Everyone thinks their baby is the cutest baby in the whole world... but there can only really be one. I think we know who it is. This blog chronicles the life of this enormously blessed young man through the eyes and adventures of me, Joe Momma.
After two weeks living it up in the Motherland, Joe Daddy has returned to P-ton! I officially survived a 2-week stint as a single mom! Joe and his dad have been spending the weekend re-bonding.
Joe Daddy was surprised by all the new things that Joe has learned just in the past 14 days. Things like stacking stars and blocks, feeding himself with a fork, using a box like a slide, opening and closing drawers to get his toys, and in general he just "seemed more like a little boy". Here's a video of Joe Daddy witnessing another one of Joe's many new skills:
For the first time ever, I'm going to let Joe himself conclude this post. I, Joe Momma, proudly present for his blog-hosting debut... well... take it away, Joe-bert!
It's a tough night in the Carnes abode because we're missing our fearless leader. Joe Daddy is halfway through a two-week adventure in England. He's there for a conference and unfortunately it falls smack on top of Father's Day. He was invited to go last year, but asked to postpone it until this year so he could be with Joe during his first couple months of life. Needless to say, there wasn't any Father's Day celebrating going on around here today, because we're holding off until Joe Daddy returns this coming weekend.
I've been doing ok as a single mom thus far. There was one mishap (see pic above). See that little pile on the floor in front of the high chair? Yeah, that's poop. Joe poop. I got him ready for his bath and he took off into the kitchen butt-naked, squatted down and BAM. Better there than on the carpet, I guess!
I would be remiss if I didn't send a shout out to Uncle J who came up this weekend to help me wrangle Joe so that I could get some chores done (groceries, laundry, etc). He watched Joe solo on Friday from 8:30-6:30 and quite a bit the rest of the weekend too -- and OH all the poopy diapers! Joe had about a dozen of them and Uncle J changed almost all of them. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! He left a couple of hours ago and Joe cried big crocodile tears and stood at the window to watch him leave. That's babies for you, though. I tried to tell him to keep it together, but he just doesn't have the kind of poise and composure that I do. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)
The video above shows that Joe is just as ornery as ever. I love watching him explore everything. I don't mind if he destroys a whole roll of toilet paper, because it's only 50 cents and I've found that if I let him have his way with something he wants to explore, he gets it out of his system the first time and leaves it alone after that. Reverse proof is that I won't let him touch my computer and he's constantly trying to figure out ways to get to it.
This video is for Aunt M who said that she was in withdrawal from missing Joe pics and video. Nothing interesting happens in the video above -- it's just Joe eating some Easy Mac, but it is like two minutes long, so hopefully it will help quell some of her Joe-needs.
Joe gives kisses and blows kisses now, but only sometimes and only to those he loves. He's very selective. Uncle J get about two dozen on his way out the door. I got quite a few when I offered him bites of my pasta lunch today. He says "hi" "bye" and "yeah" all the time. I love that he learned "yeah" before "no". Also, he uses everything as a phone. The remote, his toys, his food -- he holds anything to his ear and says, "HI!" and then "bababa" and then "BYE!" Apparently I use the phone too much?
I'll update again for Joe Daddy's homecoming! Much love to you!
Joe had his one-year doctor's appointment and passed with flying colors. He is still off the chart for height and head circumference and barely on the chart for weight. The calculations over the past 12 months have come in and his final height should range between (drum roll....)
6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches! Holy cow!
My brother is 6'4" (and I, at 5'9" am 5 inches taller than the average lady), so it's not a complete shock, but it does pretty much guarantee that Joe is going to be (possibly a lot) taller than his daddy. Exciting! The world needs more gentle giants.
Also taking him to new and exciting heights is his newfound love of climbing. He loves to climb up stairs, playground equipment and anything else that he can get leverage on.
This video shows the climber in action. Be sure to listen carefully to hear Joe's conversation with me. He's definitely trying to chat nowadays!
In child care news, Joe Daddy and I met with an awesome lady who has two kids and is looking to watch a third out of her house in a nearby town. We tested the waters with a quick 'playdate' and her older child (a boy who is almost 3) just fell in love with Joe. They played together and Joe followed him around and it was pretty amazing. As with most people around these parts, she has a huge house full of amazing toys and a big backyard with a playground. The kicker is that the amount she said she would charge us is almost half of what we are paying now. So, a child care change might be in our future. As always, I'll keep you posted.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I have already received flowers and my first ever professional massage! It was quite lovely. I've had a couple of great meals and of course, I've gotten to spend time with my wonderful boys. In addition, I substitute taught in P-ton Regional Schools for the first time on Friday and got this lovely note from one of the kids at the end of the day. I think I'll keep it in my back pocket in case I need a little reminder that I rock. :) Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful momma's out there! You rock!
