Tonight Tim showed Joseph how to bang this bowl and spatula together and here is the little sausage now having fun trying to do it himself!

As of this afternoon, Joseph is already showing off some new skills! He has just about got the hang of that sitting up thing now, and he has also learned how to hold two objects at the same time, and bang those two things together! It sure is fun to watch him learn and grow!

Joseph is seven months old today! I just can't believe how quickly time is flying by—it's been so amazing to watch him develop into such a happy, smiley, chunky, curious, active little guy! I wonder what the next seven months will bring?

Well, we've had a great visit with my parents, but we're just about ready to head back to NM now. Here is Joseph getting in some last playtime with Grandma Susan before the long road trip. I'm sure glad it won't be long until we see them again!

Tonight was a really, really late night for Joseph, especially when you take into account the time change between NM and AZ! He has taken it like a champ, though, without any real fussiness! He's about to hit the sack now, but it might be hard for him to settle down—I think he's entered the late night giddy phase!

Joseph is sleeping now, but Grandma and Grandpa can't seem get enough of him. Here they are reviewing the day's events on their camera!

Tonight Mom and Dad are taking us out to Organ Stop Pizza! I can't believe Tim has never been here before! Well, I guess I can, considering he didn't grow up in AZ, but I can't believe he hasn't been with us before!



Of course, it's Joseph's first time, too, but he has a good excuse for that! It's pretty obvious from the look on his face that he's not exactly used to extremely loud organ music and bright flashing lights, but he hasn't broken down crying yet, so I think he's doing rather well!

He's finally ready to venture away from Mama and Daddy and over to Grandma and Grandpa, but he still needs to be held tightly or he gets a little fussy!



Finally feeling ready for a toy, he grabbed this bright red cup, but I'm not sure he's really focusing on it. He just can't seem to take his eyes off the show in front of him! I don't really blame him, though, Organ Stop Pizza is definitely an exciting place to be!

It's Grandma Susan's turn to play with Joseph! She has actually had quite a bit of time with the little sausage already, of course, but somehow we haven't captured any shots of it until now!

Grandma decided they would spend some time playing the piano together, and Joseph has been enthusiastically banging away at the keys! I think he's finding great satisfaction in the realization that he's the one making all that noise!

My mom has huge stuffed bear collection, comprised of brown bears, white bears, stiff bears, floppy bears, neat bears, sloppy bears (this is beginning to sound like a Dr Seuss book), big bears, small bears, and one crazy bear that always looks like it's alive when you pick it up and move it around!

Today Joseph got his first introduction to the uncannily lifelike bear, and although he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, he had a lot of fun trying to figure it out!

There isn't much to report here, I just love this shot of Joseph and my dad!

Usually, when Joseph gets full, he just stops acting interested in eating. Today, though, when he got full, he actually started moaning and groaning. I guess he has one stuffed little tummy!

We made it to Tempe last night without any trouble. Joseph obviously remembered Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman, and gave them both a huge smile as soon as he saw them! Before lunch this afternoon, here are Joseph and Grandpa Lloyd just enjoying a little playtime together!

We're on our way to AZ again, this time to visit my parents in Tempe! We've been having a good time traveling so far and we're already in Flagstaff, just a couple hours away from our destination!

We stopped for a break at this lovely cemetery right outside of NAU campus and saw loads of Northern Flickers like this one climbing up the tree trunks and drinking from the lawn sprinklers! As we were leaving, we spotted Tim's cousin, Brandon, taking a noontime stroll. He was definitely surprised to see us when we zoomed over to say hello!

Here are just a couple of fun shots of Joseph and Tim playing around after dinner!

It's Tim's first Father's Day! As you might expect, Tim is taking some time today to just enjoy being with the little sausage. We're also going to celebrate later with some turkey tacos and a little Tres Leches Cake. I hope it's a fun day for Tim—he certainly does deserve it!

