Now that she's found her legs...

... she's into everything!

We've officially moved into the toddler stage, and she is a curious one!

Who wouldn't want to taste the cord for the blinds?

 The recycling is totally interesting

 "Am I not supposed to get into the trash?"  (Good thing it has a latch)

 The CD player and blinds, all in one place!

 The pantry - so much to pull from the shelves

 "Didn't you need all these ziploc bags, Mommy?"

And I didn't even get pictures of opening and closing cabinets, opening our dresser drawers, pulling out all the DVDs (although Daddy allows that one) and the other hundred times a day I catch her "discovering."  I love that she's curious and loves to learn!  I just don't always have the energy for it.  :)

One Step, Two Steps, Three Steps, Four!

She did it!  We've been waiting for this moment these past few days, as she's been so close!  Standing for several seconds at a time, moving one foot forward then falling.

Then, today, Mike was watching Jovie while I was at work.  I came in the door, and she was standing, holding onto the couch like she always does.  She saw me come in and moved one foot, then the other.  A step toward me!  I was so excited and proud, and asked Mike when she had done it first.   Good husband that he is, he was hesitant to tell me the story of how she took her first steps while I wasn't home.  Eventually, I learned that right before I got home, he was in the kitchen making tea, and she was rifling through cabinets.  In order to distract her, he said "Come to Daddy!" and she did!  Three steps.

So, we practiced and she showed me several times that she can put three or four steps together.  :)  She stands very proudly, steadies herself, takes a few steps, then "Poompy-doomp!"  (This is what Daddy says when she falls on her bum.)  She's grinning the whole time.  We're so happy for her!

P.S. Unfortunately, the video feature on Mike's ipod (our only video camera) didn't work today, so no video footage.  Soon, we hope!

Labor Day

Everyone loves a Monday off!  We enjoyed Labor Day exercising, resting, playing and Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa.

In the evening, we (and the Smiths) went to the McGinnis's for a swim and cookout.   Such a fun time with friends, and a relaxing way to celebrate the end of summer.

Hanging out at the pool

 Babies looking like their Daddies

 We figured that the last swim of the season was a good time to let Jovie go all the way under - she did great!

And her pigtails survived.  :)

We have had such a great summer.  And while I know it's still technically summer, and we have lots of heat still ahead of us, I'm so excited for fall!

Play Hard!

Jovie is really moving into a stage where she plays a lot and is fun to watch.  She has some favorite games.  She loves when Daddy strums his fingers across the vents and then lifts her up to do the same. She loves to point to the "J is for Jovie" poster on her wall, and wait for us to point and read to her "J" is for Jovie", then she grins, wrinkles her nose, pulls her arms up to her chin to guard it and waits for us to tickle under her chin.  My favorite game is her variation of peek-a-boo.  We toss the cloth over her face, say "Where's Jovie?".  She pulls it off, grins, we say "There she is!" and she says "Hi!"  This goes on for awhile - "Where's Jovie? - There she is!"  "Hi!"

One afternoon while we were playing, I took my camera and followed Jovie around for thirty minutes.  This is one busy baby!

Starting with books

 She loves to sit on her stool

 Love the pose with the piggies and the toes!

 Off the stool on the floor

 To the stairs!

 Pushing her doll stroller

 Studying the wheels

 Drumming

 Chewing on the drumsticks

 Back to the stairs!

 Pull toys

 Back to books

 Studying her books

 Playing is hard work - break time

 Back up to the stairs!

 Playing with picnic baskets

 The wake she leaves :)

 Stairs again!  This time we made it up them to go eat dinner.

It's no wonder this baby can sleep so much and so deeply.  :)

Great Falls

On Saturday, we drove to the parking lot across from Old Anglers Inn, took a walk on the towpath (detour) and went to see Great Falls.  It was a warm and humid day, but Jovie loved the falls, so it was worth the walk!

While we were there, she saw a big turkey vulture flying really close overhead and she loved that, too.  :)

First look at the falls with Daddy

 Enjoying herself

 Hee!

I love our little family adventures, and am looking forward to having more and more!

You are My Sunshine...in August

Some cute pics from August

August 2nd

Duck-billed platypus face.  We don't know where it came from, but she does it all. the. time.

August 13th

Playing with Mommy's laptop

August 25th

Looking cute and on the move

The Zoo!

On Monday morning, the Youngs came over for about an hour before they left to go back to Ohio.

Playing with Grandma, Aunt Julie and Violet

Then, after Jovie's morning nap and lunch, we took Jovie to the zoo for the first time.  We weren't sure how she would react to the animals, as she didn't really like them at Carriage Hill in Ohio in May.  She surprised us with how much she loved the zoo!  She smiled and pointed at the animals, giggled a lot and paid very close attention to everything.  She had a bunch of fun.

We started with the farm animals

 Those goats are fascinating!

 Of course, so is the helicopter flying over.

 By the lions

 I think the mail lion was Jovie's favorite.

 She would laugh,

 clap, 

and say "lion" and make a roaring sound.

 We stayed by him for a long time, because she loved it.  Even when he made some roaring sounds, she would smile and laugh.

 It was a really nice day, but a little trip through the mister never hurts.

 The giant tortoise - we almost didn't see him until he moved, and then it took awhile for Jovie to spot him.  It's not like he makes sudden movements to catch her eye.

 Jovie in the giant ape house

 Watching the orangutans

 Yes, I know the sandals are too big, but she's grown out of all of her other sandals, and I don't want to buy more because the summer is almost over.

 Yay, elephant!

 Baby cheetah cubs playing

 Hanging with Grandpa

 Watching the giant pandas

 Getting sleepy

 Snuggles with Daddy

She had such a blast at the zoo, and we had so much fun watching her!

After we took her home for a nap, we went out to Guapos for dinner.  She was a hit, waving at everyone, and our server loved her.  However, he strummed his guitar in her face and scared her and she started crying.  He felt bad, so he brought her a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.  She really liked it, of course.  Two treats in two days - big deal for Jovie!

Jovie had a big week, and an exciting summer in general.  It's been fun to have all of our guests and activities.  Can't wait to see what fall holds!