May Update
5/1 - 5/11
May started off with a bout of crankiness from the Josh-meister, which was not fun. Growing up means learning new life skills, I suppose, but I really wish that new ways of being cranky wasn't a life skill for infants. This was trying on the both of us, as it was added on to the already too-present stresses of work and daily life. That week was not a fun one for us, even if Josh was content to happily play after driving us over the edge. Thankfully, on Friday the 5th, we had a mini-breakthrough. After staring at our food longingly for the past few months, Josh was starting to show signs that he could finger-feed himself, and so we tried it. And it worked! Immediately, Josh was very keen on feeding himself, though proficiency took a while to develop. And this was in spite of another tooth coming in, which we saw for the first time the next day. Thankfully, the weekend was nice and happy.
I took that Monday off to catch up on yard work, which turned out to be a very good use of my time. Grass was cut, edged, watered, fertilized and treated. Many weeds died that day. That Thursday, the 11th, Josh had his last PT appointment. He wasn't 100% better--that rarely happens anyway--but his head posture was much better than when we started. It seemed weird to say goodbye to the PT lady, as it felt like we just got to know her. But we weren't going to miss the drive in to Mott's, even if it was a nice break from routine for both us and Josh.
5/12 - 5/14
The next day, Jenn had a dress rehearsal, which kind of killed the evening. Not that it would have been terribly different, since playing with Josh and getting him ready for bed is always the ritual after work. But the dress rehearsal was for the Dave Bruebeck concert the next day. And Jenn's friend in the choral union invited us to take advantage of their baby sitter so I could go! Now, I had never heard of Dave Bruebeck before, but it turns out he is one of the great jazz composers of the 1950's. If you haven't heard the name, you've probably heard his music--even if you don't like jazz! It was a lifetime achievement award presentation, so it was a summation of his life works, which included a lot of stuff few people had heard. Since I rather like jazz, it was quite an evening! Afterwords, we went out with Jenn's friend and husband to Zanzibar, where we had a fabulous time!
The day after the concert was Mother's Day--Jenn's first as an actual mother. It was also our niece's baptism, much to Jenn's chagrin. It was a pleasant enough time, but not exactly how Jenn wanted to spend her day. Still, little Elizabeth got splashed, food was provided, and then we mosied on our way. It was a rainy day, and Jenn's mood was starting to follow the weather, until I gave her a gift cert for a massage. The rest of the day was spent playing with Josh, reading and napping. At day's end, Jenn was pleased, and conceded that she had a good day.
5/15 - 5/29
The next week was pretty uneventful, although I did have a minor change of life perspective that was fairly noteworthy. Josh also added yet another tooth, bringing the total to six--four on top, two on bottom. On Saturday, Jenn headed to a scrapbooking crop, where she assembled a mind-boggling number of scrapbook pages, which made her feel good. And Josh was fairly agreeable during the day, which made me feel good. That Sunday, Josh was fawned over at a church gathering for one of the organists, who was moving to North Carolina. While there, Josh managed to devour a peeled grape and a cube of cheese, further cementing his desire for finger food. Group laughter in close spaces managed to freak Josh out though, which was our first indication that he was not actually immune to loud noises. So, it was a learning experience for us, as well as being enjoyable.
The following week was also rather uneventful, although work could have been better for the both of us. Josh turned nine months on Thursday, which we remembered in time to take some comemorative pictures. Then, Jenn took that Friday off, which was much needed and well deserved. I came home to a rested wife, and a son with yet another tooth. This led neatly into Memorial Day weekend, which kept Jenn in good spirits. My parents came out that Sunday, and spied a new trick Josh had picked up--swaying to music! It was absolutely the cutest, and he kept a pretty good beat, too! Memorial Day was mostly a quiet day to ourselves, although we had some friends over and grilled out. An idyllic end to the long weekend.
5/30 - 5/31
The idyllic weekend gave way to a grueling week, however, as the choral union kept Jenn in rehearsal all week--with most of them in Detroit. So, I spent my evening watching Josh and doing chores after he was in bed. The morning routine was broken up a little by Josh's nine-month checkup on the 31st, however. Josh was doing fine, and weighed in at 24 lbs, 9 oz, and 29-1/4 inches. That put him in the 94th percentile in weight, a couple points down from his six-month weigh-in. But still a hoss, and so we continued on into June.
