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!

More Field Trips

With the weather finally cooperating (hooray - 70s), we've been getting out a lot more. This week was quite exciting, with lots of time spent with friends. On Tuesday, we got to meet sweet Lily - the beautiful daughter of my friend Ali who was my student teacher years ago when I taught in Milford. (She lives in FLA now.) It was so great to see Ali, to introduce our girls, and to obsess over the dangers of plastic and toxins together. All joking aside, we are so on the same page when it comes to parenting, and it's just nice to know we're not crazy!

Here are Josie & Lily in their thrones on the edge of our table at The Cheesecake Factory, where they were treated like royalty - complete with "appetizers" of banana pieces and breadsticks (before they even took our drink order). It was so cute! Although you can see they both actually preferred their fingers to the snack from the waiter -

On Thursday, we made our first "hypnozoo" trip with the girls. It's just so funny that our weekly meetings began with all of us sitting in a circle at the Blue Manatee with these little swaddled lumps and we are already taking trips to the zoo to laugh at the animals together (Josie thought the polar bears were hysterical). The babes are just growing up so fast! Here we are in front of the gorilla exhibit. If you look closely in the background, that's the mama and baby gorilla. We all couldn't believe just how similar mothering is for this big gal as it is for each of us. (The baby was crawling all over her, wanted to be held nonstop, and the mom kept looking down and squeezing her "baby belly" - seriously.)
And here's the "Hypnozoo Crew" - Josie/me, Jen/Anna, Alison/Ryan, Angela/Andrew.
And the babes in their strollers - with Josie looking particularly cozy (just before she passed out for almost an hour). And here's a photo of Josie looking lovely in front of the tulip display (which was gorgeous). When she wasn't busy exploring the grass, I was actually able to snap a few good photos.
Another funny thing about this photo is the fact that there is a photo almost exactly like this except it's Lou & I sitting in front of tulips this exact color for our wedding engagement photos. My how times have changed! :)

Josie is the Kid of the Day!

CONGRATULATIONS JOSEPHINE! YOU ARE TODAY'S PARENTS MAGAZINE "KID OF THE DAY!"

Some time ago, I submitted a photo of Josie for the contest, and they emailed me to say that Josie had been chosen out of hundreds of daily submissions to be featured on both the Child.com and Parents.com website for April 18th, 2008.

You can see her photo by visiting http://www.child.com/ www.americanbaby.com and/or http://www.parents.com/ . The photo is from our trip to LA when she was 6 months old.

In other news related to our obsession with how cute we think Josie is - we "dropped out" of the Cincinnati Enquirer Baby Idol contest after it became clear that it was turning into who could throw the most money at it. We were quite happy with the results of Josie getting her photo in the newspaper and finishing in the Top 25 during that first week. :) Thanks so much to everyone who voted!

Weekend with the "Triple A's"

Over the weekend, we got to see Manda & Michael. This trip was made even more special by the fact that I got my first belly-pat of Josie's future cousin. Here's my beautiful little sis and her budding "belly bump." (Check out her growing tummy at http://www.threeaustins.blogspot.com/)
As usual, we had a great time just hanging out with the Austins. And Michael even got in some babyfeeding practice (although he's always been great with kids, so this is actually nothing new).
And Manda & I had fun cracking ourselves up at Josie's expense. Here she is entertaining us with a bucket on her head - which she actually found pretty funny, too.
And - just to prove that she was actually having fun as well - here she is shaking the ever loving daylights out of her wooden car keys. Go Josie!!
I had to include this photo because it makes me smile. This was Josie's first trip to Frickers with the whole Xenia crew. She got to smell some spicy chicken wings, play with Kalie & Claire, and get passed around to visit her family and friends. Here she is getting a big kiss on her honey pot by Aunt Manda. :)

Josie's First "Sandbox"

Josie is getting so interactive, and as a result we're having even more fun with her. Tonight we decided to make Josie her first "sandbox" out of a lasagna pan and cannister of Quaker Oats.

