Gwyneth month 10

What a busy month! Things really got hectic, so my apologies (yet again) for the late post!

This month was so much fun! It began with a trip to the pumpkin patch, where Gwyneth was able to enjoy the cool outdoors and help pick out 3 pumpkins for Halloween. She saw some cows, hay bales, and even a pumpkin trebuchet. It was all really fun, although, with the cool, damp weather, we didn't stay as long as we would have liked. We carved her small pumpkin with her handprint, just like Lucas' first pumpkin. She didn't keep her hand very still, so it was a bit larger than her actual hand, but I still think it turned out adorable.

Helping brother pick out his pumpkin

She has broadened her horizons with food by introducing different meats and vegetables.I was afraid she would be incredibly picky since I was such a sugar-holic while pregnant with her. I'm pleasantly surprised that there are very few things she turns her nose up at. I made chicken noodle soup, broccoli, and pumpkin pancakes this month, and she devoured it all. She still loves her yogurt drops and eggs in the morning, and we have introduced oranges since we have entered into cold & flu season.

We're working on the sippy cups, but she still spits most of what she sucks out all over herself. She seems to like Lucas' straw cups more than her own, so we may experiment with different straw cups to see if she prefers those. We're really just trying to take our time on everything with her, even though it seems like she's growing up at lightening speed.

Gwyneth's first Halloween was a lot of fun. We went to the Children's Halloween party on base the night before Halloween, and Gwyneth was so interested in all the costumes. She seemed confused about why everyone was dressed so strangely. On Halloween, our friends & old neighbors from Guam came up to go trick or treating with us since their son is such good friends with Lucas. It was raining pretty badly, so we first went to the NEX and walked through their Spooktacular event, and then by the time the trick or treating started in the neighborhood, the rain had let up. Gwyneth was not happy about having to sit in the stroller , so about halfway through, Daniel ended up picking her up and carrying her the rest of the way. She was an adorable little "witch," although, she didn't keep her witches hat on at all. Oh, well. Next year will be better since she'll have a little better of an understanding... and hey, she'll be able to get some free candy, too!

Not much has changed on the walking front. She definitely cruises along the furniture and is super fast when it comes to crawling, though. I know it's really just a matter of time before she figures it all out, but I really would be ok with her taking her time. My heart is breaking with how quickly my baby girl is growing up. I'm not ready for her to be a toddler!

We were both hit with the first cold of the season over this month, as well. She was more clingy and cranky than I've seen her in a long time, but fortunately, there were no complications or fevers resulting from it. Her cough is lingering a bit, and a couple nights it woke her up, but it seems like it's finally on it's way out.

Sick kiddos hanging out

Gwyneth was able to help nurse Millie back to health after her spay. Well, maybe not nurse... more like, annoy. She thought the cone Millie wore was so amazing. I laughed so much at her trying to reach in and pet Millie through it. The novelty of it wore off pretty quickly when Millie started running into Gwyneth with the cone, but it definitely didn't keep Gwen away from her puppy. The two of them are best of friends! Gwyneth even has started saying "Da" when she sees her or any other dog for that matter. When we facetime with my parents and she sees their dogs on the screen, she squeals with joy and laughs at them playing. It makes me so happy to see her so in love with animals.

Are you ok Millie?

That about wraps up this month! I can already tell you next month is going to be just as fantastic since we're celebrating yet another fabulous Holiday... and my favorite one to boot! Until then: Ta Ta!

10 month picture

Gwyneth Month 9

Wow, this month when by quickly... or maybe it just seems that way because it's been 2 weeks since I published her 8 month update, ha ha!

We will start with her stats, since she had a well-baby check up this month. She weighs 20lbs, is 28in long, and has an 18in head circumference. Her weight and height have kind of plateaued, but her head circumference is still in the 99th percentile! And despite things leveling off, she's still our adorably chunky baby girl.

Let me help you cook, mommy!

