Just One Picture

I don't have time for a real post--but here's just one picture of the little guy!

So What's Josiah Been Up To?

Ah, that you may well ask!

I've taken few pictures in January, so I have still fewer good pictures from January. I'll try to make up for it in this last week of the month (and the last week before Josiah turns 9 months old!). But I can't make any promises. Still, here are a few low-quality pictures to give you a glimpse of Josiah in January:

We met up with Jeremy's aunt and uncle, Linda and Rich, and their girls, Josie and Lydia. Josiah loved playing at the train park with the girls. Daddy took him up on the roof of the General Store at the wild west playground--here you can see him looking down. He loves other kids, so he enjoyed calling to and yelling at Josie and Lydia as they ran around. He squirmed in my arms till I put him down and let him play in the sand, too. And he rode his Christmas bike from Uncle James and Auntie Em (he loves that thing!). After working up an appetite, we went across the road for food and frozen yogurt with the Wieses. We're glad they made the trip down from Alaska for warm weather here in Phoenix! Hopefully next year we can meet up again.

Meanwhile, at home Josiah cruises around the couches, climbs under the coffee table, sinks his teeth into wood furniture when we're not looking, knocks down block towers, bangs on the piano, rides his bike, gets into kitchen cupboards and drawers, rips up paper when he has the chance, and occasionally sits for a read-through of Baby Animals.

Oh, and sometimes he rides his rocking horse bareback and naked. The picture belies the fact that he was pretty thrilled with the ride. He kicks his feet as if spurring the horse on when Daddy rocks it too gently.

Josiah now has four teeth (the two top and bottom incisors). He said his first word a couple weeks ago--"moon." He says "mama" somewhat coherently when he wants me, and yesterday he repeated "dada" after me when I said, "Let's go find Dada!" He makes a barking noise when he hears a dog or when we ask, "What does the doggie say?" (He loves dogs!) A true outdoorsman, Josiah loves to spend hours playing with rocks, picking weeds and grass, exploring the yard, riding his bike down the driveway (and off-road into the grass), visiting the neighbor's dog, and going for rides around the neighborhood on the back of Mama's bike. Saturday he even took a plunge in the fish pond. He reportedly found that pretty scary, though, and cried hard when Daddy pulled him out. But he seems to have no recollection of the incident or fear of the pond or water afterwards.

He's still our social boy and loves attention from people. Grandma and Grandpa Neuman visited this past weekend--Grandma played outside with him and even downloaded an animal noises app on her iPhone for Josiah's enjoyment. Josiah was fascinated but a bit nervous about the strange sounds coming from the phone. At church he loves to see the other kids. We sat next to a family with a couple boys this past Sunday, and Josiah constantly leaned over to attract the four-year-old's attention. He loves to babble, growl, and make high-pitched screams during the service, too, which necessitates a quick escape to the nursery or mother's room once the singing is over. (Yes, we usually sit in the back these days!)

Christmastime Photoshoot

Most of my family (minus Andrew and Lisa) flew in the week before Christmas, and we arranged with one of Jeremy's co-workers to do a family photoshoot. We went to the same park at which we had Josiah's newborn pictures taken--but the December day was cold and cloudy, compared to our balmy May day seven months before!

Despite delays because of rain (seldom a problem in Phoenix!), we managed to get to the park and take pictures. Here are some highlights . . . 

Pre-Christmas Antics

Whew--I'm way behind with this blog! Don't worry, I won't try to catch up with individual posts for all the missed days (or even weeks). Here's a peek into Josiah's life before Christmas--and before the relatives descended for the holidays.

We spent an evening with Josiah's friend Paxton (two weeks younger than Josiah). Unfortunately, Josiah's exuberant excitement at having another little guy to play with was a bit overwhelming for Paxton. He'd burst into tears whenever Josiah squealed, growled, or got too close. Poor Josiah was confused and concerned, until he decided he might as well enjoy himself without Paxton, and got on with his playing. Paxton liked this arrangement better, too--he appreciated the distance from our little monster boy.

Josiah and the wonders of static electricity . . .

Early in December Josiah pulled up in his crib for the first time. This is an early shot of the new skill.

Josiah crawled efficiently by early December, and with his locomotion he discovered new destinations. I found him underneath the coffee table chewing on books. Since then he's learned that Mama says "no-no" about books under the coffee table. That red road map atlas is still especially enticing, though.

We took Josiah to the wilds of the Kaibab Forest outside the Grand Canyon to find his first Christmas tree. Here we are decorating it together. He liked sucking on the ornaments, but his favorite part about the tree was the lights and pretty ribbon. He did quickly discover that Christmas trees are poky! This didn't deter him too much, though: for a while his pre-bedtime ritual included a cautious stroking of the needles and an attempted grab at the lights.