Gwen is NINE Months Old!

Another month has passed and Gwen is changing so quickly. Just yesterday Jared found Gwen holding on to the side of her crib and standing up after her nap! She loves "climbing" all over you if you lay down on the ground. She is so strong!

Just this past week Gwen has gotten pretty good at crawling. She still seems to prefer the army crawl on carpet, but on the hardwood floors she crawls on hands and knees. She has started following Mom into the kitchen. Gwen sits at Mom's feet and tries to chew on Mom's slippers.

Gwen still loves bath time. She got too big for her baby bathtub and now takes a bath in the big bathtub while sitting or lying on a large, yellow, bear-shaped sponge called a "Tub Cub." Her preferred bathing position is lying on her back as she loves to chew on her rubber ducky and kick, kick, kick her legs making lots of splashes.

Gwen gives kisses to people, toys, and books. She opens her mouth and leans in gently for the kiss. She is also really good at clapping. She claps her hands together and smiles. She likes to play patty cake and to clap when she hears, "If You're Happy and You Know It" or "Do as I'm Doing." She also likes to make noise by banging a toy on the ground, on her highchair tray, or on another toy.

Gwen continues to try new foods and is generally accepting of whatever she is given. She has some strange habits when is comes to eating. For example, she almost always sucks on her hand after she gets a spoonful of food in her mouth. A lot of the food gets slobbered out of her mouth and onto her hand or arm. She'll continue to suck this food off of her hand and arm, making an even bigger mess. She has also recently started sucking on her bib. These weird habits make feeding Gwen baby food a time consuming and messy ordeal!

Gwen is letting us know that she understands more words. She had a book from the library about loud things and quiet things. Fish were an example of something quiet. Whenever that page was read and someone said fish, Gwen looked immediately at the fish tank. If she's in the right mood, she'll also kiss or clap on command. It's so amazing to see her learn new things!

We can't believe how fast Gwen is growing and how cute she is getting!