Latest News

113 new pictures and 26 new videos added today.

Jocelyn's third day of Christmas started today. Grandpa Galen, Aunt Chris and Patrick spent the day with us today. Jocelyn got to open all the gifts from Aunt Chris. Among the highlights were a bicycle with training wheels, a very nice musical instrument set, and a Potty time Elmo. After filling her tummy and opening all her gifts we finally got her down for a much needed nap.  Previously she wouldn't take a nap because she knew she had presents to open.

As Jocelyn slept, mommy went shopping with Aunt Chris and Patrick for after Christmas bargains. Cyndi brought home some great deals on inflatable decorations for next year's display in the front yard. Grandpa Galen and I stayed home and commenced to watching the new and the old versions of King Kong.

Jocelyn continues to surprise us with things she says. Cyndi heard her say "I want Daddy" today while eating dinner. She has a habit of correctly using random words lately and then promptly forget she knows them. She knows ALOT of what we say now, time to really start watching what we say in front of her.

Merry Christmas!!!

Jocelyn's second day of Christmas started today. Grandpa Galen came up to our place this morning to exchange gifts. Jocelyn got a generous savings bond for the future from Grandpa Galen and a variety of stuffed animals and legos from Santa. Jocelyn also got a very nice Magnadoodle drawing pad that she enjoyed very much and got upset about when other people tried to play with it.

The second half of the day was spent back at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house. This was the night most of the family filters through to socialize and nosh. Jocelyn was very entertained by the large number of people to flirt with. She especially enjoyed slapping the crap out of Dennis, which she found hilarious. Jocelyn also got to open a few last gifts and rediscover the previous days toys.

Jocelyn's first day of Christmas began today. After Cyndi got off from work we went over to Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy's house for Christmas Eve dinner. Aunt Debbie was up from Texas which Jocelyn found very exciting. Jocelyn got a ton of toys and clothes from everyone. Highlights included a shopping cart, a sled, and a Cookie Monster doll. Jocelyn had an absolute blast delivering presents and helping to rip them open.

Grandma Nancy got a "special" gift from Santa (video). The other popular gift was a music keyboard from Aunt Dena. It's going to be a noisy year...

Updated some minor stuff on the website this week. I added an option on the main page to sign up for email notification whenever the webpage is updated. I will fit it into the site a bit better later on, but for now it is functional. The Sounds & Video page has been reorganized. The guestbook software has also been updated to a newer version, it should be transparent to you with the exception of being able to add smileys to the comments. I also redirected PrincessJocelyn.ORG so it loads BabyJocelyn.ORG just because I'm working on a new design for the other website.

Jocelyn went to the Christmas party at her daycare today. She seemed to have a lot of fun and came home very tired as usual.

Jocelyn's cold continues and Aunt Dena and Grandpa Bob generously offered to watch Jocelyn for the day so she could be with family while she isn't feeling well.

Jocelyn has little cold and got to spend the day with Grandma Nancy and Aunt Dena.

I had an interesting day at work today. I assisted on the install of New England's first pneumatic residential elevator. Basically is just like the vacuum tubes the banks use at their drive-thru except it will carry two people up to three stories high.  Unfortunately I had to leave before it was finished so I haven't seen it running yet.

Cyndi had the day off today and Jocelyn got a much deserved down day to catch up from her busy social schedule of late.

Jocelyn spent the day shopping and running around with Aunt Chris and Patrick. She didn't get a nap again, but she really enjoyed herself.

Jocelyn is in the habit of crawling out of the crib and start knocking on her door now in the mornings. She also calls out for mommy and daddy until someone comes and gets her.

Grandma Nancy watched Jocelyn today. They both loved it and Jocelyn skipped her nap again.

Cyndi had to work today and I had to go pick up Jocelyn at Grandpa Galen's. Jocelyn got to go hiking with Grandpa Galen and Aunt Chris. After I showed up I worked on Grandpa's computer for a while until Jocelyn started melting down. I did finally get her home but she didn't get much of a nap.

We went to the annual Gordon Family Christmas Party today. Unfortunately because the party started fairly early in the day Jocelyn didn't get a nap beforehand. She had a lot of fun until she started melting down from lack of sleep. She got a very nice set of foam squares with the letters of the alphabet that interlock into a floor mat. She seemed to enjoy playing with those quite a bit.

Cyndi took Jocelyn to Grandpa Galen's house nearby so that he and Aunt Chris could watch Jocelyn overnight and we could go watch my cousins sing in a Christmas Cantata. I have some very talented relatives.

Jocelyn figured out how to crawl out of the crib today. She greeted mommy at the door. We are going to have to convert her crib to a toddler bed soon.

Jocelyn, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Bob, and I went to the Christmas parade in downtown Manchester tonight. Jocelyn enjoyed it very much as they had several inflatables and many vehicles strung in lights. She enjoyed the karate kids so much she kicked her own boot out into the parade. There was also a family walking their half dozen or so Newfoundland dogs that stopped to say hi to Jocelyn. We went to a local diner afterwards for dinner and Jocelyn enjoyed some franks and beans.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy. We also got quite a bit of snow today and yesterday. Sucked to drive in but it was fun for Jocelyn to play in.

30 new pictures added today.

We attempted to take our own holiday portraits today with mixed results. Check the better ones out in the portraits section.

Jocelyn has been rapidly figuring out how to climb objects to get into new things. Recently we found her stacking her two stuffed animals she sleeps with in the corner of her crib in an attempt to climb over the crib wall. Looks like she will need a toddler bed soon.

I finally got around to updating the pictures section today. 64 new pictures added including some pictures of our family bike ride during the summer.

Jocelyn was quite cute today... I was walking into the kitchen while Jocelyn was in a cartoon coma. Suddenly she came running at the gate yelling "daddy, daddy" while holding her sippy cup and shaking it back and forth. She patiently waited while I filled her cup and gave it back to her. She then returned to her seat to continue watching Blue's Clues.

We've noticed a new skill Jocelyn has been showing off lately. She is learning the meaning of quite a few words and can identify objects when asked. This means she can now find objects in picture books and identify her body parts with a good degree of success.

Halloween trick-or-treating was held here today. Jocelyn got to see some of the kids in costume and play in the candy container. We get a phenomenal number of kids here and went through quite a bit of candy in the process. Jocelyn didn't wear a costume this year as she slept thru most of the trick-or-treating time.

Jocelyn's Halloween party at daycare was today. She had fun and played quite a few games with the other kids.

Jocelyn also had a check up today. Daddy made it just in time for the appointment. Jocelyn was found to be 25.5 pounds and 35 inches tall. Her percentages were 95% height, 50% weight, and 75% head circumference. She also received her flu shot without to much drama. The doctor also said that doubling a child's height at 2 years gives you an approximate final height. That means Jocelyn could be over 6 feet tall! The doctor also said that as long as she knows and uses at least 10 words she is developing well. We were concerned as we thought she might be lagging here.

Switching Jocelyn to soymilk appears successful. She went through some digestive issues initially but she got used to it and has stopped begging at the refrigerator for a bottle of formula.

We decided to commit to changing Jocelyn from soy based formula to soymilk today. Cyndi washed and put away all the bottles and we are restricting her other options until she realizes soymilk is her main beverage now.

