Blink!

The sands of time have long slipped through the hourglass at an alarming rate, but never have the days gone so fast since the arrival of little Bobcat. Josie is four months old now!

Every day is a surprise, but she often follows a routine of some sorts. She usually wakes between 7:00AM and 8:00AM after waking once or twice during the night. During the day, Annie forces Josie to nap with the help of a swing since, without a nap, she becomes what her parents call "Cornholio." This name will ring a bell for anyone familiar with Beavis and Butthead. Other than the occasional need of "TP for her bunghole" (again a Beavis and Butthead reference), Josie is a pretty easy going baby. Here's what she has been up to lately...

JP acquired a small (10' x 30") pool in hopes of testing out Josie's mammalian diving reflex. He was unable, to Annie's knowledge, to accomplish a dunk, but did manage to get a swim or two in before Annie found a half eaten quesadilla floating around in it and nixed the whole thing.

Is that a warm spot or ...

The whole family enjoyed the Adam's Avenue Street Fair along with some friends of Annie's from work. Josie even had a date!

Annie, Josie, Seth, and Juan

Grandpa Bob taught Josie how fun it is to dance to The Gipsy Kings at Rancho's ...

Hasn't quite mastered all those claps

... And she continues to enjoy hanging out at the Blind Lady Ale House.

Watching the action out on Adams Avenue with Grammy

Josie has started wearing saucy little mini skirts like this one from Great Aunt Vicki. JP is not so sure she should be allowed out of the house like this especially with the badonkadonk those cloth diapers provide.

Got it goin' on like Donkey Kong

JP and Josie enjoy spending their weekends in the hammock on the back porch.
During her waking moments, Josie often insists on being upright. JP and Annie once celebrated Josie's physical strength and milestones, but have come to fear that mobility is not too far off. It's a game-changer.

Josie loves to sit up on the count of three.

Dog Days of Summer

Josie's grandparents Margaret and Phil came to visit for a week. This was Josie's first chance to get to know Margaret and Phil one on one, without competition from any other grandbabies.

She had lots of fun and got lots of attention. Getting lots of attention has just started to become her primary goal in life over the last few weeks.

Margaret got lots of quality time with Josie. Phil got some too, but J.P. distracted him considerably with the construction of a new shade for the back porch.


As fate would have it, this was one of the hottest weeks of the summer. Perfect for working out in the sun. Despite taking twice as long as anticipated and cutting considerably into Phil's relaxation time, the pergola came out great, and Josie is looking forward to hanging out in her much improved backyard.

Phil and Margaret finally relax in the shade

Josie cools off in the pool

Josie has started to get very vocal

Stairway to Seven

Josie, big enough to kinda fit her Steelers cap, prepared all day for the NFL opening game. She sat up in front of Mom's Terrible Towel. She took a break from saying "ah-goo" to practice her Copisms, "hum-hah" and "yoi." She tried on several black and gold outfits before settling on a black onesie and a yellow diaper.

Unfortunately, she forgot to learn a darned thing about football. Josie claims to have been thrown off by the awful music featured in the pre-game show. She was restless during the first half, slept through the second, and screamed bloody murder after the Steelers first touchdown. Her mom knows she'll be a big 'Burgh fan, however, because ... well, she has no choice.

Ta-dah! The final outfit: a shirt from the Heinzerling Minty fam and a yellow diaper from the diaper fairy

Titans? Bah! We will crush you like leetle ants!

Speaking of small, blue things Josie's eye color has not changed much since birth. Many people are betting that her eyes will remain blue, and her brown-eyed parents are starting to believe them.

Jeepers, creepers! Where'd you get those peepers?!

Famliy Resemblance

Some people say that Josie looks like Annie. Some say she looks like JP. We think she looks like a baby. What do you think?

Annie with her Grandpa

Josie in her Independence Day outfit

Annie gets bath in a roaster

Josie gets some love from Aunt Cindy

Annie and her Grandma

Josie and her dad

Team Tiny Elvis

Last Weekend Josie led team "Tiny Elvis" to the semi-finals at Crokipalooza 3.0. Crokipalooza is the annual San Diego doubles Crokinole Championships organized and hosted by Crokinole aficionado Kent Hess and his lovely wife, Lisa. This year 19 teams vied for the trophy. If you don't know what Crokinole is, it is an excellent board game. Sort of marbles meets shuffleboard. Fortunately it is a game well suited to the social virtues, the motto for the tourney is "Eat, Drink, Flick." For more info on the game see www.crokinole.com or www.crokinoleworld.com

Though Josie has yet to flick a disc, she was there to scream JP and Annie on through 3 rounds to the playoffs. We expect that in another couple of years she will likely become a croke phenom. Already she has mad style with a custom made jumpsuit and pompadour courtesy of her Grandma Margaret.

Getting Strong Now!

Track left!
Track right!
Tummy time; roll left!
Tummy time; roll right!
Grab! Grab! Grab! Grab!


Since her 6 week doctor visit, Josie has been undergoing a rigorous training regimen focusing on core strength and visual tracking. All that hard work has been paying off. Josie is now able to maintain some vertical control over that giant noggin and follow an object from left to right.

Practicing sitting up at the Blind Lady Ale House with Miss Leslie

Mastering the 45 degree angle

With Josie's increased core strength Mom and Dad figured she was ready for some supervised play time in her jumperoo, purchased with generous funds from the Johnson Family Baby Shower. She loves it!

Staring at her little minkey

Not actually heavy enough to touch the ground and jump

Fist pumps for the jumperoo! We loves it!

By the way, what is that super cute shirt Josie is wearing while playing in her Jumperoo? Just a prophetic little smock from Aaron, Sherrilyn, and Remy.

"Mysterio predicts I will be a Donut Tycoon!"

Cure for the Summertime Blues

Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city and the sidewalk is hotter than a match head! What's a girl to do when she's stuck in the dog days of August in the land
of Endless Summer? Josie has many activities to help cope with the heat cause there is nothing on the television!


First of all, it's important to stay hydrated. Josie accomplishes this by drinking as much bath water as possible*. In her first few weeks of life, Josie wasn't too sure if she liked bathing, but now she is sold. Perhaps she caught a whiff of the consequences (i.e Dad).

Josie needs a rubber pterodactyl

Post Bath Luxury

Sometimes a bath just won't ease the misery, so Josie switches her microclimate. At the beach the temperatures are cooler, and there's nothing much to do but relax.

Under an umbrella at Torrey Pines

Enjoying the sensation of warm sand on her feet

In the late afternoon, the coolest spot in the house is the kitchen floor atop a quilt from Miss Donna Mae. Josie loves to roll from side to side and chat with various appliances and house plants.The cats cut a wide swath around her. Turns out cats not only understand the unifying theory of physics, they also know that baby hands are made for grabbing!

Sometimes the best thing to do is get out of the house and enjoy a meal on the town. Josie is fortunate to have many kid-friendly bars and restaurants within pushing distance. The trick is to find a nice, shady spot with lots of room for a stroller to jiggle.

Josie enjoys a bottle from Dad at the Linkery in North Park

*We try to avoid this as much as possible. Don't you worry!