Gwyn's World: 11 Month Update

Oh my, here we go again. I get to lament for a few paragraphs on how big G is getting and how time is just speeding along. :-( All babies change quickly, it's their job, but G seems to have made some big moves this month. Along with perfecting her crawling technique, pulling up to anything standing still (and some not!), practically running with assistance and eating anything put in front of here, she's now a mimicking master, conversation babbler, and all around goofball/show-off.

They've moved her to sleeping on a cot at school (apparently this is a big deal?!) and she is now one of the oldest/biggest in her room. In fact we showed up one day last week to be told that she got caught on her way to biting a boy who tried to steal her snack. Honestly, I get a little territorial about my food too, so I can't blame her for that one!

If you want to catch up, here are G's other monthly updates:

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

There is not a day that goes by where she doesn't make me laugh. And not just a giggle but a full-on belly laugh. How good is laughing for you, by the way? Something like that can turn an entire day around and seeing this little person who is so happy 99% of the time makes me realize how good life really is. Stopping to smell the roses is always worth the time, ya know?

We have two more teeth on the bottom, only a guess on weight, and no idea on length (is it height now that she stands up a lot?) We don't see the doc for real stats until after her 1st b-day. Don't even get me started on that! Only a few people will be coming over, but I'm guessing about a thousand pictures will be taken, so of course the Type A in me wants everything to be perfect. I may have some interesting  pics to share after this weekend's cake decorating practice disaster is over.

Like most babies (I think!) she loves, loves, loves music. Of any kind. She dances to the elevator music the HD channel we watch baseball on plays when there's no game. That darn Fresh Beat Band could be on halfway across the house and she'll be bopping along! Even the goofy music her car seat toys make never fail to get a smile.

She can now express things that she wants by pointing, reaching or saying her 'words' for them. The best so far is Dak, which is obviously Jack, although to her I think it's puppy because she also uses it for Nallah! Of course she also expresses what she doesn't want by throwing, pushing or otherwise getting it out of her way. Whether it's a toy in her crawling path or mommy's hand or face somewhere she doesn't want it she will make sure it is out of her way quickly and with authority!

I've been trying to get her outside as much as possible now that it is reasonable in the evenings. She really enjoys our bumpy little wagon rides down the driveway. We get out and touch trees and leaves and walk in the grass and even watch bugs crawling. I want her to have an appreciation and respect for nature but also curiosity. So what if she came inside with dirty feet, those can be washed, the look on her face when she felt that cool soft grass under them was priceless!

Our world revolves around Gwyn's World, which is as it should be. I knew that going in. I just didn't know my heart would revolve around hers as well. It certainly know it belongs to her.

11 Month Update:

• Weight: ?? Still 20+ pounds for sure!
• 12 month clothes
• Cruising, walking/running with hands to hold
• Losing interest in binkies and bottles (except when sleepy)
• Points at objects and waits for you to say the word
• LOVES: chasing the dogs, pancakes, wagon rides and Wow Wow Wubzy

All About Food & Foodie Pen Pal Reveal!

I'm so excited, it's my first Foodie Pen Pal reveal!! But we'll get to that in a minute, I have other food-related things to discuss first.

I wanted to add a bit in here about G and how she's doing with her big girl eats. Let me tell you, she is almost to the point of rejecting spoon feeding! And yes, she really will eat all of that veggie burger (although it's really on half a patty), garden squash and sweet potatoes.

She does pretty well with the plate, but at some point it usually ends up getting tossed around; the puppies sit and wait for that moment!

Turkey sandwich: deli turkey, whole wheat bread and avocado. This pic totally reminds me of Munchkin Meals, I never actually participated but had to give a shout out since I totally stole ideas from those that did! *wink* They were so creative that I couldn't help it.

Before I move on to Foodie Pen Pal I have to mention the host-Lindsay's- awesome adventure last week to Survive on 35. Dollars that is. For one week that's all she could spend on food. It was inspirational to follow on Instagram, I haven't even had the time to read all the goodness on her blog. I think everyone should give this a shot, talk about creative-and healthy!

Now for the most fun I've gotten in the mail in a long time-Foodie Pen Pal!! 

My box came all the way from California from a spunky gal named Maren of Maren's Morsels. Check out her blog where she finds a balance between healthy eats and midnight treats (I just love that tag line!)

Maren showered me with both. 

Well, the peanut butter cups didn't last long and her warning that the pretzel chips were addicting was totally true. I'm loving them with the hummus I managed to make the other night!

She also sent the cutest card and some fruit leather, which if you read her blog you will see lots of :-) It's like grown-up fruit roll ups-deeeelish! The rest is in my 'snack drawer' at work so when I'm feeling a craving I have something good to fall back on. 

I also have to thank Maren since the idea for trying out dairy free came to me after reading her struggle with digestive issues. She has some great thoughts on the topic and always yummy eats for even sensitive tummies! My biggest food addiction has always been ice cream, but that probably needs to change now.

I'd love to hear: What food are you addicted to?

Here is some more info on Foodie Pen Pals, I highly suggest it...getting fun food in the mail and making new friends. Does it get better? I say, NO!

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.

Gwyn's World: 9 Month Update

Holy Moly! My baby girl is 9 months old...3/4 of a year...ALREADY! I know I'll say this continuously as she grows, but my oh my the time is going quickly!

I've been watching her sleep lately and one day it dawned on me that I am suddenly the mother of a little girl, not a baby. I am starting to be able to envision what some of her mannerisms will be as a toddler. And I'm pretty sure she's gonna be a looker :-)

She still isn't crawling, or pulling up. She does however love to use my (or anyone's!) hands and with a little help gets herself to standing. This is her new favorite game, she could play it all day, and sometimes tries. She uses whatever she can get her hands on-this is how she entertained herself during my shower today.  

