Wednesday, November 25, 2009

14 months: Look Who's Talking!

Gwen just reached the milestone I think most parents probably dread...she learned how to say- No! It all started with her shaking her head at me, and then a few days later she matched the sign with the word.

Before No! there were many other words and signs (we are doing Baby Sign Language- based on American Sign Language).
-says Hi! and waving hello
-says Bye! and waving goodbye
-says MAMA or MA' MA'
-says Da or dadadada
-Gwen loves our cat Milton and can do the sign for cat and at first said Gath! or Gath? (her official first word) which is now 'itty! or 'itty-at
-signs all done
-signs more (one of her first signs)
-signs bird and says bir
-says plae when she hears a plane
-says ball
-signs food/eat
-signs milk, but until yesterday there were no words attached to these signs. She now enthusiastically says "Eel, Eel, Eel" for Milk.
-signs water She does understand that there are different types of water and signs water for her sippy cup, for my water bottle, and for the lake at the Zoo.
-signs Fish and says 'ish! When we were at the Zoo a Grizzly ate a fish in front of us (very cool) and she did the sign for fish.
-says Doh for dog and does a fancy sign that looks like bird and milk all together
-I just realized she can say nose- sounds like DOH and she points to her nose (or your nose).
-says what sounds like belly button and points to her belly button


Though she does not speak on demand, and sometimes doesn't try to speak or sign (especially if it seems like it should be obvious what she is communicating- like pulling on my shirt to let me know she wants to nurse- we are still working on nursing manners). Gwen says a lot more, and sometimes looks like she is signing (deliberately moving her hands/fingers), but this is all we understand so far. Not too bad for 14 months :-)

Grinch photo link

Click here to see our photo with the Grinch.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Grinch Stole Last Christmas- Not this Year!

The Grinch stole last Christmas, so I thought we would embrace his grinchiness this year and get started early. I took Gwen to have her photo taken with the Grinch at Santa Row in San Jose. I don't like to do Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving, but couldn't pass up this opportunity. It was a a long wait to get our photo taken, followed by another long wait to purchase our photo. But there was live music and I got a free hot chocolate. Gwen was a little frightened by the Grinch, so she got to sit on my lap, and I sat on the floor in front of the his grinchiness for our $10 photo (it turned out ok, but the jury is still out on whether or not it was all worth it). Gwen's 2nd nap got pushed a bit late (like by 2 hours!), but she was a trooper (though my arms are soooo sore from having to carry her). She was very excited with all the festivities and enjoyed dancing to the live music. Next year I will follow the retailers example and be early.

Gwen really loves to dance!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Riding our Bicycle

We bought a bike trailer a few weeks ago ad have been going on Saturday morning rides. Gwen surprised us by loving her helmet. She is not a huge fan of the trailer, but doesn't protest either. This last ride was our 3rd one and I pulled the trailer. It felt like someone was pulling my back, but once you get going it isn't too bad. On our ride I heard some music and it got a little tune in my head. I started humming one of the songs from our Music Together class...then I realized the music was Gwen singing to herself. It was sooo cute!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

I Pee, You Pee, We all pee for Pee Pee!

I just had to share that Gwen peed in her new potty last night for the first time!!! I just got her a potty day before yesterday and am introducing the idea (letting her sit on it when I go potty, since yes she hangs out with me when I use the bathroom). I thought if she needs a diaper change anyway I might as well take her diaper off and let her sit naked on her potty. We did that a few times yesterday, and the last time before bed it worked! We will see if it happens again ;-)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

13 months and Halloween

Gwen and I went to a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay to look at pumpkins and be festive. She enjoyed running around from pumpkin to pumpkin.

Our playgroup had a Halloween party last Friday at a local park and it was so cute to see all the babies (I mean toddlers!) in their costumes. Gwen enjoyed wearing her costume and its extra padding proved helpful on the playground.

On Halloween we went to downtown Sunnyvale to trick or treat at the shops on Murphy Street. Gwen was a little confused at first, but got into it when she realized that people were loving her costume. Someone told her if there was a costume contest she would have won. Her choice candy was lollipops (I think they were more interesting to pick out of the candy bowl with their sticks poking up). One of her favorite things to do is to pick up stuff and put it in bags, so she really got into the whole trick or treating thing. Palace Cafe gave her a ghost shortbread cookie and that was the extent of the sweets she had (yes we ate her candy!). We also dressed up, me as a cow (since I am still nursing I thought this would be hilarious), and Spencer as a pig (going with the whole farm theme). We had such a lovely and fun evening and look forward to many more Halloweens.