Christmas 2009

This Christmas was a traveling year, so the three of us headed out to LA for almost a week of mid to upper 60s sunshine. First stop: Santa pics. Josie was definitely a little more wary this year of Santa, but overall it went pretty smoothly and we got this lovely picture.

We had fun hanging out with the family and even managed to have some cuddly nap time.

And we had tons of fun at the (now semi) annual Christmas party.

But best of all was Christmas day where Josie had tons of paper to tear! She has since come to love all of her fun gifts, but really, the paper and empty boxes were the main attraction that day.

Christmas was also filled with great photo ops and the super cute duo of Josie and Cashel did not disappoint.

Just a few short days after the holiday, we were headed back to Chicago (which had received about 8 inches of snow in the six days we had been gone). We got to celebrate Christmas again and it was just as fun the 2nd time around.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

Proud as a Peacock

I love halloween. I love the costumes, the candy and the fun. Even more, I love finding ridiculously cute costumes for my kid and making her wear them. I am already sad about the day when Josie wants to choose her own costume. That will probably be the year I start dressing up again myself. And as fun as that will be, I will probably only dress up on Halloween. Quite different than the 30 or so times I made Josie put on her peacock costume this year and strut around.

quicker and quicker

time keeps moving. yikes. So it's been a while since the last update, but fear not, there is much coming your way.

Food Lover in Training

As anyone who knows us knows, food is a huge and wonderful part of our life. We have been determined to introduce Josie to lots of flavors hoping she will have a nicely developed palate when she gets older. So far, she is particularly fond of tart and/or vinegary things, cheese and fruit. There hasn't been much that she doesn't enjoy (with brussel sprouts topping that list), but lately she has been refusing a food one day and gobbling it the next. Oh well, we'll keep offering and I have no doubt that she will keep eating.

Food is so very exciting


Sometimes she likes to lick her bowl
(I think she gets this one from grandpa hamlin)


Even raw fish is delicious


But she especially loves pickled tomatoes
--or maybe she just loves Superdawg


Even bad pizza is good


Sometimes she likes to eat tomatoes like apples


and the most exciting of all: In-n-Out

Happy New (Josie) Year

I was told this would happen but didn't quite believe it. Time keeps just moving faster and faster. This is the longest I have gone without updating the blog but I feel like her birthday was yesterday. We have had an incredible year and are looking forward to the one ahead. It's funny, but we haven't really been measuring our years the normal way. Lately our new year starts the day Josie was born. So here we are celebrating the new year (or Josie's birthday if that's the way you think).

Welcome everyone to my house!


Won't you come in and stay a while?


Birthdays are super cool. People bring you these great boxes that have nice noisy paper and tissue paper to play with.


My friend Josh even brought me my very own tiger! Now I go for tiger rides every day.


As if there isn't enough stuff going on, I get to take my very first bike ride too.


Safety first of course.



Presents are great, but I think we should celebrate by eating cake!


It's really good. My grandpa made it himself.


I love cake


A lot


I think I'm gonna be sick


Now it's time to say goodbye. Bye now.

Coolsville

Future's so bright, she's gotta wear shades.

Happy 1st Birthday Josie!

I cannot believe it. Josie is 1!!! Wow. Her birthday has been great but completely surreal. Cliched I know, but where did the time go? This has absolutely been the fastest year of my life. We visited the doctor today and Josie has jumped to a whopping 28th percentile for weight (from about 20th at our last appointment), still has the big noggin in the 77th percentile and has jumped again in height to the 80% percentile. We have officially switched to whole milk and have been given the okay for her to eat EVERYTHING. This even includes sushi! That should be an interesting meal.

Speaking of meals, Josie was treated to a yummy steak dinner at Outback by her Auntie Jay. The servers just loved her and did not at all mind singing their birthday song when they brought dessert. She didn't realize people had gathered around her to sing and the expression on her face when they start is priceless. Just as they finished, the guy at the neighboring table thought she deserved the real happy birthday song and so we all joined in. Josie loved it.

the video's a little dark, but you can hear the lovely voices just fine:

L.A., Take 4

Yes, we went to L.A. again to see Nana and Grandpa for two whole weeks. Unfortunately, Nick couldn't take time off work and it was just Josie and I. 16 days is definitely too long when daddy isn't along. But we did have fun and Nana and Grandpa were thrilled. This is the longest I have been both in L.A. and away from Chicago since I moved here nearly 11 years ago. It was great to have plenty of time to spend with friends and family and we were even able to have tacos at Alison's birthday party and surprise Auntie Erin by attending both her baby showers.

One of the first things we did after arriving was join Aunt Michelle, Uncle Malcolm and Cousin Cashel at the beach. We walked from their condo and spent an hour or so on the sand. Josie wasn't really sure how to take the surf. Here she is experiencing it and then looking a bit shellshocked.


but she loved playing with her cousin in the sand


And then we all enjoyed a yummy lunch at The Shack. While the last time we went I had the Shack Burger (a yummy cheeseburger topped with a Louisiana Hot Link), this time I opted for the delicious Patty Melt. Soooooo good. Everyone was tired but in surprisingly good spirits.


We also went to a farmer's market on Sunday and the playground on many other days. It was an outdoor playground with these nice padded floors and great stuff for all ages. Some of the times we went everyone thought Josie was a boy. I can't imagine why.


We also took a trip to the aquarium in Long Beach. It was great. Josie got to pet some sort of ray, was mesmerized by sharks and kelp and had a great time watching her cousin get super excited by all the fishies. We even fed some birds, though Josie wasn't nearly as interested as Cashel.


Back at my parent's house, Josie showed us again what an avid reader she is


Took some piano lessons


Hung out with Cashel


Discovered child cabinet locks


Learned how to go up and down stairs



and slept really well


But perhaps most exciting, Josie took her first unassisted steps!


Of course, a visit to LA wouldn't be complete without a visit to the sushi bar


and now we are back in Chicago for a little while at least. No more LA until Christmas but maybe we'll visit somewhere else in California.