First Words

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but last night I was really kicked into gear.

For the past 1.5-2 months or so she's been saying "Dada" with intent.  For a while she called everything that she saw "da da da da da..." and Justin of course loved to rub that in my face :)  Apparently (says the pediatrician and every book/internet source out there), the "D" sound is much easier for babies to make.

Right around 10 months she started saying "Dog".  Of course it doesn't sound exactly like dog, more like "A-duh".  You're probably saying to yourself: "Lauren, you're delusional."  I would've thought the same thing pre-baby.  However, at her 9 month appointment, the pediatrician told us that she'll say words that don't sound exactly like what they are, but if she says the same thing consistently when referring to an object/person/animal etc, then it is considered a "word" in her vocabulary.  Every morning, I go into Gwen's room to get her up and I'll usually sit her on the floor to play with her for a while.  Our lazy dog, Jackson will wake from his beauty rest and leisurely make his way into her bedroom.  When Gwen was 10 months, she started saying "A-duh! A-duh! A-duh!" in an excited, high-pitched voice and pointing to him as he walked into the room.  She'll also say it to him throughout the day.

Now comes my motivation for finally writing this post:
Last night, Justin and I had Gwen practice her walking.  We sat a few feet from each other on the living room floor and had her walking back and forth between us.  Of course she was all excited because the girl loves to walk.  Then it happened, she was walking towards me, and she (finally) yelled "MAMA!!" Yaaayyyyyy :)

eleven months

This has been a huge milestone month for us!  In the past month, Gwen has gotten really good at pulling herself up, all she needs now is a wall or a person's leg.  She's crawling/cruising and following me all over the house.  We still haven't baby proofed nearly as much as we should, so I keep a close eye on her.  There's no more running down to grab the laundry while she's happily playing with her toys in one spot on the living room rug.
She took her first steps(!)
She can say 3 words - more details coming in a future post.
She plays peekaboo with us, covering her eyes with clothes or hiding behind furniture as I say, with concern in my voice: "where's Gwen, where'd Gwen go?!" and then peeks out with a huge grin ("there she is!!").  She could play this game for hours.
She gives kisses!  At first, she would only kiss her Winnie the Pooh bear.  I started bringing his nose to her mouth saying "kisses" and after a while she would just pucker her lips and keep still while I tapped his nose to her mouth and made a kissing sound.  Now, every once in a while, she'll give kisses to Justin and me.  It's the sweetest thing ever!  Here's a cute little story:
Justin had meetings that went past Gwen's bedtime 2 nights in a row, so he went 3 days without seeing her.  On the third day, I was getting dinner ready and Gwen was playing on the floor in the living room.  We weren't expecting him for another 20-30 minutes when he quietly walked in the door.  I looked over and saw Gwen look up to him, start shrieking, and flapping her arms before she crawled over to him.  As soon as he picked her up, she planted one right on his face.  It was seriously the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

First steps!!

We were hanging around the house yesterday, getting ready to run some errands before a holiday party.  I decided that we should have some lunch before we head out, so I fed Gwen and heated up some of the previous night's dinner for Justin and me.  Gwen was playing in the dining room, cruising around the table and chairs, so I sat down on the floor with my plate.  I wasn't paying too much attention to her while I was eating... All of a sudden, she turned to look at me, let go of the chair and took 4 solid steps before she grabbed onto me!!!  I started yelling for Justin to come downstairs and Gwen just got so excited and looked so pleased with herself :) 

My parents babysat last night so they were able to hang out today and help Gwen practice her walking skills :)  Here's a video of her walking to Grammy!