The Buzz

You may recall that Joseph's first two haircut experiences were not ideal. The first one was accomplished without too many tears, but was an undesirable combination of expensive and poorly-done. The second turned out well, but involved a whole lot of screaming and crying. While we were in Utah, I decided to try to trim Joseph's hair by myself using some clippers that my mom has. I figured it would be perfect because I could sit Joseph in his high chair with some treats and a movie on, just take a few swipes at his hair, and be done with it. Plus, if he did scream, it would at least be in the privacy of grandma's house.

So, one morning when I was left alone (Todd went golfing), I decided to have at it.

This was a mistake.

Surprisingly, Joseph didn't start crying when the clippers started buzzing. He has actually gotten better about noises. I've been creating some positive associations with the blender, since he loves the smoothies that result from its harrowing noise. But as soon as I touched his head, it was all thrashing and tears. He was eating cookies, which became this huge mushy mess all over the place. I could only really get the top of his head because of the thrashing. I finally stopped, and when combed a certain way, the haircut looked okay. But then when it got disheveled (which it quickly does), it was clear that there was a lot of business-in-the-front, party-in-the-bac going on. So, later that night it was time for round two.

Round two went a little better, but the next day as his hair was exposed to the static inherent in sitting in a carseat during an eleven-hour journey from Utah to California, it became clear again that there were some seriously long chunks and some severely short patches.

So, that night we bought our own set of clippers to fix the damage. (There was no time to take him to a salon because the next day was Sunday and then we were leaving for Hawaii at 4 in the morning on Monday, and I had to get his hair fixed before his Nana came to babysit.) In the end, the only thing we could really do was pretty much buzz the stuff. Todd helped this time and did a much better job than I did.

We still think he's really cute, but he looks like a little boy now more than a baby. So I am missing his hair bad. On the bright side, it grows fast and it's so hot here in September that we think he'll appreciate the lack of matted, sweaty hair that he always gets in the heat.

Trip to Utah

Because Daddy may have dropped the camera on the tile floor shortly before our trip to Utah, we didn't end up with a whole lot of pictures from our visit to Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Needless to say, the trip was full of new discoveries for Joseph, and he loved having a big house to roam around--especially a big house full of people ready to play with him.

We did manage to borrow a camera and get some fun pictures from our outing to Cascade Springs with Aunt Lindsey.






The walk was full of things to point at, and Joseph demonstrated his appreciation for nature by repeatedly trying to stomp on what looked like an albino preying mantis. We don't know where this instinct to squash things came from, but fortunately his aim isn't as developed as his willpower.


Joseph also loved exploring the air vents at Grandma's house. Joseph has long been fascinated with vents, but in our home they are all on the ceiling. Having vents on the floor provided for loads of cheap entertainment, and, to the best of our knowledge, he didn't drop anything down them (we're saving that one for our next visit).

The highlight of the trip for Joseph was chasing Grandma's cat around the house. He'd follow it around the house and every time the cat turned towards him he'd shriek with delight.

Unfortunately, there's no picture or video of Joseph's cat encounters. But we do have this great picture of him where he's likely looking for the cat:

the gauntlet=thrown down

Okay, Nana Goodsell and Grandma White, you officially have some new competition.

Our downstairs neighbors, Gene and Harry, are a really sweet couple who often take care of their three-year old grandson. Today, Gene dropped by and staked her claim to a place in Joseph's heart.

Gene is a really thoughtful lady, and always takes time to smile and visit whenever we run into each other. A few months ago they were cleaning out their garage and Gene brought us several fantastic pool toys that their grandson had outgrown for Joseph to use during the upcoming summer. Many pictures you see of Joseph in a pool feature these popular presents.

--One of Gene's pool toys (March 08)--

Today, the gift of the pool toys was blown out of the water. The doorbell rang, and there was Gene standing with two armfuls of toys that her grandson had outgrown. She was going to give them away to Goodwill, but thought of us, so she washed them all and brought us this welcome surprise.

