Gwendolyn Exploring Life

Dressing myself is fun!

2009-05-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Gwen is amazing me more and more every day. New words, new concepts. What a great age this is for learning!

I have to tell a little story here about this past Tuesday. Gwendolyn was playing outside with her Daddy after dinner while I was inside getting some housework done. Apparently at one point Gwen walked up and gave Gordon a big hug on his legs, saying, "I love you Daddy." Awww! I am really looking forward to my turn on that one!

Speaking of new skills, Gwen is getting better at dressing herself these days too. Socks are a cinch now, and she can almost put her coat on by herself. A few days ago she decided to try a whole outfit. Everybody must have the obligatory "trying to dress themselves when small" pictures, so I present to you the first round for Gwen. She certainly enjoyed herself!

Time for the socks, having already attempted the shirt:

Happy girl - - I actually got her to say 'cheese' for the camera!

The finished product!

Fun at the Park

2009-05-02T13:09:00.001-07:00

With the weather starting to get nicer, we have finally been able to get back to the park. Gwendolyn enjoys these outings quite a lot, although it is tough to get her to leave. Here are a few pictures of one of such outings. Of course, Lion always enjoys a bit of fun too.

Rainy Day play

2009-05-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

I know that I am very behind on posts here, so today I am adding three new posts. I hope you enjoy them!

Gwendolyn loves baths, so it's not a surprise that she also loves splashing in the rain. April showers bring May flowers, as they say. Here are some pictures of Gwen enjoying the effects of a rainy day:

All set in rainy day attire:

Look at those wet pants!

A little softshoe in a puddle:

Here's a little video of the fun too. Apparently Gwen felt the need to explore the puddles with all her senses!

Puddles are for splashing...and drinking?? from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

One more video to finish off the post.

Outside Fun from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Fall Fun at the Corn Roast

2008-10-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a great evening. We went to the town's Corn Roast and Concert in the town park. Gwendolyn's cousin Emily came along, with her Mom "Auntie M", as did our friends Jesse and Sharon. The girls are going to be such the little partiers, as they just wanted to wander around and dance up a storm. We took a few videos, and I will share one here. I called it "Flashdancing", and it seems an appropriate title for both girls. For Gwen, the title comes from her fun new shoes. And for Emily...well, let's see if anyone else notices what I did. Enjoy the video!

Flashdancing! from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

I have a couple more videos, but I'd prefer not to post them publicly as a lot of the other little kids are in them. But any of my friends and family who wishes to see them, just send me an email and I will send you the link.

Lots of Talking

2008-09-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe just how much Gwendolyn is talking these days. She has so many new words that I can no longer keep track. Gordon and I find ourselves telling eachother about 'new words' that the other one has already heard. She seems to pick them up so quickly.

Gwennie also enjoys just chattering away in her own little language. It is especially cute when she 'reads' a book to herself. If I am reading a book to her, she seems to especially enjoy books with a sing-songy rhyme, like a Dr. Seuss book. And when she reads to herself she seems to be using a similar sing-songy voice. We managed to get a little video of Gwennie 'reading' a book, so here it is:

Gwendolyn reads a book to herself from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

A Visit with Jennie & Kieran & Dan

2008-07-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today my own bestest buddy Jennie, along with her little guy Kieran and her Dad Dan came for a great visit. I have known Jennie, and Dan, my whole life. And Kieran is only one month and one day older than Gwen! It was so nice to see them. We see them so little due to their living relatively far away. It was such a wonderful day. We spent some time with the kids in the backyard, at the park, and hanging out in the living room with Gwen's toys. They came for both lunch and dinner, so we had a nice long visit.

We discovered that the two kids are rather similar in many ways - - some we expected and some we didn't! They both enjoy being two-fisted with their apple slices. They make similar funny sounds. They both seem to enjoy frozen blueberries, which was a new experience for Kieran but an old favourite of Gwen. And they both enjoy speaking their funny blue-tongued language:

Gwen and Kieran have a blueberry-faced chat from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

They had lots of fun talking to eachother, and enjoyed Jennie's rendition of "This Little Piggy":

Gwen and Kieran have a chat from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Enjoying "This Little Piggy" from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

They also seem to both enjoy playing with cars and telephones - - which resulted in some minor scraps and short-lived mini-tantrums. But it was all in good fun. Kieran even tried - - unsuccessfully, poor guy - - to give Gwennie a kiss. To be fair, she had just woken up and wasn't quite sure what was going on yet. But she let him give her a huge bear hug. What a sweetie!

