Weekend fun

Joshua continues to love his activity center. He is especially fond of Mr. Octopus and will smile away at him as if they are old friends.

On Saturday, we all ventured to Emeryville to Babies R Us to pick up some basics and then on to Barney's in Rockridge for some yummy burgers. Given how much Joshua seemed to love the mobile on the swing, we got him this mobile for his crib. It was a hit from the beginning. Notice it is a good mobile for the family as it is complete with a gator and a turtle. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a monkey, but Joshua seemed fine without it.

Early Sunday morning (meaning 5:15am) Joshua woke up and was ready to eat. This is after sleeping from 9:30pm straight through. Whoo Hoo. However, Joshua decided he did not wish to return to dreamland even though his parents were hopeful. Unfortunately, he was tossing and turning in bed with us after downing a full meal. This lead to spitting up and his parents flying out of bed. So, what do you do at around 6:15am when the whole family is awake? Everyone bundles up (rainy morning) and heads out to Nations for breakfast because (as Dave quickly checked online) Nations opens at 6am. As we were leaving the house to head to breakfast, the monkey fell fast asleep and slept through breakfast and then some. We came back to the house, hung out a little and then everyone went down for a morning nap. Oh....how life changes with an infant. :)

Sunday afternoon at the coffee shop.


Here is an example of the conversations Joshua has with Mr. Octopus and Mr. Whale.

Some visits from friends

On Tuesday, Auntie Jillian stopped by to see Joshua and have lunch with me. We had a lovely day.


Joshua just discovered the stars and bears rotating above his swing. He spent 10 minutes starring at them and smiling.


Fascinating

On Wednesday night Matt, Abby, Evan and Megan came over for dinner at our house. Auntie Megan made a salad and brought bread. We made pasta and Auntie Abby made a yummy almond cake with fresh strawberries. We had such a fun evening! Too bad we only got a few pictures. Abby did tell us that when they got to our house and Abby was first holding Joshua that she asked Evan if he wanted to say hi to his friend. Evan proceeded to look around for a friend and couldn't find another little kid. Guess he thought mom couldn't possibly be talking about the thing she was holding that was no fun for him. :)

Evan thought Joshua's elephant that sings "You are my sunshine" was really funny.

A weekend of fun

Although this picture was taken by Dave's mom a couple of weeks ago, it is so cute that I had to include it in this post.


This past weekend, we had lots of fun as a family. On Saturday, Dave, Joshua and I ran errands. This included going to the bank, coffee and a crossword puzzle, getting new fish for the fish tank and a run to the grocery store. Joshua was a trouper through it all and was in a pretty good mood. I think he slept around one and a half hours all day. Crazy energizer monkey.

Hanging out in the coffee shop, taking it all in.

A few grins in the car in between stops.



On Sunday, The Yungs and the Tjens came over for brunch. It was so much fun to have the energy of the kids throughout the house. It was also really fun to catch up with Joyce, Jeff, Lynna and Dave.

Miss Madeline loved jumping around.


Adorable Miss Clara

Dave and Clara

Given how much Emmett loves college mascots, Dave got him a Florida gator (Albert).

The kids playing. Well, except ours who was fast asleep.

Dave is reading a potty training book to Madeline while Emmett looks on. They cracked up when it came time in the book to say bye to the poop. :)

Joshua had a sleepy day and was very happy in Lynna's arms.

Joyce and Clara

After an afternoon nap with Mommy, Joshua was in a great mood for the evening.

Grins for Mommy

Foolin' around at home

Joshua was born with strawberry blond hair, but has lost most of it. He is now starting to grow hair back and it is definitely blond.


Auntie Megan stopped by for a visit and had dinner with us.


Tummy time


Giving his slight grin in his bouncy seat.


Auntie Debbie and Uncle Diego got this Verona soccer team official sweatshirt for Joshua. Doesn't he look cool!






Debbie's good friend, Nadia, came up from LA to visit while Debbie was in the states. Her sister Steff came too as she was visiting from Austria.



