July 20th Joseph stopped his play, looked out the window, blew a raspberry (tongue fluttering between lips) and waved his hand across his face just like I do when I sign “airplane” only he used an open hand. It was clear what he meant! He’s since used it a number of times and to show off.
I also had my first midwife appointment for the new baby. We hear his heartbeat. So amazing.
July 21st I saw Joseph do all the triggers for the pop-up toy. He may have done them before but I didn’t see (turn, push, rock, and slide). I got five hours of sleep uninterrupted that night. Sleep is amazing.
July 22nd Joseph walked up 1 ½ flights of stairs sideways holding on to the railing support bars.
Sorry it’s been over a month since I’ve blogged. Needless to say, it’s been busy.
June 15th: Our little boy has turned into quite a climber. He climbed onto our blue couches all by himself. He is an able climber, and I might say a good deal less cautious than he is when standing, especially if you’re holding him. It’s as though he knows you’ll keep him safe so he can push of whatever footholds his little feet find. He also just loves to watch me brush my teeth. He thinks it’s so funny. Thankfully he doesn’t mind it when we brush his either.
June 23rd : Climbing with a vengeance all over the beds and every bit of furniture he can reach.
June 26th: Joseph started to stack blocks on top of each other and often successfully, though with the flattest side of the blocks. He’s started to help me put away his toys when asked. He’s gotten better and better, though he still gets distracted sometimes and wants to play more rather than just put things away.
June 27th I gave Joseph his first hair cut. It was so long over his ears and at the back of his head. I was cautious, so I didn’t do too much, but it still looks funny over his ears. I had him watch Pimsleur DVD’s but he still got annoyed with me messing with his head for so long. Hopefully I’ll get better each time! Today he was willing to stand alone for me if I was right there to catch him. How exciting! I thought maybe he’d walk on his birthday, haha . . .
June 28th Joseph turned one year old. We had a special family day where I took him to the pool and let him do whatever he wanted and stay as long as he wanted and in the evening we all went to the park. In the afternoon we went to a friend’s birthday party who was born on the same day he was! When he first arrived he planted him a tackle kiss! The 1-year-olds had fun together and also with the older children. He loved having all that attention and was in a great mood. I should make a mental note that when he’s given enough attention he’s calm and happy . . .
June 29th I wanted to make up for not getting much work done the day before because I was focusing on Joseph and it was a bad day for him! From so much attention to so little, poor guy.
June 30th We went to the new doctor in Emmen and praise God I am quite comfortable with her. Finding pediatricians in the Luzern area is difficult because there aren’t enough. Joseph got a clean bill of health weighing in at 10.6Kg, 75cm. He’s only gained 1.35Kg since he was 6 months (that’s about 3 pounds). He still has chunky legs and arms, but looks rather trim, especially in his birthday suit compared to what he used to be like. Joseph was able to put small beads into a small-necked bottle, which I hadn’t tried him on before. He transferred on bead from his left hand to his right and put all the beads in with his right hand. He always throws balls with his right hand, too. He did well taking the MMR shot. In general he didn’t do what the doctor wanted him to right away, he was always interested in his own play. Instead of pushing the car back and forth (which he’s done from a few months of age with his musical car) he was more interested in putting the little person in and out of the car. It took a while before he banged two objects together when she asked, even though he’s done that for a while, too. He can do a lot, but he does what he wants!
July 1st we had a family birthday party for Joseph. I set the timer and had names in a hat so that each person got 10 minutes of focused time with Joseph. It worked well and Joseph loved it! He enjoyed opening his presents and making a mess of his corn bread cake. I hadn’t thought that it’s worth doing much for a 1st birthday, but it was good for us all to mark the event and enjoy him. I’m glad we did and I’m glad we have some family nearby to celebrate with us!
July 3rd Joseph took three steps alone toward me! Later that day he did 6, but that hasn’t been repeated. Mommy and Daddy are more interested in him walking than he is!
July 6th Joseph uses the word “hot” frequently and for a few things: hot things, forbidden things, things that have been hot in the past (left over potatoes from the fridge). He’s good at letting his food cool before touching and eating it. And speaking of eating, he loves it, especially veggies and fruit . . .
July 14th I first noticed that he can catch a ball that I’ve thrown to him such that it bounces at the floor near him and back up in the air where he catches it. I find that quite impressive! He can do it often, though not all the time. There’s a video of it now, but you’ll have to wait because Daddy just posted a bunch.
In the family news we’ve had US guests, a wedding where we both had important roles, another wedding where we could just enjoy it. Joseph found himself on a grassy gentle slope but was too cautious to crawl down it – he scooted backward the whole way as he would going down stairs! The garden has turned into a jungle. I harvested a ton of weeds this weekend. There wasn’t a trace of lettuce, carrots, zucchini, kohlrabi, Swiss chard, or onion. I had thought all the sprouts looked alike so I was afraid to weed until I could tell, hence the forest. It turns out they all looked alike because they were all weeds . . . The corn grew well from seed and is doing fine. We had a hail storm before I put up stakes for my transplanted tomatoes, but I tried to save them, we’ll see!
