<------- Check out the new slideshow!

Josie's 9 month photos arrived today, and we think photographer friend Sherry Wilson did a fantastic job!!! Check out the cool slideshow of some of our favorite photos at the left & these "sneak previews" below. And don't worry, I'll let you all know when they're available in her Shutterfly collection & I'll be placing my order for wallet-sized photos to share soon. Until then, here's your adorable baby fix:

9 month milestones

First things first...

Happy Nine Months Old Baby Josie!

Happy First Mother's Day Mama Carri!

And now, onto the "9 month milestone" update. It sounds so cliche to say, but it really is totally unbelievable to us that Josephine is already nine months old. But, when we think about the differences between Josie today and Josie on August 11th, it is astonishing that she has learned so much in just nine short months. I think back to that first day when all she really did was sleep and nurse, and now all she wants to do is talk, sing, move, and play!

As of late, she has started many new things. Here are some of the highlights:

• Eating - Although she still loves her pureed fruits & veggies, she has now moved on to feeding herself finger foods. Her new absolute favorite is squares of tofu - which she picks up and fills her mouth full of before swallowing. She's also started to eat a lot of things off of our plates just to get a feel for them and really loved Grandma's biscuits and scrambled eggs this morning. We've also started to introduce her to more complex flavors like vanilla in her pears and cinnamon in her apples. She's a great eater and is now up to three meals plus an afternoon snack each day. Getting her to nurse during the day is a bit like wrestling a greased pig, but she still enjoys a nice, snuggly breastfed meal in the quiet of the dark night.
• Drinking - She's quite proficient with her sippy cup now and loves to drink water, pear juice, and white grape juice. (We have to keep her on juice to keep things moving if you know what I mean.) She also (finally) takes a bottle without protest now. We always laugh because she totally prefers that you hold it for her, but if you just sit it in her lap she will eventually just pick it up and do it herself.
• Moving - Our little bouncer has rediscovered the "jumperoo" but not treats it more like a marathon now than a sprint. She used to jump like crazy for these short bursts & then take those little breaks, but now she gets into this steady rhythm and just goes for like 20-30 minutes at a time. It's hilarious. All the jumping must really be paying off, because she has very strong little legs that she uses to pull up on everything. She's very close to being able to stand on her own and already does so when she has something to hold onto like the couch, chair, your leg, etc. We really won't be the least bit surprised if she skips crawling altogether and goes straight to walking, although she's getting pretty close to being a full-scale crawler. She's pretty good at going backwards and sideways, but hasn't mastered moving forward just yet. In fact, when she wants something in front of her that's out of her reach, she flips herself onto her back, arches her back and inches like a worm across the floor toward it, then flips back over to play with it. Hey - it works for her - and she definitely gets points for creativity. And, speaking of moving, sleep has definitely gotten interesting because she regularly performs "crib gymnastics" by flipping herself all over the place instead of sleeping. We think she's getting up to practice crawling and pulling herself up in the middle of the night. Just in the last couple of days, she's gotten used to the idea of just sleeping on her belly, so we're hoping the late night gymnastics will come to a stop soon.
• Talking - We've got quite the little babbler on our hands. And when she's not babbling, she's letting out her "rockstar yell" that rivals the work of any 80s hairband. I mean she can really squeal and let's it rip when she gets really excited about something. The coolest thing is that we can mimic her & she'll match us. So, if we do a really high-pitch yell, then she'll repeat with a high-pitch yell, then if we make a low tone, she'll make a low tone. It's so funny to have a "conversation" with her like this. And, although we won't count them as first words until she uses them in the right context, she babbles words like mama and dadda when she's busy chatting away. Oh and she also "sings" which is pretty hysterical. Her best performances are when she's trying to put herself to sleep and when she first wakes up in the morning.
• Signing - I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on the blog before, but we've been doing sign language with Josie since she was about 6 months old. The signs we use regularly are milk, eat, drink, cat, mama, and daddy. And I'm excited to report that she definitely understands at least three of them - milk, eat, and cat (that shows you were Louie & I rank on her list, huh?). We know she recognizes these signs because of her responses to them. For example, if I sign "milk" she will dive toward my chest with her mouth wide open, when I sign "cat" she will look for the cat, etc. Now that she is learning these signs we will start to introduce even more of them. It's very cool to be able to communicate with Josie at such a young age.
• Just being Josie - There's no doubt that the best thing about Josie is that her personality is really developing. She constantly smiling and laughs all the time, even when just sitting alone and playing. She's very curious and detail-oriented, and she loves to intently "study" things to learn more about them and how they work. We even had to go buy her "big girl" toys that she could actively manipulate because she was getting bored with things that she just sat and shook. Right now she's way into these wooden balls that she rolls across the floor and knocks together, these buckets that she likes to "fill, then spill" with her toys, "touch and feel" books, etc. It's just amazing that she is developing so quickly. She just soaks in so much from the world around her and is slowly but surely starting to mimic what she sees. Another example of this that just started last week is the fact that she now gives "kisses" when you pick her up. (You'll know if you've just been kissed if you realize you have a puddle of baby drool on your cheek, since she's got the "I stick my mouth on their face" part down but not the "I use my lips and not my whole mouth" part.)