Here are some pictures from today's big day, although they are a little out of order. Gwen started off in long-sleeves as it was cool early in the day, but the weather got nice and warm, so summery clothes were necessary.

Saying goodbye to friends. We miss you guys!

Words Words Words...

2008-07-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have been seriously slacking on this blog. The main reason is that my attempts to get good videos have not been met with success. This girl does NOT like to perform for the camera! That goes for the regular camera too. If you just looked at my pictures you would not know just how much she smiles. Turn the camera off and she's happy as a clam, all cuteness and smiles. The camera appears to be kryponite to her smile, and the smiles I do get on camera take effort or the element of surprise. I put lots of pictures on facebook, but I like to save some good ones for my blog. And I was so hoping for a good video before I posted this. Well, the video will just have to wait. It's way past time for a new post!

So as the title says, we have a good many words coming from Gwennie these days. It's so much fun to see her make the connections, and come out with the words! I wanted to write about the words she says so far. Of course we have Mum, Daddy and Lion. Lion used to sound like "Nyny", but now it's more like "Nion". But we also have:

Bird - - "burrr" - - Gwennie loves watching birds and pointing them out.

Cat - - for a while she was something that sounded like "kitin" (kitten), but now it's definitely "row" (rhyming with 'pow'), like the meow sound Etta makes. She even says it in a higher voice, as though she is imitating the cat. So funny! All cats are "row".

Up - - sometimes it's missing the 'p' sound at the end, but it's pretty clear.

Down - - "duuuu" with the u sound like in 'put'. If she wants you to put her down she can tell you.

Uh-oh - - So cute, this one is very clear. If anyone drops something, or sometimes when she falls on her butt, she will say "uh-oh".

Banana - - "nana" or "nanana"

Nana - - also "nana", although she doesn't seem to mix up her Nanas with her bananas. In fact, on the phone to Nana Allen the other day she actually said a very clear "Hi Nana!".

Apple - - "ap" or "ap-pull", but usually "ap". She loooves her "ap"s!

Duck - - this is pretty clear too. She has a few stuffed ducks, and pictures of ducks in her books. She will point to them and say "duck".

Dog - - "dooog" or "duggie". Although she does get dogs and cats mixed up sometimes.

Done - - this one is also clear. But I think she's still working on the concept of 'done'. She loves to drink some water from a glass I hold for her. She will push it away and say "done!" with a smile, but then want it back right away.

Bubble - - "buh-bull". On the advice of Auntie M(elissa), we tried blowing bubbles. She really enjoyed it, and of course we kept pointing at them and saying 'bubble', while she stared and smiled. The next day she was eating her dinner and pointing to the desk in the kitchen, saying "buh-bull, buh-bull, buh-bull..." We figured out that she seemed to be pointing at the bubble container, so we opened it up and blew a few bubbles. Sure enough, she pointed and them and said "buh-bull!"

Bee - - Gwendolyn has a book with pictures of things and animals in it, and one is a bee. When she points at it, we say 'bee' and then 'A bee says bzzzzzz'. She has now started to say bee, and then her version of 'bzzzzz', which is more like a raspberry sound, but close enough! She saw a fly buzzing around and said "Bee! Bee!". Again, close enough, especially since the fly in question was doing a fair bit of buzzing.

Eye - - This is her newest word. We've done lots of "Point to your..." and eye was a relatively new one. But last night she pointed at Gord's eye and said "Eye. Eye." She proceeded to poke him in the other eye and say "Eye! Eye." Back to the other eye...repeat. Then it was my turn. So watch out for flying fingers with little Gwennie!

Those are the words that Gwennie actually says, but it always amazes me how much she actually understands. She enjoys a game of "Point to your..." or "Where is your...". She is very accurate with words like: Mouth, nose, ear, hand, foot, shirt (grabs her shirt), and shoe. She also knows many of the major people in her life, like her Nanas and Granpas, Grammie, Omi, Great Gram, (Great) Auntie Carol, Brenda (her daycare provider), etc.

Gwendolyn is going to be a little dancer. She's usually pretty indifferent to the TV (a good thing probably). But if there is music on the TV, she will stop and look. She will usually also bounce, clap or wiggle to the music. Too cute!

With all this going on, I certainly have to say: One is FUN!

