You hear it all the time - kids this age learn through imaginative play. I can't tell you how many of Josie's "leaps" have taken place at the Museum Center. We had some big strides there at the end of last week - first she finally "got it" at the water table - filling, spilling, splashing, pouring,etc. This transferred over into bathtime which is now a much more "productive"activity of spilling bottles with water, emptying them into cups, etc. Here's Josie partying in splash-zone.This was a BIG deal! We've been going to the museum for months now & week after week I break my back lifting Josie to the top of the slide 100 times and cupping the back of her head so she doesn't slam it on her way down. Well, I think she got some courage from Aoife last week, because this week she got daring and wanted to do it all by herself. I stood back and down she went. And, I'm not kidding, she clapped for herself and said "Yay" at the bottom. Here she is before going down for like the 30th time...No exaggeration -she spent a solid half-hour marching up the stairs, positioning herself at the time, going "weeeee" the whole way down, clapping at the bottom, saying "yaaaay", and marching back up the stairs again. She was literally getting out of breath. Check out these action shots. I love how she looks scared to death but just kept doing it.

In other news, she learned how to properly use the shovel to fill the pail with sand in the sandbox as well. I love playing with Josie and watching her grow. It's amazing! She's just growing up so fast. We actually went to our first "school" tour over the weekend as well. We're trying to figure out whether we'll do Waldorf, Montessori, etc. so we went to the Waldorf School Open House. We definitely haven't "drank the kool-aid" yet, but it looks like a great place for at least pre-K. Really, it's just unbelievable that we have to be thinking about schools already, but since we live in the city, it's a lot more complicated. Whew - wish us luck! :)

Here are a couple of other loose ends from the past week:

This one is from my birthday last week. Carissa worked on trying to teach Josie to say "Happy Birthday" all day long, but gave up on the "Birthday" part and substituted "B-day" instead. But, for some reason, Josie thought "B-day" was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Every time we'd say it, she'd crack up. This is late in the day, so it didn't get quite the same reaction, but you get the idea. Enjoy!

Here are a couple of photos from our niece Morgan's Ice Recital. Josie was very impressed. Here she is clapping and cheering for the girls - She was especially proud of Morgan leading the pack during their big number - And I'll leave you with this quickie of Josie with her cat puppet, because we think it's hilarious. Enjoy!

Cabin Fever

Well, let's see, not much has happened since my last post. We've pretty much been snowed in for the past week after two pretty massive winter blasts. And on top of the storms, it's been sub-zero cold, so we've been spending a lot of time in the house...and I mean a lot. In fact, just a few minutes ago, Louie pointed out that the diaper bag has been sitting in the same spot for about a week & if the diaper bag hasn't moved, well that's just not a good sign. I'm actually a little ashamed to admit that it was just this exact instant that I put together the fact that Josie's been a bit of a handful lately with the realization that this is probably because she's going absolutely stir crazy. Yep, cabin fever at it's best. Thank heavens there's a big thaw in the forecast. We've gotta get out!
Now that I think about it, a couple of things did happen since my last post. For one, I had a birthday. Thanks so much to everyone for the cards, emails, and well wishes. I have such wonderful friends & family. The big blog-worthy birthday news revolves around my new portrait lens that Louie got me. I love it! Hopefully you'll see why in these next two photos. Viola - instant professional photographer...Actually, these aren't the best two photos I've ever taken, but you can see how clean the images are compared to my small digital. I'm really looking forward to taking some more photos soon. I haven't taken many this past week because Josie took a nasty spill off the couch and had some pretty nasty rugburn on her lip and nose. I'll say this now so when we can all look back in 20 years and say I was right - there's a good chance Josie has a future in either Cirque du Soleil or mountain climbing. She's a total daredevil & not afraid of anything. This particular injury took place when she tried to balance on top of a ball while standing on the couch. She also has a new past-time of trying to see what she can balance herself on top of - her favorite is the stacking blocks from grandma & grandaddy.
Here are a couple of other random moments from this past week. Here's Josie playing with her reflection in the trash can (really, why do we bother buying toys). It was hilarious because she just kept pointing and waving to herself and going "Josie...Josie". Actually, that sounds more like "Jo-C" to those of you who haven't heard it yet. So cute. Here's Jo-C reading to a couple of her bears. She is very much into role playing like this - reading to her bears and dolls, dressing them in clothes, putting them in diapers, wrapping them in blankets & patting their backs while saying "night-night". She has such an active imagination and it's so much fun to watch that develop.