We had lots of fun hiding her toys under the oats and watching her dig them out. And - as you'll see in the video coming soon - she caught on to the game & joined along.

Even more fun than playing with the oatmeal in the "sandbox" was watching her dump it out all over herself and create a huge mess. (Tonight I discovered that Louie and I are the type of parents that appreciate a good mess in the name of fun.)

And, after the oatmeal was out of the pan and all over Josie and the floor, the pan itself made a pretty fantastic drum.

So - long story short - Josie's first "sandbox" was a huge success - so much so that we just put all the oats back in the pan, snapped on the lid and set it all aside until it's "sandbox" time again.

I've been having trouble uploading the video, but I'll try again tomorrow. :)

INTRODUCING...

It is my utmost pleasure to introduce all of you to a new blog that I highly recommend -

www.threeaustins.blogspot.com

And if you didn't take the time to actually read the title of that blog, or in case you don't know that my sister's last name is Austin, or if you are generally just a bit out of it, then I'll spell it out for you ... MY SISTER IS PREGNANT!!!!!!

We could not be more excited that "Aunt Manda" is now going to be "Mama Manda." CONGRATULATIONS MANDA & MICHAEL! We absolutely cannot wait to share this adventure with you.

And -as far as stats are concerned - she is 13 weeks pregnant, due on October 18th, and doing GREAT!

Where did those 8 months go?

HAPPY 8 Month Birthday Sweet Josephine! :)

Big Adventures for Little Josephine

We've had a pretty busy week since our last post. The weekend was a blast! The weather was perfect and we spent time with friends. Here is Josie with four of her fellow hypno-babies at Maya's house. Almost all of the families (dads included) were able to reunite, and it was SO much fun to all be back together again. After a busy weekend in the sunshine, we headed out for another adventure on Tuesday. I had to go to Wright State to fill out some paperwork to prep for the courses that I'm going to teach there this summer. Since WSU is really close to Xenia, Josie asked if we could swing by to visit Grandma and Granddaddy, so of course I obliged. :) Here is Josie stylin' in her sunhat with Grandma outside of "Toward Independence" where my dad works. I had just returned from a pedicure, which Josie thought was pretty fabulous.
OH - funny thing happened at the Health Dept. when we were visiting my mom. I was holding Josie by my mom's desk and she was staring and smiling at something on the desk behind me. It was a weird stuffed "animal" with huge eyes and crazy yellow fur. I picked it up and she started laughing like crazy. Mom pointed to the top shelf where there were about 1o more of these funny creatures in all shapes & sizes. As it turns out, they were stuffed microbes. So, Josie was laughing hysterically at the common cold, the flu, head lice, etc. She thought they were so funny, although we kept trying to tell her that these illnesses were not a laughing matter. ;)

And - I'm not sure if this photo really does her hair justice - but she looked like a rooster after all that sleeping in the car. You get the idea:
Today we had another adventure with Krista & Milo and Ciara & Aoife at the pottery studio and gallery where Milo's dad Ben works. The current installation there is "the environment" which basically amounts to an indoor forest. So, we decided to meet there today instead of the Blue Manatee. Here's the group having a little picnic.
And here (brace yourself) is Josie's first face-to-face contact with grass. Clearly, she didn't quite know what to make of it!!
Since no daughter of mine will have this much trouble with grass, our top priority for the summer is as much outdoor exposure as possible. Although there's a cold snap coming this weekend, I think it will be blue skies and sunshine from next week on. I can hardly wait! :)

One assertive little lady

So, the latest thing with Miss Josephine is that she's figured out how to express herself. And I am afraid...very afraid. For example, if I have the remote control, telephone, cell phone, etc and she decides that she wants it - guess what? She reaches for it and if I don't let her have it - here comes a big screech or squeal! Seriously, I had *no* idea that an almost-8-month-old could have such strong opinions. And, if this is a glimpse into my future, then I am really in for one assertive little lady. (You go Josie.)



















