7 Months Old!

Seven months came and went. I actually spent the two weeks before Josie's seven month birthday away from her, so I can only directly report on half of the month. The other half is hearsay. :)

7 months old is brought to you by the force and the letter T for teeth!

Jonathan and I used to muse about which of us would be the disciplinarian (me, obviously) and who would be the pushover softy (cough, Jonathan, cough) but having spent some time away from them whilst Jonathan is on a work trip, there are some truths coming to light. Namely, I was wrong.

Reviewing Josie's at-home sleeping patterns (a loose term), I observed she was taking a series of naps. We start with the 8:30 pm nap and move into the 12:45 am playtime followed by the 2:00 am nap. At 4:30 am it's dance time and this culminates with a nap around 6:30 am - and we start our day at 7:45 am in shambles totally well-rested!

Well, guess what? Under Jonathan's strict away from mom Los Angeles schedule, I was informed by FaceTime that little miss Jojo was sleeping through the night while mom was still on the series of naps schedule back in New Jersey by herself! I'm not a mathematician but I can see the denominator that is not common here. And, while I don't have photographic evidence of this, Josie is not only sleeping through the night but she is also able to re-pacify herself when it pops out.

Another parenting insight I've had recently is I've only ever raised dogs before. And plants. This is probably true, with some variation, for most new parents so it's not surprising that I see Josie's developments as tricks. Let's review a few more (outside of her sleeping trick, which is honestly the only one that matters).

Check out her Peek-a-boo trick! She not only wants to play peek-a-boo but she initiates it! It's super adorable.

Our next trick has me wondering if I am raising a child or training a seal. Somehow this made it on our YouTube channel too. Sigh. #parentsoftheyear

Josie had her first experience with athletics. I feel conflicted that she met a basketball before a soccer ball but I will not be a crazy dance mom let her make her own choices. Pictured below is Jonathan giving her the hard sell on basketball, Aunt Crystal giving her the hard sell on fun, and Jaimie encouraging Josie to kick the ball.

I might have failed to mention I joined big Jo and little jo in LA for my annual NADE conference, so the reader might be confused about why this blog is featuring a firsthand account of Jonathan's basketball program. The rest of this post is all about LA.

After an icky winter, all we want to do is play outside! Josie and Grandma had a blast playing in the backyard, where a very beautiful garden blooms. I'm actually outside as we speak (I write).

 More garden fun!

We joined Josie's Great Grandma for a lunch at the country club. It was so yummy and reminded us of when we visited for her 90th's birthday. My how things have changed!

 CAN YOU STAND THE CUTENESS OF THIS LITTLE BUG???

Josie also had her first formal experience with religion, which is actually ironic because the Unitarian church has a very informal perspective on the whole thing. She was actually pretty well-behaved until the minister mentioned Scalia. Josie let out an appropriate grunt at that moment.

Josie also had her first formal experience with the force, another kind of religion. We love our adorable LA friends!

Finally, mom and dad snuck in a little vacation with two of our favorite people, Russ and Santi. Note: I am strangling Jonathan because he made me go on Thunder Mountain, which I consider a "scary ride" because I am a wimp and proud of it.

We were treated to two rounds of these heavenly Mickey-shaped beignets, virgin Mint Juleps, and I might have chased down a family who has customized "Young Family" Disney shirts.  We rode all of the rides intended for toddlers and I BEAT JONATHAN IN THE BUZZ LIGHTYEAR GAME!!!!!! I feel extra good about this and may have gloated for the next three days slightly longer than I should have.

And we all lived...