Baby's 1st Christmas

Dear Joshi,
We had a wonderful Christmas season. Although times were stressful with Papa having a new job working long hours, we managed to squeeze in some wonderful Christmas activities, including taking an old-fashioned steam train ride around Munich, going to a Christmas tree farm near the Alps and cutting down our own small Christmas tree, a Christmas party in Austria hosted by Christian's new employer, Bischof. Everyone swooned over you in your Santa hat. We also made an appearance at the JYM Christmas party and you were the heart throb of nearly every female JYMer there.

Your Oma came down for Zwickau for the Christmas and we spent it very low key in our cozy little apartment. We did German-American Christmas, in other words, we decorated the tree and did a gift exchange on the 24th and then hung up the stockings and left cookies for Santa, who brought more presents for everyone on the 25th. It was wonderful. Mama made Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings for Christmas day dinner and it was a wonderful white snowy Christmas. We took a walk on Christmas day through the snow-covered neighborhood and not a soul was out besides us. It was truly a winter wonderland.
And you enjoyed Christmas, except for being sick with a fever on the 23rd and crying inconsolably for hours, breaking mama's heart all the way....being afraid of Oma, who was a stranger to you again after so much time (3 months!), by the 24th you felt quite a bit better and on Christmas day, you were back to your old self and you and Oma the best of pals.
You were not so much into the packages and the unwrapping, but you loved all the new toys Santa brought you.
You are nearly 9 months old now. You are definitely saying Mama....since you were 7 1/2 months old you have been saying Mamamamama....but we weren't sure if you meant me specifically or if you were just mumbling words. You were at Lena and Bernhard's for the day once, while Mama and Papa had some downtime at the Sauna and you looked around for me at some point saying Mamamamama.....
Now it is clear though that you mean it.
I also swear you tried to say Kitty Cat to Erasmus.....sounds a bit like Keeee Kaaaa
but this could be a coincidence???

You are definitely understanding a lot and you are busy playing, playing, playing exploring your little world. You are able to crawl now, more or less....not your favorite activity though, and it is more just a necessary evil to get to one of your stations where you like to pull up to standing. Like the coffee table. You pull yourself up there and play with the coasters for long stretches. You love standing and seem to never tire of it. You can even stand for a few seconds on your own. It is soooo cute, to watch you finally becoming more mobile.
I love you my little Christmas elf!


Here as some nice fotos taken of us at the JYM Christmas party:

Joshi investigating his spoon

Joshi "shadowboxing" (at 8 months)

Special things about you !

My sweet Joshua,

There are so many special things about you and I want to recount a few here, so that someday when you read this you will know how you were as a little baby. I imagine that some of these qualities are ones you will have your whole life.
Whenever we go out in public, whether it be in a store or on the bus or if we meet others in play group, baby swimming, or whatever, people are always taken with and comment on your gorgeous blue, blue eyes. I get so many comments on your eyes, I'd be rich if everytime they gave me a dime. You have a charm and magnetism about you and when your smile is so infectious - you bring the even the most sourpussed German face to light up and smile. We were having lunch in a restaurant one day and an old lady sitting by herself lunching in the corner stopped by our table to say what an amazing baby you are and that the sun comes out when you smile.
You also laugh a lot. In baby swimming you are the one always laughing and everyone knows you as such. You find things fun and funny and are very immediate about expressing your delight.
You regularly crack up at stuff your brother Leo does. He doesn't even have to be doing anything in particular, directed at you or trying. Just his being cracks you up. It is the same with the cat, Erasmus. You laugh at the very sight of him - and even more if he is doing something funny like playing or jumping, then you laugh hysterically. But the cat needs to only walk by or only sit there blinking and you thing he is a riot and giggle and giggle. You have also pet him a few times, or grabbed on to his fur in a fist full. We are working on teaching you to be gentle with him (and with others! like your poor mommy).
The other sweet little thing about you, is you love books...not necessarily in the way I had hoped, at least not yet. I sit down with you and try to read books, or show you pictures. You take a limited interest. More interesting for you is to take the book and investigate the shape of it from different angles and then more importantly yet, the book goes into your mouth for closer exploration. You give "devouring" books a whole new meaning! I have to make sure therefore, I give you cloth books or otherwise spit-resistant books, cause they would be otherwise destroyed in no time. As of recently, you have started to take more interest in the actual pictures and content, but it is always straight back to mouthing it.
You are also really into telephones, remote controls and keyboards....anything with buttons to push and pound on. We of course give you limited access to telephones and remote controls...however, you have gotten your very own keyboard (old broken one from Papa). You love to pound away at it. Whenever I am talking on the phone with family, I put the speaker phone on and the person on the other end talks to you too. You stare at the phone and want to take it, push the buttons, talk at it and put it in your mouth (naturally), trying to make closer contact, I suppose.
It is so sweet.
You are generally a very good natured baby, but you do have a hot head sometimes. You are trying to crawl and are still unable to move forward ( you only are able to push yourself backwards still) and this makes you mad...you pound on the floor and yell.
I think one of the cutest things that you do though, as of recent, is play with your shadow! You play with it on the floor trying to crawl, or on the wall behind the couch when you are lap standing. You are so curious about it! You play with the shadow of your head and mama's or papa's head, trying to touch it, grab on to it and recently we have started making rabbit ears and barking dogs which you find totally fascinating. It is truly adorable.

