Monday, August 10, 2009

3/4 of a year!

I don't expect that this will necessarily be as entertaining to anyone else. But I wanted to make sure we recorded all of Gwen's developmental milestones. She has been learning how to do things like crazy!!!!

Things Gwen does that I adore:

  • she figured out how to pull herself up to standing. It is so pitiful to find her unable to sleep because she can't figure out how to sit down again after standing in her crib. Silly girl. So stubborn.---- but actually, that stage only lasted about 2 days. Now she can let herself back down. But, she doesn't like it. If she 'falls' -- even if that fall is really a soft landing on her bum so there's no way she is hurt-- she will bawl.
  • she army crawls with one arm and pushes off with the other. And still uses the belly flop technique to get places. and the toe scoot. pretty much everything except ACTUALLY crawling. :)
  • she loves to scoot over to me, climb up my leg, and slap my knee while plaintively calling "uh-mah-mah-mah, uh-mah-mah-mah". I like to tell myself that she is calling my name, but she does the same thing when she wants anything. I don't know if it is just what she says to get assistance or what. But it is cute. She calls out to me all the time.
  • she has developed some real attachment to me, in particular, and to anybody in general. She hates to be alone. She will play fine with her toys as long as I am sitting right there beside her. If i move 3 feet away but out of sight behind a desk, she immediately bawls as though she bonked her head. It would be funnier if it wasn't so hard to get anything done.
  • she wants what she wants. if she is watching the goldfish swim in the fish tank... and he has the audacity to swim behind the castle where she can't see him... she will bawl.
  • she loves to eat. food that can be chewed. Especially fruit. That girl has a sweet tooth.
  • she enjoys banging things together. A toy in hand isn't nearly as much fun as one in each hand. They immediately get to "know" each other by being smacked together. It is really funny.
  • she loves to watch the fish. She stands in front of the tank blowing air excited out and kind of stamping around on those little feet saying "ghersh" over and over like she's planning to learn some German.
  • she looks forward to bathtime so much. She will stand naked at the edge of the tub, traveling/cruising all along it, slapping the lip with her hand, squealing, and stamping her feet and trying to get in there while she has to impatiently wait for the water to reach the right temperature. It is sooooo funny!
  • she's finally got 2 bottom teeth!
  • she loves her duck toy given to her by her great grandma Ian. She will catch a glimpse of it and laugh like she's being reintroduced to an old friend. She loves to hold "Mr Greenhead" and look into his eyes while chattering pleasantly and then bite his bill. Stuffed animals in general are finally becoming interesting to her. Her crib giraffe is still a favorite, but as you can see in the video, she was thrilled about Henry too.
  • she laughs like an old man sometimes. I don't know how to describe it. low, deep, throaty short chuckles. I think it is hilarious.
  • she loves having people blow in her face. She will suck in air quickly and blink her eyes rapidly while a smile appears.
  • she plays with cheerios like tiddlywinks-- even in church.
  • she discovered that if she stands up against the clear plexiglass doors at church, she can accomplish 3 things at once: slapping the glass with both palms, squealing/laughing, and slobbering all over the glass with her whole mouth like a sucker fish.
  • she falls asleep in her carseat ONLY after church. probably because she refuses to take a nap throughout the meeting. I love it when she nods off. You can see her fighting it.
  • she loves shiny objects. Phones and cameras are big ones. She also got some cheap-o shiny green marti-gras beads from a garage sale that she loves to swing around.
  • she loves being pushed in the swing at the park and tries to stand up
  • she loves 'playing' the piano with Daddy
  • she loves books and will turn the pages back and forth while blabbing
  • she loves our game of 'chase' around the house. Sometimes she gets to chase Mommy or Daddy and sometimes we chase her. It is great! She gets so worked up with her squeals and screams, you'd never guess she is so little! She's noisy, I tell ya!!!
  • she loves Baby Einstein videos. We have one from the library: Baby DaVinci. She will sit and watch it absolutely mesmerized. And squeal appropriately when the puppets appear on screen.
  • she is extremely assertive and will plow right over other babies in her excitement to touch them. We really have to watch her interactions with other kids!
I'm so grateful for all her spunk and vitality! I'm grateful that we are blessed with such a healthy, beautiful baby. I'm grateful that the Lord guides me as I strive to be a good mother to her. I'm grateful that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our little family can be together forever. I am humbled when I know that Gwen is mine for all eternity.

8 comments:

  1. I love the list of milestones...it's a great record to have of the age and stage she's at. :)

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  2. I love how after anything happens, she bawls. Sounds so familiar ... maybe L trained her to do that? :) I wish I could say that he's grown out of it. But there are definitely days when I feel that he's still going strong. It's all part of the fun, right?

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  3. awwww! so cute! she even has a Henry!

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  4. Elisa, She is adorable! I love her little blue outfit! She looks like you, it's cute!

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  5. Gwen is BEYOND adorable! She is so, so, so, so cute! I can't get over it.

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  6. I definitely have to agree, Gwen is so adorable!!!

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  7. So I just have to comment how cute She looked in this outfit on Sunday. I think it is one of my favs.

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  8. How fun to see a video of her. She is soooo cute, Elisa! Sad that we're missing her growing up, but happy that you have a blog so that we can follow her progress at least. Miss you guys!

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