Grain of Rice

We’re expecting again in Mid-March and just found out that we’re having a girl! We are beyond excited and happy! More to come soon!

Goodness, I don’t know where to begin…We apologize greatly, especially to our dearest Joakim that there hasn’t been an entry since October! Parenthood and our difficult schedules just took over…Things will continue to be chaotic until our big move in August, but we have many exciting new things coming up and couldn’t be happier for what’s ahead, especially for Joakim! We’re moving back to the states where Saxton has a wonderful new job AND we just bought a house! Joakim will have a house and yard to play in AND cousins right across the street. It’s sounds like a dream to us, too good to be true…but it really will be our life come August. :)Joakim will be 1 1/2 years old this Friday. He is a gorgeous, extremely energetic and happy child. Midst staying very active, he generally has a sweet and gentle disposition. He LOVES to be outside and with people. It seems like our whole complex knows Joakim. He’s so friendly - greeting everyone and their pet. He’s a true toddler (has been since he started walking!). He runs, plays and is very curious - getting himself into trouble daily. He goes up and down our stairs with no problem, which is very scary. Often, he goes into the kitchen and opens the fridge and the contents within. I find him in a lovely puddle of milk, syrup or ketchup and eating pickles, a tomato or an onion. He adores the bathroom - he can turn on all of the faucets and flush the toilet. He also loves our cats! Poor Zuc is a tormented and tortured creature now. He is such a good sport and lets Joakim do whatever to him…:(Joakim is also starting to test the waters and does not like the answer, “No.” He’s a little rascal trying to find a way to do what he’s not supposed to do. He’s also trying very hard to speak and has a nice little language working for himself, but when it does not work and he can’t get what he wants, he screams at us. Not pleasant!He’s very silly and fun, always wanting to play a game, hide or play with balls. He also loves singing and dancing, although I’m the one doing most of the singing and dancing. Once I finish a song, he says, “Ma, ma, ma.” meaning more - probably from mas in spanish. I usually sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy, Bitsy Spider, etc. at least 25 times a day! We go to a Kindermusik class in Spanish every Friday. He really enjoys it, but doesn’t really understand the structure part yet!He has gone through many stages with words already. He usually begins saying them well, but then over time they evolve into his own little language, usually always having 2 syllables - for ex. Ball became ba-ba, Trash became tsha-ra. it’s very cute! His comprehension level is astounding and his fine and gross motor skills seem incredible to us. He’s starting to do puzzles with me - it’s very cool! He knows how old he is and what the number 1 means. My heart melts every time he holds up his cute little chubby finger when I ask, “How old are you?”I could go on and on about our little grain of rice who’s become a giant plump cooked grain of rice…He’s a complete joy and we still can not believe that we have this amazing child! We are very blessed and so grateful BUT can not believe he is 1 1/2!Enjoy the new pics of him and our soon-to-be new home. There are also new videos of him on our flickr page! Enjoy and much love!

So we haven’t written anything here since August 7th which is terrible but Joakim has been walking now since the end of August and that has drastically affected our downtime. And now after 2 months of practice, he’s pretty good at it. We’ve got about 6 seconds before he’s pulling something out of the trash, grabbing dirt out of the plants, biting the cats, pulling books off the shelf, splashing in the toilet or dangerously close to the cat litter. He has figured out how to open everything with a door, cover, latch or handle in the house and whoever designed the “childproof” electric outlet covers should have done a little more R&D as Joakim loves to pull them out AND put them back in. He also loves to climb and as seen on new the videos we posted, this is quite scary.
He understands so much. Close the door, throw me the ball, let’s take a walk, find the kitty; all things to which he responds. For some reason though, get down from there, don’t eat the soap, don’t eat Mommy’s shoe, be nice to the kitty, don’t spit out your food, etc… these things he doesn’t choose to understand.
I could mention again how beautiful he his and how sweet he his with kisses and the like, but I’ll spare you this this time. Overall, he is doing great and we are very proud. He will be 1 year old in 2 1/2 weeks! We can’t believe it! We’ll try to post again soon. Much love from Puerto Rico.
PS - I forgot to mention that he’s sleeping better

Joakim said his first words recently. Talking before 9 months is pretty impressive we think and we’re quite proud of the little guy. So just for the record, his first word was “ba” and first sentence was “ba ba bob.” We’re not exactly sure what he means but he says it all the time and really not much else so we feel it must be important and probably of enormous historic consequence.

