Baby Stats

The boys had a doctor appointment on the 15th and I want them to remember some details...

How it took two loving and tired adults (my mom was here) to manage them, plus a not-too-kid-friendly doctor and nurse. Note to self:  never ever ever schedule a doctor appointment during nap time again.

How scared Josh was about every single step he took in there, even to stand against the wall to get his height measured. He has a big fear of doctors since we went to the ER for a high fever when he was two, and they insisted on gathering several nurses to wrestle him down in the middle of the night to take his temperature rectally. It's one of those memories that makes me shudder just thinking about it. I still want to punch all those Chicago nurses in the face. And myself for not stopping them.

How smiley and sweet Jude is toward anyone who looks at him for more than three seconds. He's such a charmer, he didn't even suspect that the nurse had plans to stick him with three huge definitely-not-pediatric-size needles a few minutes later.

How far Josh's bottom lip stuck out when he saw the nurse poking his little brother over and over and making him scream in pain. I couldn't tell which kid was more heart broken, and Josh didn't even get any shots that day. He's so protective of his baby brother. It melts my heart.

Here are the boys' growth stats:

JOSH at 3 years 3 months:  

39.5 inches tall and 40 pounds (95th %). Almost a perfect square. A very large square, as usual.

JUDE at 6 months:  

17 pounds 10 oz (55th %), 26 inches tall (45th %), head circumference 18" (95th %). Getting bigger! Maybe Matt will stop calling him Willow now that he's finally out of the 5th percentile.

Some of JOSH's favorite things to do lately:

- Cutting with his little scissors and using glue all by himself.

- Using Daddy's screwdriver to stab holes in empty moving boxes while shouting "Hi-yaaaa!!!"

- Playing Plants vs Zombies on Matt's phone every possible chance he gets.

- Making Christmas cookies. (Everyone knows they taste better out of season.)

- Reading "I Spy" books from the library, memorizing where everything is, then reading them over and over and acting like he's finding everything for the first time.

- Diligently practicing his annunciation of "th" and "l" and pretty much any word he stumbles on, without any prompting from me.

- Typing "words" on the computer. Some of them are actual words he has memorized, but mostly he just punches a bunch of random letters and tells you what he's "spelling".

- Playing his "thermonica" (harmonica).

- Putting together big floor puzzles.

- Wrestling. With anyone who will have him.

- Digging in our yard of dirt.

- Going to preschool!! Is this not the cutest little preschooler you've ever seen?

Some of JUDE's favorites:

- Slapping at everything he can get his hands on.

- Rolling all over the place and trying to scoot backwards by arching his back and sliding on his head. We think he has a future in break dancing.

- Growing red hair! It's getting redder every day.

- Screaming and squealing all day long. Both when happy and sad. He's rarely quiet anymore, and I swear his voice gets louder every hour.

- Growing teeth! He got his two bottom ones the week of his doctor visit.

- Sitting up on his own. (Thank you, Bumbo! You are the best invention ever!)

- Eating everything he can get his hands on except baby food. After scarfing his whole bowl that first time, I can't get him to eat any rice cereal or anything green. He'll sometimes go for sweet potatoes or squash. But usually he just lunges for whatever I have in my hand (like bananas, pears, drinks...knives) as if I never feed him at all.

- Exploding out of his diaper and into his clothing at least once a day. Thank goodness I have a washing machine here.

- Whipping his head around frantically at every sound, especially his brother's maniacal laughter.

- Smiling at every stranger he meets. I get stopped everywhere I go by people who want to flirt with him. It's harder to make him laugh than it was for baby Josh, but his big brother is best at getting him to giggle.

These boys are best friends. They are excited to see each other every morning when they wake up. They make each other smile every time they interact. Their hugs and kisses are the sweetest towards each other. I hope they stay close forever!

As a little side note, something we've been trying to do in the mornings at breakfast is a little devotional, a great idea from my friend Jedda. Nothing fancy or formal. Basically I just turn to a new picture every day in my little gospel art book and we talk about it. I ask Josh questions, he asks me questions, then we teach Daddy about it when he gets home. Our first one was just a picture of the earth in space. We talked for about three minutes at breakfast and when Matt came home for lunch, Josh remembered every single detail about our conversation earlier. It blew my mind! 

Here's a little sample of the dialogue...

Mom: What's this picture of?
Josh: The earth!
M: Right!
J: The earth is made out of planet.
M: The earth IS a planet, but it's made out of rocks and water and land.
J: Oh. But I really like the planets that have little rings around them. But the earth doesn't have rings.
M: Tell Daddy what is the blue part on the earth.
J: Water!
M: Uh huh. And the white part?
J: Clouds!
M: And the green part?
J: Land! Green like grass and trees!
M: That's right! And who lives on the earth?
J: We do. On the land.
M: Yeah, now tell Daddy who made the earth.
J: God! And Heavenly Father!
M: Heavenly Father and who else?
J: Jesus!
M: And why did they make this beautiful earth for us?
J: Because they love us.
M: Yes, they do. They wanted us to have a nice, beautiful, happy place to live, so they made the earth for us and everything in it.
J: Yeah, they did. I love pretty grass and trees. And I love space! And planets!

Like everyone, I think my boy is absolutely brilliant, and it has been so fun to watch him and his little brother grow up!