Pictures

Here are some pictures, first Jocelyn on the potty. A typically day involves 2-3 visits to the potty and successful pees just about every time.


First foods, broccoli and carrots steamed, she didn't know what to do with them.
Next up a banana... At first, it was just a cool new play thing but I have seen her actually gumming some banana now.


Her favorite food so far is peach. Here she actually got one into her mouth.

Some words on the potty

So just to update we have given Jocelyn peaches and rice cake. Both have made it to her mouth. :-) The dogs surprisingly are not fans of peaches but they do fight over a dropped rice cake.

I recently read the book Diaper Free Before 3 and wanted to share a little bit about how I am using the book. Jocelyn is just over 6 months old and she will pee on the potty (yes really she does. I'm not making this stuff up) anywhere from 1 to 3 times a day. The book explained that building the potty into a daily routine helps to get the child potty trained. The author suggests that the best times to add the potty are right after waking (either first thing in the morning or after a nap), right after eating, or before bath. So one day Jocelyn woke up from her nap and her diaper was dry. I thought hmm let's try this potty thing. So I held her over the toilet and made some psst noises and won't you know it she peed. I was so proud I wanted to run out and tell the whole neighborhood. She was not even 6 months old and had peed on the potty. At this point I was hooked. I went out and bought an infant potty and we have been using it anywhere from 1 to 3 times a day. For now, I have been just putting her on it when she wakes up from a nap or in the morning. In fact, I have found that if I don't put her on it after a nap she will pee while I am trying to put on a new diaper. (That was a fun discovery to make) I had a few objections to the book. The main one being the author's bias to bottle feeding. However, I do have to say the principles about starting early and that babies can use the potty at a young age have converted me. Jocelyn might just find some cotton underwear in her pile of gifts for her first birthday. I am not naive enough to expect that she will be trained by then but I am thinking 18 months might be a good goal to aim for. Each time she pees I am still in awe and she smiles at me like 'aw mom it is so nice not to be sitting in my own urine.' Ok so maybe she isn't thinking that but she sure is a cutie. I'll have to get a picture of her on her potty.

Food and 6 month appt

So Jocelyn made it to 6 months on breast milk alone. :-) I'm so proud. We are taking the baby led weaning approach to solids which basically skips purees and goes straight to finger foods and the baby feeds herself. So far we have offered her steamed carrots and broccoli as well as raw cucumber and banana. The dogs are really enjoying this as they have had carrots, broccoli, and banana so far. Jocelyn licked the carrots and put the cucumber in her mouth. So it is slow going but I know she'll get the hang of it. Plus it isn't like she is hurting for food. She weighed 17 lbs at her 6 month appointment (75th percentile) and was 28.5 inches long (off the charts). So she is growing just fine. We have some pictures of the first foods that I'll have to get off the camera soon. She is also 'crawling'. She basically can drag herself where ever she wants to go. All fours can't be too far behind. The doctor said to get baby proofing as she will likely be walking around 9 months.

Long time

It has been a very long time since I updated this blog. Baby has arrived. 7 lb 11 oz 21 in long girl on October 16, 2009 after a two day failed induction due to low fluids around the baby. A c-section was not what I had wanted but the birth story will wait for another day. She is the love of our lives. So beautiful and funny and smart and activate. Her name is Jocelyn. She will be 6 months old at the end of this week. I am proud to say that she has been exclusively breastfed since birth. No formula here. We even survived my gall bladder surgery without supplementing (that's a story for another day). So we are about to embark on the world of solid foods with Jocelyn. I have been doing a lot of reading and have decided to go with the baby led weaning approach to solids. Basically, it allows the baby to feed herself from about 6 months on regular adult table foods like broccoli, carrots, bananas, pork, etc. No purees, no force feeding. Just a baby exploring and enjoying her food along side her parents. I'm hoping to document this journey and a few others on this blog. For more information on BLW, check out these sites:

Baby-led Weaning - based around the book by Gil Rapley
BLW blog - two moms following their children's journey through solids

So now how about some pictures:

In the hospital

First day home

First Christmas

In her Easter Dress

Smiling :-)