Another Cute Video

Here's Joshua babbling and blowing bubbles while swinging in his swing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXIfQcv2mXg

Cute Joshua Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohmz2UKd18

Joshua is 4 months old!

As of today Joshua is 4 months old, wow! He also had his 4 month check-up. He is 14lbs (50th percentile) but that is with a full stomach and full diaper. He's also 24 inches (25th percentile) and his head is 17 inches around (90th percentile). The pediatrician was very impressed that he has already rolled from back to belly. She said he should be laughing any time now, something we are really looking forward to. She is increasing his dosage of Zantac due to his increase in size. When he's able to sit up by himself we can try to wean him off of it.

The poor nurse tried for 10 minutes to get him to take his oral vaccine and he wouldn't swallow it. She thinks he got enough of it but wasn't very happy about it. Of course it wasn't as bad as the shots, it broke my heart to hear him scream but by the time we got out to the car he was asleep. He then slept for about 2 hours.

So we had the big discussion about solids. She said we could start now if we wanted to. She doesn't believe that babies are any more likely to develop food allergies if they start solids early. She thinks because he can hold his head up he can start now. She also claimed he has doubled his birth weight but he hasn't. He was 7lbs 13oz at birth. That means he has to be 15lbs 10z to double his birth weight. He has 1lb 10oz to go, that will take at least a month if not more.

She claimed that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting between 4 and 6 months. I read that they recommend waiting until 6 months along with: World Health Organization, UNICEF, US Dept of Health & Human Services, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Dietetic Association as well as Australian & Canadian health organizations.

These are the signs that babies are ready for solid foods. Baby can sit up well without support. Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue. Baby is ready and willing to chew. Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development. Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth. He isn't showing any of these.

These are the reasons to delay solids until at least 6 months especially for breastfed babies. Delaying solids: gives baby greater protection from illness, gives baby's digestive system time to mature, decreases the risk of food allergies, helps to protect baby from iron-deficiency anemia, helps to protect baby from future obesity and helps mom to maintain her milk supply. Ok, I'll get off my soap box now. He is a very health baby boy and I am thankful everyday that he's here.

We went on Sunday to the Jewish Food Festival at the temple and spoke to the Rabbi. Joshua's naming will be Saturday, April 18th, yay! My mom is super excited because she will be spending almost a week with us, the week prior to the naming. She is going to help me plan everything, I'm excited! I have to find out if the food we bring has to be kosher, if so we will have to figure out if we are cooking or if we can buy kosher food. I am going to be getting a cake and I would like it to have his hebrew name on it. I also have to get party supplies and get him an outfit for the naming. We will be busy that week for sure.

One Year Ago Today....

I got this! It was 5am and I just had to go. That was a long wait but there it was! I pretty much already knew. I was already having nausea, my bra didn't quite fit right and I was extra tired. It's also my mother's birthday. Happy Birthday Grandma! We kept it a secret for 4 weeks! We wanted to wait until my 8 week appointment when I would have an ultrasound which would prove there was actually a tiny embryo in there. Well it was Easter weekend so we went to Mullins and then I went to Little River to see my mother. So that whole weekend we had this big secret that we kept from everyone. It was sooo hard but I'm so glad we did it. It was our little special secret for a whole month. Then we went to that appointment and saw the tiny embryo on the ultrasound and it was real. So that night when we got home we told everyone. I just can't believe it's been a year! Joshua will be 4 months old on Monday, WOW!

Joshua's First Stroll

So I was inspired by a fellow blogger who took her baby on a walk and also by the beautiful weather we are having. When Jamie came home from work he loved the idea so we took Joshua out in the stroller and it was so nice! I got my workout for sure. I love our stroller, it's so easy to push but it's still a workout. We have a park within a quarter of a mile of our house with a playground, walking trail and soccer field. I thought it had a baby swing but it doesn't. So we will have to go to another park one day soon that does have one. I know he's too little for it but I absolutely must get a pic of him in the baby swing.

In other news, I am still waiting to hear back from the Rabbi and I am rather frustrated about it. I called him on Monday and left a message on his voicemail. I called again yesterday and actually spoke to a woman who I gave my name and phone number to. I asked that he call me. I'm still waiting. I hope I hear back by tomorrow afternoon or I might have to go to Friday night services to see him. Either that or on Sunday we can go to the Jewish Food Festival (I want to go anyway).

Joshua Rolled Over!

Well it happened the first time on Sunday but today I caught it on video! It's a very short video but here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuCArvZGhJI

For some reason I can't paste the video here.

Another first! He held a toy voluntarily for quite a few minutes and even tried to put it in his mouth!

Joshua's Name

So I think I need to clairfy. Any of the names I would have chosen would have been for a family member. James was Jamie's dad, Jane was my grandmother, Elias was my grandfather and Mildred was my grandmother. So I've decided on Eliya for Elias and in a way also for me. His hebrew name will be Yehoshua Eliya.

