An afternoon of exploration

I consider myself VERY fortunate that I have been able to strike such a good balance between working and mothering. Sure this means that we have to make some sacrifices financially, but only working part time allows me to get to spend every afternoon with Josephine. Each day at 3pm, Carissa leaves & it's playtime for Josie and I. Since it's been brutally hot & humid this past week, we've spent more time indoors that I prefer, but these lazy afternoons in the air conditioning have yielded some surprising results. Josie has gotten increasingly curious about her environment & actually figured out a few new things as I just sat and encouraged her to explore. As I've said before, it's just so amazing to watch her little brain work as she learns new things. Here are a few photos from our afternoon playtimes this week. Before I get into the "learning" photos - here are just a couple of cute ones: This is her "I'm getting some more teeth Mama" pose:We'll call this series "Oh - you're taking my picture? I think I'd like to taste that camera": "I'm almost there, just another inch or two and I can take a big bite..."
"I'm licking my lips just thinking about getting that leather strap in my mouth...":
Actually, sticking her tongue out seems to be the new thing. It may have something to do with all the new teeth coming in or perhaps all the new sounds she is making lately.
So, one of the lessons this week was learning that she can "walk the walker." It just occurred to her one afternoon that it was just as fun to push around the house as it was to ride. She walked this thing all over the condo. Here she is pausing to read the warning label when she got stuck by the elevator. I've actually never read the warning label myself, but I'm pretty sure there's something there about not letting your 11 month old push the thing around at warp speed across bamboo floors, but what can I say? We live on the edge.

See, Josie has taken her safety into her own hands. She designed her own "crash helmet" out of a Rubbermaid container.
Okay, on to what we call "Naked Dinner." After the famed incident with the beets, we learned our lesson. Some meals require nothing but a diaper. One of them - blueberries. So, the other night we stripped her down with the intent of a first course of blueberries followed by a pasta dinner (also a huge mess). But, she got so into the blueberries that she never made it to the pasta. I'm not kidding, save a few at the bottom, she ate the whole container! Here she is just getting started:
And here she is approaching the end. There were lots and lots of photos in between these two, so I think her expression is equal parts "OMG, I'm going to burst if I eat one more berry" and "What's the big deal lady? I'm just eating. Put down the stinkin' camera!"
Here are some of the photos of Josie learning new things. The big leap this week involved spatial understanding. She mastered the concepts of Under, Over, In, and Out. Here she is putting things under the chair and then returning to get them. She would go back and forth between "hiding" things under the sofa, ottoman, and chair and then go back to retrieve them (always so proud when she found them again). And here is a video of her new favorite game in the entire world. We call it "In & Out" but "Fill & Spill" would be just as appropriate. I'm not kidding, if I kept track of the cumulative time each day that she spent putting things in and out of either this container or one of her buckets, it would definitely be measured in hours not minutes.

Okay, that's all for now. I have a bunch more photos on my other camera from a VERY fun & exciting event from Saturday. (How's that for a teaser?) I will try to get those up mid-week.

A weekend in the "Second City"

First, a photo from Chicago in November...Over the weekend, we went to Chicago for what will be the last visit before they become "Three Austins" instead of Two. My how things change in just 8 months... As you can see in the photo above, things were quite different in November. The Austins had an office instead of a nursery, Manda wore jeans without elastic, and Josephine was just an adorable (albeit drooling) little meatball.

Fast forward to July... Josie did great on the car trip to Chi-town (thanks to trusty friend Elizabeth Mitchell & our White Noise CD), but when we arrived (about 10pm) she was ready to party! Here she is "winding down" with Aunt Manda in the chair from heaven (more on that later) - Here she is saying "Hey Auntie-M, Hop-on-Pop is the craziest story I've ever heard!"
And here she is finally giving in to the gentle rocking motion of the chair from heaven (which we will be purchasing a replica of in the very near future) -
After a bit of a crazy night, the three of us slept in, then we had a delicious homecooked breakfast (Thanks Michael) and Josie spent the better part of the day cruising around Chez Austin in her walker, munching happily on whatever we put in the tray. Her grandma would be very proud to know that the only time she really stopped was when a football highlights reel set to "The Nutcracker" played on the flatscreen. She was absolutely mesmerized!

