She learned to lift her head, lie on her tummy, recognize faces, respond to sounds, use her voice, follow objects with her eyes, realize that she has hands and feet, smile, laugh, bear some weight on her legs, respond when people talk to her, distinguish between different colors, imitate sounds, roll over in both directions, blow bubbles, grasp objects, pass objects from hand to hand, start eating solid food, sit up with a little help and eventually sit up with almost no help, combine syllables and express different emotions using her tone of voice, recognize emotions and different tones in other people, and of course, figure out who Mom and Dad are and that she can decide when she wants to be held and by whom. (Yep…all this stuff had to be learned folks.)

After the 6 month milestone infant development begins to become more outward than inward and it’s crazy to watch my friends. In her 7th month, she has learned that she can get herself into a sitting position. She can lunge forward and grab something if she really wants it and if it’s too far out of reach she is figuring out how to wiggle, squirm, roll and drag herself over to it. She is also getting a really good handle on the fact that just because you can’t see something, it doesn’t mean it no longer exists. Combine that with her ever expanding vocabulary (ba-ba-ba-ba, da-da-da-da, mmmmmm, th-th-th-th, p-p-p-p, ya-ya-ya-ya) and the fact that she knows how to blow raspberries, scream for attention, cough when she’s hungry, and is learning the sign for “more” (check out some baby sign language right here) and we have a little, communicating person on our hands! She is developing personality in spades my friends.

Things she likes:

• scratchy beards (sometimes)
• peek-a-boo
• Mom’s hair waving in her face
• books
• quiet time
• mimicry (we do Tarzan and the Gorilla and a lot of nursery rhymes with hand actions)
• watching people talk
• playing with the remote control
• trying to get Mom’s cell phone
• banging her toys on her high chair
• banging her toys together
• standing up
• sitting up
• swimming
• bath time
• when anyone sings to her
• people watching
• Bella
• being talked to from across a room
• her bedroom
• many, many other things

Her major dislikes so far:

• loud, sudden noises (I don’t really like those either.)
• she’s got a little bit of stranger fear (it’s best to chat with her or me for a few minutes before trying to hold her)
• cauliflower
• classical music
• lying down on her back
• changing her clothes
• yelling

It is awesome watching her figure out her likes and dislikes and discovering how she chooses to express herself. She’s pretty cool.

She did really well! She even grasped the concept of ripping the paper off of the gifts. We all thought she would be mostly interested in the wrapping or the boxes but she went right for the toys inside. Haha. She’s figured this Christmas thing out folks.

She got a little overwhelmed Christmas morning so we put her down for a nap after she opened a couple of gifts and then had “Adult” Christmas. Once she woke up she opened a few more and much later opened the rest. In the end, everything was opened and she has a full toybox to show for it, along with some practicals and some “save for later” items that I’m very excited about.

New Years came and went and there are a few things in the works in our house for 2012!

1. We are getting better and better at experimenting with different solid foods and textures! So far her favorites are peas, sweet potatoes and home-made oatmeal. She very strongly dislikes eggplant and isn’t very keen on carrots although she’ll eat about half of what she should. Ha. We’re doing our best to stay on top of making all of her food ourselves and it’s been really fun, challenging, and also extremely rewarding! The learning process is a highlight for me since I get very excited at the prospect of researching anything and it’s awesome seeing what she takes to and what she doesn’t. If you have any home-made food tips or questions I’d love to swap!

2. We are, as usual, gearing up for another big move in March although (and I say this every time) this will hopefully be the last one for quite some time. Things that are different this time around? We will be closer to Cale’s work (and possibly mine if I get a position I’ve been eyeballing for the past couple of months), no room-mates (which is a bit bittersweet), and we’re hoping to move into the East Vancouver area where 80% of the people I know in the lower mainland live! While I will miss the people we live close to now we know this is a much better idea (and money saver) for us.

3. We have a few resolutions we are working on! Things like, more time for Mom and Dad, less lazy time in front of the television (after baby is asleep), a more organized household, more home cooked meals, and Mom is making a private resolution to change her clothing habits. It’s time to invest in clothing that fits well but isn’t exercise pants and tank tops. I feel like this can only be a self esteem booster.Hopefully with the help of things like Cozi, Flylady, and Apps for Moms getting organized and simplifying our life will be easier than ever in 2012.

