Being the mother of a sixteen-month-old
(as of today!) means...

...cleaning up a ton of messes.

...trying to keep Josiah's hands out of his diaper and his clothes on.

...starting to think about potty training.

...trying to interpret a huge list of words that are sounding more and more like the real thing.

...hearing new phrases, like "bye-bye mama" when I leave for work. And "bye-bye poop-poop" when he hears the toilet flush (thanks Chris!). I am responsible for "Oh no...dirty."

...trying to teach him how to say "mom." So far, it has been "mem" and "mama."

...building very strong muscles from carrying around a 35 pound kid! (And starting to get a sore back!)

...always planning, organizing, shopping, thinking, praying...

...reading hundreds of stories a week (sometimes the same six repeatedly) with an intense amount of enthusiasm each and every time.

...teaching someone else to eat with a fork (this is not as easy as it sounds like it should be!)

...getting up early (4:30 this morning) and sometimes staying up late.

...being patient and looking for productive ways to discipline.

...responding/not responding to the tantrums.

...having a new helper! Josiah is so thrilled to help clean up his toys (he reminds me when I forget in the bath tub), sweep the floor, put laundry away and unpack new grocery items like toilet paper.

...watching Josiah make connections between stories, and connecting those stories to real life (very exciting as a kindergarten teacher and a mom!).

...frequenting the YMCA, moms groups, and, starting in February, Kindermusik.

...tolerating 'Bob the Builder' because Josiah is infatuated.

...saying good-bye to some of the things that are turning my baby into a little boy.

...allowing and offering him the space for independence.

...running all day long, often feeling tired, and not having even close to enough breaks!

...trying to enjoy the day-to-day, with all of the messes, surprises, mundane tasks, fun, excitement, loneliness, suffocation, and wonder.

...feeling closer to and more proud of Josiah than I ever thought I could.

Haiti

Not sure about you, but I have been feeling so overwhelmed with the rescue/recovery of Haiti. I know that prayer and money is desparately needed; however, I also discovered that a shoe store in Moncton called Softmocs (in Champlain Mall across from Second Cup) is taking used (or new) shoe donations. They are accepting shoes in good condition (not torn) for men/women/children. The shoes should be also appropriate for warm weather conditions (no boots!). They are taking donations until Saturday (Sunday at the latest).  I know I have a few pairs laying around that I may or may not wear again.  I was happy to know of another way to help out, so I thought I would share in case any of you have some shoes taking up closet space too!

I am constantly getting bugged for my lack of effort on Facebook. I'll admit...it's pretty pathetic! Until recently, after being kindly reminded by a friend, my profile picture was a shot of Josiah...from when he was one week old. So I replaced it with his one year shot, and hope that I don't need to think about this again for another year!

Here are some of my problems (and they belong to me, not Facebook, or anyone else who uses it who may not share my problems at all :)!) :

1) I am not gregarious at all, and prefer fewer, close relationships.There are people on Facebook looking at my pictures and my personal stuff who do not care to have a non-electronic relationship (I mean people who live within the Maritimes!).

2) It sometimes feels like a substitute for relationships. Social networking (including blogs) can easily replace face-to-face time.


3) It feels too surface, and it kind of has to be since everyone sees it! I wish everyone had blogs instead.

4) It has all of those cheesy factors, like posting ten things about you  which I am constanly rebuffing (sorry guys!). Not to mention your bra colour- yikes!

5) Chris is not a big fan due to associated problems he encounters at work, so his feelings rub off on me.

6) It is used to sell stuff/social agendas, which I try to keep separate from my friendships.

7) It can swallow a lot of my time when I get into it.

8) It forces me to talk about myself in the third person, which feels creepy or junior high-'ish'.

So why don't I pull the plug? I think about it often! But I have really enjoyed seeing the photo albums of friends. I have had the benefit of re-connecting to people I have lost touch with over the years. I often choose to contact people through private mail, so it is kind of like a fancy email account.  And, I would never see or hear from some aside from Facebook, therefore I need it! So I hang on...just in case you've ever wondered!

Just a quick update to let you all know that Josiah has slept through the past several nights! I took him to our doctor, who said that he has a case of acid reflux (which he's had since birth, but we though it had gone away).  So we are temporarily treating him and it seems to be working. No more difficulty going to sleep, crying in the night, or random puking. 

We also had to ween him from all bottles/milk at the same time (he actually ate half of a nipple, which is an obvious choking hazard!).  I had been worried about him getting enough milk, and have been wondering if he has a sensitivity to dairy; however, our doctor also said that babies/kids don't need any milk of any kind after 12 months.  So we'll see how all of this goes!

Thanks to all of you who had been praying for us.
We are feeling much better now than last week.             

Here are some pictures of Josiah going sledding.

There is the tiniest hill in our backyard that is just enough for him...

 although I'm sure he wishes it were much bigger! It is delightful to hear him squeal and laugh.  Once, I was running so fast that I tipped the sled over and he did a nose-dive into the snow.  He stood up and laughed, then wanted me to do it again!