After getting ourselves in gear, we all headed out in the Murano for some fun baby shopping at some cute boutiques (in I think Bucktown or maybe Wicker Park) and then hung out in this great park where Josie enjoyed the swings and watching the other kids:

And loved walking around like a big girl:
The next day was more of the same - good times hanging out day-dreaming about Baby Austin & chatting about how quickly Josie has grown. Here is Josie in her favorite naptime pose with one of Baby A's new toys:

And here she is at Silver Cloud (where we also got to catch up with Phil & Palak) occupying herself with the TV over Manda's shoulder instead of posing for the camera.
After another busy day capped off with some delicious gelato (and you'll just have to trust me that Josie made the funniest face she has ever made in her life when she tasted it), it was time to head home. Here is Josie passed out in her carseat. It's a little blurry because I took it in the mirror. Consider this the evidence that a good time was had by all:
Thanks Manda & Michael for being such great hosts! We can't wait to spend lots more family time together & can't wait to watch you push Baby Austin on the swing one day soon....

(Note: Check out www.threeaustins.blogspot.com for the post Manda will have up soon with some more photos of the weekend.)

There she goes

As you know, I've been trying to get a video uploaded of Josephine pushing her Alligator Toy for weeks now. I've had so much trouble, so I finally just shot this one quickly a few minutes ago so you could get the idea. Enjoy!

HOORAY...JOSEPHINE IS 11 MONTHS OLD TODAY!

Summer in the City

Living downtown, we spend a lot of time on Fountain Square. There's always something going on - rather that be live music, the farmer's market, a game being broadcast on the Jumbotron, etc. We usually walk over there a couple of nights each week. Josie has loved watching the fountain since she was a wee little one & the other night was one of those moments when I realized just how much she has grown. She used to just sit in her stroller and stare at the water. Now, she laughs at the pigeons, points at the horses pulling the carriages, claps her hands to the music, and insists on being walked around and splashing in the water. This is one of those videos that might not mean as much to all of you as it means to me. But, from my view, it will always represent our first summer in the city with Josephine. Enjoy!

A different kind of anniversary

As I mentioned before, Sunday was our 7 year wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we had Carissa come on Saturday night so we could go out to dinner at our favorite restaurant (Riverside Korean in Covington). We made reservations for 7:30, had Carissa come at 6 so we could get all gussied up, and headed out for a night on the town. The plan was to have a nice, long dinner at Riverside then head to our favorite neighborhood bar (JeanRo) for a nightcap and some tasty Pot de Creme. Long story short, we were finished with our dinner by 8:15. We had a sitter until 11, so we had lots of extra time on our hands. We headed to the car, sat there for several minutes & couldn't think of a single thing to do. Louie looked at me and said "what do people do for fun?" We tried a few things (called re: movies, etc) but nothing was going to work out. And it was too early to head to JeanRo. So, we drove around for awhile feeling really lame & then decided to go to Newport on the Levee to watch the sunset over downtown. Once there, we thought - hey - let's go to "GameWorks", play some Skeeball, and listen to some oldschool rap (yes, they played BellBivDevoe). Once we got there & bought our game card, we rounded the corner and the first thing was a wall of "claw machines" and the first several were filled with Elmos. We set a limit of four tries and decided to go for it. It was hilarious. We were SO excited when, on the third try, Elmo sat teetering over the edge of the shoot. Then, on the fourth try, with expert precision, Louie lifted up Elmo & dropped him down the hole. I had to share the quick video below because it really is funny how excited we got. Here is Louie with the prize. And the video -

So, pretty funny that we were getting a "night out" and we spent the majority of it talking about and winning prizes for Josephine. It was definitely a different kind of anniversary, and one to remember. :)

Two Quick Updates

1) Josie just learned to sit down from a standing position. This sounds obvious, but it's a big deal because until yesterday she would get "stuck" standing (i.e. in her crib in the middle of the night). Now that she knows how to sit down, she's standing over by the couch pulling up, then plopping down on her bottom & cracking up over and over again. So funny!

