Merry Christmas from Madame

I could show you how darn cute Madame was in her Christmas morning PJs before we opened Christmas gifts

Or her mad unwrapping skills (pretty impressive considering that she just shy of six months)

Or true to form the box is ALWAYS more exciting than the present.

But the photo that will define Jocelynne's first Christmas?

Turns out sweet pickles seem to be Jocelynne's favorite food. No making gross faces, no throwing it on the floor just gnawing on it for a good 5-10 minutes till it was too soft and she wanted another one. Yeah trust my kid to be strange like that.

Merry Christmas Jocelynne

Dear Jocelynne,



A little note on Christmas Eve for my dearest Madame.



Today you mastered rolling from your tummy to your back. Unlike when you learned to roll from your back to your tummy almost two weeks ago you just up and decided to do it. No teasing us for weeks being close but not quite, no only doing it when no one was watch for the first week, nope you just flipped over like you had been doing it all your life right in front of the whole extended family the first time. Then the second third and fourth time in rapid secession.



You are working very hard on sitting. Your not quite sure how this is going to come in handy yet and every time I put you down on the floor in a sit you look at me like "but mom rolling around on the floor is MUCH more fun" Your learning seems to be exponential and each thing you pick up faster and faster. Just remember while I am so proud of you there is no rush you have your whole life ahead of you, you can stay my baby for a few more minutes.

I am so impressed at how social you are, you have been so excited to meet the extended family and love all the attention you get from them.

Chilling with your Uncle Gabe.

Getting some luvin from Great Auntie Net

Meeting Great Grandma Anderson for the first time a few days ago.

You with your Uncle Camron.

Finally on Christmas Eve we know Daddy is missing the fact that he can't be with you even though he loves you very much so we thought we would wrap him up a special present and send it his way.

Love,

Mummy

Getting to know you

The best part of being home this holiday season is that Madame has been able to meet so much of my family. My mom was kind enough to take us up to meet up with my cousin Tiffany who is visiting her in laws not far from us and her little boy Lucas who is six months older than Madame. Not only did Madame get a kick out of sitting in a high chair for the first time, but she could not get enough of her new friend. She loved to watch what ever he was doing and would hold her hand out and Lucas would take it and hold on to it. They even swapped toys for a while, very cute to watch. Afterward Madame was well and truly worn out and slept for the over an hour drive home.

Get Them Addicted Young

So Mama has an addiction that she only gets to feed every few years when she come back to the US to visit. Sonic's Cranberry Limeade. Oh so yummy, I craved them so bad when I was pregnant with Madame I made fake ones at home but they were just never as good. Figured I might as well get Madame addicted while we were here.

(No Sonic Cranberry Limeades were harmed in the taking of these photos)

Madame's Monday Update

Dear Jocelynne,
I took this photo to send to daddy (to show your true allegiance was still with him of course) and two minutes later after I had finished I came back to this
Yup we have a roller, you could have waited for mama so she could see it in person!

Madame's Got a Brand New Ride

Now I love our gigantic three wheeler SUV of a pushchair we have in the UK, nearly all of he miles I post about walking in Fitness Fridays it has done with me. The problem was even with travel insurance if something happened to it while it was in the cargo hold of the plane the excess was half of what we paid for the pushchair. There was also a space issues with my MIL flying out with us; that was three large suitcases, three carry on items, two adults and a baby with a car seat. That kind of pushed my parents two Ford Focus' to the max space wise.

I was not too worried about going out and about shopping and such with the slings I have carried her for long periods in our ring sling and even thought I had only had a few chances to use the Mei Tai I was sure it would offer the same support. The problem I ran into was our walks. In Kansas a lot of the time it is cold enough that both Madame and Mama would need to be bundled up quite and bit and this is one of the areas that slings and wraps let you down in. It took me all of about two days without a walk to break down and find an inexpensive umbrella stroller online in the sales.

Madame loves the fact that walks are back on the table! The weather has been decent and actually in the picture she is probably over dressed for the 40ish degree weather we were out in.

The advantages to this stroller is I can check it at the gate on the return trip home so it does not go through being put in the cargo hold and while I certainly want to get it home in one piece I also paid less than $30 for it so if something were to happen to it I would be a lot less devastated than if something were to happen to my beloved Phil and Ted SUV of a pushchair. It will also come in handy for trips up to London on public transport. I have used the Phil and Ted on the buses as they have a dedicated area for prams and pushchairs but the thought of using the Tube with a large pushchair scared the crap out of me. I am looking forward to giving it a go when we get back to the UK and the weather improves!

Never Get Tired

Of seeing Madame's cute little tushie in cute cloth diapers! Some people doing for the green factor, some the cost factor, me I do it for the cuteness factor. Okay a little for the cost and green factor but not as much as the cute factor.

Madame's Monday Update American Edition

Uncle Grant getting you started early on family game night.

Dear Jocelynne,

We have not done an update for so long I feel like a bad mommy. We made it to the US just fine you did so good on the plane from London Heathrow we were able to get you a seat and you fell asleep in your car seat just as the plane engines roared to life for take off. No problem with take of or landing pressure changes thank goodness. You did have a small melt down when we got on the plane from Dallas to Wichita but once we started taking off you decided to feed and were out the rest of the way.

You had a great time getting passed around on Thanksgiving and meeting so much of your family. I was surprised at how easy you went to everybody but you just took it all in.

You have started to become more willful in the last week or so, you very much let me know when you don't want to do something whether it is a diaper change or going to bed or being put down while I do something. Part of it is funny to watch but I see a very strong willed little girl coming out!

I tried at a couple of meals to introduce to you food and Baby Led Weaning but you were more interested in the forks everyone else was using. I guess your not ready yet, we will give it another go in a few weeks.

You love your Grandma and Grandpa America so much, you especially have your Grandpa America wrapped round your finger. We went with them to church on Sunday and Grandpa took you from person to person telling them all that this was his grand daughter Jocelynne. He was so proud of you!

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy,

Today was a busy day. I tried toast for the first time, I have learned that toast sticks are good for crushing into crumbs in your hand, rubbing into your clothes, and for throwing on the ground. Eating them I am not so interested in so it a good thing I still have Mama around.

I got dressed up in a festive outfit for the first time

and then supervised Grandma decorating the tree, I was quite mesmerised by the fact that the tree rotates round and round!

Later in the afternoon when Grandma and Mama went to get cat food and drinks from Sonic I stayed with Grandpa and Zadie Mae and they helped me with my rolling over. I am getting pretty good at it but still need some help, I think any day now I will be able to do it myself.

I miss you and Mr. Kitty lots, hugs and really slobbery kisses,

Madame

The Adventures of Madame and her Magical Sling Mei Tai Style

Madame got a new sling! So she thought she would use it at Heathrow airport on her way to see Grandma and Grandpa America!

Snoozin in the new BabyHawk Mei Tai

Fitness Friday

Fitness Fridays are on hiatus while Madame and I are in the US. I am still tracking my food using WW and using my parent's scales. I am still loosing some weight it looks like according to the scales but I don't post anything but when I go to my WW weigh in as all scales are slightly different. My goal while I am at home over the holidays is to maintain the 170lb I had gotten down to before I left for the states, if I loose weight it is a bonus but I did not want to put too much pressure on myself while on vacation over the holiday season. We will see you again second week of January!