There is NO way that I would wish for Josie's little life to fly by any faster, but it's just so cool to watch her grow up in front of our eyes. Today, on this, my first mother's day, I am just eternally grateful for every cell of Josephine. She is perfect in every way and I am just so fortunate to be her mother. With that, it's not yet 9:30 and I'm going to turn in early tonight. Good night.

And, just to tempt you... Josie's 9 month photo shoot taken last week by a pro at Ault Park are coming soon! :)

Another week flies by

Over the weekend, our little girl will hit the 9 month mark. To mark the event, I'm planning on a full update of Josie's recent developmental milestones. But, just to kick things off, I thought I'd share some of the new "leaps" she's made just this week.
For starters, Josie has started to play "with intention" - she has begun to do things on purpose to get a reaction out of us. For example, here she is deeply involved in a game of "peekaboo" with Carissa. She kept putting the bucket over her head and then peeking out the side of it and smiling/giggling while we yelled "peekaboo" and "there's Josie."
Needless to say, this game went on for some time, but we just played along for awhile before I got the camera out. Next time I'll try to get a video.
Last weekend we went to Grandma & Grandpa Schneider's house for a visit. Since Josie is into everything now, we thought she might enjoy a ride on Grandpa's new classic bike. I think we're in trouble, b/c she really enjoyed "riding" it. Check out our little Biker Babe:

And, who says tractors are just for boys?! While we were hanging out in Grandpa's garage, I thought Josie might enjoy sitting in the big tractor seat - little did I know she's be ready to take it for a drive. Look at her trying to turn that big wheel!
In other news, Josie is starting to eat more "grown-up" food. We moved her to Stage 3 jars for dinner (but she's still eating homemade baby food for breakfast & lunch) and we started an afternoon snack. Here she is at the zoo having her first round with yogurt. In typical Josie fashion, her face clearly says it all. (Actually, once she got used to it, she really liked it. This is the first cold thing she's ever eaten, so I think that freaked her out a bit.)
Yogurt is now a favorite & she *loves* it with fresh strawberries and/or pears. And, she's also feeding herself finger foods now. Her favorite thing in the world is the "Baby Mum-Mum" Cracker broken up into little pieces. Apparently they're a hit with babies across the tri-state because Whole Foods can't keep them on the shelves. Lucky for us, Amazon never lets us down & we are now the proud owners of 12 boxes of Mum-Mums (or enough to last us through Josie's adolescence.)
More on Josie's progress & growth over the weekend, but for now I'll leave you with a video that demonstrates how curious she is. (Oh - sidebar - we had her photos taken at Ault Park on Tuesday night & the poor photographer had the hardest time getting her to look into the camera because all she wanted to do was to carefully study the grass, flowers, rocks, leaves, etc.)