Oh - speaking of J's imagination - here's a quick video of her feeding a yummy breakfast of Haba balls to her bear. Just check out how proud she is of herself...

We'll call this next one "Evidence of Cabin Fever". You know you need to get out of the house when you get out the "hair pretties" and start taking pictures of yourselves. Josie thought it was hilarious that we had matching hair & made me show her each picture as soon as I took it. This photo actually predates the big storm, but I had to post it as further evidence of just how much of a girl Josie is. I'm telling you - it's biology. Here she is unpacking the Children's Place bag of all of her new clothes (what a sale!!!). She literally brought me each thing and said "On, On". We had to try on every single bit of clothing - including 4 long sleeve t-shirts that were identical except different colors. She marched around in her new clothes mixing and matching outfits. Thank goodness her shoes were back in her bedroom or I imagine we would've had to match them up to each outfit as well. Seen here is Josie in her first pair of real jeans - pockets and all - which she loves to fill with her favorite things - usually a handful of magnetic letters. Too funny!

Finally, I'll leave you with this video of Josie riding on her elephant. You can get a little hint of her daredevil nature in this video as well. I'm telling you, the child lives on the edge. Never a dull moment....

I'll spare you the video of Josie dipping "oven fries" in ketchup because I doubt you will find it as adorable & hilarious as Louie and I did. I guess it was just one of those moments where we were like, "Man, it seems like she was just breastfeeding yesterday & now she's asking for ketchup for her fries?!?!"

Hope everyone's doing well...

Hanging with her homies

In addition to our weekly playtime and music class at the Cincinnati Family Enrichment Center, we also usually get together one other afternoon each week with our mama/baby friends. The Children's Museum has been a favorite spot lately with this frigid Cincy weather. It's such a great spot for the kids to run around and explore.
Here are Josie, Andrew, and Aoife doing some important work in the sandbox.Here is Josie being a total stinker. She was, of course, eating the sand. And this is her testing me by sticking out her tongue and slowly approaching another taste just to see if the rules had changed. Gotta love toddlers. ;)Here's Andrew taking the girls on a bus ride while Ang, Ciara, and I spiritedly sang "The Wheels on the Bus Go 'Round and 'Round".

And Josie taking Aoife for a spin. I'm not sure if you can tell in the small version of the photo, but this is a good example of the way Josie sticks out her tongue when she's really concentrating or trying to do something that's really hard for her. It makes me smile. Here are Aoife and Josie playing Legos. This was just moments before Josie decided that all of these blocks and animass belonged to her, evidenced by the fact that she screamed "NO" and swatted at an unsuspecting little boy & tried to push a tiny girl named Charlotte out of the little red chair.

And, Aoife trying to convince Josie to go down the slide all by herself, which didn't work. But maybe next time...

And a little hugfest in the tower...

We are very excited to share some happy news about Aoife... on Saturday she became a big sister when her mama Ciara gave birth to little Sophie. Congratulations to the whole family! We can't wait to spend time with your growing family. In fact, fellow hypnomama Jen also had a new baby girl over the weekend. WOW!

Here is Josie getting very up-close and personal with the fish...so up-close and personal in fact that she left a big wet lip print on the glass.And finally - one of the joys of city living - Josie is very familiar with the sound that a firetruck makes...

