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!