This past Saturday, Molly and Erik ventured out of the city and out to our house to visit and meet Joshua. We had a great time hanging out. Dave requested that Joshua wear his Gator gear. Molly went to UCLA and she and Dave talk trash all the time. By the way, Joshua came in second in the sweet sixteen contest. He lost by only a few points to his Mommy. :) However he beat the pooh out of these two, Daddy and the rest of the bunch. Go JWM!!


Joshua relaxing with Daddy.


His favorite way to sleep....on a warm body, particularly Daddy or Mommy's. :)

Happy Easter with the McEwens

For this post, I decided to start with a newly acquired skill for Joshua. Although it isn't a very good picture, Joshua found his thumb and sucked it for a few moments. It was quite cute and hopefully will be helpful for self-soothing for sleep training. :)

This past week Dave's family has been visiting and staying with us. Dave's parents came from Florida and his sister, Debbie flew all the way from Italy to meet Joshua. I don't think anyone was disappointed in the little man!

Here is Dave with Joshua during our picnic at Mount Diablo State Park on Easter Sunday.


Joshua in his Easter outfit with Daddy and his Easter basket. The basket was filled with candy (for the adults of course). Joshua also got the rattle ball sitting next to the basket for Easter. His Grandma and Grandpa gave his a cute bunny that makes noise and lights up. His Tutu and GG sent him an outfit and turtle swim trunks with a matching t-shirt in anticipation of our trip to Las Vegas over memorial day. Oh yes, and to use in our pool too when the weather gets warmer.

A family photo

Joshua was pretty mellow at the start of this photo session, but got sick of it relatively quickly.

Here Joshua hung out with Grandpa (and Grandma too) while Dave, Debbie and I went for a short outing.

Sometimes Joshua gets a little fussy in the evenings. When that happens, Daddy makes it all better by holding Joshua while sitting and bouncing on the plyoball.

Ken and Charlene brought Joshua this Gator outfit, so it seemed only appropriate that he should sent the Grandparents off for a safe trip home dressed in Gator gear.

I think Joshua has a big fan. :)

Happy 2 month B-day

Last Thursday, April 9th, Joshua turned 2 months old. Poor thing celebrated his birthday with a visit to the Pediatrician and 4 vaccinations. :( He ended up with a fever for two days and feeling kind of crappy. He was a total trooper through it all and still managed to smile and charm not only his parents, but also his grandparents and Auntie Debbie.

Awaiting the dreaded shots at the injection clinic. I think as with most parents, it was more stressful for us than Joshua.


Happily hanging out with Auntie Debbie. Note the big grin. :)


"Are you really taking MORE pictures Mom?"


"It is fun when I can play with Auntie Debbie and Daddy too."

Chillin, baby showers and friends

This post is a bit of a hodge podge as I have several events to post all at once.

This is the first nap in Joshua's crib. For those of you who are parents, don't worry about all the animals in the crib. I was standing right over him doing some decorating his room. The nap in the crib lasted all of about 15 minutes. :)


Just hanging out in his swing.


Just over a week ago, Alla, Yuri and Jacob hosted ourselves and the Yungs for a Russian dinner. Alla made an awesome dinner and we had a great time! The host and hostess even held Joshua during dinner to ensure we got to eat. As you can tell, Joshua was totally content with each of them.




A totally fun part of the evening was watching Madeline and Jacob play together. Here they are happily watching a Thomas the Train Engine video.


Madeline was more than happy to stop and pose for me to take her picture. Very cute!



Last Friday Dave's work hosted a baby shower to welcome Joshua. Originally the baby shower was scheduled for mid-February. Due to the early arrival, we missed it. So, it was rescheduled and Joshua was invited too. The shower was lovely and his co-workers were so generous and nice. Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few.

Joshua resting before his big debut.


The very yummy strawberry cream cheese filled cake.


Dave's co-worker happily held Joshua while we ate and opened presents.


The party was a safari theme and there were stuffed animals all over their conference room. Dave obviously loved the gator.


The elephant can hold up to a 250 lb person. Joshua is a LONG way from that.




This past Sunday, Kevin and Rebecca came by for the afternoon. They just returned from Argentina. It was great to catch up and hear about their awesome trip.


Joshua was having a sleepy afternoon and was crashed for most of their visit.


Relaxing with Auntie Rebecca.