May Post and General Josie Updates

Josie woke up one morning and her hair was doing
something quite peculiar. We of course reached
for the camera and took pics from every angle. She'll
appreciate it when she's older.


Josie had watertots every Thursday in May.
You can tell that she started to enjoy being in the
water. When we started, only mom could hold
her, she made so much progress.




Josie and Dad in the water.

We went out for Mother's day to a Japanese
restaurant. She was a natural with the chopsticks.
It was the first time she held them and she did
exceptionally well.

Josie on the catwalk.

S

She wanted to try lemon.

Josie and Grandma.

She loves feeling the showerhead on her feet.

April Josie Pics and General Update

April was a fun month. We had some nice weather
and took Josie for her first playground outing.
She loved the slide and swings. We had a hard
time leaving. Dad pushed her way too high for
my comfort, but Steve is Steve. Josie is walking
with more confidence every day and interacting
more with us. We had a great trip to Canada
for Easter. We weren't sure how she would do with
such a long drive but she was great! We spent time
with all of Steve's family and Josie and I met some
family for the first time. It was a nice weekend
getaway.



She loves to hold our hand when she walks.


We enrolled Josie in watertots in April. She wasn't
so sure about the water at first. In fact she hated
it. I'll try describe it so you can get a mental picture.
The first week she cried the entire time in the pool
and clenched her legs around my waist so tight I could
have let go and she wouldn't have gone anywhere.
The second week she started crying when we got into
the dressing room. The third week she cried when we
came thru the gym door. The fourth week she cried
when we drove into the parking lot. The fifth week
she didn't cry and spent time with Dad in the pool.
The sixth week she didn't want to come out
of the pool. Success!

1st week in watertots.


A glimpse of the enjoyment that was to come.


Just woke up from a nap.


An easter gift from Auntie Let, the bunny ears
dance to music when you press his foot.


Josie signed "more" for the first time at a restaurant
when she was eating chicken.




Steve's cousin, I forget her name.


Aimee and Josie.


Grandma Tanpoco going up and down the stairs
with Josie.


Group picture.


Auntie Febe and Josie.


Who doesn't love nutella?


Dad and Grandpa working on a project.



Auntie Let, Grandma and me going for a morning
walk.


Bill & Kerri came to visit for Marathon Monday.
We all had brunch in Boston.




Boston Marathon Finish Line.




Josie is mommy's little helper. She loves to help
take dishes out of the dishwasher.

March Josie Pics and General Update

March was a milestone month! Josie is walking.
She still loves to use the little walker, still gives
her more stability and quickness. She looks like
a little diva with her mink (pink fuzzy blanket).
Josie loves making pretend food with her little
spoon and cup and likes to feed it to us. Josie
stopped attending daycare the last day of February.
We had a daycare gap for 2 weeks while grandma
was on vacation. Mommy got to work from home
and spend time with Josie, yeah! Cousin Marisa
also helped out and stayed with Josie when mom
had to go into the office. Thanks Marisa for reading
Biscuit is Thankful 100 times.








Opening drawers is a favorite thing right now.


Jackpot!


This is a look we know well. "Please take this now!"


Josie loves this little Santa. He plays the drums
for us constantly. She's also mommy's little
helper, she loves to dust everything.


Josie also loves to remove everything from bags.


Yum, Strawberries!




Peekabo!




She has almost all her teeth in as you can see.


She's been enjoying the shower lately, she
doesn't want to sit during her bath.

February Josie Pics and General Update

Happy Valentine's Day Josie!

January and February were pond hockey months.

We had alot of friends over to skate on the pond

and enjoyed spending time with everyone. Mom

is still scared of falling thru even though dad
says the ice is very thick. We managed to get

everyone on the ice for a few minutes to take some

pics. We were really bad about pictures this

month as you'll see. So I'll try to fill everyone in

on what Josie is doing.

Josie and mom only a few inches from solid ground.

Josie is running with her walker, she runs over feet,

cats,shoes, anything that is in her path. She has alot

of teeth, now. It just seems like all of a sudden she has a

full mouth of teeth including pre-molars.

She was doing better with eating this month, it's up

and down. She's eating in her high chair this month,

but still needs coaxing. Loves Broccolli right now.

And she loves bananas and hats!

Josie has been in daycare since January and has been

very sick. This month was very hard on her. She

was sick for the entire month with a cough and high

temp on and off along with her poor little nose dripping

constantly. February was her last month of daycare,

the negatives outweighed the positives at this time.

She was sick too much and didn't seem to be getting

anything out of it except for lots of germs.

Josie walking around holding on to the window. She's still not
taking steps unless she has something close by to hold on to.

