2 months

 

When I see Joshua with his brother and sister, it seems we've been a family of five forever, though in other ways these two months seem to have simply flown by.  It seems like it was only a handful of days ago that I was holding him on my chest in the hospital in the dark early morning hours with the rest of the world asleep, on the day he was born.  

 

But when I watch him now, he's every bit a two-month old.  He's watching us walk around the room, smiling and laughing, coo'ing "agoo" with such delight when we look him in the eyes and talk with him.  He just loves "talking" with us, exchanging baby sounds and big open-mouth toothless gummy smiles!  I'm finding it hard to get his silly smiles with my face behind the camera.  I'm going to have to pull out the camera one evening while he's laughing at his Daddy to catch a few, but I have managed to capture some of his sweet expressions.

He's finding his hands, quieting himself when he wakes from a nap by sucking on his little fists, and even starting to use his hands to reach out and touch the little danging bug toys that the kids bought him as a welcome-home gift.  

Joshua's technique for how to fight a bug:

Give him the eye.

 Then give him a good talking too,

 even laugh a little.

Intimidate him with some funny faces,

 

pull back to load up a good shot,

 and let it go!

 Then gloat.

 

  

 My sweet baby has caught a bit of the cold that's going around the house and had trouble getting to sleep last night.  Although I've really tried to encourage him to sleep in the co-sleeper crib right beside me to have him in the safest place at night, I'll confess that after a few nights of success getting him to sleep most of the night on his own, I really enjoyed having him sleep snuggled into the crook of my arm last night.  Although he won't stay asleep in the co-sleeper crib unless I put him down soundly asleep, I'm amazed at how I can lay him down in the bed beside me, with his head on my arm, and he'll lay contently despite being wide awake, eventually falling asleep quietly, sometimes after me.  Though I feel safest with him in his own space, I'll confess I love the sweetness of waking up with the little guy beside me.

We took him with us traveling to Phoenix for a wedding this weekend, and I was amazed at how well he traveled. He nursed, slept, and cuddled through the plane trips, watched TV beside his Daddy back at the hotel until they both snoozed, and hung out happily at the wedding. 

 His brother and sister had a blast with their Nonnie and Papa, doing a multitude of crafts and visiting a dinosaur exhibit, but we hear that they missed their youngest sibling as well and talked quite a bit about him in our absence.

Two months in, and we're loving life as a family of five.  As I balance life at home during the day and make an effort to get in some one-on-one time with each kid, I'm delighted I'll have more days at home now to spend with all three of my little ones.

Joshua, we're totally in love with you and are so excited to watch you grow and learn in the months and years ahead!