Here are some photos of Josie from this week. First, you'll notice that she has officially outgrown her countertop tub (alright, she outgrew it weeks ago, but we were in denial). So, we take "big girl" baths now. It really is pretty fun, because she adores the water. With this handy seat (thanks Natalie & Dennis), you're actually able to fill up the water pretty high, so she can really splash around and play with all her tub toys (thanks Jiv). And, here's a photo of Josie having her way with her favorite new toy - her super soft kitty from Phil & Palak. When she's not cuddling it, she's practicing what she's going to do to Venus as soon as she can crawl.

And finally, here's another glimpse into our future. My parents brought down this walker that they borrowed from the Roundtrees (thanks guys) to see if Josie was ready to start running around the condo yet. And the verdict is in - it took her one afternoon to master the thing and what started as small scoots backwards was full scale walking around the house last night (and several trips to hide under the kitchen table). She really enjoys her newfound mobility, although it's very scary to us. Here's a photo of "Jungle Josie" just after she figured out that she could walk over to the plant and hang out in the leaves. This was also right before she walked herself over the to drum and performed an impromptu concert for grandma, granddaddy and I. As if we didn't know already, our condo is about as far from babyproof as you can get. But, we're still in denial that she could possibly be growing up this fast, so don't expect us to do anything to babyproof soon. (I have no doubt that we'll make a hyper-panic trip to Babies 'R Us the second she crawls, but for the meantime we want to go on living in the fantasy world where we're still have an ounce of control.)
Okay - off to Target to buy some baby gifts for some friends that are expecting beautiful baby girls at the end of the month. After a long morning of steaming, pureeing, and freezing a new batch of veggies (today it was rutabagas, beets, zucchini, and parsnips) - we've got to get out and enjoy some of this sunshine. I think spring may actually be here!

Remember When?

Louie came across this photo of Josie this evening & we just had to post it - mostly because it's hysterical to look at those skinny little arms and legs. And I had to pack away that bib (which looks giant in this picture) months ago because it got so small on her. Just look at our skinny little monkey - too funny!

Photos Galore!

We've been busy snapping photos of our little lady. Here are some of our favorites. She's just changing SO quickly.

The big one is a good tooth photo. I just noticed there's also a little boogie in the photo, so promise not to tell Josie that I used to post things like that on her blog. Oh and there's also food in her eye. What can I say - the girl hates having her face touched.

There are LOTS more photos from these "photo shoots" and all of the March 2008 photos available on Josie's Shutterfly collection at www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com . ENJOY!

Sorry I've been "slippin"

Hey all, Sorry I've been "slippin" a bit on the blog. I got you all hooked on several posts a week, then left you all hanging recently. I won't make excuses, except for to say that according to research and according to the last week, there is an "eight month sleep regression" which added to teething means NO sleep. Ugh. The good news is that Louie can get her back to sleep now, so the new plan is to alternate wakings, but it just doesn't make for a very good night when you're up every two hours for an hour or so at a time. So, our new mantra is "THIS TOO SHALL PASS."

Gotta Love that Giggle!

Really, I couldn't resist adding another giggle video. Here's a good one of Louie tickling Josie last night. She just got "ticklish" recently, so we've been having fun with that.

Josephine's First Field Trip

Yesterday we took our first Hypno-Hottie Field Trip to the Newport Aquarium! Josie obviously enjoyed herself. Here are several photos of her in her favorite sections - the tunnels! She'll be scuba diving with her mama and daddy before she knows it.

This was just the first of what I'm sure will be lots of "field trips" to come since we renewed our annual Aquarium passes yesterday, and we're buying Cincy Zoo passes next month. I figure if Josie is impressed by Venus the cat, she outta really lose it when she sees her first tiger!

HAPPY 3000 BLOG HITS EVERYONE!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

Forget the chocolate bunnies, the best thing about this Easter was getting Josie all dressed up in what I hope will be the first of many Spring dresses. Granted, the weather didn't really cooperate, but the sale at Macy's did. I mean, let's be honest, you all know how much I love long, flowy patchwork dresses so why wouldn't I jump at the chance to get one for Josie? Turns out Grandma & Granddaddy couldn't resist getting into the Easter spirit either, as you'll see in the next couple of photos of Josie with just one of the gifts in her first Easter basket - the softest little lamb you've ever seen. Here's the family photo:
And a photo of Josie with her lamb. Other treats in her basket included some adorable spring outfits & the coolest book you've ever seen called "Me & My Granddaddy" that has cut-outs on each page so that Josie and my dad are the main characters of the story. SO cute!!
And, here's Josie posing on the couch. Actually, she's looking up at her Grandma while I snap photos.

