6 Months!

Mr. Josiah is a half a year old!

6 months old!

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Josiah,

You are a half a year old! And it is quite a treat seeing your little personality blossom.

This month ...

- You had your first ear infection. This was rotten! And we subsequently learned that you despise, abhor, and spew out medicine. Your first 3 doses of antibiotics were pretty much rejected, til we mastered our process.

(Step 1: Mom squirts a tiny, tiny amount of medicine into your mouth.
Step 2: Mom blows like crazy on your little face until your eyes get really big and you swallow reflexively.
Step 3: You blow bubbles and still try to spit out medicine as much as possible.
Step 4: Mom tries to scoop it all back into your mouth with index finger.
Step 5: Repeat forty times until the 3/4 tsp of medicine is consumed.)

- You are really rolling every which-way now. You still generally sleep on your back, but I will find you on your side from time to time. And whenever I forget a diaper or sleeper and have to leave you on the floor for a second during a diaper change, you always flip over onto your tummy just to make the job more exciting.


-  You grab anything in front of you. You love playing with toys that rattle or buzz. You are pretty happy in your exersaucer, for short periods of time, and you love the Baby Bjorn!

- You are 16 lb 15 oz and in the 66% for height. Big boy!

- You have a terrific laugh!





- And you can also be quite a chatty young fellow.



- You had your first solids! Considering you haven't even taken a bottle yet, you are gobbling up rice cereal like it's going out of style!



- You love getting raspberries on your tum-tum and kicking your feet. You will not sit in your Bumbo seat (you straighten your legs and just kinda shoot out of there when we try it). But you still lie happily in your crib watching your mobile, even when we're really on the edge of naptime.

Last night you were lying on your little play mat by the table while we ate dinner, and all of a sudden Victor looked over and burst out laughing. You had grabbed one side of the mat and rolled over, making yourself a big baby burrito! Victor said, "Silly little cowboy!"

We love getting you up from your snoozes, because you give us the biggest grin, like I knew you would come and rescue me!

You are a little snuggle bug, and sometimes when you're getting very drowsy, you'll lay your little head on my shoulder while I rock you. It's the best.

You are growing and learning day by day, and we're so glad you're with us!

The verse that I have been praying for you lately:

The eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth, that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His (2 Chronicles 16:9a).

May it be, little son, may it be.

Love you like crazy,
Momma

My Baby Wears a Helmet

Well, to be more precise, it's a CranioCap.

I found out about two months ago that he would probably need it.

Actually, "need" isn't the right word. Since Josiah developed torticollis, he had some head flattening on the right side. The doctor said it was "in the top third" of severity, and Ben and I talked and prayed and decided it would be wise to get the helmet. It was just a judgment call, like so many things in life.

I almost wrote this blog post then, when we knew he was going to get it, about how I would feel as a Momma with a little boy in a helmet.

Really sad. Because I don't want him to suffer through an uncomfortable helmet.

Embarrassed. Because it feels like a walking signpost, "I'm a poor mother."

Self-conscious. Because people would look at Josiah and see a helmet ... not a precious baby.

I kissed that little soft head every night, thinking, "I am just going to hate it when a helmet is on this sweet little head and I kiss hard, cold plastic, instead of this little peach fuzz."

I was dreading it.

He got the helmet about two weeks ago, and I will be honest. It hasn't been like I expected.

Josiah is totally fine with the helmet. We probably wouldn't have gotten it if it was going to be painful or distressing for him, since it is simply cosmetic. But even from the very beginning, he hasn't shown any signs that it is uncomfortable or annoying. He doesn't particularly care when we take it off or put it on, and (aside from going through a rough stretch with an ear infection) he's sleeping fine with it.

