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 ...

How we spend our days

For grandparents, and others, who are far away, here are some more videos and images of Joseph's walking skills.

Joseph's favorite pastime:

(If video does not load, click here)

A trip to the zoo:

A Visit from Nonnie

Aunt Nonnie/Hoadus/Larvis/Lauren came for a visit last week. Lauren just finished her first year at BYU, where she is studying Elementary Education. Lauren is the most talented person with children that I have ever met and she will be a fantastic teacher. Kids love her, and she loves them right back. Nieces and nephews are no exception. My favorite morning was Sunday, when, by the time I came out of my room, Lauren had gotten Joseph up, given him a bottle, changed his diaper, and had him in his high chair happily eating breakfast. I wouldn't have known how to do that at nineteen ...

We had lots of fun; here are some pictures:

Dinner at Pizza Port in Solana Beach -- Joseph was less than thrilled with the wait.


Lena holding Joseph -- who is almost her size.

I was singing Itsy Bitsy Spider and Joseph was loving it.

We went to the Birch Aquarium. This picture belies Joseph's love for the aquarium and his love for Lauren. Not sure why he is looking so ambivalent ...

I was waiting to finish this post until I had gotten some cute pictures of Todd's computer, but soon my tribute to Nonnie will be completely outdated so I'll leave it to him to put up more pictures if he so desires. We love you Lauren!

Todd so desires.

Therefore, more Pictures:

--Looking at a scary fish--

--At the aquarium with mommy--

--Learning to slide with Lauren--