We found a new type of soy based milk and started testing it on Jocelyn today. Its vanilla flavored and fortified with extra vitamins for kids.

We had the new carpet installed today in the downstairs of our apartment. It was nice to finally get that taken care of and be able to move our stuff back to its normal positions. We did rearrange our bedroom since I had to take the bed frame I built apart to facilitate the carpet installers. I took a few pictures of the bed frame while it was disassembled for those interested in the monstrosity I created.

Jocelyn and I went to the playground for a while to burn off some energy while mommy was at work. It was very crowded with kids which Jocelyn enjoys as long as she can get a swing.

Aunt Chris came over for a visit today before heading off on her vacation. Aunt Chris also brought over some shirts for Jocelyn to go with her black and white herringbone skirt Chris got her last weekend. She brought Jocelyn for a walk and brought us lunch while mommy was working.

Grandma Nancy came over today to take Jocelyn while mommy was working so daddy could "rest" his knee. They went all around doing errands and Jocelyn did not nap at all (big surprise). When Grammy and Jocelyn returned they arrived bearing Chinese food for dinner. Jocelyn enjoyed stuffing fried rice by the handful in her mouth. Grandma also got a very cute sweater and a load of socks for Jocelyn during their travels. Thanks Grammy!

Daddy woke in the middle of the night with a strange pain in his left knee. After taking care of a few things at work I made it in to see the doctor to have me knee looked at. Turns out I have an infection of the tissues surrounding my knee. Since we caught it early it can be treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. He did recommend 3 days of rest to minimize the possibility of spreading the infection to other parts of my body. So basically me knee hurts and my doctor gave me a prescription to play video games for three days!.

We went to dinner at Grandma Nancy's as usual and had rare roast beef. Grandma got a call from grandpa shortly after we left with a status report from his current mission with the red cross. He is doing well and is on his way to Mississippi. He has been touched by stories he is hearing from the hurricane victims. He also had some of his possessions stolen while he was sleeping, nothing particularly vital thankfully.

Jocelyn has started walking on her tip toes lately. We have no idea why except perhaps so she can see over tables easier. Its awfully cute to see her run across the room looking like she is in heels.

Jocelyn had a play date today and came home very tired.

Aunt Chris, her friend Patrick, and Grandpa Galen came up this morning so we could all go to breakfast together. We ended up going to the Cracker Barrel in Londonderry. Jocelyn had a little of everything and kept everyone entertained. After returning home Jocelyn went down for a nap while Grandpa Galen and I stayed home while the others went on a shopping trip. Jocelyn got some outfits out of the shopping as she normally does. The excuse for the outfits was that we are trying to get Jocelyn in for a new series of portraits sometime soon.

Mommy has been bringing home little plastic chemical light sticks from work lately. They are meant to be used as bracelets while trick of treating and Jocelyn loves them. I'm going to have to buy her a bunch to keep her entertained.

When we play with Jocelyn she likes to grab our faces to pull them in close to kiss us. Now she has learned to direct mommy and daddy's faces together to make us kiss, very cute.

We all went for a bike ride up in the mountains today. We in this case includes mommy, daddy, Jocelyn, grandpa Bob, Grandma Nancy, and our friends Bonnie, Peter, and Skye. We drove a couple of hours north to the Loon Mountain Ski area in Lincoln, NH and took advantage of a self-guided bicycle tour they offer thru "the notch" and back to the ski area. We rented a trailer for Jocelyn to ride in behind daddy. It was a very nice day that ended with a picnic and ice cream sundays.

12 new photos and 12 new videos up today. The photos are from our trip to the fair and the videos are a mixed bunch.

Jocelyn seems to be suffering random bouts of teething, which leads to diarrhea, which leads to killer diaper rashes. She has been napping a lot today and had a runny nose so we think the teething has started again in full force Luckily this should be the last of it as she has gotten almost all her teeth in.

Jocelyn, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Bob, mommy, and daddy all went to the Hopkinton State Fair tonight. We had fun as we usually do feasting on bad foods and checking out the animals. Jocelyn played a game by herself where she had to pick ducks out of a pool to earn a stuffed animal, she chose a stuffed duck. Grandpa Bob took her for a ride on the carousel, which she enjoyed very much.

181 new photos up! Sorry about the delay...  Videos should be up within a few days.

Jocelyn is still suffering from a small fever but seems well overall. One of the things she does when sick is cuddle up to Cyndi and I more.

I finally managed to tear myself away from the game I've been so obsessed with in my off time and start working on the website. So far I have over 180 photos and several videos to post (I had to sort through over 1000 photos). I've got most of the work done and just need to finish writing the web pages that allow you to access the pictures and videos. Hopefully I will get everything up within a few days.

Jocelyn is feeling under the weather today and had a visit to the clinic. They think she has a virus which of course there is nothing you can do about. Her fever is almost gone and she is in much better spirits.

 Current Events: Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi killing thousands and destroying large tracks of land including New Orleans.

Jocelyn hasn't been feeling so good today. By the time she went to bed she had 101.5 degree fever. We gave her Tylenol and put her to bed. She slept sporadically and didn't let Cyndi get to sleep until 2am. Before finally getting to sleep she thought it a good idea to play a very energetic game of patty-cake while jumping up and down on mommy and daddy's bed.

Cyndi took the day off today to watch Jocelyn because Grandma Nancy is not feeling very well. It seems there is a flu like bug going around at the moment.

Sunday breakfast got cancelled due to Grandma Nancy being sick. Jocelyn and I took the time to have breakfast at McDonalds and then go visit mommy at work.

Nothing exciting happened otherwise, Jocelyn and I both took a nap and shortly after we woke, mommy came home. Yeah!!!!

Jocelyn and daddy played in the backyard and enjoyed some time in the sandbox today.

We had a nice visit from Aunt Chris and Grandpa Galen tonight. We enjoyed some pizza and Jocelyn inhaled some cheese sticks while looking as cute as usual.

Jocelyn usually goes for a walk with Grandpa Bob when we go over to help grandpa get the mail. It turns out she has a set schedule she follows of tasks to accomplish during her walk. She checks out various lawn sculptures and other ornaments. She then helps grandpa open the mail box and finishes by raiding the blueberry bushes for a quick snack.

Aunt Lotta arrives in at her station in Iraq. We are happy to hear it is a "boring" part of Iraq.

Aunt Lotta sends news from Kuwait on her way to tour in Iraq. She is expected home around Christmas this year. If you want to keep up with her escapades in Iraq you can check out her website.

Jocelyn seems to change her parental and grand parental preferences almost daily lately. Some days she will have absolutely nothing to do with one while lavishing affection on the other. Funny to watch now that you know she will swing the other way fairly rapidly.

Cyndi and Jocelyn attended a going away party for Cyndi's cousin Danny. Danny is heading off to Iraq to maintain vehicles for the war effort and is expected to be there for 1 to 2 years. Aunt Chris, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Aggie were there as well. Danny brought his daughter Danelle who is very cute and very grown up looking for her age. Jocelyn had a blast as usual and got to play in the garden while walking barefoot in her cute little dress.

Jocelyn, Grandpa Bob, Grandma Nancy, and daddy went to Clough State Park today to go swimming. Jocelyn enjoyed playing in the sand using a bucket and spoon more than anything else. We also found out why you aren't supposed to use regular diapers for swimming. They explode when too much water is sucked into the diaper lining.

