Toys!

As stated in a previous post, Joanna's favorite toy these days is her little plastic giraffe. A friend of mine had mentioned that it looked like it was a toy from the Fisher Price Noah's Ark. Well, when I went to this friend's house and actually saw the toy, I realized that my mother (formerly Miss Rose, day care mom extraordinair) has or used to have this toy. Well, this information finally made me go out to my garage where a lot of my mom's stuff is stored to dig for toys. Not only did I find the Noah's ark, I also found some cars, a train, many Little People, a bus, a farm, and some other stuff. I had fun on Friday pulling out things I think Joanna will enjoy and getting them cleaned up. Here, I took a picture: The ark has Mr. and Mrs. Noah, THREE giraffes, but unfortunately only one of all the other animals. I think there must have been some kind of epidemic. Just kidding. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get it all sorted out before Joanna starts asking questions.

I decided to get some plastic bins for Joanna's clothes so that I can stay really organized as she outgrows things. Joanna and I played in her room on Friday, pulling things out of the closet and drawers that she doesn't wear anymore. There are not a lot of things that she's outgrown (in fact, she still fits into the outfit we brought her home from the hospital in!), but it was nice to clear out a little space in the closet and drawers of things she really hasn't worn in a few months. Here's Joanna, "helping" Mommy with all those hangers. I'd like to caption this picture: "You lookin' at me?"

My Aunt Gail was in town this weekend so we headed over to my grandmother's house to "play." Joanna brought a big blanket and some of her toys so she could scootch around on the floor at Grandma's house. Joanna with Christiana and Aunt Gail.

Baby food, finger food, and ummm... worms?

Many of you out there who know me will be shocked and amazed to learn that I am making Joanna's baby food (mostly anyway). In fact, I apologize if you've had to pick yourself up off the floor after fainting from your utter disbelief. Now I don't exactly have a grain mill in my backyard, and I think homemade Cheerios would be a joke, but Joanna is getting fresh pureed fruits and veggies. There is something really cathartic about using the blender and watching the food become mush.

Here is Joanna enjoying some carrots.Or maybe she's just enjoying the spoon that happens to have carrots on it.

Joanna loves picking up Cheerios and she loves eating Cheerios. There's something that happens in between the picking up and the eating that doesn't allow her to feed them to herself with much success, though. Once she gets them into her hand, she often just wants them back out again, but usually her hand is wet for whatever reason, so the Cheerios stick. If they're in the perfect position on her hand, she can get them into her mouth once they've stuck. Mostly they end up on the floor. She'll also get one into her hand and make a fist around it them suck on her fist. Again, if the Cheerio is in the perfect position, she'll suck it into her mouth. She is really cute to watch. Sorry, but I don't have video so you'll have to use your imagination.

Those of you who read my mother's blog know that she likes to rescue earthworms from certain death by frying when she is out on her morning run. This morning, she brought some home to have their picture taken. Lovely.

So Much Joanna

Thursday after Mother's Day Out, Joanna had a little trouble taking a nap (as in she wouldn't), so she and I caught some zzz's together. Here is a slightly blurry close-up of her sleeping face next to me.

Joanna's new favorite toy is this plastic giraffe. It's neck fits perfectly in her hand and she can wave it around. She will hold on to it for long periods of time. She has even taken a couple of naps with it. Since I uploaded these pictures, we took a walk over to Uncle Mark's house. On the way, we noticed the giraffe was no longer in the stroller. Uh oh. Luckily, we took the same way home and found it safe and sound on the greenbelt. My visions of it splattered in the road were dashed. Of course, I don't think Joanna would actually miss it yet, she just likes it a lot.

Sunday morning, we went through a couple of wardrobe changes to find something autumnal to wear. I put this sweet little dress that she has worn before over a long-sleeved onsie, and poof -- it moved from summer to fall. Wow. Joanna got so many complements on how dressed up she was -- so cute! I think she looks very old in this picture. She of course isn't actually walking, but she'll stand pretty well with someone holding on to her. And now, I will leave you with a short video clip of Joanna waving.