New Outfit from Great Gram and Grammie

2008-05-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd post a few pictures of Gwendolyn in her gorgeous new outfit from her Great Gram and Grammie. Thank you so much for the outfit Great Gram and Grammie! Gwennie loves it as you can see. I put a couple of pictures on facebook as well.

Walking and Sleeping like a Champ

2008-05-14T05:24:00.001-07:00

I have been falling behind on my blogging lately. The main reason is that I've been trying to get a good video of Gwendolyn walking. She's really walking a lot these days, and without any prompting! She's still doing shorter distances for the most part, but she has done some longer distances too. So I thought getting a video of all this walking would be a cinch...nope! The second she sees the video camera she plops to the floor. I finally got a video the other day, although she still can walk longer on her own than she does in this video. I like it, though, because at one point you can see that she is quite pleased with herself walking along. And then, just like I knew she would, she spied the camera and immediately dropped down! Anyway, enjoy the video:

Gwennie walking and pleased with herself from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

I am very happy with Gwennie's sleeping lately as well. She has a few rough nights here and there, but for the most part she is sleeping for around 9 hours before waking up, having a bottle, and sleeping for around 2 hours more. In fact, last night she didn't wake up until she had slept for 10 hours! I could get used to this.

Oh, and there's another piece of news I don't think I've mentioned yet - - she FINALLY has a tooth! I'll try to get a picture of that, but she likes to keep it well covered with her tongue. Her new tooth officially made it's entrance through the gums on May 1st, just a few days past her 10-month birthday. We still just have the one tooth, but I wouldn't be surprised if more arrived fairly soon after, since this first one has been on the later side for a first tooth.

Overall she's a very happy girl. Apparently she's quite a social little girl too. yesterday Grammie and Great Gram took her to the mall. She was apparently quite the little clown, making another young boy at the mall laugh by poking his shoe, shaking his stroller and sticking her tongue out at him. Flirting this early? I think I'm in trouble!

More exploring

2008-04-21T04:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend Gwendolyn had her first park experiences. We've been meaning to get her there sooner, but it finally worked out. She wasn't completely enamoured with the park, but she didn't mind it either. Here is a little video of a park visit with buddy Tia. Tia seemed to really enjoy her swing, whereas Gwen was relatively indifferent. But we all enjoyed watching the girls have some new experiences.

Gwennie tries out the swing from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Gwennie's walking has improved a lot lately. She still wants to hold your hands, although one hand is now often enough. She finally got a handle on how her walker works. Here's a little walking video:

Gwen and her walker from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

What fun! I leave you with a cute little picture of Gwennie checking out the kitty.

Sleep - The more she gets the better she sleeps!

2008-04-17T03:56:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic 24 hours it has been for Gwennie sleep-wise! The girl is normally a relatively decent night sleeper - - although she's usually up at least once for some food. But she's not a great napper overall, and sometimes has days where she doesn't nap at all. Occasionally she'll go the other end of the spectrum and have a 3+ hour nap, but that is very very rare. More common are two short naps of somewhere in the neighbourhood of a half hour - - usually less. But yesterday was a great day. She woke up shortly before 9am, after having only woken up at 3am through the night. Then she had two really good-sized naps through the day. I believe the first was a good hour, and the second around that as well.

The evening was even better. Gwendolyn usually goes down to sleep between 9pm and 10pm. Last night she was in dreamland by 8:45pm. But here's the best part...her first wake up for food was after 6am! She went right back to sleep too, although I have yet to find out for how long, as she was asleep when I left for work.

We think the fresh air and sunshine is making a difference, since we've started to have actual spring weather. Yesterday she didn't even need a warm coat on her walk. But we also noticed that she flipped onto her stomach to sleep. She seems to sleep longer that way - - which seems to be pretty common. I remember that cousin Emily prefers stomach sleeping, and I believe that buddy Tia seems to sleep longer that way too.

To finish off the post, here are a couple of 'fountainhead' pictures, just for fun. Enjoy!

Finally got it on video!

2008-04-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, here is our little walker, showing you her stuff. Just a couple steps on her own, but it's a start!!

Gwen taking a couple of steps alone! from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Gwen had a great day today. She started off with music classes with her buddy Tia. Then spent some time visiting people like her future highland dance teacher. Happy girl!

