and Baby Bum music videos as long as we'll let him.  He constantly asks for me to "press the red one" when he wants YouTube, but we are trying to limit his video watching as much as possible.

The great part of this conversational phase is he's able to tell us when he's hungry or tired.  For a few weeks, we would simply put him in his crib around 8:30 pm, turn on the mobile, give him water, and he would go down without a fight.  As I've learned, the easy phases don't last long.  Now, he's protesting sleep, screaming for us to stay with him, rolling around the bed, and eventually going to sleep after an hour or more of back-and-forth....only to wake up in the middle of the night screaming again.  The worst is when he wakes up Samantha in the process.  We are in the thick of it now.  We initially thought he was ready to move out of the crib, but it's not working for us.  Having a mobile child at night is not a good thing!  So, I'm pushing to put him back in the crib and pray that we can drag out out as long as possible.  He'll stay there til college if I have it my way!

Behaviorally, he's been good.  He whines and demands things like any other toddler, but his tantrums are few and short-lived.  I think he watches too much TV to want for anything.  Haha.  We need to get him some new toys because all he has are his same-old legos and kitchen/food pieces.  And rather than really play with them, he tends to just move items from various bags, boxes, and other containers.  He's quite the hoarder and organizer it seems.  The other day, I even found Samantha's red shoes in his pile.  Funny boy.

I'm looking forward to work slowing down a bit for the rest of the year until 2015 picks up again. And now that Josiah seems to have a better understanding of Christmas, it'll be fun to see how he takes it all in this season.  One thing's for sure, he loooves ornaments and managed to take them each off the tree (and into his bag, of course).  

Merry Christmas everyone - peace, joy, and comfort to all!

Family pile-on during Thanksgiving

28 month / 28 week update

Happy Halloween, from Chef Josiah and Chicken Little

Another late blog!  This time, I blame exhaustion and narcolepsy.  These days I've fallen into the bad habit of completely crashing on the couch after putting the kids to bed.  I've been back to work for three months now, so I guess the "grace period" of adjustment is very much over.  It's just a full-speed-ahead sprint everyday (although I can't really relate since it's been a while since I've been to that place called the "gym")!

I'm going to summarize this month's update with just a list of milestones:

ME:

• I was alone for an extended period of time with the kids for the first time (while Shaggy went gallivanting in New Orleans).  We survived and actually had fun - although we didn't step foot outside!  Thanks to the family and friends I called in for lifelines!

JOSIAH:

• We went trick-or-treating - Josiah as a Chef and Sammy as a chicken (recycled costume from Josiah).  Josiah was determined to collect lots of candy and we had to pry his fingers off his basket when the night was done.  He doesn't seem to understand the eating part though, so now Shaggy and I are left with free candy to ourselves.  Yay!
• He continues to talk up a storm, picking up new words by the day.  Some random ones lately: "step aside", "hocus pocus", "amazing" that he clearly picked up from TV. What's most useful is that he can clearly communicate basic needs like "I so hungry", "I tired", or "gimme milk please", or his most frequently used phrase, "get me out of here!"
• He's like a moody teenager these days.  One minute he'll be cackling his head off, and next he'll be moping around the house.  Lately when I leave or come home from work, he just completely ignores me.  And don't get me started with the occasional tantrums...
• Perhaps related to the above, he's been showing strong emotions toward Samantha, often blurring the lines between love and jealousy.  He'll get really close, ask "how are you sa-man-ta?", and smother her roughly with hugs and kisses.  When I'm holding her, he'll tell me to move her so he can sit on my lap...or just attempt to sit on top of her.  
• He's always singing!  He demands Veggie Tales during every car ride and sings at the top of his lungs.  His memory of lyrics and melodies is quite impressive!  He'll sometimes replace words in the song with silly sounds just to get a reaction.
• He participates during prayer.  He'll add to our list of thanks - "ebebody", "all da friends", "ice cream", etc.  And he ends with "Jeju name pray" :)
• He's still obsessed with letters, numbers and shapes and likes pointing them out when he seems them.  Even at the playground, he'll run past the slide, but instead run toward the sign with letters.  Our nerdy boy.
• His new favorite book is "Are you my Mother?"  I beam with pride every time we read it, although I don't think he realizes that I'm his "mother" yet.
• Next up: we are looking into daycare options to help relieve our nanny, focus on potty training, and also force some socialization for Josiah!  Just thinking about how much he's going to initially cry already breaks my heart :(
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  Our little entertainer

SAMANTHA:

• Sammy passed her 6 month milestone!  Man, 2nd children get so neglected.  I completely forgot about feeding her solids, so we've just recently started with some rice, oatmeal, carrots, and peas.  I think she likes the idea of food more than the actual taste.  She vomited her first carrot meal on our nanny :(
• She had her first bottle of formula this month.  I don't know why I had so much mommy guilt in the transition, but she took it fine (still just her usual portion size of 4 ounces though). Now I have more justification to start weaning from nursing/pumping...but I'm still dragging my feet for various reasons.  And as much of a time commitment it is, I can't remember my life without those routines!
• She's a Mommy's gal!  Whenever I walk into a room or start speaking, she looks toward me, squishes her face into a smile and starts laughing.  She even says "ummamama" every now and then.  It's the sweetest!
• She's affectionate.  Maybe because I kiss her constantly, I'm convinced she's trying to kiss me back by squishing her (drooly) mouth onto my face.
• She's extremely grabby and strong!  I'm constantly batting her hands away as she tries to scratch my face, yank my necklace or hair into her mouth, aim for my earrings, etc.  She even pulls Josiah's hair and grabs his water bottle from his hands.  Pesky little sister.
• She cut her first tooth (bottom-center).  Poor girl occasionally bursts into shrieks of pain.
• She is rolling around like crazy.  We can't keep her in the bouncer for too long, for fear of her flipping off completely.  She likes the jumperoo, especially if it's facing the TV.  When she can't see the screen, she starts to moan like a bullhorn.
• She is still a great sleeper.  Once again, due to being 2nd child and having to adjust to Josiah's schedule, we don't even keep track of her naps!  Luckily, she sleeps on-the-go and it doesn't seem to affect her ability to go down at night.  In the morning, I just find her on her tummy, babbling and waiting for me to get her!
• Next up: we gotta move her out of our room and into Josiah's.  Despite Shaggy's urging, I keep pushing it off.  I'm not ready to see my baby girl grow up!

