Ten Months Old!!

Better late than never, right?! Josiah turned ten months old last Sunday but it took a few days to coordinate taking his monthly pictures. This month's big news....we have a fourth tooth!!! After a mere four months of waiting for it to pop through, it FINALLY made it's appearance on Saturday! I'm not sure who was more relieved, Josiah or Seth and I:-) Josiah has perfected "So Big" and is SO proud of himself, he does it all the time and looks at us with anticipation of our "Good job buddy!!" He is still enamored with Signing Time, I think he has a small crush of Rachel because his face absolutely LIGHTS up when she comes on the screen:-) He is crawling everywhere and has figured out that his parents aren't that exciting so instead of hanging out with us in whatever room we are in, he crawls off in search of a power cord or drawer pull to play with. He is pulling himself up to things and gets up on his knees, he will be standing before we know it! He still likes to scream but has added back in more ba ba ba, da da da and other babbling words. Overall, he is wonderful and we are enjoying all of the little moments as we watch him grow:-) Here are the pictures with a small disclaimer...the wet spot on his pants is not a potty accident, it's drool:-)

Little golfer...note the Masters items a la Uncle Josh

"SO BIG!"

Another Signing Time protege?

Josiah has recently discovered the wonderful world of Signing Time DVDs. His cousin Miles has been a fan for a LONG time so we were curious to see if the trend would continue with Josiah. All signs point to yes! Here are a few pictures of Miles showing Josiah the signs as they come on the screen and a video of Josiah's reaction to the DVD starting. Normally I might worry that he was too excited about TV at such a young age but Signing Time is the only thing that gets his attention this way and given that Miles' vocabulary is out of this world and likely due in part to Signing Time, I'm ok with it:-) PS-I posted a few other things today so scroll down to see more...

"Hey Miles, look out, I can't see the screen!"

"Ball 'Siah, sign ball"

Excited much??

A busy weekend!

We had a very busy weekend with a LOT of places to be and people to see! Friday night found Seth attending "Cardinal Idol" to see his brother Noah perform with his housemates, they sang "Pretty Woman" in drag. Priceless. I'm SO upset I missed it but lucky for me, it was videotaped so I'll get to see it after all! After the big show, they headed to Binkies on the Lake to celebrate Seth's aunt Sara's 40th birthday. There were a few surprises at the party when his aunt Rhonda and cousin Ajia flew in from CA to surprise the family! Grandma and Grandpa Friedt also got in on the surprise when they arrived home from AZ just in time to celebrate with everyone. Unfortunately, Josiah and I missed out on all the fun...we stayed home and both had early bedtimes due to the nearly sleepless night Thursday...darn teeth!! Saturday started early with Seth going to a Men's breakfast at church. When he got home, I headed out to meet Robin and the boys for Henry's 3 month photo shoot. With the help of fruit snacks and mini M&Ms, Miles was a dream to work with (no, we are not above bribery:-)) Henry cooperated pretty well also and I think the photographer got some great shots! Afterward, they came over to visit and hang out with Josiah, here are a few cute shots from the day:

Note the tool belt AND tie...either a preppy carpenter or handy IT professional in the making!

"Hello world!"

So seepy, cousin 'Siah's crib is comfy!

Henry likes tummy time!

Saturday evening, we headed to Grammy and Grandpa's to celebrate Grammy Cindy's birthday. We had yummy food and a great time playing outside, relaxing and talking with everyone. It is also Cindy's sister, Sara (different Sara than Friday, that was Gary's sister...try to keep up:-)) birthday soon so they both got candles on the cake and had Happy Birthday sang to them, Addie was fascinated with the candles and so helpful blowing them out!

"Higher daddy!"

Swinging time!

Make a wish Cindy!

Happy Birthday Cindy and Sara!

Sunday was another busy day with church and a Confirmation party for Seth's cousin Allison (congrats again Allie!) followed by dinner with my parent's to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary (which was the 19th) and then home to C-R-A-S-H!! I didn't mention that in addition to all this going on, Brian and Blair are busy as bees (with the help of Kyle, Marc, Jen, Seth, Cody and Les) getting their new house move-in ready (pictures to follow soon) In fact, they are still painting as I type so we will be headed there later tonight to assist as much as we can! What a whirlwind!! Josiah ended the weekend with a relaxing bath, I think he’s got the right idea:

Ahh, nothing like a relaxing bath after a busy weekend!

An alternative to squealing??

Josiah started doing this a few weeks ago but it took awhile to get it on video. We think this is a better trick than squealing at the top of his lungs and have tried to discuss this with him. Alas, he disagrees and prefers the squeal most of the time. Oh well, here is video anyway:

Uncle Josh came to visit!

Seth's brother Josh lives in Minneapolis but made a special trip down to our neck of the woods to spend the day with Josiah. He had recently been to Augusta GA to watch the practice rounds for the Masters Golf Tournament so he came bearing gifts for us also. Thank you for everything Josh! Josiah was excited to see his uncle and they had a fun day playing together. Here are some shots from the day:

"Gifts for me?? Let's check it out!"

"Sweet! A Josiah-sized putter! Wonder what I can do with this baby besides hit things with it?"

"Excellent chewie toy? Check!" "Better get down to business and practice my putting"

"Hey, Uncle Josh's phone plays music!"