I am going to call the Rabbi on Monday and let him know we've made a decision and that we'd like to do the naming on April 18th. We have multiple family members who would like to come and Joshua is much better in the morning so I hope we can do it at the Saturday morning service as opposed to the Friday night service. Friday night service isn't until 7:30 and when we were there it didn't get over with until 9 and then we have the Oneg so it would be very late for people who would be driving back that night. The Saturday morning service is at 10am.

Choosing Joshua's Hebrew Name

These are the names I like. I want to do a first and middle name. I think I want to use Yehoshua which is the hebrew form of Joshua for the first name and use one of the others for the middle name. I'm not sure though. Help!

Yehoshua - Joshua meaning the Lord is my salvation
Yaakov, Yaacov, Akiva or Jacob - James meaning protector
Yochanan or Yohannan - John (masculine of Jane) meaning God is Gracious
Eliyahu or Eliya - Elias (my mother's father) meaning the Lord is my God
Malachi , Malachai, Malachy -masculine form of Malka meaning Messenger of God; angel

Planning A Baby Naming

Here's a little background for ya about this. I am Jewish. Jamie is not, he's Methodist. We talked about how we would raise our child(ren) way before we even got married. We're raising him Jewish but he will know that his father is Christian and he will probably go to church at Christmas and Easter when we are with Jamie's family. It is Jewish tradition that dates back thousands of years (and is the reason that boys are circumcised in the first place) that a boy have a Brit Milah or Bris when he is 8 days old. We didn't do that. It is becoming more accepted now especially in Reformed synagogues not to do it (Reformed Judaism is the most liberal sect, it is also the largest Jewish community in North America). Partially because health insurance doesn't pay for a Mohel (the person who performs the circumcision) but does pay for a doctor to do the circumcision in the hospital. So we didn't do a Brit Milah or Bris. Joshua was circumcised by a doctor in the hospital the day he was released. We are going to have him named in the synagogue which means to give him his hebrew name, thank G-d for our little bundle, ask for his blessings and welcome the baby into the Jewish community and into the covenant of Judaism.

I am not yet a member of a congregation but chose Reformed as it seemed to best fit our family. Jamie being Christian makes us a mixed family religion wise and Reformed are the most welcoming. While still pregnant I contacted the Rabbi of the Reformed congregation here in Columbia. I told him that I was having a baby and wanted to have him or her named there (possibly a Brit Milah or Bris). He was very nice and we communicated back and forth through e-mail. When I filled out my pre-registration papers for the hospital I listed my religion and the Rabbi at this congregation is the one who comes to the hospital when you list that you are Jewish. So he came when Joshua was born and met with us while Joshua was still in the NICU. I told him I didn't think we would do the Brit Milah or Bris and he said that was fine and to contact him when we wanted to do a naming. So here it is 3 months later and I did contact him a couple of times before he got back in touch with me and we set up the meeting I had with him today.

Let me say how incredibly nice he is. He made me feel very comfortable and was very easy to talk to. He has a great sense of humor too. He wanted to know my religious background so I told him that my mother was brought up Orthodox but became Conservative and my father was an athiest although he was brought up Jewish. I went to a Conservative synagogue growing up and went to Young Judaea summer camp, Sprout Lake and then Tel Yehuda. I have one very good friend I still talk to who I met at Sprout Lake when I was 11 or 12. Then he wanted to know Jamie's background. So I told him that he is Methodist. He isn't a member of a church here but went to church a lot growing up. He always goes at Christmas and Easter when he is in his hometown and sometimes a little more often than that.

He wanted to know how we plan to raise Joshua and told me how important it is to introduce religion to him at an early age and not wait until he is in school when we will be dealing with other things. He said he knows it may be overwhelming to think about but we should start small. We should be involved and then he will be involved. We should celebrate the holidays at home too. He said that in order to do the naming we have to become members. It's not just me and Joshua but Jamie becomes a member too. A lot of the families there are mixed religious families and some of his best volunteers aren't Jewish. He wants Jamie to feel welcome too. So we have to join but there is no set membership dues, just whatever we can afford to pay. Yes, it's different than churches where you put what you can in the collection plate but here they are very laid back about dues.

What we have to do now is decide on Joshua's hebrew name. When I was named in a Conservative synagogue the Rabbi chose the name but I guess that the Reformed allow you to choose the name. There is a hebrew equivalent of Joshua we can use or we can name him after someone or we can pick a name we like. He can have a First and Middle name or just a First name. I have to fill out the membership packet and send it in. I also have to figure out when we would want to have the naming. The one I went to was a Friday night service and they had the naming right afterward. Yes, we went a couple of weeks ago and it just happened to be a night they were having a baby naming. How lucky! So I guess I have a bit of "homework" to do. I'm so excited!

Update - We are thinking about April 17th or 18th for the naming.