Quite honestly, we don’t need to go to the zoo to show Josie some lazy sleeping cats. But we went and had fun looking at the various animals. She managed not to fall asleep right before we saw the coolest animals which was her normal habit last year at zoos.

Her favorite was definitely the black bears. She went right up to the glass and kissed the bear through the glass and then followed it back and forth as it walked. The bear had done some fun rubbing in the mud and on the glass so the picture isn’t the best.

Josie has a new fascination with putting things ‘in’ other things and taking them out. See a short example of the fun with broccoli and her water cup.

A week or two ago Josie tried grapes and somehow she is compelled to try them again and again with always the same reaction.

Since Josie now has 6 teeth, I thought perhaps we should start getting her used to the idea of brushing them. So I bought her a tooth brush and tooth paste (toddlers swallowable style). One thing confused me for sure though which was that they had strawberry-banana toothpaste for 6 month olds. For those not up on current food allergy advice, berries are not recommended until after a year. I looked at the ingredients and it only said ‘natural flavors’, so I had to assume it had some kind of strawberry something in it and put it back. It’s amazing how much stuff they sell that doctors say you shouldn’t use. (I had other nicer photos of her using the tooth brush, but this was the funniest)

Josie and her toothbrush

Go check out my dad’s blog for a cute video of Josie pushing her stroller.

Through some miracle, our daughter seems to have a daylight savings time implant in her. Because her bedtime/get up time has been about 7pm and 6am. We hit DST and she continues to wake up at 6am, while going to bed now at 8pm. I got smart today and just put her to bed at 7pm and she went to sleep, but seriously how did she know?

Kaya of the toys

This is what our living room looks like at the end of the day.

Not sure? Look closer

Ok maybe stuffed animal could describe multiple things, but only one is made out of cotton.

Sometime between Feb 28th and March 1st Josie turned 10 months old. It’s been a quiet second half of the month here on the blog because I got very sick (103 fever for several days) and had a fun time on a couple of antibiotics. My colds finally turned into something that really required medicine. Thankfully Josie and Jordi stayed relatively healthy throughout my incapacitation.

Josie is adorable and amuses everyone around her but gets herself into trouble in no time! We have to constantly run around after her to make sure that she isn’t sticking her fingers into outlets or breaking other people’s stuff. (sorry Linda about those plates) At home it’s not too bad, but when we’re out it’s a challenge to keep her having fun with safe activities.

She really loves books now and will bring them to you and insist that you read them again and again. She also likes to have Jordi and I take turns reading each page, carrying the book back and forth between us. She is fascinated with her book that has flaps to lift up and is mostly careful enough not to destroy it.

She loves the cats and waves hello to all cats, live or pictured in a photo or drawing. She even saw one on a picture in my midwife’s office and waved repeatedly. I sometimes move Ezzy’s paw while she sleeps so she can ‘wave’ back at Josie. She also continues to kiss them and other kids. Socially she does not play well with others (which is developmentally appropriate) and regularly just takes other kids’ toys despite being much smaller than them.

She’s eating more real food frequently now and loves her O’s cereal. She snacks on it in between meals and I think she’d live on that and avocados if I let her.

Her latest new habit is walking up to various other moms we’re hanging out with and demanding to be picked up. I learned today from someone that this can be called ‘mom shopping’. It is not popular with the children of these other moms but it gives me a nice break sometimes!

This month her ability to communicate has really exploded, although not with real words yet. She can point and grunt at objects and makes it (mostly) clear what she wants. She requests regular tours of the objects on the wall and ceilings. She is doing better at using sign language signs to mean what they really mean, rather than signing ‘milk’ to mean everything. She also now recognizes songs like BINGO and “if you’re happy and you know it…” and starts to clap in anticipation of the clapping sections!

• Size/weight: size 12 month; 28.5 inches tall and 16 1/2 lbs (approx, no actual measurements lately)
• Favorite food: breastmilk, avocado, organic cheerios
• Favorite toy: toy stroller, dump truck
• Favorite book: ‘lift the flap’ animals, blue hat green hat
• Favorite activity: pick things up (she tried to pick up Fred, it didn’t work), play fetch, play hide and seek
• Sleeping: bedtime ~7:00; one short one long nap; gets up 6am
• New skill: clapping and making a sound; pointing and asking for things; much neater eater; putting objects ‘in’ things
• Teeth: 6  three on the top and bottom
• Vocalizations: constant ‘talking’, can approximate the word ‘book’ and ‘ball’

Josie in the bath