Daddy buys a new game for his computer and ceases to remember he has a website to update. I also joined and online group of older players so I could find a way to spend even more time playing the game.  Ooops...

We enjoyed a nice barbeque at David and Bonnie's home to celebrate the fourth of July. Aunt Amanda and Aunt Lotta came up from Texas to enjoy the festivities.

Jocelyn hasn't been feeling well today. She is still adjusting her sleep schedule while suffering from allergies or a cold. She also threw up today while she was napping.

We finished our flights on time and with relatively few incidents. We were all glad to get home and very tired from the weird schedule and the time change.

Jocelyn was very well behaved on the flights and slept most of the way.

Time to leave Seattle and fly back to NH. We have a flight at 11:20pm and we won't make it home until about 11:00 am tomorrow. We been loading up on snacks and beverages to keep us all busy but hope we will all be sleeping as much as possible.

Jocelyn didn't nap much today but seemed to enjoy the going away feast Aunt Dena and Grandma Nancy whipped up for dinner. Dena made a very good batch of raspberry lemonade made with fresh raspberries from her garden.

We toured the Boeing aircraft factory in Everett, WA today. It was very impressive to see the buildings they use to build and assemble the aircraft. The tour takes about an hour and sells out quickly during the summer months. They also do no allow any children under about 42", no exceptions. Cyndi volunteered to stay behind with the baby but it must have been pretty boring for her and she wasn't feeling well anyway.

While we waited for the tour to start we drove down to Mukilteo, WA where one of the ferries leaves from to transport vehicles to the islands. Its quite impressive so see how quickly they load and unload so many cars and trucks onto those ferries. We also had a chance to walk around a bit and saw some very large purple starfish clinging to the pier supports.

On our way home we stopped at an Ikea store. Its a pretty large store that is very popular with the locals. I got a kick out of the free daycare center inside that allowed parents to do a bit of quite shopping. We also managed a cheap lunch there as they sold a hotdog and soda for a buck.

We wandered around downtown Seattle today. We perused through the Pike Place Market and saw the original Starbucks. We saw the guys throwing fish, the golden pig, the beggars, and the flower market. Cyndi and I took the "Seattle Underground Tour" which was very interesting in its description of how Seattle went from exploding toilets to a giant waffle and eventually ended up with underground sidewalks. They also invented the phrase "Skid Road" which I found interesting. Jocelyn spent some time being spoiled by Aunt Dena, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob while we were on our tour. We all ended up eating lunch at the Red Robin which is a premium burger chain restaurant. On the way home we stopped to bug Uncle Mark at work and had desert at Cold Stone, an ice cream place that makes custom blends for you. A word of advice if you ever visit a Cold Stone location, don't get the largest size it is way larger than it looks!

Jocelyn has been working on quite a few words while vacationing. She has been working on dog, cat, and fish. She continues to work on mommy and daddy but daddy sounds suspiciously like doggy.

This was our day of rest following our tour of the Oregon coast. Everybody went and did some shopping while I stayed behind to work on Aunt Dena and Uncle Mark's computers.

Aunt Dena enjoys the parallels between having a toddler running around and having dogs running around. She continued this observation in teaching Jocelyn how to "high-five" on command. It is a very cute trick and she enjoys it as she goes to each person available with her hand in the air waiting for some to "high-five" her. She then looks very earnestly in your eyes and starts clapping in celebration of her own clever trick.

We concluded our tour of the Oregon coast today following a stay in a surprisingly nice hotel overnight. Unfortunately the day was pretty foggy while we drove up the coast and stopped at a great waterfall after a short hike. I think the waterfall was on Tiger Creek in the Suislaw National Forest.

The trip continued to Tillamook, OR to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory and take a self guided tour of the facility. The cheese was excellent as well as the ice cream they produce. Jocelyn enjoyed the tour and the cheese including a nice grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. She charmed the diners around us as usual.

Our last stop before returning home was Ecola State Park to admire the views and look for falcons. We didn't see any falcons but saw quite a few pelicans and starfish. The dogs also enjoyed a chance to run around and chase seagulls.

We started our drive around Oregon today. We started out at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR. The big draw there besides a very nice collection of aircraft is the infamous "Spruce Goose". I enjoyed the museum very much while Aunt Dena, Uncle Mark, and Cyndi stayed outside to play with the dogs. I took lots of pictures so I could enjoy the exhibit later. The "Spruce Goose" itself is huge but you are only allowed very limited access and taking internal pictures is nearly impossible.

We continued our trip to Devils Punch Bowl State Natural Area in Otter Rock, OR. We spent most of our time at a beach just north of the actual punch bowl enjoying exploring the tide pools during low tide. There were also a large collection of Sea Lions sunning themselves on the rocks nearby. Jocelyn didn't seem to like the beach very much initially but couldn't get enough of it by the end of our visit. She would fearlessly wade into the surf giggling at the approaching waves.

We concluded our day at a hotel in Lincoln City, OR. It took a few tries to find a hotel that was reasonably priced and would accept dogs.

Today's trip was around Mount Rainier State Park. Being from New Hampshire you have a preconceived notion of what a mountain looks like. Mount Rainier blows that idea away. Its visible from everywhere and is so much taller than I was used to. The park is full of incredible views even to those of us whom explore it via automobile. We stopped and had a very nice picnic lunch and Jocelyn got to watch Aunt Dena feed the birds by hand.

The surprise of the day was a great dirt road (N46 45.348 W121 58.130) we drove up before entering the park. It switch backed about 3000 feet up Mount Beljica to arrive at a great view of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens. It was a very clear day and yielded unbelievable views. The effect is truly shocking when you reach the viewing area near the top as you haven't seen Mount Rainier much at this point and all of a sudden it is larger than life in front of you.

We all slept in as much as possible today in a vain attempt to rid ourselves of jet lag. Jocelyn is sleeping in the room with us which worked out very well. We can hear her when she wakes but she doesn't do much until she figures out that we are awake then she voices her desire to be picked up.

Dena and Mark's home is impressive to say the least. She lives in a good neighborhood with a nice yard for her dogs to run around in. Nearby are huge amounts of land to run the dogs to the point of exhaustion. And the best part... there is a Wal-Mart within walking distance!

We took a trip to Northwest Trek today to check out a very cool animal park. Jocelyn seemed to enjoy it quite a bit and took a lot of interest in the beaver pool. The beaver would repeatedly swim up to her much to her delight. We had a very nice picnic lunch and Jocelyn got a chance to run around a bit.

We took a late night flight from Manchester, NH to Seattle, WA to start a week long trip to visit my sister and her husband. Jocelyn was a little cranky and didn't sleep quite as much as we hoped but was very good overall. I think after all that travel Cyndi and I were more cranky than she was.

9 New Photos and 13 New Videos added today!

Jocelyn got a chance to visit daddy at work while mommy dropped off his forgotten cell phone. Jocelyn was so tired once I got home from work she fell asleep on top of me for almost two hours before being put to bed unusually early.

