Slacker McSlackerson

I know, I know, I have been really slacking when it comes to updating the blog. There is definitely lots of stuff to catch up on. Let's start by heading back to June...

when Josie had fun exploring the Portage Park pool:


which was almost as much fun as playing with Brett in his pool:


But as we moved to July and the (theoretically) hotter weather, we thought some indoor activity would be nice. And since I just happened to be at the library when the Museum of Science and Industry passes were being returned, that is where we went.


Then, for the second half of July we went to LA...again. That post will be coming soon.

Is it really July already?

Because I am having a very hard time wrapping my head around the fact that in a few short weeks not only will summer as I see it be half over, but we will be just a few more short weeks away from Josie's first birthday. Really?! Wow. July also brings yet another trip to Los Angeles. Not that I'm complaining and I can guarantee you that my parents are definitely not complaining. However, the imminent trip did make me realize I never posted pictures from our trip in early June. We (Nick, me and Josie) traveled with Erik, Nikki and Paul to LA to go to the tattoo convention on the Queen Mary in Long Beach and stayed a few extra days with my parents. It was a great time.

Josie got to spend lots of time with her cousin Cashel

Playing


Eating


and more playing


and she got to spend some quality time with Grandpa


We also went out to a fun restaurant that has an honor system when it comes to drinking the wine. Judging from this photo, I think Josie may have been abusing that system. Either that or she has a future conducting orchestras.


either way, she was definitely having fun


On a side note, apparently the Queen Mary is haunted and the ghosts like to push unsuspecting people carrying a baby down the stairs. I experienced this first hand when I missed a step, thought I broke my ankle and in the process nearly gave Erik a coronary. I quickly realized I would be hurting quite a bit more if my ankle was broken and thought I must have imagined the loud cracking sound when I hit the floor (Erik assures me I did not imagine the sound, but I guess it just wasn't a bone cracking sound). Josie, by the way, didn't even notice the fall. I was thankfully able to walk just fine on it and four weeks later it is getting closer to pain free. The night it happened, though, wasn't so pretty...


so here's to hoping we don't encounter any more ghosts anytime soon.

For Daddy

Daddy needs a little pick me up today and thankfully we JUST recorded the video to do the job. You can't see it but tears were coming out of both mine and camera-lady auntie jay's eyes.

Charelston

So I am finally getting around to posting some of the fun pictures from our Charleston trip. We had a fabulous time and Josie dipped her toes into the ocean for the first time. She was not amused.


She did however love the sand and only tried to eat it a couple times.


We also visited an old plantation and did a tour of the house and grounds. The gardens were particularly gorgeous even if the weather wasn't.

We even spotted some peacocks.


and made sure we stopped to smell the flowers


Overall we had a lovely trip filled with great company and wonderful food--but I realized while looking through my pictures that I didn't take nearly enough. I don't have a single picture of Uncle Bob and Aunt Eileen here! And the ones that you see above are just about the only ones that show Josie with other people. I think we need to broaden our picture taking horizons. Sigh, live and learn I guess.

Traveling Companion

We finally took a plane trip with daddy! Josie really appreciated the extra room to stretch her legs. Of course, unlike a couple other plane rides, she slept 100% of the time in the air. Now, I have tried to get some pictures of what she looks like in the wrap on the plane but have been unsuccessful in the time allowed before my airplane neighbor (or neighbors as the case may be) start shooting me funny looks. But with Nick along, we got some perfect shots and even got a picture of the monster waking up.

More to come on the actual trip to Charleston where we saw Great (heehee) Uncle Bob and Aunt Eileen.

Finger Foods

The moment we have been impatiently awaiting--introducing finger foods! YAY! This move has really been filled with brilliant ideas from dear old mom here. Beginning with the very slippery mango and moving to mashed potatoes, carrots and corn, this step has really been an adventure. While at first she was lucky to get any food in her hand, much less her mouth, she is getting better and better every meal. It might be that I am learning too and finding that pasta, banana, eggs and cheese are much easier for her to pick up and get somewhere in the vicinity of her mouth. Coming soon: chicken, beans, cheerios and more. Message to Grandma: please note that ice cream is nowhere on this list.

While discovering that mashed foods are not considered finger foods:


Banana works much better. It sticks to the fingers--and face:


But really, all meals are fun to watch:




Fun little side note, apparently when my brother Malcolm was a baby, he made the same "mmm-mmm-mmm" sounds the whole time he was eating. We would have to ask Michelle if he is still that into food.

Jet Set Baby

Our travel season has begun. A few weeks ago Josie and I headed out to Los Angeles and Palm Desert to visit family while Nick headed to Jacksonville for work. The desert heat and sunshine was a welcome break from the April showers we have had here. Josie did fabulous on the plane both ways (though on the way back I thought I had her arms contained but the cup of water from the guy sitting next to us begged to differ).

We go to play with Michelle and Cashel:


Wear sunscreen and floppy hats for the first time:


Go swimming for the first time:

(this just might have been my favorite part of the trip. Instead of super independent I can do it myself baby, I got super clingly I'm scared I'm going to drown baby. She didn't want to let go of me. I love it.)

And hang out with family:


The trip was great fun, but we were happy to get home. Especially with two more trips looming in the next few months. Jet set baby.

8 Months Today!

I can't believe Josie is already 8 months old. Incredible. She has grown so much and discovers new talents everyday. She is crawling, pulling herself up to a standing position and just starting to scoot herself around the coffee table. She loves bath time, but wants to stand up there too. We are usually able to distract her with some of the very fun bath toys her Aunt Jay got her. We also discovered a fun trick with the toys that helped us celebrate this exciting day.

Take a Seat

We have (knock on wood) been pretty lucky when it comes to Josie's sleep schedule. She is pretty consistently sleeping anywhere from 10-12 hours straight through the night. The only hard part is that she wakes up at about 5:30am every morning. We've tried longer naps, shorter naps, later bedtime, earlier bedtime--none of it makes a difference. The good news is that most mornings she is perfectly content to just talk to herself for about an hour before getting upset and wanting to be removed. One such time I heard her talking and squealing and clicked on the monitor only to find her sitting up on her own for the first time. I woke up Nick, showed him and heartily shared his "oh no" sentiment. Exciting? Yes. Terrifying? Hell yes. Being able to sit up is so close to crawling which is even closer to walking which equals life as we know it is over.

from the video monitor:

ps: Nick made me get the video monitor. I insisted we didn't need one. I was wrong. Video monitors are awesome. However, I am right in insisting that the one we have is fine and we do NOT need one that pans, zooms and is accessible online.

Back Off, Dog.

Penny is to Josie what Andy is to Conan. As fun and funny as she is on her own, Penny just adds a little something to the Josie show. I was trying to get a video of her army crawling along (a milestone that is both exciting and terrifying) when Penny decided enough is enough.




Here is the footage I was trying for the first time: