Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted and a LOT has been going on! Let's see...house first (it's shorter): We're fully moved in. Mom and dad spent a few weeks with us helping us unpack boxes, keeping Gwen entertained, etc. All in all we were fairly box free in under two weeks which was pretty amazing. We decided that a formal living room was a useless room for us so we moved the dining room into the front living room and changed the former dining room into Gwen's play room (it's close to the kitchen and out of the line-of-sight of my office). It was the best decision we've made since moving in as we spend more time in her play room than any other room in the house. Since I was able to keep my job we splurged and bought a beautiful 56" LED TV and the box has been almost as much fun as the TV as it is a perfect play house for Gwen (we cut a little door and windows out). I've painted ONE room but I have a plan for the rest of the rooms so I just have to slowly but surely knock one room out at a time...those white walls don't stand a chance.

Now, the good stuff....Gwen. She has completely blossomed since moving. All this space has brought out the adventurer in her. She crawls like a speed demon all over the house and has been standing and 'cruising' with the help of furniture for awhile now. she's even stood on her own for a few seconds several times now. She's babbling all the time and, while she doesn't yet know exactly what it means, says mamamama and dadadada (on command). She's waving and clapping too. Her favorite things: her big brown bear (she hugs and kisses him when you say his name), all of her books (she flips the pages for us....laughs every time I read 'no Pat no, don't sit on that'), any dog (real, picture, stuffed), climbing up anything she can get a grip on, climbing the stairs, and shoes (she walks one shoe around the house, stares at her own shoes, tries to eat our flip flops....). Her favorite music is anything from Lady Gaga (she bounces whenever her songs come up on her playlist...yep, she has a playlist), her favorite books are her brilliant baby word books, anything dr. seuss and her noisy farm book, and she loves to play with her big bouncy balls (she bats them across the floor and then chases them).

Last week gramma and happa sent gwen a little walker toy. Here is a video of her first use...she's a pro already!