Joshua Daniel: Ten Months

It's hard to believe we are only two months away from this guy turning one!

Joshua still isn't super interested in eating, much to my dismay. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to still be attached to him every 2-3 hours but it is what it is. Since we came to Utah he's also regressed in how long he sleeps, but that was kind of expected. Hoping we can get him back on track and closer to sleeping through the night once we get back home. While the AC hadn't been working, we moved his crib downstairs and made a little progress when he was back in that.

Joshua doesn't show much emotion. My mom likes to call him Mr. Stoic. And a friend told me one time that he was staring at her judgingly, and we like to say that a lot too ha. It takes a lot of work to get any sort of reaction out of him. His sisters and I can the easiest but even with us sometimes it takes effort. His new thing is shaking his head. It's so cute (for now haha).

Josh has started to roll from his back to his stomach more. He moves around lots when he's sleeping. He's also quite the wiggler anytime I'm holding him. He doesn't sit still and relax much, so when he does it's fun. He did fall off the couch a few days ago so now I'm sure to be diligent about watching him when he's on it or putting him on the floor now. He rarely falls asleep in my arms anymore. Made the flight to Utah a little challenging but we managed.
Joshua loves his blanket. He has to have it when he sleeps. He sucks on his two fingers and grabs it as his single that he's ready to take a nap. It's adorable. I finally bought a back up one to have while the other one is being washed cause he is particular about having that one.

Joshua is still in size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothes. We have phased out of all the single 3 month clothes and I have put him in some of the 6-9 month ones but they are a little big. He's very slowly growing.

Josh went swimming for the first time this past month. He seemed pretty indifferent about it, as with most things. We'll have to try it again and see if it's any better. I think he is liking baths more now that he can sit up in the water and play a little easier. 
We quite a bit of time in the hospital this past month visiting Hayley. He had to sleep in his car seat/stroller quite a bit because he wouldn't in my arms or on the hospital bed/couch. And I'm grateful for people who slept over at night with Hayley because I couldn't with Josh.

Josh had another follow-up with his neurologist and she said this is the best his head has looked so far. He has some fluid that should be absorbed over time. Next time he'll have to get a CT scan instead of an ultrasound because his fontanelle will be too small.

Poor guy got his skin clipped when Dad was trying to clip his nails.

Visiting Dad at work on Father's Day.

Getting his ultrasound before seeing the neurologist.

He had his own seat for a little bit on the airplane.

He fell asleep while we were hanging out in the ER with Hayley.

Who says you can't twin with sons?

We love our guy so much! We're lucky he joined our family.

Joshua Daniel: Nine Months

Nine months with our favorite little guy. Everywhere we go we get asked if the baby is a boy and when we we say yes we get some good reactions.

This past month was maybe a little more rough than any of the previous ones. Josh started eating food a few weeks ago and has been dealing with some constipation issues even though he hasn't eaten much of it and we've spaced out when we give it to him. He hasn't seemed very interested in eating. The only thing he ate really well was some pears and I don't know if that was just a good day or what. So we've been dealing with an unhappy, uncomfortable little man and it hasn't been fun for anyone.
Josh still isn't sleeping through the night. Maybe it'll happen one day, if I'm lucky. It seems as if he's almost gotten worse and it's hard to know if it's a regression or not with his adjusted age. Most nights it's at least 2-3 feedings and occasionally he'll give me a night with just one feeding. I'm still trying to take naps with him when I can. It doesn't help that he won't take a bottle anymore either. We haven't had AC in the upstairs for weeks so he has been sleeping on the couch. That probably hasn't helped either but we're making due until it's fixed. 
We saw his pediatrician today and he has officially made it on to the normal growth chart! That was happy news. He weighs 16 lbs. and is 26 inches long. He is still in his 3-6 month clothes. I think he will be growing out of them soon though. He wears size 2 diapers. He's also currently healthy. He did have a cough and runny nose last week but got over it the quickest he's gotten over any sickness so far.

His sisters still constantly fight over holding him. They are good at helping change his diaper and getting him in new outfits. He loves them and (mostly) enjoys when they play with him. He loves to grab faces and pull hair ha. He enjoys playing with Dan's beard. His toes are probably the most ticklish part of him but sometimes his lower back, inner thigh, and under his chin work too.

Joshua has nailed rolling from his stomach to his back but still doesn't really do it the other way. He is great at sitting up on his own. He can stand well if you're holding on to his fingers but hasn't made any attempts to pull himself up or take steps. He gets carried around everywhere so who knows if he'll ever learn to crawl haha.
Josh had a follow-up with OMFS this past month and they decided he doesn't need a helmet, for now, but want to do another follow-up in two months. He also had his audiology follow-up and passed this time. So many doctor appointments with this boy but honestly they have all been pretty good news so far so we are counting our blessings on all the bullets the miracle boy has dodged. 
Josh's blanket is still his comfort item and if he's fussy and you lay him down with it, that usually does the trick. He did take some rare naps in my arms this past week but those are rare and it makes me sad. He's growing up and I'm honestly not ok with it.