Grandma Nancy came over today to watch Jocelyn so daddy could work on making our downstairs living area usable. Cyndi was expected to be at a pool tournament all day but ended up not having to leave until after noon which was very nice. After Cyndi left and Jocelyn got in a 3 hour nap we went to Home Depot to pick up supplies for Grandma Nancy. The evening concluded with a trip to Friendly's for some ice cream. Jocelyn wasn't into the ice cream but she really seemed to enjoy some pickles, a lemon wedge, and some french fries. She makes the funniest faces when she eats a lemon but she seems to like it and keeps going back for more.

Jocelyn's newest word is uh-oh. She likes to say it when she drops something.

Jocelyn has gotten into the habit of pointing at her high chair (Thanks aunt Debbie!) and making noises when she wants food. We love it and she continues to work on feeding herself with a fork and spoon. She still drinks formula from a bottle but that is because she appears to be allergic to milk protein and doesn't seem to like soy milk. We are planning on weaning her off bottles this month after we get back from our trip to Seattle.

Jocelyn got to spend some time with Grandma Nancy today so that mommy could go to work. After dad came to pick her up we all went to a local park for dinner. Jocelyn enjoyed the playground quite a bit.

We all went to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house for our regular Sunday morning breakfast. We also put the finishing touches on the new shed addition. Jocelyn also managed to show off her new ability to eat with a fork. Its very cute to watch her stab things randomly on her plate and then get it in her mouth.

Jocelyn got to spend some time over at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house today when mommy went to work. I was over there as well helping Grandpa Bob build and addition on his shed. We lucked out and had a fairly nice day to build in. We returned home shortly after Cyndi got home from work.

Jocelyn's rash continued without any sign of going away so Cyndi called the doctor to set up an appointment to get checked out. The doctors said the rash was a symptom of the virus she had that started her ear infection and pink eye.

Jocelyn suddenly developed a rash today after waking from a nap. We called the local ask-a-nurse center and they said it was related to the amoxicillan she was on to treat her ear infection and was a normal side effect.

109 new photos posted tonight!

Jocelyn was trying to climb up on one of the boxes we have set up as play areas for her. It was pretty funny because she kept sliding off and was getting very upset she couldn't get up on top of the box.

Jocelyn had some time at daycare today so mommy could got to training for her new job. As usual Jocelyn came home very tired.

I managed to beat back my latest addiction and get some work done on the latest crop of photos for the website. Currently I have 109 photos to put on the website and they are about halfway through the process I use to make the web pages and post them to the internet. FWIW, I was working on rockets last night and didn't stop and go to bed until 11:30pm which is quite late for me.

Jocelyn got to spend the day with Grandma Nancy today so mommy could attend the first day of training for her new job. She learned how to push grocery carts today!

Happy 30th Birthday Aunt Dena!!!

We had a very nice breakfast at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's this morning as is custom. The addition we had today was the company of Uncle Mark and Aunt Dena. We had a lot of fun and good food as usual.

We then gathered again later in the day at Uncle Mark's Sister's home for Chinese food and socializing with their great kids Emily and Max. Max is a little older than Jocelyn so it was quite entertaining to watch them play together.

We had a good time attending the group rocket launch in Amesbury, MA with CMASS despite the rain. I managed to launch my small rocket on a large motor first which was last seen drifting down past a distant hill, oh well. The rest of the launches went very well including the first two-stage rocket I've ever launched and recovered. Jocelyn wasn't too impressed with the noise and rain, I think in the future we will arrange for some babysitting.

After getting rained out in Amesbury we went with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob to the "Made in New Hampshire" show here in Manchester. It's a fun show my company attends each year that features quite a few restaurants and other sellers of premium munchies. Jocelyn got to sample more tasty treats than I can remember, she seemed to enjoy it immensely. It also helps that she was being carried by either daddy or Grandpa Bob the entire time which she enjoys quite a bit.

Following the "Made in New Hampshire" show we all went to a local pizza joint where Jocelyn continued her taste testing. She liked pickles and onion rings, though she spit the onion out and ate the breading.

Jocelyn and mommy attended lunch with my work wife Bonnie today. They also have fun together since their disposition are so alike. They both routinely have a strong desire to kick my butt.

Jocelyn had a doctor's appointment today to follow-up on her recurring case of conjunctivitis. While there they found out she was just beginning to get an ear infection in her right ear. She hadn't even noticed it yet so that was very fortunate that she was spared the pain of it this time. She is now on oral amoxicillin to clear up the infection.

We attended dinner at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house as usual, with a new addition tonight; Aunt Dena! This was a little prequel to her birthday Sunday. Aunt Dena got a laptop so she could more easily work on her online college courses while traveling. She's got a very cool toy now!

Jocelyn's hair seems to be growing quite a bit now. When giving her a bath I noticed her wet hair goes past her shoulders now. You wouldn't normally notice as her hair is pretty curly.

Daddy's been obsessed with an old hobby lately leading to the lack of photos. I'm trying to attend a group model rocket launch next weekend and as such have been building a few small rockets in my free time. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can spend a few hours next Saturday enjoying the outdoors and launching some rockets at CMASS in Amesbury, MA.

Mommy found out today that she got a mid-level management position at a local grocery store. She will be training off and on for the next two weeks before she starts working. It's a good company with lots of room for advancement and she will be able to get health insurance after 90 days.

Jocelyn has been working on standing up unassisted lately. Mommy and Grandma Nancy have both seen her do it, but apparently she doesn't like to show this new skill off much. She does routinely squat down to pick things up and then stand again without much fanfare.

We discovered another new tooth today. That gives her 4 front teeth on the bottom and 3 on the top. One more tooth on the top is due to cut through at any time.

Jocelyn went for a nice walk with Grandpa Bob and Poo after dinner. It was very cute seeing Jocelyn in the stroller and Poo in the basket. It was a little chilly out but no one seemed to mind.

The doctor was very helpful today and diagnosed Jocelyn's conjunctivitis over the phone and called in the prescription. She will get drops in her eyes for the next week or so to clear it up.

Mommy had to go down for a follow-up interview for her job today so Daddy stayed home for a few hours to watch Jocelyn. We didn't want to have anybody watch Jocelyn because of the conjunctivitis which is still contagious for another 24 hours.

Poor Jocelyn seems to have a case of pink eye. We should know for sure tomorrow when we talk to and/or visit the doctor.

Jocelyn, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Nancy, and Grandpa Bob all hung out for the day after our customary Sunday morning breakfast. We went down to Mack's apples in Londonderry, NH to feed the ducks. Jocelyn wasn't so thrilled with the ducks and geese, we think the noise of the geese was bothering her. We then went hiking again up around Lake Massabesic. Jocelyn seemed to enjoy it as she was being carried on by daddy in a backpack like device worn on the front.

Jocelyn is insisting more and more to walk on her own when we go out somewhere.

The warm weather returned here today so we took the opportunity to go hiking at the local lake. Jocelyn seems to really enjoy being outside.

Jocelyn has been pointing and whispering at various objects now. She seems to like to point to light sources and food. It's almost like she is asking what each item is called.

Jocelyn had another tooth cut through today. That gives her three on top with another coming very soon.

Jocelyn enjoyed breakfast at Grandma Na June 1, 2005

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9 New Photos and 13 New Videos added today!
Jocelyn got a chance to visit daddy at work while mommy dropped off his forgotten cell phone. Jocelyn was so tired once I got home from work she fell asleep on top of me for almost two hours before being put to bed unusually early.

