13 months

Josie is 13 months old! I don't have any more of the "number" onesies and at this point I'm pretty sure it wouldn't really matter because getting her to sit still for a picture is darn near impossible.

This month she's learned a bunch! She is very close to walking and has accidentally taken one or two independent steps at a time. She uses her walker from Gram and Pop Pop to push around on her knees- its very funny to see. She will take a couple steps with it but prefers to zoom on her knees. Speaking of zooming, she has become a fast crawler. Occasionally I will "chase" her which she thinks is hilarious. So hilarious that she often gets too excited and ends up doing a belly flop on the floor when she starts laughing and crawling too fast. 

She has learned to negotiate steps and we have now entered my most dreaded stage. I can no longer leave her in the living room for a sec and be confident that she wouldn't move off the designated play area (separated from the rest of the living room by one step). She will practically throw herself off that step and just the other day she has learned how to go down the steps by our front door. Which is somewhat frustrating because there isn't really a gate large enough to put in front of those steps because of the way our house is set up. I hover in between letting her learn how to do things on her own and making sure she doesn't really hurt herself. So while I want her to learn how to use the stairs...I want to be there in case she loses her balance and falls backwards. Luckily she doesn't think those steps are the most fun thing ever...yet.

Her favorite word by far is "dog". Which comes out more like "DAAaahhh". No "G". She says it when she sees Paisley, when she expects to see Paisley (when I get her up from her crib), when she hears a dog barking, and sometimes just for the fun of it. Dog sounds a LOT like Dada and Dada is sometimes used for Mama so basically we all get called dog a lot. Even Aunt Megan, much to her dismay. 

She is waving champ and will often wave unprompted when she sees someone new. She'll wave when you say "bye-bye" but often waits till the person wanting the wave turns around to leave. She's sneaky like that. I think she's beginning to understand that shaking her head means that she doesn't want something, though she still shakes it plenty when she's just being silly. I love it. It's so cute!

At the beginning of July we upgraded her to convertible carseat. I think she likes it better because she's more upright but I do think it's harder for her to sleep in. We still have the infant seat in our car (the convertible is in the SUV that I drive most often) and she still does well in that (and fits safely..in case anyone was wondering!).

Her naps are now all over the place. Gone are the days when I could count on two 1.5 hour-ish naps. That was a nice 3 months. I keep wondering if she's getting ready to transition to 1 nap a day but she almost always seems tired enough to take a morning nap-which is sometimes 1.5 hours and sometimes 45 minutes. This napping thing is frustrating to me. I like knowing what to expect from my day and with no predictability I have to go with the flow. Which if you know me, is (unfortunately) not my strong point- that's more Charlie's domain. Also, Josie has started consistently waking up earlier- 6:30 am to be exact. I miss the days when she slept till 7:30. I've noticed that when kids do transition to 1 nap they sometimes start sleeping longer in the morning...I hope that is the case for us! I suppose I shouldn't complain- I have friends whose babies get up at 5:30. UUUUGGGGHHH. 

Josie's current favorite activities include petting Paisley, putting things in and out of containers, playing with her play remote (a birthday gift) and just moving in general. Her other favorite thing to do is find my wallet and empty the contents. She continues to eat fairly well though some days its a mystery as to why she refuses something she wolfed down the day before. She eats a good amount of fruits and vegetables, loves dairy and whole grains. She isn't a big meat fan but this doesn't worry me as neither am I as I've gotten older. An example of the love/hate relationship with certain foods is salmon. The first few times I gave it to her she loved it but the last few times she eats a few bites and then wouldn't finish it. We did introduce whole milk this month and she is a fan. Right now we're still nursing so she's getting both at this point. She's learned how to hold and suck the food pouches which is awesome. It's so much less messy to put yogurt in one of those and they're great for leaving the house.

13 months

Clothing size: 9 months though some of her 12 month clothes are starting to fit (mostly the one pieces)

Weight: Unknown. Guess is somewhere in the 18 pound range

Favorite foods: Cheese, Banana, Strawberries

Quirks: Her wave is (like I described last month) more a chop/gang sign, she likes to pull up my shirt and put her head on my stomach (embarrassing in public)

someone is a slightly more cooperative subject

12 months

This is very surreal. We have a one year old. This past year feels like it’s been a blur. So many milestones. So many smiles. So many nursing sessions. So many tears. So many diapers. All worth it. There were days that dragged by and there were days that felt like they were over in an instant. I wouldn't trade any of them, even the ones that found me covered in bodily fluids with a screaming mess of a baby and no sleep. Watching our baby girl grow from a little bundle of newborn goodness to a cruising, laughing, babbling one year old love monster has been one of the greatest joys in my life.

Josie is growing and learning so much these days! She is (I think) close to walking. Though I apparently should stop trying to predict her development because I said she’d be walking by her first birthday and that hasn't happened. She will cruise on furniture and will stand up by herself in the middle of a room and has even taken a couple steps holding onto our hands. However after a step or two she’ll squat down to her knees and crawl to us. She crawls like a champ and has gotten pretty fast.

