Happy 8/8!

For all of you who have been trying to call us, we finally got a phone hooked up in the office that works. The cordless phones with the answer machine are still out of commission (we haven't figured out why) but the corded phone in the office is now set up and will ring so we can hear it and answer. Poor Grandpa Georgia was trying to call us all last night about an airfare special, and we missed the special price going down. However, the rate coming back still has us thinking we might book the flight to go down in September. On Airtran, kiddos under two fly free on their parents laps.

Yesterday, Joshua's physical therapy went really well. Laura was quite impressed that the Bean can sit up on his own and crawl. Hooray! She was also impressed with something that I hadn't even thought of - if we have him stand, he takes one hand to play with something and uses only one hand to hold on. He also drops himself gently and doesn't just fall backwards. These are usually "learned" items that he already picked up on. Good job, Joshua! I asked her about pointing and clapping, and she smiled and said that Joshua reminds her so much of her son Peter (who is almost exactly one year older than Joshua, with his birthday being September 20). Peter was also a little behind physically (she said "go figure, the son of a physical therapist is behind on moving!") but was very verbal very early. She noticed that when he started doing more physical things, he stopped gabbing quite as much and learning more new words while he was mastering the movements. Then he put them all together. He pointed a little late, and she furiously tried to teach him how to clap and he did it for the first time when her mom was watching him. She said from playing with Joshua on a regular basis, she doesn't think we have anything to worry about. He's very social, talkative and charming...you can see his wheels turning through his eyes. That made me feel good.

Last night I went to worship practice, and instead of taking Joshua along I played the keys with the Kim Miller team. It was interesting, and completely different than when Bill leads. We stayed on the same chords (only playing in two different keys - A & D) pretty much throughout the night, but we tried different melodies, different rhythms, different sounds and patterns (not really singing any particular song but just singing God's word or praying or reading the Bible). It was fun, but when it got to be close to 9 p.m. I came home to see the Bean before he went to bed.

This morning after giving Joshua his bottle, we went downstairs so I could get breakfast and feed him his solids. I put him in his high chair and gave him a "biter biscuit" to knaw on which usually gives me enough time to prepare. However, this morning he polished it off quickly and said clear as day "All done!" I couldn't believe my ears. I thought, that couldn't be what he meant, but sure enough he had finished his snack and was looking at me for more. I put his sippy cup on his tray (the cute froggy one from Aunt Erica that has two handles - thanks so much again for this neat cup!) and he grabbed it and took a sip on his own. Good job! My little Bean is starting to talk and be more mobile...I still remember when we put him in layers of blankets and clothing to keep his little body warm enough to survive...how quickly time flies!

Here are pictures of Joshua with his cousing Jordon and Poppy. He and Jordon seem to enjoy each other's company. I'll never forget the one day I was there and Jordon started to sing to Joshua "Here's a little song I wrote...might want to sing it note for note...don't worry, be happy...ooh ooh ooh ooh" completely on tune and correct word for word. Joshua smiled from ear to ear and loved every moment. If Joshua starts to cry or whine, Jordon always tries to cheer him up by being silly, which always works and makes Joshua laugh. It is absolutely adorable!