May started off with a bout of crankiness from the Josh-meister, which was not fun. Growing up means learning new life skills, I suppose, but I really wish that new ways of being cranky wasn't a life skill for infants. This was trying on the both of us, as it was added on to the already too-present stresses of work and daily life. That week was not a fun one for us, even if Josh was content to happily play after driving us over the edge. Thankfully, on Friday the 5th, we had a mini-breakthrough. After staring at our food longingly for the past few months, Josh was starting to show signs that he could finger-feed himself, and so we tried it. And it worked! Immediately, Josh was very keen on feeding himself, though proficiency took a while to develop. And this was in spite of another tooth coming in, which we saw for the first time the next day. Thankfully, the weekend was nice and happy.
I took that Monday off to catch up on yard work, which turned out to be a very good use of my time. Grass was cut, edged, watered, fertilized and treated. Many weeds died that day. That Thursday, the 11th, Josh had his last PT appointment. He wasn't 100% better--that rarely happens anyway--but his head posture was much better than when we started. It seemed weird to say goodbye to the PT lady, as it felt like we just got to know her. But we weren't going to miss the drive in to Mott's, even if it was a nice break from routine for both us and Josh.
5/12 - 5/14
The next day, Jenn had a dress rehearsal, which kind of killed the evening. Not that it would have been terribly different, since playing with Josh and getting him ready for bed is always the ritual after work. But the dress rehearsal was for the Dave Bruebeck concert the next day. And Jenn's friend in the choral union invited us to take advantage of their baby sitter so I could go! Now, I had never heard of Dave Bruebeck before, but it turns out he is one of the great jazz composers of the 1950's. If you haven't heard the name, you've probably heard his music--even if you don't like jazz! It was a lifetime achievement award presentation, so it was a summation of his life works, which included a lot of stuff few people had heard. Since I rather like jazz, it was quite an evening! Afterwords, we went out with Jenn's friend and husband to Zanzibar, where we had a fabulous time!
The day after the concert was Mother's Day--Jenn's first as an actual mother. It was also our niece's baptism, much to Jenn's chagrin. It was a pleasant enough time, but not exactly how Jenn wanted to spend her day. Still, little Elizabeth got splashed, food was provided, and then we mosied on our way. It was a rainy day, and Jenn's mood was starting to follow the weather, until I gave her a gift cert for a massage. The rest of the day was spent playing with Josh, reading and napping. At day's end, Jenn was pleased, and conceded that she had a good day.
5/15 - 5/29
The next week was pretty uneventful, although I did have a minor change of life perspective that was fairly noteworthy. Josh also added yet another tooth, bringing the total to six--four on top, two on bottom. On Saturday, Jenn headed to a scrapbooking crop, where she assembled a mind-boggling number of scrapbook pages, which made her feel good. And Josh was fairly agreeable during the day, which made me feel good. That Sunday, Josh was fawned over at a church gathering for one of the organists, who was moving to North Carolina. While there, Josh managed to devour a peeled grape and a cube of cheese, further cementing his desire for finger food. Group laughter in close spaces managed to freak Josh out though, which was our first indication that he was not actually immune to loud noises. So, it was a learning experience for us, as well as being enjoyable.
The following week was also rather uneventful, although work could have been better for the both of us. Josh turned nine months on Thursday, which we remembered in time to take some comemorative pictures. Then, Jenn took that Friday off, which was much needed and well deserved. I came home to a rested wife, and a son with yet another tooth. This led neatly into Memorial Day weekend, which kept Jenn in good spirits. My parents came out that Sunday, and spied a new trick Josh had picked up--swaying to music! It was absolutely the cutest, and he kept a pretty good beat, too! Memorial Day was mostly a quiet day to ourselves, although we had some friends over and grilled out. An idyllic end to the long weekend.
5/30 - 5/31
The idyllic weekend gave way to a grueling week, however, as the choral union kept Jenn in rehearsal all week--with most of them in Detroit. So, I spent my evening watching Josh and doing chores after he was in bed. The morning routine was broken up a little by Josh's nine-month checkup on the 31st, however. Josh was doing fine, and weighed in at 24 lbs, 9 oz, and 29-1/4 inches. That put him in the 94th percentile in weight, a couple points down from his six-month weigh-in. But still a hoss, and so we continued on into June.