The Nutcracker

As many of you know Josie and I went to The Nutcracker ballet a few weeks back. She is now a huge Nutcracker fan. She loves the music, the ballet, the mouse king. Actually she is obsessed with the mouse king. She listens to the battle music and is so sad when the other mice come to collect his body. She has shared the book and the music at school and she dances to the music all the time. I took a great video of it but well, I have not yet been able to get it to load to this blog or to an email attachment. I do however have pictures of her and her friend Maura, she and her mom went with us, eating their "special desert" after the ballet. She chose raspberry cheesecake.
A HUGE slice of raspberry cheesecake.

Open wide!

Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas is over and as expected it took Josie quite a while to get through her gifts. When she opens something she stops to play with it right then and will then remember there is more to open. She worked on several projects with her art supplies from Uncle Mike, played cheerleader with her pom poms from Mousels, dressed and undressed the Cinderella doll from John and Sherry, played "Dr. Leonard"(our vet) with her new costume from OD and Tuppin, and played Candy Land. Since Christmas we have also watched her new movie, danced with her new rainbow tutu, and ridden her new bike. According to her it is "So cool!"She asked Santa for only two things - a candy cane and a big lion. She was very specific about where he could find the lion. Well, Santa came through and she got a candy cane and a big lion. The lion is as big as Ernie and has been on her bed or next to it while she sleeps since Christmas.

Telling Santa very specifically that he could find the big lion at the store by where we got her princess tennis shoes. She told him to have his reindeer fly him there.

Dr. Leonard aka Josie

Cuddling up with her lion and princess blanket on the couch.

The big lion.

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Josie's class had a Thanksgiving potluck and she decided that she wanted to take cupcakes. I had the week off so I decided I would try to do more than 1. buy them at the store or 2. make plain old cupcakes. We found a picture of cupcakes on the internet I thought we could handle. Josie was excited to make the cupcakes, watch them bake, and frost them. She was also excited about putting on the faces and the feathers until we were done with about 8 of them. At that point she said she was tired of it and wanted to stop. I told her there were a lot more to go so she would have to hang in there. In the end they turned out great. Score one for mom!

Touchdown Michigan

Josie is very into watching Michigan and Detroit Lions football with Jay this year. Well it helps that both teams are doing well. Anyway, one recent Saturday she put on her Michigan shirt to enjoy the game with Jay. After a Michigan touchdown she decided that she needed a helmet (she remembered she had a bike helmet she could use) and a football (a dog toy) so she could run and make a touchdown too.

Off to the Races!

Gramma Tup and Grampa OD were just here and we were looking for something different to do so we decided to go to the harness races here is Sacramento. We took Josie and she was sooo excited. We probably should have been more clear ahead of time because she thought that she was going to get to ride a horse and race it. After all the confusion was cleared up she had a good time. We bet on a few horses that she picked out - basically she picked the name that she liked best. She did not win but dad won $1.20. Anyway, we were outside watching one of the races and after the race she saw a man riding on a horse and wondered why he was riding it that way. I told her I did not know so she pulled an OD on me - she turned around and yelled, "Why are you riding that horse?" He told her that he followed the racers in case there was an accident. Then he asked her if she wanted to ride in the pace car during the race. She was game until we were in the car driving around the track and then she was scared. We were right close to the horsed though and she did like that part. All told the evening was fun and if she has a problem betting on the ponies when she is older we will know why.
The best part is that when we got home she got together her horse, a horse blanket, a harness, reigns, a hat, and goggles. Uncle Kurt you would be proud of her get up. She rode like a champ and believe it or not her horse won every race this time.

Halloween

This year Josie better understood the idea of dressing up and going around to get candy. I did not make a costume this year - she had a turtle from Joan and the Minnie Mouse costume Gretchen made years ago for Kathrine and that has been passed down to all the cousins. She was not interested in either. She wanted to be Ariel. I could not bring myself to buy a Disney Princess costume so Jay and I tried every angle to get her to change her mind. We prevailed when we found a princess ballerina costume at Costco. She LOVED the tutu and since we bought her ballerina slippers she was sold. We went to her friend Evie's house like we did last year for a party. The friends all went trick or treating together. What a riot to watch and listen to a group of 3 year olds on Halloween.

