Joshua Thomas is here!

We know this post is long over-due, but what do you expect from a mother of a toddler and a newborn?!!
The first picture is of Joshua, the second picture is my (Cheryl's) baby picture...










Joshua Thomas was born, Saturday, July 11th at 11:34am (9 days before his due date). He weighed 9lbs and 13oz and was 20 1/2 in long. For reference, Jonathan was 10 days early and weighed 9lbs and 12oz and was 21 in long. Joshua's extra ounce might have come from all of the dark hair he has - a lot like Mommy's when she was first born! By the time we left the hospital, Joshua's bilirubin count was high and so we had to have him on the bililight for the rest of the week. His weight had dropped to 9lbs at his lowest point and by his 2-week checkup, he was at 10lbs, 14oz - needless to say, nursing isn't a problem!

We have been blessed that recovery after delivery was much easier this time - which God knew we needed to keep up with a house now with 2 boys. Jonathan seems to be okay with having Joshua around and only really seems jealous or more whiny whenever I'm nursing him or he cries for too long (fortunately, at this point Joshua isn't too much of a crier :o) We have been so thankful for all of the help of friends and family who have provided food and come over to help out - after 4 weeks, I'm not sure I've had more than a couple of days completely by myself with the boys... again, God is good!

Joshua is now 4 weeks old and up to 13lbs. He has been to church, daddy's softball games, playdates and numerous lunch outings. Life hasn't slowed down too much since his arrival :o)

21 months and coming soon!

We wrapped up May with a trip to Indy for Cheryl's cousin's wedding, and then spent the next day at the Zoo. It was a little warm, and Jonathan got tired by lunchtime, but we had fun on our family outing. This was also our little anniversary celebration - 11 years!

Jonathan turned 21 months in June. He loves to run and has started to try to "race" against us by saying, "ready, set, go!". Early in June we enjoyed a raining day at Bloomington's "touch-a-truck" where the kids got to climb in and on various city trucks... including Popaw's! Jonathan thought the survey camera he uses was a choo-choo and was very excited when Popaw made it move back and forth. He is loving music - I think in part to watching "the Backyardigans". He plays his piano, guitar, harmonica and now violin (thanks to our FriendSpeak partners who gave him a child-sized one). When his show is on, he dances around with them and copies things they say and do (I found him "sneaking" like the characters on an episode where they pretended to be secret agents). The next day Kyle was outside with him and when Jonathan saw a bird he started "sneaking" up on it... His antics crack us up - especially when he uses these new-found skills in the correct context!

We're getting closer to our delivery date - the doctor thought I was measuring quite a bit ahead of schedule and ordered an ultrasound. It measured the new baby at 9lbs, 4oz, but the doctor doesn't think he's actually that big. We're still waiting to see how things progress, but not in any hurry to induce. We did finally settle on a name - the ultrasound tech even let us have a profile pic of the baby with his name on the screen... We thought it would be good for Jonathan to be familiar with hearing it over the next few weeks.

Kyle's on hold for traveling until after the baby arrives, so we're getting things done around the house. Bags are packed for the hospital and while his room isn't completely ready, we're okay with it's condition if he comes early. Soon our family will be growing!

Moving: house, toddler and baby

So May has been quite busy and exciting. On the first we moved into our new home in the Highlands. Despite some rain on the first night of loading the truck, the 2nd day was was beautiful as was the next day when we unloaded. We were so blessed to have the help of many of our friends and family. We are slowly getting boxes unpacked and things put into place... We were worried that Jonathan would have trouble adjusting to the new place, but he hasn't missed a beat and is still sleeping well and seems to be right at home!

Jonathan is going on 20 months old now and is quite busy. His favorite things right now are throwing a ball with anyone who will play and using his little bat to try to hit the ball when you throw to him. He'll do this for almost an hour if you'll let him! His vocabulary continues to amaze us. He often "talks" about his friends from church and playgroup as well as family members. Sometimes he just starts listing all the words he knows. He likes the stairs in our new house and we often count as we go up. He can count to 5 pretty easily and can get to 8 with some prompting. He also likes saying the books of the Bible if you start the song. After we say Matthew, he'll say Mark, Luke, John, Acts and Romans. He'll also chime in with Ephesians and Colossians.. but that's about as far as he gets.