She is starting to get more brave with her cruising around the furniture. She has started pushing her walker around, and one evening, we caught her trying to push Lucas around. He definitely helped by pushing himself along, but she was pretty proud of herself since she thought she was doing all the work. We even took her to a play area on base, and she enjoyed crawling around and pulling up on some of the big toys. She definitely was disappointed she couldn't climb up the large slide with big brother.

cruising around with big brother

Gwyneth is still loving bath time. We've started having more fun with her hair growing long and giving her funky hair-dos with the shampoo. She splashes around like crazy, so I have to keep a close eye on her because she'll get so excited and fall over in the blink of an eye. With the cooler weather, we've had to put a stop to letting her crawl around in just a diaper after her bath, so we've starting using one of Lucas' old dinosaur robes. I think she looks adorable in one of her brother's hand me downs.

Gwen and Millie's relationship continues to grow. The two of them are really close, and it is amazing to me to see how patient a puppy can be with a baby. Gwen pulls on her ears, pokes her in her eyes, bounces on her, smacks her nose, and Millie just takes it. I, of course, encourage her to use soft hands because I don't want her to think all dogs are as sweet as Millie is, but sometimes I can't get to her in time. Now, if we could only get Millie to stop eating Gwen's socks, she'd be the perfect dog!

Best buds

Her top 2 front teeth broke through the last week of this month as well! I tried to get a picture of them, but since they're still close to the gum line and she moves around like crazy, I couldn't get a good shot. Trust me, they're there. She loves to chomp down while nursing to watch me squeal. She has such a different personality than Lucas. She laughs at me when I unlatch her and set her on the floor... Lucas would cry because he wanted to keep eating, so he learned really quickly not to bite. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this little girl and her mischievous personality.

We introduced eggs and yogurt this month. She devours the yogurt drops, and tolerates the eggs, so I'm glad to see she probably doesn't have an egg allergy. She prefers to pick up the food and feed herself, so it is nice to have my hands free at breakfast to eat and have my much needed cup of coffee. Probably my favorite moment from this month is when she stole one of Lucas' waffles and we caught her stuffing her face with it. Daniel and I noticed it was really quiet, and we looked over by the chair (she had hidden herself to be sneaky), and had a mouth full of waffle. I'm thankful we found her before her little chipmunk cheeks caused her to choke, but it was too adorable not to take a picture of it first.

Yummy Eggs

Bed time is getting better. She's still waking up a lot at night, but we're sticking with the bed time routine in the hopes she'll continue to improve. She ADORES books. She wants to turn the pages on her own, and gets angry if me (or Daniel) stop her because we aren't finished reading that page. I brought out a lot of the board books so she can play with them without me worrying about her tearing the pages.

That about wraps up this month! Stay tuned for her 10 month (WHAAAA?!) check in. It'll be full of her first Halloween experience, and lots of fall fun! Until then, Ta Ta!

9 Month Picture

Gwyneth Month 8

I'm sorry this blog is so late, but better late than never I suppose. I apologize because my memories of this month are already a bit rusty since we're well into her 9th month.

We have a full blown cruiser, now. She has really taken to pulling up on anything and everything she can. She is so proud of herself when she does it, too. I can't believe we're already at this point in the first year of her life! Time is really starting to speed up, and I want it to slow down!

One of her new favorite skills is blowing raspberries. If you add all the slobber from teething, we get a nice shower of saliva with it. My favorite is when she does it while she's eating. It makes clean up after a meal so much more enjoyable... especially, when the meal gets splattered on me in the process!

She has also started to clap and wave her hand hi/bye. One of my favorite things about watching her grow (and this goes for every baby/child as they grow) is the amazement at their ability to do new things. Everything they discover or do is brand new, and I don't look forward to the day that everything is "old news." I want my kids to always thing everything is amazing.

HI!

We took a nice hike to a lake early in the month, and I was able to wear her on my back in the ergo. She seemed to really enjoy it, and it certainly took a lot of pressure off my back since I wasn't carrying an extra 20lbs up in front of me. She loved watching Millie run towards the edge of the lake, and the cool water splashing on us was nice in the hot sun.

We had family photos taken at the Deception Pass beach with the view of the bridge. Our neighbor and friend Liz took the photos and we had a great time. She did a wonderful job and I'm so glad we have been able to keep up our tradition of getting pictures taken every year. I'll only share the ones of Gwen since this is her blog, but they all turned out beautifully.

