Looks like we have had Gwendolyn for two years now! I have been meaning to post an update on her and haven't gotten around to it, so maybe I will hit a few Gwennie highlights in her two year old post.
She talks! Finally (insert small sigh of relief here). At 17-18 months, my concern about the not talking was minimal, as Stephanie was not very verbal either. As 20-21 months approached and we barely had a "Mama", my stress levels were starting to rise about it. After worrying about it to pretty much anyone who would listen and trying to convince Kevin and I that she was otherwise a happy and normal child, she finally started talking! On top of that, she has some words that are real charmers. Stephanie called noodles "noonoos", Gwen says, "Doodies" and sometimes chants the word with a little dance of wagging her bum back and forth. She also can say "water" but when spontaneously referring to water makes a "lalalalala" sound while waggling her tounge. That one is video clip worthy, and as soon as I can figure out how to easily post that from the iPad, I will.
She also loves ice. Way more than I think is normal. In an effort to get her interested in taking baths again (loves water, but suddenly hates baths), I got Stephanie to put a few ice cubes in the tub to see if we could entice her to play in the tub. They had a fantastic time traveling back and forth from the kitchen with cups of ice and in 20 minutes my tub looked like I was ready to harvest a few organs, but she was still refusing to get in the tub. Most recently, she has briefly gotten in and not hated it, so that is a step back in the right direction.
She never finishes a cup of milk before asking for a refill. It drives me mad! Just finish the last inch of milk! It goes against all of my conservative instincts, but she is so insistent, that I almost always give into the refill. She is a powerful stubborn little creature!
She will do anything and everything her sister does. ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. It is normally adorable and hysterical.... Normally...
And that brings us to the big birthday. As mentioned in previous posts, I am just not a big two year old birthday person. They have no idea that it is a special day and I am personally exhausted from spending my time with a little person that has recently realized they have a personality to assert. But Stephanie considered it an important day and Alaina drove in for the occassion, so we invited the neighbor girls that we hang out with all the time, their parents and my friend Blake. The kids played so nicely (for real... Disappeared upstairs for a while and not a single mess to clean up and no one cried or whined to the adults). Gwen refused to go to sleep at her normal bedtime, but was perfectly pleasant so stayed up with us.
Blake got her a baby doll stroller (and then she learned a new word , "stroller", and has really enjoyed it), Alaina got her a butterfly house to put in the "habinator habitat" (that would be the pollinator habitat, but Steph keeps calling it a "habinator habitat") that we are turning our yard into, and the neighbors got her some of the coolest animal flash cards I have ever seen, books and sweet little handmade perler animals. And then, as if this was not enough, we got a package from Mary with magnets, binoculars and reusable animal stickers. Oh, the stickers. This kid loves stickers to the point that Stephanie has started stockpiling stickers (secretly, in my purse) she gets from the grocery store to give Gwen when she doesn't get one at a checkout. If there is a register, Gwen wants a "Ticker". But not everywhere gives kids stickers. Not a problem. Turns out, Stephanie can dig into my bag and pull one out. I really should tidy my purse more often, and maybe I would have figured this out sooner. But Stephanie sure enjoyed saving the day.
Earth day girl gets an Earth cake...
So so nice to have Alaina here!
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