The Strong Willed Child

So, lately, I've been seeing more and more of this strong willed personality from Gwen. She's definitely been showing Dave and I that she's very a stubborn and determined girl. So, 90% of the time, it makes me feel like banging my head against the wall in frustration. When you want to get something done, it's no fun having a toddler dig in her heels in defiance. However, that does leave us with the other 10% of the time when it's wonderful and awesome to see the benefits of that same determination and persistence.

Gwen takes a weekly "gymnastics" class at the Y in town. It's more of an open gym for two year olds. The other day, she decided that she wanted to start doing the balance beam. So, what does my determined little girl do but hop up on the regulation sized beam that's about 18 inches off the ground. She didn't want me to help her up either -- she wanted to climb on it all by herself. Does she fear the heights considering it's as tall as she is? Oh no -- she actually pushed my arms off of her. Then, she jumped a couple of times in the middle of her walk. As I sat there and imagined her cracking her face after falling, she decided that she wanted to do the balance beam that was even higher off the ground. So, off she went to a four foot beam, once again pushing my hands away. Lo and behold, fearless Gwen did great and wanted to hop off the end (I did prevent that from happening). It was quite a moment to watch her determination take off. Hopefully, in the moments when I wish that I just had a quiet, mild daughter for just a minute or two, I'm going to try to remember that it was her self-motivation that helped her to do something successfully that was way out of her league. It was a good mommy moment. I just wonder if I was viewing the same determination that going to make her an awesome grown up. Hopefully, I don't screw that up :)

Christmas 2009

So, I stink at updating this, but I thought better now than never!

Christmas this year was great! It seems that most people I talk to say that this Christmas was more calm than most years. We felt that at our house too. It was nice to just enjoy the holidays and being with friends and family. There wasn't as much of a focus on buying the biggest and best gifts. It was really nice! I don't know if it all has to do with our economy, but I would like Christmas to stay this warm every year :)

Gwen was old enough this year to somewhat get what was going on. She definitely doesn't understand what Christmas is, but she had a great time opening presents! I have been sooooo excited to give her our big gift, the Rose Petal Cottage. I just knew that she would love playing house and being a little mommy. She has played with that cottage every day! It has a bunch of mini furniture like the vanity. She has so much fun looking at herself and smiling. I would too if my face looked that adorable!


Gwendolyn also got a little baby doll that coos until you put a bottle or binky in her mouth (side note: this doll has an off switch!). Gwen has so much fun singing, rocking, and caring for her doll. She wipes her with cloth wipe when she needs a bath, and she feeds her with a small spoon. It's just wonderful to see her caring for another. I'm glad that of all the things that she could imitate, I'm glad that she chose my compassion :) I'm sure that she could have just as easily imitated my less than desirable qualities....


Dave got me Wii Active, which has quickly become a family gift. It is a video game that gives you a personalized workout every day. It tracks your calorie burn, your nutrition (through a nutrition journal), and it customizes your workout depending on the areas that you want to strengthen. It's been great because it changes activities daily, so you're never just doing the same things. It may not seem like that great of a workout for all those who have use Wii Sports or other "active" games on the Wii. However, both Dave and I have commented that we feel the burn. Workouts are 20 minutes long. Dave also got me the newest updated game called Active, More Workouts. This is actually the game that I've been using as it has a warm up and cool down. It also has a six week challenge instead of a 30 day. I'm excited to get down to it and get myself in the habit. Hooray for finding a good workout!!!

James and Gwen

We got to hang out with a baby friend on Thursday while his mommy was getting things done with her in-laws. Gwen just loves to be with other kids, so she was more than happy to play with him! This time, however, was a bit different as Gwen has decided to be more like a mother to him than a friend. It started at snack time. They had Cheerios, and Gwen decided she wanted to feed him. So, she did, one by one. No matter where he was in the room, she would run over to him to put the Cheerio right in his mouth. Eventually, James was done with snack, and he just swatted at her to get her to stop. In Gwen's mind, this means that he wanted a drink. So, she brought over his sippy cup and held it in his mouth until he was done. Funny funny!

Then, it was time to change diapers and somebody had a stinky. I checked James' diaper, and then promptly changed him. After that, Gwen decided that she, too, wanted to periodically check his diaper. This meant bending him over, pulling up his shirt, and then pulling back his diaper. Does she know what she's checking for -- heck no! Does that stop her, never :)

Gwen also was cleaning up his toys as he finished playing with them. Many of our toys go to the same place once they are finished being played with. So, Gwennie would take the toys that were no longer being played with, and she would put them back in their spot. What a mom :)

Finally came nap time, and James went in the pack n play in our bedroom. Gwen just wasn't having any of that. Every chance she could get, she would walk over to our bedroom door to try to open it. She wanted to play with James!

All and all, it was a fun day at our house, and we can't wait to play with James again. Hopefully, this time, I'll convince her that she is his friend and not his mommy :)

Our Parrot

Gwennie has been becoming more independent lately as she's been getting better at walking. With this independence, she's been wanting to become more and more like the grown-ups around her. I just thought it was too funny not to list all of the mimicking she's been doing lately.

