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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| hasn't quite mastered sitting up |
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| 6 months old! |