Our sweet & spicy gal





27 month / 24 week update

Loves his daddy

Fall is here...and is already flying by so quickly!  Even though the brisk weather and foliage colors are a nice change, I've always been one to cling onto summer as long as possible.  My refusal to change out of my flip flops is my way of protest.  Part of it is because things have been just insanely busy that I've lost track of time and season. This is now my 3rd month of being back at work and things are in full swing.  Every day feels like a sprint.  The daily childcare and work demands are just so relentless that I feel like I'm always multi-tasking and focused on several trains of thought at once. I always fear that one day I'll walk into a wall one day with all the on-the-go emailing that I do.  Like many moms have coached me to do, I'm trying my best to just "go with it", embrace the craziness ("life's a party!"), and let some balls drop if I have to.  That's a hard thing for me to do, but after a health scare this month (that turned out fine, thankfully), I'm forcing myself to try harder.

So if life's a party...Josiah keeps it going all day long!  He's constant entertainment for us.  He starts out the day asking "Hey, what doing?" or "What doing next?" or "What about Josiah?".  If we ask him to do something that he doesn't want, he quickly blurts out "I fine" or taps his chin saying "let me think about it".  He surprises us with so many new phrases and words.  Just today he shouted "stupendous!" And his favorite word to use lately is "either".  Random, I know.  Someone recently complimented us in having such a verbal and imaginative child...but we confessed that everything that he says comes verbatim from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!  So at least his memory is sharp!  While it's great to have such an advanced talker, the one downside is that other kids sometimes assume he is older than he is and will be unfairly harsh to him. We saw this today at the playground when Josiah inserted himself onto a group of kids playing with a toy ("excuse me, Josiah here!") and had to remind the other kids that he was only two when they started pushing him away.  Mama Bear is on alert!

Devouring his ice cream

Josiah continues to mirror a lot of my personality traits and taste.  He loves singing and listening to music, and is already trying out some harmonies!  He continues to be obsessed with Veggie Tales Sunday School songs and croons to "Let it shinnnne" and "Jericho" all the time, unashamed in public. Good thing he can sing because he can't dance for his life.  But he has fun running in circles anyway. He's still very afraid of trying new things.  Even at the playground, he chooses to call out numbers and shapes that he sees than actually go down the slide.  And he's pretty OCD too, stacking and organizing his toys into piles.  While it's cute to have a mini-me (in Shaggy's body), I worry of course.  While I have a decent amount of self-confidence, I acknowledge how anxious, self-conscious, and uptight I can be.  I hope Shaggy's adventurousness and laidback-ness find their way into him as he gets older.

Josiah's been incredibly sweet to Samantha these days.  He'll wrap his arm around her and say "I love you" or "coochie coo". Even though she bats him away with annoyance, it's cute to see them getting along.  What melts me even more is when Josiah pretends to tuck me into bed and says "Mommy, I love you.  You're so sweet".  Once again, he's just being a parrot...but still, I eat up every word.  Even though he gives me all this affection, he's definitely on "Team Daddy" lately.  He particularly asks for Daddy when he cries in the middle of the night, which unfortunately has been happening a lot lately, along with bloody noses.  I don't envy Daddy's job.

Now onto Lil' Miss Samantha.  I just can't get enough of her.  Unlike Josiah was a baby, she totally lets me cuddle with her.  And she giggles so easily, which is the best sound in the world.  The easiest way to get her to laugh is to beatbox or nibble at her neck, which I do all the time!  She continues to be a good sleeper - we pretty much just put her down, close the door, and she just lays there and soothes herself to sleep.  She will sometimes use the paci, but usually prefers her own fingers...and now toes!  Although we really can't complain about how chill she is, she has been getting a bit feistier lately.  If we leave her in the bouncer or car seat for too long, she'll start shrieking or moaning like a cross between a cow and bull-horn.

We've noticed that she's also very cat-like in her behavior.  Whenever I burp her while sitting down, she starts vigorously scratching the back of the chair.  And shes always swiping at things, especially my lips and hair.  And when Josiah come close, she will kick him with strength and precision. Hmm...Josiah = dog?  Samantha = cat?

Sammy is still not a great drinker - we are still pushing 4oz of milk during each feed, which is a battle!  She's pretty willful and strong and will push the bottle away.  Since she seems to be interested in our food, we started her on some rice cereal this past month.  But she doesn't seem to be much of a fan of that either.  We will give some other purees a try soon and hope that will start to pique her interest and fatten her up again.  She's still got chubby cheeks and thighs, but she's definitely thinning out.  She also rarely poops (~once every 3 days), which is apparently "normal", just not what we're used to.  Josiah used to poop with every feed...and continues to have an active digestive system even now!  But as clear in every other way, our two kids are very different from one another...even down to their diapers!

On that appetizing note, I'm going to turn in and prepare for another busy week at work.  But despite the crazy juggle, I enjoy my job and having time for myself.  And I love my kids.  So I'm happy...just tired and unkempt.  I keep telling myself that I'll make it to the gym...next month.  But as we approach Samantha's 6-months, I feel like it's time.  I had hoped to lose more of my baby weight by this point, but I'm realizing that it's true that pudge from the 2nd baby just does not fall off the way it did with the 1st.  Or maybe it's all the carbs I inhale everyday.  Sigh, whatever the reason, I need to start focusing on my fitness before winter hibernation totally sets in...

