Oh, hi!

Wow, so I haven't blogged since June?!  OK, now I'm overwhelmed with topics to write about.

So I know I mentioned that I was considering weaning Gwen on my 15 month update.  We did it just before she turned 16 months.  I guess I never wrote about it because it actually ended up being not such a big deal.  It was a little sad for me, but I knew it was time.  We were down to just 1 feeding right before bed, and there were nights I was out and Justin put her to bed and she was fine without it, so I knew the transition would probably be harder on me than her.  So I just decided one night that this would be the last time (tear), and she never gave me any strong signals that she missed it.  The day after we stopped, I celebrated with some light day-drinking.  After you've gone 2+ years (pregnancy and nursing) not being able to drink, or "pumping and dumping", it was nice to be able to have a couple and not have to worry about passing the alcohol along to my sweet babe.  Lets just say that I can see how stay-at-home moms become closet alcy's HA!  Good thing I've never been much of a drinker myself, and the novelty wore off after a day or two ;)

Gwen turned 18 months on July 9th (that's right, the big half birthday).  Finally, I've been able to stop telling people her age in months.  Now I can say "she's a year and a half" and when we get a bit closer to her bday, I'll simply say "she'll be 2 in January".  I had a mom once tell me that her kid was 25 months.  Just say he's 2, woman!
And here are the stats from her visit:
Weight: 23lbs = 31%
Height: 31.5in = 46%
Head: 18in = 27%

We've spent a lot of time at spray parks, the beach, and area lakes this summer.  Gwen is terrified of the movement of the ocean, so we pretty much stay on the towels and hang out in the sand.  But, she LOVES the still water of lakes and will wade in the water forever (or until she's hungry for a snack).  We've tried to plan as many outdoor activities as possible, and let me tell you - we've been having a blast!!

Our summer in pictures:

Happy Father's Day!

Playdates:

Tuesday playgroup at the Zoo

hugs for Ava

backyard water fun playdate

lunch in Salem

Happy 4th!

6 year anniversary!

notice we're quite a bit away from those waves ;)

baby Reagan's first playgroup

Lowell Summer Music Series

at the Butterfly Place

Liquid Planet Water Park

hangin with Annie Annie

Visiting Grammy and Grampy on Long Island

Long Island Petting Zoo

fifteen months

15 mo well visit was today and I think G is starting to associate the Dr's office with things that are not fun, i.e. shots.  As soon as I set her down on the table she was PISSED lol!
She calmed down though and overall she did fine.  The Dr confirmed that she's progressing right on track in all areas.  Turns out she's "talking" more than we thought she was, too.  The girl is constantly babbling and making noises with the occasional "dog" or "dada" peppered throughout.   I've noticed that she's been trying to talk more and it seems like she thinks she's saying things to us, she gestures a lot and she definitely understands what we're saying to her, but I wasn't sure if much of what she was saying was considered actual words.  But while we were with the Dr, and Gwen was pointing at her book and saying "a-sat?" she told us that that's her saying "what's that?".  I'll take it!  haha to me, all of her babbling sounds like just...babble, I'm looking forward to some real words in the coming months - although I'm sure that'll change once she starts repeating everything we say!

The Dr told me that she should start putting things in places instead of just taking them out, but my little rockstar has already been doing that for months!  She can even do some shape sorting...ahem! lol

Breastfeeding.  We've drastically cut down since just before her birthday and are currently holding strong at just a nighttime feeding.  There have been nights where I've been out and either Dad or Gram puts Gwen to bed and she does just fine without her bedtime feed.  At this point, it seems like she could take it or leave it and I'm teetering on being done.  At her 12 month visit, the Dr told me that post first birthday, she's getting a very minimal amount of what she needs from the breast milk (I'm sure some people would disagree with that statement).  We're past flu season now, and I'm kind of feeling like I want my body back to myself for a little while.  We're not trying for another babe yet, but at some point we will and it'll be nice to have some completely detached time.  I'm proud of myself for getting this far!  It's been the best thing for Gwen, and anyone who's been through it, (or read this post) knows what a challenge it can be, especially in the beginning.  I know it'll be sad when it's over, so I haven't taken the leap yet, but I feel it coming on very soon. tear. My baby is growing up.

The stats from her visit:

Weight: 20lbs 14oz - 20%
Height: 30.2in - 42%
Head: 17.72in - 25%

Here are a few pics of Gwen's first dining room chair fort!