It has been so nice the past few weeks, so we have tried to enjoy being outside as much as we can.

Josiah now prefers to walk beside the stroller rather than be buckled in it. This is great, yet does not come

 without some annoyances...I'll let you imagine!

On the not-so-warm days, we have been trying to find indoor fun.

Josiah has been loving the rides at Crystal Palace.

Although he tolerates the baby rides, he has had his sights set on the roller coaster, but I think he has a few more inches to go before he is tall enough to go on it!

I have been busy shopping for size 3T clothes. It seems like we breezed by size 2. He is still wearing some stuff; however, he seems to be bursting out of many pieces.  Although I do enjoy shopping, I would be happy to replace my wardrobe once over before I have to replace his again!

We have been enduring some sleeping difficulties at our house lately.  For a good part of the past year, Josiah has been sleeping through the night. Lately, he is getting up many times, and having trouble falling back to sleep.  Chris and I are feeling completely exhausted and can't remember the last time we have slept for more than an hour or two at a time. It is so hard to go back to this! But we're hanging in, and hoping for better days ahead.

Highlights

Just wanted to give you some highlights from our Christmas. It was a really great break, even though it was the first year we haven't had a full two weeks off (because of our big fall trip).  I think it went well because everything was really spread out, and because I didn't kill myself to make everything perfect (or as close as I could possibly get!). 

Here is a picture of Josiah with his first gift. In my family, we always opened one gift on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas morning. That first one was always so exciting! 

This is Christmas morning:

We stayed in NB until Christmas afternoon, and then headed to NS to visit some of my family.

Josiah did really well for the most part, especially since his schedule was all over the place.  He did not always understand that there was something exciting behind the wrapping paper, but he sure is having a ton of fun with some pretty cool new toys!

This picture is of Josiah 'helping' Chris assemble his new set of wheels!

The funniest thing that Josiah did was take a broom to my mother's Christmas tree! He didn't really mean to do it, but when he saw all of us react to the broom knocking into the tree, he turned around and started swinging. Thankfully nothing was broken!

In the past couple of years, for various reasons, we have lost some of the traditions that we came to love. So I found myself rethinking things this year, and wondering how I can continue developing new traditions that we will come to love just as much as the old ones.

Although we have never really been big into celebrating New Year's since we've been married, we do think a lot about this holiday! And yes, I do make resolutions, and have already implemented 3 that are working out well. I find it a really nice time of year to have a fresh start. So here it goes! Happy 2010 everyone!

Pre-holiday Activities:

1) Spent Christmas bonus on a new camera- YAY!

2) Fun in the Snow! Josiah calls it ---"dnnooooow". He fell face first, which he didn't like. He actually stood at our back door and said,"Go, go," meaning that he wanted to go inside. Josiah has never made this request on that side of the door before.

(Unfortunately, this was on the way out the door. It is always a wrestling match, and here he is flinging his boots off (for probably the fifth time) before we went out this morning!)

3) Made a ginger bread house. Chris had never done one before, and has always mentioned that it may be fun. So we gave it a whirl.

The results kind of look like we drank a bit too much while we were doing it. Next year...I will make my own from scratch. The icing was too drippy!

4) Counting down.. this is a new advent calendar I got while we were on our trip. Josiah really likes the doors. He tries to climb up and reach it. I think it will be more fun for him next year.

5) Setting boundaries...that Josiah is pushing every day! I love his energy and 'life'...really, I do! I just have to remind myself of that sparkle in his eye when I am experiencing the negative side to his personality. I wouldn't trade his spunk in the good times, but he has been a bit hard to manage as of late. We wrestle with how to discipline without damaging his spirit and 'wild side'! Wish us luck! Oh, and he is cutting five new teeth all at once, which probably isn't making the behaviours any better!

6) Events: We attended my staff party a couple of weeks ago. It was the Allison Baptist dinner theater. Very well done! My mom came up to visit, so she babysat for us.  She also watched Josiah so we could shop for his presents.  I didn't realize how hard it was to not spoil your kid/s at Christmas! We did well, but it was hard to not buy two of everything we thought he would like (until I thought of how I might fit it all into our already overcrowded space). Chris went to his staff party on Saturday night. It was a house party. I made two pumpkin cheesecakes to send with him (without the usual candied pecans that go on top, because I burned them very badly!).The family festivities (on my side) begin this weekend, so that will be fun.

7) Decorating. Very minimal this year. Josiah is just at that phase where I can't be bothered to try and keep him out of even more stuff, so we kept it to the basics.  A tree with all non-breakable ornaments and lights, and a few decorations on some top shelves. Glad that Christmas means way more than how my place looks!

8) Listening to great Christmas music, and starting to watch those funny and sappy holiday movies...I just can't help it!

9) Finding ways to both quiet my heart and celebrate!!!