Josie at 9 months

Still can't kick this thing...I have many more pictures to post when I'm feeling better, but wanted to get these up before you thought I'd lost my camera.

Josie turned 9 months last Thursday. This happened to coincide with the day I took a nap, went to a work meeting, came home and went to bed--at 5pm. But I can tell you all about the days before and after.

Immediately before, she and Eddie got their first bath together. Being brother/sister, I have no idea how long this will last, but it sure is nice to plop them both in. They seem to have a good time and she doesn't fuss when Eddie dumps bathwater on her head the way she fusses for her dad.

She is starting to take chunkier pieces of foods and in the last week converted to a cheerios baby, so I can stop buying those Gerber puff things and the teething biscuits. She LOVES cheerios--also nice cause they are a lot cheaper and easier to find.

We are more regularly getting her to sleep by herself (course she's been sick a lot lately, so not so much in the last 2 weeks). CIO is not nearly as bad with her, to be sure. She actually eventually winds down. Can't remember if I posted this, but she can climb stairs and anything that resembles a stair (like the plastic garage that sits under her brother's easel). I walked in the living room last week to find her standing ON the garage, leaning against the easel, grabbing one of Ed's magnetic (mag-it, as Ed would say) letters. Lovely.

Oh oh, did I mention she popped her first tooth. Food wise she'd tried mashed potatos (with regular milk) and seemed to do okay, so this bodes well for the transition to dairy at one-year. Cookie got us to buy a baby food mill, something we didn't bother with Eddie, but then we weren't trying to get food quickly on the table for 2 at that point. It's a great gizmo. No batteries or plugs and it grinds things up great. Nice for small quick meals--not major batches of food.

She is beginning to be pushier with her brother, which we like, she weasels herself in and he will ocassionally shove her back. Den and I can't wait for the day she shoves him back. Course then that will open a whole other set of battles, but then we won't have to be her defenders.

So for Christmas we opted for the table top, 4 foot tree with completely kid-safe ornaments. Good thing too, because Josie used the stool to prop herself next to the tree and grab an ornament---and then Ed knocked the whole thing over.

Ed has pretty much given up his nap and we are desparately trying to instill a quiet time in the afternoon when his sister is napping. Isn't working well w/o waking her...

We are starting to try and get Ed to 'help' as a way to diffuse him and make him feel good. Two nights ago he started setting the table for dinner. He has a good time, and is learning to order in which to place the utensils and to put out a napkin too. Manages to occupy a lot of his time at a point Den and I are both scurrying around--so while J-Lo downs the cheerios, Ed runs between the dining room and kitchen with knives, forks and other safe items.

Also, at g'parents Ohio, their light switches are apparently lower than ours. This provided endless entertainment for him and periods of surprise darkness for us. Back home, he saddles up a stool to the light switch, stretches as far as he can on tip-toes and ususally just barely reaches the switch. It's pretty cute. Ed can also open the childproofed basement door. It worked for just about a year, but he got to the point where he was watching the adults intently and just figured it out on his own. Fortunately he is good about keeping it closed.

Am sure there is more...pictures to come hopefully in the next couple weeks. I have 2 night meetings this week and 2 next week, so we'll see how it all goes as I try to beat down this illness.