Week 7 Update

Joshua's doing great. His latest trick is chewing/slobbering on his hands. He prefers the back of his fist. Sometimes that is so tasty that he slobbers about halfway up his forearm. He's always been pretty good about sleeping at night and lately he's sleeping for longer stretches which makes mommy happy! Side note: It's funny, but Matt can sleep through the baby fussing/crying, but not the dogs barking/whining and I'm the exact opposite. Also Joshua smiles more -- just not for a camera. It's a big happy smile that lights up his face. He also is "talking" more. I tried to videotape it, but as soon as he saw the camera he got quiet. I still may try to post the silent film for those that haven't seen him in awhile, but it may be tomorrow before I get it uploaded and posted.

Also the verdict is in: It looks like Joshua will have big brown eyes like his mommy! Sometimes it's hard to tell, but in natural light they look brown. He had a 50/50 chance at blue or brown and we would have been happy with either, plus any shade would compliment his old man eyebrows.

Smiles and Tears

Beauty Rest

Joshua is a growing boy and had a busy week last week. He smiled at his daddy for the first time. He's really trying hard to hold his head up and prefers to be held up on your shoulder. He's really started drooling over the past week so you'll end up with a wet spot on your shoulder when holding him. He has started "talking" a lot over the past week. He coos and says "ooh" and "ahh" all the time. He still has really loud hiccups at least twice a day. He doesn't seem to mind them though. He is sleeping longer at night (yea!!). He celebrated his first Talk like a Pirate Day (Sept 19th) by dressing the part. He went to church for the first time on Sunday. He was awake for the whole service and was a good baby. He got a little fussy, but Matt and I took turns holding him and he settled down. We enjoyed showing him off. The people sitting behind us really enjoyed watching him and petting his little head. For the occasion he wore an outfit that is one of his daddy's favorites. It is a green, white, and blue striped outfit with a little frog on the front and a big frog head on the rear. We call it his "froggy bottoms" outfit.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Daddy feeding me

I don't like his last milestone as much. On Saturday he started crying with real tears. I was finishing some laundry and heard him crying. I picked him up and kissed him on the cheek and noticed it was salty so I looked at him in better light and saw a big tear rolling down his cheek. He's downright pitiful with big tears, red face, and quivering bottom lip. You'd have thought I'd left him for hours and not a few minutes.

Pick me up now!

His social security number came in so he's now a legal resident of the US. Now if only we could get our insurance company to use his correct birth date to settle hospital claims....

Here is an assortment of pictures that are recent or that I've been meaning to post for awhile.

I surrender

Check out his pictures!

On Tuesday Joshua had his picture taken. We found a great photographer who spent a lot of time with us getting the poses we wanted. Joshua did really well for the shoot. He was awake almost the whole time except for the last couple poses. There was a column that the photographer liked to place babies on, but only if they're asleep, else they could fall off or fight against the hard surface and get bruised. Anyway while the photographer was explaining this, as if on cue, Joshua fell asleep and we were able to get the poses. Something funny that happened during the shoot was Joshua became fussy while the photographer was trying to take pictures of him holding our wedding bands. He kept throwing them on the ground and the photographer kept trying to catch the rings saying he can usually catch them before they hit the ground, but our rings spent a lot of time on the ground. We didn't mind though. Afterwords the three of us had lunch before daddy had to return to work.

If you'd like to see the pictures click on the link that says "Joshua" on the right hand side of the page under the heading "Professional Pictures - Newborn." The photos have not been cropped, meaning the finished product will focus on the baby and cut out the nervous hands of his parents. Let us know which ones you like so we can decide which ones to buy. Thanks!

Milestones

Joshua is starting to reach some milestones. On Saturday Matt fed him from a bottle for the first time. We weren't sure how he'd do. We had read that some babies will refuse a bottle if they smell or see their mommy so I left the room. Matt said Joshua was fussy at first, but when he realized his dinner tasted the same he drank it down fast. It was a special father-son bonding moment. Matt was so excited/proud.

Also on Saturday Joshua smiled at his mommy for the first time! I'm sure it was the real thing and not gas. It was really sweet - a big open mouth grin with lots of gums. I didn't have a camera handy so I'll try to catch him smiling again soon.

Lastly Matt and I measured Joshua to get his length at one month and he is now 21 3/4" long. Also his newborn hair is starting to fall out. Our little man has a receding hairline! However everywhere the hair has fallen out new hair is starting to grow. It's so small we don't know what color it is yet.

True Bama Boy

On Wednesday, I was driving Joshua in the car when he became fussy. I tried talking to him, singing to him, and petting the top of his head (the only part of him I can reach from the front seat) at stoplights, but nothing worked. As a last resort I picked up the ipod and selected "Sweet Home Alabama" from the playlist. Joshua immediately stopped crying and listened attentively for half the song and then fell asleep. He truly is a Bama Boy!

One month old

Joshua is 1 month old! I can hardly believe it. He is a healthy baby and growing strong. Here are some of the observations I've made watching Joshua over the last month. While he sleeps alot he also spends a fair amount of time alert, both day and night. He has long lashes and beautiful eyes. It's still too soon to tell if they'll be blue or brown. He likes to look around with this thoughtful expression like he's trying to figure something out. He also has something Matt and I refer to as "old man eyebrows." They are really long, light brown hairs that grow straight out. He has a cute nose with little white speckles on the tip. I'm not sure what it is but was told they would fade over time. He has his mommy's small ears and his daddy's mouth. He has lots of brown hair on his head like his daddy which is soft. His skin is also soft with no moles or freckles, though he does have a "stork bite" on the back of his neck which the pediatrician pointed out to Matt and me. Joshua has so much hair we never saw it.
Joshua gets really toasty when he sleeps - to the point that his head is sweaty and the back of his onesie is damp. This is a trait he got from his mommy who as Matt describes it is "exothermic" when I sleep. *side note - I don't actually sweat when I sleep, I'm just warm to the touch* He loves to be swaddled. Most of the time, if he is fussy, all we have to do is wrap Joshua up and he's content. Joshua has a healthy appetite and likes to eat every 3 hours. He is so enthusiastic about it he's actually sucked some of the skin off his lips. He doesn't cry very often, but when he does he is super loud! He has a favorite pacifier, which is a soothie. He spits all others out pretty quickly. He has a particular expression he makes when he's about to get fussy when his brow furrows that looks just like his mommy when she's concentrating. He has surprisingly loud/volatile gas for someone so little. Also we've caught glimpses of his smile, which would melt your heart and we're looking forward to when he starts smiling at us and not gas.

Okay I have gushed enough over my beautiful boy. Hope you enjoy the pictures I have included in this post.

My first game

Joshua watched his first Alabama game on Saturday. He cheered the Tide to victory along with his mommy and daddy. Alabama played Clemson in Atlanta and defeated them 34-10. Joshua says "Roll Tide" and "Go Bama!" He's sporting his Alabama gear which his Grandottie made especially for him. Here are a couple pictures from Saturday.