Having a nightcap with my bebe

26 month / 20 week update

Summer is officially over :(  At least we ended it with a bang by going to California for a family wedding. And we did it up big, with both kids and 10 pieces of luggage in tow (including 2 strollers, 2 car seats, etc.). Thankfully, Esther eemo came with us to keep us company and an extra eye on the kids. Despite the many months I spent planning and worrying about this trip, the kids did great on the plane. Josiah loved his wheelie car seat and enjoyed stuffing his face with crackers while watching a Mickey Mouse marathon on his personal TV screen. And Samantha's first airplane ride was great - snoozed the entire way! Once we made it there and got over the initial jet lag, we had a blast in California.  We got to see lots of family, visited beautiful places (Marin County, Napa, Half Moon Bay), and Josiah had his first experience as a ring bearer! I didn't think he would make it down the aisle, but was pleasantly surprised that he took to the catwalk pretty naturally - all by himself too! I was so proud of him,, even though he didn't look up once since he was too busy eating crackers. He seemed to enjoy all the action at the wedding - bopped around to the hip-hop music, wore a cowboy hat in the photo booth, and grabbed cupcakes at the dessert buffet.  He's definitely my son...just in Shaggy's mini body.

During the trip, I fell more in love with my kids. It's so easy for me to get frustrated and stressed by them in the moment. Even though I definitely had my share of hair-pulling moments during the trip, spending a week with them reminded me of their sweet and quirky personalities. I've become obsessed with Samantha's sweet smile and disposition.  I've finally accepted that she's an easy baby - there, I've said it! Since we are usually running around with Josiah, poor Samantha tends to get left behind.  However, she seems fine and can usually be found rolling around in her crib, sucking the life out of her fingers (index & middle finger, making a surfer sign), and tackling whatever doll or toy is there next to her. But when we come near, she dazzles us with a smile and will easily giggle and kick her feet in glee. However, whenever Josiah comes close and starts hugging her, she'll kick and swat at him! Generally, she really is good with everyone and will gladly be passed around from person to person. Even still, I like to think that she gives me special affection and tracks me whenever I'm on the move.  I love my chill, yet feisty girl.

The only difficulty that remains with Samantha is that she really does not seem interested in drinking milk. When I try to nurse her, she'll just pop herself off and stare at me and pick at my face. And it will take all the strength I have and even a headlock to put her back on! Sometimes, she'll just stay on but make humming/growling sounds. I've never heard of any baby like this! She does seem really fixated at watching us eat and clumsily swings toward what we're about to put toward our mouths, so perhaps she's ready for solid foods already.  But I don't want my baby to grow up...


Josiah is still our goofball, stirring up laughs wherever he goes. He likes to run around in circles, make nonsense sounds, and throw his body on the bed and floor. He's still chatting up a storm, picking up new phrases at rapid speed thanks to his nanny and TV. Some of his latest ones: "See you later, alligator.  In a while, croc-dile", "e'cuse me guys", "wait for Josiah", "Baby seester, how ahhh you?", "Josiah big boy", "I den know", "tomato & q-burger (cucumber)", "I need diaper change", etc. Beyond picking up phrases, he is able to string together new sentences using his limited vocabulary. I love hearing his new, surprising combinations. He's also much clearer with what he wants - it's either a "No way!" or "Oh yes!" This comes out during dinnertime, as he's become increasingly picky. All he ever wants to eat is rice, pasta, fruit and occasionally chicken.  

While I love his ability to communicate, this unfortunately does not eliminate his random bouts of screaming and crying. Unfortunately, that's been happening a lot lately since he's gotten even clingier with us recently and will not let us out of his sight. He won't even go to another relative without one of us there. Sigh, hope this is a phase if we ever dare try to put him in daycare.  His sleeping at night has relapsed a bit too, but hope that's just a temporary post-vacation phase.  At least he's still in his crib and is hanging onto his nap (finally down to one a day).

As for me - I'm fully back into the swing of things at work and feel like everyday is a race to the finish. I don't regret returning to work, but I definitely am starting to feel the wear and tear of trying to juggle both "jobs" and not let any balls drop. As much as I never feel like I have a second to breathe, I'm realizing how important it is to force that time to pause, pray, and play!  3 Ps - just came up with that!  Haha.  Ok, maybe it's now time for Mommy to sleep.

25 month / 15 week update

Here are my two rug rats - growing up so fast!  This has been one of the best and busiest months ever, as Shaggy and I tried to maximize as much of our "funemployment" time as possible.  Since we knew this was such a rare time to have in our lives, we went out of our way to enjoy it without spending too much money (#fail)!  We even went on one last family vacation to Sesame Place - not the relaxing getaway I had in mind, but totally worth it seeing Josiah giddy from the water rides and character sightings (Cookie Monster!).  This final month of maternity leave was so much more enjoyable than the other months, so I was sad to see it come to an end.  But alas, I can't play and spend money forever!  And I actually miss being a 'productive' working person.  So, I went back to work last Friday and I was filled with mixed emotions - really happy to see everyone on the team and be back into a rhythm, but also really dazed and foggy from being gone for so long...and of course constantly thinking about the kiddos.  My insecurities about not meeting expectations are starting to set in and I'm already exhausted from just one day of not even doing much work.  How am I going to do this?  

JOSIAH - 25 months

Our little man is as crazy and silly as ever...and it's so fun! He continues to be such a sponge and surprises us daily with new phrases.  Some of recent ones are: "what's that noisy?", "I be wight back", "I sleeping!", "I working" (while taking out his fake laptop), "help, I stuck", "honey, I'm home", "count with me", "where e'body go?"...and his recent favorite, "let me do it".  He wants to do everything himself, which is great, but also takes a lot of patience on our part! 

He's very possessive lately and loves attaching his name to everything.  For example, whenever people sing happy birthday, he'll add his name ("and Josiah!") to the song and be delighted at everyone's reaction.  I've learned to manipulate him a bit though - if I want him to do something that he doesn't want, I simply say I'm doing it (e.g. "I'm drinking MY milk") and watch him come running.  Don't you love reverse psychology?

Josiah's become much more social and is starting to understand that he has "friends".  He particularly likes hanging out with older kids and imitating what they say and do.  He even has a four-year old friend that calls him (via the nanny).  It's hilarious hearing their convos - the four year old chatting away and Josiah simply saying "ok, bye" and running away.  Haha.  Josiah is beginning to be more affectionate with his sister "Samtha" as well and sometimes asks to hold her ("it") or push the stroller.  He will even sing songs to her and tickle her, although she seems annoyed when he gets too close or loud.  I still have to watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't get too rough. He's quite the klutz lately, so I fear him tripping and falling on top of her!

