Thanksgiving 2006

Josephine "driving" with Nathan while we were parked in a driveway.

I've been working on this post for a couple weeks now, but never able to finish it. It may sound a bit awkward because it's been done in pieces.

I had Bronchitis over the past coule weeks. Plus, the Friday before Thanksgiving we had to take Josephine to the emergency room because she had a fever of 105 degrees. They did a couple tests then diagnosed her with a virus and sent her home. She was fine the next day. She was very pitiful there for awhile. The doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital were nice and it didn't take as long as I had expected. Josephine was so lethargic, I don't think she remembered anything about the hospital. She perked up about 3 minutes before we left which was a relief.

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Josephine's first Thanksgiving was a hit. Grannie and Papaw came over for Thanksgiving breakfast and we had pancakes, biscuits, bacon, etc. Cooking breakfast is much easier than dinner. After some naps we went to the Anderson farm for dinner. Josephine got to spend time with her 2-year-old cousin Ryan that she hadn't met. She also got to play with other cousins Naomi and Blair. She and Blair played the drum together. Josephine loved eating the turkey too.


Josephine and her cousin Blair (8 yrs.) at Thanksgiving.

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We (Nathan, me, Grannie, and Papaw) took Josephine to Fantasy of Trees on Friday. She loved it. She's loved lights since birth so we figured this would be a good place to take her. We didn't think about it until we got there that it was kind of mean to take her to see all the lights and not let her touch them. She made it through with no tears, though. Her favorite thing was the carousel. She and Grannie went on it twice. The first time she was really nervous and Grannie held her most of the time, but she wanted back on. We tried to walk around some more, but she kept pointing at the carousel so Grannie took her on it again. Later that evening we went to the lighting of the Christmas tree in Market Square with the Randolph's, but it was so crowded we left. I'm sure we'll go back soon when there are fewer people. The fireworks scared Josephine pretty badly. We didn't know there were going to be fireworks. She hates loud noises.


Elizabeth, Nathan, and Josephine at the Fantasy of Trees.


Josephine and Grannie on the carousel.


Josephine pointing at the polar bear.

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Saturday night Nathan and I actually got to go to a movie!!! Josephine stayed with Grannie and Papaw (I had to twist their arms : ). We saw "Deck the Halls" with Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito. It was pretty funny. Gets you into the Christmas spirit. Josephine did fine at Grannie and Papaw's, but she didn't have to go to bed before we picked her up either.

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Sunday was a big day too. After church and lunch and nap we went to a Lady Vols basketball game. Again, there were fireworks that freaked Josephine out, but by the second half she was enjoying it. Cheerios seemed to be the secret to making her happy. She watched alot of the basketball game. After the game we went to see Jane and Bryan who have finally come home from doing mission work in Kenya! Josephine had never met Jane and Bryan. Even though Josephine was worn out we had a great time. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again next week.


Josephine with "Aunt" Jane.

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Josephine's birthday party is on this Saturday! Her birthday isn't until next Wednesday, though. It's just going to be a family get-together. It was getting way too big once I started adding it all up with her friends. I'll put up a new post next week.

Josephine Update:

• Josephine is getting her two top teeth slowly, that will make 4 altogether.
• Josephine now says "dada" and "kitty" in addition to "hi" and "yeah". She might be able to say "baby" (sounds like "geegee"), but we're not sure about that. She said "kitty" for her grandparents a couple weeks ago, but she said it for Nathan and me while we were at the zoo. She saw the white tiger and said "kitty". Very cute.
• Josephine has been obsessed with books the past couple weeks. She has dozens of books (McKay's is wonderful for that) but she has her favorites. She likes "Little Quack", and other books with animals or babies. Josephine wants to read/look at them over and over again.
• Her climbing skills are getting better. She's pulled her book basket off the shelf and used it as a stepping stool. She's also managed to climb onto the top of the automan (ottoman?). She climbs the stairs quicker and quicker.
• Josephine can show you where her toes are. She loves playing with her shoes too. Sometimes she'll put her shoes on our toes.
• Josephine played house with Elizabeth (5 years old) a couple weekends ago. She followed her around everywhere and did pretty much whatever Elizabeth told her to do. They had a blast. Josephine played well with Drinnen (6 mo.) the other night too.
• Josephine is holding her bottle by herself. She spent a few days with my mom while I worked at school before Thanksgiving. Josephine came home holding her bottle. : ) She is also feeding herself cereal with a spoon. She had no trouble getting the spoon to her mouth.
• Nathan and I are going to the gym again, but Josephine cries every time we take her to the child care there. She does fine at the church nursery, but the gym scares her.
• Three weeks ago at the little gym Josephine walked across the balance beam (I held her up) without any help with her feet then did a somersault on the beam (with help, of course). We were very proud. She has a blast there.
• Josephine can show you how old she is. When you ask her she holds up her pointer finger. Another thing Grannnie taught her.

