Welcome Zack!

Gwen' s new baby cousin, Zack, was born today! He weighed in at 10lbs 6oz, and we were so excited to see him on his birthday! (At the hospital, Gwen also liked the saltine crackers.)

Ponytail & Piano

Sandhill Cranes and Citrus

When we're in Florida, we always like to see Gwen's great-grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa King. We spent the day with them on Saturday and enjoyed the visit very much. The first thing to catch Gwen's attention was a family of sandhill cranes in the backyard. Mom and Gwen thought they would chase them away, but the birds thought Mom and Gwen were bringing food and didn't fly off as easily as had been expected.

Grandma and Grandpa King have a lake in their backyard, and Gwen wanted to check it out. She was delighted to see lots of little fish when she looked into the water from the dock.

Gwen loved Grandma King's applesauce, the green sippy cup she got to use at lunch, and the lollipop Grandma King had gotten just for Gwen from the hairdresser's candy bowl earlier that day.

After lunch there was a ride in the golf cart, and we couldn't leave without Grandpa hooking us up with some fresh Florida citrus from his personal grove. Grandpa King helped Gwen pick out the best tangerines on the tree!

Gwen loves Grandma and Grandpa King! Thanks for a fun visit!

Gwen Goes to the Zoo

Today Gwen went to a zoo for the first time! Grammie took us to the Lowry Park Zoo, and Uncle Jacob, Aunt Rachel, and Cousin Katie came too. Gwen and Katie shared the double stroller, although they had to get in and out frequently to see the animals. We all enjoyed the animals and the fun. Some highlights included: being entertained by the very active orangutans and monkeys which put on quite a show of acrobatics, seeing the penguins getting fish to eat, watching the manatees at the manatee hospital above water and then below the water too, feeding the giraffe a cracker, Gwen eating her own crackers, petting and brushing the goats, and just being together in the sunshine! Gwen actually fell asleep on the way to the zoo, so she was very tired by the end of her first visit to the zoo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Did you have a tasty Thanksgiving?

Gwen did!

We're thankful to be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with the Crosby family in Florida. (This is Jared's first Thanksgiving home since his senior year in high school!) In case you've never experienced a southern Thanksgiving feast, the stuffing is made from corn bread, the conk peas are a yummy side, the pecan pie tastes deliciously fresh, and the lemonade is squeezed from lemons right off the tree out back. Grammie Crosby cooked up an incredible spread and the meal was shared with Grandma & Grandpa King, Jacob, Rachel, & Katie, Uncle Wes & his boys (Chris and Sean), and some friends from the singles branch (where Rob and Linda serve). We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the company! Happy Thanksgiving!

Gwen at 20 Months

Some things I don’t want to forget about Gwen at 20 months:

We recently got out the nativity set we got last year for Christmas (thanks Grandma Earnshaw). Gwen loves the baby Jesus and carries it around all day. She rocks it back and forth and says, “Rock, rock, rock.” She’ll often set it down and forget where she has left it. When this happens she walks around the house calling, “Jee! Jee!” It’s precious!

Gwen has started “saying” prayers by repeating, as best she can, what I say. She likes to do it, so now we take turns when we bless the food.

Gwen has started saying please. She’ll even ask for something with a please, like “pees pees” means “peas, please.” Asking for something with please have been some of her first two word phrases.

Before I put Gwen in her bed I sing her a few songs. She used to lie down on my shoulder and I’d rock her a little bit as I sang. She’ll still lie down sometimes, but more often she gets silly and puts her face really close to mine as I sing. She’ll try to knock heads with me, or point to parts of my face and say, “nose, nose, nose” or “eyes”. She is usually quite gentle, but I always have to be on guard for the occasional hard poke. If she gets really silly she’ll rock the opposite way from what I am rocking her and throw herself back and forth while saying, “Rock Rock Rock” in a loud voice. We usually end by singing “Twinkle, Twinkle” and she yells the last word from each line of the song. I’ll say, “Twinkle twinkle little…” and she’ll say, “SHTA!” “How I wonder what you…” “ AAAAA!” “Up above the world so…” “HIGH!” “Like a diamond in the…” “SHY!” It’s quite adorable!

Gwen goes to bed between 7 and 7:30. I usually go in later before I go to bed to make sure she is covered up. No matter what time it is, or how quiet I am, she almost always stands up in her crib and reaches for me. I pick her up, she reaches for the door, we go to the kitchen and get a little drink of water in the dark, and then we snuggle for a minute before I put her back in bed. She is still half asleep, but I can’t figure out how she always knows when I come into her room at night.

