Sweet cheeks

Just because this one makes me smile...  :)

We were sitting in the car at the gas station, waiting for the attendant to finish up so we could turn the car (and the AC!) back on.  Gotta love NJ and its mandatory full-service gas stations...  Joshua kept craning his neck to look first at me and then at David, as if he was wondering what the holdup was.  Because he was just so stinkin' cute, I pulled out the camera and caught him trying to get his daddy's attention:


Look at those sweet baby cheeks!!  And that look of resignation -- he's such a sweet baby boy.  :)

For more super cute faces, check out this week's Shutter Love Tuesdays photo challenge at Trendy Treehouse!  [And check it out, it's my first little foray into the world of photo challenges... Not sure if I'm going to do this on any kind of regular basis, but I thought this photo deserved to be shared with the world.  :)]

Victory!!!

As usual, I have a number of blog posts in the works, commemorating some of the busyness that has been our lives of late...

But I wanted to take a brief moment to post this absolutely beautiful photograph:


Joshua.  Asleep.  ON HIS BELLY.

It was a rough week of him figuring out why and how he was ending up on his belly in his crib, but one morning last week, he all of a sudden decided he was okay with it.  And now, it seems, he's decided that sleeping on his belly is the only way to go -- we put him down for his naps on his back, and he immediately reaches for his ugly doll (Erin, he really, really loves it -- thank you so much for making it for our little boy!!), rolls over, and falls asleep on his belly.  It's the cutest thing!

And his parents are rejoicing at this wonderful, calm, happy turn of events.  :)

"Is this going to be forever?"

A year or so ago, a video floated around the internet, of a little boy coming out of anesthesia after a dentist appointment.  The poor little guy had no life experience to help him out with the aftereffects of the anesthesia -- he had no idea what was happening to him, or if it was going to last forever.


This week, David and I have been quoting that particular line from the video ("Is this going to be forever??") to each other, because it's so apt for what's been going on with Joshua...

Our little guy has learned how to roll over from his back to his belly!  Which is a great developmental milestone to reach (our boy is so strong!), but I'm afraid it's been a very disconcerting one to poor Joshua... He's been rolling over in his crib, waking himself up as he's drifting off to sleep, and it's clear that he doesn't like it.  :(

His comfort move for a while now has been to roll over onto his side while drifting off to sleep, clutching at either the extra fabric of his sleep sack or a little stuffed animal.  A few days ago, that comforting side roll developed into a full-fledged roll onto his belly -- and I'm pretty sure the very first time that happened, he fell onto his belly, which startled him awake.  He thought he was going into his nice, comfy side roll, and all of a sudden his belly is whomped and he found himself in his playtime position on his belly.  He started screaming then -- as though he were asking the world WHY this terrible thing was happening to him, and why he couldn't just be left alone to fall asleep.

Since then, almost every nap has started out with a long cycle of him rolling onto his belly and not liking it one bit.  We've been trying to leave him on his belly for a little bit, to help him get used to being face down in his crib (either to learn how to sleep on his belly, or to remember how to roll back over onto his back), but it hasn't really worked so far.  While he no longer screams in fear immediately upon finding himself on his tummy, he certainly isn't happy, and his whimpers of frustration quickly escalate into full-out crying if we don't come back in and flip him over.  We're really hoping he'll turn the corner and grow out of this soon.

In the meantime, though, we're trying to find the humor in this situation.  The poor little guy just doesn't know what's happening to him, you know?  He's on his back in his crib, rolling to his side for comfort as he always has, and then all of a sudden his world is flipped upside down.  He hasn't yet realized that he's the one doing it to himself, and that he can control the situation.  He's stuck on his belly, and really doesn't know whether it's going to be forever or not!  Poor wee guy!

Joshua Watch: Five Months

Our cute wee baby is now a strapping young lad of five months!  And he just keeps growing like crazy -- he's definitely taller than his plush tiger now!


This has been a real month of change for young Joshua.  I went back to work part-time at the beginning of the month, which caused a bit of a disruption to the routine we had going on for our little guy.  He had a tough transition to eating from a bottle offered by daddy, but he seems to be resigned to the idea now.  Though he's now eating well from bottles, the fact that he could go an extra hour or two between meals (he used to basically wait until I came back for lunch and would eat extra then, and do the same in the evening when I came home) led us to the conclusion that we could try stretching his routine out to four hours.  That was a bit of a tough transition as well, but we've made it through, and he's now happily eating every four-plus hours.  Which sometimes stresses his mama out, but I have to remind myself that if he's able to sleep well, and is still eating five full meals a day, he's probably not starving to death.  :)

My return to work has had some hugely positive benefits as well.  Joshua has always loved playing with his daddy, but it's now very clear that David is his favorite playmate in the whole entire world.  :)  His spending more time one-on-one with David seems to have coincided with an increase in his general interactiveness -- Joshua now has a clear preference for playing with us, rather than playing with toys, and it's so rewarding to see his face light up when we come into his field of vision!

Joshua has also had opportunities to interact with others in a much bigger way this month.  David took him to the year-end PEF staff meetings, where Joshua was held and played with by all of the others on staff, all of whom so love our little boy.  :)  And with the onset of summer PEF activities, where everyone is on a more relaxed schedule and can hang out for longer periods, more students have had opportunities to get to know our little guy.  So we're starting to establish a pool of potential babysitters.  :)

And in other developmental tidbits -- Joshua is now very handy at grabbing his toys, holding onto them tightly, and bringing them to his mouth.  And his current favorite toys are his toes.  :)  He has also started discovering his voice, and likes to make startlingly loud shrieks at random, just because he can...  We call them his happy pterodactyl noises.  And he now loves his baths.  He's discovered the joys of splashing about, and he looks up at me so adoringly while I bathe him -- it's so wonderful being able to share that with him!

