Gwen Loves Florida!

It's more like "Gwen Loves Grammie, Papa, and Uncle Josh (as well as Sydney, Jeb, and Jenny)," who all happen to be in Florida!

Grammie is still Gwen's favorite snuggle buddy.

Gwen is quite content to join Papa Crosby in his chair to relax, and he can always get a smile out of her.

It was nice to meet Uncle Josh, and he introduced Gwen to eggplant.

Visiting Friends in Plant City

We visited our good friends the Sheppards today in Plant City, Florida. Tia is all grown up at two-years-old and impressed us with her spelling and counting in English and French. Samuel is the most recent addition to the family, born a few weeks after Gwen. He's adorable! It was nice to see Diane and OJ and get caught up on the latest Sheppard family happenings.

Gwen Puts Her Foot in Her Mouth

Gwen found her feet about a month ago, and now she's found her toes. In the bathtub tonight, she was sucking on her big toe! Who knew putting your foot in your mouth could be so cute?

Meeting the Great-Grandparents

While in Florida, Gwen loved getting to know Great Grandma and Grandpa King for the first time. We visited with them on Saturday and Sunday. Grandpa King helped Gwen start a coin collection, and Grandma King gave Gwen some snuggles and lots of "sugar." Gwen dished out lots of smiles, happy sounds, and a little sugar too!

Fun in the Sun

When Jared was recently looking for plane tickets to go home for Christmas in Florida he found nothing very affordable around the holidays. However, there were some cheap tickets to Tampa at the end of August. Since Ashley was off of work, it was decided that Gwen needed to see her Crosby grandparents, and they needed to see Gwen! It was her first time on a plane, but we'll try it again as Gwen was excellent during the flight. Gwen hit the beaches the next day on Anna Maria Island. Gwen is ready for some fun in the Florida sun!

Gwen had her own little boat to float around in, which was fortunate because she needed her hands to hold a toy to chew on. She cut her second tooth later in the day.




Gwen loved splashing with Mom in the pool.

Gwen is warm and dry with Grammie Crosby after the swim.

Gwen is Five Months Old!

Gwen's accomplishments for the month include:
-Sleeping through the night! Gwen began sleeping through the night the day she turned four months old and this continued for about three weeks. Then she started teething and regressed big time for a few nights. Now she's working her way back to a full night's sleep.
-Getting her first tooth! Gwen's mouth has become a more hazardous place with one small, sharp tooth on the bottom left that poked through on August 15th. Her bottom right tooth is ready to make its appearance any day now. Gwen has taken teething in stride, and besides a few rough nights has been a pretty good sport about it. She just needs something to gum and slobber on at all times! Her favorite chewy toys are a colored ring and a butterfly toy that is filled with water.
-Mastering the roll over...in both directions! Gwen can now roll from front to back and from back to front. She can do this to the left and to the right. Once in awhile she'll roll over repeatedly and end up off of her blanket, but she is usually content to just roll from back to front. She has just recently picked up the trick of rolling from her back to her front with a toy in hand so she can continue chewing on it while on her tummy.
-Making all sorts of noises! Gwen makes a variety of sounds at a variety of pitches. She'll often talk to herself when she wakes up or when she is getting ready to sleep. Friends have recently pointed out that Gwen has a deep voice, especially when she "da-da-das". Around the time she started teething Gwen began to blow through her lips making a nice "bwrrrr" noise and throwing spit everywhere.
-Laughing! Gwen had had a few chuckles here and there, but sometimes it was hard to tell if it was an official laugh. However, the first Sunday afternoon in August she laughed and laughed when Ashley kissed her neck. She mostly laughs when she's getting tired and goofy, but once in awhile she'll find something humorous and let out a giggle. She seems to think being surprised is funny as she laughs at peekaboo and other games of anticipation.
-Grabbing at things she wants! Gwen is quite motivated to get her hands on the things she wants. It may be a toy, the telephone, or a water bottle. Her coordination in getting an object and getting it into her mouth have really improved this month.
-Enjoying some summer firsts! Gwen took a trip to Maine, went for a swim in a pool, picked blueberries with Mom, watched a tiny bit of the Olympics, and flew on an airplane to Florida.

This picture really says it all, Gwen is a fantastic five month old! She continues to be a sweet and easy going baby with lots of smiles and cuddles.

We love our baby Gwen!

Gwen Wears Many Hats

Gwen has a cute hat for every day of the week. However, with the summer heat, she hasn't been wearing any of them. She tried her many hats on this afternoon to see which ones still fit in preparation for her fall wardrobe.

P.S. Gwen has been cutting her first teeth this week! She constantly needs to have SOMETHING in her mouth to gum on. Just this afternoon her first tooth (front bottom left) has poked through! Does that mean you'll start sleeping all night again baby Gwen? Let's hope so, although it looks like tooth number two is on the way...

All in a Day's Work...& Sleep

This afternoon, Gwen and Mom worked on organizing the kitchen cabinet with all of the plastic storage containers. Gwen taste tested a few containers. Gwen was found sleeping in the stink bug position during two out of three naps.

Cool in the Pool

Today Gwen took her first swim!

Although the photo doesn't appear to have captured it, Gwen really enjoyed the pool as communicated with lots of smiling and cooing.

After swimming, Gwen took some time to examine her fingers...

and her toes!

Pretty in Yellow

Grammie Crosby sent Gwen this beautiful yellow gingham dress with smocking, perfect for a summer Sunday. We think Gwen makes it look even more beautiful! You'll also note that Gwen's hair is long enough for some coordinating accessories. Keep your eye out for many more bows in future photos!

(Get some bows for your little girl, too!)