When my parents came to NM, my dad brought us one of his handmade, tough, and attractive bird feeders! Although it took a little time for the word to get out, we now have quite a few regular customers. The birds here in NM are a whole different set than the ones we've seen in TX or VA, like the Juniper Titmouse in this shot!

Here's a female Black-headed Grosbeak. She's not quite as brilliant as the male would be, but definitely lovely in her own right!

This Mountain Bluebird is the only bluebird that is entirely blue, unlike the Eastern and Western Bluebirds, which both have quite a bit of red on them. This fellow doesn't actually eat at our feeder, but he's fun to have around anyway!

Although this may look like a bluebird, it's actually a Western Scrub Jay. It's quite an intelligent bird, and the largest one we've seen at our feeder!

This funny little bird is a Mountain Chickadee. We've seen quite a few of them recently, including some surprisingly noisy fledglings pestering their parents for food!

Just recently, Joseph has started to actually enjoy playing on the floor on his own, and that includes being on his tummy. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up crawling after all! In any case, he's a lot of fun to watch as he rolls and squirms around!

This afternoon, Joseph made two clever eating-related discoveries: 1) If he sucks his thumb after each bite, it really helps him get that food down, and 2) if he rests his head on his arm, he can be a little more comfy in the highchair! What a smart and funny little guy!

Thanks to Tim's parents, Joseph has access to a highchair until the end of the summer! We'll be acquiring our own when we get back to VA, but we didn't really want to buy one here in NM since we wouldn't have room in our car to take it back with us!

Here's a shot of Joseph getting his first bite of sweet potatoes. I sure hope he likes them!



Well, he didn't eat much, but he's still happy! So far, Joseph hasn't outright rejected any food, but we'll see what happens when we get to broccoli or spinach!

Joseph sounded like he was waking up from his nap this afternoon, but when I walked in he looked like this! What a sleepy little angel!

It's our last morning in Payson and Grandma Cindy couldn't resist getting all the grandkids together for a group shot. What a handsome bunch!

While Tim and I get us ready to go, Tim's brother, Rob, is getting a little one-on-one time with Josephus. I've heard from Jen what a fun uncle Rob is, and from Joseph's face, I believe it!

Here we are at the end of our visit! It's been so nice to be with family—hopefully it won't be long until we're together again!

We're back at Grandma and Grandpa's place now, and Joseph is getting his first bath in a big tub! He's seems to be enjoying the novelty of it all, but I think he'd be having even more fun if he could sit up, which I'm sure he'll be able to soon!

He's all clean and ready for bed now! Aunt June and Uncle Ron arrived just in time to say good night, and Joseph just can't stop laughing at Uncle Ron's funny faces. What a hoot!

This afternoon we're off to the park to get a little fresh air and to give the kiddos a chance to run around, or in Joseph's case, to roll around and try to steal Benjamin's blanket!

Here we are all eating lunch!

Although the park has a neat playground, Jonathan and Taylor are much more interested in playing croquet with Uncle Tim and Grandpa Steve!

It's a lovely day to be outside! The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, and we're together with family!

Here's a cute shot of little Benjamin—he obviously wants to play croquet, too! I can't believe Joseph is going to be running around like this in another few months.

It's my turn to play croquet! When I used to go visit my Gedlaman grandparents, I would always get out their croquet set, stick the wickets in the grass, and hit the balls around, but I'm not sure I ever learned the real rules of the game until now! One of the more advanced skills, apparently, is learning how to take your opponents' balls and "knock 'em to Timbuktu"!



Since I'm playing croquet, and Tim is playing frisbee with Rob, Grandma Cindy is watching Joseph. They sure do look happy together!

Aunt June stopped by to see us this morning! Well, actually, to be perfectly honest, she stopped by to see Joseph, and to bring him a fun gift -- a cute little Care Bear!

Here's a neat video of Grandmother Allison and Aunt June playing with Joseph during Aunt June's visit. How fun!

Good morning Joseph! He's obviously happy to still be at Grandma and Grandpa Allison's!