Us as a family of 4

We're settling in to what John refers to as the "new normal."  I told a friend that I'd come meet her but would have both boys with me.  That gave me pause as I thought of the responsibility that is ours for two precious little boys.  By God's grace...  

Gideon

Gideon Willard was born Monday, July 7th, 1:15pm.  He was 9 lbs, 5 oz and 20.5 in long.

Willard is in honor/memory of John's paternal grandfather. John has many memories of trips with his grandpa, fixing bicycles, woodworking projects, and so many other stories that we'll hear.  I wasn't able to meet John's grandpa but I'm sure I would've loved him.

Micah is interested and looks for Gideon in the crib.  He wants to hold him and kiss his toes.  This morning as I laid Gideon on the bed next to Micah.  Micah reached over, "Micah hold hand" and took Gideon's hand.  So sweet and no camera nearby.  Hopefully Micah's attitude of "baby buddy" continues.

june

We anticipate the arrival of baby boy in 3 weeks or less and so are getting things organized.   John's parents were a huge help last weekend.  their visit turned into quite the project completion.  I don't think I ever would've gotten done myself all that Pat and I accomplished together.  Thanks!

Micah has done really well in his new room and big bed and seems to like the extra space to play and keep his train set out.  I finally got pictures hung up in there so now it really looks like his space.
He's talking a lot more and "parrots" the end of our sentences.  He loves the sandbox we put in under his swing set and will play there for a long time, digging with the shovel and filling and dumping the dump truck.

New things

Micah's vocabulary has significantly increased in the last month.  He's copying what we say and sometimes just seems to be practicing going through the words he knows.  He'll string together "tricycle, train, Bailey, people, animal"  just rattling them off.

I've been waiting for the time when he'll sing a song and yesterday he turned his CD player on.  The first song on the CD is "Who built the ark?" and he started signing "Noah, Noah" then sort of got the "animals two by two" part out. He threw his hands up in the air too. It was super cute and made me smile!

John has been practicing with him with his blocks to name the pictures that are on each side.  Today, he got a different block out that has two fish in it and saw a seashell in the bottom. He called it an octopus and I told him it was a seashell.  He went over to the other set of blocks and promptly brought the block back to me with the picture of the octopus on it.  That kind of amazed me!  Yay for the God-Created neurons that are firing away in his little brain helping him learn and put things together.  It's so cool to see him learning to do new things.

The weekend before last, we rode the western maryland scenic railroad in Cumberland, MD.  Micah had a huge smile on his face as the steam engine came into the station with its bell ringing and whistle blowing. He's been talking about the choo choo bell, whistle and smoke often now.  

at the Firemans' Rodeo for Apple Blossom

climbing rocks at Skyland Lodge

Feeding the donkey at Leesburg Animal Park

A taste of Spring

I'm back to my photo a day challenge.  Most likely it'll be a photo- almost- a- day but anyway, it'll get me into the habit of snapping photos of the fun moments.  Micah is talking so much more just in the last little bit, saying his name and copying more of what we say (note to self...) so I do want to document these things as they happen.

Today's topic was a taste of spring.  The daffodils in my our front flower bed have been blooming for a few days now but they are one of my favorite flowers because they are some of the first to bloom in the spring.  The yellow is so happy, and I just like the look of them.

Construction site

We created a small construction site in the kitchen this morning.  Lots of good work done on the job this morning by the "olo"  (loader), "buh-buh-buh" (bulldozer) and the "truck-truck" (dump truck).

Happy Birthday, Micah!

 Micah loves riding his "ga-google."

He's talking so much more just recently and will try to copy more of what we say.  "Oh, boy" we he's excited about something, and he loves to go outside to his slide.  He's also started saying his name which sometimes comes out pretty well as Micah and sometimes is more Ma-cah but he says his name when he sees a picture of himself.  

He's also recently started carrying stuffed animals around and will bring several downstairs with him each morning.  The snoopy and mickey mouse ("Me-moh") are favorites to tuck under each arm and also take to bed with him at night.