Snow Day!

Yesterday was Josie's first official snow day. She has seen snow before, but this was the first time that we received a significant amount that she could play in. I was home for the day so we took advantage of the time.

First, we made breakfast. Here is Josie supervising the making of the french toast.



After lunch we made brownies. She has an addiction to brownie batter. Wonder where she gets that??





Finally, after much layering, we headed outside.





Then it was back inside for hot chocolate...yum!



Josie enjoyed her snow day and can't wait for the next one :)

Weekend Fun!

What a fun weekend! Friday night we went to see Disney on Ice with my mom and Skylar. The kids had a great time. Josie clapped and danced and really enjoyed herself. Here are the girls with their Minnie's:

On Saturday, we went to visit Holly, Rich & Z along with the Badours. I don't have any pics, but we had a great time and Josie enjoyed terrorizing a new house :)

On Sunday, we took advantage of the lovely weather and went to the park. Josie had a blast.

We are looking forward to more fun activities and of course, more warm weather!

Time Flies

It's been a while since I have updated so here goes...

Josie is more amazing every day. Every day she learns something new. We had her 18 month check up a couple of weeks ago and here are her stats:

Height - 34 inches (97th percentile)
Weight - 26.5 pounds (75th percentile)

When the doctor entered the exam room, he looked at the stats that the nurse had given him and said "she's a BIG girl". He said that she has grown quite a bit since her last visit. She did a million times better at this visit than at previous visits. She usually screams the entire time the pediatrician is touching her. You would think that he had pins in the end of the stethoscope and laser beams shooting from the eye light. Not this time. She allowed him to check her from head to toe without a fuss. She didn't even flinch at the needle that she received at the end of the visit. I think I remained in a state of shock for the rest of the day :)

Here are some new things that Josie can do. I can't list all of them. To do so would require me to follow her around with a video camera and note pad for the entire day :)

She can count to 2. I was so proud when I saw her point to a block and say "one", and then point to a second and say "two". We practice things like this over and over and eventually it clicks.

She can recognize several colors including yellow, red, green and blue. One of her favorite things to do now is to point out all of the yellow things that she sees and yell "yellow!"

We are working on shapes and circle seems to be her favorite right now. She has mastered all of her shape puzzles and can complete them without assistance.

She loves, loves, loves to help out around the house. She helps load and unload the dishwasher, she helps us vacuum, she helps us to put the groceries away (even though boxes of cereal don't go in the fridge...I correct this when she is not looking), she helps with the recycling and crushes the boxes before they go in the paper bin.

She also has a strong sense of independence which can be frustrating for her sometimes. She can put on her own socks, pants (almost) and shoes. She likes to choose which hat she wears to go outside. She buckles herself into the car seat and high chair.

One of her biggest accomplishments is that she has gone on the potty several times now. She started expressing an interest in the potty about a month ago so I figured, hey, let's go with it. She loves her Dora pull-ups and we hope to be fully potty trained before warmer weather comes.

She is quite the chatterbox. She talks all day long. I have to laugh sometimes when she is telling me the same thing over and over and I just don't get it. She cocks her head and looks at me as if to say "woman, are you that dumb? I am clearly telling you that Max and Ruby is on and I would prefer to watch something else." Only when she finally hands me the remote, do I get it. I guess I am learning right along with her.

I am sure there are 100 things that I am missing, but suffice it to say that she is not a little baby anymore. She is growing up way too fast and I am trying to cherish every little moment with her. Like when she is laying in her crib at night and rubs her hair, signalling me to rub her hair for her. Or when she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me and says "momma".

Motherhood is amazing and no matter how tired I am or how much work I have to do, Josie is the most important person in my life.

Merry Christmas

Love,

Josie

What Josie Is Made Of

We all know the nursery rhyme "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". Sugar and spice and everything nice. Well, Josie has those ingredients, but she is also made of a lot of other things and has an interesting mix of both mom and dad's traits.

She is not a morning person - like her mom. She is not ready to go until she has had her morning milk. Kind of like my morning coffee(s).

She won't eat first thing in the morning - like her dad. Aside from the milk, she needs about 45 minutes before she'll eat her breakfast. Mike is the same way. I on the other hand can eat as soon as my eyes open.

She gets very irritable when she is hot or tired - like her mom. Ask Mike. I am not a nice person when I am tired. And god forbid Josie and I are hot AND tired. You may as well leave town.

She loves peanut butter - like her dad. I like a good PB&J sandwich now and then, but these 2 could eat peanut butter until the cows come home.

She has an unhealthy love of toast with cinnamon and sugar on it with a side of chocolate milk - like her mom. She doesn't get this often - pretty much only when she can snag a bite or sip from me or Skylar. I take full responsibility for this. Once I went on bed rest, this was pretty much my staple breakfast every day. I guess she acquired a taste for it. My bad.

She snores - like her dad. Once this kid is sound asleep it's pretty funny to hear the little snores. Her father's snoring is not so cute ;)

She curls up in a ball to sleep - like her mom. I know she's ready for bed when she curls up on her stomach with both stuffed dogs tucked under her.

