love is patient.: End of Summer Update

We are fairly certain that one day not long from now, Joseph is going to stand up his little almost-2-foot self and walk away. He is growing quickly and watching everything intently, trying to figure out how to do it all himself. Last night he took the first step toward being mobile: he rolled over. We clapped and cheered and he thought it was pretty great for about a minute, until he realized he was on his tummy and he's not terribly fond of that. But, he did it again this morning, so he must have thought it was alright, after all.

He turns 3 months old tomorrow. We haven't been to the doctor in awhile, but he was 10 pounds at his 2 month appointment, and I would guess he's gained at least 1 pound and probably more like 2 since then. I can't really say that he's on a schedule yet, but we are getting there. I'm having trouble convincing him to take a decent morning nap - he prefers to sleep for 12 minutes - but most days will take a good afternoon nap, usually in the swing. I try to get him to catnap at some point in the evenings, because it makes the bedtime hour not so difficult. (But now I just put that all in writing, so tomorrow he will do something completely different.) Nighttime is still pretty unpredictable, but most nights he eats twice. If he does that and goes right back to sleep each time, it's not so bad, but if he fights going back to sleep, it can get exhausting quickly.

I'm trying to enjoy his babyhood despite the unpredictability and lack of sleep. I don't want to wish it away just because right now is tough sometimes. He is so sweet, and most of the time, such a happy little guy. This morning I took him to the Mornings for Moms group at our church, and he spent a good five minutes happily smiling at the mom sitting beside me, just for fun.

He is starting to really look at food and watch us eat. I don't remember Nora doing this until much later. I'm not sure if it's just pretty colors on a white plate that is enticing to him, or if he's really interested in food, but I have a feeling he's going to be eating whatever Nora is eating as early as we'll let him.

Last weekend we took our first roadtrip with Joseph. He generally hates his carseat, except when we hook it into the stroller for a walk outside, but he did okay on the way there. The way home was more difficult - because Ryan had come back early to work, my dad brought us home, and I think he was probably reconsidering that offer by the time we finally got here. But we survived it and had a lot of fun. Aside from one day where I couldn't get him to take a decent nap all day (so he was bonkers by the evening), he did really well, and Nora always has a blast there, especially when her cousins come to play. I love that her cousins are her very best friends despite them living far away.

And, of course, some pictures from the last few weeks:

Uncle Craig came to visit!

Aunt K and Uncle Pat hadn't seen Joseph since he was 1 day old, so they were ready to snuggle!

They look like they miss having a tiny baby around, don't you think?

While I was at my parents, we had a playdate with some of my old friends and their littles. You have no idea how much work it was to take this picture.