4. Shameless plug: Cale and his bro (Uncle Jerred) have their own contracting company under works. If you need any renovations or work done please give these guys a go! They’re very talente handy-men and between the two of them can do everything but electrical and plumbing. Check them out.

2B Constructed

There are also a few things on the go as far as making Nova’s baby food is going. Since all the food we use is organic and locally grown I felt like it would be a good idea to share all of the knowledge I’m accumulating in one easy to access place so check out my food blog. It’s under construction at the moment but will be up and running in no time.

12 Mile Organics

5. Nova’s baptism is this weekend! I was baptized and raised Lutheran and we live very close to my home church so after a lot of discussion we decided that we wanted to go ahead and have Nova baptized as well. We chose her Auntie Chantelle and Uncle Jerred as the godparents and know that they will do a great job mentoring her and loving her as she grows up.

6. You’ll be able to watch the goings on in our lives soon enough once we figure out our brand spanking new Canon Vixia camcorder!!!

After much deliberation we choose this camera, which was a very generous gift from my Dad, to record all of our family’s milestones. Let’s face it, it will be a lot of video of Nova. Nova laughing, crawling, walking, talking, and just generally being a little cutie. I’m very excited to start using it! I’m ALSO very excited about the HD and dual SD card capabilities! Whoo hoo!

We are so grateful to everyone who has been supportive of our family and continues to love us over the years. It’s so difficult to SHOW such immense appreciation for all of you but hopefully my constant bringing it up will be a good start. Thanks for an amazing 2011!!!

Photo by Tamara Lakeman Photography

We have started her on solids and she’s really taken a liking to oatmeal, carrots, peas, and yams although we keep everything very runny for now since she had some trouble with constipation (poor thing). She has also started to learn to drink from her sippy cup! She does pretty well although naturally, there is a lot of mess to clean up afterwards. Ha.

Cale and I also finally went to Baby’s World which is located just off of Lougheed Highway. It’s a wonderful little store with many, many brand names for babies. They carry furniture for the nursery, clothing, and tons of accessories. We picked up a few Christmas presents for our darling girl’s FIRST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!! My Mom was nice enough to invite us to her work Christmas Party so Nova got the chance to meet Santa for the first time ever! She was pretty impressed with his beard and glasses.

We are certainly lucky to have such an even-tempered baby. She loves going for walks and seeing what’s going on outside, and she already seems to have a great love of surprises and our rambunctious dogs. It’s a pretty rare day when she hasn’t laughed at one or all of our animals which is wonderful because we hope that all of our children will grow to be animal lovers and calm, confident world class citizens.

As for her Momma? I’m busy doing research so that I can get my doula certification in the new year!

What’s a doula you ask? “A Doula is someone^[1] who provides non-medical support to women and their families during labour and childbirth, and also the postpartum period.”

Having had such a wonderful home birthing experience with Nova I have become a bit of a crusader for women using their right to choose to have whatever sort of birth they want. I feel that more women need an advocate and coach like a doula to help them remember to make their decisions for themselves and not get caught up in medical jargon or let anyone tell them that they don’t know their own body as well as they think they do. I feel that it’s important to have someone with you who is kind and nurturing and truly has the best interests of you and your baby at heart. I think it would be amazing to be priveleged enough to be trusted in such a position and feel that it’s something I would really love. If I really enjoy working as a doula for a couple of years I’m seriously considering heading back to school to get my bachelor’s of midwifery since that would seem like the next logical step. I’m VERY excited about this progression and will probably get my doula certification in the New Year! I think that I’m going to have some wonderful experiences and meet some amazing men and women in the medical profession along the way. I can’t wait!

The Doula Services Association of BC Website

The Midwives Association of BC Website

But enough about me, here are some of my favorite photos from her 6 month photo shoot! We decided to use a different prop for the next 18 months of her life because it will be moving with us wherever we happen to go and the chair we were previously using may not. My Dad crafted this cradle himself and Nova loves to lean over the side and rock herself back and forth. We lined it with a llama skin her Uncle Jerred brought her back from Peru and dressed her in a very cute onesie that her Auntie Janet was kind enough to gift her with.

Nova’s 6 month post is coming soon, but in the meantime I thought I’d share a bit about her Mommy!

This blog originally was created to monitor my fitness and hold me accountable to anyone who happened across it. I’m certainly employing the same motivational techniques this time around.

Here are just a few things I’ve been doing over the last 5 and a half months to get back into prime time Mom shape so that when Nova is running around, I’ll be right behind her.

