Letters to Joseph-November Part Two

Nov 28

Last week was your first Thanksgiving and we dressed you up in a button up white shirt and vest just like your Dad. Auntie Allison and Uncle Eugene came to visit all week long and we went all over the place! We visited REI, the Antique Mall (that seems to be your favorite haunt these days), the Kingfish Café, the Seattle Art Museum, the butterfly exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, the Hi Life restaurant, and lots more. We also hung out at Auntie Heather's neighborhood coffee shop (Auntie Heather of your favorite Heather Feather Sweater). You thought the lighting there was very interesting. Your Auntie Allie carried you to all of these places in the Baby Bjorn…we couldn’t rip you from her arms, not that we wanted to, you can't thwart love like that…she loves you SO much! She sings a song called ‘I Love Joseph All the Time’. Now that she’s back in New York, she misses you all to bits and she tells me that when she sees your picture on her computer screen that she wants to eat it up!

A couple of days ago we had a snow storm which is of course your first snow…it was very cold so we stayed inside and looked at it out of the window. We missed your 2 month well child check because it was too snowy to drive, so we went today instead. Dr. Danielson says you are doing SO well. He was very impressed with your head control, and when I told him that you’ve turned over from your back to your front twice (your Grandma Joyce was here and we witnessed your first roll, and you rolled over for Dad this morning), he told me that usually babies don’t do that until 4 months old. You weigh 13 lbs 2 oz now…4 lbs more than when you were born!...and you grew 2” also. He did tell me that I need to practice setting you down to be by yourself a little. He said, “Well, you can’t hold him 24 hours a day”…but the thing is that we DO. We just love the way it feels to hold you while you sleep…you are so peaceful and your face can only be described as angelic. But now, if we set you down, you wake up after 15 minutes. SO, I suppose that he’s right, but we’ll take it slow because I absolutely can’t stand it when you cry.

I admitted to Dr. Danielson that we’d had a little ‘accident’ or two…now, I only mention these because some day when you have a baby, I want you to know that it’s only human to experience this…so I’m told, but when it happens, it feels like the end of the world. I should also request that you NOT hold these incidents against us some day…come on, we’re being honest here. The first one happed when I was taking you out of the bath…I slipped a little on the bathroom floor and I pressed you into the infant bath a little with my thumbs into your armpits. I think my face of surprise scared you more than anything. I was so scared that I’d crushed something in your little body. Of course I’d called the nurse to tell her…she laughed and said you’d be fine. The next one was pretty minor. We’d just gotten your bouncy seat (which you aren’t very interested in right now) and you and I were lying on the bed. I wanted to put you in it so you could see what I was doing so I went into the living room to get it…when I picked it up from behind, I thought it was a little heavy, but I didn’t look inside. I brought it into the bedroom and set it on one side of the bed and started to walk around to where you were. But you started SHREIKING! I ran to you and I’d set the edge of it down on your arm…this wouldn’t have mattered but that the GIRL CAT was sitting inside and was weighing it down on top of you. Once again, you weren’t injured. THEN, there was one more that was my fault (we’ll get to your Dad next)…I had you all wrapped up in the baby sling and we went downstairs to do laundry…I reached for some clothes and felt you slip out of the bottom! I had one arm around you already and my instinct was to squeeze to catch you…I did that, but I think I felt your little body swing out. It happened so fast and you didn’t actually fall, but I think I might have caught you by the neck (EEK!!!). This time I was almost hysterical when I called the nurse…again they laughed and said you’d be fine. In retrospect, I think maybe I squeezed your shoulders when you were slipping. Well, I guess your Dad’s accident was less his fault than my accidents…all that happened was that he was carrying you and you banged your head into his glasses…but I never drew blood during my accidents and with this one you got a little scrape. Here’s to no more accidents…don’t be rolling off the bed or anything please. Dr. Danielson says this is all normal and that we should expect more of them…we’ll do our best to keep them to a minimum though!

Anyway, I digress…so then you had to have FOUR shots at the doctor’s office. I was so worried because I knew it would hurt you and that we would both cry. But the nurse gave them to you so fast that you barely knew what was happening. I’d waited for a while to feed you so that you would be really hungry, so I fed you right after the shots and you felt better. Now you have Daffy Duck band aids on your legs. You seem to be sleeping a little extra today…you’re laid across my lap as I type this. Your Dad is in Portland tonight, so it’s just you and me.

Earlier I was typing with you sleeping in your car seat (this is my new attempt to set you down, it lasted about 15 minutes) and you started crying. I brought out a stuffed doll that your Grandma Joyce gave you…we just christened it ‘Magical Happy Fairy Doll from France’…this doll gives you all kinds of love and sings the Magical Happy Fairy Doll from France song which entails a lot of kissing you and jumping around. You were pretty fascinated I must say…this is the first toy I’ve gotten you into (your Dad plays with you with stuffed bowling pin animals that he’s named Lewis and Darby…one is a monkey and one a giraffe). You looked and looked at me and then Magical Happy Fairy Doll…it really made you interested and you stopped crying. You have the brightest most curious eyes and the way you head bobs around, taking it all in is pretty amazing.

You are developing in all sorts of ways…this morning I tried out the Johnny Jump Up on you. My Mom and Dad used to go camping with me and hang me from tree branches in the Johnny Jump Up…so when I saw a vintage one on EBay a few years ago, I bought it right away. It’s yellow with a red kangaroo on it. Grandma Joyce thinks you might be a little to young for it, but I watch you like a hawk as always (yes, another ploy to set you down). I’ve tried bouncy seats and battery powered swings to get you to settle down by yourself, but so far the Johnny Jump Up has been the best. I think you like it because when you move your legs, you’re affecting your own movement as opposed to being passive in something that’s jiggling you or swinging you. Liam the Dog comes up and gives you wet kissed because you’re right at his level when you’re in it.

What a fun month…on to Christmas!

Love, Mom