Daddy's Girl

                                          

We've gotten Gwyneth to take her naps and begin the evening in her crib, which is wonderful as it frees up my hands to get things done around the house. The time she stays in there varies, but again, we're making progress, and that is honestly most important to me. I don't want to rush things and end up losing more sleep overall. Mama needs her rest to be able to care for her and her brother, so I'll do whatever necessary to get sleep.

I'm awaaaaake

The final thing that happened this month, is the blossoming of Gwyneth's personality. I wish I could say it was all sunshine and roses, but she really has a little temper. It is interesting to contrast her personality with Lucas', because while he was an incredibly difficult newborn, he really had a laid back personality once he got past 6 months. Gwyneth was a little more manageable as a newborn, but is proving to be very stubborn as a pre-toddler. When she wants something and you tell her 'no' or re-direct her, she throws a full on tantrum. She can be happy one minute, and angry the next. Mischievous, but then an angel in the blink of an eye. It definitely keeps us on our toes, but we're loving it!

That about wraps it up! Next month's update will *hopefully* be posted on time. It's difficult to keep my mind focused on one thing for more than a few minutes, but now that she's starting to sleep more on her own at night, I'm hoping I can get the necessary time to sit down and write everything in one night :) I'll be back soon!

8 Months Old!

Gwyneth Month 7

I can't believe another month has passed. Gwen is growing so quickly, and sometimes I wish I could pause the time so she can be this small forever.

Here are her measurements from her last Dr. appointment: Height: 27.5in (93%), Weight: 19lbs (71%), Head Circ: 18 in (99%). Needless to say, we have a big girl!

Gwen officially started sitting up on her own this month. She had lots of practice sitting up when we'd go watch Lucas at his soccer camp twice a week. She enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and playing with the toys we'd bring (or anything she could get her hands on, really).

Since she could sit up so well on her own, Daniel and I decided we could start putting her in the shopping cart when we'd go to the NEX or Commissary. She enjoys being able to look around, although, I think she'd prefer to face forward so she can see everything without having to turn her head so much. She really likes the carts at Costco because big brother can sit next to her, and she thinks he is just the coolest kid around.

Food is becoming one of her favorite things. We try to give her little bits of whatever we're eating at each meal, but if it's too spicy, we'll cut up an avocado or cook up some carrots for her. She really enjoys picking the food up and feeding herself, which is awesome, because it's working on her fine motor skills. She's got some improving to do, but I'll cut her some slack... she is a baby after all.

We officially have a crawler, too! Once she realized she could move, all bets were off. Daniel and I can tell that she's going to be the kid that we really need to keep an eye on. She loves cords, power outlets, and pretty much anything that could harm her. Within a week of learning to crawl, she decided she wanted to start pulling up to try and stand, too. Goodness, I am not ready for all the trouble she can get into when she starts cruising along the furniture. We've had quite a few bonked heads from falls (and as I typed that, she bonked her head again). I guess with a head circumference in the 99th percentile, those are bound to happen frequently.

We've also started working on getting her to sleep on her own. I read the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" because cry it out would definitely not work with this girl. Her crying soon turns to a high pitched squeal, and Daniel and I could not handle that if we let it go for more than a minute. This is a really gradual approach, but I'm ok with that. We've introduced a "lovie" and she seems to really enjoy cuddling up to it once I leave the room. We've gotten some good initial stretches out of her, but we still haven't quite gotten her to be comfortable in her crib. Even if she is dead asleep, if I start lowering her into the crib, she wakes up and starts screaming. Baby steps, though. Baby steps.

Her Lovie 

Bath time is one of her favorite times. She loves to sit up and splash the water nonstop. It makes cleaning her a bit difficult because she is moving around constantly, but I am so glad that both of my kids love the water. I can't imagine having a baby that screamed the entire bath. As soon as she hears the water running (even if it isn't her bath night), she crawls into the bathroom and tries to get in. Most evenings, I'll let her sit in there with me and watch Lucas play in the tub, and if he's feeling kind, he'll even share some of his bath toys with her.

That's about all that happened this month. :) Our little girl is growing fast, and I can't wait to update you with all her changes next month!

7 MONTHS!

Gwyneth Month 6

This month was really full! Stick with me, because this will probably be a really long post!