Food:  I have always struggled with portion sizes. I’m bigger than the average girl (5’9″ and a bit) with an athletic build so I’ve always eaten on the larger portion size without worrying much about my weight. Well, I’m getting older and my metabolism isn’t “catching up” the way I might wish it would. Ha. We’re not talking anything crazy here. Just eating regular portions and stopping when I’m full rather than adhering to the “you must finish everything on your plate always because there are starving children in Africa” mentality. My cooking is reflecting this as well. In the beginning I made the same amount of food and tried to portion it after that…CHALLENGING! Now I only make what I think I’m going to eat, and if I’m hungry after that I can have a healthy snack to tide me over. It’s a big adjustment but it’s leading to a lot of healthier lifestyle choices (and a lower grocery bill). I really enjoy trying new foods and researching healthy recipes so it’s been a fun adventure!

Fitness: I’m not a crazy person, nor do I have a lot of time. I started out trying to do a regular exercise program that I would follow rigidly in order to lose x amount of weight in x number of days. Naturally, with a baby and a full house that wasn’t possible. Differing schedules meant that my routine kept being postponed and then I’d get lazy and well, you know the story. Instead, I decided to simply try a little harder when it came to the things I already do. I take the stairs 2 at a time while I’m running up and down 8000 times a day. I go for 3 walks a day with Nova in her carrier to add more weight to the walk. I am always carrying, holding, lifting, turning, or just moving with weight for most of the day. It makes a biiiiig difference when it comes to the pounds melting off.

And since I also like to challenge myself, I’ve taken on the 100 Pushup Challenge. (Click here for the app.) I have to tell you…this is one of the easiest challenges I’ve ever done in my life. You start out with an initial test which determines which grouping of the program you’ll be in. I’m embarrassed to admit that my initial number of consecutive pushups was a whopping 4. There are 3 levels of difficulty and I’m in the easiest grouping. Today I did 55 pushups consecutively. That’s in a row folks. 55!!!! Even at my best physically I’ve never been able to do 55 pushups! And I’m only on week 3! In 3 more weeks I’ll be able to do 100. I’m pretty amazed by the whole thing. Ha. If you’re looking for an easy challenge I definitely recommend this one. It’s 5 minutes, 3 times a week, and you’ll be amazed by how quickly your muscles adapt and get stronger. Thumbs up.

I’m also asking for help! I have a regular running date with my darling Janet, I have weekly walks with Tamara, and I’m going to start going to swimming with Nova at least twice a month (hopefully more) thanks to Lia! Cale is also on board. We were tossing around the idea of a weekly date night and were feeling kind of lame about dinner and a movie once a week, so I suggested that we make our dates fitness related. Now we head out to the local Recreation Centre every Wednesday night and get fit! We each get to alternate when it comes to choosing the activity. Usually on his night he comes up with a personal training routine for us to do, and on my night we go to a class. (Tonight is Yoga!)

All in all, I’m having a lot of fun and learning a lot about food, fitness, and of course, my own body’s capabilities! I’m happy to report that I gained about 35 lbs while I was pregnant and I’m just 5 lbs shy of my pre-pregnancy weight. For me, it’s not really about the number on the scale but rather how I feel. As I’m sure most of you know, and some of you probably don’t, I struggle with S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and exercise and eating right are the best ways to combat it. Combined with the natural post-partum issues that come along with the joy of Motherhood I was hitting a bit of a rough patch but with a little willpower, motivation and the help of all of you my waist is shrinking, my biceps are growing, and this is shaping up (get it?!) to be an exceptionally healthy year for our little family.

Here are a few websites I’ve been using when it comes to recipes, portion control, and motivation:

Sparkpeople.com – this site allows me to punch in a meal and find out the calories I’ll be ingesting. It doesn’t mean I don’t eat it, I just eat a little less than I normally would. It also has great message boards, recipes, and a buddy system! (There’s an app for that.)

Cozi.com – Mandy suggested this website and I cannot rave about it enough. The main feature is a family calendar that you can update which will send reminders to EVERYONE. So I can type in, say, “Stacey’s birthday on Friday. Remember to buy her a gift.” and Cale will get a text relaying that very message! It’s super handy and I definitely recommend it for anyone! I wish I’d been using something like this years ago! It also has handy list features, and meal plans/recipe suggestions for busy families. Love it! (There’s an app for that.)