And he's become resigned to the fact that he's my favorite little model.  :)  I got a few cute expressions from him in our "official" 5-month photo shoot, with him propped up in his beloved Poang chair:


But I got the really cute shots later that day when he was playing with his happy yellow ducky, a present from his Uncle Eric:






One of which is now in our updated blog header.  :)

Our little boy is growing up so quickly... It's a good thing we're chronicling it all with these Joshua Watch posts, because seriously, it's all going by in the blink of an eye!

Miriam's bridal shower!

Our wedding-filled weekend was capped on Sunday (6/27), with a bridal shower for Miriam!  Miriam was a freshman my senior year, so I got to know her a bit then, but we've really gotten closer more recently as she's been in one of the small groups David and I lead.  She and her then-boyfriend Andrew started coming to our small group a couple years ago, and we've had the joy of watching their relationship grow.  They're getting married on 10/10/10, and we're so incredibly excited for them!

The bridal shower was such an elegant affair -- an afternoon tea party, complete with dainty tea sandwiches, scrumptious scones, and beautiful desserts, and individual china teapots for every guest.  :)  We also got to hear some of the backstory of Andrew's proposal, and played a number of silly shower games that were actually a lot of fun.

And of course, I took a ton of photos.  :)


The beautiful bride-to-be

Individual teapots, and tower of delicious treats

Heidi, fellow small grouper, pouring herself some tea

Sisters!!  Naomi, Miriam's younger sister, is her maid of honor

Katie B., age 9 (I think?) and Miriam, both having fun with the food displays

Miriam and her lovely bridesmaids

It really was such a lovely shower.  I had to leave a bit early, since I had to get back home in time to feed our little guy, so I'm sorry I missed the end... We all had such a fun time, though!

Many blessings on you both, Miriam and Andrew, as you prepare for marriage!  We love you!

Anna and David!

The second wedding of the day on June 26 was Anna and David's!  Anna was also Princeton '03, and is part of what I think of as my extended roommate friend circle -- so we got to catch up with the girls I lived with or near all four years of college!

David is a post-doc at the Institute for Advanced Study, a center associated with the university, originally created as an intellectual haven for Einstein back in the '30s.  So Anna and David had their wedding on the grounds of the Institute, right next to a beautiful little lake.

Again, no photos of the reception, but here are some from the ceremony!


String quartet on the banks of the lake


David and his mother, with the bridal party in the background

Anna makes her appearance!

Anna and her beautiful wedding gown

They look so happy together!

I really like close-up hand shots at weddings  :)

The first kiss!

Dr. and Mrs. Shih!

So Ed proposed to Elaine on the banks of this lake.  When we asked them where exactly he had proposed, this is what happened.  :)

Elaine, me and Diana -- senior year roommates!  (Yashih had already gone inside, I think; I should try to photoshop her in!)

Anna and David, it was such a beautiful ceremony.  Thank you so much for inviting us!  We're glad you're sticking around in Princeton for at least a little while longer!

Gabby and Jimmy!

Saturday, June 26 was the the first of our double-booked wedding days for the summer... We've got another one coming up in August!  I tell ya, we're just too popular...  :)

We had hoped to bring Joshua to both ceremonies and both receptions that day.  What we didn't really count on was the fact that it would be in the upper 90s that day -- and that both ceremonies were held in unairconditioned venues.  Poor little Joshua wasn't a fan of the heat and humidity... And because no bride, however gracious and forgiving she may be, wants a screaming baby to be the soundtrack of her wedding video, we decided that Joshua needed to be taken home early.  So David took our little man home, and I stayed for the ceremonies.  We did end up bringing Joshua to both receptions, so he got to meet tons of people that day!

So first up for us that day was the wedding of Gabby L. and Jimmy T., in the university chapel.  The chapel is such a grand and imposing space, with soaring columns and stained glass windows -- and Gabby and Jimmy had a fairy tale of a wedding to go with the venue!  Complete with an incredibly full princess-like wedding gown -- the perfect look for Gabby.

It was also so fun to catch up with old Manna friends -- Gabby was '03 and Jimmy was '04, so their guest list included pretty much all of the Manna folk of my era.  :)  Many of them have been stalking this blog (hi, friends!) and were so excited to finally meet Joshua in person -- he has quite the extensive fan base!

I didn't take any photos of the reception, because I was too busy holding Joshua and catching up with people... But here are some of our favorites from the ceremony!  [Nerdy photography note: I'm so psyched about the high-ISO handling of our new camera!  Still wish I had a faster telephoto lens, but I think I've been getting better with low-light photography, and I'm excited about that!]


Jimmy catches his first glimpse of his bride

Gabby's beautiful gown, and her walk down the aisle with her father

Hands clasped

Exchange of rings -- I love the smiles here!

Honoring the parents -- Gabby's dad and mom

The first kiss!

Mr. and Mrs. Tieng!  I also love how many cameras there were at this wedding...

The happy couple being greeted by bubbles
Gabby and Jimmy, we had such a wonderful time at your wedding.  What a beautiful celebration of your love!  May God bless you both as you embark upon your life together!