June 1777, 2005

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9 New Photos and 13 New Videos added today!
Jocelyn got a chance to visit daddy at work while mommy dropped off his forgotten cell phone. Jocelyn was so tired once I got home from work she fell asleep on top of me for almost two hours before being put to bed unusually early.

ncy and Grandpa Bob's house. She is truly enjoying showing off her walking skills. She managed to walk around the house and up and down the street a few times. I took some video and will get it posted soon.

We took Jocelyn to the park today to enjoy the beautiful summer day and practice her walking. When presented with a new surface she will just stand still looking around. After she is guided a little she starts tentatively walking on her own. After our trip to the park she is now pretty good at walking on grass and up and down inclines. She also got to try the slide and swings.

We also took Jocelyn to the mall to look around and check out the display Daddy's work had up for a little expo the mall was hosting.

Jocelyn seems to be saying her "first" word now. She likes to repeatedly say NO, sometimes in context sometimes not. Our favorite is when she is doing something she isn't supposed to be doing while saying no-no-no-no. She will often couple her no's with hand gestures including a surprised look where she puts her hands on the sides of her face, its very cute. For the record she has been saying da-da and ma-ma for quite a while but seems to have only a very slight idea of their meaning.

Jocelyn got to spend some time with Grandma Nancy today while mommy went job hunting. Good Luck Mommy!

Jocelyn doesn't normally like to be held when its time to sleep anymore. It's a good thing for mommy and daddy as it will make it easier in the future to put her to bed. But, we both miss having her sleep on us while sucking her pacifier rhythmically.

Grandma Nancy joined us at home for lunch today. Jocelyn enjoyed helping devour the Moe's Italian subs grandma brought. Jocelyn also had another opportunity to demonstrate her rapidly improving walking skills.

Jocelyn braved the daily downpour today to accompany daddy on a shopping trip this morning. She seemed interested by the novelty of rain falling on her face. She was popular with he old ladies at the grocery store.

Grandpa Galen stopped by this evening to visit and drop off a dress for Jocelyn that his girlfriend Barbara bought her. Jocelyn demonstrated her new fondness for kissing by kissing Grandpa a few times.

Jocelyn has figured out kissing and hugging lately. She routinely gives nice long hugs to whomever "rescues" her from her crib after sleeping or napping. She also likes to give big open-mouth fish kisses. She will sometimes grab your face and lean in for repeated kisses. Her little kisses and hugs just melt your heart.

Jocelyn's walking skills continue to improve at a phenomenal rate. She now walks all over the place and even manages to perform other tasks while walking. It is extremely cute and heart-warming to watch her walk around all the time now.

What a weird experience it is to have so many strong emotions tied into Jocelyn's daily actions. A diaper rash that causes my little girl pain causes almost physical pain in me. Just writing these notes on her development cause my eyes to mist over but in admiration of her accomplishments and a longing for her to stop changing so fast. Having grown up watching horror movies with jaded eyes and the showing of excessive emotion being a sign of weakness it is odd being effected so deeply and so suddenly by someone so small and innocent.

  Happy Easter! 

We all went over to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house for Easter Dinner. The food was great as usual and Jocelyn played until she wore herself out. She started out in a cute pink Easter dress and was later changed into some jeans because the skirt was screwing up her crawling.

6 new sounds and 22 new pictures added today!

Aunt Chris threw an informal birthday party for Jocelyn at Chuck-e-Cheese today. She seemed to enjoy all the kids and the general commotion there. They have a very impressive kid sized Habitrail for the kids.

We all went to Bickford's this morning for breakfast. Jocelyn seemed to enjoy the buffet. They were also very nice to he0and turned on Bob the Builder for her to watch while eating. She was very well behaved for the entire meal.

Jocelyn figured out this morning the teething widget to protect the rails of her crib could easily be removed and used as a great club to smack the rails of the crib with.

Jocelyn continues to work on her walking. She will cross the room, stop, change direction, play, and clap while staying upright. She will still collapse when she figures out she is walking but she is getting noticeably better and seems to enjoy showing off.

We "baby-proofed" the vcr, dvd, and tv today. Jocelyn figured out in 5 minutes that the "baby-proofing on the television allowed her to more easily turn the TV on and off at will.

We had another great meal at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house. The grandparents then took Jocelyn to the Easter Parade which she seemed to really enjoy. The parade was two and a half hours long and she was well behaved and alert the entire time.

Jocelyn had her 1 year checkup today. (Yeah I know the math is off, these are the same people that tell us 42 weeks equals 9 months!) She received five shots (three in the left thigh, two in the right) and responded with a loud red-faced cry. She weighed in at 21 pounds 6 ounces. She is now 32 inches tall. Her head circumference is now 46.5 centimeters. Mom was told her weight is average and her height is above average, par for the course so far. Her blood work from her previous visit came back normal. The doctor felt swelling on her back gums and determined her molars are on their way out.  (The shots received were DTaP, Hib, MMR, PCV, and Varicella.)

Our tasks for the upcoming months are to wean her from formula and get her onto either soy milk or Lactaid. We were told again that she can eat anything we can eat with only a few exceptions concerning hard to chew foods. We have also been tasked to get her to start using sippy cups and get rid of bottles entirely. She already uses sippy cups for juice so this shouldn't be too hard.

Jocelyn's next appointment is sometime around September and doesn't involve anything more involved than making sure she is still "vertical and exchanging gases".

Jocelyn's next tooth on the top broke through today. She currently has her two top front teeth, bottom two front teeth, and the left tooth adjacent to the front teeth on the bottom. It looks like her next two teeth will be the left and right adjacent teeth to the top front teeth.

I'm currently working on a new way to view and navigate pictures for use on PrincessJocelyn. Please check it out when you get a chance and let me know how it works for you. If I decide to use it I will have to buy it so I can format it to fit in with the website better and get significantly more options for manipulating the images.

Jocelyn was practicing with her walker today and started figuring out how to steer it.

11 new pictures and 5 new videos added today!

One of the new pictures is actually a current picture of Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World taken this month. They are redecorating the castle for an event down there and I thought the picture was pretty cool. Grandpa Stoll took the picture on his way to work.

We all stayed home today due to yet another snow storm. This time we got around a foot and a half thru Saturday. Jocelyn seems to enjoy watching it through the window.

Jocelyn's favorite sound now (besides screaming when she hungry) is oh. She likes to use it a lot and looks very cute because she purses her lips and looks very serious when saying it.

Jocelyn climbed up an entire flight of stairs today at Aunt Kimmy's.

Daddy brought Jocelyn home a rather large box from work today that she seems to enjoy using as her own private fort. She enjoys screaming in there because of the sound.

Jocelyn started walking unassisted and unprompted today. She is routinely crossing large expanses of the room now. She can even repeatedly stop and change direction while walking. Its amazing how fast she went from a few counted steps to just crossing the room like she has been doing it for months...

Jocelyn continues to develop her climbing ability.  She will crawl up stairs now and managed to crawl over daddy today unassisted.

7 new pictures and 7 new videos added today!

Jocelyn surprised us with a new tooth this morning. We had no idea that a new lower tooth was on the way until Grandma Nancy found it. The new tooth is her lower left adjacent to her existing two lower front teeth. Her upper right tooth looks like its out, but still feels like its in the gum.

Jocelyn demonstrated her clapping ability to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob this morning.

