Milli on the Move

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2012 has already started out with a bang with my baby Milli going from sitting to crawling in no time at all! I am happy to report that after a frustrating month of balancing on her hands and knees with bum in the air and pointing her head down into the carpet, she has finally discovered how to mobilise those fat little legs and sumo arms and crawl. She's no longer happy to sit and play with her toys on the carpet anymore - she wants to see the world! Mom, dad and nanny are having trouble keeping a beady eye on her all of a sudden as she's quick as lightening to crawl from one spot to another. But, in true Cronje style, she's no longer happy to just crawl, she wants to start walking as well! Pulling herself up against the couch, TV cabinet, toy box and her bike (yes she got her first ybike for Christmas!) seems like such fun.....until she bliksems over and looks at you with puppy dog eyes before screaming.

I've suddenly realised (with sadness) that she no longer needs me. She can operate pretty much on her own these days. She told me that breastfeeding is for babies and only wants to eat proper food for brekkie, lunch and dinner. So its been a long and hard (in all senses of the word) road to dry these boobs out! She doesn't want me to hold her bottle while feeding her - she can do that all by herself. Her first tooth broke through this week, so she's getting ready to start chewing on some meaty biltong. We've dropped her bed down to the lowest level as we've often found her sitting up and crying when I go through in the middle of the night. She is very vocal about what she likes and doesn't like - don't ever think of taking a toy away from her when she's playing with it as she'll bite your head off with an angry scream! So she is becoming a real little missy....or just taking after her dad ;-)





Granny and grandpa were down in Cape Town for Christmas and Ouma was in town from the farm so she was a very spoilt little girl and spent many hours playing with them. Christmas day was so special with both my parents, Jaco's mom and brother with us to celebrate the day together. She was very spoilt with lots of pressies and I think loved the wrapping more than anything else! Actually mom enjoyed opening two lots of pressies on the morning as Milea didn't really know what to do with all of them! We really did get our money's worth from the ouma's in terms of babysitting as Jaco and I went training every morning in the holidays. The half ironman is next weekend and Jaco's cycling season starts this weekend. He's signed up with the BF team this season which means he's in line for a sponsored bike and all the kit which he's very happy about. 2012 seems to be a very big sporting year for both of us what with the half ironman in East London (Christie), Argus (both of us), Boland Tour (Jaco), Two Oceans Half marathon (both of us and Milli in her pram), and depending on training possibly the Epic for Jaco. It may just be the last time we'll be able to do all these things. I'm enjoying having my athletic figure back but have a feeling this is the most fittest, thinnest and well-toned I'm ever going to be in my whole life!! Sigh......



Milli was lucky enough to be selected to appear in 2 adverts recently: one for Huggies nappies and the other for a French catalogue. It was very exciting to see behind the scenes and take part in the photoshoots. She was such a star and behaved so well - the fame definitely didn't go to her head! It was very strange seeing her pose with an Italian model as her 'mom' in the Huggies photographs. And I didn't realise that they always cast 2 babies for photoshoots - 1 being the main baby and the other being the backup child in case the main baby doesn't feel up to posing that day. I'm pleased to say that she was great as the main baby and the other little one just sat around for 3 hours watching Milli strut her stuff. She will be appearing on the nappy packaging for Huggies from August 2012. The French catalogue photoshoot took place in the beautiful gardens of a Bishopscourt house. Milli had to pose with another little boy who had trouble sitting up by himself. They had to prop him up with lots of pillows so he didn't fall over. Milli took it in her stride and gave lots of big smiles while Constance (her nanny) jumped up and down and made funny faces at her behind the camera.

1 week to go before half iron man which means I need to stop typing and get out there and train!