Soon Bobcat will be 14 months old. She is embracing new hobbies while clinging to old ones. She will:

• Put her possessions (diapers, toys,and books) back in their rightful containers, but prefers scattering to collecting.
• Walk great distances (30+ feet) on her own, but would rather hold someone's hand or crawl.
  
• Sign "more" "help" "please" "music" "pain" "all done" "down" but will stop signing for weeks at a time.
• Use her crayons for drawing in her coloring book and on the bathtub, but is still keen on just holding them.
  

Bobcat is making great strides in her speech development. She will wave and say "bye" with a southern drawl. She will ask to swing by saying "wveeeeeeeeeee." She also says "mama" "dada" "caca" and "eeeeeeeeeeat." She imitates a car, kitty cat, bobcat, dog, monkey, cow, crow, and snake. She still points out every bird and barks at all the dogs she sees.

Although the diaper blow-out situation has not ceased, her appetite isn't as huge and her tastes are becoming more refined.

Fluffing her diapers

Going "Wveeee" with her Granda Bob

Josie is going on her first camping adventure (albeit car camping) this weekend. It looks like two more teeth are preparing to sprout up top and join Josie's buck teeth. Stay tuned for all that.

One Year Stats

At 13 months Josie had her one-year well visit with Dr. Edwards. Her stats are:

• Weight: 17.3 lbs (3rd percentile)
• Length: 29.5 inches (50th percentile)
• Head: 18 inches (60th percentile)

All in all, she's a pretty average kid who is growing steadily along the growth curve. Her others tests concluded:

• Josie does not have tuberculosis.
• Josie likes to have her blood collected via finger prick (lead and anemia testing).
• Josie can feel pain when needles are poked into her thighs.

Bobcat's favorite new trick is imitating the sounds of kitty cats ("Baaaa"), bobcats (with a growl), cows ("Mmm"), and dogs ("ah-ah"). Her parents are helping her learn to imitate a monkey.

Since the family trip to Costa Rica, Josie has been a big fan of two-handed assisted walking. She made a sudden improvement in her bipedalism yesterday. While JP, Annie, and Josie were walking around Ocean Beach to meet their friends Bridget and Makena, Josie became mesmerized by Annie's bracelet. She wanted to hold it so badly that she forgot she "needed" to hold two hands to walk. Later that day during a birding hike, Josie tried out her new trick again.




She greatly enjoyed the freedom to swing her legs wide and to pick up rocks and sticks. The one spider she tried to pick up was too fast.








She probably walked a half mile! Mama and Daddy had a conference and decided that they are quite ready for Bobcat to walk on her own. Creeeeeeeeek!

Johnson Reunion

In late June Bobcat packed her bags for a trip to Kentucky. The frequent flier had a smooth trip from San Diego to Louisville, wooing the other passengers along the way with smiles, babbles, and waves. Although she's a handful, Josie is a very good traveler. It's much harder for her to catch a nap mid-flight, but sleepiness, not ear pressure, is her primary issue.

In Bardstown Josie was reunited with her grandparents, a bevy of great aunts, Aunt Terri, and cousins Jack, Max, and Maggie. She hadn't seen her Wilton cousins for almost a year, and the reunion was sweet.

Maggie, Max and Josie luxuriate in the sand box.

Josie loved Maggie's stylish bath-hawk.

Next the family travelled southwards to Rough River State Park to connect with the Johnson throngs. At the annual reunion she met some of her many Johnson kin including lots lots and lots of great aunts, uncles, first cousins once removed, second cousins, second cousins once removed, etc, etc. Aunt Amy Beth, Uncle Keith, and cousin Preston also arrived to round out the available immediate family.

Josie stylin in the pool with cousin Michelle.

Cousin Jack shows off his mad frogman skillz

Poolin' around

Hey Dad, I'm going to pull that wig off!

Before returning to San Diego, the family made a quick jaunt to Clarksville, TN to see Aunt Rebecca and Uncle John and tour their new old house. The crushing climate kept the family indoors through the heat of the day, but there was plenty of fun to be had with canine cousin Dixie. With Edinboro, PA only a 10 hour drive away, Grammy and Grandpa Bob couldn't keep away.

Till next summer, y'all!

First Bike Ride

On Father's Day Eve after picking up a Schwinn Super Sport for Mom and beer from Lost Abbey, JP decided it was time for our first family bike outing. Dad had been anticipating this moment for 12.5 + 9 months so with the weather fine and our bellies aching for pizza we pedaled up to the Blind Lady Ale House in Normal Heights about a mile away from home.

