Halloween

Josie is 21 Months

Josie is walking all of the time now. She is getting faster every day. She is still wobbly and falls often, but we see improvement all the time. We are so proud of her!

Josie has started to become interested in climbing onto the couch. We have a stool that we put next to the couch so she can step on it and climb up. She looks so proud of her self whenever she gets up there. It's funny to see her snuggled up against blankets and pillows on the couch next to her sister or Joe.

Speech is going okay for Josie. She continues to add words to her vocabulary. She still doesn't talk very much, but does surprise us with different words from time to time. We are still waiting for the 'speech explosion' to happen. I've been told that it is common for kids who are working on multiple skills (like Josie working on speech and gross motor skills) to focus more on one skill than on both. This seems to be the case for Josie. She is making a lot more progress with PT than speech. She still has work to do with PT, but not as much as with speech. She is working hard in both areas though (and not usually enjoying it) and we are proud of her. 

Josie with her speech and PT therapists. She likes them even though they make her work. 

Ever since Josie started talking and babbling, Sophie has wanted to hear her say her name. Of course with Josie's speech issues this hasn't really happened. One night after everyone had gone to bed Josie was fussy. I brought her downstairs to get a drink. I went to go get her milk and left her in the living room. I heard her saying "eeeeeee." I looked at her and she was staring at and reaching for a picture of Sophie, all while repeating "eeeee." So even though 'Sophie' is hard for her to say she still has a way of saying her name. It is really cute. Eee for Sophie!

There was a bad stomach bug that had been going around this month. Poor Josie ended up getting it (she has the worst luck when it comes to bugs and illnesses). It lasted for a few days and ended up giving her a horrible diaper rash. 

Josie has started crying when I leave her at Janice's in the morning. She has never really had separation anxiety when I leave her there. I don't know if it is because she has been sick or what. It breaks my heart though. I already have a hard time leaving the girls, so seeing her cry for me is horrible. Janice says that she stops crying soon after I leave, which is a relief. I just hate seeing my baby so upset.    

We did two of our traditional fall activities this month: Boo Fest at Kinman Farms and Treat and Eat night at my school. We had a great time at the farm. We walked around, fed the animals, rode in the barrel ride, went through the corn maze, and took a hay ride to go pick some pumpkins. Josie helped pick out a nice one! We had a really nice time. 

Josie wasn't that interested in Treat and Eat night. We spent some time in my classroom waiting for the event to get started. When the even started, we went downstairs to join in the fun. She seemed okay at first (besides wanting nothing to do with her headband), but started getting upset after about 45 minutes. There were so many people there (I think she has a little social anxiety like her momma).

Here are some more pictures from the month:

A glimpse of teenage Josie.

Josie loves when I play music on my phone. She gets a huge grin and walks over to it. She also enjoys grabbing the phone and putting it up to her ear so she can hear the music better. 

Those big, beautiful eyes!

These two love each other so much. 

Grandma Linda is a great grandma. She always helps us out when needed and loves Sophie and Josie so much. She has been super helpful with Josie's PT and speech appointments. She watches the girls at our house during those days and helps with scheduling future appointments. We couldn't do this all without her!

Now that Josie can walk around, she loves the park even more. 

Pacifiers are basically toys now. Her favorite thing to do is to put them completely in her mouth, which freaks out people who aren't used to it. 

Sophie used to always say that she was daddy's girl and Josie was mommy's girl. I usually was the one to put Josie to bed. This month though, Josie has wanted her dad more than me! She would reach for him at bed time and gave lots of belly laughs and snuggles. 

Joe had a day off of work so he took the girls to Totter's Otterville. There was barely anyone there and they had the ball pit all to themselves. They were in heaven!

Josie's lion lovey is one of her favorite possessions. She sleeps with it every night. She gets so excited whenever she sees it and will rub it all over her face. 

When Josie gets really tired, she will rub her eyes. She will do this with her hands, her lovey, or her pacifier. We know it is nap/bed time when she starts doing this. 

I had the bright idea to fill the girls' sandbox with beans so they could play in it throughout winter. I wasn't thinking about what a mess it would be. At least they girls like it. 

