Gretl's most recent accomplishments!!

April 6, 2003
Wow Gretl is progressing walking and today walked across the room without holding on. She also walked to me, hugged me, turned around on her own and walked to Jack. She is finally progressing from the I want a finger to hold on to. Shortly there will be no stopping her.
Her walking has taken a priority to reading and interest in toys, but
will probably come back as soon as she fully has it mastered. She loves her sit n' spin and can get on it and use it herself. She also loves the toys, she can use for support and walk around with. She also loves to push her own stroller, why sit in it, when I can push it mommy. She also loves her baby dolls, she will gladly carry them around.
Food. Her favorite food is bob the builder yogurt and tomatoes. She
also loves aspargus, salami, butter noodles, and things with tomato in it.
She is wanting to help feed herself more and more and making a cute mess.
We have taken some video pictures of her helping to eat and playing with
her food. At the moment she is a very messy eater. I still have not been
able to get her to drink whole milk, she actually has started to spit it
back out. I will have to try 2 % and drink it with her to see if I can get
her drinking some. Baby food and mashed potatoes are out. She also likes apple muffins and raisin bread.
Clothes. She is actually still wearing size 18 month or 2T/24 month. The 18 month fits better in length and we have to work to keep her from tripping on the longer clothes, but from neck to crotch she is outgrowing the 18 month. Oh, Gretl loves to try to take her diaper off. She has also decided she likes to go pee after her diaper comes off and before her bath. She keeps on bathing the bathroom floor and my pants. She has also started to roll and avoid getting a diaper changed or clothes put on.
Sleeping. She is cute. She is fighting taking her second nap, which means it will probably disappear sooner rather than later. But she is also sleeping better at night. At night, we brush her teeth, than try to read, she nurses a little, I sing to her and rock her, I say "Now I lay me....", then lay her down with her elephant. I turn on her pooh mobile and she goes to sleep without much fuss. Oh, I forgot to mention I give her a kiss and cover her up. She seems to like to turn sideways in her crib when she is awake for any period of time. She also seems to like sleeping without socks on, just like her parents.
TV. Favorite show is BAby Einstein Shapes video.
Travel. She does great in the car forward facing. She loves to see everything. She did wonderful on the long car ride to Berlin and Poland. Crackers and her kids music were a nice touch too. She loved my purse in the archives.


March 6th: Today was my first Birthday. My parents cannot believe how fast I have grown. I took my first steps yesterday and love to walk holding Mommy or Daddy's hands. I am glad Daddy is back, he is great to play with, but I still prefer Mommy when I don't feel good or am tired. According to my 1 year check up, I am now 23lbs 8.5oz and 76cm (I forgot the inch equivalent). I have slowed down my rapid growth and am wearing 18month or 24month/2T clothes. I also like wearing shoes, or should I say taking them off. I have also discovered how to take my diaper off, so I am trouble, if nothing is covering my diaper. I love to give Daddy a hard time after my bath, until he gets my PJs on. With my ear infection, I have been a lot crankier and stopped sleeping through the night, because my ear or my teeth are bothering me. My mommy is hoping I get back to sleeping through the night again soon, but I like cuddling in her arms. My favorite foods are cheerios, crackers, vanilla wafers, bob the builder yogurt, spagetti, and chicken casserole. My favorite books are anything with baby pictures or animals and lots of reading. I said "I love you" for the first time about 2 weeks ago, and surprised my parents, but I have not done it again. I like to hug and kiss Mommy and Daddy. My favorite thing to do it to escape and travel through the house, while Mommy is on the computer. I love using my two little walkers and walking along any furniture/walls. I also love any toys that make music, especially if Mommy is holding me and singing at the same time. My Mommy was mean and left me for the first time in the nursery. I guess it was okay, but I like having Mommy around. I also really like having Daddy to play with, even though he says he does not get enough stuff done because I distract him. Sounds like something fun to do.

