Maine in May

When Grandpa and Grandma Earnshaw travel, we can't let Uncle Sam be home alone, so we travel to Maine to keep him company. Gwen loves going to Maine and kept wondering when we would leave by asking, "I go Maine?" Here's Gwen, ready for the long car ride with all her supplies.
When we got to Maine, it was a beautiful day. Gwen needed to stretch her legs, so we went for a walk to the beach.

Gwen found some colorful tulips on the way.

Fort Williams Park

Gwen & the Portland Headlight

Grandpa needs a segway!

Gwen doing her funny walk

(which requires her to make a funny face too!)

Mom, Gwen, & Grandma Earnshaw

Gwen demonstrates proper fog horn hearing safety

Gwen & Grandpa Earnshaw

Gwen strutting her stuff

Dad & the lighthouse

(Don't worry, we rounded out this very

Maine day with a trip to L.L.Bean!)

"Let's Play Tattoo Parlor"

It started out like most afternoons. Gwen was outside pushing her little car up and down the driveway when...

Gwen's favorite neighbor came over with her coloring supplies. They colored together nicely until...

Gwen's favorite neighbor had an idea...

"Let's play tattoo parlor!" She instructed me to draw many small pictures on a page and then to write "Open - Free - Looking for the 1st customer." Who would be the first customer? Gwen's favorite neighbor of course! But then Gwen wanted in on the action. She chose a tattoo...

the heart with the arrow through it to be exact. Gwen's favorite neighbor decided she would also be Gwen's favorite tattoo artist. She took out her tattooing marker...

and Gwen got her first "tattoo." (Don't worry, Gwen also had her first tattoo removal in the bathtub less than an hour later!)

Gwen Takes Her 1st Steps!

Gwen took her first steps this morning! She was standing by the bed and I was sitting on the floor. I asked her to come to me and she let go of the bed, stood in a moment of decision, and, instead of plopping down to crawl to me, she step, step, step, stepped over. Not just her first step, but her first four steps! We were both very pleased. We practiced throughout the day and showed off for Dad when he got home. However, she seems to enjoy falling almost as much as she enjoys walking. For the time being, crawling remains Gwen's favorite form of mobility.

"Let Me Out!"

With the warmer weather, Gwen has been enjoying the great outdoors, and she loves it! In fact, she likes the idea of being outside all day long. She let's us know my crawling to the door, standing up, and banging on the door. She's pretty persistent and yells a few "Aaaaa"s if she doesn't think we're getting our shoes on fast enough.

Speedy Crawler Gwen

See Gwen...

See Gwen crawl very quickly! See Gwen walk (with assistance)! See Gwen kiss! See Gwen wave! See Gwen be cute! See the video...

A Favorite Activity

Gwen enjoys crawling around after the little balls that are part of the ball popper toy she got for Christmas. She'll actually crawl after anything she can bat around, like her ricotta cheese cup or her sock (like at the end of the video).

On the Move

Gwen has mastered sitting and crawling, so now she's on to pulling herself up. She found this little foot rest at the great-grandparent's house and it was just the right size for standing up!

Getting What She Wants

With Gwen's new mobility, she has now redefined "out of reach." This afternoon she spied her books on the table, quickly crawled over, and positioned herself just right to pull them off the table and onto the ground. She was quite pleased with herself for accomplishing this feat and squealed repeatedly as she looked through the books on the floor. As usual, it all ended with a small taste of book.

Getting Ready

Gwen is getting ready to crawl! Up to this point she's been rolling from here to there, but now she's trying some new moves. She gets on all fours in the crawl position, pushes forward with her legs, but then she doesn't use her arms so she kind of slides forward on her chest. She combines this motion with her usual rolling around, so she can move in all directions. It's really neat to watch her little body in motion!

Spinning Gwen