When we told his pediatrician that Joakim was already speaking in complete sentences she looked at us a little strangely. We took that as shock as I’m sure she doesn’t get too many children talking at his age. Because “ba ba bob” could be English or Spanish, I’m sure the fact that he is already bilingual added to her surprise.

I am just hoping he is able to relate to the normal kids. We worry the other 9 month old babies may sense his genius and shun him. Well let’s all hope he is able to live a relatively normal life with these amazing gifts.

Our dear Joakim is now 18 pounds and 27 inches long, crawling everywhere and pulling himself up to stand on whatever he can find. He will even let go at times practicing his balance and walks along tables, chairs and has lapped his whole crib! Unfortunately, he likes climbing the stairs too… All of this is incredible, wonderful and we are very proud, but it is also quite scary since our home is completely covered in tile. A fall does not bring a pretty scene…. It is also quite exhausting following him around most of the day. I will never understand the energy babies and children have….Soon we’ll probably have an early walker. Both of us walked at 9 months. So we’ll be surprised if he’s not walking by that point, if not running!

He’s grabbing and picking up everything in sight and of course, putting everything in his mouth… including the cat’s tail! He is very curious, observant and explorative, wandering all over our home. Of course, his favorite places are the bathroom (the toilet!), the cat food and water on the balcony and the top of the stairs. I am positive that he knows now that he’s not supposed to go to these places. When he hears me coming after him saying, “No, Joakim,” he starts racing towards the place giggling, as if he’s thinking, “Hee, hee, I’m gonna beat you Mommy!” Little stinker already!!!

He is eating many solid foods now and in combination. He eats three meals a day and has 8 teeth!!! He’s doing everything so early and sometimes I think it’s too much, too soon. Where is my little baby?

He is a happy little boy; smiling, squealing, giggling and laughing the day away. He is also quite the social butterfly. He loves looking at new people and charming his way into their hearts with his dimple adorned smile. Everyone still stops to look at him because of his blond hair and big blue eyes. He then proceeds to win then over by being such a little cutie.
His babbling is starting to include some consonant/vowel combinations, but most of the time, his squeals and screams are an interesting array of vowel mixtures. This can last most of the day sometimes…. This week in particular, he has been quite loud! Sometimes, I think he thinks singing is talking because of all the singing he has been subjected to since in the womb.

He is also a sweet and sensitive little guy. He give us little hugs and kisses and is aware of others when all is not right. He has three little girlfriends to whom he is very attentive. He is darling and we are crazy about him! Can you tell???

Till next time….Love, Proud & Exhausted Mama Rose

Our little grain of rice is just over 6 months, 17 1/2 lbs and over 26 inches long. He is super strong! He is sitting up (& in his high chair), sitting up from his “army crawl,” pushing up on all fours often and rocking, climbing AND pulling himself up to stand - even in his crib (scary!). Just today, we lowered his crib and he crawled a few “steps.” Our window of time is almost over!!! He is already going everywhere….He also has 3 teeth!

He is a happy baby for the most part. Both of us jump at the chance to go in and see him when he wakes up from his naps. We hear him over the monitor “chattering & singing” and just can’t wait to go in and see him on all fours, sitting up or standing (!) giving us a big toothy grin. He smiles and laughs often and is very responsive and interactive now. He smiles at most friends and strangers, too. He is very curious and
observant - Zuc, the kitty cat being one of his favorite objects to spy on and go after. He giggles when he finally touches him, especially the moving tail. We have to watch this carefully….
He loves it when we sing to him. He hears many children’s songs daily. He loves it even more if I do hand motions or dance….But “Twinkle Little Star” and “Take me out to the ball game” still remain the favorites.