Operation Childproofing must be completed ASAP!

She's also getting quicker when it comes to the puppies and has started to catch a tuft of hair now and then as they stroll by her. They have no idea what they're in for!

We don't have any new teeth this month either, but we continue to add more solid foods. She gets very distracted during spoon feeding sessions and would much prefer to do it herself. I'm trying more to feed her something similar to what I'm eating-it's just easier for both of us. Plus, she hates it when you eat in front of her and don't share. Stinker.

Scrambled egg yolk & avocado

She is certainly a character-or a monkey as we all affectionately call her! She plays a game with her Daddy when he's in another room and they call back and forth to each other. We also have lot of fun with mimicking different motions and sounds. She made her first clap sound this week so she is totally obsessed with that now too. Well, sound in general.

We have made the (smooth) transition to her real crib upstairs. It was a littlle harder for us than her I think. She still falls asleep most nights in our bed and then I walk her up, but hey, we're getting there! Who doesn't love cuddling with a baby, but I don't want to end up with a toddler between the hubs and I every night. We need mommy & daddy time too!

Mandarin oranges-yum!

We have our 9-month check up next week and I have some lingering new mom questions. Poor girl has some tummy troubles that I hope she'll grow out of and I just don't know at what age you can get them allergy tested; I'm pretty sure she has some.



Classic strawberry shortcake shirt-couldn't resist a childhood favorite!

9 Month Update:

• Added Mandarin oranges, wheat bread and veggie burgers 
• Put away 6-9 month clothes
• Wore shoes in public for 1st time, while attending 1st family reunion-won youngest in attendance prize!
• Sleeping like a champ in her own room
• LOVES: standing, clapping, feeding herself and splashing

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I already know what her birthday cake is going to be (I have to practice the decorating ahead of time!) and now that I've gotten suckered in to Pinterest I'm sure I will have far too many ideas for other cute party ideas.

89 days and counting...

ET & BLW...WTW?!

Most days I feel like my work world is run by acronyms, so I figured why not add some from Gwyn's World to the list! What the What (WTW) is a classic Liz Lemon line from 30 Rock and comes in handy for a swearing substitute, which I generally don't need alot of help with, I just think it's witty and cute. As for the other two: Elimination Training and Baby Led Weaning.

Elimination Training

Some may think this is a little out there, but G has started using her very own big girl potty. When I read about this concept I was not so surprised to learn that the US is one of the few places babies remain in diapers for so long. Diapers are really just a convenience for us, not a necessity for them. Moms in other countries are in constant contact with their babies and get to know their elimination cues very quickly. This is harder for a full-time working mom but we are working on it every weekend.

Babies tend not to go when they sleep but right after they wake, so in the mornings and after naps we sit on the potty, more to get her used to it than anything else right now. But as you can imagine, cues for #2 are alot easier to see and we've been successful with that one a few times now. I feel good about that for her sake since I can only imagine how difficult that is to accomplish while fully clothed!! I'm not expecting that she'll be potty trained next month or even this year, but I think this will help when the time comes.

Baby Led Weaning

I talked about this a little bit before, and we've tried a few more foods now. Besides banana, we've also had avocado, mango and cooked egg yolk. The mango seemed a little strong for her but everything else has been a hit and she really loves the independence of it. If I were here with her all the time we would be doing more of her feedings this way for sure.

I don't know how well I did, but I was trying to capture her new top teeth on film, she has cut 3 and is close to the fourth. This makes her look like a full blown toddler and also gives us a few more options food-wise. These teething biscuits are labeled for 9 month olds, but baby girl gnawed the heck out of one and screamed like I have never heard her scream when I tried to take it away! Definitely only a treat but definitely a hit!

She's also eating jarred food with meat now and we are starting our first week where she probably won't get a breast milk bottle every day. Oh, the freedom!! It's almost time for the 7 month update so there are a few more things to talk about then...

  

Too Cute!

Another weekend is finally here. They always say Don't Wish Your Life Away, and now that Gwyn is here I try harder to savour the moments but it sure is easier to do on a Saturday for some reason!! :-)

We've had some fun this week and I managed to get some pics so I thought I'd do a quick recap of Gwyn's World....

We successfully tried some new food over the last week: prunes, pears and peas! I started singing a song to her yesterday about her foods while trying the pears and realized that half start with p: pears, peaches, peas, prunes, potatoes (sweet that is)! Hard to spit out, but she doesn't care, she loved the song!

I also had some cooked acorn squash so I gave her a mushy piece to play with; I'm still toying with this Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) idea and she really seemed to enjoy it. Not just the food but having it in her hands and in her control.

We're on a mission to get her a high chair this weekend and then I think it'll be much easier to do more of this. Obviously at school they feed regular baby food, but I'm thinking a mix between that and BLW will be both fun and good for us all. It is certain to make for some (messy) good pics!!

She's loved bathtime since about 1 month old, but it's really getting fun now. I said in her 5 month update that she loves rubber ducky, and not just because daddy sings her the song, but last night she actually giggled when he was put in front of her!That's the first one we've heard where someone didn't need to be trying hard to get a laugh out of her. Honestly, is there anything cuter than a baby's laugh? She also splashed like crazy and got water absolutely everywhere...time to find a new place for baths besides the counter, I don't know. like in a bathtub maybe! ;-)

I also tried like crazy to get a pic of those little teeth before she gets more but everytime I thought I got the shot, they were mysteriously missimg!!! She did get very excited about the photo shoot though!

Another week in the books and I can't wait to see what the next one brings!