Yesterday,
we went to Josiah's 15 month check up. As many of you know the doctor
visits have become not such a fun thing for me because of his whole
weight issue. Well, the appointment went GREAT! He actually went above
the 10th%! He now weighs a whopping 21 1/2 lbs and is 32 1/2 inches
long. Can we say he is definitely a Greenwood? 
He did get three shots yesterday and should be good for quite a few
months. He is running a little bit of a fever today, but he is still in
a great mood. He did his best yesterday with his shots--he cried for a
few seconds and then gave the nurse a great big smile. He was
definitely hamming it up for all the nurses, doctors and the other
patients.
He continues to
grow so fast before our eyes. This week, he has learned to sign
"please"; "all done" and "thank you." It has taken us FOREVER to get
him to learn just one, but has picked up three in a week. He is also
doing really well with "Your Baby Can Read." He started his 3rd video
this week. It's amazing that he knows the words "giraffe", "point",
"wave", "diaper", "ear", "elephant", "arms up", "cats", "eyes",
"smiling", "rattle", "clap", "tiger", "mouth", "dog", "tongue", and
"nose". He can say just a few of those words, but he mostly makes the
sounds or does the signs we have taught him. It's amazing how much of a
sponge he is and how quickly he picks up on what we show him. He is
really doing well with his walking. The last couple of days he has
gotten a little independent and doesn't want to hold my hand when we go
for a little walk.
We are in full swing with packing. We
have a week before we move into our new place. Chris is going to do a
little moving here and there throughout the week. On Thursday, I will
spend a couple of hours getting the kitchen set up. Then Saturday will
be the big day of moving furniture. We will post some pictures as soon
as we get somewhat settled. Like we have said before, any time you want
to visit the DC area, please let us know. We have plenty of space,
it's free and we're pretty close to the city.
Well,
Josiah has been growing leaps and bounds this week. On Thursday, we
were playing on the living room floor. He was standing up across the
room from me and decided he was going to walk on his own. He comes
walking towards me and stops to get a hug and then continues on his way
around the living room. Since then, he has been walking non-stop. I
called Chris at work to tell him--it was nice to not have to wait until
he was doing teaching class! I told Chris that I was so proud of our
little boy for walking on his own. Chris' response was he would ask me
in a month if I still felt the same way!
This week, we also started him on the toddler food, and he has been
doing a great job with it. He isn't spitting out every bite like he did
before. He has also started talking more. Some of his new words are:
"cat", "glasses", "cracker", "bath", "I got it." We are obviously very
proud of him. He can shake his head no when we ask him something and he
doesn't want it. He shakes his head no and has a smile on his face if
he does want it. He has started learning a few animal sounds. Mommy
has gotten creative on a few sounds, but Josiah has picked them up.
Some sounds that he makes are: a giraffe, tiger, zebra and dog. He has
started pointing where his nose, mouth and ears are. Every once and
awhile he will point to his toes. So as you can see, our little boy is
growing up before our eyes!
Where
has the time gone? I can't believe that Josiah is already 14 months!
He continues to be the joy of our lives. We had a rough patch when we
were in GA with sleeping, but we have gotten him back on his schedule.
He would scream each night I put him down. My mom told me that my
grandfather (who was a doctor) said a baby would never cry over 59
minutes. Well, Josiah blew that out of the water! The first night
home, he screamed when we put him down. I was so thankful that Chris
was here to help out. Since then, he has been fine and goes right
down. I guess he just likes having his own bed or maybe it is having
his Daddy around.
We took a
trip to the Frying Pan Farm on Wednesday, and Josiah absolutely LOVED
it! He loved seeing all the animals and hearing the sounds they made.
He even loved riding on the tractor. When Chris took him off, he
started crying.
He is eating much better now. We no longer
have to give him crackers, cheerios or bread in between his bites. He
still wants the smooth stuff, but I've been adding chunks of veggies and
fruits. A couple of days ago, I started adding chicken chunks, and he
seems to be doing well with that. He has mastered drinking out of a
straw, but still has a sippy cup when he drinks his milk before nap/bed
time.
Chris finishes his last day of teaching today. He is
very excited about that. Next Sunday, the church will be voting to make
him full time. He will continue with what he is doing now and will add
the youth position. We are very thankful for this move to full time
ministry because we all know part-time jobs aren't part-time. We will
begin looking at places closer to the church and hope to be moved by the
beginning of October. God has truly blessed the Greenwoods, and we are
so thankful. We know that ministering to the youth will require him to
be gone some nights out of the week, but with not teaching it gives him
the flexibility to come rescue Mommy during lunch if she needs it once
the baby is here.
Hope everyone is doing well. Come back next week and look at G2's website to see pictures and to find out what we are having!
We
went back to the doctor for a weight check, and Josiah has gained some
weight. He is now 20 pounds and back in the 10th percentile! So there
will be no tests--Praise the Lord! I'm so glad that we didn't have to
make that decision. In our hearts, we feel like nothing is wrong, but
you can't ignore the "what if" that lingers in the back of your mind.
We have changed how he eats. Instead of doing complete table food, we
have add chunks of food to his baby food. This seems to be working, and
he is eating pretty well. We will continue to try to transition him to
food, but we have gotten it out of our mind that he HAS to eat table
food. He has done everything else in his own timing so why would this
be any different?
We go
tomorrow to have a check-up for Baby G2. I always get a little anxious
because I am always worried that we might not hear a heartbeat. I guess
I will be worrying about this baby for the rest of my life along with
Josiah, so why not start now? We will post an update tomorrow on how that appointment goes, so come back for another visit.
Well,
we went to the doctor today for his 12 month check-up to find out that
Josiah has dropped down to the 5th% in his weight. That means we go
back in another 6 weeks to have a weight check. It is hard to not get
frustrated. We have been trying to transistion him to table food, but
he isn't very into it. He will eat for so long and when he decides that
he is done, then he is done. The doctor said that depending on where
he is in 6 weeks, they might do some bloodwork to make sure his thyroid
is fine and some other tests. I'm trying to not get down about it and
hoping that adding whole milk and some other foods he couldn't eat
because he wasn't a year yet will help him. Please continue to pray
that he will gain weight between now and then. Other than his weight,
the doctor is very happy with how he is doing. He is just shy of 32"
for his height, so you can see that he is a VERY tall boy!
We'll keep you posted on how he is doing. Thanks ahead of time for the prayers.
Well,
we have finally recovered from Josiah's first birthday! We had a great
time with the friends and family who came to celebrate Josiah's first
year of life. We had quite a few people from the church come who have
been very special to our family since we've moved here. My mom and
Tayler also stopped on their way back from VT to spend a couple of days
with us.
Josiah had a farm
animal party with cows, pigs, roosters, etc. We even managed to bring
out a few of his John Deere decorations. My mom, Tayler and I made his
mini-cake along with some cupcakes for everyone else. He got lots of
fun and NOISY toys that he is absolutely loving! He told us before his
birthday that he wished to get some toys that were more for his age
since he wasn't going to be a baby anymore. Well, I think he got his
wish.
As Chris and I reflect over the last year, we realize
how blessed we are to have Josiah in our lives. We are so honored to
have him as our son. Our prayer is that we will foster his
characteristics in such a way that he will bring honor and glory to our
Father in heaven. It's been amazing to watch his personality develop
over the last year. He really is a happy boy that brings much joy and
laughter to our family. I told Chris the other night if all of our
children could be like him, I'd have 10 kids! : ) But I know that
there is only one of him and for that I am grateful. Well, Daddy is
going to take a moment to reflect, so I'm going to sign off. We thank
you again for ALL the prayers that have been lifted up on our
behalf. Please come back in a few days to look at his birthday pictures
(waiting for a CD to come---Photography Mommy was busy being a hostess,
so Mimi took the pictures for us).
Hello all,
I
never knew that having a son would be so much fun. This last year has
been very challenging, but I wouldn't trade it for all the riches of the
world...or sleep. Seeing his face light up when I come home from work
is the best gift I could ever receive and I get it every day. Sara does
such a good job keeping up with him every day and somehow manages to
take care of herself and the unexpected blessing yet to come. We are
blessed to have all our needs met and every now and then get some of our
wants too. We are trying to figure out how to make our cars
into Transformers so we can join them together and form a Mini-van. If
you have any tips please let me know. We can't thank you enough for the
encouraging notes, e-mails, and phone calls over the last year. They
mean a tremendous amount to us both. I hope you have a great rest of the
week, and may God bless you richly with His grace.
Well,
Josiah is officially 11 months. I can't believe he will be turning one
in just a month. We took him to the doctor yesterday because he got
his first cold and was going on day 17. We weren't concerned about him
having a cold until he started getting a nasty cough whenever we laid
him down and he was grabbing his ears. I guess Chris had some problems
with his ears when he was younger, so Chris is sensitive to Josiah's
ears. The doctor checked him out. His ears were clear and his lungs
sounded fine. She told us to run a shower and let him sit in the steam
before he goes to bed. She also told us to elevate his mattress and to
suction his nose out really good throughout the day. I told her that I
had been suctioning his nose so much that each time I bring him to the
changing table he starts to cry. I thought about suctioning his nose in
places that he shouldn't be---near the CD rack, the wires he is trying
to chew, the Shark sweeper---but decided against it. That would be the
easy way to discipline!
Let's
see what else is going on with Josiah....Last night after Josiah had
gone to bed, he started crying--not normal for him. Chris went to get
him and all of a sudden I heard on the monitor, "Mommy, come here.
Quick!" I got a little panicked thinking there was something wrong with
him. When I got in there, Josiah was sitting up in his crib. He
figured out how to sit up from lying down. He has done it 2 more times
since then. Josiah has also started saying, "Momma!" and is working on
"Dadda." He will say the "d" sound every once in awhile, but hasn't
consistently put the "a" sound with it. He is also working on signing
the word "dog." He will do it when we do it, but hasn't done it on his
own yet. He is standing up more and more. Chris got Josiah to pull
himself up on one of his toys the other day. Josiah likes to drop
himself in your lap when he is standing up and you are sitting behind
him. He will laugh and laugh when he does this. He still favors the
army crawl, but is crawling on all fours a little more. He has also
taken a few steps when we walk with him.
Chris and I are
doing well. We will be heading to NC on June 10th for a week to see
Papa T and Lin-Lin. Josiah will also be meeting his great-grandparents
and great-aunt from TN for the first time. We are excited to take a
four generation Potter picture. Chris will have about 3 weeks off
before he starts summer classes. I was thinking of going to VT with my
momto see my cousin and her new baby, but decided to stay in town and
spend some time with Chris, while he has the time off. Hopefully, we
will find some neat places to go visit with Josiah.
We can't
believe that Josiah has been in our life for almost a year. We thank
you for all the prayers that have been lifted up on his behalf. Please,
keep them coming because I have a feeling the fun is just beginning!
