Nothing much here...

I really don't have anything too interesting to post, I was just tired of looking at that bug picture when I opened the page! Joanna and I are getting ready to fly to Oklahoma on Friday. I'm a little nervous, but mostly very excited about going. My dad, step-mom, and sister haven't seen Joanna since she was about 3 months old. At that time, she was still pretty rotten (sorry, Joanna!); she wouldn't sleep, we couldn't put her down, and she cried a lot. These days she is very fun, and I know that "Nana and Popo" will go crazy over watching her scootch around and discover new things.

My mom and I spent yesterday moving furniture around (I chose to do this, and my mom got drafted to help!). I guess I'm the type of person that can't handle her furniture in the same place all the time, even if it is a perfectly good arangement. We came up with a new arrangement that is a bit awkward, but I like it. It opens up our "great room" a bit and allows me to see the living room floor (where Joanna often is) from the kitchen. I think Joanna enjoyed discovering the new arrangement yesterday. Every time she turned around, something was new or different.

Joanna has started to pull up in her own unique way. She is really small, but quite strong. She can't actually reach the furniture around here, so she pulls up on other things like pillows, laundry baskets, my lap. Today she pulled up to a kneeling position on the laundry basket. She was doing really well until she let go to grab some laundry to chew on. She fell straight back, and it made her pretty sad.

Speaking of laundry, our dryer stopped drying today. The clothes will tumble around in it, but the heat is gone! It is very sad. My dryer is also my iron, so I'm really set back. I'm going to have to go dryer-begging before my trip (or I suppose I could pack dirty stuff and let my dad wash it...).

Well, I'm off to make some packing lists. I'm a little obsessive when it comes to packing, and I've never really packed for Joanna before!

It was really just a matter of time...

Given Joanna's scootching ability, her knack for putting things in her mouth, and my level of housekeeping inadequacy, it was bound to happen sooner or later. She ate a bug, or part of a bug. I recovered what looks like a tiny pincher from her mouth. Keep in mind the picture is like 25 times bigger than the actual thing.The rest of the insect...who knows...ew.

Oh and Gran was on duty at the time, just FYI. :)

First Tooth!

Joanna was chewing on my fingers just a little while ago, and I felt it: her first tooth! It is her lower front left tooth. It has a very nice texture, but so far has been impossible to capture on camera. Joanna is also exactly 8 months old today, and I will be posting some pictures of her cute self, so you can just imagine the little tooth in there. I haven't actually taken these "8 month" pictures yet, so here are some recent shots that I haven't posted to hold you over:

Sitting up so well at Aunt Mindy's house.

Shopping at Walmart -- notice how the belt comes under her armits.

Such sweet feet!

Playing with Daddy. (not pictured: Daddy making Elephant noises)

Okay, now we've taken "8 month pictures," and here are a few!

Swimming!

Yes, I know it's October. But Joanna and I wanted to swim, and Aunt Mindy invited us over to swim in her pool. The water was a little cold, but except for when I dunked her, Joanna enjoyed every minute. In the few weeks since we went swimming last, she really has developed a lot, and I can definitely see why you have to keep your hands on a baby absolutely constantly near/in the water. They have NO FEAR. So here are a bunch of pictures Mindy took. Enjoy!
Is my child photogenic, or what?


We put her on this float, and she enjoyed playing on her tummy in the water. She was pretty good at grabbing this ball when if fell off into the water.


"Mmm...This pool water is yummy."


Of course, Mr. Giraffe had to come to the pool, too.


Rescuing the giraffe.


So tired...


Mommy and Joanna.


Out of the water and drying off.

Thank you Aunt Mindy! We had so much fun!

Getting in to things and playgroup

Joanna was scootching before, but now she is really on the move. She has gotten really fast at propelling herself around on the floor. I'm actually having to keep the entire floor clean, not just a 6X6 area. Bummer.

Joanna thought it would be fun to climb around in the laundry basket the other day. She got a little stuck and uncomfortable after a minute but she had fun for a while.

We had playgroup today, and Joanna had lots of fun! She took a fantastic morning nap, so she was very happy to play. At one point she scootched under the coffee table and explored under there for a while. Anna crawled under and "borrowed" Joanna's giraffe, so Joanna went after it. It was pretty cute. "Um, excuse me, could I have that back please?" "So, what can I give you for the giraffe? It is really yummy, and I like to chew on it. How about a dead leaf?"

I didn't think Joanna had enough hair for one of those clippy bows, but here she is wearing one of Anna's! I'm not sure it would stay in for more than a few minutes, but...

Here she is getting percussion lessons from Miss Lisa. I think she has a strong natural talent. Right.

Here is a video I took this afternoon of my scootcher. You will see a few fun tricks in it: scootching, push-ups, and full body excitement. Enjoy.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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.