Snuggle time with Uncle Josh

Josiah is trying to teach Uncle Josh his most excellent skill of squealing but his darn hiccups keep interrupting the lesson

Exploring the great outdoors

Last summer we weren't outside nearly as much as we would have liked because Josiah was so little and I was recovering from the joys of birth:-) This year, we have already been out to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been blessed with many times! The other night, we were hanging out at home so we took Josiah into the backyard to do a little exploring. He LOVES being outside and swinging is his new favorite activity. I see a new swing set in our very near future! Side note: Jan, don't be jealous of the green yard, yours is coming soon I just know it!!

"Hey mom, why are you on the swing with me, I can do it myself!"

"Hmm, I wonder if this grass tastes as good as it looks?"

Tree bark is so cool Love this one of my boys:-)

Learning to share

Up to this point we haven't had to deal with sharing issues because 1) Josiah wasn't mobile and 2) he and Miles weren't really interested in the same toys. Well, those days have come to an end and we are now teaching the boys about sharing and taking turns. Difficult to explain to a 10 month old and 2 year old you say?? Yes, it is:-) Here how it's going, yes there is work to be done:

Everything is calm, we each have our own toy

"Hey Miles, what is that you're reading?"

Miles thinks: "Maybe if I move far enough away and smile real nice, he'll forget he wants the book" "How about a hug instead of the book 'Siah?"

"I'll just get my OWN books"

Breaking News!

Today was a BIG day for Josiah so we had to share right away!! First of all, it appears that the L-O-N-G wait for his top teeth to appear is coming to an end! His right front tooth is peeking through and the others seem to be following suit. He isn't too thrilled about us sticking our fingers in his mouth to feel so we have to go on sight mostly but it sure seems like by morning, at least one will actually be through!! What a relief, hopefully this will bring some much needed pain relief for the little guy! In other news...Josiah is crawling!!!! He has been close for a few weeks now, getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth but always sliding back to his belly and scooting backward. Not today though, today he figured out how to move his hands forward and go! Luckily, we caught it on tape. And now, the big moment:

Josiah's first Easter

We were once again blessed to be surrounded by so many of our friends and family for the Easter weekend. We started out Friday night by welcoming 3 house guests for the weekend. My cousins Bill and Jerry and Jerry's dog, Casey came from Milwaukee to celebrate with us and we were very glad to have them!! They were exemplary house guests and didn't complain one bit about being woken up at the crack of dawn by a squealing 9 month old. Saturday we spent part of the day at my parent's house with mom and dad, Nykkole, Robin and Kyle and the boys, Marc and Jen, Brian and Blair, Grandma and Grandpa Greseth, Grandma Sissy, Jerry, Bill and 3/4 of our newest "adopted" family members, the Rogers'. Karl and the girls (Sophia and Jocelyn) joined us, momma Kristin had to work:-( We had a blast playing games and visiting and of course, stuffing ourselves silly with appetizers. We even dared a game of Risk and surprisingly, finished in under 6 hours! Seth, Josiah and I also ventured out to Grandma and Grandpa Friedt's farm for a few hours to enjoy more visiting and catching up with the Friedts...and of course, more stuffing ourselves with good food! We got to meet the newest member of the family, baby William who is 4 months old now and as sweet as can be! I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures this time but hope to get together soon with them so we can get a picture or two! Sunday after church, we were once again at my parent's house for a more "traditional" holiday meal since we were all so undernourished at that point in the weekend....riiiiiggghhht. But we were treated to a feast of ham and all the fixins including the world's yummiest cheese potatoes provided by Brian....excellent work Brian!! We also managed to squeeze in a few more games in between the Easter Egg Hunt, eating and naps. We missed seeing Grammy Cindy, Grandpa Gary, and Uncle Noah who are in Hot Springs, AR for the week but we are glad they are having a great time and look forward to seeing them when they get back! We are also looking forward to hearing all the details from Uncle Josh when he gets back from his trip to the practice rounds of the Masters! Here are some pictures from the weekend including a couple of collages since there were just too many cute pictures to pick from...enjoy!

Jocelyn and Sophia Rogers join the party!

Easter fun!

All ready to see what's in my Easter baskets! "You can keep the toys and new bibs, I'll keep the Easter grass!!"

"Wow, the Easter bunny is as generous as Santa!"

"Again, toys not necessary, I'll just chew on the decorations"

"Sweet, more Easter grass in this basket!!"

Family picture:-)

"All done partying, time to head home to my bed!"

Help from Cousin Miles

Miles has become quite the "mentor" to Josiah over the past few weeks, it's adorable to watch! Whenever he sees him he says "'Siah!! Hi Siah!!" He is teaching him to love watching DVDs, especially Signing Time, Barney and "Nouba" (Cirque du Soleil La Nouba). He is really good about sharing and always gives Josiah one of whatever he has...unless there is ONLY one in which case, the item is too precious to share for long and he hands it to 'Siah and takes it right back saying "Thaaaaank you". It's so cute! Here are a few pictures to show what a helper Miles is:

Teaching 'Siah how to pray...not the favorite lesson of the day I guess:-)

"Pillow 'Siah, lay down"

'Siah doesn't always learn on the first try:-)

"Let me help you with your hat 'Siah, there you go"