He has tried a lot of food now - all the stage 1 vegetables, rice cereal and pears. Other fruits to come this week and next.

This age has been so fun for us, we are cherishing all our time with him. He seems so grown up already! But I know before we know it, he’ll be walking and then running….
Happy Summertime & enjoy all the new photos!

Joakim is almost 5 1/2 months old and is 16 lbs, 4 ozs. He has 2 teeth so we decided he was ready for some real food. He ate squash today, his first solid food. He also drank water from a sippy cup. He’s all grown up. Pretty soon rice cereal … ah full circle. Check out the new pics.

Last week Joakim cut his 1st tooth (bottom right)! We happened to be on vacation with all the Rose grandparents and everyone was subjected to much sucking, biting and drooling. My chin happened to be his favorite teething toy (still is). We’ll try to get a video clip of it for you. Fortunately and unfortunately, this is only the 1st tooth of many to come. Pray that he doesn’t have a bad teething season (for my sleep’s sake!).

He is almost 5 months and is such a doll! He is very active and mobile now. We can’t leave him unattended at all! He rolls over both ways often and easily moves all over the activity mat set-up we have downstairs. He always ends up far from the position I initally put him in. He also moves all over his crib. Soon we’ll have to lower the mattress, for he will be sitting up and then pulling himself up before we know it, not to mention crawling and then running!

We are overjoyed at being his parents. We still feel like the luckiest parents on the planet! Lots & lots of new pics to come soon from our spring break trip. Enjoy!

Mr. Joakim is 4 months now and getting so big and fat! He was 15 lbs, 4 ozs at this past week’s pediatrician appt. He has truly found his voice and is “talking” up a storm. He is also laughing out loud a lot and this is such a joy for us (enjoy the video of this).
He is still very strong; trying to stand up on our laps all the time. He has also found his feet. He immediately grabs his feet when we put him down. He has rolled over from his back to his stomach a few times now. We are hoping that this will mean tummy sleeping is coming soon! He grabs anything in sight and then puts it into his mouth. He is a master drooler at the moment. His personality comes out more and more each day. He reacts when you take him away from something he likes or when you take away a toy he still wants. For ex, he loves the photos on our refrigerator. If I walk away before he is ready, he gets upset.
Saxton has made sure that he’s ready for baseball season. Eveyday he puts on the cubs hat or outfit and watches a spring training game with him…I guess it’s like our music, whether he likes it or not, he will have to be a part of it.
His big blue eyes still kill me! Blond hair & blue eyes are rare on this island and so everywhere we go he is quite the hit! EVERYONE stops and comments on him. Needless to say, I love it :). He is truly a handsome child.
Enjoy all the new pics and the video. Till next time….Happy Easter!

Joakim is just over 3 months now and is SO cute! He’s 14 lbs, 10 ozs and looking fatter and older everyday. I swear this week he started giving me kisses. He’s probably just wanting to put my chin and cheeks in his mouth like everything else, but he seems to be imitating me. I give him lots of kisses on his cheeks and play eat under his cheeks. He gets very excited and opens his mouth and goes for my cheeks and chin, giving me big wet smooches, all the while smiling and giggling. It’s so cute!!!

He continues to reach for things, grabbing and pulling at them. He actually gets frustrated when he can’t pull the toys down on his activity mat. He brings both hands together often and can lift his head to a 90 degree angle when he’s on his tummy. He’s holding his head and neck very steady almost all of the time and loves to stand when we’re holding him. He has some strong legs! In general, he is very strong.

He also continues to talk, laugh and squeal, each day getting more expressive. I wish you could hear and see him! Enjoy the new pictures!