Had a great weekend visiting Grammy & Grandpa again at the lake. Josie had her first boat ride and parade and a tasty dinner at a favorite local restaurant. It's so fun to have people who sit near us them marvel at her table manners. (okay, not her manners, exactly, but since they undoubtedly sat down thinking, "Darn it! Right next to a baby!" Her relatively quiet concentration on eating must be a happy surprise : )
Pictures to come ... but in the meantime, here are a few more of Josie's favorite things to do:
- Eat (we've established this, so I won't keep mentioning it). Apparently "mmmmmm" will be Josie's first word.
- Feed baby or teddy bears (and one time even the cat, although the spoon didn't end up even close to MacKenzie's mouth ...)
- Arrange baby or teddy bear in a basket or box. She's very fussy about this, and will spend 15 minutes arranging and rearranging their position until she finally hits the wall of frustration. This weekend Grammy figured out that what she REALLY wants is for them to sit upright, not lay down ...
- Hug, pat or jump on Minnie Mouse, Froggy, Cat in the Hat and other big stuffed toys or pillows. Again, MacKenzie's a bit harder to nail down for this ...
- Read books (Favorites are still "Bear Wants More" and "Moo, Baa, La la la." But she loves anything with a flap to lift or babies or objects that we name over and over. She also has a little photo album with all her family members that I brought to Kazakhstan on our last visit. It's a big hit, and she points to everyone.
- Play peek-a-boo or hide-and-seek. The hiding is now just as much fun as the "jump out and laugh loudly" part.
- Put on ... take off ... put on ... take off ... on ... take off ... the shoes. Josie says, "Velcro rocks!"
and finally ...
- What I fondly call "Getting Mommy's Goat." This is a game where Josie does something she knows Mama doesn't want her to do and then laughs or grins devilishly as Mama reacts predictably (and loudly).
The photos at the top of this post are a perfect example of "Getting Mommy's Goat." Although they're totally faked in Photoshop (you know I didn't catch this in camera. Mayfly photos courtesy freenaturepictures.com)
Playing outdoors typically ends with Mama issuing the ultimatum "If you put one more thing (rock, leaf, twig, stick, piece of bark) in your mouth, we're going inside."
Saturday she did one better - a nice, juicy bug. (Mayflies everywhere, dead, half-dead, mostly alive). I didn't have the camera up, nor did I issue the ultimatum. I ran toward her, squealing like a girly-girl.
Grammy yanked the disgusting thing out and threw it in the grass. Eeeeuuuww, but okay - bug gone. Until I said, "I think you missed something." and she turned to see my little pink princess with one remaining Mayfly wing hanging delicately from her lips.
Mmmmm.
