Josi D

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.

End-of-Summer Life With Josi

Just a few little updates...

We went to a party at Grandma Jeanne's house last Thursday.A bunch of ladies were sitting around chatting and buying stuff, but I mostly cared about the snacks and playing with Daddy.

Grammi and Papa came to visit last weekend and we all went to cousin

Charli's Hello Kitty birthday party. She's two. We had a blast.

On Sunday, we met daddy at Ponak's after the game for a yummy Mexican dinner (I scarfed down

the guacamole dip!) and then Mom and Papa went to a Bruce Springsteen concert

and I went home to bed. Monday night, I got to see Great Grandma Marge at the Royals game!

She and 2 of her friends and Grandma Jeanne and Aunt Karen met Mom and I there.

It was a beautiful night and we stayed the whole game! Even went up to see Daddy for a bit

and help him in the control room. Needless to say, I passed out on the way home.

Got a postcard from Grandpa Carl--all the way from Hawaii! He said the sunsets were lovely.

Maybe I'll go there someday! Tonight Mom took me to the community center pool and we had a lot of fun together.

I especially like the little water slide. Yep, I'm a thrill-seeker in the making...