As you can see however, in the end she stripped down and found Evie's Ariel costume so in the end she prevailed. Additionally, now she says she wants Santa to bring her a Princess dress like her friend Evie has. UGH!

Some Funny Updates

1. Whenever Jay makes a weird face at me I have the habit of saying, "What's that face?" We have noticed that now Josie is beginning to say that to either of us when we give either each other or her a weird face. If you don't answer her she will say it again and then laugh.

2. We took Josie to the State Fair 2 weeks ago and she was so excited to see the animals. She is fascinated by the cows and we had to go down every aisle in the barn with cows. She was also fascinated by the baby animals in the nursery. They were having cow and goat milking lessons and you could actually milk a cow or a goat. She thought this sounded like fun so we stood in line to milk the cow. She was ver interested until she actually had to sit and milk it and then she was not so sure. She pulled one time and then said she was done. At school the next day they asked if she had fun at the fair and she said, "Yes, I got to milk a cow. You pull on the thing and then the milk comes out of the cow's butt." Okay, time for some cow anatomy lessons.

3. Josie just finished her second round of swimming lessons and she loves to swim. Her teacher was Katie- a 19 year old college student who is excellent at her job. After the two rounds of lessons Josie can: float on her front and back, make bubbles, kick and move her arms, jump off and swim back to the edge, and swim unassisted for a short time. She is so unafraid that she will just jump into the water or kick away from the edge so Katie taught her to ask permission before she just "dives in". Yeah Katie!

4. Monday she did not have school so we had, as Josie put it, a "ladies day". We baked bread and made pear jam. She took some of the bread and the jam to school to share with her friends. She is now addicted to pear jam and bread. Reminds me of a book ... Bread and Jam for (Josie) Francis.

File Under Gross

Josie wanted a peanut butter and cinnamon sugar sandwich for dinner (this is not the gross part). She also asked for fruit and pretzels. Now for the gross - she asked for ketchup for her pretzels. Now for the really gross part - she was dipping her peanut butter and cinnamon sugar sandwich in the ketchup. YUCK!

What's New Josie Kat?

Since it has been so long all the posts should have the title - Finally Updates and Pictures. Anyway, as you can see the picture at the top has changed. Dad said that the other one was from 2 years ago - so dad here you are. The picture shows Josie ready to go to her birthday surprise - Disneyland. It was 7:00 am and all she knew was that she was going to get a birthday surprise and have a princess birthday.

With Cinderella at lunch. She also got pictures with Ariel, Mulan, Snow White, and Aura. She was most interested in showing them her birthday button.

What's new:

Birthday: we took her to Disneyland - thanks for the free tickets Gretchen!!! Jay was down in So. Cal. for work so Josie and I used free Southwest tickets and went down to join him. We made it through the park in the day - a lot left to see the next time. She loved the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Circus Train from Dumbo. We took her to Ariel's Grotto for lunch - that sure is a money maker. Anyway, she got to see Ariel and then four of the princesses visited with her during lunch. She was so excited! All in all it was a great day and we got back to the hotel about 10:55.
Weird Habit: She is certainly a grandchild of Grampa OD. She talks to EVERYONE! She will be in the gym locker room and start talking to people about her swimming lessons or her dog. She will tell people anywhere, in line someplace, in the elevator, at the checkout, that it is her birthday, that she is 3 years old, that she is going to the market, etc. If people don't respond she will say, "That man/lady is not talking to me and that is not nice." I have to let her know that sometimes people don't hear her or are busy and can't answer her but she is often upset with them. Some people will then talk to her but others will just try to get away as fast as possible.

Potty Training: Basically I think she has better things to do. Once I said that mom remarked she might be like her Uncle Kurt and be too busy playing to stop and go to the bathroom. She must have heard me because when I say it is time to go potty she will sometimes say, "No, I am too busy." She is doing better since she moved up to the Intermediate room at school and Ms. Rosemary and Ms. Erika make them go. She is afraid of making the toilet dirty so... We are just letting it happen and if it becomes a problem we will get hardcore - yes I mean try to bribe her. We are not sure a bribe will work at this point because she is not really yearning for anything so badly she is willing to use the toilet.

