0.75 years of age

Joshua is 9-months old today!

Being Joshua's parents is such fun. We are constantly learning how to best teach and care for him. Some things we now know:

• Punishment. It usually only takes us saying "no" to something for Joshua to burst into tears. But the buttons of the dvd player and the picture frames and candles on the end table are so cool, Joshua is willing to get in trouble just for a few seconds of playtime with them.
• It is not a good idea to laugh when Joshua disobeys in a humorous manner. (for example: While eating dinner, it is funny when a fraction of a second after telling Joshua not to throw cheerios on the floor, he looks at you, holds his fist full of cheerios over the floor and opens his hand without blinking. However, it is not ok to laugh in that moment.)
• Joshua has some kind of 6th sense that wakes him from his nap as soon as I lay down to rest.
• No matter how difficult we make it for him, Joshua will find a way to climb behind the chair and then behind the couch.
• Joshua is a fast crawler.
• Don't worry, he'll let you know if he wants something.

"Mr. Personality" is the best descriptive name for Joshua right now. He smiles big, laughs a lot and cries when he doesn't get his way. Things we know about Joshua:

• Joshua is observant. He will sit quietly and watch what is going on around him. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before he starts trying to do the things he has been watching others do.
• Joshua is all boy. He likes to bang his sippy cup on the table and yell during supper, he loves to wrestle with Dave, and already thinks it is funny to pass gas.
• Joshua's legs are ticklish.
• He loves to eat. Last Wednesday Joshua ate the following foods for lunch: carrots, apricots and mixed fruit, country berry applesauce, meatloaf, mac and cheese and green beans.
• Joshua loves books. He will sit and turn the pages of his books over and over. When he gets fussy at school his teacher puts him in his bed with some books and he quickly calms down and entertains himself for a while.
• He likes to be startled or scared. There are very few things that can get Joshua laughing harder then Dave jumping out from behind the door and scaring him. (The same is not true for Joshua's mom!)

We have some fun family things coming up in the next few months. Aunt B will be here for Halloween and her birthday weekend, Abigail's 1st birthday, a family reunion at Thanksgiving, and of course Dave is looking forward to hunting season. I'm sure all of these events will produce some excellent blog entries.

Thanks for reading our blog. We'll see you again next week!