She loves dogs - like her dad. I enjoy animals, but Mike and Josie would have a house full of dogs if I let them.

She has a temper - like her mom?? Really.....me.....a temper?? Ok, see my first post about the police. I will take this one. Please don't make this child mad or get in her way of doing something. She may hit, bite or otherwise injure you. You've been warned.

So, yes, sugar, spice and everything nice as well as a few other ingredients to shake things up. A nice blend if you ask me :)

Nicknames

It's amazing how many nicknames you come up with for your kid. Every new adventure or new skill merits a new nickname. Here are some of Josie's nicknames:

Monkey - This kid climbs on everything....stairs, toys, ladders, chairs, tables, me, the dog....you name it, she will try to conquer it.

Jose Pose - Mom-mom came up with this one I believe. We'll have to ask her for the basis, but I think it was created because it rhymes.

Jo-seppie - A nickname from Nanny. It's the name that Josie likes to be called when she's playing hide and seek.

Monster - This is the name we use when she is running around like crazy, arms in the air, mouth wide open ready to bite. I will grab her and whisper in her ear "you're a monster" and she whispers back "mons"....too cute.

I am sure there will more to come and we continue through this adventure with Josie.

Baltimore City's Finest

Well, yesterday was a whirlwind of a day that I don't ever want to re-live. On my way home from a doctor's appointment, I called my grandma to check on Josie. She was sleeping, but I could hear this barking cough in the background. I decided to call the doctor because the cough sounded terrible. They wanted to see her at 4:20, so I cancelled my afternoon appointment and head to grandma's to pick her up. As I was walking to the car with her, she was playing with the car remote. She does this all of the time, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I buckled her in, tossed the keys to the front seat like I always do and shut the back door. The door didn't shut all of the way so I tried to open it to shut it again......my heart stopped......the doors were locked. Josie had hit the lock button while I had the back door open and locked all of the doors. I turned to grandma who was still standing on the porch and said "I just locked the baby in the car." She thought I was joking, but when I told her to call 911, she knew I was serious. Josie was fine at this point. She though it was pretty funny so I kept playing with her through the glass.


The police came within a few minutes, so I thought, great, they will get her out and we'll be on our way. They walked up to the car, looked in at her and said "There is nothing that we can do. You need to wait for our emergency response unit." WHAT? Did I hear that correctly? My 13 month old is in the car and you can't do anything? They didn't have the bendable bar to pop the lock. Only the emergency response unit had that. Ok, fine. I asked how long it would take the unit to arrive. Their response - "Um, we are not sure....could be 20 minutes or so." Seriously?


Josie was starting to get upset at this point. I was trying to remain calm for her sake. I asked the cop that was there at the time to break the window. He said he couldn't, but that I could, so he handed me his club. I swung as hard as I could and the club bounced off of the window. I am not sure why I or the cop thought that I could break the window with my 110 pound body. A neighbor came by and offered to use a metal hanger to pop the lock. God bless him....he tried and tried and could not succeed. I should mention that "Dumb" and "Dumber" (the initial 2 cops to respond) stood on the sidewalk the entire time, hands on their hips.

Josie is hysterical at this point...reaching for me and screaming. I am trying to calm her....I know that it's getting hot in the car.

FINALLY, the emergency response unit comes. No lights, no sense of urgency.....he takes his time getting out the car, retrieves the bendable bar from the back and strolls over to my car. A neighbor pries the glass open while "Officer Cocky" attempts to flip the lock. I can't remember which way you are supposed to push the lock to open it, and he gets an attitude because I am not in a clear state of mind. After a few seconds, he gets it unlocked.

I almost rip the car seat straps off of Josie. She is covered in sweat, snot and tears, but she's ok. At this point I lost my mind. There is no way to sugar coat the verbal abuse I laid onto the officers. I berated them for their lack of urgency and the fact that it took the emergency response unit over 20 minutes to get there (after he had to ask for directions). Apparently, not everyone can be trusted to carry these bendable bars in their cars. This is a privilege reserved for the emergency response units. Can you sense my sarcasm? I dropped quite a few F-bombs before my grandma reminded that me that we needed to cool the baby. For a moment I was sure that I was going to jail.

So, maybe they will offer a paramedic to check the baby for dehydration? Nope. Now I know that she wasn't in the car for hours and it wasn't extremely hot, but it would have been nice to have her looked at. Everyone leaves, after "Officer Cocky" tells me that "if it's a dire emergency next time, break the window ma'am". Thanks Captain Obvious.....and according to everyone else in the world, locking your baby in the car in the summertime is a dire emergency. Unbelievable.

Moral of the story is three-fold:
1. Keep my car keys in my hand at all times.
2. Never rely on the Baltimore City Police Department to "serve and protect".
3. Keep the number for Pop-A-Lock handy. They are guaranteed to be there in 10 minutes if there is a child in the car.