She is very much "in to" things. When I cook dinner I now have to be prepared to clean up multiple messes created by Jos while I cook. Her favorite things to do include:

• Opening the recycling bin, pulling out cartons and plastic bottles and chewing on them (eww)
• Putting her hand in the trash can (double eww)
• Pulling all the brown paper bags out from their storage space between the fridge and the wall
• Opening the lazy susan and gnawing on all my spice jars (this has been prevented by a lovely baby proof latch. But if I need spices while cooking, I make sure I know everything I need and go for it- while fending off two grabby arms)
• Opening Paisy’s food container and playing with the measuring scoop and occasionally the food
• Splashing in Paisy’s water
• Crawling under the table, putting her little hand on Aunt Megan’s knee and freaking her out while she’s studying (this is pretty funny)

So- she’s everywhere! Everywhere except the nice little play area (complete with foam padding) we made for her in the kitchen. I guess that’s the way it goes though, right?

She has 4 teeth and is currently getting her top middle two. She had gotten her the two teeth on either side of the middle teeth so until now she’s had “fangs”. They are so funny and cute.

We went to the doctor for her one year well visit and she weighs 17 pounds, 7 ounces and is 27.5 inches long. This puts her in the 5^th and 7^th percentiles, respectively. She’s still a teeny little thing! We did just “upgrade” her to a convertible car seat. So far she seems to like it- it’s more upright than the infant seat so she can see out the window better.

She now says mama, dada, night night, dog and a version of “woof”. The clearest of all of these is night night and she mostly just repeats it when I tell her it’s time to go night night. She has the funniest gestures. She will often wave her hand back and forth in front of her like she’s throwing up gang signs, often with a deadpan look as if to say “what homey?”. She also loves it when we lay on the floor and she crawls right over and will often lay her head down on our stomachs and suck her thumb. My stomach is apparently her favorite and she will often lift my shirt to put her head down on my bare stomach. It’s so cute and endearing. She is a snuggle bug often, which I love!

She continues to love Paisley and Paisley is still very good with her. We’re working teaching Josie how to gently pet Paisley as she will often hit instead of pet and likes to grab fistfuls of hair. Pais is so good and just takes in stride. Josie is also very into the water. She likes the community pool and loves the little baby pool we’ve set up on our deck for her splash in. We’re heading up to Loon Lake so we’ll see how she likes the lake.

One Year

Clothing size: 9 months

Favorite foods: cheese, bananas, strawberries, kamut puffs, hummus

Least favorite foods: avocado, baked chicken

# of Words: 5

Driving a tractor on my birthday

This "nature" stuff isn't for me

During a lunchtime picnic

Being a super hero at Shelby's 3rd birthday party

Hanging with Desmond on a visit to WV to see Aunt Anne

cuteness

Watermelon. MINE.

11 months

I know, I know. I'm sooooo late. 

Not cool mom, not cool.

If you feel like Josie, I apologize. On to what is probably going to be a quick 11 month recap.

11 months! That is thisclose to a year! I can't believe/accept that our baby is almost one.

Josephine had so many milestones last month that I feel like I don't have much to share this month. She did get/is getting two more teeth. This resulted a few sleep disruptions, including the first time I've had to go into her room after we put her to sleep in months. But it was nothing a little medicine and mommy snuggles couldn't fix. The two teeth she's getting are not her middle teeth on the top, but the ones right next to the two middle teeth....the incisors? It's sort of weird that she has two bottom teeth in the middle and then two "fangs" up top. Ha! Of course I consulted Dr. Google and this seems to be perfectly normal to not get her two middle top teeth first.

She is a faster crawler these days! And she pulls up on EVERYTHING. She has also been able to stand by herself for a second or two. I predict that she might be walking by her first birthday if not, soon after. She has mastered crawling up our one step in the living room but hasn't attempted to go down it, other than falling off of it. (She was fine!) One of her favorite things to do now is to pull all her books off her bookshelf in her room. It entertains her to no end and when they're all off she'll flip through them and chew on them. It does make a mess for Mommy to clean up though.

Favorite activity

This month Josie has had the pleasure of seeing lots of family. Aunt Megan moved in to live with us for the summer while takes classes at our local community college and Josie loves having her around. At the end of the month we took the trek up to Gram and Pop Pop's for a week long visit and had a great time! Each morning Josie got to sit on Pop Pop's lap and chat before he left for work. A couple days we got to see Aunt Kristin, Uncle Nate, Weston and Jordan and Josie got to go swimming in Weston's pool with him. We visited Gram at work one day and hung out with her on her day off that week. I even got to relax in the evenings on the deck with my parents. It was lovely!

Diaper modeling at Gram and Pop Pop's. 

morning routine

Mildly obsessed with Gram's name tag

Loving Weston's pool

Josie also attended her first wedding- our friends Shelley and Andrew got married on May 19th. I was one of Shelley's bridesmaids. Charlie, Megan and Josie came for the ceremony and then Meg took Josie home and put her to sleep while Charlie and I got to enjoy the reception. She was such a cutie in her little dress!

