Gwen Sleep Update

Gwen has graduated to being a one nap gal. I had been hoping that when we went to one nap she would go to bed earlier, and she does! She has an actual bedtime now (8pm-ish) and she wakes up around 8am-ish, with a nap 1pm-3pm. Now she is not a robot so does not stick to this exactly. Today she only took a 45 minute nap (AT&T repair man fixing internet prevented me from laying down with her to help finish her nap). And she does not actually sleep from 8pm-8am...she goes to sleep around 8pm, then wakes up usually before midnight, then goes back down and wakes up anywhere from 1:30am-4am and during this witching hour it takes about 45 minutes of me nursing and rocking her to get her to go back to sleep. More often than not I do not have the energy to do this and she ends up finishing the night in bed with us (where she nurses every 2 hours!). While we are happy so is going to bed earlier,we really wish she would sleep through the night! Part of it I think is still teething- she has all her teeth on her top right side of her mouth! And only needs 3 more teeth before she has all her baby teeth.

Seasonal Fun with the FLU!

Just wanted to check in with a quick post. Gwen got a Stomach Bug and was kind enough to share it with us. Friday 12/4 when she woke up in the wee hours of the moring, there was vomit crusted in her hair :-( and she was all pitiful and whiny. Then after getting cleaned up she threw up in our bed after nursing. She had no fever, and little appetite (which seemed to make sense). We assumed she ate something yucky. Fast forward to Saturday and we went out to dinner for quick and dirty Chinese Food. When we got home my stomach ached and I felt bloated and nauseous. Fast Forward to 1:30am when Gwen got up to nurse. I was laying in bed nursing her when I realized I had to go to the bathroom ASAP! And the was the beginning of 8 hours of vomiting and diarrhea (often at the same time)- combined with chills and sweats and a low grade fever. At 2:30am it hit Spencer. We assumed it was the Chinese Food. Gwen had an instance of "change your socks diarrhea" Sunday while our very kind friends watched her (and continued to be very poopy from there on out). As we came out of the fog of nasty bodily fluids it seemed like more than a coincidence that Gwen was vomitty a few days prior. Fast forward to Tuesday and we felt better as Gwen's diarhea became worse and she developed a cough. Tuesday night I was nursing her after she woke up (yes she has not slept through the night in a VERY long time)- and she coughed so hard she through up all her milk on me. Fastforward to our visit with a Pediatrician Thursday who spelled out the symptoms and time lines of Seasonal Flus, including the nasty Stomach Flu which is apparently going around. Starts with vomitting, and as the bug moves down the intestinal track, diarhea which gets worse as the bug is flushed out, and then you are better! With adults, 24-48 hours, with babies 7-10 days.
The moral to the story: wash your hands and practice what you do to avoid getting sick!
Kindly, there are no photos.

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.

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!

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!

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 ;-)