Swimming Pool

So, Josephine and I went to the pool this afternoon around 4. It was fairly empty, she loved the water, yadda yadda. She loved jumping off the side into my arms and crawling like a dog along the steps. But mostly she loved watching the other people - staring at them quizzically, analytically, even - and investigating the various float devices scattered along the concrete. It was kind of like swimming with Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple or something - sure, she has moments of cooing and squealing with delight, but often she's quite seriously inspecting the world around her, figuring out its causes and consequences - why people are laughing, how they are jumping, why things work the way they do... she's so curious!

Then I realized she had a dirty diaper - a dirty SWIM diaper.

Well, I could have and maybe should have gone home, but coming in was a family we know from church whose daughter is 2, and we were still having fun, so I decided to change her in the car (where the swim diapers were). Well, it was very ... messy...I didn't have wipes (so much for being prepared).. I wanted scissors to cut them off of her, you know? But instead had to drag them down and the whole thing was a MESS... I rolled up her dirty bathing suit with diaper in a towel and put in trunk, deciding they would all just have to get thrown away (sad, but recent sickness makes me very weak for these things). Then all I had to put her in was a pair of boy's swim trunks I got second-hand and had for some reason. So Josephine looked like a little boy for the rest of the day. She didn't mind, of course. I, on the other hand, wanted to stick a sign on her that said "I WAS wearing an adorable swim outfit that clearly signaled my gender, but my messy diaper got on everything and my darling mother cared more about me having fun than what I look like, so she put me in this - but just in case you think I'm a freak, I'm wearing this disclaimer."

Anyway, it was very amusing.

Then the pool got filled with crazy kids and the two girls had fun (the other little girl kept singing "Josephine! Josephine!" and insisting that they jump at the same time) and we all had a blast and got home in time to miss the thunderstorms and then after dinner Sean put her to bed and it was a very nice day.

Second picture comes from church this morning - one of Josephine's favorite busy activities is to play in the sandbox. This morning one of her little friends pushed her, and later she told her daddy, "Alex pushed." I think this may be the first instance of her telling a story (?) hours later...

I love when Josephine has friends - have to watch my anxiety about it, though. Saturday I asked a little girl if she wanted to play with her, and the girl said blankly, "NO." I was crushed! Again, Josephine didn't care and just ran around with the other kids anyway, while I agonized in the corner (hee).

Summer Girl

Here's a few more recent pictures...

And some random updates about Josephine:

Here's a picture of her ready for church last week. How girly! Even her tennis shoes are pink! She's got "Pink Billy" and her pink purse and is ready to go.

She really loves our dog Billy. Idolizes him.

More and more words and complete sentences: "Jos want down" and "so much!" and "daddy read book."

She climbs into her highchair all by herself.

She knows she's funny. She cracked me up the other day: "Mommy! Toe! Mommy! Toe!" she said from her carseat, in a worried tone. I looked back to see her pointing at a preztel stuck between her toes. Then she burst into laughter. This may be her First Joke.

She really loves french toast, pancakes, cheerios, yogurt - a breakfast kid.

She loves Ellie, our neighbor across the street, who has kittens and fish ponds and hippo statues everywhere in her garden, and who always invites us in and talks very seriously to Josephine. Ellie is truly a blessing - best neighbor ever. She also provides me with a good, living, real example of a great mother-daughter relationship: Ellie and her college-graduated daughter Claire get along fantastically.

She continues to adore books. And climbing. And running in the opposite direction.

During bathtime, she'll hold onto the thing on the faucet that makes the water go to the shower head like it's a microphone and sing into it, rocking back and forth.

Some of the photos show her in a pink dress at Fridays After Five, where she goes wild - running and dancing and singing to the music, sometimes following or leading other little kids. Lots of fun.

The other pictures with the leis come from the day I had to spend at home with her. We decorated the stuffed animals... then she got stuck in this basket - in this photo she's kind of fake-crying to get help out of it... hilarious. We had a lovely day.

It's hard to remember from one day to the next all the new things she's saying and doing - but she's amazing. Truly!

July 4th at the Lake

Finally, I've posted some photos of Josephine during our vacation at the lake... These are mostly cute photos of Josphine, but there are tons more of the whole gang, including some stunning close-ups (ahem) by Sean...

She still chants: Dad-dad (grandad), Charlie (beloved dog), Ollie (other beloved dog), Ma-maw (grandma), Allie (cousin), and of course Billy! Daddy! Mommy!

Finally... covenant group and pool party pics

The antics of the kids of our church's covenant group and some sun fun with a huge bow... several weeks ago... yes, I know I'm behind... but check them out!

Birthday Party Pics

Pictures from Josephine's friend Ashara's second birthday at the local splash park a few weeks ago (sorry so late!). The bubble machine was a big hit! See the full slideshow.