While conducting a phone interview for a writing project the other day, I put Joe in his crib so that he could play in a contained area.

When I returned to his room, I found the crib scooted about 2.5 feet from the wall, and the video monitor unclipped from the bars and totally unplugged.

And look how proud he is to have done it!

I spoke to my dad on the phone shortly after this discovery, and asked how he thought Joe might have managed this feat. He guessed that Joe had rocked on his hands and knees, which scooted the crib, inch by inch, away from the wall. Mystery solved!

Joe is enjoying the iPhone as much as I am!

Our new favorite app is “Smack Talk,” which features small animals who repeat everything back to you in silly voices.

He got pretty chatty with it today:

Later this month, Joe will see a developmental pediatrician at Kennedy-Krieger Institute in Baltimore. He’s still taking his sweet time meeting all his milestones (most kids his age are running, climbing and saying a few words by now), and the people at Kennedy-Krieger are good at solving those kinds of mysteries.

Just as we did last year in Pittsburgh, we’re using Joe’s doctor appointment as an excuse to take a family mini-vacation. I haven’t been to Baltimore since I was a kid, but I remember a really cool aquarium! I’m also looking forward to Maryland crab cakes – YUM.

After that last post, we had offers of help from all over. My friend Robin, whose work takes her all over the state, popped into grocery stores along the way looking for Joe’s food. She got all of these!

More is on the way from friends-of-friends in New York and Maryland, and from Joe’s grandparents in New York.

Amazing!

Joe is not the most enthusiastic eater you’ve ever met (which is weird, because his parents LOVE food!) There’s nothing he really seems to hate, but it takes him forever to finish a meal, and sometimes he just quits about three spoonfuls in. Maddening.

Anyway, to keep him from wasting away to nothing, we are always looking for high-calorie stuff that he will enjoy. We add oil, butter, peanut butter, heavy cream or cream cheese to just about everything.

But that’s hard to do when you’re “on the road,” so we have always liked having this stuff on hand to throw in his bag:

It’s 230 calories a serving, and he gobbles it right up.

But the Food Lion where I have always gotten it suddenly stopped carrying it. Kroger, Ukrop’s, Target, K-Mart and Wal-Mart don’t have it either. Even if they carry the Beech-Nut brand, they don’t have this variety.

The Food Lion near my parents’ house had eight jars the last time we were there. I squealed in delight and bought every last one of them. But they were on clearance, so I’m pretty sure that was the last of them.

The fine folks at Beech-Nut have ignored two e-mails from me, so they’re no help. But they still have this stuff on their Web site, so I don’t think it’s been discontinued. It’s out there somewhere!

We’re hoping that some of our friends out there in cyberspace can help. Next time you’re out for groceries, look for Beech-Nut Whole Wheat Pasta Parmesan. Maybe one of those regional chains has all of them?!

Edit: Just heard back from the people at Beech-Nut:

… we are sorry to tell you that Beech-Nut DHA Whole Wheat Pasta Parmesan was discontinued earlier this year. It is no longer in production.

OK, so whatever we find is definitely the last of it. Happy hunting!

Need to lure your kid into crawling across the room?

There’s an app for that!

The replacement cord for my camera has arrived!

So, just in time for March, the February photos and videos are now posted on Flickr.

Some highlights:

After months of daydreaming about it, I finally got one. Not only does it take pretty good photos and video, but also lets me blog from anywhere! (I guess you can also make phone calls on it?)

Anyway, here’s some Joe for you!

Patrick had the day off of work, so he came along for Joe’s usual physical therapy appointment. Joe always does well in PT, but today, with Dada to cheer him on … he did great.

Cristin, Joe’s physical therapist, put him in what they call a “pony walker” — it’s a gait trainer that straps the kid into an upright position, with feet against the floor, so he can push off and “walk” with support.

Now, keep in mind that they have put him in this thing three or four other times in the past few months, and each time he just sat there looking at me.

But today (and I am totally not taking this personally), he pushed off and scooted toward Dada!

Cristin was so impressed that she carried it out to to the car and let us take it home. Joe has been scooting around the kitchen and seeming as pleased with himself as we are. He just backed Lola into a corner!

He has a way to go in controlling the thing, but look how well he’s doing already:

Somewhere in our recent travels, Joe and I misplaced the cord we use to upload photos from the camera to the computer. Booooo.

There’s a new one on the way (which means I’m juuussst about to find the old one!) so get ready for lots of photos in a week or so.

In the meantime, the webcam still works! Here is Joe performing a favorite song-and-dance number, with help from Dada: