18 Months Old

Josh had his 18 month check-up this week and confirmed that he is growing like crazy. He is 34.5 inches tall - jumped up from the 24% to the 97%! His weight and height were right on track. The doctor asked a lot of behavioral questions like:

1. Can he say more than 5 words? Yes - Dadda, Mamma, Nanna, Puppy, Nuk, Soccer, Hockey, Ball, Elmo, Spongebob, Choo Choo, blueberry, Hi,
2. Does he run? Oh yes! He doesn't bend his knees though so it is pretty funny to watch.
3. Does he walk backwards? I said I didn't think so. When I told Jim later than night he proceeded to show me that when Josh is cornered, he will take a few steps back. So the answer I found out was yes.
4. Does he eat with a fork or spoon? Yes. He is actually pretty good at it too! Thanks to daycare for getting him started.
5. Can he stack two blocks on top of one another? Easily. He is really into the jumbo legos right now and putting them together to make garages for his trucks.
6. Does he eat a healthy diet? Yes. He loves fruit, vegetables, dairy, and spaghetti. He knows how to make toast and understands that when the light goes off it is time to pull it out of the toaster. He loves vanilla yogurt with frozen fruit. And eats just about every vegetable. So it is pretty easy to feed him.

We only had a flu shot this time. But I had a lot of questions again regarding vaccines and the link to autism. I have a friend who is very against vaccines and we had a very interesting discussion about it. I didn't have much to offer to the conversation and was frustrated. Our doctor was very understanding and spent a good 5 minutes just answering my questions. It was nice to just talk - rather than be preached to. The doctor gave me a pretty good article to read. It was interesting and gave me some new perspectives on vaccinations. At the end of the day - every parent needs to determine what is best for their child. It is just frustrating at times, because there is no end to the worrying. And people always have something to say about what the right thing is. We just keep trying to do the right thing!

Pictures: My parents came out to visit this month and we went to an apple orchard. They made the carmel apples right in front of you - they were DELICIOUS! For Halloween, Josh was a Lion. We went Trick-Or-Treating with the neighbors, Mike, Jodi, and their daughter Brayden. She was dressed up as Thomas the Train. Josh thought that was pretty cool! They did really well and made it around most of the neighborhood. We dressed up too. Jim and I went as Betty and Barney Rubble. We definitely got some good looks from people!

October already??

The days continue to fly by. We had a rough couple of weeks with Josh. It started the weekend in MN for the reunion. He ate a ridiculous amount of spaghetti before we got into the car. My friend Tyler brought us as he was in the Twin Cities for a Ultimate Frisbee tournament. He dropped us off at my parents about 11 pm. And that is when the fun began. Poor kid puked all over the kitchen floor and me. I figured he was car sick. Then about 30 minutes later. He puked again. So into the tub we both went. After I cleaned up and started the second load of laundry, I got him to fall asleep. He woke up at 4am with a fever. The next morning he was completely fine. All day he ate and played and even napped just like normal. At 1pm, he puked. WHAT? So I was a little nervous about going to the reunion, but my sister said she really didn't mind watching him.

Reunion - it was fun to see people, but I guess I didn't feel like I had enough time to talk to my good friends. They were trying to talk to everyone they usually don't see... so I was busy trying to chase them all down. But all in all it was good.

Back to Josh. So he was fine the rest of the weekend other than running that darn fever. So we kept switching between motrin and tylenol. He willingly took the baby anbesol stuff and so I figured it was his teeth that were causing the problem. My neighbors confirmed that both of their kids puked when the incisor teeth came in. So the entire week we fought the fever, read lots of books, and loaded him up on frozen peas and blueberries - loves them when his teeth hurt.

We were home for the last weekend of September and took Josh swimming. He loved it as usual. Last week I was in Chicago all week for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training. And I actually enjoyed it. I found it refreshing that a company was spending the money to send everyone (HR, finance, engineering, planning, customer service) to this type of training. Granted everyone got different levels of it... but I see how people are using the training everyday at my plant... from HR to the operators on the floor. And things are actually improving.

