Josh turns 1 year old!

Well, the last ten days have been incredibly busy with Josh's birthday and Thanksgiving. We do have a few Josh updates. He is now waving, rolling the ball back to you, giving high five, he will hand you something if you ask for it, he will go get his ball if you ask him to, and he is working on coloring. He just started doing all these things in the last week. Unfortunately, in the last week he has also stopped taking a morning nap everyday, which makes him very grumpy by the time his afternoon nap rolls around.

We have another busy week this week. Josh has his one year appointment with the pediatrician on Monday. Thursday we meet with the attorney to begin his readoption. Basically, that will give Josh a U.S. birth certificate. Plus, Matt and I work too.

Now let's get to all the new pictures!

Happy First Birthday Josh!!!!!

Josh had his birthday party on Saturday Nov. 17th. All the grandparents and great-grandpa were there as well as his aunt and two cousins. The kids has such a good time playing together. We had lots of food and two cakes. Plus, loads of presents.

Opening presents with the help of mom and cousin Marianna.

More presents!

Great something that makes lots of noise

Bring on the cake! Don't I look cute in my hat too.

The candle on the chocolate was from China. It was like a firework. I had to make a special cake because I was afraid that the ice cream cake would melt.

Chocolate!

We had to get an ice cream cake since ice cream is Josh's favorite.

More ice cream cake!

This is just a funny picture of Josh I took looking like a pig.

It's Christmas Time! Time to put up the tree!

Sure, I can help put the tree stand together.

Look a new place to hide

It's a Partain family tradition from when Matt was little boy to make candy cane ornaments from beads and pipe cleaners. This is one from when Matt was a kid. When it comes time to put it on the tree you simply throw it on the tree and where it lands is where it stays.

Here is Josh and Matt preparing for the toss.

If you look carefully you can see it mid-flight.

All the stockings are hung from the mantel. We all have panda stocking holders, I just hadn't got them out before I snapped the picture.

Look I can touch the ornament!

After a busy afternoon of putting up the tree, we got the koosh ball out for Josh to play with. He absolutely goes crazy for them. He will throw them on the table and then turn around and fall onto the pillows next to the table.

Here Josh is falling on the pillows. The he would then stand back up and put the koosh balls back on the table and then fall down again. He did this over and over again.

After awhile he decided to do the same thing on the step in the living room. He would toss them onto the kitchen floor, climb up and get them, toss them onto the living room floor and then go down the step to get the balls. He did this over and over again. Of course, when bathtime came around that still took precedence over the koosh balls.

Let's See What I Can Get Into!!!

First - dad needs to teach me how to operate the BIG RIG

Then - I'm ready to head out!!!

After a quick reading lesson...

... I'm ready to rummage through the closet.

Mom and dad weren't amused so they put me in jail

Some of my other favorites:

Waking several times in the night

Pulling on the vertical blinds

Pulling books off the bookcase

Letting mom & dad know that I'm hungry NOW!

Fighting naps

Finding every electrical cord in the house

The best part is - I know I can get away with it because mom & dad love me!

Josh

Josh has a new pet

First, Josh has stopped going down the step into the living room backwards and is going down wheelbarrel style. Everytime we think he is going to fall and hit his head but he doesn't. It sure isn't graceful, but it is effective.

Here Josh is saying "Aren't I cute?"

Josh has a new pet or I guess we all do. Meet Isis, the corn snake. He was given to us by a friend.

Hey! What's this? Something to chew on?

I'm sure that I could play with this.

Hey that's my toy! Grandma isn't to sure about the snake.

Well, today is the day, I have to start back to work tonight. The real world is returning. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight when I leave, because Josh sure is sad when dad is at work.

Love to all,

Matt, Jenny and Josh

Cute Pictures

Hi Everybody! Josh is doing great. He has survived while Matt has returned to work. He is always a little sad after dad leaves for work because he is such a daddy's boy. We'll find out how he will do when I go back to work on Sunday. Of course, it will be interesting to see if I can stay awake all night, but I am sort of doing that already with Josh's sleep schedule.

He has also gone almost two weeks without being sick. Josh has finally broke the skin with both his eye teeth. He now has 4 teeth and 2 budding teeth. He met some family friends from Michigan over the weekend and they thought he was terrific. Josh has his appointment with the pediatric urologist on Thursday. Can't wait to see what the doctor says.

Here are some adorable picture of Josh:

Today was so nice outside that we decided to breakout the wagon.
Josh loved the wagon! Thanks grandma and grandpa.

OK... LET'S GO!!!!

No one can celebrate fall without playing in the leaves.
Josh was definitely fascinated by the texture of the leaves.

We are continually amazed at how well Josh has adjusted to his new life and how healthy he is. It truly is a blessing.

Matt, Jenny and Josh