Two videos for Great Gram

2008-04-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

I promised Gwennie's Great Gram that I'd post a video, so I've got two. Unfortunately we are still working on getting a video of the walking. We made a good attempt, and managed to get some cute clapping and standing on her own on film, but no walking. Here's that video:

Clapping and Standing from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Here is one more little video of Gwennie playing as well. Enjoy! (Especially Great Gram.)

Playing with her bears from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

First Steps!

2008-04-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

Last night Gwennie and I were playing while Gordon had a bath. I started to sing the "If you're happy and you know it..." song. And up until half way through the second verse, Gwen was standing all by herself! And then, as if that weren't impressive enough, she took two small steps in my direction, following by stumbling into my arms. I called down to Gordon to tell him, and decided to try again. Lo and hehold, she repeated her performance! So Gordon hurried out of the bathtub, quickly got dressed and came in. We figured for sure that she wouldn't show her trick to an audience, but she actually did it a handful more times! The secret seemed to be the song, funnily enough. It distracted her from the fact that she wasn't holding our hands I think.

We tried to pull out the video camera, but by then she was tired and just wanted to touch the camera. So Gordon is going to attempt to get it on film. If he is successful I promise to add it to my blog tonight. Yay for walking!

Crib Fun

2008-03-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Occasionally we need Gwennie to amuse herself for a little bit in her crib. On one such occasion I could hear all sorts on interesting sounds. Gwennie still sounded happy, so I decided to film her to see what she was doing.

Please excuse the crooked angle, I was holding the camera around the corner so she didn't see me.

Gwennie in her crib amusing herself from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Good Music, Good Fun, Good Friends

2008-03-27T03:58:00.000-07:00

Ever since she was a couple months old Gwennie has been attending weekly music classes. There were so many wonderful benefits to the classes, and I highly recommend these particular classes run by Prenatal Plus in Newmarket. It has been a great place for social interaction, especially for me! Gwennie has always attended the classes with her good buddy Tia, and I have a good friend in Tia's Mommy Carla. Tia is 9 days older than Gwennie. In fact, Gordon and I met Carla and Tia's Daddy Kasper in prenatal classes at Prenatal Plus.

The music classes have been great for Gwen for so many reasons. The songs and fingerplays are especially helpful when I need to distract Gwennie when she's cranky during diaper changes, car rides, etc. In class Gwen has definitely developed a few favourite songs, and she enjoys sitting on the Song Leader (Jennifer)'s lap checking out her guitar. Jennifer always brings out different shakers for the children to shake (or gnaw on). At the end of the class Jennifer always asks about a parenting topic to discuss. People give helpful tips for the topic at hand, and Jennifer usually has a tip or two herself.

The classes have been really good for Gwen too as she starts to learn about interacting with other boys and girls. I am sad that I am missing the classes now, as Gordon has taken over that duty while he is on parental leave. But I have heard great stories about Gwen and Tia crawling around the room, stealing shakers from other children and checking things out.

The other day Tia and Gwen dressed up in matching outfits for class. I have a couple of pictures here courtesy of Carla. Thank you for the pictures Carla!

Gwen enjoys her tasty shaker while Tia smiles. We can't seem to get both girls to smile at the same time on camera. That's my next photo goal!

And the good buddies crawl off together on an adventure. Awww...

Yay for yams!

2008-03-26T04:01:00.000-07:00

So after two separate incidents when Gwennie was younger of giving yams the old heave-ho - - along with everything else in her stomach - - we decided to give yams a bit of a break. I threw out the batch I originally made and we just held off for a while on the yams. Yesterday we tried with a fresh batch, and so far so good! Hopefully we can now put them back into rotation, because she always seemed to enjoy the taste.

While I'm on the subject of food, I thought I'd mention all the foods she's had so far. We're following a more 'natural' feeding idea, which was recommended by a naturopath. Really at this age the majority of their nutrition comes from breastmilk or formula anyway (all good 'ole Mommy's milk for our Gwennie), so it's really not a big deal how the food gets introduced, other than one new food at a time to watch for allergic reactions. But the talk from the naturopath sounded interesting, so we decided to give this method a try. Gwen's little buddy Tia is doing the same thing. That's been great for me, as Carla (Tia's Mommy) and I can help eachother out with ideas, and we can talk about the girls' reactions to different foods.