2) Josie has started to "sign back" and use her favorite sign that we've taught her - the sign for "milk." Now that she's officially communicating using sign language, we'll start to teach her more. :)

More from the holiday weekend...

As promised, here is the rest of the report on the holiday weekend in addition to the actual 4th of July stuff in the post below.
So, we spent Friday & Saturday at Grandma & Granddaddy's house - not just for the sparklers performance and general quality time with the fam, but also for a quick trip to see Aunt Manda & Uncle Mike up the road. Since the weather was nasty, we got to hang out all day in our pajamas and teach Josephine some new tricks. And - after only a couple of days practice - here is Josie with her latest crowdpleaser - "SOOOOO BIG!"
And here she is showing Bella that she is "SOOOO BIG!"
And here she is showing us her "SOOO BIG AND SCARY" face....
I promise to get a "SO BIG" video uploaded soon. If I'm lucky she'll also do her patented trifecta that she invented herself which starts with a clap, moves into "SO BIG", and ends with her hands waving "BYE-BYE" from the "SO BIG" pose. Too funny!

I thought I'd include these next photos for two reasons. First, in case an older version of Josephine ever tries to tell us she doesn't like peas, I want to have pictoral evidence that she used to eat them like candy. Secondly, I think this series of photos is funny because it clearly shows a beginning, middle, and end.
Beginning: Grandma hands Josie her own plate of peas -
Middle - Josie happily eats the peas from her plate -
End - Josie sits in a puddle of peas & prefers eating the ones straight off the floor in favor of the ones on the towel or the plate. (Yummy.)
And while we're dining with Josie - I thought you might enjoy these two photos of Josie sharing her watermelon with a furry friend...
She's been feeding me for awhile now & apparently that translated to feeding Bella. They totally had a little plan worked out where Josie dropped scraps of chicken breast and potatoes on the floor or right into Bella's mouth. (And the next day when we were home she tried to feed a very uninterested Venus a handful of Cheerios.)
Here are a couple of photos from my mom's camera that I had to share. First is Josie in the Bengal's hat (Who Dey!) and just look at all those teeth!

And the funniest thing - my mom & dad brought up a photo of me when I was about Josephine's age. Here she is posing next to "me"...
And checking "me" out.
There really is quite a resemblance. We'll have to find a photo of "Baby Louie" to introduce her to soon.

Okay - that's all for now. I hope you all had a Happy Fourth! :)

Josephine's First Fourth

Ahh - the Fourth of July - sunshine, parades, backyard bbqs, fireworks - you know the drill. While forces of nature necessitated that we skip a couple of these things this year, I think we definitely still delivered a memorable "first Fourth" to Baby Josie. Let me clarify one thing there. When I said "forces of nature" I didn't just mean the rain, I also meant Josie's sleep schedule. Because while we were perfectly poised to get the best view of Madiera's fireworks that money can buy, we had to bail just before the first big "boom!" That's okay though, because Granddaddy kicked off quite a sparkler show the next day in their backyard (although I look slightly more impressed than Josie).
Truth be told, she wasn't sure what to think of the sparklers. I think she was equal parts amazed by the whole thing, angry that she couldn't hold them herself, and confused as to why we didn't wait until dark. (The answer there is that no amount of sparkler-induced fun is worth a "missed bedtime" meltdown.)
But - back to the parade. Josie loves parades! Thank goodness we live in the city & can catch several each year. Check her out sitting like a big girl on the corner waiting for the action. And let me point out that on the left is Brian & Susan's son Griffin, on the right is Tad & Nancy's son Owen & new baby Piper and behind them is Jason & Jamie's new addition Bella. It was SO strange for Josie not to be the little one anymore. Piper & Bella are just 8 weeks old & Louie and I could not believe how tiny they were. I'll be honest, this definitely made me want another little one. (Ha - Thank goodness Manda is helping out with that pursuit.) Oh & check out how sweet Owen is holding on to his tiny baby sister.
And - just in case you didn't believe me when I said Josie loves parades - check out this video of her having the time of her life with her new buddy Owen. He is SO cute. Listen to him say "That's a baby" and point at Josie. Adorable!