I cannot believe it has been a whole year. It went by so quickly and yet it feels like he's always been with us. We had a small gathering of Joey's closest adult friends and ate cake and ice cream -- and opened presents of course! Since it was Easter, Joey's cake was in the shape of a baby chick.
I also made a regular cake for the adults separately so that Joey could destroy his cake as much as he wanted and we could still eat too.
Here's Joe opening up one of his presents -- he's moved up to a full set of keys on his baby piano! He had mastered his 4 key baby piano, so it was clearly time to move on up, even if the box said "18 months+".
Here's the birthday group (minus Joe Daddy who was taking the picture).
And here is the obligatory "baby stuffing his face with cake" birthday photo.
Finally, at long last, I am ready to reveal my birthday blog surprise.
I can't put into words how wonderful it was to watch Joe develop this year and how much I love him. He is everything that anyone could ever want in a child and more. Rather than write out a 'retrospective' of the year, I decided to make a video. Without further ado, here it is:
Joe Daddy's grandmother and aunt came to visit and were here for a little over four days! It wasn't enough, so hopefully they will come back again before we leave the area. They got to tour Philadelphia, New York City and P-ton (of course), but most importantly, they got to meet little Joseph. We miss you already! Come back soon!
Joe's birthday is coming up on Sunday. I just can't believe it. I'm cooking up something very special for the blog. I better not say anymore about his first birthday, lest I start crying on the computer keyboard. Everybody knows, it's first birthdays and the next thing you know, college. To tide you over until the next post, here's a few more pictures from this week:
We are now less than a month from Joe's first birthday. Time is just flying by!
Joe made many sweet Valentine's Day crafts at school and also tasted his first cupcake. He seemed shocked by it at first, but when it was all said and done he was happy and covered in cake crumbs and frosting. It was a nice test run for his first birthday cake. I'll start getting the tarps and hoses ready now.
Joe now uses the full regular tub for his baths. He likes having the extra space to splash around. Also, he can play with his boats and other toys now! He's SUCH a big boy!
In less than a month, Joe will transition into a regular car seat and will likely start using a regular umbrella stroller (when he's not running around on foot) which will make outings much easier. We decided to let him sit up like a big boy in the grocery cart at Sams. He was a little hesitant at first, but he's getting used to it.
Joe got his first haircut and it was probably the most traumatizing thing (for me) since his birth. There's a haircut place in P-ton that is supposed to be "especially for children". Naturally, I thought that I should take Joe there for his first haircut. It was a milestone and I wanted it to be special.
Looking back on it, I now realize that essentially, I took Joe to a circus, had him tied down to a chair and had clowns attack him. He screamed louder and cried harder than he ever has before and after about 10 minutes of this, I couldn't take it any longer, snatched him up and walked right out the door with him mid-haircut. Luckily, Joe Daddy was there, so he took care of the remaining business (and gave them a piece of his mind) and we went home. From now on, either I'm cutting his hair or he's going to be like Samson and his long flowing hair will be his strength. No more clown-cuts!
To end on a much happier note, Joe is now walking. When I play with him in his room and he gets bored, he just stands up and walks out. Sometimes, I'll just see him walk by down the hallway. It's pretty amazing. I wanted you to see, so I just took this video while creating this blog post. Enjoy!
Joseph Asher just turned 10 months old and I'm pretty sure he's not my baby anymore, he's my TODDLER! He only has a couple bottles of formula a day, instead drinking juice out of a sippy cup. Also, he's eating regular table food now. He loves macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, baked beans-- the only thing he refuses to eat are bananas (he takes after Aunt M!) and anything green (green beans, peas, spinach). He loves fruits though-- apples, oranges, pears, grapes, strawberries. The kiddo has a sweet tooth.
Speaking of teeth, he has at least FOUR now! The two front teeth on the top are kind of crooked and have a sizable gap between them. I guess he takes after mom that way. They haven't come completely in, so we can't tell if they are going to slowly move towards each other or not. We'll see! Just in case, I'll start a change jar marked "orthodontist".
The two biggest changes for Joe (that are possibly related) are that he has started full time day care and has taken his first steps! That's right, after almost four painful years of semi-unemployment, I finally got a full-time job in my field. So, Joe is now going full-time to the day care where he had been going one or two days a week. He LOVES it. There are three other older boys and a younger girl and a younger boy. He follows the older boys everywhere they go! Of course, because they are walking, he wants to walk too. He's trying very hard! Check out the video:
His personality is still sweet, friendly and full of happiness. Joe Daddy cut a hole in Joe's favorite big box and they played peekaboo together yesterday. Enjoy!