The new baby seems to be growing and thriving inside Mommy's tummy. I get poked and jabbed all the time now. At our last appointment I was measuring about 2 weeks ahead, which is similar to where we were with Jonathan at this point in the pregnancy. We still haven't settled on a name, but are closer to one than we were with Jonathan! We've been slowly trying to get the room ready for the new baby - putting together the crib & changing table and washing clothes... hopefully we'll get it all done in the next 8-9 weeks!

Calm Before the Storm

Jonathan has turned 18 months and has had an explosion of vocabulary and dexterity! We can't even count all the words he says now - but he often tells us: "I dropped it," "I fell down," or "I throw it" - along with naming lots of animals and objects and just general babble. His little face is so animated, you just know he's saying something important!

He likes to sing and say nursery rhymes - well, he finishes them. Like with Daddy, Jonathan adds the "doo-dah","day" and "bay" to "Camptown Ladies". And with Mommy he finishes "Hickory Dickory Dock" with "dock", "Clock," "one," "down"...

Jonathan enjoys his kids shows like Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Backyardigans - but he also gets excited when Wheel of Fortune comes on in the evenings! It cracks us up to hear him squealing "wheel! wheel!" with the intro starts... he knows what's coming!

Jonathan doesn't quite grasp that things are getting ready to change - we will be moving to our new home on May 1st. Then 2 months later the new baby will arrive... the only thing he knows is that there are lots of boxes to play in and that Mommy's belly is big. We talk about baby brother, but that's so far in the future for him.

We were able to enjoy a quick 4-day get-away (toddler free) thanks to all the traveling Kyle has done in the last year. It was nice to have some time to relax before life gets really crazy. We had perfect weather in Jamaica and the traveling portion went off without a hitch. Now, it's back to boxes and preparing for the baby...

Here's a little video of Jonathan singing with Daddy's binder that he uses when leading worship at NC3:

15 months

When do parents stop counting a baby's age in months?... maybe it's important for us to clarify that he's more than a "one-year-old", but really he's "one" - in part it's easier than expaining "he turned one in September"... who knows!

Anyway, he is 15months+ now. We've squeezed in 3 more holidays with lots of family and a trip to Texas. Jonathan enjoyed Great Grandma Ruby's dumplings at Thanksgiving, an overload of presents at Christmas and New Year's day on a plane.

He's just over 28 lbs and the nurse measured him at 33 3/4 inches (but it looked like she measured crooked to me... I think he's shorter, but we'll go with it). Both measurements put him in the 90-95% range for his age - what can we say, he's a big boy! :o)

He continues to amaze us at how his dexterity and language are growing. We now have to be very careful about what we say as our little mocking bird tends to try to copy most words that we say. Like when Mommy changes a stinky diaper and says "oh my!"... Jonathan says it too. Funny thing is, the things we really want him to say, like "love you" don't come out. But things like "stinky" and "toot" come out regularly! He's been working on animal sounds/actions and had one for dog, cat, cow, lamb, elephant, snake and even a lizard. Cat now says "moo"... not sure what happened there. He loves naming family members too (fortunately, none of them are called "moo").

We laugh at Jonathan's attempts to "jump" and "dance" and he has a new "happy dance" that we think he started after Daddy demonstrated a touchdown celebration dance... We have some video of these, and will try to upload them soon to share.

The fates must be determined for Jonathan to be musical becuase this Christmas included harmonicas, whistles, a piano, and a guitar. Of course, he got his fair share of educational toys as well as sports toys (basketball, baseball and football).

He is really starting to test boundaries and the rules, but overall he is very laidback. The worst days are when he doesn't sleep well (at night or at naptime) and then he just stays a little cranky all afternoon... that only happens a couple of times a week, so most days are really good. He's also entered a "anxiety" stage, so unless one of us or a grandparent are with him, he won't stay in Bible class or other places without us. We're hoping it won't last long, but we'll see...

Of course, Jonathan doesn't realize it yet, but he will be a big brother in July. We haven't talked about it a lot with him, but as Mommy's belly starts to grow, it will come up more regularly. We'll find out if we're having a boy or girl at the end of February.