Christmas 2008

We had a delightful holiday week! Mom says it’s one of the most relaxing she can remember. It started Sunday as we headed to Gammi and Papa’s (notice I changed her name to “Gammi,” so mom says we’ll go with that). I ate all kinds of good things (as usual) and we went to some fun parties – at the Bradfords I played with my new friends Reece and Ava Gray. Christmas eve we went to church and mom and I joined the procession of children who brought the baby Jesus up to the manger. Then, we went to Great Gram’s house for dinner and to open our stockings and a few gifts, too. I got a “cell phone” from Great Gram and a baby doll from Gammi and Papa. To mom’s delight the baby is not Caucasian (she wants me grow up appreciating many different ethnicities!) We named him Moses and now he has a brother T-Shawn, which I named after one of Grandma Jeanne’s friend’s sons. Afterward, I entertained everyone at the Shums with my favorite yoga position – the down dog! We headed for Leavenworth Christmas morning to see Grandpa Carl & Grandma Jeanne & Uncle Alex. We all gathered around the tree to open gifts – I opened some cool new books and then ran off with them while everyone else opened their gifts. Finally, they lured me back in and I discovered all sorts of goodies – even a high chair and a cradle for my baby dolls! We watched daddy played in an alumni basketball tournament at IMAC. I wasn’t sure at first about the whistles and the buzzer and daddy being jostled around out there, but then I decided it was pretty fun to run around the bleachers and watch people. As we watched, I kept saying, “Go Daddy!” He loved having us there. In the last week, my vocabulary has exploded. I like to say, “C’mere!” and “OH MY GOSH!” “I see you!” (which I kept saying at Christmas eve mass in the cry room). I like to point at the dollar bill and say “George Washington.” I like bust out singing “Happy Birthday, Jesus” like mom taught me at Christmas. Tomorrow is my last day with Miss Peggy before I begin Lil’s Sprouts next week. Mom and Dad are praying for a smooth transition!

From the desk of Josephine:

OK, I’m WAYYYY behind with my blog update. Mom and Dad have been dragging me all over creation (actually, being a true socialite, I love it!) Most recently, we spent a week together in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Our generous friend Jack gave us a week in his timeshare! Here are a coupla pix. I learned some Spanish and said HOLA over and over. Other favorites were: Buenos Dias, Buenos Noches, and Josefina (the name of my new Mexican doll). Our room was really nice with 2 balconies that I loved to play on. However, I just wanted to be outside ALL the time.“Outside!  Outside!” I kept saying. And also “Elevator! Ding-dong.” I LOVE the elevator and the sound it makes. Still not sure about the water. I usually resist it and then end up having a good time in the pool. DEFINITELY didn’t like the wet sand on my feet. I saw the ocean for the first time, which was really cool.Mom and Dad took a MILLION pictures. Grammi and Papa flew down and spent a few days with me so mom and dad could have enjoy some romantic outings together. Whatever. I don't know how they could stand to be without me. I'm becoming quite independent and i prefer to go where i want to go. If you want to me walk left, i'll probably go right. I enjoy the word NO. Mom says i'm establishing my boundaries. Dad says i'm just being a turd like he was when he was my age.  When we got home from mexico Grammi and Papa and Grandma Jeanne came to church with us for the annual Christmas program -- Walk to the Manger, so we could be reminded why we're celebrating. Then, we had a little "pre-Christmas" dinner at our house. Everyone else cooked and brought stuff over and we ate it.  Good deal for us, huh!  Oh, also, before we went to Mexico, we headed up to Lincoln to celebrate the Kopetzky Christmas at Aunt Julie’s house. As always, we had a blast. I played with my cousins since I could actually run around this year and get into all kinds of mischief.  Oh, and before THAT we went to Des Moines for the annual Thanksgiving gathering with the Kellers and Great Grandma and Grouchy Great Grandpa. Everyone doted on me, fed me stuff and played cards together like always. Next week we head for another tour -- Marysville until Christmas day and then Leavenworth for the rest of the week. Guess what!?! I start Montessori school -- "Lil' Sprouts" with Miss Natalie on January 5th!  There are chickens, bunnies, a real tree house, a green house, organic garden, and lots of other farm-y granola stuff mom loves.  Also, Miss Natalie loves Jesus, so she'll carry on Miss Peggy's loving Christian care.  Merry Christmas!!!

