Reading a Magazine

Somewhere along the line Josie watched Jay reading a magazine and picked up the "wet your finger before you change the page" trick. She only does this when she is reading a magazine. Jay and I find it fascinating.

Tantrum

Josie has figured out where the food is kept in the backhall and when she decides she is hungry she goes back to the cupboard doors and makes noises. If I tell her no she gets upset, goes and stands in the corner, and then tries again. She is pretty good at it too - check it out. FYI - No- she did not get a snack after this display.

Call Me

Josie loves to talk on the phone and I caught her the other day having quite the conversation. Enjoy. :)

Josie Has the Moves

Josie loves to dance - well if it can be called dancing. She squats up and down to music. The other day I had my ipod playing and she was dancing. When Reba McIntire - don't judge - came on she started to sing along. I think she is trying to get the tv to work with the remote - she seems confused that there was no picture but there was noise coming out of the speakers. Anyway, enjoy the "show".

Our Hearts Are Melting!

Okay, so Josie's newest thing is that she understands hugs and kisses. She doesn't have the kiss thing perfect - she keeps her mouth open - but it is too cute. You say, "Josie give me a hug" and she gives a huge hug. If you say, "Josie give me a kiss" she kisses you. It makes our hearts melt everytime. Boy she sure knows how to get to us- we better watch out.

Pear Fair Dress - Reading

Remember Avari in the Pear Fair dress? Well, last year it was way too big for Josie so we tried again this year. She was adorable even though the dress was a bit short and she was flashing a bit of behind.One of Josie's favorite things to do is pull books off of the shelves. The great thing is that after she does that she sits down and reads them. I heard her pulling books down the other day and this is what I found - not only is she reading the books she is reading books about teaching reading - hmm.

I Can Feed Ernie Also

I was picking up Josie's room the other day when I heard the sound of small things dropping on the ground. I arrived in the kitchen to realize that while I had closed Ernie's food container I had not put it back under the counter. Josie had it open and was dropping food on the floor. It did not take long for Ernie to figure out what was happening and make his way into the kitchen for a second helping of dinner.
Josie's method is not as fine tuned as Cousin Avari's is for feeding Scarlett (she uses the bowl) but it works.

Josie is Walking :

It happened on July 14th - she started walking without assistance. Here is the video of her up and on her own two feet from that day. Enjoy.

Splish Splash

Since it has been so hot here we got Josie a pool - thanks grandma Joan for the birthday money. Thanks to daddy, grandpa O.D. and grandma Tup for blowing it up. We put on her swim diapers - thanks Keri - and her swimsuit - thanks grandpa John and grandma Sherry - and gave it a try. She had a good time and got the hang of splashing around. There is a feature where you can plug the hose in and then water comes out in what, on the box, looks like a gentle stream. Well needless to say there is nothing gentle about it. Of course her reaction to the rush of water in her face and the crying and trying to get out was not captured on video.

Birthday Pics

Okay, so her birthday was a month ago - I can't believe it has been that long. The day started with a new birthday tradition of sausage and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. As you can see she really liked them. Later we had the neighbor kids over for cake and ice cream (actually I forgot the ice cream but I had the best of intentions). Tyler and Emily sharing the special day.

She started out eating neatly but by the end it was all about getting the cake in as fast as she could.

That evening her "grandma" Sheree and "grandpa" Howard (from church) had a party for her. Sheree's mom and cousin where there with their husbands. There was cake, ice cream (they remembered), and lots of presents. All in all it was a great first birthday.

Josie in the dishwasher

Josie loves the dishwasher.

11+ month update

Boy how the time has flown by. It's hard to believe that Josie is 11 months old already. She is close to walking but still holding on to things. She is parroting tones but no words yet. She is pretty good at pointing and waving her finger and saying something close to NO after I tell her no to something. Peek-a-boo is a favorite game lately. She is waving hello and good-bye. There are lots of hugs and what passes for kisses - open mouth on your face. Sleeping is getting better but she still has her moments. She is eating a lot of "grown up" food and does something along the lines of licking her lips when we are getting her food ready. She seems petite for her age and is still wearing clothes ranging from 3-9 months. She loves music and "sings" along when she hears it and dances - sways her hips back and forth. She loves the Leap Frog music table from Mr. and Mrs. Kenny. Here are a few photos of her and what she is doing to keep herself busy.

Sharing Ernie's water bowl.

Investigating the dog food.

Ready for a walk on a sunny day.

Eating a pear she grabbed out of the fruit bowl. I think they should use this for the Pear Fair poster. :)

Treat for Ernie

Josie watches intently as we give Ernie treats so I thought I would let her give it a try. Ernie was about ready to pounce on her but he kept his control.

First I pick up the treat...

Next, I hold out the treat for him...

Lastly, he takes the treat-gently please.

Like Father, Like Daughter

A few Sundays ago I came in from doing yard work and Jay and Josie were napping together. Just another similarity between the two of them.

Josie Updates - It's about time :)

Well, on the last posting I was so proud of myself for updating the blog and now it has been two months again. Oh well, I will try to do better but no promises. It is now month 10 - boy does time fly when you have no idea what you are doing. Josie is crawling now. She started that about 3 weeks ago. We think we liked it better when she couldn't get around. I am sure the cats and Ernie liked it better also. Siam remains a good sport even though she man handles him. She is also working on teeth numbers 9 and 10. No words yet but a lot of "talking". We are working on it so sooner or later we will have something. It is time to move the mattress in the crib down because she can now stand up in the crib. A favorite past time is throwing things out of the crib when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap. She still is waking up in the middle of the night - most often at 3:00 am - and crying. Usually she can be calmed down but not always. I have tried the letting her cry thing and I am here to tell you she does not do what the books say she should. She would cry all night if we let her. Not to mention I can't help thinking that we are doing some psychological damage by not responding to her. I don't want her going to a councelor later in life and having flash backs to being ignored in the middle of the night. All you other mothers are probably thinking all kinds of things you should share with me - go ahead but I will still be going in to her in the middle of the night. Small house and guilt keep me doing it.
Anyway, she has begun eating more "grown up" food. She loves strawberries, bagels, pancakes, sausage, chicken, potatoes, and eggs.
I am working on getting some pictures loaded on here but techinical difficulties are holding that up. In the meantime here are some video clips to keep you up to date. Enjoy!