This month we discovered Steve Songs. He's a PBS crooner :)

http://www.stevesongs.com/
She stops cold when she sees him on PBS morning. We looked

for him on the WWW, and found his videos on youtube. Don't

you just love the internet! She loves his songs and will eat

willingly when we play his videos. Josie loves Steve Songs,

and so does mom, he hypnotizes us :) Dad has noticed this a time

or two - When I should be feeding her, I end up watching the videos

with her even though we've both seen them a 100 times.

Josie got some new shoes this month, she actually got 2 pairs, both

pink. She's moving a little better with them. They help her get a

better grip, but she's still very awkward when she moves around.

January Josie Pics and General Update

Lots of snow!

We had a lot of snow in January. We took Josie
out for her first sled ride, she loved it! At first
she wasn't too sure what to make of it, but once we
started moving there were smiles and giggles
galore!


We have a tiny hill in the back yard, it's just enough
to help the human reindeer attached to the harness.


Mom had alot of fun too!




Trying on a cute poncho Aunt Febe gave me!


It's bedtime. I'm sleepy.


Josie started daycare this month. It's been traumatic
for her and mom. Mom hates it, and Josie doesn't
seem to like it much either. This was her first day.
She started to cry a second after the pic was taken.
She would cry tears of relief every time I picked her
up. I'm sure everyone was very nice to her, she
just missed being with Grandma and getting the
loving attention she was used to.


She became sick a day later and was out for an
entire week. So the cycle began. Our little one was
very sick, we had to take her to the E.R. because
she had a stomache virus and wasn't keeping
anything in. She had an IV and some meds to
help with the nausea, her little hand is all bandaged
up to hold the IV in. One of the hardest things
we've had to go thru with her so far.


She was such a good baby thru all this.


About a day later, mom got the same bug and
was in bed too. Dad took care of mom and Josie
and Dad tells it best; it was the hardest thing
he's had to go thru with her. It took him almost
2 hours to get some fluids and a couple of crackers
in her and it all came back out a few minutes
later. It broke his heart to see her so weak.
Josie made a full recovery a week later.

December Josie Pics and General Update.

Merry Christmas Josie!

It was a busy time of year as always. We were very
excited to celebrate Christmas with Josie. She's
more interactive this year and enjoyed opening
all the gifts. Thank you all for so many wonderful gifts.
Wish we could claim someone's gift as her favorite but
she was more interested in tearing up all the wrapping
paper on Christmas morning.

We let her rip for quite a while as you can see. There was
so much joy in her face as she did this.

Josie is giving us more feedback. She regularly touches
my nose when asked where's mommy's nose? The smile
on her face as she does it is precious. She loves belly
buttons, she giggles every time she sees one and points
to hers which is sometimes on her chest. She's knows it's
in the general area. :)




Just checking if it's real.


Let me recycle some of this paper for you.




Reading to the snowman.


Here mama, let me help you clean up.




Josie is starting to walk along objects like couches.




Cottage cheese is yummy! Haven't quite mastered the spoon yet.


Let's see if i can hit my target with a bigger spoon.


Love the walker, I'm dashing around the house now!

November Josie Pics and General Update

Happy First Birthday, Josie!!!


November was a big month for all of us.

Josie celebrated her first Birthday ... as you can guess, she was pretty oblivious to all of it. She didn't care much for the cupcake or candle.

She weighed 19lbs at her 1 year wellness visit. She's a little petite but perfectly healthy.

We also went to Illinois for Thanksgiving to visit with my family. That was a great trip. Josie was able to spend some time with all the folks that have been an important part of my life as I grew up. We only wish we could spend even more time with all of them.




I've taken a liking to eating my toes.


Don't worry, it's a short lived phase.





Another short lived phase is mining for boogers.






Sam and Ryan gave me these tasty mittens and a stylin new winter hat! They also gave me a cool red sled that I absolutely LOVE.




My First Birthday Balloon.


Birthday (cup)Cake!


AAAAHHH...


CHOMP ... hmmm ... no thanks.


I'm learning to get around pretty well!




Thanks SO much to Liz and Phil for my walker. It's really helped me give my parents a workout :)




Auntie Febe.


Uncle Ariel and Auntie Febe.


Dad and his cousins.


I'm pretty cute.


I should be a model.


When I get a little older, that Santa will be super creepy.


I love my Grandpa!


and I love my Grandma!


Grandpa Smithmeyer ... can you see the resemblance? ;)


Cousin Jenna. I have a feeling she will be a great, loving cousin.


Auntie Lisa.




Auntie Tracy and cousin Ivy.




Uncle Brian. and cousin Grant.




Cousins Jenna and Grant got me this funny barn toy that sings funny songs.


You wouldn't believe how much I love stairs. Should make it interesting for Mom and Dad!


Told you I should be a model.


Glamour Shots.




This is where I get my good looks from.



A closing note:
Special Congratulations and Wishes to Adam and Amanda on their new home!!!

October Josie Pics and General Update

Happy Halloween!

