Eating Leaves

I just finished giving Joanna her first taste of Broccoli. So far, she's not a big fan. She made a terrible "why are you are torturing me? what is this stuff?" face. It was kind of funny (is that mean?). I wasn't sure how the broccoli would puree; it's such a different consistency than the other fruits and veggies I've done. It's definitely thicker that sweet potatoes and squash, but it really is a beautiful dark green color. I'm hoping it will grow on Joanna. I'm also hoping it won't upset her tummy.
We decided as Matt was raking leaves this morning that it would be cute to take some pictures of Joanna by the leaves -- a nice fall shot. I sort of forgot to take into account that Joanna must put EVERYTHING in her mouth. Including dead leaves. Oh well, I think we got a couple of cute ones.Notice Matt's hand in several pictures going to retrieve the leaves from her mouth.

Yesterday evening Matt, Joanna, and I ate at Skeeters, just for fun. We brought Joanna's usual fare of veggies along, but I think she wanted a little meat: That is a tiny tooth-mark in my hand -- ouch! A little reminder to STOP putting my hands in/near her mouth.

Joanna loves to explore around our house these days. I try to keep things as "Joanna-proof" as I can so I don't have to redirect her, and she can be safe to play pretty much anywhere she can go. Normally I keep her closet door closed because there're all kinds of random things in there, but the other day I forgot and I heard the silence that only comes from children who have found something fabulous to play with. I was a little worried as I turned the corner in her room and realized she was in her closet, but she had only found the toys from her play mat that she hasn't seen in months. She was just becoming reaquainted with them. She is so cute! I will leave you with a shot of Joanna becoming aquainted with a new toy.

Pulling Up!

Or really wanting to, anyway. We went over to Mamma and Pop's house on Sunday evening to hang out. Joanna enjoyed exploring all over their house, and she discovered that they have TWO stairs in a row. Having mastered ONE stair, she decided to give two a try. I must say she gave a valiant effort!

But she never made it to the second step. She LOVES "standing up," though. She pulls up on everything around the house.

She's managed a very stable kneel and squat. She's even gotten into a sitting position. I'm pretty impressed. No longer limited to the belly crawl, this girl. She makes me a little nervous because she looks so wobbley, but she really seems pretty sure of herself. Or maybe that's just the total abandon of fear glinting in her eye. Maybe I should look into a tiny helmet and some knee pads. :)

Also, back when Joanna was 6 months old, we got her hand and foot impresstions made. There's a lady in town who does a beautiful job! We just got Joanna's back a few days ago.

So precious!

More from Oklahoma

Joanna and I are safe and sound back at home, but we had many more adventures after the last post. So...

On Sunday, Kathryn and I did a little investigating into our past. We were born in Oklahoma and grew up in a church that used to be in a building close to where Kathryn lives but is now out of town a little ways (it's huge!). Anyway, we've visited the new location a few times since we were kids, but I'd never been back to the old building. Why would I want to go there, you wonder? Well, back about 23 years ago, my mother painted a mural of Noah's Ark on the wall of the 2 yr old nursery room. I've thought of it many times and actually ran across an old picture of it last year. I wanted to see if it was still there and to take a picture of us in front of it for my mom. We found it! That section of the church is now a preschool during the week so it wasn't being used Sunday morning by the church that's there now. We couldn't move the furniture out from in front of it, but you get the idea...
After church on Sunday, we did some antiqueing (not totally sure how to spell that word) and stuff. Joanna was very good but very tired. Traveling combined with daylight savings was really taking its toll on her.
For lunch we grabbed Braums and ate at Kathryn's apt. Braums is my very very favorite place for ice cream in the universe. They have good burgers, too. So I had burgers, fries, and a MIX for lunch. A MIX is like a blizzard only about twenty-seven thousand times better. Yum.
Here's what happens when Popo and Auntie Kathryn take care of Joanna in the antique store. Yup. She sure liked that. Cute Joanna sitting on the table at Panera.
Sisters.
Packing for home. Joanna is such a big help!
Before we left I had to snap a picture of the "Joanna wall" at Nana and Popo's. Self-explanatory, I think.
Joanna and Daddy, reunited at last.

We had a FABULOUS trip, but are both glad to be back at home, sleeping in our own beds.

First flight and Oklahoma

I am sitting in my dad's house typing as we speak. Joanna is (hopefully) having a little more sleep this early morning. I'm off to check on her in a minute because I'm not totally sure I can hear her from here. Joanna's first airplane ride was fantastic! I spent Wednesday and Thursday being a little frazzled getting things together. I tend to stress about packing, and I wanted to make sure I had everything all planned out (as if that would help.) Matt dropped Joanna and me off at the airport around 6:40 Friday morning. We flew out of terminal B, which is smaller, and at that time there were no lines! A very nice check-in lady helped us check in and got my bag where it needed to go, then pointed us to security. I had Joanna in the carseat at the time, and I was also carrying the diaper bag and my computer bag. I ended up right in front of a lady I know in the security line (yea!) so she held Joanna as I put my shoes, belt, and laptop in a little tray thing on the conveyor belt and fed all of our bags through. Joanna and I didn't set off the metal detector, none of our bags were suspicious (yea, again!), and it was a short walk to the gate, so we ended up ready and waiting for our 8:30 flight at 7:00. Oh, well. Much better early than frantic. Here we are waiting for our plane. It was one of those teeny-tiny express jets with only 3 seats across the whole plane. Joanna and I had the best seat in the house: the bulkhead window seat, so there was lots of leg room. There was a nice lady sitting next to us who slept most of the flight. Joanna nursed for the first bit, looked around for the middle bit, and nursed again. Here she is looking out the window. After the flight, my dad met us at baggage claim and helped us out to the car. The whole thing was a very good experience!

We stopped by the hotel where my sister works to say hi, and to pick up a port-a-crib for Joanna to sleep in. Yea for sisters who work in hotels!

Joanna and Aunt Kathryn

Joanna spent most of yesterday exploring Nana and Popo's house and sleeping in the car. She took some pretty good car naps; she was whooped. We also went to Target and Barnes and Noble, two of my (and Joanna's) favorite places.

A new trick: steps are not a problem. She went up and down it for a while once she figured out how. Nana and Popo have a sunken living room, so there are a few spots to go up and down.

Still sleeping after a car ride

Meeting the dogs The big dog is Matilda, and she's crazy about Joanna. She spends her time guarding her while she plays. There is also a little dog, Missy, and she worries a little if Joanna tries to play with her toys. But there have been no problems so far.

Well, Joanna's up. I think she didn't go back to sleep when I layed her down earlier, but she had a very good night in a strange place. I'm very proud -- what a good girl!

The Many Adventures of Joanna the Giraffe

As soon as I saw this costume, I knew that Joanna simply must dress up as a giraffe. You see, her very favorite toys are the plastic giraffes from Noah's Ark. She loves to hold them and wave them and chew on them. Now, here she is as a giraffe herself.

Mommy and her little giraffe.

Did you know that giraffes have to ride in carseats, too?

We went up to the church Wednesday afternoon to show her off to the staff. She hammed it up by waving and scootching and being so cute.

We went over to Mamma and Pop's that evening with our little giraffe to have some yummy chinese food and watch the trick-or-treaters. And, of course, we had to show off our cute Joanna!

Mamma and the giraffe.

Joanna is such a good scootcher that even the giraffe doesn't hold her back!

Watching Wheel of Fortune having shed the giraffe. Joanna is a very good puzzle solver. I think she's chewing on her sock here. She really loves chewing on her socks. I guess that's kind of weird, except I think she just loves having a tiny piece of fabric to carry around with her to chew on.

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. :)