11 months
Weight: my guess is around 17 lbs?
Clothing Size: Finally made it into the 9 month clothes!
Likes: the swings, Paisley, flipping through books, her sippy cup, her doorway jumper
Dislikes: having her face wiped, long car rides, being contained anywhere too long
New foods: hummus, PB&J (liked both!)

Mothers Day

My first Mother's Day was simple but nice! Charlie made breakfast (waffles!) for me complete with mimosas.

Then we went on a walk and a picnic for lunch. I love picnics so this was great. Paisley forgot to mind her manners though and stole a piece of Josie's cheese and a piece of dark chocolate (which Charlie quickly wrestled from her jaws). In the afternoon I relaxed while Jos napped and then Meg came over (she was staying the night) and Charlie made dinner. I received four sweet cards (from Charlie, J&P, Meg and my parents) and two beautiful bouquets of flowers.

I'm so thankful for those two who make me a mommy (and a fur mommy). 

10 months

My apologies to Josie's fan base for the lack of posts over the last month and the lateness of this post. I know some of you were getting impatient (DAD).

This month has been full of milestones! First- Josie finally got two teeth! Her bottom two front teeth are in and they started cutting through on the 15th. We had about a week of some general fussiness and trouble going to sleep (never waking up in the middle of the night THANK THE LORD) and then they finally appeared. No idea if she'll get more anytime soon but I am looking forward to eventually being able to give her food that requires more chewing. She is a pro at chewing with her gums though. She was even "chewing" her applesauce the other day.

A little burry but you can see her new pearly whites!

The other big development is that she is full on crawling. As in can now move distances and I can't leave her alone for a minute and assume she'll be in the same spot. She first crawled on April 14th. She had been trying to move around for little while and would scoot a little here and there. Then I went out on a Sunday to go do some work at Starbucks and Charlie called me to tell me he saw her crawl. Of course! But I've gotten to see plenty since then. She is now pulling up on things and I fear it is only a short while before she starts walking. The other day I saw her standing in her crib and talk little steps along the side. Oh my.

She had also learned how to give kisses and high fives. Kisses are only given when she's in the mood though. At our playgroup last week she was sitting next to her friend, Ellie (who is 2 1/2 months younger) and she crawled right up to Ellie's head and gave her a kiss. Megan (Ellie's mom and my friend) and I just died. It was the cutest thing ever. She will also now just imitate the kissing noise by smacking her lips together if you do it to her first. Below you can see her giving Charlie a smooch when he got home from work one day.

Her favorite place to high five is on the swing. She'll swing back and forth and stick her little hand in the air as she comes forward. Sometimes she'll just be sitting around and her hand shoots right up, demanding a high five. It's so cute.

She's also getting the hang of waving though it is still a tad similar to the high five action.

One less fun development is separation anxiety. This is most apparent when we try and put her in the nursery at church. She gets so upset and will not calm down. We put her in a few times over the last few months and she was ok the first few times but it has gone downhill as of late. She also will not be held by strangers and sometimes even by people she knows. Other times she's much better with people who aren't Charlie or I. I'm not really sure what to do about the nursery situation. The volunteers are great and are willing to work with her but she gets so upset that when I come and get her she will not stop crying until we physically leave the nursery room and even after that it takes a while for her to stop doing the super sad "cry-sniff". She now will get upset as soon as we approach the nursery door. So the past few weeks we've just kept her with us and stayed in the cry room. I don't want her to scream her head off for an hour and a half but I also want her to be able to adjust to child care situations! And as an aside- I'm not that mom who just can't leave her child- I leave her with Charlie all the time and we've had friends and family babysit. I feel I have to make that caveat because I've been asked!

Despite the separation anxiety, this stage is really fun! It's so fun to watch her explore and she's getting pretty good at entertaining herself with toys for a little bit while I do a chore or drink my coffee. 

We had a couple of really hot days in April (high 80s, low 90s) so one day I set a towel down on the deck, took her diaper off and let her play with some water and stacking cups (from Gram!). She L-O-V-E-D it and it easily kept her attention for half and hour. Some (modest) shots are below. 

Love my puppy!

This month we also participated in a baby swim class at a local community center. Megan and Ellie joined us and it was so fun each week. Josie loved the water, though she would start to get cold by the end of each class. I see a little water baby in our future.

She's still eating pretty well though some meals are better than others. She is a cheese monster. Loves it. Can't get a enough. She apparently felt a bit possessive about this spinach as well:

10 months:
Milestones: crawling, two teeth!
Favorite Activities: Swinging, bath time, crawling on Paisley, playing with her activity table
Favorite Foods: Cheese, puffed brown rice, strawberry yogurt smoothies
Disliked foods: Avocado, blueberries (I still plan to expose her to these- I mean, come on, who doesn't like blueberries?!)
Weight: no idea but my guess is over 16 lbs

Swinging with Aunt Megan

Crawling all over the chair in her room

Girl time with Ellie

Hi Mama!

Looking out the window