we've really been enjoying the beautiful fall weather!  a few weeks ago, mom and dad took me with them to the drive-in. we saw a movie called "eagle eye" with our friends colby and kim.  they set up my pack n play in the back of the van and i was content as could be hanging out, watching the flick, and eventually just snuggling in to sleep...that was our first movie all together!  the next day, granda and grandpa deruyscher came to spend the day with me while mom and dad went to the maple leaf festival and football game with the morrises...last week we went to marysville for black squirrel night (which ended up being too cold to be outside, so i wore my princess leia costume over to the crists for a pizza party where i met my new friend, campbell brewster. on friday we went to the wedding of mom's old high school friend and then we went to emporia for paige newland's baptism saturday. it was so much fun to be with all the "butlo" kids. 

tomorrow, we're going to daddy's work so i can "trick or treat" and then i get to stay with gma and gpa d for the weekend while mommy and daddy go to the nu - ou football game in oklahoma.  i'm chattering away more than ever. i like to say, "oh man" "oh my gosh" and "wow".  also, like to say my "opposites" -- up/down, loud/quiet, near/far, clean/dirty...also LOVE when mom sings the itsy bitsy spider song. i try really hard to make a good spider with my fingers. i am a very determined little one.

October Fun

Just catching up as october 2008 is in full swing!  Well, I started off the month heading to the husker game with daddy in Lincoln--actually, daddy went to the game and i went to stay with aunt julie, uncle roy, and cousin dj.  I had a blast with the yardleys (especially the puppies!)  and for the next several days, i practiced their names everywhere i went!  roy...julie...dj...kuba...sassy...repeat. Mommy went to arkansas to visit aunt trieste while we were in lincoln and then we all met back at our house on sunday night. A sweet reunion!

 Speaking of reunions...Mom and Dad just took their longest trip away from me EVER-- 5 days in colorado for mark and kim davidson's wedding. Of course they missed me sooooo much, but they had a really great time. I, on the other hand, must admit that I didn't really notice they were gone!  Grammi and Papa said i was just too busy having fun in marysville. Here's a pic of me at vering's pumpkin farm in marysville. They also took me to the park, to mom's favorite place of employment ever--the wagon wheel cafe--where i met her favorite boss ever, doug parks, to church, to great gram's, and to a whole bunch of other places!  During my stay with them, I decided to exercise my 15-month-old authority and start saying nononononono. It is so cute, mom and dad have to keep themselves from laughing. However, they are trying to respect my independence while they firmly remind me there are other ways of communicating!  I'm really starting to put little sentences together about things I remember.  For instance, I think Grammi is a great cook, so I've been saying "Grammi Food" at dinner time, even when she's not around!  On Halloween weekend, Grandpa Carl and Grandma Jeanne are going to keep me while mom and dad go to Oklahoma for the nebraska game. Hey, I'm not complaining!  All this grandparent time is right up my alley!  Tonight mom and i had a little belated italian birthday dinner for daddy's birthday. Happy 31st Birthday, Daddy!  Happy October everyone! 

september happenings...

some of my new favorite things--saying "tickle, tickle, tickle" and tickling whoever is holding me...

saying "diamond!"  (as in neil) when i want to dance to my favorite record...saying "melon" because i LOVE to eat watermelon! a few things that have happened recently--mom and i had a wagon wreck with the cool new wagon grammi and papa gave me.she was pulling me down a hill, the wheels turned really sharp, and the whole wagon flipped on its side.we both ended up on the pavement, but we thanked God that we were spared serious injuries. i have a little scrape on my head, mom has a big bruise on her leg--but we survived! and i got right back in the wagon just so i wouldn't be afraid of it. mom went to chicago for a few days so dad and i had some fun together. tonight grandpa carl came over to babysit while mom and dad went to a wedding shower for uncle mark and aunt kim. oh, and today mom and i went to hang out with charli for awhile while her mom and dad went on vacation. we went to mimi's house and played on the horse mom and aunt jenn used to play on.  we took good naps and played together.  we're learning to share! tomorrow we are having a breakfast for miss peggy at the morrises house to thank her for all she does for us. then, mom and i are s'posed to go to a 1st birthday party for sophie willett. daddy's goin' to the nebraska game. oh, yes!  i love to say "football" now too! wonder why...

