Oh my. WHERE has the time flown? I can't believe Gwen is almost another year older, but I can believe that I haven't posted in almost all that same time! Ugh. I'm a HORRIBLE blogger, but I promise I am a GREAT Mother, LOL!
Where do I even begin?
Walking and talking! Gwen has been keeping us busy! Gwen took her first solo steps at 13 months, 1 day. The weeks leading up to then were spent practicing holding onto Mommy's and Daddy's hands. Since then she has never looked back and I think one of her favorite things to do is RUN around the house. She loves to make a circle between our living room, dining room, and kitchen. Around and around. Gwen is adding new words to her vocabulary every week. Just yesterday, as clear as day, she said "Thank You!" (and signed it at the same time!). I'm such a proud Momma! Gwen is going to have great manners ;) Here is a (growing) list of words Gwen can say, although she hasn't quite figured out that she can string words together to make sentences: Momma, Dadda, Car, Doggie, Cat, Baby, Night-Night, Bye-Bye, Ball, Bubble, Quack (for a duck), Please (although it's more like "Psssss" and she will sign that one too), and Book. She signs "More" and ONE TIME I heard her say (actually, it was more like a scream) "More Momma!!!!" when I was too slow feeding her Mandarin Oranges one at a time! She has yet to repeat that one.
I really have to take a moment to say what a wonderful, little girl I have. Someday when you read this, Gwen, I want you to know that you were such a sweet and tolerant baby. Don't get me wrong, you have your moments of breakdowns and tantrums, but all in all you are such a patient child and so loving...and SILLY!
Gwen is so full of smiles and giggles, well all emotions, really. She is such an expressive child. You can easily tell what she is feeling because she is not afraid to show it. I have the cutest picture of her with her scowling. For the longest time I had it in a frame that said "This face makes me smile". Actually, that face makes me LAUGH. One of the sweetest things is how Gwen gets the hiccups every time you make her laugh really hard - which is easy to do. One of Gwen's favorite things to do is play peak-a-boo. I always thought it would be so hard to act silly or playful with my child. I've never really been the type, as an adult, to act silly and let go, but I am so surprised at how easy and naturally it comes to me now that I have Gwen and need to do those kinds of things with her. Really, she is super easy to please when it comes to playing, and I am lucky it doesn't take much to entertain her. Again, Gwen is just such a laid back easy-going child. Thank you. In addition to playing peak-a-boo, Gwen LOVES being chased. It always elicits squeals and giggles from her. Another Gwen loves? Dancing! Almost any time she hears music she will dance around, even in the car! So silly; we have "dance parties" all the time! I just have to say the words, "Dance Party!" and Gwen will shake her hands and bob her head - she really gets into it. The cutest thing is how she will try and mimic me at dancing - don't know if that is a good thing or not, as I don't have the best moves or rhythm! What else does Gwen love? Her thumb! Oh my, we have a thumb sucker! I have no clue how she is going to grow out of it. You can't just take it away!! Almost two and no stopping in sight. I'm not overly concerned. Yet.
Some times at night Gwen will wake up screaming. It comes in cycles which leads me to believe the sleepless nights coordinate with her teething - those big two year old molars are coming in. Gwen has TONS of teeth and up until recently it was a battle to get her to "brush" them. We bought her a spin brush that we decorated with stickers and that has seemed to really help.
We are slow to start potty training, although we have had a few successes with Gwen going on the potty. They are just far and few between and we have even had a few weeks where we were met with resistance to the potty altogether - refusal and screams. Luckily, she is back to being okay with it. I really feel like we need to step it up a notch and get the ball rolling. A lot of people say it gets harder if you wait too long. I know my Mom had me and my brother completely trained by 18 months so I feel like I am slacking in that department, although, I will say she was a SAHM and time was on her side.
Whew! I feel like this is a TON for one post, but I guess that is what happens when you wait almost a full year to post again! I will say it's that time of year again and party planning is in full swing! This year Gwen is going to have Puppy Themed birthday and BOY do I have some cute ideas planned!
I'll end this post here but I will leave you this:
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| Just look at all that adorableness! <3 |