More photos & videos from the holiday weekend coming soon...Gotta run, Josie just awoke!

Josie's Shutterfly collection has now been updated with all of her June photos - Enjoy! http://www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com/

TODAY IS OUR SEVEN YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! Hooray!
And even though we have 7 incredible years of marriage to reflect back upon...From now on, I think we'll always view our lives together in two distinct eras - "Before Josie" and "After Josie."

Hot Fun in the Summertime

The "Three Schneiders" have been very busy with lots of summer time activities - trips to the zoo, hanging out with friends downtown, swimming, hiking, taking long walks, and lots more! Here are some highlights from the last week or so. But, before we get started with that, I thought I'd start you off with the "Funny Josie Photos of the Week." Check out her new favorite sleeping position: If you straighten her legs out, she instantly springs back into this position!
I guess there's a reason why this is called "Child's Pose" in yoga! :)

Okay - onto the summertime fun! We want to be sure Josie is comfortable with the water, so we've been trying to take her swimming whenever we can. We're not starting any swim classes or anything right now, but we're trying to get her used to being in the water. Here we are at the Wyoming Pool where we hung out with Carrie, Skylar & Blaine. We had so much fun lounging around and playing games like "Motorboat" in the water.

Note: Josie did not take a nap until 4:30 that day! She was having way too much fun, although you can clearly tell she was exhausted in the photo above. And here she is in her cool new cowgirl sunhat. It really is hysterical.
Over the weekend we went to the pool at our rental property and had the whole thing to ourselves. Here we are hanging out in the pool. (And why I'm putting a photo of myself in a swimsuit on the blog, I'll never know. Maybe I'm trying to get even on Louie's behalf since posting the hula hooping video of him here.)
Our little water baby loved the raft until she figured out how to push it down and get her face into the water. That was a bit of a disaster, but I really feel like that needed to happen in order for her to have a healthy fear of the pool. She recovered quickly & had no problem getting back in the raft after some big hugs from her (very freaked out) mama.
Onto another favorite summertime activity - hiking! Who would've known that we had over 1000 acres of forest just 10 minutes from our house? Now that we've discovered Mt. Airy Forest, there's no excuse for not getting in some quality outdoors time every couple of weeks. These photos are actually from two separate trips. I love this first photo because Louie & Josephine have the exact same look on their faces!

Obviously Josie loves to "hit the trails" with mom & dad.
This is from the other trip to Mt. Airy Forest & I like this picture because it proves that Josie definitely gets those big blue eyes from her Daddy.
Really - a huge tree house less than 15 minutes from our house?! (And grandma will love knowing that the Bengals helped build it.)
Very cool!
Okay - now onto some fun stuff around the house. This is definitely the "check out our big girl" series of photos. As I mentioned before, Josie now drinks from a straw. Bottles are now for storage purposes only (which as you all know she never really loved anyway) and she gets all of her fluids from a sippy cup or cup with a straw. During one of our hikes, Louie & I were drinking from this water bottle & Josie reached for it. I was like "haha Josie, there's no way you can drink from that" and she, in typical Josie fashion, aimed to prove me wrong. Ever since, it's her favorite way to drink - which is hilarious because she can barely lift it when it's full.

Here's another "big girl" story for you. Josie's favorite book is "Charlie Monkey" and Louie reads it to her every night before bed (sometimes several times). The other night Louie wasn't around during bed time (poor thing went to bed before Josie) and I was getting her ready for bed. As I was putting on her pajamas, she crawled over the bookshelf and pulled out every single book until she found "Charlie Monkey." Then she sat down and started "reading" it to herself. Ha -What a smart cookie!
In other "big girl" news - here's Josie with her alligator push toy. She can push it standing up (which I promise to take video of & post soon) but the other day she figured out that she can go much faster if she pushes it on her knees.
Seriously - just leave it to Josie. What a hoot!
And, before we move on to a couple of quick videos. Here's a random photo of Louie with two of his favorite girls on the couch. I'm proud to say that Josie will now only pet animals with her pointer finger if we say "Josie, one finger touch." This little trick came in very handy on Saturday when we went to "Dog Days Downtown."
And now for your viewing pleasure - two short videos. The first one is just funny because it looks like Josie is trying to levitate. We've always known that Josie is part-Tigger. Watch her go!