Lately, he seems to be scared and timid of many things.  He often says "I scare...hold hand" when he's watching something on TV.  And even at Sesame Place, he refused to go on any ride until we coaxed him to give it a try.  Sound like anyone we know?

Sigh - my baby is growing up so fast. He is no longer the chubby "Michelin man" of the past, but continues to stretch out...so much so that he has white striped tan lines on his arms!  In fact, according to his 2-year doctor's appointment, he is at the 50th percentile across the board.  I guess that's a good thing, but I definitely miss the baby chub.

SAMANTHA - 15 weeks (just past 100-days)

Our little lady is a sweetheart!  I'm loving this phase, as she is starting to coo, laugh, and really interact with us.  Most of the time, she's still a pretty calm and almost stoic baby.  However, the best is making a funny sound and seeing her break out into a fit of giggles! She also seems very observant, always watching her noisy brother and giving him a firm kick or punch whenever he gets in her face.  I hope she continues to hold her own with him and other pesky boys!

Samantha is still a pretty big girl (95th percentile on height and weight), despite her lack of interest in drinking milk.  The math doesn't add up.  But, I think it's due to her love of sleep and the growth that apparently happens then.  She still sleeps through the night, as well as much of the day! I definitely can't complain, although I've got to be more diligent about rotating her in the crib so that she doesn't get a flat head!

Samantha has recently discovered her hands so she is sucking her fingers and fists constantly.  It's pretty funny seeing her go at it, but also frustrating since she seems to like it better than drinking milk. She's also starting to show an interest in TV.  Whenever it's on, she starts grunting and complaining if she's facing the other way.  We definitely want to limit her exposure to TV, but it's so hard to resist since it's the best way to get things done around the house with two kids!

All in all, Samantha continues to be a pretty easy baby (knock on wood), aside from her feeding/digestion troubles.  I hope she outgrows that soon so we have less spit-up/vomit to clean up.  She seems to be interested in the food we're eating already, so perhaps she's just ready to grow up and move on!

2 years / 11 week update

Big boy swagger

My big boy is two years old!  He's no longer my little baby, although I still like smooching and cuddling with him as if he were.  He's already starting to pull away from these moments of affection, so I've got to enjoy it while I still can! He even began calling me "Jane" lately.  Where has my Momma's boy gone? :(

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Ocean Grove, NJ

We've had a busy month, trying to take advantage of the summertime as much as possible.  And since Shaggy's between jobs, it's been awesome to have him around to take day trips together and also relieve me from some of my maternity leave loneliness.  We spent one night in Atlantic City with Shaggy's mom, one night at my parents' place in central NJ, and a few nights at the Jersey Shore with the Rhees.  Preparing for each trip and dealing with the inevitable meltdowns (the kids and mine!) was stressful...but each trip got progressively easier.  I guess it's true that it just takes practice and acceptance of the craziness...and in the end, seeing how happy the kids are makes it all worth it.  Josiah had a blast soaking in all the new things - amusement park rides, the beach (hates the ocean, loves playing with sand), the zoo, strawberry picking, etc.  He's at such a fun age of wonder and discovery that it's been awesome having time to experience that together.  

Josiah continues to pick up new words and phrases each day and is able to cobble together sentences (clumsy, but cute!) to express what he wants.  Some of these include: "help...I stuck", "hey e'body", "whatchu doing?", "gimme diffent one", "mommy, sit!", "I sad, I cwy", "I make a mess", "eat in house", "oh boy oh boy","you betcha", "Tootles will help us" (based on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show), etc.  While it's amazing how much he can say, he's still limited of course.  I can't wait until can understand the concept of time and consequences.  Until then, he wants what he wants NOW.  While probably a bit too late, we're trying to be firmer with him and will soon embark on disciplinary tactics like 'time outs'.  The hardest part will be actually following through and not just resorting to turning on a YouTube video to appease him.  Next month...

Summertime fun!

A big milestone this month is that we are finally binky free!  I took the advice of a friend and just cut his pacifiers and dealt with the confusion and rage for just a few days...and soon enough, he just stopped asking for them.  Miracle!. Of course, he found a quick replacement in his musical seahorse doll, but I'll take that as long as he doesn't shove it in his mouth!  Next challenge - potty training!  He's had a couple successful tries at the potty, but to be honest, I don't know if I have the patience/stamina to continue right now.  Although changing diapers is super annoying and smelly, it's also nice to have an accident-free (usually) option.  I realize it's my reluctance to try new things that's often holding us back!


SAMANTHA - 11 weeks:
The plight of the second child...with everything going on with Josiah, we often find ourselves not spending enough time doting and playing with Samantha!  That's partly due to the fact that she sleeps SO MUCH.  I know people say to be thankful for a sleepy baby, but really, it seems excessive how much time she spends with her eyes closed.  Around 8 weeks, she started sleeping through the night, sometimes even in 10 hour stretches!  I feel obnoxious complaining about this, but I get anxious that she's not eating enough.  I know, I know...she's fat.  But seriously, she never expresses hunger and actually has been having occasional bouts of vomiting (even projectile!) after just 10 minutes of slow drinking.  It really boggles my mind that she is still putting on weight, so I spend my days/nights worrying about her eating.  I think she may have reflux like her brother did at this age, so we're contemplating whether not to try Zantac.  I just hope she outgrows this soon - the vomiting always takes me by surprise and makes me so upset.  It's hard to know what's causing it too, and since I'm her food source,  I feel so responsible.  The current theory is spicy food, so I'm trying to cut it out completely and hope that helps.  Yet another reason why my commitment to breastfeeding is dwindling...but trying to hold on as long as I can.  That's a whole other topic for another day...

On happier news, Samantha's begun to smile and coo.  She likes hearing voices, and in fact, was babbling like crazy during a recent church service. She continues to have a sweet and calm disposition (when she's awake, that is)...but then will go from 0 to 60 all of a sudden and go berserk!  She had a recent meltdown at the beach when she heard the crashing of the waves, and she turned completely purple and started convulsing.  I hope this isn't an indication of her personality.  If so, don't mess with my little girl!