Here is Josie practicing her growling at dinner with Jay. You gotta love the sweet potatoes on her face.

If we could only teach Siam to feed her and change her diaper we could leave him to keep her occupied and we wouldn't need a babysitter.

Finally, a new post

Finally some new information. Kurt and Joie informed me that I "suck" since it has been 2 months since my last post. Wow, that sounds like confession doesn't it. Anyway, lots is new in the Kirkman family. Jay was in Aspen last week - yes dad we love the joke, "So how as your ass been?" Get it? I have been busy in classrooms modeling lessons for teachers - boy do I miss working with kids. Josie has been learning new things and keeps us laughing. She is now eating powdered donuts, Ritz crackers, cookies, and Cheerios in addition to baby food and rice cereal. She still struggles to pick up the Cheerios and get them in her mouth but Ernie is loving the treats that fall to the floor. When we first put her in the highchair he hung out and waited for goodies to fall - he was remembering when Avari was here and she kept dropping things for him- but since she was only eating baby food nothing was happening. Well, yesterday he heard the sweet sound of falling Cheerios and now he is back to camping out by the chair when she is in it. She has 6 teeth - four on top and two on the bottom- and is using them on mommy a lot. She does not bite me when I am feeding her - thank god - but she bites my shoulder often. She goes to give me a hug and then wham! and boy does it hurt. I say "ouch" loudly and she just smiles at me. HELP if you have ideas of how to get an 8 month old to understand. She has also grown more hair and we are glad for that. Additionally, she is much more mobile. She still does not roll over much but she does scoot herself around in a circle and push herself forward. It seems that daily she is finding a new mobility we did not realize before. A trip to the emergency room was the result of one such new mobile tactic. Jay was with her and she was in the middle of the bed surrounded by pillows and yet she found her way out of the fortress and fell off onto the floor when he had his back turned. Extremely traumatic for Jay - those of you who don't know our bed is about 3 feet off the floor. Needless to say, she is fine. She is starting to mimic speech patterns and take turns with you as if you are having a conversation. On the sleep front, she is sleeping through the night on most nights but still wakes up crying a few times a week. She goes right back to bed if you soothe her for a minute or so. Getting her on a schedule during the day is hard because each day if different with my job but the mornings and evenings are getting more regular.

I have included new pictures and video to bring you up to date. Enjoy! We do.
One night I was eating an apple for dinner and Josie kept grabbing for it. I gave her the core when I was done to see what she would do. As you can see she loved it.

This is her when I took it away.

Things I love:

My alpaca hat from Grandma Joan

Beer - we were at our Gourmet Group dinner and she went for Tim's beer.My Uncle Mike- even though he doesn't like to take pictures with me.

Siam - poor Siam she manhandles him. You would think he would learn after Katherine did the same thing 8 years ago.

My pear hat - thanks Kerri

Movie Mix

So, I love the new video recorder we got, the Flip. I downloaded all the videos to my computer and then I started to play around with the features. There is an option to make movie mixes and boy I could play with that all day. I chose the nostolgic mix and music. Enjoy the mix of Josie in her Christmas dress, it's red, and in her new walker. She loves the walker - thanks mom and dad.

Too Cute Not to Share

Okay, so I took these pictures a while back and they are too cute not to share. Josie loves the animals and is always trying to get her hands on them. Siam loves the attention, Pogo is not always sure since she makes strange noises and quick movements. Ernie is happy to lick her head, hands, and face but not too sure he wants to have her hands on him. At this point she grabs a handful of fur and then pulls. We help her by holding her hand and showing her how to pet. So far the animals are patient with her.

Josie's First Santa Moment and Christmas

Christmas began for us with the town party the week before Christmas. Santa arrived on a fire truck and had presents for all the boys and girls. Josie sat on his lap and did not cry or fuss. Let's hope that continues in years to come. I am planning on this being her yearly Santa experience since it is free, close to home, and there is no line.

Our first Christmas was pretty uneventful. We went to Sheree and Howard Askew's house on Christmas Eve for dinner. Sheree is the person who watches Josie a few times a month when I have meetings. Josie openned her first presents there and we had the following Christmas picture taken. We went to church and then it was home to bed.

Jay was up early on Christmas Day and got a fire going and breakfast started while Josie and I slept in. We celebrated with mimosas and traditional Hauschild Christmas morning breakfast, while at least traditional for all the kids as it seems mom and dad did not follow that tradition this year. Sorry David and Eunha. Anyway, we openned gifts later in the morning - enjoying the idea that we had at least this Christmas to take it easy since Josie had no idea what was going on. In fact, she fell asleep as we started openning them. Thank you to everyone for the gifts. The rest of the day we sat around and relaxed. We had an untraditional meal of enchiladas since neither one of us wanted to go to the energy of a big meal just for the two of us.

As you can see not much happened but we enjoyed being together and having Josie with us this year. I know things will get crazier as the years go on so we were happy to have a relaxing day.