Tiny Dancer

Gwen's first dance class was back in September 2012.  Before we began, I only expected to try it out for a few months, but she just had so much fun with it!  And when I found out that there would be a recital this summer (even though it was less than a week before my due date), I knew we had to stick with it!  This will be our last month of dance (for now), and we're really going to miss it.  Looking back, I never really imagined just how much she would change in those 9 months...

THE RECITAL

Gwen did AH-MA-ZING at her first recital!!  The song was "Daddy's Little Girl" by Michael Buble in honor of Father's Day this weekend.  While we were waiting backstage, she wanted to get out there so badly.  When we started walking out, she immediately looked for Daddy, and you can see in the video that I posted when she found him and how excited she was.
Towards the end, I *sort of* forgot the routine (I was relying on the teacher giving her cues - but I couldn't find her), but you can see how Gwen knew exactly what she was supposed to be doing and was so confident about it.  I'm so proud of my little lady, she was such a star <3

Below are some photos and a link to the video on youtube!

with Jade and Cece after the recital

proud parents

with Nana & Papa

LINK:
Gwen's Dance Recital

Dancing Babe

As promised in the nine months post, here she is dancing away:

nine months

How is this possible? My daughter is 9 months old! I could've made a whole other baby by now!! :)

At her 9 month appointment, Gwen had to have her blood drawn for the first time - I was all stressed out because I've heard how bad it can be.  Justin was able to come to the appointment which I was happy about because I definitely needed some support.  So the pediatrician had Gwen sit on my lap while she looked for a vein and [of course] said that she has "hard to find" veins - she went back and forth looking on each arm a couple of times before she finally found a good one.  The Dr had me hold her arms down while she drew the blood and, to be honest, I think being restrained was worse for her than the actual needle.  The whole thing was over in a few seconds and my little trooper calmed down in no time.

Some 9 month stats:
Height - 29 inches, 94th % (seriously?)
Weight - 18lbs 3oz, 50th %

Monthly Updates:
I've already mentioned that she's pulling up and cruising (walking while holding on) around her activity table.
Although she's not crawling, she's starting to be able to get where she wants to go by bringing her knees under her hips and pushing herself forward with her feet - now she just needs to lift that belly off the ground :)
She DANCES! Whenever she hears music, she rocks her body back and forth. It's seriously the cutest thing ever.  I have a video that kind of shows it but the song was too short for her to really get into it. I'll try and get a better one.
She is now obsessed with finger foods (cheese is by far her favorite).  To the point where she's giving me a tough time with the purees that I normally give her - she purses her lips together and blows raspberries.  So I'm thinking about starting to mostly give her what I eat.  The pediatrician told me the only foods that are off limits are shellfish, nuts, and honey.  Bring on the messy meals - good thing Jackson does a good job with the cleanup ;)