Zoo

We finally made it to the zoo! We weren't sure if the weather would hold, but we decided to try it. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon. It was about 60 degrees and really windy. Josephine had a great time. Her favorites were the camels (she could pet them), chimps, African Wild Dogs, red panda, and the river otters. The river otters were so playful they would come "play" with Josephine when we had her next to the glass. They were so fast it was hard for her to see them at first. She caught on after awhile, though. We also went to Kid's Cove and she pet a sheep and some goats. Josephine also enjoyed riding on Nathan's shoulders. We didn't know that we were going to end up at the zoo when we left the house this morning, so I didn't take my camera : ( Next time I'll make sure to take my camera.

We celebrated Papaw's 60th birthday last week. Josephine got him some books that he can read to her. : ) Grannie gave him a generation photo of his three girls. He didn't know that we had gotten them done. I've added that picture below. It was from September, but since it was a surprise I couldn't put it on the blog. : )





Josephine Update:

• Josephine will clap her hands now. She hasn't before because she doesn't like you to touch her hands (it has to be her idea) and it's hard to get her to open her hands all the way.
• Josephine climbed our stairs yesterday. There's a gate at the bottom of the stairs right now : )
• No more steps from Josephine since Wednesday. She's stood by herself a few times, but not walking. We're going to work on it some more tonight.
• She's slept through the night the past two nights! That makes for a happy mom. She hasn't gotten her regular naps this weekend so that may have had something to do with it.

First Steps!

Josephine took her first steps during her gym class last night! She would take 2-4 steps between Nathan and me. We were so proud! Of course, she was pretty wobbly (sp?) getting started, but she managed a couple steps each time. Yea!

Rock Star

Josephine's cheeks droop while she sleeps. It's very cute.



Josephine showing off her fish tank. She loves to bang on the tank and watch the fish swim.



We went to Atlanta two weekends ago to visit Greg and Meredith. Josephine is watching Greg's XBox controller with great interest.



Josephine had a great time with Meredith.

I'll skip an intro and jump into a Josephine Update:

• Josepine will stand by herself for a few seconds if we let go of her without her realizing it. Once she realizes that she's doing it on her own, she falls down. She stood up from a squatting position by herself the other day.
• Josephine really enjoys music now. She'll rock on her hands and knees when music comes on. If she recognizes the music she turns and looks at us with a huge smile. "Circle of the Sun" is her favorite song (a revised version of Sally Roger's song).
• Josephine has started to bite with her two little teeth. She like to bite on clothing (which sometimes included the skin underneath) and on the seem that sticks up on the couches. I say "no bite" so much that she'll start shaking her head whenever I say "bite".'
• We started classes at The Little Gym yesterday. They have a bunch of small gymnastics equipment and they work on motor skills, pretty much, at Josephine's age. Josephine loved it. She was the only one not walking yet, but she could climb on a bunch of stuff. We worked on doing a front roll on a decline. Josephine loved it, but wouldn't tuck her head in. We are going again tonight. Nathan gets to go this time. : ) I want to start her on swim classes soon at the YWCA, but there weren't enough babies signed up this session so we'll have to wait until after Thanksgiving and try again.
• Josephine is still enjoying eating. She took a bottle of apple juice this morning! She's never taken a bottle for me before. I know she's getting to the age where she should use a cup, but she hasn't learned to use a sippy-cup and everything else is too messy. She won't hold the bottle on her own, though. She hasn't figured out to hold it up. Gravity. Such a pain. : )
• Josephine has started showing an interest in stuffed animals and dolls. She'll pick them up, hug them, and rock them. Very cute. I got a small dog (stuff animal, of course) for her yesterday. She loves it. She held it all the way home. She fell asleep on the way home holding its arm. When she woke up in her carrier she looked around, saw Nathan, and held up the dog to show him. : )
• Josephine still has a stuffy nose from the cold she had over 2 weeks ago. It's getting worse right now. I hope she's not getting sick again. She's having a hard time sleeping because she can't breathe well. I have to use the snot-sucker (I think the correct name is a nasal aspirator) in the middle of the night and most of the day. She's seems to be fine other ways, though.
• She's learning to climb stairs. She hasn't gone all the way up the staircase, but if I'm not in the same room with her, she'll come look for me including going up the stairs.

We still haven't made it to the zoo. Something comes up every time. We're going to try again this weekend. We also hope to go to an aquarium this winter either in Gatlinburg or Atlanta.

Crazy Hair

I thought I'd put up a few pictures of Josephine. Her hair is getting really thick and gets a little crazy after her naps. : )





She's eating Cheerios and bananas in this picture. She had already eaten an entire waffle.

Sick Days

Josephine was sick this past weekend. She had/has a stuffy nose and had a pretty high fever. We called the doctor, but didn't make any trips to the office or hospital. Her fever broke for the final time on Monday night. Poor Nathan had to spend a couple nights in the guest room so Josephine could sleep with me (she takes up alot more room in bed than a baby should). I had to give her Tylenol/Advil every 2 hours during the night so it was much easier to keep her with me. Plus, she wouldn't lay down by herself anyway. She's doing fine now except for the stuffy nose that won't go away. Her appetite isn't quite back up to speed yet either.

Josephine stayed with Nathan Monday night while I went to a concert. (It was supposed to be our first real date night since Jo was born, but her fever put a dent into that.) But I did have my first night out by myself since she was born. I went to the concert by myself, but had a great time anyway. I worried about Josephine the whole time though. Go figure. I was clutching my phone the whole time. But she did really well with Nathan. She cried for the first 30 minutes or so, but took a nap on Nathan and was happy the rest of the night until I got home. Then she nursed, rocked, then slept through the night! It was a miracle! She slept through the night last night too. I certainly can't expect it three nights in a row, can I? : )

Here's a short Josephine Update:

• Josephine won't say "hi" anymore, but she says "yeah" all the time (and at the appropriate times). "Hi" and "yeah". What kind of first words are those? : )
• She learned how to open the Cheerio box today. Enough said.
• I've started her on eating meats this week. Mostly the commercial pureed baby food. But she did have some ground turkey yesterday, which she liked. Cooked, of course. : )
• She's been sticking her tongue out all weekend. I think it has something to do with her teeth.

Sorry I don't have any pictures this time, but she's been sick. Actually, all three of us have been sick. We're going to Atlanta this weekend so I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post next week.

Uh, oh. She's in the Cheerios box again . . . .