Clearly, the best part about all the holidays is spending time with family. Josie loves her Grandma.
And had a great time dancing around the kitchen with her Granddaddy!
And also enjoyed a visit from extended-family members Debbie and Phillip. :)
And I had to include this photo, because it shows off that cute dress & I just love how sweet she looks. What a big girl she has become! :) Something about this photo just flashes me forward in time to little Josie spinning around in a long dress.
And finally - here's a video for your viewing pleasure. You'll have to forgive me; Even after I mentioned last week that I had to stop shooting videos with the camera held vertically, I did it again. But, this one was so cute that I have to post it anyway. (And if any of you know how to flip them, shoot me an email.) Here's Josie cracking up with her Granddaddy:

Spring is here!?!

It's officially spring, but you wouldn't know it by walking outside. It was about 30 degrees today. But, we did have a couple of nice days this week so we got out for a few long walks and trip to Ault Park. But, before we get to Josie's first swing ride, let me share a few other things from this past week.
First of all, there are Josie's teeth. I've been trying like crazy to get a photo, but this was as good as I could get. You'll likely have to double click on the photo to supersize it and then you can see the big guy on your right and its friend popping through on the left. (Even then, it's not a great photo, but I'll try to get one head-on soon.) I don't know whether its a blessing or a curse that they came about the same time, but I can say that I feel like her sleeping routine just got back to normal from the first round and here we go again. Poor little thing. Since Josie enjoys dancing so much, we figured she'd probably enjoy making music, too. I introduced her to my drum (the first gift Louie ever bought me - 10 years ago) and she started banging on it right away. There is definitely a future drumming video coming soon. And Uncle Denny - if you're out there in blogland - this one's for you:
Now, on to Josie's first swing ride. There actually is a video, but silly me shot it with the camera held lengthwise & I can't figure out how to flip it for the blog, so a photo will just have to suffice. I'll admit, it was a little breezy up on the hill, so we didn't swing longer than a few minutes, but we definitely gave Josie a good sneak preview into years of being pushed by her daddy on the swings. Don't you love how she's holding on?
So, there's one more huge event to report before I sign off and try to get some work done. Drumroll please...Louie got Josie to bed without a bottle and without a tear. I hadn't even nursed her! Whoa! I was doing work the other night & they were playing and then he took her back to her room, and I thought he was just changing her diaper, until he returned about 20 minutes later sans Josie. He just danced her around her room to the new Jack Johnson CD and out she went. Very impressive! In other exciting sleep news, there were also 3 nights this week where I put her in her crib completely awake and she just played until falling asleep. And, get this - she took a 2 hour morning nap three days this week as well. I know?! Crazy, right? So, I'm really hoping that I haven't totally jinxed myself by putting this in print. Wish us luck.
Off to Xenia tomorrow for some Easter excitement, look for Josie in her first pretty spring dress coming soon to a blog near you. (Manda - remember how much we *loved* getting all gussied up for Easter - gloves and all?!)
Happy Easter everyone & Happy Spring!

This just in...

Josie has advanced to the next round of the Baby Idol contest - which means she was in the Top 100 of vote-getters! Go Josie! You can view the other contestants and place your votes for Josie (#233) by clicking here.

Also, I apologize for not bloggin' more this week. Carissa is on Spring Break, so I've been struggling to be a good mom and a good employee, let alone a good blogger. I'll post more this weekend (including a photo that I captured of that tooth).

How could I forget?

