The Countdown Concludes...

Well, it looks like we all made it!
Enjoy our parting shot, and thank you for counting down with us!

1 Day and counting...the hours!

We started out this countdown on the day Daddy left with a picture at the rose garden. That was before any of the roses were out for the year. Now many bushes are blown and past, a whopping eight percent of Josiah's life later! Even as we speak, Daddy is winging his way homeward. (He's quite literally connecting world dots in a downright crazy 46-hour journey back.) We can't wait for supper time tomorrow when he finally makes it home!

2 Days and counting...

Sunday. Church this morning meant another go at nursery, meant another apologetic lady finding me to fetch my quivering, shaking baby who had sobbed uncontrollably almost since my departure, meant I don't think we're going to do this again in the near future. :( The rest of the day was much better, though! We had fun with Mama and PopPop and took them to the new house for a look around. Josiah spent most of the "tour" sucking the baby carrier and practicing bubble-blowing. He's always enjoyed doing funny things with his lips, but this past week has really seen the dawn of his awareness that those lips can be used both to vary the sounds he can make ("muh" "duh" and "buh" sounds have definitely arrived on the scene) and to mobilize vast quanitites of slobber (bubbles, raspberries, and general slimy drooling are likewise now common activities)! Another great accomplishment that Mommy's excited about? Imitation of clapping! How fun!

3 Days and counting...

Today involved several errands with Josiah in the Ergo (our baby carrier, pictured in "14 days"). In one store, he laid his cheek on my chest and just cuddled in for a while. I don't think a single person passed us without smiling. We're happy to report that Mama and PopPop Casler arrived late this afternoon. We're even happier to verify that PopPop truly has the magic touch; Josiah -- who gets beyond distraught with anyone new -- was completely content in PopPop's arms for the longest time. (Perhaps Josiah simply thinks that Daddy has returned but aged more than expected in the past few weeks!)

4 Days and counting...

Yet another morning in the office with Josiah hard at work! He's definitely got more street cred than most child developmentalists. :)

This afternoon Josiah discovered the wonderful world of tissue paper. After just crinkling it for a while, he figured out how to rip it. At one point he had huge pieces waving like mad pom-poms in each hand plus a third piece working away between his feet (his feet, FYI, are fantastically dexterous). It was pretty hilarious, although of course all movement ceased when I fetched the video camera.