Further, I'm not embarrassed. Well, not normally. I know that torticollis is almost always preventable in babies, and if I had known what to look for, I probably could have prevented the neck and head issues. But I didn't. I feel a little foolish for that, but I think that in the spectrum of things that I will get wrong as a mother, this is not the worst! And I wonder if somebody, somewhere might be encouraged to see me with my little cutie pie in a helmet and maybe feel better to know that I'm messed up. Like everybody is messed up. And maybe that will ease the sense of pressure to make it look like we all "have it together." So I'm praying God will make that a little picture of grace for someone.

And Josiah is still Josiah. He's a precious little boy, and a helmet doesn't cover that up. All kinds of people come up and want to meet him. At Pizza Ranch last night, a kid told me, "That's a cute baby!" Some people ask about the helmet, some don't. But bottom line, it's a really good lesson: what's on top isn't as important as what's underneath. And what's on the outside  isn't as important as what's on the inside.

I still love snuggling his sweet little head when he's not in the helmet. But when I'm putting him to bed, with his little white cap on, I can still kiss the tippy-top of his little head.

One more example of God's (surprising) good in things we wouldn't choose.

Meltdown Moments

It was Tuesday. Very poor nap for Josiah. Both boys coming off colds. Two doctor appointments in a row.  We arrived too early for our first appointment, and had to wait 20 minutes before our second.

We were on thin ice for sure.

The books were not interesting.
Victor didn't want a snack.
Not the time to pull out the contents of the backpack, just before being called for our appointment.
Victor started pushing the stroller wildly around the waiting room, and I said he needed to stop.

Major meltdown.

This (of course) was the time that Josiah realized he was ravenous and exhausted, and he really cranked the screams into second gear.

The receptionist, our physical therapist, and the other occupants of the waiting room at that time got quite a show. (I tried to duck into the adjoining bathroom, but the door wouldn't open. Of course.)

Something about two screaming children, a stroller, a Baby bjorn, a backpack, a diaper bag, and a sweaty, somewhat helpless, momma just felt ... right.

This is life down here, right? The moments when everything comes unglued at once, when the sin of our hearts sloshes over, and it's no good trying to paste a happy face on top.

And it's really for our good.

Perennially cheerful, sweetly obedient, and compliant children could make me forget that there's a little sinner's heart underneath it all. And that my job as a mother is not just to enforce behavior modification. It's to pray for and shepherd toward a God-given heart transformation.

And whatever the inconvenience and disruption, such moments open the door for talking about the most important things.

We have bad, broken hearts (Mommy too). But God didn't leave us alone in our sin. He sent Jesus, who was always good, but He died to cover over our sin. And if we will trust in Him, He will forgive us and give us a new, good heart, so that we can be with Him forever.

So, I always love you, my two little boys, and I pray that you will see your need for a big God and receive His big grace that helps us in our time of need. Which is all the time.

Trip to CO

In a delightful answer to prayer, the little boys and I got to accompany "Nana" to Denver for a sweet visit with some of our favorites, the Waltons, last week. We left on Thursday (my birthday) and came home Sunday night. Though we missed Daddy, what a special time it was!

Highlights:

- Victor's first airplane ride ("We're going really, really fast into the sky!" After plane landed, "Thank you, airplane! Thank you, airplane!")


- Walks and talks with wonderful friends

- Picnic with a view of the mountains

- Girls' night out

- White chocolate raspberry birthday cake

- Watching the other kids be super sweet to Josiah

- Exploring the rocks and crevices with Victor

- Beautiful Colorado sunrises

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend, we squeezed in one last little vacation before really diving into school.

Such a treat to see the fam in Iowa!

Our inaugural trip to the apple orchard ... fall must be right around the corner!

Victor's absolute highlight of the trip ... and possibly the weekend ... was when the driver of the tractor stopped in the creek on the ride back to the store. 

Poor ol' Bessie the Tractor couldn't get going again without a little help. 

So all the riders had to holler, "Go, Bessie, go!" really loud. 

We re-lived that moment again and again for the rest of the trip...

Victor is really a fan of the cousins. 

"Where's Delly?" (a frequent question).

 

Precious times.