10 Months!

10 months old! 

(Just prior to falling off the chair... though I did catch him with one awkward hand)

9 months old

 8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Josiah,

This has been a big month of change for you.

- Pretty much as soon as we got home from celebrating Christmas, you decided to put your crawl in gear. And now you motor around like crazy! I love watching you crawl, especially when you decide you're going to come over and visit me.

- Three more teeth have popped through on top. Actually, you skipped the middle two in favor of going "vampire-style" with the outer teeth, but now one of the middle ones has come through as well, and I think the other one is super close. (All that work growing teeth has also given you some grumpy nights, but I think and hope we're on the home stretch for a little while anyway.)

- You can really put away Cheerios, and you down big bowls of baby food. This also explains why all your clothes are too small. (But I haven't found the 18-month clothes bin yet to crack out the next size up...)

- You kinda sorta sleep through the night now! We are absolutely thrilled to have a room just for you, and we've definitely cut out the 10pm feeding. But the early morning feeding kinda hangs around 4 or 5am, probably waiting for me to get a little more purposeful in stretching it til 6am. (That's basically wake-up time for the household these days.) 

- Now that you are an independent mover, I remember all the hazards that this season holds. Our new apartment really isn't baby-proof yet, and you are very good at discovering where those weak points are. This week has been particularly accident-prone, so I'm thankful God is watching over you.

- You pull yourself up to standing all the time. I think you might be turning into a walker before too long...

- Your favorite things to play with are small, chokable Legos, electrical cords, unstable shelves, and most other things that are off-limits. You keep me busy!

- You are starting to really enjoy reading books. Especially for the touch and feel baby animals book, you sit very still and quiet the whole way through.

These days are flying by, and you are growing and changing so fast. It's amazing to watch you explore and discover, and I pray that all you learn will point you to the great Creator and Keeper of all things. May He give you a love for Jesus from your very earliest understanding of Him!

With love and prayers,

Momma

The Move

Let's see ... since last I wrote anything here, we celebrated Christmas in Iowa, returned to Minnesota, Ben completed a J-term class on Jonathan Edwards, we celebrated Victor's birthday, we moved upstairs, and Ben started his new semester of classes. 

I'm thinking it's probably futile to try to totally catch up from all that, so here's just a little overview of the moving situation.

We've lived in our home in Apple Valley since shortly after we got married. Snug little "Hobbit hole," with two bedrooms, and we have loved it. With the advent of Mr. Josiah, however, it has been feeling smaller and smaller (especially at night). We tried a variety of sleeping arrangements to try to find a situation where everybody could sleep well, but it was getting a little rough.

Victor in his room. Josiah and Mom and Dad in our room. 

Victor in his room. Josiah in the living room. Mom and Dad in our room.

Victor in his room. Josiah in our room. Mom and Dad on the floor in the living room.

Victor and Josiah in Victor's room. Mom and Dad in our room.

Josiah in Victor's room. Victor and Mom and Dad in our room.

I'll be honest, I was feeling a little desperate. But in the kindness and very surprising gift of God, our landlord was willing to negotiate a trade of floors with us so that we could have the upstairs (with three bedrooms), and he would be downstairs. 

 The move was nice, in that nothing had to be hauled outside and driven to another place ... but it was a bit of a challenge to swap two floors worth of stuff simultaneously. And try to clean somewhat.

At the end of it all, we are just delighted with the new space!

Here is an unedited and un-picked-up view...

The living room

The dining room

Kitchen

Bathroom

Josiah's room

Master bedroom

Victor's room

So thankful!

3 Years Old!

3 years old!

2 years old

18 months

One year old

11 months

10 months

9 months

 
8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Victor,

What an amazing thing, that you are now 3 years old!

You are vivacious, energetic, thoughtful, and bright.

- You have loads of energy! It's so good to see you running back and forth in our apartment, crashing into the couch and bouncing on your new Rody Horse and pushing your lawn mower, jumping on trampolines, skipping through parking lots, and all the other ways that energy escapes!

- The growth of a mind is an astonishing act of God! You are learning so fast ... when you and Daddy read your bedtime Bible story, you can recognize probably a dozen words when Daddy points them out.

- You are gifted in directions. That did not come from the Anderson side! You recognize when we travel a path twice, you can spot and identify the library from any direction, and you know what every abbreviation for N, S, E, and W (and all their combinations) mean on the rearview mirror.

- You took a huge step this week. Now you're sleeping on the top bunk of your nifty new bunkbed and loving it!

- You are an includer. Every day, so often you make sure people are pulled in ... to whatever. Examples from this evening: You get a cupcake; "Daddy, do you want a cupcake?" You go down your new slide; "Mommy, now it's your turn to go down!"

- You love playing with all your cousins and seeing your aunts and uncles and grandparents. It's so fun to see all the connections in our family gatherings!

- You have quite a gentle spirit (most of the time). How we love to hear you comforting Josiah, "It's okay, Josiah. You don't need to cry." You will often tell me that Joey needs a toy to play with in the car, if he's unhappy. And when I'm busy and Joey is sad, I can send you in to sing him a song, and I love the lusty version of "Jesus Loves Me" that comes out!

- You still love trucks, planes, and construction equipment of all sorts. (So I am getting a a vast education on heavy machinery right along with you.)

- Favorite kitchen project: Baking muffins (with chocolate chips)

- Favorite book: The Dangerous Journey

- Favorite stuffed animal: You still have a great friend in your stuffed duck. You talk with him (and he has a fun little accent when he talks back to you), feed him, watch videos with him, snuggle with him at night, and generally take good care of him.

We love to hear your simple prayers, your quoting Psalm 23, your singing hymns. How we pray with all our heart that you will love and trust in Jesus all your days.

We love you, big man!

Momma and Daddy.