Jocelyn has also been hard at work practicing her walking abilities. She routinely walks from mom to dad and vice versa usually no more than five or so steps. Its funny to watch because on the longer walks she is in a constant state of falling forward.

25 new pictures added today!

Jocelyn's next tooth is due to break thru anytime now.

Jocelyn has learned how to clap, its very cute.

Jocelyn has been suffering from a bit of a cough lately. Dad, mom, and Grandma Nancy also seem to be a little under the weather as well.

Jocelyn regularly stands unassisted for short periods and walks up to three steps at a time now.

Jocelyn has had a rough couple of nights lately. We think she is either fighting a small bug, teething, or both.

Cyndi measured Jocelyn today and she appears to be about 31 inches long now.

Jocelyn is getting very talented at climbing up on Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's fireplace and the chair next to it. She has been seen sitting on the edge of each and casually swinging her legs. Its very cute to watch.

Jocelyn has done a very good job learning how to properly get off the couch and other elevated spaces. She will now turn herself around and lower her feet down first in most cases.

Jocelyn has developed the habit of wanting to feed herself in most cases. Even when food is placed in her open mouth she still likes to remove it for inspection before deeming it worthy of consumption.

Jocelyn had a rough night last night so she ended up spending most of it with us. She sleeps real well this way but mommy and daddy sleep fitfully at best. Upon inspection of her upper gum line this morning it appears as though she is actually working on four teeth instead of the original two we detected. No wonder she was grumpy she was working on quite a few teeth.

If any friends or family would like their very own email address at BabyJocelyn.ORG, PrincessJocelyn.ORG, or PrincessJocelyn.COM just let me know and I will hook you up. If the address is set up as a full email account it will allow 1GB of storage and attachments up to 20MB. If it is set up as a simple forward all it will do is forward incoming emails to the account of your choice. Just thought I'd offer as I'm only technically using three accounts at this time and I've got the ability to set up five hundred.

Jocelyn continues experimenting with walking and standing unassisted. We have gotten her to stand for few seconds and take two steps so far by "baiting" her with a toy.

Work on the website continues in the background. I've completely changed the guest book so it actually fits in with the style of the website and is easier to use.  My hope is that regular visitors to the site can use this to communicate back and forth. The other change is the inclusion of some anti-spam measures to the website that are completely in background but very cool if you are a geek.

Jocelyn's top/left/front tooth broke through the gum today. Kim noticed it first at playgroup. Her adjacent tooth is visible under the gum as well. She was very tired when she got home and went to bed an hour early.

Jocelyn stood unassisted for several seconds today.

I'm experimenting a bit with the webpage and trying to start up some sort of chat ability between users of the site. I'm also working towards some sort of search function in the future to allow users to search for specific photos. I've also been working towards cleaning up the code that runs this site to ensure better compatibility with different types of browsers. This shouldn't mean anything to the average surfer its just a bit of house cleaning going on behind the scenes.

One last geek note: Microsoft Internet Explorer is apparently becoming less and less secure by the day due to widespread use. I've been experimenting with an alternate browser called Firefox. This browser is more secure and very stable. I would encourage people to at least try it when they have some free time.

Jocelyn seems to have entered a "screaming" phase. She likes to scream at full volume to gain attention. This does not bode well...

Jocelyn is getting closer and closer to cutting her upper left front tooth. The tooth is easily visible under the gum and the gum around it keeps getting pink and swollen. The adjacent tooth is also visible if you look carefully.

10 new photos added today!

Jocelyn wore her Patriots cheerleader outfit to breakfast today to the chagrin of Grandpa Bob. She did look very cute in the the outfit.

Work on PrincessJocelyn.ORG started today, please feel free to comment on the work in progress.

134 new photos added today! Including 3 new portraits!

9 New videos added today! Including birthday cake video.

Jocelyn got to go to Build-a-Bear today and get a free stuffed animal. We were pleasantly surprised to get a gift card in the the mail from Build-a-Bear for a free stuffed animal because Jocelyn shares Elmo's birthday. She seemed to like the pink pig which we dressed in a Patriots Superbowl t-shirt.

Jocelyn also got a new outfit for Sunday breakfast to show her support for the Patriots.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY JOCELYN!!!

Jocelyn had a busy day today. She started out with a photo shoot at The Picture People. We then had dinner and birthday cake at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house. She got quite a few presents including a cute barnyard toy set from Aunt Dena. She also got another chance to make a mess with birthday cake. We then went home to socialize with Aunt Chris, Grandpa Galen, and Chris's friend Kelly.

Jocelyn goes to playgroup today where they had a birthday party for her. She seemed to enjoy making a mess with the cake quite a bit.

Aunt Kimmy found that one of Jocelyn's top teeth is about to break through. You can quite clearly see the tooth just under the gum, but you can't feel it yet.

We have spotted Jocelyn occasionally standing without support. It is only for a very brief moment and usually when she is switching her grip from one object to another. If you go to place her down on the floor near an object she can grip she will stand immediately, if you place her down without a method of support nearby she will collapse like a wet noodle. One of these days she will forget she can't stand and stay upright.

Jocelyn keeps working on her standing and walking without any dramatic developments. She is getting faster and more confident with her walker and moving along the furniture but she will collapse instantly when she removes her hand from her source of support.

Jocelyn's doctors appointment was cancelled due to timing. The doctor decided that she would rather see Jocelyn in March due to timing of her shots.

Jocelyn has been taking more of an interest in solids lately. She will stop feeding from the bottle and only take solids like dry cereal or oatmeal. It's amazing how much she can pack away when hungry.

Jocelyn continues working on her walking ability. She crosses the room much better now when she uses her walker.

We went over to Kim and Fred's house tonight to celebrate New Year's Eve. We all had a very good time and a great turkey dinner. Daddy and Jocelyn didn't last until midnight so we left a little early and were actually on the highway when the New Year arrived.

Merry Christmas!

 Current Events: Magnitude 9.0 earthquake strikes the Indian Ocean causing a massive tidal wave killing over 150,000 souls.

Aunt Chris spent the night with us and Grandpa Galen joined us for breakfast this morning. Jocelyn enjoyed opening gifts and playing with the wrappings. She unwrapped lots of toys and even more clothes.

We then went over to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house for dinner and socializing. Lotta, Amanda, and Debbie were all there and we were joined by later by Dave, Bonnie, Dennis, and Gloria. We had a lot of fun and left when Jocelyn started getting cranky.

Aunt Chris brought Jocelyn back today. Jocelyn seemed to enjoy her visit quite a bit.

We all went over the Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's house for dinner and presents. We had another excellent meal of which Jocelyn tried most of it. She seemed to enjoy the carrots and mashed potatoes the most. She got quite a few nice things from everybody and had a lot of fun playing in the pile of wrapping paper. Mom and Dad did well and received gifts we wanted.

Happy Birthday Aunt Chris!

All Aunt Chris wanted for her birthday was to keep Jocelyn overnight so she could bring her to work to show her off. Jocelyn was very well received by Chris's coworkers and enjoyed the visit quite a bit.

Mom and Dad went with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob to have dinner with Aunt Libby up in Concord. Dad also had the day off today which he enjoyed thoroughly.

Jocelyn enjoyed her regular play date with Aunt Kimmy and her kids today. They had a Christmas party for the kids. Jocelyn came home pretty tired.

