Baby Brains Are Interesting

Baby brains are so interesting! I can see Gwendoline's brain power developing every single day; it's so amazing. For example, I played a small version of "keep away" with her yesterday. I would dangle a toy in front of her and just as she was about to grasp it, I'd pull it away. She thought it was hilarious! (As I've mentioned before, she laughs at all my jokes, no matter how corny, and really validates my sense of humor.) Then this morning, as I was handing her a toy in earnest, she would reach out for it, then pull her hand away and laugh. She was playing keep away with me this time! Absolutely amazing.

I also ran a small experiment with her yesterday. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm one of those mothers who lets her kid watch a little TV. Sometimes Mommy just needs a moment to herself to, oh... I don't know, eat, shower, go to the bathroom alone, what have you. So yes, Gwendoline is allowed to watch one (ok, maybe two) 20-minute episodes of a Mommy-approved TV show a day. I'm still surprised by it, but she actually watches TV, though I think at this stage it's more of a mobile with flashing lights and sounds for her. Anyway, I found classic Care Bears on Netflix yesterday and was delighted! I watched a ton of Care Bears when I was little and was so excited to share it with Gwendoline, even if she only responds to the flashing lights and sounds at this stage. I picked what I though was a great episode, snuggled in with her, and pressed play. "Behold the greatness that is Care Bears, Gwendoline!" I said in my I'm-a-good-mom voice. But she was not impressed. At all. The flashing lights and sounds held her attention for maybe 10 seconds before she was ready to move on to something new. Just before we reached terminal fit-throwing velocity, I switched the channel to Super Why, another new-to-Gwendoline show. It instantly captivated her attention and held it for a solid 15 minutes until it was nap time. For those not familiar, Care Bears looks like a regular, old-school cartoon; Super Why looks more like a Pixar movie. That got me thinking... Can Gwendoline's 6-month-old brain recognize the difference between the two kinds of technology? If so, why does she only respond to the newer, Pixar-like one? Or is she advanced enough, at just 6 months old, to develop an actual interested in what is happening on screen, therefore making my "it's just flashing lights and sounds" hypothesis inaccurate? Either way, I'm going to start being very careful from now on to make sure that whatever I leaving playing on the TV for background noise is Gwendoline appropriate. Better yet, we'll just stream the Pandora Disney station instead. Baby brains are so interesting! And a little scary.

In other news, Gwendoline turned 6 months old yesterday! Happy half birthday, Little Love! Her 6 month appointment with the pediatrician is this afternoon, so expect a growth and development progress update in the next couple of days.

Reading bedtime Bible stories with Daddy

Teething- she really likes this frozen teething ring!

She forgets to use her hands in the high chair
and keeps them tucked in her lap.

What I've Become

Motherhood has made me a lot of things:

• busy
• resourceful
• tired
• creative
• dirty
• ambidextrous 
• physically stronger
• emotionally spent
• incredibly and unbelievable happy

However, motherhood has also made me a CRAZY person. I've noticed that what used to be an insignificant detail now drives me insane and make me irrationally angry. For example: 

• the beeping of the microwave. Does it have to beep FIVE times when the food is ready, and again every 30 seconds to remind me that the food is still ready? I hear you! Yes, I know you're ready, but I'm covered in [insert something gross here] right now and can't attend to you yet.
• online banking. I log on to you at least every other day to make sure I'm not putting us in the poor house. And then one day, you feel the need to make sure it's really me this time and ask me all sorts of obscure security questions that I set the answers to five years ago. A lot has happened since then, so NO, I don't remember what my favorite food was in 2008.
• everything is LOUD when there is a sleeping baby in the house. I never noticed how loud my ten pound terrier is when he shakes his head after awaking from a nap. Or how loud the neighbor's car alarm is when he sets it off EVERY DAY. Seriously, every day. And then he somehow can't find the clicker to turn it off in a reasonable amount of time.
• being cut off. Not in the car (though that still irritates me). In the stroller. People take one look at me pushing the stroller through [insert name of shopping establishment here] and automatically assume they have the right of way. I may be slower pushing a stroller, but you people don't realize it can become a projectile aimed at your shins when I'm (irrationally) angry because you CUT ME OFF. Road rules apply, sir/ma'am.

The strangest part about being a crazy person is that I completely realize that the words coming out of my mouth or the thoughts going through my head are irrational. BUT I DON'T CARE. It's weird that something that would have had me making an appointment with my therapist six months ago is now my new normal.  

So watch out, people. You've been warned. 

;)

5 months

Our little girl is 5 months old! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by and how much life has changed. I feel like I'm still adjusting to our "new normal," but it's definitely getting easier. It helps matters quite a bit that months 4 and 5 have been so precious! Gwendoline is really coming into her own and is showing us that she has a BIG personality. She's goofy and silly, just like her daddy, but she also has a very sweet side that loves to cuddle and play independently. As we hang out around more mommies and babies, I've recognized that Gwendonline is a loud baby. I realize that all babies at this age are loud, but Gwendoline is LOUD. She is routinely the loudest baby in all of our mommy-and-baby groups. Thankfully, she's usually loud in a happy way with joyful screeches, squeals, and laughs; but sometimes she's the loudest in an unhappy way with fitful screeches and screams. Those are the times we leave early. She definitely knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let you know it, too.

We have had a lot of firsts over the last two months as Gwendoline has gotten older and, therefore, more portable. Some of these firsts include: 

• eating rice cereal or oatmeal twice a day- she loves oatmeal and makes "mmmmmm" sounds after each bite; we'll be starting real solids (sweet potatoes, green beans, etc.) very soon!
• rolling over from back to tummy; we're still working on tummy to back
• sitting up with very little support
• first trip to the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science
• first visit to the Dallas Museum of Art
• first Waterbabies class (see this previous post for more details) 
• attending weekly story time at our public library for singing, dancing, playing, and reading
• first swing and slide adventures

As always, we're looking forward to more firsts with our daughter as the weather starts warming up. Soon, Gwendoline and I will be making our first solo trip to visit Grandma in Conroe. Yikes! 

Such a big girl!

Swinging with daddy on the big swing

Weeeeeeeee!!