True sisters - playing together, fighting over things, and loving on each other. 

20 Months

There have been a lot of positive changes with Josie his month. She has been working so hard and we are extremely proud of her!

Josie's last tooth, her upper left canine, has burst through her gums. As with any time she's been teething she is been a little crabby. She is drooling all over the place and gnaws on anything and everything. She loves taking her pacifier and gnawing on the nipple right where the tooth is coming through. She has torn through a few pacis this way.

Josie's favorite things to do are play with her sister, look at books and pictures, play with balls, take baths and go outside.

Josie had her first sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house. We had a wedding to go to and we decided that it would be best if Josie did not go. She gets pretty tired around 8 o'clock and we knew that we would be out later than that. She also gets angry when we won't let her crawl around and it just isn't really possible at a wedding. So Joe, Sophie, and I went to the wedding while she slept over at grandma's. She was a great girl and they all had a good time. We missed her so much though. Sophie asked us multiple times when we were going to go pick her up and bring her back to the hotel. 

Josie is walking so much now! I would say that she is walking about 80% of the time. She can walk across the room without falling depending on if she's taking her time or not. If she speeds she usually will fall over, but she's been getting so much better now.

Even though Josie is walking a lot now she will still crawl if she is at a new place or if there's something she really wants. It seems like that is just the fastest and easiest way for her to do something, which is understandable. She is so fast when she crawls though! I have to really watch her when we are out in the front yard because she will quickly crawl up the driveway and try to go out to the street. So scary! 

Josie is now able to go from a sitting position to a standing one. She is also getting really good about going from a crawl to standing and walking. 

Yesterday I watched Josie walking to a ball on the floor she kicked it, continued walking to it, and kicked it again and again. She has done this a few times before and it is so cute to watch. Watch her end up being a soccer star one day despite the walking issues she's had. 

Since Josie doesn't often let me put her hair up, her bangs often hang into her eyes. I asked Joe's sister, Sara, if she would give Josie her first trim. She only cut the bangs, but it looks so much better! 

Josie still isn't talking much. She has added a few words to her vocabulary but still doesn't use them all the time nor does she always use them correctly. Her two favorite words at the moment are ball and hooray. Any time we mention a ball or show her a ball her face lights up and she excitedly exclaims 'ball!' It is so sweet. She enjoys the song 'If You're Happy and You Know It'. She not only will clap hands but will shout hurray and throw her arms in the air. She's like a little cheerleader.

Josie is pointing with her pointer finger a lot more now. That was something that she very rarely did and it worried me. I watched her do this multiple times this month point though. I am so proud of her!

Josie's speech and physical therapy has been going well. We really like her new speech lady and we are impressed with the ideas she has. One day she brought some pictures of different items for Josie to choose from when she wants something. I held up pictures of popcorn and Cheez-its one day and she pointed to the popcorn, so we had a popcorn snack. She was happy and I was happy that she was able to communicate what she wanted with me. 

Here are some more pictures from this month:

Josie loves being outside!

Josie happily chirps "ball" whenever she sees a ball. She gets so excited to kick or carry one around. 

We have been trying to get Josie interested in sign language. Each week we go to the library to pick up one or two different Signing Time DVDs. She loves watching them, but still only knows how to sign the word 'more.' Sophie loves watching them as well and has picked up quite a few signs. 

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes..."

Josie and her cousin, Jacob, are so darn cute together! Whenever we get together they gravitate towards each other. I hope they will be close friends growing up.

Sophie has been obsessed with putting hair into ponytails. She often puts her hair and mine into ponies. Josie has been her latest victim. Josie has been a pretty good sport about it. I'm a little jealous that she will let Sophie do her hair and not let me. 

Josie shrieks with delight when swinging. We try to go to the park multiple times a week so she can swing. 

We had to take Josie's car seat out of Joe's car this month. When we went to put it back in, we decided to go ahead and face her car seat forward. We know the recommendation is to wait until they are 2, but after weighing through the options we decided to do it early.  Josie loves facing forward, and Sophie loves that she can see Josie better.