Anyway, you've heard me say it before - Josie cracks us up! And, this is the perfect example. I left the phone on the ground after sitting and playing with her, then returned to work on my computer. I heard the phone buttons being pushed, and I look over to find Josie making her first call (and we think she was calling Grandma & Granddaddy that she hasn't seen in awhile). Here she is making her first (of I'm sure many) phone calls. Enjoy!

Last San Fran Post

Okay, I promise that after this post, I will start living in the present & realize that I'm back in Ohio and no longer in California. But, I wanted to let you all know that the full SF album is now up in Josie's Shutterfly collection - www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com and to also share this "bonus video." Actually when I uploaded the "dipping tiny feet in the surf" video below, I posted the wrong one - not that the one I posted isn't good, but this is the one I was referencing when I mentioned the sundrenched moment frozen in time. So, without further ado, here it is:

Okay - back to reality.

Zen Moments

The week since we've been home has been pretty hectic, so I apologize for not getting these videos up sooner. Not much to report from this week back in Cincy, so we're still reliving the SanFran trip. Here are two beach videos that I thought I'd share. For those of you familiar with The Daily Show, I think these could easily be introduced with Jon Stewart's well-known phrase "Here it is...Your Moment of Zen." It's just something about that glistening sunshine that really does perfectly freeze this sweet moment in time.

And this video of Josie playing in the sand is similarly tranquil. You've probably heard me say it before, but we just adore those moments when Josie is clearly learning something new about the world. This was definitely the case with the sand - she was in awe of it. See for yourself:

And, last but not least, here is Josie's first carousel ride. Several people have commented lately on just how expressive Josie is. The looks on her face always speak volumes. We're pretty sure we know what she was thinking during this first ride; what do you think?

Okay, gotta get to work during J's naptime. (Which, for the record, she's passed out in nothing but a diaper. I tried for about an hour to get her down for her 2nd nap, but she kept resisting. I finally gave up and stripped her down to change her clothes so we could go on a walk, and once she was naked she completely passed out. Hmmm - maybe we'll try "bedtime in the buff" tonight.)

Josie's April Album has been uploaded to her Shutterfly collection at www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com The SanFran photos will go into a separate Shutterfly album that I will create this weekend. Enjoy!

HAPPY 4000 HITS! Thanks for visiting everyone!

Some San Francisco Treats

San Francisco might quite possibly be our favorite city that we've visited so far. And that's saying a lot, because we've been to quite a few places. It's just got so much to offer. But (don't worry mom & dad), we haven't started checking into real estate there (at least not yet). So, even though I took about 200 photos, here are the highlights - starting first with some photos of Josie just hanging out being adorable after her bath in the big hotel tub.
It's amazing what a good camera & good lighting can accomplish!
And, she was totally digging this comb & the sound the comb's teeth made against her teeth.
Doesn't it look like she's singing? I guess in a way, she kind of was. :)
Now, I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. So let me start at the beginning. Remember those photos you just saw of Josie looking adorable near the end of our trip? Well, for the point of comparison, here she is looking her worst at the very beginning of the week. This was after 5 hours on a plane and about 4 hours past her bedtime. She was well beyond exhausted, not to mention very confused with the fact that she was in a strange car in a strange carseat (facing forward?!). Poor little thing. We thought she would sleep on the plane starting around her normal 7pm bedtime, but we didn't account for the fact that we were flying west and that it wasn't going to get dark. So, she "thought" it was still daytime & just couldn't get to sleep. Anyway, lesson learned - don't fly west around bedtime. Here she is looking exhausted (and she was finally asleep just seconds later)!
Ah - a night of good rest in between mom & dad in a comfy king-sized bed (the crib the hotel gave us was metal & didn't have a crib bumper, so she kept banging her head & grew to hate that crib very quickly). Anyway, after some good sleep, Lou was off to the first day of his conference & Josephine and I were ready to tackle San Francisco. Here's Josie "helping" me with the map and guidebook. Fortunately, she didn't eat too much of them so I was still able to find my way around.