Josie is so fortunate to have little friends to play with, and I am so fortunate to have big friends to play with, too! :)

Some loose ends

Here are some loose ends from the past couple of weeks.

Josie in my hat, scarf, and gloves after insisting: "Hat...Glubbs...Hat...Glubbs"Josie falling asleep while standing up - even though she *refused* taking a napJosie at the "Cavalcade of Customs" carshow with her Daddy and Grandpa Bob who invited them to join him for checking out some sweet cars and motorcycles. Here's Josie checking out "Kit" from "Knight Rider" - which she apparently thought was so cool that she wouldn't even smile at the camera. :)

Historic Happiness

Happy Inauguration Day everyone! It's hard for me to even express the joy, hope, and optimism that I feel as an American today. We ended up having a little impromptu "watch party" at the house today for our friends who work downtown that needed a place to celebrate. Josephine actually napped through the actual swearing in ceremony and inaugural address, but she woke up in time to watch the end of the parade and all the evening news coverage. As I said in another email today, I think it's pretty cool that today is really "just another day" for Josie, because it's my hope that one day I'll have to explain to her why today was even such a big deal. I hope that by the time she's old enough to have a conversation about politics that our country will be so far removed from the hate, intolerance, and war of the past that she won't even be able to comprehend it. For me, today was definitely more than "just another day". Tonight I will go to bed feeling less concern and fear about the world that we brought Josie into. Here are some photos of Josephine on this historic day.

Little things that make me smile

Now that Carissa is back from her winter break, it was time for me to get back to work this week. There aren't many photos because this was a very busy week of "catch-up". I did manage to get a couple of things this weekend, because I didn't want to totally leave you all hanging. :)

Here's one of Josie "reading" in her car seat. Josie loves looking at all the pictures & it's such a huge book that usually when we look in the backseat all you can see is the book with tiny little legs sticking out. Thank goodness books keep her occupied in the car, because there will likely be lots of trips back and forth to Chicago in her future. These next two are more for Louie & I than anything. As Josie grows older, I don't want us to forget even the most seemingly-mundane moments. In this case, it's Josie & her oatmeal. She loves the stuff - more than anything. And, as you can see below, she really shovels it in and manages to eat two full adult portions for breakfast (and usually fruit as well). "Oatmeal" is seriously one of the first words out of her mouth when she wakes up in the morning. It is not unusual to hear "Mom...Dad...Up...Oatmeal" on the baby monitor at 6am. Then she stands and calls out "oat-mee-ow, oat-mee-ow" over & over for the 10 or so minutes it takes to cook it. We even have to spell it instead of saying the word or she will insist that we make her a pot. So, here's to Josie and her oatmeal...Here's a quick video that serves two purposes. As I was talking to my mom today on the phone, Josie taught herself how to scream - loudly. She thought it was hilarious. She would take a big breath & just let it rip. Mom & I were cracking up because she just kept repeating the big scream, cracking up, catching her breath, then doing it again. She was quite proud of herself. So I went for the video camera and (of course) only managed to capture one last squeal before she decided to end the screaming game. But - this short little video captured something else that Josie is doing now that I think is really cute. Whenever she wants something that she doesn't know the word for, she calls it "this." My guess is that it's the result of me asking her "Tell me what you want. Is it this? This? This? etc" as I point to or hold up objects trying to determine what she wants/needs.

Learning by leaps and bounds

I've been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with Josie over the last few weeks due to the holidays. Since Carissa went home to Syracuse for winter break, I had over 3 weeks of time with Josie. It's unbelievable how much she has changed in the last month. Those of you with children probably notice with your own how they make developmental "leaps" - sometimes they're physical, sometimes they're emotional, and in this case, they're cognitive. We've been shocked by the things she has started to do lately.



Here's one that blows our minds - she can identify letters! She points to them on her easel, in books, on blocks, etc. Here she is identifying "A, B, and C" on her magnadoodle.







