Spring Fling

Spring has sprung in the Kry-Baby household with so many new and amazing developments! Gwendoline's body and mind grow by leaps and bounds every day. It's so amazing to watch- you can actually see new skills being mastered and knowledge being absorbed.

Gwendoline has been *this close* to crawling for a little over a week now, so that new stage is imminent. But I think we're ready! Jeph has installed magnetic locks on all the lower kitchen cabinets and I've moved any appealing knick-knacks or other items (picture frames, photo albums, dog toys, etc.) to higher ground. It's so fun to watch her get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, just itching to propel herself forward. But this itch is also frustrating for her. After several seconds of rocking back and forth, she gets irritated that she's not actually covering any ground and starts whining, crying, screaming, or all of the above. And once she's up on all fours, she gets stuck, as if she doesn't remember that she can just lay back down again. So every once in a while, I have to help her either get back into a sitting position or gently push her bottom down so that her tummy is back on the floor. As a friend of mine put it, developmental milestones like this can really "jack a baby up," especially their sleep cycle. Pre-crawling is no exception as Gwendoline gets "stuck" in the crawl position as she's moving around in her crib at night or during naps. Daddy and I are doing a lot of rescuing these days!

"Crawling" across Daddy Bridge

In tandem with pre-crawling is pulling up. Gwendoline hasn't quite mastered pulling up on inanimate objects or dogs yet (thank goodness!), but if you offer her your hand or a finger, she'll pull herself up to standing in less than two seconds. Her little legs are so strong! Since she's nowhere near steady on her feet yet, we call her Elvis once she's on her feet because her hips sway around like she's The King.

Another milestone this week is clapping. One of Gwendoline's new favorite things to do is clap! Clap at Mommy, clap at the doggie, clap for eating a bite of food, clap to be picked up... The girl loves to clap! I looked at the baby monitor and saw her lying on her back in her crib at 6:00 this morning, clapping away. Though I guess I should call it a half-clap because she only opens her right hand while keeping her left hand in a fist as she claps them together. It's pretty adorable.

As of three days ago, Gwendoline has decided that not all food is poison and she loves to eat! Apples are her favorite by far. She's up to having solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner now; her milk intake has remained the same, so she's either going to burn a lot of calories crawling very soon or turn into a chunky monkey!

7 months old! Such a big girl. Too big...

Happy First Easter!

We had a blast at the Dallas Arboretum!

Sleep-through-the-night counter: 8
Teeth counter: 0
Foods she likes: apples, mangoes, green beans, peas, carrots, squash, peaches, pears, oatmeal
Foods she (still) thinks are poison: sweet potatoes, bananas