Yeah, Cheerios!

Joshua is so excited about being able to feed little bits of food to himself. The newest food was Cheerios. As you can see from the pictures, he likes to examine objects before tasting them. Then, there's a big grin of happiness.

The other new food this week is tofu balls, which I call tofutti. The toddler appetiser idea was from the Super Baby Food book and consists of mashed tofu, wheat germ, and low sodium soy sauce rolled into balls and baked. These are surprisingly tasty, by the way. Joshua & I both like them, but Mike is skeptical...

Second Haircut

Joshua & I celebrated our 99-degree summer day by getting haircuts in a cool salon, then walking around the mall. His bangs had grown into his eyes since his fourth-month haircut, so it was definitely time. He did a great job- even letting the stylist use the trimmer a little on his sideburns. My hair looks pretty flat from the humidity, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a self-portrait.

Father's Day!

What a wonderful idea to celebrate fathers! Mike is a tremendous father: so intelligent, gentle, wise, and fun. The last two days are filled with perfect examples...

Yesterday, he taught me an important lesson for raising a boy. We went to the community pool together (a common occurrence) and a little boy splashed Joshua. I immediately spoke to to boy and told him, "Not cool to splash a baby!" Mike said that isn't the right way to handle it. A boy plays that way! Instead, if someone splashes Joshua, he should splash back! No one wants a wimpy boy. After that enlightening moment, we recruited that splashing boy and his brother to play ball with Joshua and teach him how to kick his legs in the water. It's never to soon to start learning to swim or play with other kids properly. No wonder God requires a Mom and a Dad to raise kids-- We have such different instincts!

Recently, I've been working with Joshua to get him to take daily naps in his crib, not just in the car, stroller, bouncy seat, or on the couch beside me. Even the Ferber Method is tough since I don't like hearing the little guy cry when I can help. However, at 8 months old, napping in his crib for a couple of hours a day is expected and very good for him. Mike, a.k.a. Baby Whisperer, was home for the kickoff of a nap and tried something that even now feels miraculous. He laid Joshua on his belly (knowing he always rolls that way to sleep now) and rubbed his back, saying, "Shhhh. Shhh." Within a couple of minutes, Joshua was soundly asleep. Since that nap, Joshua goes down for naps and bedtime without a hitch!

Another of Mike's talents is bonding with animals. A few nights ago, he went for an evening walk after Joshua went to sleep. He came home so excited, with an amazing story to share. He had encountered some baby geese on the path home. He stood still in a patch of clover, talking to them while they played with his shoelaces and made happy baby goose noises. When he decided to leave them to come home, they followed him. In fact, the only way he could get away from his new buddies was to run as fast as he could! Meanwhile, he could hear them honking, as if to say,"Where are you going without us! Wait for us!"

To celebrate this wonderful man, I think we'll spend the day doing some of our favorite activities: eating blueberry pancakes, playing golf, taking a nap, playing guitar, picnicking, and maybe even seeing a movie. We'll sprinkle the day with plenty of hugs and laughter, too.

Flying Toasters: A Concert in the Park

Last night, Joshua, Mike, and I went to an outdoor concert in the evening. Mike & I love going to events like that - combining our enjoyment of music and the Great Outdoors. Joshua clearly has the same taste as us (thankfully) and really enjoyed jiggling to the groove of the music after savoring the ride in his wagon to get to the park. He added a new skill to his expanding repertoire: kissing! I had a moist chin for much of the time I held him last night at the concert. He is such a jolly and affectionate little guy!

Let’s review some more of his recent firsts: Since last weekend, he has been zipping through the hallway and kitchen in a walker. He relishes the freedom—especially the opportunity to chase Daisy. When Joshua tires of sitting, he scoots around in a circle very easily or backwards until he gets stuck in a corner. He rocks back and forth on his hands and knees as he contemplates crawling. Joshua also pulls himself up to a standing position without any help.

Joshua’s appetite has skyrocketed. He is now eating solid food three times a day, not just nursing. A couple of 3am feedings in a row convinced me it was time to increase his solid food. For two nights, he has slept through the night again. At each meal, he has some grain (usually baby cereal of some kind), fruit, vegetable, and apple juice-sweetened water from a cup he holds by himself. His end-of-meal treat has been a low sodium Ritz cracker that he feeds himself. We offered an animal cracker yesterday, but they are too hard for someone with two teeth. Daisy has loved the new baby feeding routine. It didn’t take long for her to realize that she can have all the cracker bits that fall. New foods include kiwi, plum, white potato, strawberry, carrot (if disguised by banana), chicken, and apple.