And, finally, I'll borrow from Jon Stewart again & leave you with this week's "moment of zen". Here's Josie sleeping in her crib with her bottom in the air. The video is dark, but I wasn't about to turn on the light and risk waking her. Enjoy!

That Josie!

Over the weekend, Louie and I were talking and the weather was on TV. Check out Josie "warn" us about the coming storms when the "severe weather warning" started. SOO Funny! (I've decided that storm-tracking must've been passed down in her DNA from her grandma.)

Newsflash!

Josie stood by herself purposefully last night! (In comparison to us letting go of her when she's standing in front of us.) She was standing up pushing her alligator toy (video coming soon) and just let go of it and stood there for a few seconds. I honestly think she would've lasted even longer if I wouldn't have started screaming "Louie...Look! Look!" What a big girl! :)

Josie crawls ("for real")...

So I was talking to my sister on the phone Thursday night chatting away about her new nursery furniture (YAY!) and I looked down to see Josie crawling, full speed ahead, on her hands and knees toward Venus. Yep, that's right, after a month or so of "commando crawling" on her elbows, she finally learned a more efficient (and, um quicker) way to get around. Watch out Venus!

Besides the crawling, in this video you'll also see her new favorite thing which is pointing at things she wants (in this case the cat). But wait...There's more! Also in this video - the skill she discovered last week of moving from her belly or back to a sitting position. Enjoy! (Honestly, I hope you all like it because it has seriously taken me three days and several iterations to get this darn thing uploaded.)

Here are two videos of Josie feeling very daring. Apparently she enjoyed the freedom that her newly-discovered talent for crawling on her hands and knees afforded her so much that later that evening she made these two attempts at letting go of the couch to take a step on her own.

She's definitely thinking about it...

Another important milestone (for Cincinnatians)

Tonight Josephine had her taste of the sweet, sweet nectar known around these parts as Graeters. Louie & I walked over to the Square after dinner for their new Mango Sorbet and since mangoes are Josie's favorite food and since she's eating almost everything else that we're eating (more on that in a minute)...we decided to give her a tiny bite. After the shock of the icy coldness wore off, she literally smacked her lips and opened her mouth for another spoonful. I obliged. Then that was it (I thought) until she literally cried until we gave her more. (And I swore I'd never be one of "those parents" to give in so easily, but it was Graeters, so you all understand, right?) It's no surprise that she loved it. Who doesn't? Just wait until she tries "black raspberry chip" - which won't be for a loooong while!! ;)

On the topic of food, Josie is pretty much eating whatever we eat now (minus the major seasonings). For example, tonight we made Indian food & Josie sat there in her high chair feeding herself grilled chicken, rice and garlic Naan. The night before last she sat there and ate a crumbled up Veggie Burger. She'll eat any fruit or veggie that we eat. And her favorites so far have been pancakes & bagels with cream cheese. What a big girl!!

Josie Claps!

It started off with her first clap when Curious George appeared on the tv, followed by a weekend of clapping back at us if we clapped at her. Now she claps when she's excited about something or if you say "Yaaaay!" So cute. Here are some of her first claps on Saturday:

The next trick we're working on is "Sooo Big!" because that's something my Mimi used to do with us when we were little. :)