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Words but No Pictures

Today has been one of those long kinds of days -- not too terrible, but long. First of all, I must confess that I usually use Joanna as an alarm clock these days. Meaning, I don't usually get up until she does! So, when I heard the loud honk from across the street this morning at 6:50am, I was still in my PJs. Nonetheless, as soon as I heard the second honk and the sound of my baby waking up (too early), I marched outside, barefooted and hair sticking up to confront the noisemaker. She was pretty rude. And lazy. I asked her very nicely if she could please not do that. She responded by saying that she really didn't have a choice if the kid she was picking up wasn't waiting on her. I informed her of my 7 month old baby who was now up for the day, very early, and maybe she could call this kid? (Or maybe she or her son could get OUT of the car to knock on the door...) Now, I understand the honking thing and being late for school and carpools -- I've been there. I may have even been the running late one, but honking at 6:50 is just too early. So there.

So then I drive to work (having had time to put on makeup, fix my hair, nurse Joanna, feed Joanna baby food, fold laundry...) remembering that the A/C in the van doesn't work and I've got to figure out what I'm going to do about that. I get almost to church and then realize that I've forgotten Joanna's afternoon bottle for mother's day out. It's in my fridge. I decide to go ahead and drop Joanna off and get a little work done and head home later for the bottle. On my way home, sweating with the windows down, I start to hear a little knocking/clanking/rattling noise coming from the engine compartment. I'm thinking maybe it's related to the air conditioner not working. What do I know? Same noise on the way back, culminating in the parking lot to a very loud rattling/knocking/whoa did something just fall out of the engine compartment? kind of noise that can be heard across the parking lot. Just ask Carolyn Dickerson. I deliver the bottle to Joanna's teacher then head back to the sweatmobile, hoping to make it to the service station. I really do not want to pay for a tow truck. It actually drove very well the few miles to the shop. I catch a ride back to the church from a very sweet kid who talked my ear off about cars. My very wonderful mother-in-law picked us up after mother's day out, so no, we're not still at the church. If you want to know how much it costs to replace an air compressor (cause that's what was broken and causing the no A/C and the very loud noise), I will tell you. But I'm not going to type it here. It would take too long. So now we have a decision to make: spend the money and get it fixed, drive it as is, or trade the sucker in. Ahhhh!!!

And the smallest of the day's dramas is that Joanna wouldn't take an afternoon nap for me today. I'm tired and I'm going to bed now.

Mmmmm.... dinner

Joanna's cousin Katie turned 15 today, so we joined Katie and her friend and Mamma and Pop at Oriental Gardens (yum!) for dinner this evening. Joanna did so well! I was actually able to put her in the high chair with my jacket behind her (she is very small, you know) and she was pretty stable. She ate cheerios while the rest of us had yummy chinese food (poor child). I had to take pictures of her in the high chair because she just looked so cute. Her head came up above the table only about 3 inches or so, but it was enough for her to check out what everyone was doing. She really enjoyed eating out with her family.

After dinner, she held onto Mamma's hand as we walked out of the restaurant. On a side note, I guess I really haven't worn much jewelry lately (purely out of laziness), but I put on this pretty sturdy cross necklace today. Joanna was crazy about it. She was holding onto that thing or chewing on it whenever possible. When I'm not wearing a necklace, she usually grabs ahold of a chunk of hair at the back of my head to hold on to as we walk around. I usually carry her like I am in the picture, so I guess she needs to steady herself a little. Sometimes I put her on my hip, but she only comes up to my armpit so it's kind-of awkward, and it puts her level with, um... lunch, so I think that confuses her a bit. Okay, that's all I'm babbling about for now!

7 months old and out and about

My daughter is the cutest, most brilliant 7 month old around. (I know you're all thinking... duh, of course she is!) Joanna is 7 months old today -- that sounds so old; I can't believe it! She's scootching, talking, and playing peek-a-boo (yes, that's right, I said peek-a-boo). I knew some of you would be skeptical when I announced this new facet of brillance, so we have video proof. Today we were at Target strolling around, and Matt thought Joanna was a little cold so I tossed her blanket over and she and Daddy started playing the game. Notice in the video that Joanna is all the work pulling the blanket up and putting it down -- Matt's just playing along. Do I have a genius daughter, or what! Apparantly Matt and Joanna played this game this morning at home, too. I may have been asleep or something...

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On the way home from Target we decided to stop in to Sears for a few important home-owning things. Joanna was asleep, and since she's still so small (and cute) we were able to just transfer her carseat to the stroller so she could continue her nap for a few more minutes. I've caught a picture of her holding on to this toy before, but it was with the other hand. I just think it is so precious that she fell asleep like this!

Chatting with Mommy

Because of the high demand, I shot a little video of Joanna chatting with me today so you could hear the D sounds she is making. And, if you listen very closely, you may be able to pick up an episode of Star Trek in the background. Lucky you.

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