Joseph's eyes lit up, and as soon as the door shut, he tore into exploring his new treasures. He was thrilled and just kept smiling. It was cute to see him so excited. Here are a few pics from the first moments:




My personal favorite is the walker that plays, among other songs, "La cucaracha." Here's Joseph dancing to another newly-discovered song:

(If video does not load, click here)

Joseph has also discovered that if you just hit your music-making toys enough times, they'll eventually start doing what you want.

We're really blessed to have kind neighbors who are so thoughtful. There have been a number of things that have happened here that have confirmed that we were guided to live in this particular place right now. Right now, Joseph is especially grateful that we moved here.

Hopefully these new toys will keep Joseph out of the mischief he finds in kitchen drawers, toilets, cupboards, bookshelves, power cables, electrical outlets, laundry bins, trash cans, the refrigerator, and the dishwasher--at least for a little while.

As for now, Grandma and Nana have some new competition in town, and she means business.

Joseph looks forward to your response.

To Utah, and then some

The day after tomorrow is the last day of my clerkship. How time has flown! I am training my replacement right now and realizing how much I have learned this year (and remembering how overwhelmed I was at first). But, that's not the point of this post. The really great thing about the clerkship ending is the fact that I have a whole month off before starting a new job (and being overwhelmed all over again).

We are going to Utah to visit these crazy people:



My brother Matt, my mom, my sister Lauren, and my dad. The only people remaining in the White household. Though we'll get to see the rest of the family a bit, too, right Lindsey?!?

If any of *you* (I mean you readers) are also in Utah, do let us know and perhaps we can get together.

After that, Todd and I are headed here:



Beautiful Kauai, Hawaii. We're considering it a delayed graduation/post-bar trip. Except that I haven't taken the bar yet. Whatever.

If anyone has been and has any recommendations for things to do, see, or eat, let us know! We are really excited to spend some time together. We'll miss Joseph like crazy but he's going to be taken great care of by his Aunt Nonnie and his Nana, Grandpa, and Uncle Brent.

We'll probably also spend some time in Los Angeles with Todd's family, and plenty of time hanging around San Diego doing all of the touristy things that are harder to do when one is working.

Hooray for summer vacation ...

Growing Up

Yesterday I called my mother-in-law to check on Joseph -- Todd was up golfing with his dad so Joseph was away for a couple of days playing with his nana and grandpa and aunts and uncles and cousins. I said to her, "he's getting so skinny!" and she laughed. I guess he is not getting skinny, not really at all, but he is changing so much now that he is moving around all over the place nonstop.

So then today I was missing him and set about to figure out when exactly he started to look like he looks now, which is so different from what he looked like when he was born. Impossible. But it was fun to look at how much he has changed. If you're not interested in seeing 15 pictures of Joseph ... stop now. But for those who care (mostly me), I'm about to document his growth month-by-month. (Admittedly, I am also doing this because I am waiting around for some pumpkin chocolate chip bread to finish baking before I can go to bed. Started it a bit too late tonight ... )















Birth
















One Month
















Two Months
















Three Months
















Four Months





















Five Months
















Six Months
















Seven Months
















Eight Months
















Nine Months

















Ten Months





















Eleven Months





















Twelve Months





















Thirteen Months
















Fourteen Months

Toothy Grin

Check out those teeth!

He has a couple of molars now. But I recommend you not put your fingers in his mouth to try to get a look at them.

A Painful Confession, or, Peer Pressure

OK, here it comes.

I've tried to keep this a secret.

I feel like such a fake.

Please still be my friends.

Please don't mock me *too* much. I'm fragile.

OK.

I went to buy Breaking Dawn at midnight last Friday with some members of a book club I'm in. It really pains me to admit this on my blog, but I felt compelled to fess up. I *wasn't* going to buy it; I was just going to see the spectacle and to hang out with some fun girls. But then we ended up getting there a little late and they reopened the bookstore just for us and I felt guilty and went ahead and bought it.

And read it.

I think I'll have to re-read Gilead now to cleanse my soul.

No, I am not in this picture. We didn't dress up ... though we should have. These were some nice girls we met at the bookstore. They were waiting for their parents to come and pick them up ...