Slow it down Tiny!

I cannot believe how incredibly fast time is going with Gwen. She is growing so fast and advancing to the next stage of life at a rapid pace. I put her in her bouncer this morning after not having put her in for about 2 months just to see what her reaction would be and it brought a tear to my eyes because it seems like it was just the other day that my tiny little newborn was sitting in that seat. Gwendolyn's newest adventure and milestone is that she has learned to roll over!!! Friday, February 18th, when we got home from having lunch with Matt, I took her to her room to play and had a feeling that was going to be the day she was going to roll over. Sure enough, she did it like she had been doing it for months. So much for tummy time now, she just rolls right to her back. We will be in trouble when she can roll both ways! I will need to get another baby gate for the top of my stairs. I am so proud of her! She will be crawling before I know it! She needs to slow it down! I am trying to savour these tiny times! Here is video of her rolling over for the 3rd time on Friday!

Gwen and I, along with my mom will be flying to Ohio in April. I am so excited to go see family and for everyone to meet Gwen, but I am so nervous. I have never been on vacation without Matt. He is definitely the leader when it comes to vacations and making sure we get where we need to be without a hitch. Now, I have to make sure that I keep Gwen safe and hope she is okay on the plane! We were able to get non-stop flights which will make the trip so much easier! It will be so nice to go up there, I do wish Matt would have been able to come, but he must stay and work. Such is the life of a business owner I guess.

Last week was a rough one for Gwen. She has wonderful mornings and then when it comes to her afternoon nap, she fights it like I have never seen a baby fight naps before. There is about an hour and a half period in the afternoon where she is screaming, not just a little but blood curdling screaming. It sounds as if she is hurt or feels scared or something. Even me holding her doesn't calm her down most times when she gets like that. I am working on it every day, but during that period I feel so helpless because there isn't anything I can do to settle her. I love my little one and hate to see her like that. Matt put up her black out curtains in her room to see if making her room darker will help her with naps. We will see! Let's just pray that that was just a phase and we will pass that soon and naps will be a cinch.

Papa

As tomorrow approaches and I think about what February 11th will always mean to me, I can't help but get sad of course, and even a bit upset. Three years ago (tomorrow) I lost my dad. No idea how he passed other than the Lord knew it was His time so He took my dad. I miss him like crazy and can't help but to think about all of the wonderful and not so wonderful things he has missed out on and will miss out on. I am upset about the fact that Gwen will not get to meet her Papa. She would have been his little angel, I just know it. I think about how amazing he was with my niece and nephews and can't help but to be sad and upset at the fact that Gwendolyn will not get to experience that. There is nothing I can do to change it, I will just tell her about Papa and hope that she can develop a love for him even though she will never get to receive on of his gigantic bear hugs that always made you feel so comfortable. I love my daddy and I miss him. Even though things were rough quite a bit, no one will ever replace my daddy or Papa to my Gwenny.

Gwendolyn is doing great. We took her to her 4 month doctors appointment on Tuesday and the doctor just kept raving about how perfect she is and how great of a job we are doing! That made me so happy to hear! And apparently every one at the doctors office couldn't stop talking about her eyes. Dr. Amy is obsessed with her hair though! She is 26 inches (95th percentile), 14lbs 13.8 oz (70th percentile) and her head is in the 45th percentile! I was excited that her head grew a bit! I have been noticing signs that she was teething and Dr Amy confirmed that. Well last night was our first experience with her being painful with the teething. She couldn't get comfortable for quite a while and then woke up quite a few times during the night. She got through it and so did I, but I am sure there is much more of that fun to come! Gwen loves to sit up (supported of course) and loves to stand. She gets so excited when she's standing up, it is so darn cute! She doesn't like to lay down as much anymore, she loves to be up seeing the world. She loves to be outside and see all the trees and feel the nice fresh air. When she gets fussy, we usually go for a walk outside to calm her down. Still no luck with the bottle, I gave up for a while because I figured there was no point. But I will begin to try again soon, Dr's orders! However, because of Gwen's eating schedule and Matt's work schedule, there is no one else to offer her the bottle but me, so we will see how it work out.

Here is a picture of my daddy walking me down the aisle:

I haven't uploaded any recent pictures of Gwen, but I will get some up soon.