I'm enjoying these early months, but also eager to see her grow up and her personality emerge.  While some things are reminders of Josiah as a small baby, there are so many differences too.  For example, Josiah was a voracious eater, pooper, and a noisy baby overall (remember his constant squeaking and dancing feet?). Samantha is much quieter, yet also more forceful when she needs to be.  When she's upset or constipated, she lets you know with a sharp cry and strong kick of her foot!

On me...every day is still super hard and taxing on my physical energy and emotional state.  But similar to my early comment, time and acceptance has been the key to getting through each day.  Someone once told me that these are the "hunker down years" and that we just have to power through it.  That's been helpful for me to remember since that also means that the difficulty of it all will soon pass....and yet, new challenges will come!  I realize that as hard as this has been, it's also been really sweet and precious too.  The moral of the story is to enjoy every phase, even in its craziness, and not let it slip by.  I hope to stay true to that in my last month home before returning to work.  It's only going to get harder, but I pray that God grant me the grace and capacity to somehow handle it all, and even take time to enjoy it!

23 month / 6 week update

JOSIAH - 23 months:

Josiah is one month away from turning the big 2.  We've already gotten quite the sneak peak lately of how terrific and terrible these twos can really be. One minute he's offering hugs and kisses and being delightfully entertaining...the next, he's ignoring and defying everything that we say, screaming, and bursting into tears out of nowhere.  It's been a spectrum of emotion these days, but at least it's no longer directed at his baby sister.  After about two weeks of resistance he's come around!  Now, he runs over to her to hug her (a bit too tightly), will ask about her ("why baby sister cwying?"), and play around with her toys.  He even loves sitting in her bouncer, to the point of nearly breaking it with his 28 lb. body!

Josiah is our little parrot and repeats everything he hears, so we are trying to be more careful with what we say.  Some of his new phrases: "ok, I will", "gimme"  "you too", "wait", "let's go", "where are you?", "one mo", "no way" "okee dokee", "not nice" (referring to food thrown on the ground), and "oh boy".  He's also stringing together longer sentences and will use gibberish like "nukka nukka" as a filler for words that he doesn't know.  He is also picking up more Spanish and Korean and will use it depending on who's around him.  For example, he says things like "me llamo Josiah", "hola chica", and "muguh" (to eat, in Korean).

Speaking of food, his favorites these days are Korean miyuk-gook and miso soup.  The first time I gave him miso soup, he lunged at the bowl and wouldn't stop slurping!  He's also obsessed with strawberries ("strawberro") these days.  They are our best bribing tool when we're desperate!  He's getting very particular about things in general, so it's become a constant negotiation these days.  For example, he likes to pick out his clothes and shoes ("oh cuute!") and will not budge until we give him the exact color sippy cup he wants.

Some of his favorite activities these days are drawing ("color paper") and putting stickers everywhere.  Actually, he doesn't really color pictures himself, but rather directs us to draw for him.  He likes when we draw letters, numbers, and shapes for him...he really likes pentagons!  He also continues to be a sponge when it comes to music.  He knows every Disney Channel show and its opening song.  Every now and then he'll bust out a tune and be pretty spot-on with the melody and rhythm.  His favorite show is still Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and will constantly talk about the characters and some of their catch-phrases ("oh tootles!") like a broken record.  We just nod and try to match his enthusiasm, just to get him to stop talking about it!

We haven't really attempted potty training, and to be honest, I'm in no rush to deal with 'accidents' and middle-of-the-night potty runs.  However, his diapers are pretty nasty and he's become extremely unwieldy and uncooperative when changing him.   So it's a trade-off.  Every now and then, we'll have him sit on the potty just to understand the concept.  Even when he does nothing there, he'll have us all clap and cheer for him.  Another thing that we are dreading is weaning him off his "binky".  He will not go to bed without it and will even insist on picking the exact one he wants.  I know we just have to be tough and go cold-turkey one day, but we keep putting it off since the binky makes bedtime a cinch.  And I'm not ready to deal with that regression.  Perhaps we'll try when he turns two, which is when we also want to attempt some disciplinary tactics too.  Not looking forward to it...


SAMANTHA - 6 weeks:

Lil' miss Samantha couldn't be more different than her boisterous, crazy brother.  She seems pretty tough and serious (as far as babies can be) and hasn't yet graced us with a smile or a coo.  She keeps her eyes closed most of the time, even when awake, or will occasionally give us a pirate wink.  It's rare when both of her eyes are open, so it's such a treat when they are!  This has made picture-taking pretty challenging, as she will close her eyes the minute we take out the camera.  (Remember that episode of HIMYM where Barney could never take a bad picture? It's the opposite for our little girl!)

I used to think she was a chill baby, but she's turned out to be pretty high-maintenance these past weeks. She's a tease...she will be calm one minute, and then will burst out into high-pitched screams the next.  She likes to be held 24/7 and will fuss until she gets what she wants.  Even the bouncer, swing, and pacifier only temporarily soothe her.  And these days, due to gas and stomach pains, she seems to be constantly screaming, kicking, jerking her body around, and scrunching up her face until it turns purple.  It's pretty dramatic and makes nursing sessions even more exhausting.  I'm hoping this will get better as her stomach develops a bit more.  Luckily, as fussy as she can be during the day, she's been pretty good at night.  She's been waking up twice to eat, but hasn't really kept us up otherwise.

Samantha, or "Boticelli" as we sometimes call her, has become quite the chunker in these past few weeks. While our pediatrician was initially concerned by her weight loss in the first week, she's now exceeded his expectations by climbing up to the 99th percentile!  Not sure how this happened, since she still continues to be an inconsistent eater.  But it seems like she is following her brother's footsteps in this department!

Our little lady isn't very ladylike after all.  She's pretty noisy and constantly makes grunting, snorting, and farting sounds throughout the day.  She's strong too - I've had my arm scratched up with her nails and my necklace practically tugged off a few times!  And even though she's been blessed with a full head of hair, the downside has been grease and cradle cap (think baby dandruff) that's required lots of bathing to keep her fresh. On top of that, she's been plagued with baby acne all over her face and neck sweat.  So all-in-all, her vanity has suffered quite a bit!  I'm hoping all this will go away soon.  I miss the pure baby smell.