Gwen's Dr's appointment isn't for another couple weeks, so I'll have to update her stats in next month's blog post. Overall, she's gotten adorably chunky, and seems to be thriving!

Such a cutie!

This month Gwen officially started rolling over from her back to her belly, which means she has become such a little adventurer rolling all over the floor. It's pretty interesting to see how her world has opened up in her eyes. Like, she didn't realize how much space our house actually had. We just keep a little closer eye on her to make sure she doesn't grab any of Lucas' small toys (although, we made him put most of those in his bedroom anyway), or get stuck somewhere. We've also had a couple heat waves, so we have to keep an extra special eye on her because she likes to roll over to the fan cords and pull on them.

Rolling!

The biggest part of our month included a visit from Aunt Michelle, Uncle Keith, Wesley, and their newest baby Wyatt! We were so excited to spend time with them for an entire week!

We started the visit with just a simple picnic in a park and let the big boys play. We then went strawberry picking and spend the rest of that day relaxing. We wanted to make sure they recovered from their long flight from Florida.

The next day was filled with a long drive and then hike along Artist Ridge Trail. It was such a beautiful day, and the boys were even able to play in some leftover snow patches. It was the first time Uncle Keith had seen snow in his entire life! We even brought Millie along so she wasn't at home the entire day. Gwen was content in the ergo carrier, and even slept for the majority of the drive to and from the mountain.

That weekend, there was a base open house, so we took the boys, and they were able to watch the helicopter demonstration, spray a firehose, and see the final flight of the prowler jet. Gwen was sleeping while the jets flew over, but because they are so loud, they startled her awake. Thankfully, she didn't cry afterward, and just looked around to see what so rudely woke her up.

On my birthday (yay for turning 32!), we went to Everett and let the kids play at the Children's museum, and then ate at a Mexican restaurant with our friends from Guam. Gwen had her first bite of rice there, thanks to Aunt Michelle encouraging us to go ahead and let her taste some real food, and has been happily eating small bits of food ever since (more on that later).

The last day of the visit, we drove down to Seattle to see the space needle and do a little touring. The boys had fun riding on the monorail, and Gwen and baby Wyatt were perfectly happy being carried in the wrap Michelle made, and the ergo carrier. It really was difficult to say good-bye to them. The kids really get along well, and Lucas often asks for Wesley to come over and play. We can't wait to see them again, and plans are already in the works to try to get to Florida sometime around the Holidays.

After the visit, we had a fun filled week preparing for the 4th of July! Oak Harbor has a yearly carnival, and we didn't attend last year since Lucas was still pretty young, and I was suffering from morning sickness with Gwen. We went this year and walked around and Lucas was even tall enough for some of the rides! Gwyneth loved watching her big brother and daddy on the rides, and she enjoyed the lights and music while we walked around.

The 4th of July included us going to our friend's house to watch the fireworks and have a little bbq and fellowship. Gwen happily slept during the entire show, which made me happy since the show doesn't start until 10:30pm due to it staying light outside for so long. That is the one part about the summers up here I don't really care for. It's really difficult to get the kids to sleep when it's still so bright outside.

Happy 4th!

Gwen has also cut 2 teeth! I'm a little heartbroken because one of my favorite things about babies is their toothless grin. She now has the bottom 2 teeth, and while I miss her gummy smile, her new toothy grin is pretty adorable as well.

Meal times have gotten more exciting for Gwen at home. She's been increasingly interested in what we eat for dinner, so after the success with the rice, we pulled out the high chair, and boiled some carrots for her. We tried some purees, but she gets angry when we try to feed her. She wants to do it herself (we can already see some future battles as she grows with her little 'tude)! So we boiled the carrots, cut them into small pieces, and let her have at it. She loves being able to eat at the dinner table with us, and I love that Daniel and I can eat our dinners without having to hold her in our lap!

Here is a list of foods she has tried and enjoyed: Banana, green bean, avocado, and pear. It's really difficult to be patient with introducing the new foods to her because she really loves eating what we eat.

sharing mommy's banana

So, that's all for this past month! We are all enjoying the sunshine, and warm weather (even if we are sweating to death come bed time), and can't believe our baby is half a year old! Time sure does fly with the second baby.

hasn't quite mastered sitting up

6 months old!