- She copies the tone of my voice whether it be sweet, demanding, loud, quiet, etc. She loves to be demanding!!

- She likes to do "chores" like the dishes, laundry, wiping tables, sweeping the floor, put garbage in the garbage can

- She wants to bathe herself now. Since her hands barely reach the top of her head, this is a problem. I just have to trick her into letting me wash her at the same time.

- Today, I was trying to get one of the cats away from some food. So, I clapped my hands and said no. Then, Gwen started to clap her hands and say something indecipherable. She copies the good and the bad, I guess....

- She wants to pray and read her scriptures just like Dave and I do. When we read together as a family, she has to have her own missionary copy of the Book of Mormon to "follow along." She also likes to "pray" which lasts about five seconds before she is wondering why everyone's eyes are closed.

- She likes to wear her sunglasses. I'm thinking that she is trying to get glasses just like mommy and daddy have. She goes through phases where she wants to wear them for hours, and she'll take them everywhere we go. It's so funny!

- She fusses until I let her "cook" with me. This means that she needs at least two pots and some type of cooking utensil. If she doesn't have all of these, she seems to think that this is not cooking, and she'll be upset until she gets them. Goofy kid...

- We were listening to one of her favorite CDs, and she was singing along with the song. At one point, the song goes "Wishy, washy, wishy, washy, wishy, washy, wee!" She definitely sang the "Wee!" part. It was so funny!!!!

It scary how much kids are watching you. It's getting to the point where I have to be really careful of what I say and do because she is already starting to copy me :(

Gwennie Got Tubes in Her Ears :(

So, instead of even trying to play catch up on all the posts that I've missed, I'm just going to move forward from today. Gwen got tubes in her ears this morning, and things went sooooo well. They went so much better than I thought they would. From the time she first went back in the doctor's office to when we walked out the front door, it was 20 minutes. Wonderful! She did a great job, giggling with the Valium in the beginning, and cuddling after the meds wore off. It was just ideal.... until she puked up her weight in Goldfish and apple juice. I was freaking out, yelling to Dave that he had to pull over RIGHT NOW, and I was wanting to puke just watching her. Not fun at all, and the clean up was just as gross as you would think. I don't know that the smell will be coming out any time soon. We'll be riding around with the windows down until we'll actually freeze. Yuck...

She's been in a good mood the rest of the day. She's definitely back to full steam, though I was hoping she would sleep and give me a small break. Instead, she wanted to play for an hour, and she napped only after crying in her bed for a couple of minutes. She was definitely fighting it.

We made a view today of her "demanding" voice. She's not actually demanding anything, nor was she angry. She just sounds like she's trying to tell us something, but she only babbles. I just thought this video was too funny.


As far as an update on her growth, Gwennie is becoming more and more like a toddler. She likes doing everything and anything that I am doing. Since most of what I do besides playing with her is chores, that's what she likes to do. She enjoys (un)folding laundry, doing dishes, cooking, wiping down the table, and wiping my nose. She gives lots of hugs and very slobbery kisses all over my cheek. She likes to sing and have "conversations" with me. I think one of most precious developments is the way that she now acknowledges that you have said "I love you." She just gets this sweet smile on her face, and she'll hug you. It's just good to know that those sweet things that I've been saying all along are getting a special reaction from her, almost as if she's trying to say it back. I'm just loving all of these new phases of my girl!

She's Feeding Herself!

We decided one day during dinner that we were just going to let her try to feed herself with a fork. She's been eating for a while just with her fingers, so the fork was new for her. She took to it very quickly!!

Since then (this was right after her birthday), she pretty much feeds herself. It is lovely!!! I enjoy being able to have dinner together as a family without having to feed one bite to her and one bit to me. She's getting more picky about what she eats, too. Lately, she's been eating cheese only for the past couple of days. I've been trying my hardest to get her to eat anything else, but she only wants cheese! I'm afraid that her bowels might eventually take the fall as I can't imagine that a cheese only diet is the best thing for your digestive system. If you put anything else in front of her, she actually shakes her head no. I thought all this stuff started at two. She's only one :((

Just for fun, these are her favorite foods at this point:

- Cheese (American cheese being the most favored)
- Strawberries
- Yogurt covered baby puffs
- Green beans
- Peas
- Whole wheat bread (definitely does not like the white bread at all)
- Sausage (but only links)
- Meatloaf
- Animal Crackers
- Cheerios
- Oatmeal mixed with cinnamon apple sauce (she refuses to eat anything else for breakfast)
- Milk (like one cup at every meal)
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Pasta with anything on it
- Pretty much whatever we're eating for dinner including spicy chili and soups

Her not so favorite foods:

- Pears
- Peaches
- Hmm... nothing else I can think of off the top of my head

Gwen is most definitely a good eater (except for these past couple of days). I hope we can still push her to try new things as she gets older because it seems to me that it gets more difficult as they get bigger....

Gwen's First Birthday Party (Part 2)

Gwennie had another first birthday party at our house for Dave's side of the family! It was also Dave's birthday, too, so he got his own cake. I made cupcakes and then shaped them into Mario. It was so much fun to have everyone together. Gwen got a little more into the cake than at my parent's house. I still can't believe she's already one...