Josiah "feeding" his baby sister

ME: 34 years

Yup, I turned 34...one year away from 35.  Am I really that old?  It doesn't really bother me though, probably because I don't really believe it's true!

I had a great birthday, starting with dinner with my wonderful family and a night out in the city with the hubby.  It was so liberating to be out without the kids!  After being cooped up at home for 6 weeks, it felt so nice to get some time to myself.  We indulged on delicious sushi and sake, which was the first real alcoholic drink I've had in almost a year.  Man, it tasted good.  But I forgot about the effects of alcohol and woke up with the worst headache.

6 weeks of maternity leave have already come and gone, and I'll soon be dipping into my vacation and unpaid time off before venturing back to work in August.  In some ways, I'm eager to go back because I miss having structured and me-time during the day.  I miss simple things like having coffee and conversations at work.  However, I'm not in any rush either since going back will require figuring out childcare arrangements and being in a constant, stressful juggling act.  So for now, I'm in this limbo and trying to make the best of my remaining 9 weeks that I can.

Even though this is my second time going through it, I can't say this time at home has necessarily been much easier than the first time.  Even though I'm still really sleep-deprived, that part of it has just sort of become the "new normal".  In fact, it's amazing how my body just jolts awake every 3 hours like clockwork, regardless of how exhausted I am.  More than the physical fatigue, I struggle with the mental and emotional discipline of being at home all day.  I really miss having structure and interaction during the day and realize how much I need to *achieve* to feel good about myself.  Even though I'm at home really just feeding and holding the baby, the hours seem to just pass by so quickly.  And it sounds so ridiculous, but it's hard to find the opportunity to even shower or groom myself, let alone do anything productive throughout the day. I can't even imagine how much crazier things would be if Josiah wasn't being watched by our nanny during the day! So I have to be thankful for that.

Clearly, I'm not feeling in my element these days, but I've resolved to make these remaining weeks count and try to enjoy them a bit more.  Maybe I'll even venture out into the city one day with the baby!  I just have to push myself.  After all, I know one day I'll look back and miss having this time, as simple and uneventful as it may seem to me right now.

22 month / 2 week update

April flew by with a blur...and with it came the birth of our daughter, Samantha!  Thankfully, labor and delivery was MUCH better this time around (full story here)!  But as many mommies don't advertise, it's not the L&D that's difficult...it's the recovery and first two weeks that really smack you in the face.  The good news is once you get past that, it only gets better from there.  But it's definitely memorable enough to remind myself that I do NOT want to go through it ever again!

It's hard to believe that Samantha has been in our lives for only two weeks, yet has already altered our lives so significantly.  Baby weeks are like years...and since I've been held captive in my apartment, it's been pretty isolating and hard to remember what life was like beforehand.  Being my second time around, it's not as jarring as the first time.  I hate to say it, but I now realize how much *easier* it is to be with a newborn now that I've experienced the demands of a toddler...I mean, all she really does is sleep, eat, poop, and make horse-like grunts all day long!  However, it's still been hard as heck with the sudden loss of sleep, pain from healing, and nonstop demands/concerns of nursing.  I know I shouldn't complain about her being a really sleepy kid, but this has meant lots of prodding and bothering to get her to eat...which is exhausting!  Luckily, having help from Shaggy, my mom, sister, and visits from other family and friends has made an incredible difference in giving me time to rest and some company to break up the monotony.  Plus, since my appetite has been through the roof lately, their gifts of food have been especially appreciated!  Whoever hyped up pregnancy cravings was wrong!  My post-pregnancy cravings have been insatiable - all I can think about are donuts, Korean bread, and hamburgers all day long!  This is not going to make losing my pregnancy pooch easy...

Of course, the key difference this time around is caring for a toddler at the same time.  How do you parents of 2+ children do it?!?  Even with help, Shaggy and I have felt so harried trying to juggle the needs of both kids at the same time.  Having our nanny around has been critical for Josiah -  not sure how I would make it through the day otherwise.  She's been able to provide him with structure and attention so that I can focus on attending to Samantha and getting in some naps during the day.  And since Sammy had some initial issues with feeding and inadequate weight gain in the beginning, it was important to give her our undivided attention.  That said, I've really missed my quality time with Josiah and try to scrape by any time with him that I can get.  Next to Samantha, he now seems like this massive man-child!  It's hard to believe that he was once a small and helpless baby....although, for those who remember, he was a feisty and unique kid from the start!

As natural as they may be, it's heartbreaking to see Josiah go through such conflicted emotions these days. When he's in a good mood, he's GREAT.  He plays well both independently and with others, loves goofing/hamming around, and enjoys singing and dancing around to music.  However, when he's upset, he will cling to us, scream/cry, and have complete meltdowns.  He varies between demanding ("Mommy HUG!") and rejecting ("No, No, No!") us, depending on his mood.  While he's curious about his "baby seester", he pretty much ignores anyone who is holding her.  But with each day, he seems to be coming around bit by bit.  He likes to look at the baby monitor, touch her bouncer and swing, and sometimes even give her a kiss.  As sweet as he can be, we still have to watch him like a hawk since he's made a few swipes at her already!

With his pent-up energy and a bit more courage these days, Josiah has been loving his daily trips to the playground and playdates with kids in the building.  He's still pretty careful (says "ouchie" and "sowee" constantly), but more willing to try new things.  While he still is a bit timid physically, he's completely confident with his verbal skills.  His new phrases these days are "good morning", "good night", "scuse me", and "have fun".  He continues to be a complete chatterbox and socializes with everyone in he comes into contact with in our neighborhood.  And now that he has been learning a bit of Spanish (he can recite 1-10) and Korean, and repeating everything he hears, his gibberish has become even more indistinguishable!  But generally speaking, he's expressing so much more these days and is very assertive about what he wants...which is usually "Disney Channel" or "Veggie Tales", which he chants on a 24/7 basis!  He loves to sing along to the theme songs and has such a great memory for the melodies and even detailed inflections.  I love when he randomly breaks into song, proudly chanting his ABCs, "Happy Birthday", "Let It Go" or any other new song he's picked up. He loves jamming on his doggie guitar alongside his Daddy.  Can't wait to get him started on music lessons!