After a whole bunch of walking, sight-seeing & shopping, Josie was in desperate need of a diaper change. I asked around & got directed by a security guard into the "family room" near the food court in the basement of a large mall. And OMG - here's what we found:
I'm not kidding - complete with marble changing stations, three private nursing rooms, a kid's play land, flat screen TV, bottle warmers, a microwave, etc. It was UNREAL, and I think every public place in American needs to start building these right away. It was the perfect little oasis in the middle of the bustling city.

Anyway, after more walking & more shopping, we met back up with Louie to tackle Chinatown. Here they are are the famous gates to Chinatown.

And, I won't go into the rest of the Chinatown trip, except for to say we got a little too adventurous in looking for a snack & wound of wasting four perfectly good dollars on some kind of scary sweet rolls with mysterious "meat" inside. Luckily, Lee & Alicia (our friends who live in San Fran) took us out for some delicious authentic Italian in North Beach and that more than made up for the scary Chinese cuisine.
Here are some other photos from our family adventures around SanFran, namely - the obligatory cable car ride (which we discovered you can skip the line and the cost of the tickets if you walk to the top of the giant hill & take the trolley down instead of riding it up like everyone else).
And after a long day of partying West Coast style - here's one very sleepy Josie, back in the middle of the giant bed.
On to another day of big adventures. After more shopping and tea lattes with mama, Lou wrapped up another day of conferencing and we headed just down the street to the Yerba Buena Gardens for Josie's very first carousel ride! I think I actually had more fun that she did.

She was really confused during the whole first ride, but got into it during the second ride:
Here are Louie & Josie standing outside the carousel. We were going for the "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair" shot, but she just wanted to eat the flower so this is as close as we got:
Then, off to this really cool park, where Louie performed an impromptu concert for Josie:
Later that night, Lou & I walked back to Union Square for some tasty sushi. Here's Josie having her dinner, while we had ours. (And just to reiterate the coolness of this city, we sheepishly asked the hostess if it was okay to eat there with our baby in tow. She said "of course" and even brought us in the the back door which was easier with the stroller. And we saw two other families with babies while we were there!) I had to laugh because I have this tongue-in-cheek picture book called "Urban Babies Wear Black" and one of the pages says "Urban babies eat sushi." :)
And, the next day we were off again for some more sight-seeing, this time with Louie's longtime friend Lee to show us around the city. After a long, scenic drive through Golden Gate Park, here we are at the beach.

The photos are a bit out of sequence here, but later that day we went to the Haight - see those photos below.

The next day (Saturday) was the only full-day we had as a family because Lou's conference ended on Friday afternoon. So, we packed in a TON of activities. Lee & Alicia also had the day off of work, so they were gracious enough to spend the day sharing some of their favorite things with us. Before leaving the hotel that morning, we tried out the cool baby backpack that we got from this amazing company called "Baby's Away" that also rented us the carseat (parents take note - apparently "Baby's Away" has locations in all major cities and rents everything you need from the big stuff like cribs, strollers, and carseats to the little stuff like bathtubs, toys, etc.)

On this gorgeous 80 degree, sunshiny day the first stop was the Golden Gate Bridge and the beautiful view from the other side. Here's the whole crew:
And our family photo with San Francisco in the background:
And Lee & Louie looking like twins in matching shirts, jeans, and shoulder bags. Hilarious!
And sweet Josie "posing" in the shadow of the Golden Gate.
Later that day, we headed to Stinson Beach (where Janis Joplin's ashes were scattered). It was beautiful! We had some tasty ice cream cones:

And enjoyed hanging out in the sand:
San Fran water is chilly, but that didn't stop Josie from enjoying the feeling of the waves splashing up between her toes.
I think Josie needs her own pair of sunglasses, or at least a sunhat that will actually stay on:
Hopefully this was just the first of many Schneider-family afternoons on the beach. Of course we don't want Josie's life to zoom by any faster, but it will be so much fun when we can build sandcastles together, toss a frisbee, fly kites, splash in the waves, etc.
And here's a photo of Baby J sifting her fingers through the sand. She was SO happy just sitting there feeling the sand between her fingers and burying her legs. She just stared at the sand and smiled. And I'm happy to report that she didn't eat a single bite of it!