"Throw your hands in the air and wave 'em like you're going for a bike ride!"

Josie's buddy Fia is lending her the iBert seat she has outgrown. Instead of having a front row view of your parent's sweaty back, Bobcat gets to ride up front on Dad's handle bars with the wind in her four teeth.

The cutest watermelon we know: "Protect your melon!"

White knucklin'

En route

We've arrived at BLAH. "Do I let go now?"

As we pulled up to Blind Lady we saw our friend Leslie sitting at a table in the front window. She shared that the restaurant erupted with "Oooh's" and "Aaah's" at the sight of Josie and her melon head. Inside Josie did her best to keep everyone's attention with silly antics and waving.

"Mmmm. Tasty table."

"Yep, still tastes like a table."

"Hey y'all! Wanna go down to the RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival in Bell Buckle?"

Coloring with Leslie

Bundled up for the ride home

54 weeks old

Now that she's over a year old Bobcat is growing by leaps and bounds although she still fits in the same clothes she has been wearing since October and weighs less than 17 pounds.

She just seems to be getting so ... sassy. Her personality is shining through more each day. She loves to be noticed and to be the center of attention. Bobcat is still a quadruped, however she does not see her lack of bipedalism as an impediment. She makes the most of what she's got right now with cruising and dancing and finds crawling a fast (enough) method of travel.

Drinking from her sippy cup all on her own

Josie loves to dance when her parents play her Pandora stations on the television. More than that, she loves to press the buttons on the video recorder so capturing her antics are a challenge.

Josie loves to rough house with her kitties, and, for the most part, they are very patient with her. For example, Reno will run away if she doesn't want to play or, at worst, swat her with her claws in to warn Josie. She knows that if Duckie sits on the chair with claws facing out -- stay back! Otherwise, it's open season for bobcats hunting fowl.

"I'll get you, my pretty!"

Here are two clips of Josie "petting" Duckie:

In this clip, Duckie gives Josie a little lick and she signs "more."

Josie loves to tend her parents' garden. This works out well because her dad likes to grow flowers while she likes to pick (and destroy) them. Luckily, marigolds increase their flower production when you pick them -- at least that's what we're telling Dad. You can see some photos of Josie picking flowers on Jenna's blog.

Bobcat Turns One

Josie Hayden became a one-year-old two weeks ago on June 3, 2010. Her maternal grandparents, Grammy and Grandpa Bob, flew into town for a week to celebrate and help pull together a birthday party. And what a shindig it was!

The guests included: Mama, Daddy, Grammy, Grandpa Bob; Jenna, Paul, and Fia Rowe; Summer, Isabella, and Olivia Girgis; Phet Pease; Leslie Milholland; Gina, Eme, and Lilla Maklary; Mickey, Allison, and Archie Brown; Bridget and Makena Allen; Talia; and Juan Alvaro and Armani Reyes. Bobcat loved carousing with so many friends.

The invitation requested no gifts, but what are friends for, if not ignoring the rules? Josie got balloons, cards, lips, telephones, Gumby and Pokey, a book about tails, a Rex, a book about Toy Story, and a ball mixer thing (tough to describe, but Josie really loves it).

Lips from the Maklary bunch

Mom's dear friend Bridget of Snap Tap n Sing provided some seriously fun entertainment for the kiddos with singing, instruments, bubbles, parachutes, karaoke, and scarves. Bridget and Talia have a fabulous act, and all the kids loved it.

Silky, silky scarves

Grammy in Baby Heaven; Baby in Grammy Heaven

After a miserable attempt at a triple-decker cake, Mama and Grammy constructed a double-decker chocolate cake with butter creme frosting for the Bobcat. It was her first sugar bomb, and she definitely approved.

WARNING: Photos of gratuitous cake-eating!!! May not be suitable for work!!!

Eme tries to earn bathing privileges:

Fia and Lilla swing it up in the hammock

The next morning Josie opened up her presents with her family before Dad left for work.

"What a haul!"

Reading Grammy and Grandpa Bob's card

Grammy made Josie a personalized holder for her new crayons.

Dad spent weeks crafting a hot rod for Josie out of wood, spray paint, and bike inner tubes. Josie displayed her gratitude by showing off how much she looks like her pop.

"I am feeling so stoked."

"Is this how Daddy looks when he is super excited?"

Mom got Josie a bike helmet for family rides.

Additionally, Josie got some new duds, an activity table, a bubble mower, and sunglasses. She got cards, too, which she likes to pull out each day and read.

Cha, cha, cha, and many more, Josie!