Funny Sayings: She is aware that boys and girls use the toilet differently and she is apt to tell me when she is using the toilet that, "Boys hold their butts to go tinkle." She is also fond of saying, "Are you kidding me?" "Backoff Ernie." ."I need to go to the market" (the one up the street) and "I need to hold somebody!" Many of her sentences begin with "So..."

The Movie Car: She has finally decided that the movie car is both mine and hers and we can share it. She decided this after she saw that the old "mommy's car" (the station wagon) was at the neighbor's house (they bought it from us). She has also stopped asking to watch movies everytime we get in the car. That was been replaced by the request for "mommy music". That was usually the Reba McIntire CD I had in the car - well now "mommy music" won't do and the request is for "the lady music" this means that we listen to the Reba CD over and over and over and over. I like Reba but really it is getting crazy. She now hums to the tune of some of the songs and gets very excited when she knows the tune. I have tried other CDs but she is stuck on Reba - I think Billy Joel is making his way up the list but not fast enough. (don't judge my music)

School: As I said she is back after a few weeks home with me and she is in a new class. She is so happy to see her friends that moved up ahead of her and loves the teachers. She is learning a lot and is happy they have water days on Tuesday and Friday.

Other tidbits: She can spell her name and "writes" it on paper. She likes to spell it on the fridge with magnets. She also spells mom and dad. She puts an e at the end and says it spells mommy/daddy. She had swim lessons in June and will have more in August. She does well kicking and scooping with her hands. She is not interestd in floating.

Activities: She stills reads all the time. She pretends to read to her friends. She also plays school. Her favorite thing to do is play kitchen with all her plates, bowls, and cups. She makes food, has birthday parties and dinner parties. She also loves Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We went a few times and she loves the elephant show, the dolphin show, the whale show, the lions, and the tigers. She has a dolphin pillow pet that I bought her after she said she needed a dolphin for her dolphin shows. She has named him Crispy and she pretends to have dolphin shows in her room and out in her little pool. The pool is at the end of her new playstructure and she loves to swim and slide into the pool.

Okay that is plenty for now. Enjoy the pictures.Enjoying her "strawberry drink" - the non-alcoholic variety.
Playdate with her friend Maura.

Helping dad.

Sleeping on Ernie's bed.

Finally Updates and Pictures

Yes, I know it has been a long time since I updated. I finally put pictures on the computer and so now I can post some here.

So what's new with Josie? Well, she still loves to read, go to school, and play her kitchen stuff. Stickers are also still a big hit - she put several on her wall one day when she was home with Jay. No wonder she was so quiet he says. At school she is learning Spanish and can count to 10, say circle, square, it's cold, it's hot, good morning, how are you, hello, and goodbye. She has tried these out on Maria (the woman who cleans the house) and Sarah (a sitter). She plays school often and is quite a stern "teacher". She likes to watch Disney movies but so far is not into all the princess stuff - we are happy to keep it that way. She has been to several birthday parties for her school friends and loves the cake and ice cream. She has a new tricycle that she like to ride when we take Ernie for walks - there is a handle so we can push her when she gets tired. She picks up almost everything we say so we are trying to be extra careful about what we say- it is funny to hear her though sometimes.

She is working on potty training but is not too interested. Tuppin says she could be like her Uncle Kurt - too busy to worry about it right now. She will go when you take her but won't tell you when she has to go. Any tricks you have are appreciated.

Anyway, following are some pictures for your enjoyment.

Fun time with Grandpa O.D.

On the train to San Francisco. She was so excited.

I LOVE THIS ONE!!! Playing school and reading to "the class". She is very strick about sitting on the carpet and listening.

Josie playing playdough at her new table from Grandpa O.D. and grandma Tup.

Josie in the much worn hand me down Harley Davidson outfit. Yes, it is a little small but she liked wearing it knowing that all her cousins have worn it.

Josie and the neighbor girl Madeline baked Grandma Tup a birthday cake. Yummy!

Here are some of Josie with Siam and Weezie. Pogo won't go anywhere near her.