Paige was having baby school with him.

Paige wrapped his blanket around his head.

He enjoyed chewing on watermelon.

Chilling on Hayley's hospital bed.

 
Hayley was in the same hospital that Josh was in and the beeping from the monitors and driving there brought back some good and not so good memories. We've come so far and I'm so proud to be this boy's mama.

Joshua Daniel: Eight Months

I forget how much I love having a baby around. Josh has been the best last addition and we all adore him more every month!

He was not happy for photos tonight, all he wanted was his blanket.

Little guy got sick, again. This time it was RSV. He's been sick a lot in his short little life, but this was the first time he had a fever to go with the stuffy nose and cough. We went to the pediatrician after he had a fever for the second time and got his diagnosis. Thankfully we were already on about day three of it and his ped said it usually gets better after day four, and he did. I thought his cough would linger since his last one did for weeks, but he seems to be getting over that too. He's a tough baby and I'm so amazed at his strength. I'm extremely grateful we didn't end up in the hospital again. 
While we visited his ped when he was sick I also asked about starting him on food and she gave us the go ahead. I got him some baby oatmeal and he tried it a couple days ago. He was good at swallowing and it didn't end up all over his bib, but he wasn't very interested. He would turn his head away from the spoon. He also decided he's not taking a bottle anymore. I'm only worried about that for when he's at the gym childcare, but I usually feed him before I teach anyway so hopefully that'll keep working. We're going to try some baby purees this week and see how that goes.
Joshua is STILL not sleeping through the night. There have been times when he has gone back to sleep on his own though so I'm setting a timer when he wakes and if he is crying past when it goes off then I'll feed him. Oh besides his bottle, he doesn't take a binky anymore either. He uses his two fingers to suck on and likes having his blanket up by his face to fall asleep. Yes, just like Paige. It's some crazy deja vu. Humans are not meant to wake up so often and I'm feeling it after a year of doing this (I've been waking up in the middle of the night since I was pregnant). Mama needs some good sleep. Dan needs it more than I do with how many 30+ hour shifts he's been working almost every other day so I can't ask him and I hate that we can't help each other with that. We're both zombies most days.
The girls are still as obsessed with him as ever. They fight over holding him and are good helpers, besides the part that they bring home all their germs and share them with him. He loves his sisters too. He gets excited when he sees them and gives them great smiles.
Joshua is still in his 3-6 month clothes. We discovered while we didn't have AC for over a month that he seems to enjoy being "in the buff" as Dan calls it. We did move up to size two diapers but that was mostly because we ran out of size one. But the twos work well for when he does have those long, rare stretches of good sleep. I don't think he's gained more than a pound since his six month well-check. He was growing like a weed and now has slowed down a bit. When he had RSV he didn't eat much though and slept most of the couple days he was especially miserable.
I did find him on his stomach this morning when I went to get him once he woke up and was crying. He has only rolled from his back to his stomach a couple times. He has almost mastered sitting up on his own. His therapist at his NICU grad clinic appointment was impressed by that, especially with how big his head is haha. Besides still putting everything he can in his mouth, he enjoys scratching different things and feeling textures. He likes playing with his toes. His new sound is a gurgling one and he makes it when he's happy ha. He is getting more ticklish, especially his toes and around his collarbone.
We were busy, once again with doctor's appointments for him. Besides going in for RSV and his NICU grad appointment, we had one with his audiologist to make sure his hearing is good. I guess it's normal to follow-up with NICU babies, even if they passed their hearing tests in the NICU. One of his ears failed, I can't remember which, so we get to go back again and double check to make sure it wasn't just fluid build up. He had been sick and then was also getting sick so it could have been from either of those. Then he had another follow-up with his neurologist and everything looks good there too. She wants to keep having follow-ups until he's about 18 months old. Which I am grateful for because it is nice to know everything is still fine and his former bleed won't be an issue. 
Joshua's hair is getting longer, but it doesn't look like he has much because of how light it is. It seems to be losing its ginge tinge. His eyes look brown or blue depending on what he's wearing so I think they are going to eventually turn brown completely.

Sweet Hayley put a picture above his bed for him to look at.

He's been my little workout buddy.

First trip inside Bucees.

Paige made him a little fort.

First Easter!

He got this carrot in his Easter basket (a gift from Jenny Barrow) and absolutely loves it.

Poor, sick little boy.

Dad got to come to his neuro appointment with us.

Always napping with Dad.

We love our boy! He's been more challenging than his sisters in most ways, but always worth it.