Babybump @ Alt12.com – I joined this community while I was pregnant to get advice and meet other expecting Mom’s and the amount I’ve come to love it is surprising. I still talk to all the ladies who were due when I was and we’re all struggling with the same issues. It’s nice to have a group of ladies to turn to who will offer advice, commiserate, and support you without having to leave the comfort of my own home. It’s a great tool for expecting Mom’s, anyone dealing with infertility or miscarriages, New Mom’s, Mom’s expecting their 6th child, Dad’s, there’s a board for EVERYONE! The website is a bit dodgy but the app (for the Iphone or android phones) is very cleanly laid out. I use Alt12′s period and fertility tracker as well since it’s free and has a really great interface.

Nova is fabulous. She’s clocking in at over 14 pounds and is about 26 inches long. She can officially roll both ways but only with a lot of prompting as her preferred method of travel is to kick with her legs and bump her bottom around on the floor until she gets what she wants/where she’s going. She laughs every day at the most unusual things (Mom or Dad growling, splashing in the bath, the dogs trying to play fight) and she is sleeping all through the night with the ever so occasional night up which leaves her spoiled parents on verge of madness.

She travels well, eats well, plays well, and socializes well! In fact, there’s very little she DOESN’T do well. (*knock on wood*) On one hand, since she is so easy it seems like a no brainer to have more children, on the other, we wonder if maybe this is as good as it gets and perhaps we shouldn’t tempt fate! Either way, who knows what the future holds. For now we’ll enjoy our even tempered, amazing little girl and continue to take her monthly photos for your viewing pleasure.

Onward to lovely, starting to chunk up, Miss Nova.

I decided to make Nova a sleep sack since she had…well…none. Ha. Cale went out and bought the fabric and I went off of a McCall’s pattern I picked up at Fabricland. (I was going to wing it based on the website I linked to last time but ended up being too chicken. Ha)

Nevertheless, here is my progress, more or less, in photos.

After pinning and cutting the fabric it was a simple matter of gathering the waist-line and then sewing all the seams plus the zipper.

All finished!!!!!!

I think she liiiiiiikes it. HAHA!

Please excuse my shoddy Iphone photos.

YAY!

Then…Pinterest came through for me again and I pinned Hanna Mac’s pregnancy photo BOOK to my wall.

This is do-able.

So very, very do-able.

And also an amazing keepsake for my daughter when she is old enough to read it. When she is old enough that she and I can go through it together and I can tell her all about how our amazing life together began.

Nova is an incredible gift and I feel like I have to give back to her somehow. Hopefully these memories and my thoughts will stay with her throughout her life and she will never doubt how incredibly loved, wanted, and absolutely amazing she is.

Oh…and I’ll be making the book through Blurb.com.

According to The Wonder Weeks she is now able to perceive short, familiar series’ of transitions with all of her senses and when it comes to her interactions. She’s better at actively participating in nursery rhymes like “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and is interested in things like a bird in flight, a floating balloon, slowly clapping your hands, and watching herself grasp objects. This is a really interesting book actually because we can actively see the mental development taking place, rather than following milestones which we feel are important to keep in the back of your mind, but not necessarily anything to have a panic attack over. She’s growing at a great, healthy rate and is meeting milestones at her own pace so we’re happy that she’s happy!

This week I’ll be attempting to make her some sleep sacks. They sell for about $35 retail and I feel like I can buy fabric and thread for much cheaper than that. I can probably get about 5 sleep sacks out of $35 so wish me luck! Ha. I’ll do my best to document the effort.

She has a check up on Friday and then we’ll be able to update everyone on her weight and height although I suspect that she’s about 13-14 lbs and maybe…27 inches long (or 2 feet and 3 inches tall)? We just got a new growth chart with this month’s edition of Today’s Parent Magazine so I’ll measure her sometime this week just to see how my estimating is going. Ha It will also be her second round of immunizations. Yes, we decided to immunize based on several things. We have done our research and due to our lifestyle and health backgrounds feel that this is the best choice for Nova. So far so good so the plan is to continue on with the schedule recommended by the Canadian Pediatric Society, our doctor, and our own informed selves. We simply feel that there are more pros than cons to vaccinating, but (*disclaimer*) recognize that everyone makes the best, most informed choice for their children and that’s everyone’s right as a parent. As long as your exercising those rights, I say “Good on you!”.

And onto the photos!!!!

Oh yeah, did I mention she’s started teething? I’m fairly certain Nova and Bella are in an ongoing competition to see who can amass the most drool.