Addictions

Yes, it's sad to admit it, but Gwen is addicted. It is the very nature of a 2-year-old to be addicted to things and she's no exception. Here are Gwen's latest addictions:

Muppets - anything related to the Muppet Show or any of their movies. She loves them all and has seen all the ones we own except the Christmas ones because I'm waiting to bring those out for a few more weeks. How many of your kids can recognize and name Fozzie, Animal, Piggy, Rowlf, or Gonzo?

Baby Pumpkins - either those squash that look like mini pumpkins or just little pumpkins. She carries them around the house and gives them baths, brushes their "teeth", and puts them to bed. She also bites them and throws them across the room. Yeah, she won't be left alone with her new sibling when she comes in a few months.

Horsies - That's anything she can pretend is a horsie. Recent examples: hangers, step stools, arms of the couch, the broom, the vaccum, Mommy or Daddy, and the edge of the bathtub. She tries to ride Boot, but the dog doesn't like that too much.

The best part is that I actually can't wait to see what comes next. What is in store for our family in the next couple months? I can only handle watching Muppets From Space a few more times before it's going to be "lost" for a while. I know all of you with toddlers are feeling some of this pain. Should there be support groups for parents of toddlers with addictions?

Updates

We went to the park earlier this week and Gwen looked so cute in her Elmo hat I just had to snap some photos. Gwen had gotten hold of the camera - that's why the pictures are hazy.

This is how Gwen says "cheese." She puts her fingers in her eyes and says "cheese" while running toward the camera.
Right after this picture we made Boot go down the slide. Gwen thought that was an awesome idea, Boot not so much.

So, we've had a busy week going to the doctor's. Just for regular check-ups, nothing serious. I saw my OB on Tuesday and found out that everything looked perfectly normal on the ultrasound I had last month. That's always a good thing to hear. The tech doing the ultrasound doesn't really give you any information when she's doing it and gives the results to a radiologist who does the official reading and the results are given to your doctor who later reviews them with you. That's why it takes a while. Anyway, the baby is growing normally and I managed to gain a couple pounds this last month. I really don't want to put on a lot of weight because it's so hard to lose it. I'm still hitting the gym 5 days a week. I do an hour of weight training 3 times a week and an hour of cycling class 4 to 5 times a week. It feels so good to be able to do all that.

Gwen had her 2-year-old check on Wednesday. She's in the 92% for height and weight but seems to be leveling off a little. He was impressed by how interactive and curious she was. He said he's not at all worried about her having autism or anything serious like that. She got her flu shot and didn't even cry. Just flinched a little bit and that was it. She's even braver than her dad. Another fun and new thing we did with Gwen was take her for her first haircut. I was hesitant to have it done because it's the last part of her left that's all baby. We just got it trimmed and evened out in the back and cut some bangs for her so she won't always have hair in her eyes. She was so good while she had it done - just sat and munched on a sucker and was more interested in watching Daddy get his hair cut.

Now time for the usual photo dump. We didn't get any pictures of the actual haircut itself but took them when we got home.

Yes, her hair is still all curly and cute in the back. It's just all one length now.

Weekend Project

This is what our bathroom looked like until this last weekend, it was like this when we moved in. There was this yellow-green-blue wallpaper all over, even over the shower. It wasn't a great idea to put it there because it was really getting moldy and the frequent moisture from bathing was starting to make the paper peel from the walls.

This is now what our bathroom looks like. I made Jonathan spend an entire day removing all that yucky wallpaper and I spent the next day painting and cleaning up. Then I found the cute shower curtain and rug to pull it all together. It's really a huge difference and will hopefully help us sell this place one day. Not bad for a long weekend's worth of work and $100, eh?
Also, before the weather turned a little colder this weekend, Gwen would spend about an hour each afternoon hanging out on our little back porch area. I'd give her a snack and put on the Muppets on her portable DVD player and she'd sit on the steps, dig in our dirt, or pull all my flower heads off the plants. I wish I had gotten a picture of that because she lined them all up on the steps and came and got me pointing to them saying "Petty, Momma". Yes, Gwen it was pretty to see all the flower heads lined up like that. I guess it's a good thing that it's the end of the growing season and it doesn't really matter if my flowers have heads or not.
We went to the Parker's house last night for a birthday dinner for my mom and my grandpa. Gwen had such a great time with her cousins. I was amazed at how well she played with everyone. I don't think she caused any problems all evening.
Gwen was "tickling" all her cousins with one of Noah's Pooh Bears. She has the loudest, best, most contagious giggle in the world. Her biggest cousin, Mason, was the best as getting Gwen to let out her big belly laugh. He'd pretend to fall and she'd just lose it. She loves him so much.
Kim and Gwen had fun practicing catching and throwing the soccer ball.