Dear Santa

Since you are magic and can do anything, the following is what I'd like for Christmas.
WARNING: This is gonna be a toughie.
1. For Josie to embrace her sippy cup. Or at least, for your elves to invent one that she actually likes.
Sure, she enjoys them in so much as they are liquid-filled missiles. But to drink out of, not so much. Girl likes her bottle. What can I say? She get it from her mama.
I've heard from several mommy mentors that often it takes several different kinds before the "right one" is found. But dang, yo! That gets expensive. Do I really have to invest $80 dollars in sippy cups? Or does the trial of various kinds just pass enough time for her to warm up to the idea in general?
Help a good girl out. I can't keep calling her sippy cup "ba-ba" and thinking I'm gonna fool her.
2. For Josie to embrace milk. Or at least, for your elves to find a cow that makes milk Josie will drink.
Man, when Josie finally decided she liked formula, she committed. She's tolerating the half and half bottles (half formula/half whole milk), but she's flat out rejecting the just milk bottles. Even when we warm the milk. Short of dunking some Oreos in there, how else can I get her to make the switch? Haven't I been nice?
That's all. You made Artie on Glee walk. This should be doable, too.
I'm counting on you, Santa.

Kitchen Helper

So, I don't wanna brag, but I pretty much have the best kitchen helper ever.
Josie loves to hang out in the kitchen. Some of her most favorite toys are in there: refrigerator magnets and pots and pans.
Behold:



P.S. I still haven't talked her into making me lunch, though.

My little monkey

Josie's got Daddy reeled in, and it's so cute.
But Daddy's got strategy. He's setting a good example. For instance, snacking. That's not a Twinkie in his hand.
I think by seeing us enjoy good food, Josie tries good food. And she can think she's in charge.

Yogurt? I love yogurt.

Seriously, I think she does. Maybe too much.

Yogurt and her favorite pastas are the only things she'll allow me to spoon feed her. While both make her happy, only one makes a considerable mess. (Which deep down, kind of makes me happy. I'm not yet out of  the sloppy-baby-covered-in-food-oh-look-she's-so-cute phase. Soon, though. Soon.)
And I'd feel guiltier ('cause seriously point me out a momma who couldn't feel guiltier) about the sugar in her organic blueberry yogurt if it weren't so high in protein, calcium and vitamins A & D. At least, I point those things out to my conscience when I do start to fret about the sugar.
Speaking of sugar, look at the monster that greeted me when I went to pick up my daughter from her day care Halloween party

Little lady was tweaking like Andy Dick after an all-nighter.
Day care gave her class cupcakes, cheese puffs, fried chicken strips and bananas. All things the parents brought for the party, mind you. Yeah. Guess who brought the bananas? And yeah. Guess who ate the bananas?
Ah well, it was a special occasion. And we did try.
Truthfully, she had a great time and was super cute covered in frosting. I just hope these moments really are only special occasions. I don't want to raise a sugar monster.

Mommy's little baby loves cornbread, cornbread

My southern belle had a down home feast Sunday night. I'm talking pinto beans and cornbread, y'all.

And judging by her face and hands and shirt, she loved it.

Then again, it's hard not to love my husband's homemade cornbread. Just ask Josie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtkbHO7IDVI

And look! She has her Braves shirt on. It don't get more southern.

P.S. I did it! Pshew. I'm s-m-r-t.

My kitchen helpers

Here's a peep over the guard rails and into the pit of my mad dash to make dinner most nights. Introducing my "helpers" if you will...all except poor Maxine. The only 70-pound sheprador I know who is scared of cameras.

Daddy often takes pictures while Mommy is up to her wrists in pumpkin bread batter or giblet gravy. Josie's job is to look cute and eat things.

Like, um, lens caps. (Seriously, we don't let her eat lens caps. Though she tries mightily.)

So lookout Keebler elves! These are the best food-makin' helpers ever. And they don't wear creepy yellow short pants and floppy red hats. (Seriously, they don't. Though they'd be mighty cute in that get-up, too.)

Land shark

The central Mississippi land shark may be a smallish creature during her infancy. But even at 20 pounds, she circles dens and dining rooms and kitchens with a ferocious appetite.

And though toothless, her jaws manage to overpower the unfortunate morsels that find themselves in her way.

Here, we see her helpless prey is a strawberry yogurt melt. She has not met many of these in her short lifetime. Still, it seems this cunning predator is set on attack.

Perhaps the most dangerous feature of the land shark, besides her appetite, is her lightning fast phalanges. Indeed, this is a feat of anatomy her oceanic cousins wished they possessed.

And what the land shark lacks in toothage, she more than makes up for with powerful grip and gaping jaw. CHOMP!

Poor yogurt melt never saw her coming. We can only hope it didn't have a family.