Happy 1st Birthday, Gwyneth Rose!

 

We made it!
In my best attempt to avoid gushing all over the place, I can honestly say that the past year has been the best of my life.  The most fun, fulfilling, satisfying, exciting year!  A year ago today, my hours-old daughter looked into my eyes as I felt a change come over my body.  My heart swelled and the feeling that this little one is a part of Justin and me, totally dependent on us, completely overwhelmed me.  I felt what it's like to LOVE someone more than life itself.  Besides complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, I was, and am nothing but one-hundred percent happy and excited to be able to experience this world through her eyes.

We've come a long way in a year!  When Justin and I decided that I would stay home with Gwen, I was thrilled - it's what I've always wanted.  Still, I have to admit that a small part of me questioned how I would handle it.  I've heard that it can make you stir crazy - it's all baby all the time, with little adult interaction.  Perhaps this is why I set out during my pregnancy to find some things to do once she arrived!  I joined a couple of mom groups on meetup.com, found out about mommy and me exercise classes, library events, etc.  Today, I could not be happier with our decision - I seriously have to pinch myself sometimes.  Justin works harder than anyone I know, and I'm so thankful to him for it.

Some stats from her 12 month visit:
Weight: 19lbs 6oz - 22%
Height: 30.5in - 89%
Head Circ: 17in - 7%

For comparison, here are her Newborn stats:
Weight: 7lbs 3oz - 39%
Height: 20in - 72%
I don't have her newborn head circumference measurement.

Gwen's pediatrician told us that no food is off limit now!  YAY :)  She's been doing SO awesome with her eating.  We pretty much have been feeding her everything that we eat (with the exception of nuts, shellfish, and honey - which the Dr says are now all fair game).  I have to say that we have been so lucky ::hoping not to jinx myself:: with Gwen eating and liking just about everything that we give her - as long as we follow a certain order, that is!  Here's how it goes: vegetables first, meats next, carbs and dairy last.  Start her out with cheese, and that's all she's going to want!

Nursing:  We're still going strong, nursing 4-5 times a day.  I'm still doing a middle of the night feed around 4am or so - which I may cut out.  Last night, I tested it, and after fussing/crying for a little while she eventually went back to sleep.  We'll see how it goes tonight.  There have been a few days lately where I've gone 6 or 7 hours without nursing her and she seems to do just fine.  I'm going to start giving her some whole cow's milk with meals and more water throughout the day, but I'll continue to nurse at least a few times a day until...well who knows when!

Sleep:  The girl is a rock star!  (well, with the exception of her middle of the night feeding)  She goes down around 7:30-8pm with ease.  Around 6 months (I think?) we let her cry it out, and it was the best decision we ever made.  It took about 2 nights for her to learn to soothe herself to sleep, and ever since then, she has gone to sleep within minutes of me putting her down.  She's normally up for the day around 8am now, but I know that will change once I cut out her 4am feeding (a little nervous about this heh).  We have also been very lucky in terms of naps - she always has a 2-3 hour mid-late morning nap, and sometimes a shorter afternoon nap.  If we're out during nap time, she'll just take her nap later on when we're home.  I'm so thankful for my quiet time during the day.  Otherwise, among other things, this blog may not have happened!

Let's see, what else -
She's becoming more confident with her walking, turning corners, etc.  She still looks like Frankenstein, and requires a destination (mom or dad, chair, table, etc), but she's been doing a great job with it!  She's been so cuddly lately; hugging, kissing, resting her head on us.  She's SO excited to see Justin when he comes home that it just makes both of our days.  She still LOVES playing peek-a-boo - she started hiding behind me and then peeking out to the side and giggling until I turn my head, and say boo, which just sends her into a fit of giggles!  Her birthday party was yesterday and she started clapping! Like, non-stop.  To the point where I put her down to sleep last night and she was still clapping (literally).

Gwen's Horoscope

I wrote about this back in May, but thought I would re-visit to see if she still fits the Capricorn Baby personality:

"Your little Capricorn will have a quiet, meditative nature ruled by reason instead of impulse and may seem older than his or her years at times. These children are thrifty, reserved, diplomatic, deep thinking, and determined. They are cautious in what they do and say. They know what they want and they usually get it by methodically planning every detail ahead of time-they like to take their time with things, learning lessons well along the way.

