Pics, pics, and more pics....

With Grandpa Fred in his office. He gave JoJo a computer keyboard to play with, and she loves to have it on her lap and press the buttons.

Two different "play pens." One is inside the baby / play room; the other, where she is standing while holding the side, is outside. Both are at Grandma's house.


Who needs fancy toys? An old pot and a wooden spoon have been her favorite toys the last few days!


Playing peek-a-boo with Hudson while sitting on Aunt Dorothy's lap.

I wasn't planning on this becoming a once-a-week blog. I need to just break out the camera and get shooting.

The sleeping "fun" has continued. She will sleep a long shift with me, twice this week up to 8 hours, then she'll refuse to go back to sleep without Sheryl. I am coming to love the 9 to midnight cuddle time, where she falls asleep on my chest on the couch or chaise, but my neck is not loving it. Shoulda got a Lazyboy like my sister recommended.

JoJo's obsession of late has been paper. No matter where she sees it - a book, a pic on the fridge - she wants it, and it goes straight to her mouth. She has even chosen paper over her toys of late.

A cute story: When I came home this Wednesday, Cedar propped JoJo by the door in her baby bop with a Valentine card that Cedar had "helped" JoJo make. It was so cute. She was smiling and waving it, and she was so excited to see me, she hadn't even eaten it yet! The card now sits on my desk at work.

JoJo had another busy day Friday with grandma and grandpa. She spent most of the day helping grandma at Crossroads Christian School; it wasn't grandma's day in the lunch room, so they helped at recess and visited with the cousins after school. Grandpa gave her a computer keyboard to play with, and she loves hitting the keys and pulling on the cord. Books and computers. It's enough to make a librarian proud!

Several people have asked lately about JoJo sitting up and getting teeth.

Here it is... drum roll please... official proof that JoJo can sit up on her own:






Also, while she was sucking on my finger today - something I don't normally let her do, but I was trying to calm her down after Zoe disturbed her nap - I felt the top of a tooth in the lower jaw! Fun, fun!

Last bit of news: After a week of sleeping 8 hours through the night, JoJo has decided that the only way she'll go back to sleep when she wakes up is if she gets breast fed, which has made for some interesting nights of late. She starts out with me, but ends up with Sheryl because she will not go back to sleep any other way.

After getting a lot of attention at Cedar's birthday party, JoJo slept all night Saturday night - at least until 5 AM, when she gave her absolutely-positively-must-have-a-bottle-right-now cry. Before I could get her one, Sheryl came rushing in to feed her. She didn't want the crying to wake up the girls who were sleeping in the living room.

Sunday we went to church, then grandmas, then Sue's house. We had a great time hanging out, watching the football game (she slept through most of the game, but I'm working on her for next year). On the drive home, daddy pushed his luck one too many times and finally got caught on E just north of the 205 bridge. Aunt Sue and Uncle Rob came to our rescue, but it didn't help, so they took JoJo to grandma's house while I waited for a tow. I was glad to get her off the freeway, and thankfully she slept through it all! (Turns out the car needed more than the 2 gallons we gave it; after that it was fine!)

One surprising anecdote: I've had nights where JoJo has slept with Sheryl, but not when she's been at grandma's without me. I am getting used to her being in the room, and I grabbed the baby blanket she had slept on the night before and held it while I slept. I called grandma late that night and got a report early in the morning about how she was doing; not that I worried about the care, but I missed her nonetheless.

Also for the first time, she actually preferred me to other people in the room. Often, she'll go to anyone who wants her, no problem, and she will choose Sheryl over me at home, especially when she's hungry, but Sunday with the first time she cried when Sue was holding her and only calmed down when I took her back. She likes me, she really, really likes me!

Next time, more pics, less talk.

I promised myself I wouldn't let this blog go so long between posts, but unfortunately it has.

We've had a few developments of late.

Daddy shaved his beard, which scared JoJo for a few days. If she didn't look at me she was OK because she recognized the voice: but when she looked at me, she would immediately look for Sheryl. I considered growing it back, but after the 5th day she seemed to have gotten used to it, so I didn't.

Johanna has started to sit up by herself. She lasted a minute or two the other day, and even lifted a leg to balance herself once when she was leaning, but complete balance is still a work in progress.

She also has taken to sleeping for longer periods of time, which is nice. I had her for 8 hours last night before she woke up. Funny thing was she did not wake up crying for a bottle like she usually does, she just started chattering good morning talk at 3:45. I tried balancing her in a sitting position on my chest, with a toy on her lap, while I closed my eyes to get more sleep, but it didn't work. After 15 minutes or so she cried for her bottle, then slept until 6. These nighttime experiences are new to me because I went for 3 months without her in the same room; c I do like taking care of her this way, and I seem to be adjusting to the sleep interruptions. Some days its the only time I see her because of work, Bible study, and other activities.

Another fun Hudson story: It's no secret that my nephews like pretend games with guns. Today Hudson led grandma and JoJo through grandma's house, toy gun in hand, while grandma helped JoJo with her gun. Every time Hudson shot another bad guy, complete with sound effects, JoJo would burst out laughing. If you haven't heard her laugh, listen to the video below, it'll make anyone smile. Anyway, grandma says it was so much fun to see, and Hudson, who will turn 3 in May, seems to have a knack for making JoJo happy.

(Before anyone goes off on me about kids and guns, blah blah blah, two things. 1. I DO think it's OK for little boys to play with toy guns. I did, and I haven't shot anyone - yet - and 2. JoJo laughs when Cedar says "mmm, pork burrito" to her, so she has no clue what the game really is; she's just being entertained, so it's OK with me.)

I have some pics of JoJo that I'll upload eventually.