Josephine feeding herself cereal.

Josephine at the Little Gym.

Josephine on the balance beam at the Little Gym.

Josephine reading a book.

Mohawks, Camels, Wizards, and Princesses

It's been a couple weeks since the last post because Blogger wouldn't let me download any pictures onto the blog. This blog will have plenty of pictures for you : ) Josephine has had a busy couple weeks!




I spiked Josephine's hair after her bath. She knows how to brush her hair and ours. Not well, but she gets the concept : ) She'd rather chew on the brush, though.



Grannie, Papaw, and I took Josephine to the zoo again last Sunday. I was able to take my camera this time. This is Josephine in the petting zoo of Kid's Cove. She enjoyed it, but was very distracted by the noisy animals. She also got to pet the sheet, a llama, and a cow.



Josephine riding on Papaw's shoulders. I think we were looking at the river otters here.



Before we left we got to pet the camels again. Josephine loves the camels.



The camel made a sudden move toward Josephine, hence the look on my face. It was really sweet later on when the camel wrapped her neck around Josephine and put its face up to Josephine's face.

Halloween



The Randolph's came to trick-or-treat at our house on Halloween. Drinnen was a wizard. I got that costume for him as a birthday present in May. When it arrived we looked at it and thought he would NEVER be able to fill it out by 6 months. Boy, were we wrong.



Elizabeth and Emily were princesses. And, yes, Drinnen is bigger than Josephine. His legs are slightly shorter, but his torso is longer. He also outweighs her by at least 2 pounds.



I just thought this was a really cute pictures. I don't remember what they were looking at.

Josephine Update:

• Josephine took a few more steps to me last weekend. I had been gone most of the day and when I got home she was so excited to see me, she walked on over! She'll stand by herself pretty often now.
• She climbs the stairs very quickly now. She usually only does it if I'm upstairs and she's downstairs (trying to find me) or when she's trying to get my attention. She also bites things to get my attention too.
• She's had fun at the Little Gym each time. She walked across the balance beam without someone helping her feet (but holding her up, of course) last week. I was very impressed because the week before she couldn't do it. She can also do the wheelbarrow on the balance beam where I hold her torso and she walks with her hands across the beam. It's cute to watch too. She loves her instructor Stephanie too. I noticed that she would get a huge smile on her face when she saw her in the class. Yesterday, Josephine and I went to lunch with Papaw and ran into Stephanie. Josephine started smiling and doing her devilish laugh (I have no other way of describing or imitating it) so I turned around to see what she was looking at. She recognized Stephanie even outside of the gym (but in the same clothes) after only 3 classes with her. Very cute. Josephine is the youngest in the class and the only one not walking. She will crawl up to the other kids and "talk" to them, but they're busy playing and don't talk back. She enjoys watching/playing with the other kids more than the gym equipment I think. I hope it doesn't hurt her feelings when the other kids want to do their own thing instead of have a chat.
• Josephine loves to play in the dishwasher. Not necessarily "in" the dishwasher, but with the things in the dishwasher. I've given up trying to do the dishes when she's in the kitchen. It's not worth it.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is in three weeks? I'll put another post before then. I hope to take my camera to her next Little Gym class. I don't think there are any other big events before Thanksgiving. : )