Welcome Samantha!

On April 18th (Good Friday) @ 3:20 AM we welcomed Samantha Eden Lee to the world!  I did not expect for her to make an early debut - in fact, I was praying fervently about having at least the Easter weekend to enjoy before her arrival!  It sounds really silly in retrospect, but I was just anxious about the whole labor & delivery process and wanted to avoid reality as long as I possibly could.

It all started on Thursday, April 17th, when I woke up with an upset stomach that sent me immediately to the bathroom.  I felt pretty crummy, but didn't want it to ruin my day since I had made lunch plans with a fellow pregnant friend, Kaye.  I had been resting / working from home all week, so was looking forward to finally getting out of the house on such a beautiful day.  We had a great time at lunch and even joked about the possibility of me going into labor that day.  First of all, April 17th was one of the induction dates that my OB had suggested to me, which I declined because I was hoping for things to occur naturally this time around.  Also, my good friend, Wendy, had just delivered that morning, which made things feel more imminent for me.  Lastly, Shaggy just had a "feeling" that I would give birth on Good Friday.  He had no basis for that feeling, but his gut is often correct in these types of situations...

By evening time, I was still feeling a bit under the weather, but Shaggy convinced me to go out to dinner since it may be our "last time" in a while!  The three of us went to Son Cubano across the street and enjoyed the food and music (Josiah was bopping to the techno beats).  My stomach was still sensitive, so I just had a salad (very unlike me...should have seen that red flag!) and complained of feeling nauseous the whole time.  After dinner, I just laid on the couch watching TV and was complaining about heartburn and stomach pains.  Shaggy asked if these were contractions, and I insisted they were not.  However, by 10:30ish, my groans were regular enough that he started timing them...and like classic textbook contractions, they were 5 minutes apart.  I still insisted it was nothing and probably would've laid there all night if I could...but he called the on-call OB service and they told us to come to the hospital immediately.  We called our nanny to watch Josiah overnight while we drove off to the hospital.  I cried on the way there - this was just not the way I had pictured it.  I did not feel ready.  I didn't like going to the hospital in the nighttime.  I was afraid of having complications again.

It only took 20 minutes to get to Columbia and the hospital looked deserted.  Even the valet was off duty, so we just left our car in the driveway, which was unsettling.  I soon learned that being admitted in the middle of the night was actually a plus.  The process was quick and the hospital seemed much more serene than the craziness of the day.  Once I was assigned a triage room around midnight, a doctor examined me and confirmed that I was already 4 cm dilated!  Woah.  Luckily, my doctor happened to be on-call that night so would handle the delivery herself that night.  That was an answer to prayer.  As we waited, I flipped through some gossip magazines and Shaggy took unflattering pictures of me laying there, awaiting what was next.  At first, it didn't feel too bad...but as the contractions started ramping up even further, I begged the nurse to get me an anesthesiologist soon to get my epidural.  Once I was carted off to my beautiful L&D room, the long prep for the epidural began.  I always start humming whenever I get scared, so once the doctor was about to inject the needle into me, I sang the first song that came to my mind - Arirang!  No idea why such an old-school Korean song came into my mind...but I went with it.  It only took a few minutes for the epidural to set it, and soon I felt a warm tingle come over my body.  Ahhh.  I was a happy camper and looked forward to a few hours of serenity again.  Unfortunately, my slumber was short-lived because around 2:45 am, my doctor announced that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.  WHAT?!? 

I reluctantly agreed and got into position.  Unlike the last time, I did not have an entourage of doctors and nurses in my room, so I was much more comfortable.  I also didn't have my iPod blaring music in my ears, so I felt much more 'present' this time around too.  As I started pushing, I couldn't feel a thing.  That would ordinarily be awesome, but unfortunately that meant that I didn't have enough sensations in my body to know if I was pushing or not.  To help remedy the situation, my doctor propped up a mirror so that I could visualize what was going on.  Eww.  I initially declined because I felt weirded out by the idea.  But after several unsuccessful pushes, I finally relented, but still couldn't get over what I was looking at. Once I was making better progress, my doctor actually instructed me to push only lightly, to avoid major tears like last time.  So after 40 minutes of pushing and some weird squirming sensations later, Samantha was here!  She let out a big scream like her big brother, but stopped as immediately as she began.  There was some meconium in the fluid, so thankfully the doctors confirmed that she was fine and had not ingested any in utero.  Also, I had torn just a bit during delivery, but much less so than before.

As I held her for the first time, I definitely felt more of an instant bond with her than I did when first with Josiah. I tried nursing right away, but not very successfully - seems we both had a lot of learning to do together.  I had forgotten how little these babies are in the beginning, so I enjoyed cuddling with her and seeing her naturally fold into my arms.  I was also amazed by how similar she looked like Josiah upon birth, although with some key differences: 1) her full head of jet-black hair; 2) long, skinny legs, fingers and toes; 3) lots of fuzzy hair and pimples on her back; 4) she's an extremely sleepy baby who rarely kept both eyes open at once.

By the time we moved to the recovery room, it was nearly sunrise.  Can't believe all this happened in the dead of the night...and that we were greeting the day with a new baby!  We decided to name her Samantha, after Shaggy's late-father who passed away around the time that we found out we were pregnant.  We gave her the middle name "Eden" to represent God's original creation and promise of a new heaven and earth.  Being that she was born on Good Friday, these names carried an even more profound meaning for us.

It was lonely being in the recovery room by myself while Shaggy raced back home to attend to Josiah, but I was determined to be more self-sufficient this time around, which was hard being attached to IVs.  I spent my hours trying to nurse Samantha, but was left frustrated since she just did not want to latch!  When I wasn't feeding, I tried to sneak in a few hours of sleep before family came by to meet the new baby girl!  I was especially anxious to see how Josiah would react to her, which ended up being ambivalent!  He basically ran over to her, banged on her bassinet and said "knock knock", and then ran the other way.  He refused to sit still for any photographs with Samantha, but instead kept asking for hugs from us.