I couldn't wait to get home and see Josh. So when training got over 2 hours early - I didn't even think that meant I would have to go back to work. So I got Josh out of daycare around 1pm and we went to the park. It was so fun! My boss called while we were there... I didn't try to cover it up and his response - "Good for you, I will keep this short". He then said - I would like you to go to Mich Tech next week and find us a Spring/summer coop for the plant. I was like - um - OKAY! :) Although not liking the idea of traveling 2 weeks in a row... a free trip to Houghton. Definitely not going to pass that up!

Spent the rest of the weekend as a Mom and Josh weekend. It was a blast. We went to a different YMCA this time and the pool was much better. Josh could walk in the water all by himself and play with all the fountains. He played for 1.5 hours until I finally was sick of being a prune. We got all dressed and then went and played on the indoor playground. Then headed to my girlfriend Mandy's for playtime with her two kids. Josh and I crashed when we finally got home. The picture of all the kids in the kennel, yep - her two little ones and Josh. Hilo is such a good dog!

Josh has started doing this funny smile thing whenever he does something new. He just grins super big and cheesy and tilts his head. It is the funniest thing. Today he helped me clean, and I mean really clean. He dusted and helped wipe the floors. Any chance this will last? A clean boy? Hmm... A mom can dream!

Changes

September has been flying by. I realize that I say this quite a bit... but seriously. Time is flying by. We went to the MN state fair before Labor Day weekend. It was great food as usual. We tried to go to all the barns, but most were closed for cleaning of some sort. Then we were up at the lake visiting my family for Labor Day. Josh loved swimming and playing in the sand. Hilo even went for a swim. We visited my Great Great Grandma Leona during the trip too. She is all settled in her new place and had a lot to show us. It is hard to see her getting older, I have known her my entire life and to think that she won't be here is just crazy. I am glad Josh has been able to spend some time with her too. She is 96 and still walking and able to remember who we all are! What a blessing!

We have had a few weekends home. Which is fantastic. We hung out with our new neighbors who are great - a younger couple with one daughter (4 yrs old). Work is going well. I started school again and actually signed up to take the GRE... Grad school will start in January. YIKES. Am I really ready to commit??

I have my 10 year H.S. reunion this Saturday. 10 YEARS! I actually had a dream last night about a few people in my class that I haven't thought about in years! I will blame that on facebook as everyone is looking for everyone else, I am sure trying to prepare for Saturday's events. I am looking forward to seeing people... secretly wishing that some people whom I particularly didn't like are not going to be there. But I don't have to talk to them I guess.

Let's see. Josh. He is just getting so big. I am amazed everyday by something new he has learned. Right now we are working on shoes. He will go get them, sit down in front of me, and unvelcro them. He tries so hard to get them on but just isn't able to. He LOVES to try though. He is saying Blueberry, Nuk, Hi, and Puppy all the time now. It is very difficult to understand, but Jim and I get what he is saying. Glad that sign language still helps everyone else!

This week I decided to give him a bath. Although this time I hopped in there with him. He thought that was HILARIOUS! Because he could really splash me this time. Well he decided to drink some of the bath water... and got too much so he started coughing. And then it turned into vomitting. AWESOME! So I quickly yelled for Jim... got Josh out of the tub and proceeded to drain the tub with floating cheerios. As I am doing this, Josh is leaning over the tub wearing his hooded towel and saying "BLAAAHHH" like he is still puking. Little S#$%. ha ha. He knew exactly what he did. All we could do was laugh.

I love being a parent. But will never opt for a bath again. I am glad it wasn't the other end.

Congratulations Matt and Ami!

Zachary Matthew
Born: September 4, 2008
@ 9:15am
Weight: 9lbs 5 oz
Height: 22 inches

A big healthy little boy! Mom, Dad, and Zachary are doing fantastic! They are having issues posting to their blog... So I figured I would atleast post it on mine!

Can't wait to see pics!