Lots of love,
Your mommy

Working on standing and crawling

Joshi pulls himself to standing position at 7 1/2 Months!


Dear Joshi,

We are all noticing that you are really going through a major developmental spurt. You are 7 1/2 months old and on the verge of crawling/standing/walking. You push yourself around, usually backwards....you go from sitting to all fours position, or from stomach to push-up position or you get up on one knee, but forward motion still alludes you. You creep backwards and can go quite a distance. You get very frustrated though too, that it isn't working yet the way you want and you start yelling. I try to give you encouragement, you grin at me and cry at me simultaneously. It is quite endearing actually!

You also pulled yourself to a standing position on Saturday! It was with great effort and all your muscle power. You were in your crib and playing with your activity center when you grabbed on to the top of it and with all of your might pulled yourself up! You were so incredibly proud of yourself. You beamed with accomplishment. I couldn't believe my eyes....I didn't expect that to go so fast. Especially since you are not even crawling yet. You are also not sleeping in your crib yet. You still sleep either in your bassinet in mommy and papa's room, or starting in the middle of the night in bed with us. We have to move you soon to your crib and we will already have to lower the mattress in your crib before you sleep in it for the first time to make sure you don't pull yourself up and over the side!

As for other new things about you, you love to play with the wooden spoons in the kitchen, while either mommy or papa is cooking. If nothing else interests you and your are cranky, wanting attention or to be held, we just need to give you a wooden spoon and you are totally in to it and forget everything else. You hold in up in the air, chew on it, swing it around, etc.

You also love to read books, but mostly by yourself! If I try to read with you look and listen shortly, but soon get impatient, you want to turn the pages yourself and put the book in your mouth. But if I sit you down with one of your books you hold it up, examine it, put it in your mouth, place in on your lap and turn the pages, the whole while cooing at it. It is sooo cute.

Music is still one of your favorite things on the planet...you love to listen and watch me play guitar - you are also totally fascinated when papa plays his saxophone. The rest of the world is on pause in these moments.

You have also taken a major interest in fabric patterns, since ever and always you have loved when I wear polka dots. If I need to entertain you while I am getting dressed or whatever, I give you one of my polka dot shirts and you examine it like a scientist.

You also understand the sign for milk/nursing, as well as diaper change, eat and....you also already do the sign for milk yourself, however you have been using the sign mostly indiscriminantly, as a general "I want" sign since you were about five months old. When I ask you if you want to nurse with the sign for milk and you are hungry you indisputably show your understanding and affirmation with your body language...like Yes mommy, you get it! That is what I want!!! You do ask to nurse with the sign as well, but it is always combined with whining and an urgent look in your eyes, so that it is mostly unmistakable.

Other news is that as of one month you have been spitting up only very occasionally, much to our relief and the relief of the washing machine! Mommy can now wear her clothes more than once between launderings again!

Well, that is all for now my little Joshi-Bockers.

More next time!

Love, your adoring Mommy

Creeping and crawling

Dear Joshi,

You have been sick the last week with your first cold. It has been so sad to watch you suffer stuffy nose, crankiness from sore throat and achy body, etc....you had a fever as well, on Sunday nicht....still you made your first real attempts at crawling on Monday, November 8 at 33 weeks old : ) and even though you have been sick.
Mommy is super proud of you!

Big fat kisses from your Mommy.

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was Halloween, and Joshi turned 7 months old! We didn't do anything real Halloweeny, it is not largely celebrated here in Germany anyhow. Leo is at his mother's, so we decided when he gets back we will all carve a pumpkin together. Baby Joshua sort of had a costume, his buck-teeth pacifier, gift from Amee, and his autumn warm suit with pumpkins on it. We took a walk in Westpark at dusk and saw a few autumn colors, watched the sunset and marveled at how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place. Joshi saw his first waterfall and he was fascinated by all the plants and the trees with turning leaves

Link to Facebook fotos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=335973&id=768494464&l=a2fe0912e8

Joshi also had his 5th examination nearly two weeks ago now. He weighed 7.5 Kilos and is 67 cm long!

Other big news. Joshi cut his first tooth today (and I don't mean the buck teeth)! He has been teething a bit these last couple weeks, but not too bad actually. Anyhow, the first one has surfaced now just about 19 or so to go for the first round!

As I said, Leo has been away for a few days. It was really clear to me today that Joshua misses him very much. He saw his picture on the fridge, smiled at it and then in an instant started crying, not just unhappy crying, but rather really sad crying, almost desperate. It was heart-wrenching. He did this same thing about an hour later, he looked at his picture on the desk and he was looking all around the room for Leo himself and started crying. Poor little guy misses his big brother terribly. It is so touching how much those two love each other.

Anyhow, Joshi is still not crawling but he is getting really close. Could be any day now! We just got a new play pen for him, sponsored by his Great-Grandma Sherrit, who sent us a generous amount of money to go baby shopping with.