6 Months

Jocelynne you are six months old today I have not idea how we have made it through half a year as it seems both just like yesterday they laid your squishiness on me moments after you were born and also like a life time ago.

You gained 4lbs in the six weeks that we were staying with Grandpa and Grandma America (I think they were sneaking you pork pies while I wasn’t looking!) and are up to 18lbs 6oz. You have jumped from the 50th percentile to the 90th percentile for weight but I am not too worried once you figure that crawling out you will probably slim down again!

You roll all over the place like you have always done it. You can sit on your own but fail to see the point as it means you have to be stationary so Mama has to watch you like a hawk until you learn how to safely get out a sitting position and back on the ground. Grandma America taught you to blow raspberries while we were in the US and you do it constantly now. When I go in to get you up in the morning the first thing you do is look up smile at me and then blow a raspberry, then you giggle to your self almost like you know you have done something funny.

Nothing is safe from your grasp of death! If you can reach it you grab it and if we are walking by something you want you make a lunge for it, sometimes getting lucky and sometimes just keeping Mama on her toes. You are trying your best to throw yourself off your changing table at every change, it is like you get a bout of the wiggles and CAN NOT stay still every time I go to change your diaper. I don’t mind the wiggles so much I just don’t want you to find a way throw your self off the table.

Your sleep is a mess since we have come back from the US but it has only been a week since we got back and last night we had a small victory in getting you to sleep the whole night in the crib and from midnight you only woke to feed so I am hoping it is a break through and not just a fluke.

You have started Baby Led Weaning and so far you have had potato and sweet potato wedges, rice rusks, oatmeal, cucumber, sweet pickles, bananas, and carrots. You were not a huge fan of the bananas but I think that was more that they made your hands sticky than the taste.

You are pretty much out of 3-6 month clothes and have started wearing 6-9 month clothes and some 9 month stuff from the US. It seems like we just managed to get your 0-3 month stuff stored away and now I need to pack up all the 3-6 month stuff.

You make me laugh every single day (although some days you make me want to cry as well). You will look up at me and give me the world’s largest smile and then go back to what you are doing. I still can’t believe I am your Mama. I love you so much!

Madame's Monday Update

So Madame and I made it home in one piece though we are still trying to get over jet lag who knew it could be so bad! Jocelynne was so excited to see her Daddy and has been bonding with him since we got home.

Mama has been back for her first weigh in since we got home. Some how miraculously I managed to loose half a pound over the Christmas holidays and will be back with Fitness Fridays this week.

New Years Resolutions

True to form I am running a little late posting my New Years resolutions, and no being more punctual in no going to be one of my New Years resolutions. I was punctual for years and then I had a baby, I think it could be years before I am punctual again. I think a lot of my resolutions will revolve around one word Simplify I don't think I realized before Madame not that I think I would have believed anyone if they told me but being a mom is hard it takes A LOT of time. Doing stuff with and for Madame takes more time than it looks like it should on paper. Just because I should be able to get us both up and dressed and out the door in X amount of time does not mean that it will ever be that easy. So I can bang my head on the wall and complain that no matter what I do I can't keep all the plates spinning or I can just let a few of the plates drop. So here goes:

1. Stop doing EVERY children's activity I hear about. Even having 1 activity a day is a little optimistic. Choose 2-4 things a week I really love to do with Madame and even those are not important if we don't make it to Sing Song time at the local children's center on a Monday so what the world won't end.

2. Madame seems to like her morning nap, if she continues this when we get to the UK only choose planned activities and invitations for afternoon activities. I know it is impossible to never have to do something in the morning but she has been so much happier since most days of the week she has her morning nap at home and can nap as long as she wants uninterrupted. It means I also get some time to do what I want/need.

3. Realize my goal weight at Weight Watchers. I am roughly 35lbs away from goal so if I stay on track for the year and they say 1-2lbs a week is a good weigh loss, over a year this should be obtainable. While I really want this to happen I also realize that weight loss and life don't follow a magic formula where you always loose 1-2lbs a week. I also have no idea how my body will react as I start to wean Madame onto solids and it may take a while to get my extra points allowance adjusted as we move from Madame being totally breastfed through starting solids and what I envision by the end of this year a child who nurses little or none at all.

4. Use Project Life to be able to continue scrapbooking in a less fussy way. While I love to scrapbook in the traditional way with lots of paper and embellishments I don't have the time right now. I hope that it is something that will return as Madame becomes less dependent on me. However I want my memories to be more than just photo's on a hard or even in a photo album so I am hoping that this will be a way for me to have fun with my scrapbooking but keep the work to a minimum until I can start being more creative. I have seen some cool ideas on how to alter and add to the Project Life kit so that when and if I have time can do more but if I don't just adding photos and journaling will help me to document our live through 2011.

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)