Jocelyn attended a Christmas party at her daycare today. She was very busy playing with the other kids and came home really tired.

We now believe that Jocelyn wasn't solely affected by the Chinese food. She seems to have caught a flu-like bug which continues to make for foul diapers and occasional vomiting. Mommy and daddy have also caught the bug and spent most of last night awake and "uncomfortable". Aunt Chris is taking care of Jocelyn today so mommy and daddy can rest. We are also unfortunately missing the family Christmas party where we had intended to bring Jocelyn as she hasn't been seen by most of the family in quite a while.

WARNING! When the doctor says your baby can eat anything you eat, she doesn't mean Chinese food. Jocelyn awoke around 1:30am or so and proceeded to projectile vomit at least 3 times. Upon waking in the morning she had filled her diaper with a substance so foul it would gag a maggot.  Ooops...

Jocelyn gets her first taste of Chinese food. She liked everything she tried but especially enjoyed gnawing on a fairly large spare rib. She enjoyed it so much she required a bath afterwards.

Jocelyn had her first forward facing ride in a car today. Daddy brought her home from Grandma and Grandpa's house in his work van. She seemed to enjoy being able to see more.

11 new videos added today!  5 are recent videos and 6 are older videos.

1 new picture added today.

I have been working on site navigation and organization today. I have changed the way the pictures of Jocelyn are navigated to hopefully make for quicker loading on slower connections. I have also added full size copies of the portraits of Jocelyn so they can be downloaded directly from the website. I can add full size copies to the website at any time so just ask.  I've also added a link on the main page to request the site be sent to you on CD if you so desire.

Jocelyn appears to be teething again. She has a runny nose again and she is drooling quite a bit. Hopefully this means her top teeth are on their way soon.

64 new pictures added today!

Jocelyn got to brave the mall with Mommy and Daddy's coworker Bonnie with her daughter Skye. They apparently had fun navigating the crowds but didn't buy much. Skye bought Jocelyn a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at Build-a-Bear.

I added a new page today and redesigned the main page for the Christmas season. The new page is just a listing of the non-clothing items Jocelyn is getting for Christmas this year. The page is best accessed by clicking Santa Claus on the main page.

Jocelyn's first Thanksgiving!

Jocelyn had a very busy day as usual. She started out the day by getting almost 14 hours of sleep last night. She then woke to a bottle and a fresh diaper which was then followed by a 3 hour nap. Tough life! We all went to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's for dinner and socializing. She enjoyed the dinner and sampled most of the items though she seemed to enjoy the squash the most. She was then chauffeured to Auntie Chris at another gathering where she spent a few hours entertaining everyone. She concluded her day by going to Dave and Bonnie's for dessert and more socializing. She then passed out in exhaustion.

Jocelyn visited with Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Fred today and approximately 1 million small children. She had a lot of fun and refused to take time for a nap. She got home a little after six and fell asleep on daddy and didn't wake up for more than a change and a bottle before going to bed at about eight.

Jocelyn has been working on lots of new sounds and seems to like to babble at times. She has started waving and saying Hi lately. She likes to wave at everybody including Pat Sajack on TV.

Jocelyn took a few steps today with the aid of her walker. She managed to cross the living room carpet three times walking on her feet and on her knees.

Lately when daddy comes home from work she squeals and rapidly crawls to me. Its very cute.

Jocelyn had her 9 month appointment today. She is 19 pounds 8 ounces with puts her in the 50th percentile. She is now 29.5 inches tall with puts her around the 95th percentile. She is developing very nicely and there were no surprises. The doctor expressed her surprise that Jocelyn was not heavier due to the fact she is consuming around 40 ounces of formula a day. For those that have not met Jocelyn she is full of energy and rarely slows down which would explain her slim profile. The doctor also provided us with some lactose free milk based formula to start feeding Jocelyn in an attempt to transition her away from soy based formula.

Jocelyn also had blood drawn for routine lab work today as well as receiving her flu shot. The lab techs that drew her blood and the nurse that gave her the flu shot both commented on how calm she was while being pricked with needles.

Jocelyn managed to cut her second tooth sometime last night. We've been able to see it for a few days but this morning was the first time we could actually feel it.

Jocelyn's second tooth should break through any time now. The next one appears to be the left/front/bottom tooth adjacent to her existing tooth. The new tooth can be seen but not felt as yet. The existing tooth is very evident now but still remains difficult to photograph. (As loud as she cries at times you would think getting a camera in her mouth would be fairly easy...)

Jocelyn has been working on some new sounds lately. She continues to say La-La and Da-Da pretty frequently, but now she is working on Ma-Ma and Ga-Ga at random times. Cyndi has noticed that she seems to only say Ma-Ma when she is unhappy for some reason.

Jocelyn continues her attempts at standing and learning to walk. She consistently crawls to any surface she can lean against so that she can stand and move side to side. Its fun to watch her figure out how to balance and such. She will stand and sometimes raise herself to a weird angle which causes her to move around her feet until she feels stable.

Jocelyn continues to have random bouts of diarrhea and rashes. Nothing serious, we are told its often the result of teething.

Bonnie (daddy's work wife) gave us a walker for Jocelyn today. She seems to like it quite a bit though the concept of actually walking with it doesn't come to her yet.

Jocelyn is still working on new teeth without much success. She will wake up at random some nights crying and red faced because of the teething. She is given some baby Tylenol and she eventually goes back to sleep. Its anybody's guess which tooth will come through next.

Jocelyn survived survived her night at her grandparents. She did manage to keep Grammy up for quite a while but otherwise nothing exciting happened.

We all went to dinner with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob at a local French/Canadian restaurant. Jocelyn behaved very well as usual and kept the waitress entertained with her antics.

Mommy and Daddy went to a nice taste of the town event/wine tasting tonight and left Jocelyn with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob for the night.

 Current Events: George Bush is elected for his second term by a margin of 3.3 million votes.

Jocelyn definitely has her preferences for what to watch on TV. She is indifferent to most programs except for Wheel of Fortune and Sesame Street. In either case she will stare raptly at the screen until there is a commercial break or the credits start to roll.

Jocelyn enjoyed Halloween today by helping daddy hand out candy to the neighborhood children. We went through about 20 pounds of chocolate to a lot more children than expected. Jocelyn also enjoyed showing off her duck costume much to the delight of the locals.

Jocelyn seems to be feeling better but still has diarrhea. Her appetite has picked up quite a bit so the outlook is good.

We found that Jocelyn's first tooth was cut today!!! Her bottom right one is definitely poking through and a faint white outline of her left bottom tooth can be seen on her gum.

When Jocelyn is standing and being held by her hands she can be coaxed into taking a few steps forward.

Jocelyn has come down with some sort of stomach bug. Nothing overly serious but she is generally unhappy and is developing a diaper rash due to the diarrhea. Plus we haven't been feeding her solids as a result so we can keep enough fluids in her.

We have started to notice that when Jocelyn stands up on the edge of the couch or a pile of pillows she will take a cautious step sideways on occasion. We are told she will figure this out and start rapidly moving around in this fashion soon.

Jocelyn's crawling skills have steadily been improving. She can crawl very fast to anywhere she wants and now starts pulling herself up onto her feet once she reaches her destination.