The main idea with this method is that we start with fruits and veggies, and hold off on grains until they are over a year. Apparently there is an enzyme for digesting grains that a lot of babies don't have this early, but fruits and veggies are digested more easily. Then the next step, around 9 months, is legumes (chickpeas, lentils, etc.) and nuts (except peanuts). So far Gwennie's had yams, acorn and butternut squash, Macintosh and Red Delicious apples, pears, zucchini, peaches, peas, pumpkin, avacado, banana and chickpeas. She seems to like all of them for the most part, although the chickpeas are not her favourite. I don't blame her really.

Well, that's the food update. Time for a quick story to wrap up. Last night little Gwen was apparently a lot more tired than we realized. I went and popped in the shower while Gord played with her and then started to prepare her bath. When I got into the kitchen Gord had just finished pouring her bath and we both looked at her in her highchair where she'd been playing. She was now fast asleep! We were talking loudly too, but she was very passed out. So we decided to forgo bath time and put her right to bed. Here's a picture of me and my sleeping beauty:

Funny Girl

2008-03-17T03:48:00.000-07:00

Lately, since Gwendolyn has been becoming more and more mobile, we have been finding her in interesting positions in her crib. On the weekend one morning we could hear her awake for the final time in her room. We know when she's finally awake and not just hungry still wanting to sleep when she wakes up happy. We could hear her "talking" in her room, so Gordon went in to see her. There she was, back to him, sitting up and talking to her lamp.

She has always slept on her back without any complaint. But on another weekend night feeding we found her face down and twisted so her head was at the bars. And then this morning when Gordon went in to feed her she was crawling in her crib, pretty much in her sleep! What a silly girl.

Yesterday was a day of a nice visit with Uncle Jeff, a new hairdo and a new toy. Here are a couple of pictures of the hairdo and toy:

Just a video

2008-03-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

I don't have a lot of time for a post, but here is a cute video of Gwennie and her stuffed musical bunny.

Gwennie Playing with her Bunny from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.

Firefighting Fun

2008-03-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Gwen had a very full day. She had music classes in the morning, and spent most of the afternoon at Grandpa and Nana Allen's house. But in between that she enjoyed a nice visit at her Uncle Jeff's work. I was a little worried about how she'd react in a room filled with unfamiliar men, since she's been upset by semi-familiar men like her Grandpas lately. But after a little adjustment period she was just fine. And no tears whatsoever! Uncle Jeff held her for most of the visit, and she even got to sit in the fire truck! Here are some fun pictures of the big adventure:

The Sound of Two Hands Clapping!

2008-03-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Gwennie's latest skill is, as you may have guessed, clapping! Gwennie spent some time yesterday with her Great Nana, who enjoyed teaching her some "Clapping 101". She almost got the hang of it, but solidified the skill by watching herself in the mirror at home. Here are some clapping pictures:

Music to a Mamamama's ears

2008-03-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Gordon has been on parental leave since I went back to work on February 19th. He is taking the last four months of the leave up until he goes back to work on June 16th. Gwennie had just started a few weeks prior to that to have separation anxiety and clinginess issues. This is apparently a very normal thing for her age. But she was very focussed on her Mom, occasionally crying if Dad tried to hold her when she wanted Mom. Well, now that her Dad is spending weekdays with her she has become a lot more Dad-focussed. This is a good thing really. It's good for her not to be so dependant on just me. But it's a little bit sad for me too. There are times when I am holding her now that she reaches her arms out for Daddy instead...sigh!

Gwen has also been saying "Dada" - - or "Dadadada..." a lot more. We think she's starting to get the idea of Gordon being Dada, and often when Gordon says "Hi Gwen!" she will answer with "Hi Da". So cute.

With all of this going on, and the little time I get to spend with her during the week, it can feel a little bit like I'm missing out. But last night when I got home I felt a little bit more needed. After I picked her up and held her for a bit, I started to pass her to her Dad so I could get cleaned up. But she was having none of it. She reached back for me, and said "Mamamama!" Awww. Of course I had to hold her a little while longer before getting cleaned up.

Time to Start a Blog!

2008-03-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

I thought I should start a blog for little Gwennie to keep track of all the little things I know I'll want to remember in the years to come. Diaries sure have come a long way!

To bring things up to speed, Gwendolyn is now 8 months old. She has starting pulling herself up and holding onto various items, like the couch, to move around the room. She also crawls well now. We think she'll be walking within the next few months, because she loves walking when you hold her hands.

Sleep-wise, Gwennie usually gives us a nice 5-7 hour stretch, eats and goes back to sleep for 2-3 more hours.

A special video for a special person on March the 6th from Stephanie Allen on Vimeo.