Peek-A-Boo Belly Laughing

Josephine has started laughing a lot more lately. She doesn't do the belly laughs very often, but it is the cutest sound that I have ever heard. It is infectious and I can't stop laughing when she gets started. We end up laughing at each other and I end up laughing so hard I am crying.

Sick Baby

Let me recap the second half of our week for everyone that has not already heard...After a full day of unstoppable, inconsolable crying on Thursday we ended up taking Josephine to the ER around 930 that night. Finally around 1200am she was diagnosed with more ear infections. She had just finished antibiotics on Monday from her last round of ear infections. She was poked and stuck with needles, she got antibiotic shots along with some blood work and ear drops. This is the short version of the story as 5.5 hours in the ER brought us a ton of adventure. We saw our regular pediatricians on Friday and they gave her another shot and prescribed more oral antibiotics. We will go back on the 28th to make sure that they are gone for good this time. They told us, 1 more infection and she will have to get tubes. At this point, I'm all for it...just to save her the misery.
As of today she is almost 100% back to her normal happy self. We spent the day with some of my family at a cook-out. She got a ton of attention and seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

She did it!

Tonight Josephine crawled! Well it was close enough to count in my book. Everyone was so sure that she was going to go straight to walking and skip this stage (including us). She is already pulling herself up and slowly cruising along furniture, so we still think that she will be an early walker. Doesn't surprise us as she is determined to do everything ahead of schedule.

Happy Easter!

Is this not the cutest Easter Bunny you have ever seen?

Our friend Linda B. gave us this jacket from a friend of hers that had a little girl about a year before Joey. I held onto it until it fit and for the perfect occasion and would you believe the stars aligned on this one. Had Easter been a month later the jacket would not have fit! She has the talk of the church, everyone had to come by and say hi to her...and those of you who know her - know that she loved every minute being the center of attention. We had a nice Easter out at Gigi's house and dinner at Grammie's.

Steve stayed home recovering from his sinus surgery all weekend and I'm sure not having to get up during the night helped his recovery a bit. I think he is feeling much better, but is looking forward to the follow up appointment on Friday when I think that he gets the "green light" to blow his nose. I know it sounds silly, but try being congested and not blowing your nose for 10 days...harder than you think!

Happy Baby!

What a cute picture! This was taken when she was staying with Gigi and Grammie while we were in Florida last month. There are quite a few good pictures from that time...thanks to Gigi who gave them to me on disk (now if I could only get the rest of them).
Josephine has been talking up a storm, it starts when she wakes in the morning and goes all day. Most common is Dada, and lots of other "ah" words...but not Mama. She said it once and repeated it all day and then never again...so glad that I got it on video that day!
No signs of crawling yet and we are still not sure if she ever will. She goes from laying to sitting to pulling herself up to standing and then tries to cruise along. She is not very comfortable cruising unless she has at least one hand on a person...then she is okay to go, both hands holding yours and she is pulling you along - she wants to go for a walk.
Her latest thing is standing up in the crib when she wakes in the middle of the night. She used to lay there and cry a little...now she stands up at the end of the crib closest to the door and cries. Gosh the things they learn and so quickly too!
We are moving into more solid foods too. She is very interesting in picking up food and feeding herself, hands of course. We do just a few purees now and soon will start the proteins. She is a carb lover like her mama...crackers, bread, cereal, pasta.
She is about 90-95% bottle/formula fed now too. I have continued to nurse her morning and night...I say that it is for the health benefits (and it is) but I also selfishly don't want to break the bond with her.
Last week she got yet another cold and dual ear infections again! She is on antibiotics again and was only fussy for a few days and now seems to be coming back to her normal self.
Grammie was down twice this week as I had a work thing on Tuesday and Steve is having sinus surgery today. It is nice to have the extra set of hands around. I think that all mothers should have a wife to help them out...cause playing the role of both can be exhausting at times and add to the mix that I actually work while I am at home too and I really think that I should start collecting an additional salary (will work for massages and jewelery). Anyway, Grammie was quick to get Joey in the middle of the night when she awoke (maybe too quick) but who am I to turn away a few extra minutes of sleep?

Here are some other recent pictures of her:

Sunday's Best...it is the whole outfit that makes it so great!

Surpised!

My new thing is to stand up in my crib and cry for Mama or Dada.