Gwedolynn is now 6 months old and on the move. She can army crawl very quickly and she is even beginning to get up on her knees. She has been able to sit on her own for a few weeks. She loves to shake her head "no,no,no" and smiles like she is the funniest girl alive. Gwen loves to eat, the sight of a spoon gets her all excited. She has had rice, oatmeal, and barley cereals, as well as homemade carrot, squash, sweet potato, apple and soon pumpkin baby food. So far they are all delicious though with apple she makes some funny faces...too cute. Gwennie loves her brother's sippy cups and toys and the fighting has already begun. She crawls very fast in pursuit of his stuff and he tries to get away. Gavin is beginning to see that he has to share with his sissy and I'm not sure he is too thrilled with the idea. She normally gets a toy he wouldn't want but he is at least willing to share something....that's a step, right? She is head over heals in love with her brother and he feels the same X 100. He tries so hard to love her but still has episodes where his love isn't very nice....might be a touch of jealousy.
Okay so a little more about Gavin! Holy cow is he growing up quickly. He is saying so many words now and short phrases are beginning to come slow but sure. He told Gwendolynn, "Baby, I say NO!" Gavin knows his colors and many of his shapes. He knows animal names and noises. He can identify many of his letters his favorites being R, T, E, and O. He is learning so much at daycare he knows many songs and loves his buddies very much. Hide and Go Seek is a great game at home or daycare. He is loving the fall leaves and pumpkins too. He is still train and tractor crazed. Gavin enjoys going to church and saying his prayers. He is always asking to say "payers" followed with an "Ameen"...just melts my heart. Gavin remains a picky eater but is beginning to try more foods. His food of choice remains "cadee" (AKA candy). Potty training has begun but Gavin has decided its for the birds. We will press on in a few weeks and maybe soon the idea of the potty won't be so bad.
Alright so that is basically where we are but here is where we were:
Gwendolynn rocked our worlds this summer. She screamed for basically the first 14 weeks of her life. Sometimes it would be short bursts but most time it lasted a long time. I felt like I was going to lose my sanity many times. I would summarize this summer as survival. It wasn't until Gwen had had her worst day that I knew something had to change before I went back to work. She had cried for what felt like an eternity which was about 3 hours for Grandma Wendy, who was typically the only person she liked. All I could think was how am I going to expect Grandma to keep her while I am at work if this is what each day would be like. Then I remembered a book that a friend had recommended called "Babywise". The next day I saw this booking sitting on my sister-in-laws dining room table and I though what the heck. I took the book home and read it cover to cover. The idea behind the book is teach the baby how to go to sleep on their own and follow a schedule. This cry it out method wouldn't be for many babies but for Gwen it was the answer. As it turns out she had no ability to stay asleep or put herself back to sleep if she woke up. I was terrified to let her cry it out the first time but it only lasted 5 minutes and each time after was less the first day. I won't say it was complete magic because there were days where she cried up to 30 minutes but for the most part it was 5 minutes or less. Instantly, I swear she was a happier baby and as a result we were a happier family.
Gwendolynn is now 26 weeks old and it feels like a life time ago when she would cry all the time. She is the happiest, sweetest little girl. Her smile is infectious and her spirit lights my world. I couldn't imagine life or our family without her. She came into this world a diva and I'm sure she will continue to be a challenge but one that I look forward to.
Some cute photos of the kids!
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