11 Months Young and Christmas fun!

Yesterday, Josiah turned 11 months old. I’m not sure where the days have gone, but somehow the calendar has continued to turn and we are one month away from celebrating his first year! Tell me it isn’t so, because I still want to hold on to these moments and his cuddly little self. The ever ending mommy struggle of wanting to see your children grow, but also freeze time to enjoy their baby-ness a little bit longer

At 11 months, Josiah is doing everything but walking. He can stand, cruise around, climb on things and push his walker (and kitchen chairs!) all around our house.  He wants so badly to catch up with his sister and be a big kid! We had our first major incident this past month, as he attempted to climb onto the small trampoline of his sister’s. There was blood everywhere and he slightly chipped a brand new tooth, but yet he still didn’t stop until he was successfully on the trampoline.  I’m learning that being a boy-mom is not for the faint of heart! His new favorite things are to play peek-a-boo, raise his arms above his head when you ask, “How big is Josiah?”, point, dance, and cruise around.  He’s found a love for books, and continues to be interested in figuring out how things work.  He loves to put things inside of bags or buckets, open/close doors, etc. He’s added the word “bye”, to his vocabulary which consists of Da-Da, Addy, Ma-ma, hey, and this. He’s following in his sisters footsteps with talking early and he’s learned to wave good-bye now too. He remains very independent and is beginning to only want food he can feed himself. It’s so fun watching him trying to keep up with big sister and learn new things.

We have been busy enjoying the holiday season. We’ve been to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens multiple times, Holt Family lights, visits to Santa at the Winter Palace at the mall and to cookies and stories with Santa at the neighborhood clubhouse. We also went to see Disney Live, and made a trip back to visit family and see Christmas lights there. Both Addy and JoJo enjoyed a packed visit with family back home, where we attempted to fit in as many stops as we could before all of us were completely exhausted! We made our usual visit to see Aunt Mandi, and Addy placed her new Christmas flag out for Nana. It’s always difficult to take Addy there for obvious reasons but also because she half expects DeeDee to be there since she still doesn’t quite get it all. There’s something both heartbreaking and precious in taking my children there.  It’s not the idea that I grew up with thinking that my children would visit their aunt in this manner, but I’m grateful that they love her so and enjoy going to her special place because she would have loved them SO in this world. That is something I struggle with every day, but as I dry my eyes, I must admit our trip was such a fun and busy time with family and friends.

Addy has been on the go constantly as usual. She is immersed in the Christmas season with lots of Christmas playdates, watching Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph on repeat, eagerly finding her elf, Popcorn, every morning, making Gingerbread houses and helping bake Christmas goodies, looking at Christmas lights, and even helping Mommy shop for Christmas! We listen to Christmas music pretty much nonstop and even while out and about Addy’s singing a Christmas carol or two bringing smiles from random strangers in all the stores. We’ve focused on the meaning of Christmas and giving and today Addy helped me pick out things and pack a large bag for a local family in need. She helped arrange the items and put the toys in as we talked about why we were gathering items. After we were done, she was attempting to add even more items to the bag. After convincing her that the family probably did not want clothes from her dirty clothes hamper, she happily put her shoes on to head out to deliver the bag. What a sweet heart she has at only 2-years-old. The love that child has for others amazes me, and I hope she always stays that way!

I’m hoping the next few weeks pass very slowly and to hold onto the magic of Josiah’s first Christmas and the excitement in Addy’s eyes. Christmas is tough when such big pieces of your heart and family are in Heaven, but it’s so amazing to see your children begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas and also be delighted for the pure magic that is Christmas time. Happy 11 months to our sweet boy! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!