She's also gotten a very active imagination lately. Her play is much more intentional and planned-out. It's amazing that she amused herself by shaking toys a few months ago, and now she is acting out things from her imagination. Here are some examples from the Museum Center this week.

She put out food bowls for all the puppies, set them by each one, and made eating noises while they dined on imaginary food. Then she gave them baths...

Here she is (the next day, hence a new outfit) pushing her baby around in a stroller... And pushing her baby in a wheelbarrow over to play with her in the sand...

I'll continue to try to capture her "leaps" on film - in the meantime, here are just some more photos from our week.

Josie - who sat like this starting at me for a full 2 or 3 minutes in protest after I bundled her up in all these layers...

Baby J with her "heavy baby" Waldorf doll that we got her for Christmas. It has actually accomplished its intended purpose - comforting her at night so she gets better sleep. Dare I say it, our sleep issues have finally been resolved. She loves cuddling with what she calls "Bay-BEE" and who wouldn't? (It's soft, cuddly, and even filled with lavender.)

Oh - so in big news on the Josie front - I CUT HER HAIR!!! Those of you who are loyal blog followers may have noticed a curious absence of Josie's trademark piggytails in these photos. And, while they are not gone in their entirety, they are on hiatus. You see, only Josie's most trusted confidants knew that all this time the piggy-tails were actually a necessity. Since birth, she has had these really long strips of hair over her ears while being almost bald in the back. We thought, for 17 months, that the back would eventually catch up, so we were afraid to cut the sides. When her hair was down, it looked pretty crazy so we had to put it in piggytails every day to protect her cuteness. :) With her increasing-toddler-squirminess, this was getting harder and harder. So, I cut it into this little bob. No worries, it still goes into piggytails just fine. Here are some photos of her new 'do.

And, last but not least, I'll leave you with some photos of Josie cuddling with Louie. She's going through a "daddy" phase right now. "Dad" is the first word out of her mouth when she wakes up - followed quickly by "oatmeal, oatmeal."

Here's the seat she made for herself when she found Louie lying on the floor - she brought over the monkey and there they all cuddled together.
And this was just about 5 minutes ago as I was starting to update the blog.

To close...

JOSEPHINE MARIE IS NOW 17 MONTHS OLD!!!! (That's almost a year-and-a-half which blows my mind.) My goodness, this means Lyla is 3 months old now?!? Where does the time go?

A few more random fun times to share. I hope you all enjoy this video as much as we do. We were lucky enough to capture Josie teaching herself how to jump on film. Get ready to laugh...


Here's a cute one of Louie & Josie cuddling together on the couch. She's such a little cuddle-bunny these days; it's the sweetest thing ever. (Sorry the photo quality stinks - I took the picture from far away to not disturb them.)
Here's Josie sitting inside her "Bilibo" snacking on some bread. I love the "really, another freaking picture?!" look that she's giving me & I'm posting this because I wanted to show Aunt Manda how cute Josie looks in the dress she bought her. :)
I hope you're all having a good week. :)

Fiss & Ockpoos

We capped off our winter "staycation" with a trip to the Aquarium. Before too much exploring, it was necessary to get a photo of Josie with the only Santa she would get anywhere near this year. :)It's funny how the Aquarium's appeal has changed over the last 17 months. When Josephine was teeny tiny, she used to just love looking up from the stroller at the lights and colors. Then, I used to carry her in a sling and she really just enjoyed hanging out on my chest but couldn't care less about her surroundings, and now she is completely engaged in the process like these photos show -
Reaching out to touch what she calls the "fiss" and the "ockpoos" - Trying to pet the otters - Saying hi to the turtles -


Breaking her neck to get a good look at the live shark swimming overhead - And overall just enjoying the whole thing.

We captured this little gem on the car ride home. This is actually the abbreviated version, because I had to cut it down to fit on the blog. Well, let's just say it's clear from this video that even though Josie's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, her favorite word these days is definitely "no". :)