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!