Here are the Haight-Ashbury photos! Did you honestly think we could go to San Fran without checking out this spot? As we pulled into the neighborhood, I told Josie we were only about 40 years too late, but once we got parked and started walking around, it was clear that the Sixties never really ended in the Haight. Here's the intersection that gives this neighborhood its name.

And here are the boys posing in front of the house where the Grateful Dead lived.
And Josie smiling up at what must have been the ghost of Jerry Garcia. :)
And the adorable tie-dyed onesie that I just about bought for her in every size!
Back to our day with Lee & Alicia in Marin County. Here is Sausalito. Gorgeous, quaint, and the perfect way to spend a sunny California afternoon.

We had a delicious lunch at "Horizons" on the water. We feasted on fish tacos & sandwiches, Josie feasted on her worm which was easily the mascot of the whole trip!
Next we were off to one of the highlights of the whole week - Muir Woods - home of the giant redwoods and Sequioa trees. Really, the photos just don't do them justice. They are as tall as buildings and grow in these beautiful "family circles." The air was cool and fragrant, the trees were mezmorizing and the whole experience was absolute tranquil perfection.

Here we are posing inside one of the mammoth trees.
And, even though Josie was sleeping, we had to pose her inside the giant tree as well.
You have to picture the fact that there was a whole line of people waiting to pose for their own pictures inside the tree, so that made this even more hysterical.
Oh - I forgot to mention - the roads in Marin County are like something out of a cartoon - they twist, turn and wind all around the mountains. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with poor, screaming Josie because she never fusses in the car, until I looked over and saw her totally turn 'green' and get car sick all over herself. Poor baby. All those bends were just too much for her. By the time we got to Muir Woods, she was definitely ready for a nap in the stroller.

After a long, exciting day driving all around Marin, we headed to Lee & Alicia's beautiful home perched high atop Potrero Hill for some ice cold beer and delicious takeout Thai food. The view from their house seriously had us ready to move in a second. It was breathtaking. The view from every window of the house offerred something spectacular - the ocean one way, the city the next. And here's the view off the deck - the bright lights in the center are the ballpark where the Reds were destroying the Giants.

And, what better way was there to top off the perfect rip than a perfect sunset over the city? It was gorgeous. Great food, great friends, a great view...what more could we ask for?

Overall, San Francisco was obviously fantastic and we will definitely be returning again before too long. There are some great short videos from the trip that I will add later this week - as well as the link to the full photo slideshow in Shutterfly (although I'm sure this is more than enough to hold you all over). :)

California, California...Here we come (again)!

We're off to San Francisco tomorrow until Sunday. Lou has another legal conference and Josie & I get to tag along. I promise to take tons of photos. :)

Earth Day 2008

In honor of Earth Day, we headed down to Sawyer Point for the annual event on Saturday to hang out and to see our friends Brianne & Suzanne win an award from the EPA for their efforts with http://www.livegreencincinnati.com/ (although we had to leave to beat the rain that actually never came). But, before walking home, we spent some quality time pushing a sleeping Josie around in her stroller until she woke up ready to play. That led to some quality blanket-time in the grass exploring more of the prickly green stuff. Here are my two favorite people smiling for the camera. And I *love* this photo of Josie and Louie playing with the grass together (which cracked Josie up). I think the best part is how Louie looks just as curious & amused as Josie - like he is also exploring the grass and flower petals for the first time. Seriously, could he be any sweeter?
And, after the fun with the grass (which she likes now - whew!) we headed to the makeshift petting zoo to hang out with some brand new baby ducks, baby goats, and this adorable little piggy. Josie plopped down right next to him for this ideal photo op.
And, that of course led to the perfect video of Josie giggling at her new oinking friend. Note: Please don't be offended by the fact that I mention "two little piggies" in this video. Come on - they are both these adorable, chunky, pink little babies and I couldn't resist the comparison. :) Enjoy!