Others
February 6th: Well you are now 11 months new and quickly approaching the one year marker. This month you had Carey and Kacey as visitors and Daddy spent the last half of it in Kosovo. You very much enjoyed having Kacey (3 yr) to play with. Of course you made each other laugh, shared or showed I say kept on stealing toys from each other. Neither of you wanted to play with something, until the other one had it in their hands and suddenly it was desireable. You discovered lots of no no's as you finally figured out to move with speed. Okay, you still have not mastered the crawling, but scooting you have down pat. You also started to walk along things like bookcase shelves, the couch, the coffee table, chairs, whatever you could find. We even managed to get you to let go and stand on your own for a little, mommy did not get it, but Carey got it on tape and on film. I gave you cheese for the first time this month. You love lasagna, grilled cheese and tomato soup. You inhaled the lasagna so fast the first time, that you had seconds. You are still wearing for the most part 18 month clothes play clothes and 24 month dresses. You love to eat and are slowly starting to get back on a schedule. Mommy makes you stay in your bed from bedtime to about 6 am, when she lets you join her in the big bed. You seem to be slowly getting used to it, but still wake up frequently. You have taken to cuddling with an elephant stuffed animal rattle at night. You like to cuddle and your favorite toys are ones that make music. You love baby Tad, a leap frog stuffed animal with learning shapes and music, and also ABC Pooh. You love to be read "God made my Body," Baby Einstein"s Language Nursery, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and the other God made books. When you want a book read to you, you give it to me. You very much are a mommy's girl and want to be very close. But when Kacey was here, I had to work to keep up with you, because you followed her all over the main floor. Oh, the no no's. You don't like it when mommy has said no and normally cry, but had no problem when Carey told you no. You made a mess with the cat food and water. You love to take things out of mommy's purse, play with the dishwasher, hold onto the toilet, and get into trash cans. I have put most of the trash cans up, so the trash stays in them. We both miss daddy and can't wait for him to return home. You just recently on the 4th broke the 7th tooth through your gums.

January 6th: You had a very nice first Christmas. You loved playing with the wrapped presents if not more than the unwrapped presents. You loved taking ornaments off of the tree and trying to take the lights off. You are almost getting from laying down to sitting up by yourself. You now love to stand and fuss if you cannot get where you want or cannot get there fast enough. You really like the rocking horse you got for Christmas. You are complaining more and more about eating baby food and enjoying eating almost anything we eat in very small bites or best ground up in this little food grinder. You inhale anything with pasta, rice or potatoes. Cheerios is also a wonderful snack and compliment to any meal. You are wearing mostly 18month clothes with some 24 month outfits. You love peek a boo and playing with Daddy. You said Mommy for the first time on the Sunday after Christmas. You have even said Bye Daddy a couple of times. You have figured out how to pet the cat, Frisky and your eyes light up when she comes into the room. You still very much fight sleep and love to curl up in my arms and breast feed. Frequently now when you wake up at night, I will just cuddle with you in the rocker until you fall back asleep. My are you growing up, but we love you more and more each day. Your favorite toys are the little lego people, stacking cups and anything that makes music.

November 6th, Wednesday. Well Gretl is growing so fast. She had her first cold that had mommy and daddy constantly keeping watch. I sleep with her. We gave her children's tylenol to keep the temperature down (up to 102.1) and keep her dressed in the winter in just a T-Shirt. The fever ended in about 4 days, shortly after her third tooth popped through 31 October on the bottom and was followed by a nice rash. Gretl is getting more into food. She wants whatever Mommy is eating, and is therefore starting to try a lot of new things. She loves to stand with support, be held or carried around. Favorite toy is paper of any type. Loves to eat the books. Slowly starting to want to pull things off shelves. Slept last night for the first time since departing for the states for 9 hours straight. We have been trying to get you back to sleeping for longer during the night without being picked up, fed and brought to mommy and daddy's room. We have also been working on getting you to fall asleep by yourself, and not in mommy and daddy's arms. Well Mommy has been working on it, daddy would prefer to cuddle with you all the time. You love complete attention. You like it when mommy sings to you and cuddles with you. You would prefer to sleep in mommy's arms. You are babbling a lot, but the only word is Aba. You know how to tell mommy, when you want or don't want certain food. You love drinking water out of a cup, sippy cup, what is that? You are wearing 18 month clothes. You love watching Frisky the cat. You love animal noises.

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