My parents bought Josephine a play yard as an early birthday present. It is really a fence in the shape of an octagon. We have it taking up most of the floor in the living room. Todd was so excited that it was an ocatgon since he likes the UFC fights and they fight in a octagon shaped ring. He was going to dress Josephine up in fighting clothes have her put her dolly in a choke hold. So far, she only chews on dolly and occasionally throws her which is more WWF style than UFC. The octagon has worked out very well. We have a step in our living room. The TV and entertainment stuff is on setup on open shelves. We have large folding doors just waiting to pinch little fingers. Basically, our house is not setup for a wandering baby. The octagon gives her a big area to play, crawl and practice walking. She moves around by holding on to things like the fence walls of the play yard, but she doesn't walk in the center of the room. She will stand up on her own for a few seconds, but then falls to her bottom. I got so excited when she was standing that I yelled and she immediately sat down. Todd's mom sent J some dresses and decorations for her first birthday. I can't believe she is going to be a year old. The first three months were very slow probably because the nights were so very long, but the rest of the time flew by.

     We took a trip to the volcano. We stayed at the Volcano Inn in Volcano village. It is in the rain forest so the trees and flowers are very pretty. The sky is so blue and the weather is so clear on that side of the island. The wind is sending all the vog to this side of the island. It would be great if the wind shifted and sent the vog away. We left on a Friday and after we checked into the inn, we drove to see the lava entering the ocean. Like good hikers, we read all the instructions and followed them. We had our long pants packed, sturdy shoes, lots of water, flashlights, extra batteries, bandaids, cell phones charged, diapers, wipes, on and on. I was so proud of the county of Hawaii. It was organized unlike most governmental things in Hawaii. They had guides telling you where to park. There were stands selling coffee, juice, and snacks. There were porta-potties. The path over the lava to the viewing point was marked with reflective beacons. The viewing area was roped off and monitored by county officials and police. If Hawaii put that much effort into other things it did, it would be wonderful. We arrived before sunset. The view was great, but we should have had a tripod for the camera. Todd had trouble holding it still enough for some of the shots. The ocean was pounding the cliff where the lava was spilling in. It was an amazing event to witness. I recommend seeing it if you come to this island. Josephine was in a good mood and really cooperative. I fed her peas in the back of the Jeep before we set off on the hike and we got back to the inn about 8:30 so we opted to skip her bath for the night. In the morning we went out to the Lava Rock Cafe for breakfast and Josephine ate breakfast at a restaurant for the first time. She ate the food we brought, but it was a milestone none the less. The waitress and the other patrons thought she was just so cute of course. We then checked out of the inn and went to see Halemau'mau crater. It is the vent that is erupting gas and ash. We only smelled sulphur once when driving to the vent. J had a nap in her stroller at the crater. I don't think she was really impressed. On the way home, we stopped for pizza in Ocean View. It is about the best pizza on the island. Unfortunately, I started to feel really terrible. I felt faint so Todd packed up the pizza and baby and we stopped at a friend's house in Ocean View. Thank you so much Steve and Gail for your last minute hospitality. They saved me before when I was pregnant and had to pee so badly on the way home from one of Todd's wrestling matches in Hilo.

     Todd's wrestling team had their banquet at the beginning of the month. It was at the school. I wish I would have known that they were getting Hong Kong Chop Suey take out. I would have made food. That food is so bad. Todd actually thought Josephine pooped and the smell was the smoked "meat" on his plate. The desserts were pretty good and it was fun to see the kids get their awards. Wally, the head coach, asked trivia questions about the wrestling year and gave out gifts like jump ropes and Jamba Juice gift cards. Strangely enough most of the answers were "Coach Todd" or something pertaining to the crazy things Todd says or does. Todd loves coaching and I am happy found Konawaena.

     Josephine clapped for the first time this month. It is so cute. She figured out that her hands make noise and she gets so happy when she claps. We say "Yeah Baby" and clap. She stops whatever she is doing, sits down, claps, laughs and smiles. It is wonderful to be around and a part of such pure happiness and joy. It is something that we lose as adults in the muddiness of our worries and concerns. I need to stop what I am doing, clap and laugh more. J played catch with Daddy. It was with a blow up ball and they rolled it on the ground, but it was a real game. Of course she stopped playing once I got the camera out to film. She was more interested in what I was doing. J and I went to Aunty Beryl's house to make jelly. It was my first jelly making experience. I think I can do it on my own. It is not as scary as I thought. We made jaboticaba jelly. Jaboticaba fruit is very cool since it grows right on the bark of a tree. Look it up on the internet to see it. More of J's bottom teeth are coming in. She has been pretty fussy. She doesn't want to eat much and she cries at night. J is venturing into the world of lumpy food and chewing. She has eaten bananas, tofu and freeze dried baby fruit treats. She runs hot and cold with this lumpy food thing. You never know what she is going to be like from day to day. Hey that sounds a lot like someone else I know ... ME!

     It is exciting! Some of our vegetable plants have come up in the garden. Our carrots and two types of beans are up. Our taro is doing good, but we aren't sure if we have an edible kind since it just showed up. We didn't plant it and have no idea how it came to be in our garden. We also planted spinach, tomatoes, chile peppers and pineapples. With the price of gas here, we better grow as much of our food as we can. Speaking of planting, Todd is planting lots of new coffee trees. While planting, he found a Jackson's chameleon. He brought up to the house to show Josephine. Our baby has no fear of bugs or animals. She reached right out to touch it.

     We had the nicest couple from Canada stay with us this month. They are originally from the US and are both nurses. They gave us a nice thank you card and money and the apartment was neat! What great guests.

     Todd turned 35 this month. For almost a month, I was married to a younger man. I guess he is always younger, but I like to forget about that nit-picky point. The celebration for Todd was going on our mini-vacation to the volcano. I also made him a homemade ice-cream cake. I used a glass mixing bowl as the mold and "iced" it with frozen cool whip. I broke up chocolate cookies and put them in as two layers of crunchy ants. (If you ever ate a Carvel Ice-Cream cake, you know about the crunchy ants.) My cake ended up looking like a giant white boob. Todd loved it. It was really tasty, so tasty that I ended up eating most of it which was a bad thing.

     Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and Josephine's daddy! Happy Birthday to our little friend, Zoe. Happy Anniversary to Jodee and Jim who are expecting their second child!