Somehow I forgot to mention two major events of the last week:
1) Our little muscle woman figured out how to stand up in her crib, which meant some major adjustments over the weekend - lowering the crib, removing the bassinet from the pack & play, and freaking out about the fact that she's already gotten so big and strong!
2) Her first little tooth is out in full force. It's on the bottom left & is sharp as a razor (trust me; I know). I'll try to get a photo soon.

Okay, let me begin with something hysterical that happened today, then I'll get you caught up on the exciting events of the past several days. So, today was our weekly trip to Whole Foods. We strapped Josie on and off we went. The produce section was first and after picking up some new fruits & veggies for Josie to try this week, Lou & I decided on a bag of pre-cut and cleaned green beans. I went to put them into the cart, but Josie had ahold of them. I tried to take them away, but she let out a loud yelp so I quickly gave them back to her. Long story short, she carried that bag of green beans for an hour - all the way through the store. I tried to snatch them a couple of times, without much success, so I knew I was in for it when we arrived at the checkout. I waited until it was near the end and handed the beans to the girl who scanned them and tossed them in the pile to be bagged, Josie let out quite a scream, so I handed her back the beans - instant satisfaction. So we headed to the car, and Josie still wouldn't drop the beans. So, that's when taking this photo was in order:
Then we got into the car & I swapped out the beans for her giraffe, but that didn't work either. So I tossed the beans back into her carseat and she was all smiles again. Then we brought her upstairs. Time to put the groceries away - but not the beans. (My mom can attest to a crying Josie in the background when I took the beans away.) Then, it was time for Josie to eat and you guessed it - here she is with a bottle in one hand and her bag of beans in the other!
It wasn't until about a half-hour later that she finally got bored of the beans. Funny that we spend money on toys and a bag of green beans is the best toy she'd ever seen. (And I think Lou and I will even feel a little guilty when we tear open that bag and eat those yummy beans.)

So, onto the rest of our week. Since I last posted, we've had quite a few adventures. On Wednesday, my mom & dad came down and the four of us went to see RAIN- The Beatles Experience (which I highly recommend) at the Aronoff. "Supernanny" Carisa pulled a 15-hour shift and stuck it out until almost 11pm with Josie. She went to sleep for her perfectly and slept a full 8 hours before making a peep. It was SO much fun - although very strange to be out with my parents without Josie.
On Thursday, we headed out to the Blue Manatee to see our Hypnofriends after a long walk down to the river (where I had to breastfeed a screaming Josie on the Serpentine Wall). It was the largest group we'd had in a while, so we had to get another photo. My how they've all grown. The funny thing to me is that each baby is looking at his/her own mama. :)
And I had to get a photo of Josephine with her first little international friend Aoife (pronounced "Efa"). This is my friend Ciara's little darling. They're here from Ireland while her husband is doing research. She's been a much-welcomed addition to our mom group. Josie & Aoife seem to have a special little connection. She was the first baby that Josie really locked eyes and smiled at. They're also very similar babies with those big bright eyes, yummy cheeks and all over squishy-ness. :)
On Friday night we went to dinner with our friend Brad at Akash. I wasnt' feeling well, but Indian food never disappoints. It was an early night with some much-needed rest. After all, Saturday was a big day. We took Josie to her first parade! The annual St. Patty's Day parade is just around the corner, so we got bundled up and walked on over. We were both anxious to see how Josie would react to all the noise and all the people. In typical Josie fashion, she was completely unflappable - until the bagpipes approached. And, proving once again that she loves music, she started kicking her legs and waving her arms. Here we are amid a sea of green.
On Saturday afternoon, we headed out to Grandma & Grandpa Schneider's house for a visit. Josie was very amused by the cats, although they were much less amused by her. Louie made out like a bandit with a big steak lunch and I ate about 20 ginger cookies (I was still feeling icky & no, I'm not pregnant). Here's Josie with Phyllis just before she began treating her grandma like a human jumperoo.
And that brings us back to today and Josie's obsession with the green beans. But, I have one more thing before I go... little Josephine has found her BIG voice. Just listen to her squeal! (She's been doing this nonstop all weekend.) Maybe she's been watching a little too much Curious George! :) ENJOY.