I was only in the hospital for two nights, but it felt like an eternity and missed my family and home like crazy.  My parents stayed with Josiah that weekend, so this gave Shaggy the chance to spend the daytime with us at the hospital.  Honestly, just having him there beside me on the hospital bed, smuggling me yummy food (Tomoe sushi was the highlight!), and holding Samantha while I took naps, was probably one of the more *romantic* times we've had in a while.  I know it sounds silly, but we haven't had any real time to ourselves in a long time, so it was sweet to be able to experience the early days with our new baby together.

That said, on Easter morning, I was ready to bust out of the hospital!  Once we got home, it was a different form of mayhem, but good to be in the comfort of my home with family by my side.  The next few days were filled with continuous attempts at nursing, until she finally latched on he 4th day...way to keep me waiting, Samantha!  I have a feeling this little girl is going to run my life completely...

21 month update

Josiah's morning stroll

It's Spring!  After a long and bitter winter, it's finally warming up.  And it's about time - it's freakin April!!!  I definitely take my cues from the seasons, because I also feel like I'm slowly coming out of hiberation and facing the changes ahead.  I'm 37 weeks along, so officially full-term.  EEK.  I'm still not feeling "ready"...my list of things to-do is still miles long...but then again, are we ever fully prepared for major changes in life?

One reason/excuse for my unpreparedness is because I've been so busy at work, up until recently.  The first part of March just flew by since I was pulling late hours planning for a major event in Philadelphia.  It took up so much of my time and attention, but was both a rewarding accomplishment as well as an opportunity to tag on a quick getaway to Philadelphia once it was all over - our last trip as a family of three!  Not only did it feel nice to end on a high note, it was also a natural point to start winding down once it was over.  Since then, I've been in transition mode at work, which has been both satisfying and difficult at the same time.  I think it's back to me being resistant to change.  But at least this has also forced me to focus on the impending birth of my baby, which has also opened up a rollercoaster of emotions that I've apparently been holding back!  For example, I burst into tears while watching the How I Met Your Mother finale, much to the confusion of my hubby!  And I've been struggling with insomnia lately, tossing and turning in bed obsessing over stupid things like not being able to find one of Josiah's toys, or thinking about how ways to organize our apartment.  On top of these outbursts, I've been having a lot of physical discomfort lately - recurring tightness in my belly (Braxton Hicks contractions?), back soreness, and most of all - terrible leg cramps at night.  And not just regular cramps, but persistent, stabbing pain that wakes me up screaming and takes like 30 minutes of desperate flexing and maneuvering to subside.  My doc suggested that I drink more milk, so I've taken that to mean lots of ice cream at night!  While my 1st pregnancy was a breeze (physically, that is), this one has definitely taken a toll on me.  Perhaps it's being a bit older, carrying a girl (who happens to do somersaults all day), carrying bigger than last time,  or a combination of these factors.  In any case, I am so not that 'glowing' image of expecting motherhood that some women can pull off!


Cuddles!

I doubt that Josiah has any idea of what's going to hit him in the next few weeks.  However, his nanny insists that he does, given that he's been exhibiting recent mood swings toward me, ranging from ultra-clingy to utterly disinterested.  As of today, he's back to only asking for Daddy.  She claims this is a sign that things are going to happen very soon, but I refuse to believe her.  Aside from these random mood swings, Josiah's been a pretty happy camper this month.  He's less picky during meals (but faves still are eggs, rice, cheese and fruit), goes down for bed much more easily (just points to the crib, asks for his binky, and waves goodbye), and listens to us relatively well.  He's still got his sass though, and will still give us the occasional tantrum, eye-roll, food chucked on the floor, or flat-out "no no no" response.  But generally speaking, these moments have not been too unmanageable or long-lasting.


He also had his first dentist appointment this month (with Dr. Wendy!) and predictably freaked out throughout the cleaning...but at least no cavities to report about!  As we were in the waiting room, he set his sights on a rolling kitchen set and hasn't been the same since!  I've never seen him love a toy so instantly, so of course we had to buy it right away.  Since then, he's been pushing around his kitchen around the house and pretending to cook food all day long.  Literally from the moment he wakes to when he goes down for bed, he is clutching a pot, "muck and cheese", and utensils ("f$%k", "spoo" and "nice").  It's really cute and strange at the same time, since he hardly see us cooking at home.


Obsessed with his rolling kitchen set

Josiah continues to pick up funny phrases from his nanny like "watch out!", "careful", "no touch", and "oh boy!"  He also readily uses "please?", but quickly followed with an "OK!" in confidence of getting what he wants!  He throws around some Spanish too, like "mucho frio", "pollo" and "pan".  He's a pretty well-known kid in our building and block, and I even heard someone in the elevator calling him "that baby that talks a lot", which is surprising because he can be super friendly to strangers, but often really shy toward our friends.  He's been retaining a lot from his books and TV shows too and will randomly recite something that he's memorized.  We initially felt guilty exposing him to so much TV, but these moments of make us feel a bit more justified...and plus, we are such TV fiends ourselves so it's hard to be role models here!


Josiah still loves music and has started a weekly music/dance class in our neighborhood.  It's so expensive for what it is, which is just clanging on instruments and dancing to music, but we succumbed to it since we want to start getting him out of the house and into some organized activities.  My fear is that he will remain a "wild animal" without some socialization soon!  And he really does love the class and has picked up some new dance moves, including spinning around in circles.  Now that the weather is nicer, we are looking forward to getting out of the house more often and exposing Josiah to new activities outdoors.

Finally, this month was also significant for Shaggy and I, as we celebrated our 5th year anniversary.  We celebrated with dinner at a cute little restaurant called LeFarm in Connecticut.  It's so rare to have time to just ourselves, so we appreciated the time to just savor good food and reminisce about the past five years that have flown by.  Looking ahead to the next 5 years, my hope and prayer is that our moments ahead be filled with joyful expectation, gratitude, and humor!

Happy 5 year anniversary to us!