One year (and a bit) on...
Sunday was JoJo's first birthday.
My mother-in-law came to visit us for just under two weeks (Ended Tuesday morning) for the occasion - and, to my opinion the best part of the whole, MY Dad came too, though only for Saturday and Sunday.
Since Joseph was born, Dad has been wanting to come here and meet his only grandchild to date. However, the first few months were plagued with family health problems, mostly in relation to my Aunt S., plus work on a possible business deal. When the health issues were as settled as they will be, my aunt thankfully on the mend and seemingly clean (part of this is cancer, and therefore a clean slate now isn't a permanent guarantee), they'd actually bought the business they were trying to get, and had to go through discovery, then actually start running it. With no employees other than himself and my stepmother, he has had no time to travel. He was deeply moved when we sent him a huge bundle of photos (He's due for another one, really...) and he's been in more contact than usual, but trying to carve out the week or so he'd have liked to come by was just hard.
Finally, he decided for Joseph's first birthday, he would fly in from Edmonton just for the weekend. It was the time he could really spare from the business, and it's a bit of an expensive weekend, but he considered it worth it, and of course so did I. So he was here, and he seemed to have a very good time, seeing JoJO, and with the party we had for the baby (A turkey dinner for family and just a few friends), and with the quiet time with just those of us in the house.
In one year, Joseph has gone from being just a little squirmy to crawling and climbing adeptly and tottering his first steps (a milestone I noted on facebook but not here). From gazing blurry-eyed at whatever was put before him to actively looking to actively noticing details. From having no way to communicate but by crying to having a whole range of noises, and cuddles, and gestures and near-words, and from having expressions mostly projected on him to displaying his own feelings, especially laughter and glee. He's gained about 8 inches of height, near tripled his weight. he's gone from being a sweet but mostly puzzled lump (And oh, I even loved that lump) to being social, and easygoing, exploratory and adaptable. His features are getting the more solid toddler look to them. I think he's beautiful.
I so wish he would sleep better*, but in almost every other way, my only complaint is keeping up with him!
* Training is showing results, but the progress has been partly deliberately slow and partly delayed by various things. My mother-in-law's presence made my transition from sleeping in the nursery to sleeping in my own bed slightly easier but also meant I couldn't get really firm with him and let him cry when he got too crazy.
My mother-in-law came to visit us for just under two weeks (Ended Tuesday morning) for the occasion - and, to my opinion the best part of the whole, MY Dad came too, though only for Saturday and Sunday.
Since Joseph was born, Dad has been wanting to come here and meet his only grandchild to date. However, the first few months were plagued with family health problems, mostly in relation to my Aunt S., plus work on a possible business deal. When the health issues were as settled as they will be, my aunt thankfully on the mend and seemingly clean (part of this is cancer, and therefore a clean slate now isn't a permanent guarantee), they'd actually bought the business they were trying to get, and had to go through discovery, then actually start running it. With no employees other than himself and my stepmother, he has had no time to travel. He was deeply moved when we sent him a huge bundle of photos (He's due for another one, really...) and he's been in more contact than usual, but trying to carve out the week or so he'd have liked to come by was just hard.
Finally, he decided for Joseph's first birthday, he would fly in from Edmonton just for the weekend. It was the time he could really spare from the business, and it's a bit of an expensive weekend, but he considered it worth it, and of course so did I. So he was here, and he seemed to have a very good time, seeing JoJO, and with the party we had for the baby (A turkey dinner for family and just a few friends), and with the quiet time with just those of us in the house.
In one year, Joseph has gone from being just a little squirmy to crawling and climbing adeptly and tottering his first steps (a milestone I noted on facebook but not here). From gazing blurry-eyed at whatever was put before him to actively looking to actively noticing details. From having no way to communicate but by crying to having a whole range of noises, and cuddles, and gestures and near-words, and from having expressions mostly projected on him to displaying his own feelings, especially laughter and glee. He's gained about 8 inches of height, near tripled his weight. he's gone from being a sweet but mostly puzzled lump (And oh, I even loved that lump) to being social, and easygoing, exploratory and adaptable. His features are getting the more solid toddler look to them. I think he's beautiful.
I so wish he would sleep better*, but in almost every other way, my only complaint is keeping up with him!
* Training is showing results, but the progress has been partly deliberately slow and partly delayed by various things. My mother-in-law's presence made my transition from sleeping in the nursery to sleeping in my own bed slightly easier but also meant I couldn't get really firm with him and let him cry when he got too crazy.