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.

Our Big Backyard

[This was supposed to have posted some time ago--I'm not sure what went wrong! But here it is.]

I might have mentioned that Josiah loves being outside. We bought a cheap vinyl tablecloth for him to sit on in the backyard while we catch up on various yard projects. For a little while the crinkly sound of the tablecloth amused him, and he'd move his legs back and forth to hear the noise. And he liked gnawing on his new chew toy. But then he remembered the grass--yes, the ever-enthralling, enticing grass. So the tablecloth came up quick as he could grab it, and he snatched at that grass. You can see the scene unfold in pictures below . . .

On the Move

Towards the end of October, Josiah took leaps and bounds (well, figuratively)--and falls (literally)--toward mobility. He got up on his hands and knees and rocked back and forth, and soon he learned to lunge forward from that position to reach his goal. He still made use of the inch-worm technique, though he consistently kept his head up while scooting forward instead of ploughing it into the floor like he used to.

Here he is reaching for a stuffed moon off the bouncy seat we've borrowed from friends. (I'm not sure where that moon when since! I'll have to scour under boxes and bed in the office to find it before we return the bouncy seat, which Josiah doesn't use any longer.)

And then he goes for the books and papers . . .

Crawl position!

Whoopsie daisy!

I just thought this picture below was funny, though it has nothing to do with his ability to move.

That pacifier makes a good chew toy!

Moving again . . .

Headed toward the camera!

Splish Splash, Taking a Bath!

And . . . Josiah still loves the bath! He's learned to hit the water to make bubbles (and inadvertently splash water up his nose, which surprises him every time), which he likes to try to catch. He plays with his toes, pulls up on the side, tries to grab the faucet . . . in general he keeps us busy during bathtime. But he's so much fun to watch!

Applesauce!

We started Josiah on solids right around his half-birthday. Jeremy actually gave him a taste of applesauce the weekend before the Thursday celebration of his six months of life. But we started the applesauce in earnest after the big day. A few weeks earlier, we canned a bunch of organic Gala apples that Sprouts had on sale. So I broke into one of those to begin Josiah's foray into big people food. We found Josiah preferred applesauce pureed as opposed to the nice, textured stuff we like. So into the blender it went . . . and he still made awful faces at it!

You'd think I was torturing him!

 

Here he's looking a little happier about the prospect of food. His monkey bib was a fun novelty for a while. Now he just cries when we put it on him--not because he hates food, but because he hates constriction around the neck (and anywhere else). 

 

Since the applesauce venture, we've also given Josiah butternut squash, avocado (the only thing he consistently seems to dislike), sweet potato, cantaloupe, banana (he loves it!), and green beans. I plan to grind up some oats or rice in our grain mill soon and try my hand at homemade baby cereal.

October Catch-up

Whew--we're already half way through November, and I haven't posted a thing since October 30th! Our many recent visitors have made for lots of fun at the Neuman household but also resulted in neglect of the blog. So here's one catch-all (or most) post for more October pictures. 

Here's our sweetie with his trademark exuberant smile!

Saying "ooo."

My friend Kara came to visit! As you can see, we were excited to see her. She spent last year in Ireland, and she just moved to Colorado. I'm glad Arizona borders Colorado--even if the states are so big out here that it would take at least 10 hours to drive to her town! But Carbondale is closer than Skerries, Ireland.

 

No, we don't normally dress Josiah just in his wool "shorties." But for some reason that's what he had on when we decided to take family pictures with Kara.

Mama's boy!

 

He loved Kara!

 

Josiah now likes his pacifier! But he doesn't really use it as intended. Instead, he alternates sucking and biting on it, mostly using it as a chew toy. I just thought he looked pretty funny snuggled up to Daddy and biting on that plug.

 

He's pretty intense about it!

 

Our happy six-month-old! It's hard to believe we've had him for half a year already. What fun he is!