Autumn is Here...

Here comes fall!  This is the second autumn of my life and i must say it is quite beautiful here in kansas.

A few fun things we've done lately--well, grandpa carl returned from hawaii and brought me back a cute shirt and mom and dad got some chocolates--yum! here's a pic with his "welcome home" sign.

gma, gpa, mom, dad and I all went to dinner at zios and i squirmed around as usual and kept everyone on their toes...mom and i have had a little routine going when she picks me up from missy & miss peggy's place after work---we go to homer's coffee shop and get a mocha for her and a bagel for me. i like to say COFF-EE and BAY-GEL and HOM-ERS.  Sometimes we go to the community center across the street and play in their play room. I looooove the slide. I say SLIDE...SLIDE...SLIDE.  I'm also into saying TRASH (love to be "helpful" and throw things away) and I point at the car radio and say MU-SIC. I love to dance and Aunt Kristin recently bought mom 2 neil diamond records on a garage sale. Mom and i have been dancing to "Forever In Blue Jeans" a lot on the record player....Let's see...other words I like to say...OH! the other daycare kids' names--especially AY-DAN.  Last friday night when mom picked me up from Missy's we had to stick around for awhile cause we were in a tornado warning!  The weather was really stormy last week--there was a hurricane named after me--Josephine!  Last Saturday, mom and i went to Homers to hear her friend play in a band.  I had fun dancing and hanging out with my homers buddies (the baristas all know me by now...) The next day, daddy and i bonded while mom went out of town to a 1st birthday party. tonight, grammi and papa arrived and they'll be spending a few days with me while mama writes some magazine articles.  I showed papa how to dance with neil diamond...I'm sure papa will take me for long walks over the next couple of days...we are soaking up every bit of this beautiful fall weather!

a weekend in marysville and some other stuff since then...

mom and i went to marysville with jenn and charli for aunt jenn's 15 -year class reunion!  the car rides are getting more interesting as we grow!  charli and i both always want to drive and want to play with the same toys, so there's a lot of passing back and forth going on...since grammi and papa weren't in town, we had their house to ourselves. mom and i would take morning walks and explore papa's beautiful "grounds" -- here's a pic of me sitting on a tree stump, enjoying a morning bottle and watching the sunrise. also, one on the bench outside the front door. we spent a lot of time with great gram--took her to church and entertained her at her house. here's a pic of us in her living room...oh, and then there's the little table i got for my birthday from annie fannie (bradford).  it was made by our dear cousin jim grauer and it is the PERFECT size for charli and i!  we spent a lit of time sitting there eating snacks.  we also did some sword fighting with mom's old batons, which is kind of funny since mom and aunt jenn used to be baton twirlers together...so sunday night when we returned, we went to our friend allie's house to say goodbye to our friend sarah easton, who's headed to england for 3 months to represent her church.  wow!  we played with the easton offspring and danced a lot. sunday night daddy returned from a bachelor party in vegas where he saw many women wearing things that he says i'll never be allowed to wear...i don't get it--i'm always running around in my diaper...monday, mom, dad and I spent some family time together--went for a walk to the park down the street. here's  a pic of dad pushing me in the swing.  i'm more into slides now and i'm always saying "slide...slide..."  speaking of what i'm saying these days, here's the latest:  today, i mastered "bagel" and "ice". mom let me have a bagel this afternoon and it's all i wanted to say for awhile. BAY-gel.  then, I got SO excited cause she gave me a cup of little tiny ice pebbles and i'd put them in my mouth, get a really surprised look and say ICE!  (don't worry, papa, only one at a time...)  another word today was RAIN!  i kept pointing outside (cause it rained ALL day) and saying RAIN.  mom and dad's favorite by far is what i've started to do when i swat at someone.  mom says, "no hitting josi...be nice...gentle touches" and immediately i start petting the person and saying "niiiiiice".  in fact, mom doesn't even have to correct me anymore.  i'll take a swat at someone and immediately pet them and say "niiiiiiiice". it's pretty hilarious.