Hi Everyone. This month, we celebrated Fatima's Birthday and had some fun with Halloween.

Fatima put Josie in a pink leopard costume and we waited for her to fall asleep ... which seems to happen during the daytime but not so well at night.
Anyway, like any good parents would do, we took ridiculous pictures of Josie while she was asleep and wearing a pink leopard costume.

Josie passed out in a sugar coma. Notice the candy and wrappers as evidence.


Josie discovered her nostrils recently.




Happy Birthday, Fatima!!!
We kind of have a tradition where I cook for Fatima on her Birthday. This year, I made coconut and almond encrusted fish. We also had sirloin. A little surf and turf.
This years guest list included:
Josie/Fatima/Me
Amanda/Adam
Emery/Reese/Sam/Ryan
Holly/Jason
John
Katie/Jason
Karen/Blair
Kelle/Frans

Karen was a godsend. I can't believe I nearly forgot her on the guest list. She helped so much with the cleanup!



Another year older, but still young and beautiful.


My lovely ladies :)


Ryan holding baby Emery.


Sam and Reese. Reese has awesome crazy hair.


Emery telling Blair who's boss.




Holly and Jason.


John (has the same hair dresser as Jason).






My organization held a Trick Or Treat day at work. We had a themed family costume :)
Fatima and I loved seeing all the little ones. Josie wasn't interested in the candy or the kids but this little tissue paper pumkin and balloon had her in a trance.


Little monkey and silly banana.


Josie and the Pussy Cats.


Sugar Coma.



Tidbits from Fatima:
Josie is still crawling and using her walker. She loves being able to move around and touch everything. We learned pretty quickly how fast she gets into everything. Steve did a good job of childproofing the house, there are a few items that we just have to watch her with. The phone cord above the cat food is one of them, usually the cat food keeps her just far enough away so she can't reach it. There are times of course when she just plows into the cat food and water and it slides a few feet from its spot, those are the times when the cats hide for a while. She loves opening and closing and opening and closing, etc... the cabinet drawers. It's pretty funny to watch her sometimes, she gets a running start and picks up speed and then just coasts until some huge objects stops her like the fridge or a wall. This impact doesn't usually phase her, she backs up, looks both ways of course(great woman driver), and picks up speed again.

September

In September we celebrated Dad's Birthday and my Niece Marisa's who share the same day. This month Josie's top teeth started to cut thru and you can see her 2 front left teeth. She's such a good baby and doesn't fuss much about her teeth at all. She does try to bite you on occasion, i assume when the pain is a little too much. Josie loves eating on her own. We've been giving her shredded chicken and veggies and absolutely she loves yogurt. She cracks up if you ask her if she wants a yogurt, she can't wait for you to open it. She does the same with books, she basically can't contain herself when you ask her if she wants you to read a book, it's the cutest thing. We'll try to get a video clip of it for an upcoming month. Below are some pics we took of her in her sailor dress before she grew out of it.

Dad are you almost done?

Dinner time. Notice the placement of the food.

Yes, I think i'll have some chicken.

Not quite what i was expecting.

Mom, i'm going to move everything over to

this side so you think i ate more than i did.

Hanging out in my bouncer.

Love my new walker.

Red Sox game at Fenway.

All our friends at the game.

Hmm, he looks like a giant green Elmo.

But he's not furry.

Mom, there's my mouth.

Dad left it upstairs.

Should i go get it?

Still thinking.

No, I don't need it, Mom and Dad know i'm a princess.

August Josie Pics and General Update

August was another fun month. We had two weddings back to back! Congrats to Amanda and Adam (08/08/08) and Congrats to Kerri and Bill (08/09/08)!!!
Josie went to the beach for the first time in her life! It was just some dumpy beach on a reservoir, but we didn't want to spoil her right off the bat ;)
We also rocked out on Rock Band with Holly, Jason, and John.

Josie is starting to get around pretty well. Her favorite mode of transportation is still Mom, Dad, or Grandma. Lots of babbling now a days, too. She's definitely trying to tell us something.

Josie and Mommy at the beach.


She LOVED getting her feet wet. She probably could have done this for hours, giggling the entire time.




Starting to stand on my own.


One of Josie's modes of transporation.


Excuse me, did you get that? I'm standing all by myself.


Mama, come down here and play with me.


I love the popper.


and I still love bathtime!


Hanging out with Grandma, one of my favorite things.


Mom on the axe and John - come come with the kickdrum!


Getting the band back together.


John rockin a solo.


Holly keeping the beat.


Fatima made the cupcakes for the Amanda and Adam Wedding!


I think there were 175 of them. You can count and let me know.


The Beautiful Bride Amanda and Handsome Groom Adam!


The Stunning Dr. Kerri and some guy. j/k - Bill is the Handsome Groom, here ;)