Playing Catch-up

First and foremost - HAPPY FIRST FATHER'S DAY TO LOUIE! We definitely had a fantastic time celebrating his first father's day weekend. It actually worked out that I was so busy, because he got a lot of quality daddy/daughter time with Josie - including an exciting trip to the zoo so they could see the new giraffes! As you'll see in the video at the very bottom - they also got in some quality Wii Fit time. As it turns out, Josie loves to hula hoop (see below). All in all, it was a great father's day. I made a shutterfly book for Louie with all the photos of him with Josie over these past 10 months. It's like a storybook that he can read to her since he does storytime every night. It was definitely a chance for us to both look back and reflect on how much our lives have changed now that we are parents. We both feel so grateful and so fortunate.
On Father's Day we met my dad & mom at Dewey's (YUM). As usual, Josie had a fantastic time being entertained by her grandparents. Grandma even gave up her seat next to Josie so Granddaddy could sit with her. Josie was even more amazed by him than usual. She just sat and stared and smiled at him all night. Here they are playing after dinner.
Notice - we've given up on shoes for the summer. Who needs 'em?! (Like mother, like daughter I suppose.)
And I had to include this photo because it cracks me up. Before mom & dad arrived, Josie was entertaining the servers by clapping, waving, squealing, and dropping her toys so they would repeatedly pick them up. This is definitely her "who me?" face.
Okay, on to things that have been going on around the house lately. These days it's all about pulling up, standing, and cruising along the furniture. I really think she'll take off walking in the next month or so.

Although she's not standing completely unsupported just yet, she definitely is a lot more "courageous" when she's busy with something. If she's occupied or really into something, she'll walk or stand with a lot less support.
Oh - and another funny thing (video coming soon) is her alligator push toy. She can totally do it on her own but you have to be touching her. It's a flash forward to learning how to ride a bike. If she thinks you're going to let go, she just sits down. If you just put a pinky finger on her, she goes full steam ahead. Hilarious.

Now on to another new toy around the house. Actually it's an old toy. Or at least a replica of an old toy. Meet Mrs. Beasley:

She was my favorite doll ever when I was a little girl. (From the tv show Family Affair.) I loved her and took her everywhere. I can remember my Grandma telling me stories about how much I loved that doll. So, when my mom saw that you could buy replica Mrs. Beasley dolls, she bought one for what, at the time, was "the little girl I was going to have" since it was before Josie was even born. I must admit, when I opened that big pink box and saw Mrs. Beasley and thought about myself carrying her around as a little girl, I totally sat there and cried at the thought of "one day" having a daughter of my own to carry around the doll. I kept Mrs. B in her box until Josie was bigger. A couple of weekends ago, my mom suggested that we get her out because Josie has been into stuffed animals with animated faces (i.e. cookie monster). Plus we knew she'd love the fact that the doll "talks" to her. Mrs. Beasley was an instant hit! Josie adores her. She claps her hands, plays with her hair, gives her kisses, and swings her around. Here she is just before she gave Mrs. Beasley her first clapping lesson.

And, I really do have to mention that, hmmm...how do I say this...there are definitely people out there (who shall remain nameless) that find Mrs. Beasley to be a wee bit scary. Suffice it to say, dolls look a little differently these days than they did 25 years ago. And, Josie loves her so that's all that matters, right?!

Okay - one last random photo from the week before I move on to the video. Only because I think it's funny. Chalk it up as one of those moments where the kind of parents we are hits us right in the face. Check out our "naked" baby wearing nothing but her chlorine-free, unbleached diaper, sitting on the floor reading "Eco Babies Wear Green." Need I say more?

And finally - a video for your enjoyment. Louie will not be pleased that this is on the blog, but by the time he notices it, it will be too late (plus he doesn't have my password). Check out Josie and Louie getting some exercise in with the new Wii Fit. She loves hula hooping (and apparently her dad does, too). Enjoy!

• Hello loyal readers. Sorry it's been awhile since our last update. We have lots of exciting news to share that I'll get up tonight. I'm teaching a class for Wright State that starts today & I've been very busy getting it all ready. :)
  

Another milestone this morning

Josie learned to clap this morning. It happened right as I turned on the TV. (Coincidence?) Seriously though, it's so cute. And she gets so excited as she does it. (There is likely a clapping video in your future.)

This just in...

At approximately 12:30am last night, Josephine mastered the skill of moving herself from her belly to sitting on her bottom and moving herself from her back to sitting on her bottom. She's been working on this for quite awhile now and was feeling quite proud of herself when she figured it out in the middle of the night - so proud in fact that she decided to stay up celebrating until about 2am when she finally gave in to sleep. And -as soon as she woke up at 6am it was time to celebrate some more. Goodness gracious! Oh - gotta run - she's destroyed the Nintendo Wii.......

HOORAY - JOSEPHINE IS TEN MONTHS OLD TODAY!