Weekdays with Mama

More November pictures! We haven't had many "normal" days with just the two of us (Josiah and Mama) lately with our travels and time with relatives, and we're enjoying the break from everyday life. But we love our time together, too! Here's a glimpse at what we do . . .

Playing with tags is always fun:

Josiah has discovered the joy of boxes!

Josiah's Pastimes

I've neglected this little blog terribly. My apologies to the few of you who check it regularly! I have handfuls of posts (and piles of pictures) to put up about our December adventures, but meanwhile, here's a few from November of our little guy. He loves watching our fish and playing with all sorts of things--usually things like baby monitors and measuring spoons that aren't in his normal repertoire of toys.

Sippy Cup

Josiah has learned to use a sippy cup pretty effectively. At first he let us tip it up to give him water, and he'd just chew on it when he held it. Now he wants to do everything by himself. He grabs that cup as soon as we offer it and whips it up to his mouth. He still chews (he broke two teeth this past week!), but he also tips it and sucks to get the water out--as evidenced by his wet shirt front when he's done.

Waking up with Daddy

Josiah is his daddy's boy when it comes to waking up in the morning. He loves to cuddle and sleep in, and Daddy encourages it when Mama has to teach her early classes. Here are the boys one morning . . .

Fun with the Baynes

Uncle Dave tried to give Josiah his first taste of ice cream, but thankfully Mama and Aunt Barb stopped him just before the crime was committed. Josiah's sugar-free tastebuds have been preserved--for the time being.

Here's Josiah dressed in the overalls Aunt Barb got him. I love the flannel and overalls look--and it's perfect for this cold Phoenix weather we've been having the last few weeks!

We went hiking on Piestewa Peak with the Baynes. Josiah tested out his new ride--the hiking backpack Auntie Em and Uncle James got us last Christmas, before we even knew Josiah would be an avid outdoorsman!

A Digression in the Interest of Butternut Squash

Well, we're back in October, folks. Sorry, these pictures skipped my memory when I wrote the October catch-up post, and they were just too good not to share. Here's our little guy on the glorious day he first tasted butternut squash. He's grown to love it dearly. Appears it's good for the skin as well as the belly and soul . . . .

He's a Mover and a Shaker

Desert Botanical Garden

The Baynes came to visit in early November. We enjoyed a low-key week with them just spending time together. The weather was beautiful, and they helped us work on some projects around the house and yard--for which we were very grateful! On the Saturday they were here we all trekked to the Desert Botanical Garden. 

Yes, the Garden has huge, scary, wooden bugs throughout . . . 

Josiah had the time of his life! He loved being outdoors with lots of new plants and people to see.

I just had to include a few pictures of the cacti and landscape. This one is called "Old Man of the Andes"--and you can see why!

Quail!

We also went through the Monarch butterfly exhibit. The day was a bit too chilly for the butterflies, though, so most of them camped out in droves on the netting rather than fly around.

A Joshua Tree!

All the walking tired our little guy out.