A long day for the baby today. We made a family trip to Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy came with us as we explored the historic village and checked out the various animals. Jocelyn seemed mostly indifferent and managed to catch a nap during the visit. We also went to the restaurant on the premises and had a nice meal at which Jocelyn had fun eating Cheerios and anything else placed in front of her.

47 New pictures up! 6 of them are formal portraits!

New videos and sound added including some cute video of Jocelyn's learning to crawl.

Grandpa Galen stopped by tonight for a visit. Jocelyn showed off like she normally does and generally did her best to look cute.

Jocelyn continues to perfect her crawling skills. She pretty much crawls wherever she wants now. She also uses her new skill help decide who she wants to cuddle with. Its very cute see her crawl across the room to you, sit up, and raise her arms to be picked up. This feat is also accomplished while crying at times.

Jocelyn's eating habits are expanding as well. She regularly feeds herself Cheerios and other similar foods. She has also been eating cut up slices of bananas. We have yet to find something she doesn't like and she insists on trying what we are eating at all times. It kind of funny to have her spot you eating and crawl over to you so she can sit next to the dog and beg. If she starts scratching behind her ear with her foot I'll know she has been hanging out with the dog too much.

Jocelyn has also been working on her singing skills. She is currently working on La-La-La now that Da-Da-Da has been perfected.

Mommy and Daddy attended another surprise birthday party today while Aunt Chris watched Jocelyn. We traveled about an hour and a half north to attend my Uncle Bobby's surprise 80th birthday party with quite a few family members in attendance. We brought new pictures of Jocelyn which were enjoyed by those that saw them. In retrospect it would have been nice to bring her along but we didn't want to divert attention away from Uncle Bobby's big day.

Jocelyn, Mommy, and Daddy attended a surprise birthday party for a good friend and coworker. She got to try many new foods but meatballs seemed to be her favorite. She also got to crawl and explore a lot while playing with quite a few other children. She seemed to really enjoy playing with a little boy a month older than her that was very cute.

Jocelyn, Grammy, and Auntie visited Aunt Libby today. All went well and Jocelyn enjoyed sharing a breakfast of eggs and toast.

Jocelyn was left with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob tonight. Aunt Dena is arriving from afar late tonight to attend our Uncle Bobby's 80th birthday on Sunday.

Jocelyn was left sound asleep for Grandpa Bob to watch over while Grammy went the airport for Aunt Dena. While gone Jocelyn apparently awoke with quite a bit of crying due to her being in the process of teething. Grandpa Bob seemed to survive the encounter with a very unhappy baby without any permenant hearing loss.

Jocelyn started eating finger foods all on her own today. She has so far she has tried crushed up fish crackers, diced apples, and baby crackers. She is still working on the whole chewing thing but she is practicing and getting better.

Jocelyn also appears to be ready to get her first tooth. Her lower gum on the right side is slightly inflamed and she was unwilling to suck a bottle until some Tylenol kicked in.

Daddy gets back from a week long business trip to Canada to visit a new supplier and get some training.

Jocelyn has been hard a work improving her skills in my absence. She is crawling like a pro and can get anywhere she wants now. She will routinely follow mommy and daddy around the house.

Jocelyn is also now a master of sitting up. She seemed to develop and master this difficult skill while figuring out how to crawl.

Jocelyn's other miscellaneous talents now include saying da-da-da and lifting her arms up in the air when we go to pick her up.

We took Jocelyn in for some formal portraits today which came out very well. (Thanks Aunt Dena!)

Jocelyn's voice appears to be changing. When she cries or talks her voice will sometimes break slightly and it appears to be getting deeper overall.

Jocelyn successfully crawled a few feet across the carpet today! She has chosen not to repeat this feat since.

We went for our normal Sunday breakfast with Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Bob, and Aunt Debbie. While we were there it was discovered that Grandma and Grandpa's water heater had failed. We proceeded to remove the broken one and install a new bigger one with only slight modifications to the house.

Jocelyn seems to be developing a new cry. It is mostly used in times of frustration but she is practicing and using it more often all the time. Her cries now seem to have a squeak and are routinely accompanied by a few tears. Very dramatic!

We finally lowered Jocelyn's bed today so that when she starts standing unassisted she will not flip herself over the edge.

Jocelyn is making progress with the whole crawling endeavor. She will occasionally get a full "step" or two and move forward correspondingly before collapsing on her cute little face. She can also stand for a while now when placed near a stool or chair. We've also noticed lately that she seems to be giving herself rug burns occasionally while rolling around.

Mommy went to spend the day with Grandpa Galen while he attended a block party and a High School Reunion. All went well and Aunt Chris ended up crashing the party to keep Cyndi and the rest of the crowd entertained.

Jocelyn and Dad went to the Puritan Back Room for dinner tonight with the family. We were there as an informal sendoff for Aunt Debbie who will be moving soon. Jocelyn managed to keep the crowd entertained as usual by turning up the charm. She is blowing raspberries again and enjoyed doing that through most of the dinner. She also demonstrated her flexibility by sucking on her toes for a while. As usual she couldn't have been any better behaved.

Not only is Jocelyn now entertaining herself by repeatedly blowing raspberries she is also picking up how to apply a "zerbert" which daddy enjoys doing to her tummy.

We attended the Rochester Fair tonight with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob. Jocelyn seemed to enjoy herself as usual and got to try some new foods again. We found out she likes cotton candy and sausage subs. She also seemed to enjoy the horse races... (Child services if probably reading this and wondering if we were giving her shots of bourbon and laying her bets for her).

Jocelyn also got to check out the petting zoo while at the fair and was very entertained by a loud duck. Every time the duck would quack Jocelyn would jump and start giggling. She was too tired to enjoy most of the other animals as we saw them last and that was way past her normal bedtime.

While at the fair we watched a unique artist creating paintings on the spot using spray paint. The effects he accomplished using regular krylon spray paint, some kitchen utensils, and a lighter were very impressive.

Jocelyn and Mommy seem to have colds at the moment. Mommy is pretty out of it but Jocelyn seems happy with just a runny nose as a symptom.

Jocelyn made her first phone call today. While playing with the phone she managed to call Grandma Nancy and talk to her for a while before dad noticed what she was playing with.

Jocelyn had her "6 Month" checkup today. She was 18 pounds 1 ounce and is now 28 1/2 inches long. She is at the 97th percentile for height and the 60th percentile for weight. She got her three shots and cried for about 10 seconds. The doctor said she is very cute and extremely flexible.  (The shots received were DTaP, Hib, PCV, Hep B, and IPV.)

We were also told that she could start proteins in another month.

We finally got our car back from Chevy today. It only took two weeks and a stack of cash but the car is working well again...

Jocelyn broke her Ocean Wonders Aquarium Bouncer (#79030) today. This was rather weird as the steel rod that the frame of the bouncer actually broke in half shortly after the bend in the wire where all the bouncing is concentrated. We called Fisher-Price and they offered to buy it back from us no questions asked. I hope this isn't a problem with the line because when that rod brakes it leaves a sharp edge and allows the baby to impact the floor is she continues to bounce. FWIW, she had been using it daily for 7.5 months and weighed 18 pounds when it broke.

Its a lot of fun to watch Jocelyn rolling around on the floor. She is repeatedly lifting her butt way up in the air by standing o