Capricorn children are receptive to down-to-earth activities. They feel a deep sense of responsibility and love being praised for a job well done. Parents should take time with their Capricorn child to show them the joy of touch and sharing comfort. Though typically practical and serious, the Capricorn often has a well-developed sense of wit and humor and is also known for being reliable." -babyzone.com

Like I said in my last post, I'm really not a "horoscope follower", but it blows my mind how dead on it seems with her quiet, cautious, reserved, but determined nature.

Her Winter 'One'derland birthday party was yesterday - a party post to follow!!  Here is a sneak preview of the party:

Thank you, Aunt Kristen!

I'm drafting a couple of posts for Gwen's first birthday and her party, but in the meantime I wanted to share a video that my sister made for Gwen.  It was such an awesome surprise, and so cool to be able to see Gwen's first year through her Aunt Kristen's eyes!  Click the link below to watch the video:

Gwen's First Year - by Aunt Kristen

Gwen's First Christmas

We're feeling very lucky this year because Gwen has just brought so much happiness to our little family. It was fun to have her so interactive and animated for her first Christmas.  Justin and I reminisced about last year when I was 38 weeks pregnant and how excited we were for Christmas 2011 because our little one would be here (and almost a year old!).  It seemed so far away to us...

...yet, here we are!  My two babes, Christmas morning 2011:

We wrapped all of her presents in tissue paper, so they would be easy for her to unwrap.  Don't let the picture fool you, she tore off a tiny piece of paper and played with it.  The rest of the unwrapping still took some help from us.

Here she is, playing with her first present - an animated Leap Frog book.  It reads the book aloud to her as she turns the pages.  Great in theory, but ends up being a tad annoying for mommy and daddy when she keep opening and closing, opening and closing... heh! Oh well, she'll grow into it.

My Pal Violet was by far her favorite toy.  We programmed it on the computer to say her name (she completely lights up when it does this), and incorporate her favorite songs, color, animal, etc into play.  See that dress draped over the arm of the couch?  Justin picked it out as a surprise - oopsie for not getting a better pic, but it's so cute!

Gwen loves Violet <3

You can't tell here, but it started to snow outside while she was opening presents!

We made sugar cookies with a special "g" for the little lady.  I still can't bring myself to eat it! hah

We headed over to Nana & Papa's house to spend the rest of the day with family - and more presents!  I made Gwen's headband out of scraps from her Christmas stocking.

Santa

As a kid, I always remembered going to my dad's work to see Santa.  So when Justin told me that Santa was coming to his work, I was so excited for Gwen!

Here we all are, waiting for the Big Guy!

There he is, not too sure what to think...

Gwen was the second one called up to sit on Santa's lap, and she did awesome!  She wasn't scared at all (just wanted her present, as you can see in her face).  There were oh so many "oohs and ahhs" while she was up there - obvi! she's so darn cute!

Here she is eating her sock monkey from Santa.

A Silverio's work is never done.  We stopped by Daddy's desk so Gwen could do some filing.

Looking very serious (and teensy) at Daddy's desk

Snuggling with Daddy after a fun time at his work :)

A few days later, we decided to try out the whole "Mall Santa" experience.  This didn't work out quite as well....

It cost $25 for one digital image on a cd, but I had to.

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 :)

Trees and stuff

We're really getting into the holiday spirit around here.  For a while, I debated if we should get a tree or not.  I was concerned about Gwen swinging from the branches and eating pine needles off the floor.  We ended up getting a really tiny one to put in the corner and block Gwen out with furniture if need be.  I'm really happy that we decided to get one, I can't imagine not having a tree for her first Christmas.  Plus, if we didn't, where would we hang her awesome new ornament??

from the website

Gwen's personalized Baby's 1st Ornament!

First Annual Silverio Gingerbread House!!

 Here's our cute little Silverio Christmas tree!

Trimming the tree

 

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.