Gwen has started saying no…A LOT! She says no to most questions, even if she doesn’t mean it. However, when she does mean it, she says, “Nonononono”, but it sounds more like “Nununununu.” She shakes her head with energy and her curls bob all around.

Currently, Gwen’s favorite foods include winter squash, peas, dutch babies, crackers, bananas, pears, pizza, pasta with tomato sauce, and rice pilaf. Her favorite must be peas because that is what responds with when asked, “What do you want to eat?”

Gwen is getting pretty good as drinking from a cup all by herself. She picks up the cup gently and puts it down gently, so it won’t spill. However, she sometimes gets distracted looking at whatever is on the outside of the cup, she tips the cup to get a better view, and then the spill happens.

Gwen is really into garbage lately. She’ll help out by putting things in the garbage can when we ask her to. She’ll also put things in the garbage can when we don’t ask her to. If I’m watching, she’ll show me what she’s going to put in and I’ll say okay or not okay. If I’m not watching, I’ll hear the garbage can shut, turn around to see Gwen running away with this little smirk, and inside the garbage can will be something that is blatantly not garbage (a diaper, a book, a piece of clothing, etc). I tell Gwen, “Just ask Mom before you put something in the garbage.” But she just smiles and it happens again later in the day. She also wants to get things out of the garbage that she has just put in which can be messy. We were exercising at a track recently, and Gwen was hanging out in the middle of the track. She had some toys, but she left them behind and started collecting trash and taking it to a trash can on the side of the track. I was surprised that she knew that the trash can was a trash can because it didn’t look like our trash can at home!

Gwen likes to look at books and magazines and will do it all by herself. It is really cute to watch her be so independent.

Gwen loves to help. She likes to get a diaper and bring it to me when she needs to be changed. She’ll pick up things off the floor and hand them to me if I ask. She’ll help pick up her toys. She loves to carry things for me (like a piece of paper or anything small) when we are running errands. Gwen loves to help me unload the dishwasher. She takes all of the plastic things out and brings them to me to put in the cupboard. She takes one thing out, brings it to me, then goes back for the next, so it takes longer than usual, but the look of purpose she has is priceless! She takes her job seriously! At the end she wants me to pick her up so she can see all of the dishes neatly stacked in the cupboard. The cutest thing of all is when Gwen gets my towel for me when I’m done showering. If she’s awake, she’ll sit in the bathroom on her potty waiting for me to turn off the water. When I do, she jumps up and pulls my towel off the counter and hands it to me with a big smile. I say “Thanks Gwen! Can I give you a big kiss?” She always says, “No!” and then leans up for the kiss. She’s too cute!

Gwen’s favorite things are her blanket (she call it “ba”) and her little pink beanie baby bear (she calls it “ba” too). When she wakes up and gets out of her crib, she will only leave the blanket in the crib if she is given her bear. She likes to make her bear do things like clap, wave, dance, and climb the stairs. She’ll “feed” the bear with a spoon and likes to have the bear sit on a shelf by her high chair when she has a meal.

Gwen likes Dora. She has Dora pajamas (thank Grammie Crosby) and a Dora sweatshirt. She chooses to wear Dora if there is a choice and she reminds us that she is wearing Dora by pointing to Dora and saying, “Du, du”.

Gwen has done this for a long time, but I don’t think I’ve recorded it before. When given a choice between two things, she’ll almost always push away the one she doesn’t want instead of pointing to the one she does want. Sometimes the pushing away can get kind of aggressive. For example, she’ll grab and throw a book she doesn’t want to read at the moment, even if it may be her second choice!Gwen is such a sweetie, and I don't think I could ever forget that!

Pink Polka Dots

Thanks for the new dress and pink accessories to match, Grandma Earnshaw!

After Bath Cuteness

Block Sorting Gwen

Gwen got her block sorter as a birthday present from Auntie Lindsay and family. She has played with is in all different ways. At first she would just dump the blocks out, then it was all about putting them back in again or stacking them in order to knock them over. For awhile she would put her bear inside the box and push the bear around. We got a book from the library about Wibbly Pig building a "wobbly tower" with his blocks, so then she wanted to stack them as high as possible. She got pretty good at this, and the higher the tower got the more carefully Gwen would place the next block. Recently, Gwen has started sorting her blocks multiple times a day. She still needs a little help finding the right spot for each shape, but she can now put it in herself which makes her feel very proud!

A Sunny Breakfast