| First...
|
Date
|
Notes |
| Smile |
31 Oct 05 |
This is hard, since gassy smiles can be deceiving, but we really believe
that somewhere around six weeks Gwen started smiling for real, no gassy
release afterwards Update: As of three months, our girl is grinning and
laughing all the time. |
| Word |
24 Jun 06
|
Woof! Gwen had been imitating this sound for quite a while, but this particular Saturday, she saw a picture of a dog and said "Woof!" Then, later in the day (at Matt and Jen's wedding), she saw a real dog and did the same thing. So proud! |
| Tooth |
6 Jul 06
|
Just one day after I described her as the "toothless wonder," Gwen at last cut her very first tooth, bottom gum, front and center. |
| Full night of sleep |
14 Oct 05 |
Hard to believe, but true—Gwen went from 10:30 pm from 5:30 am without
waking up at less than one month—not that she has repeated it as of 17 Oct
05, but a first is a first Update: As of three months, Gwen sleeps
between seven and nine hours almost every night. |
| Haircut |
4 Mar 08
|
We waited a long, long time for this, since we always planned to let Gwen have long hair. Over the last couple of months, though, it became clear that the sides were not catching up to the back, resulting in a baby mullet. So, we went for her first haircut: an adorable bob! Julie at JRH Kids Cuts reassured us that it would grow out much better after getting rid of the baby hair.
|
| Solid food |
20 Feb 06
|
The day Gwen turned five months, we introduced her to solid
food: organic brown rice cereal and iron-fortified cereal.
 |
| Step |
15 Jul 06
|
After cruising for nearly a month and a couple of hesitant attempts to stand unsupported, Gwen took a step today. She promptly landed on her backside after the first one, but she has repeated accomplishing a single step. She will be walking all over before we know it.
Update: As of 6 Aug 06, Gwen is frequently taking one or two steps, usually on a soft surface like a bed or couch, and then throwing herself into Mommy or Daddy's lap with gusto. She is closer to walking everyday... |
| Time using the potty |
25 October 2007
|
We are so proud! Gwen went poo–poo in the potty today. After about as month of watching "Elmo's Potty Time!" on a loop, we bought Gwen her very own potty a couple of days ago. She sat on it a handful of times in clothes, then without clothes—and when she woke up from her nap today, she said "Poo–poo potty." So, into the bathroom we went, dropped the diaper, and after about ten minutes of sitting and standing and sitting again, she did it! Awesome! |
| Snowfall |
16 Nov 05 |
And she was as cozy as can be in her wool bunting |
| Party |
19 Nov 05 |
It was the 30th
birthday of Mat Calvert, who
married Gwen's Mommy and Daddy |
| Road trip |
22–26 Nov 05 |
To Lorain, Ohio for Thanksgiving with the Novaks, and on to Medina, Ohio for a gathering at the Pooles' |
| Movie |
22 Dec 05 |
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
| Christmas |
23–26 Dec 05 |
In Grand Blanc with Mommy's family, then to Dearborn and Plymouth with Daddy's
    
Update:For Gwen's second Christmas, we still had a tree; we just had to be a little creative in its positioning for the sake of her safety—and that of the tree.
|
| New Year's Eve |
31 Dec 05 |
We were all asleep by 9:30 pm, but Gwen woke me up at 11:55 pm, so she and I watched the countdown. We tried to wake up Daddy, but he was sound asleep. |
| Plane Ride |
Depart: 3 Mar 06/
Return: 5 Mar 06 |
We visited Uncle Jerry, Aunt Kim, cousin Kaitlin, and cousin
Meghan in McKinney, Texas. Grandma Charlene, Grandpa Jarrel, and Nanny were
also in Texas, so we all spent the weekend together.
 |
| Graduation |
21 Apr 06 |
Gwen has finally moved up from Lullabies at the Old Town School—which she began attending at 2.5 weeks of age—and into Wiggleworms! These are her Lullabies cohorts.
|
| Swimming |
4 May 06 |
Gwen had a wonderful time swimming with her Daddy in the pool at our hotel in San Francisco.
|
| Bus Ride |
28 Apr 06 |
Gwen helped her Daddy navigate our way from the hotel to Chinatown in SF.
|
| Wedding |
20 May 06 |
Gwen wore a green dress with white flowers and a brimmed white sunhat to Brian and Lauren Tallerico's wedding at the Detroit Yacht Club. She pulled a full pint of beer onto Daddy's lap and screamed bloody murder during the standing ovation at the end of the ceremony. Good times.
|
| Cubs game |
16 Jun 06 |
Gwen had attended one other baseball game back in April (Diamondbacks at Giants) when we were in San Francisco. Her first Cubs game, though, made us truly excited. She laughed and clapped throughout, until she conked out asleep in the fourth inning. She woke up for the seventh inning stretch when Ron Santo and Pat Hughes sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," one of our favorite songs. We were very happy to have our friends Nick and Amy Poole with us, too.
|
| Trip to the zoo |
30 Jul 06 |
We just loved our first visit to Lincoln Park Zoo with Gwen, and she did, too. Highlights included the African exhibit, penguins, and the new large primates house.
|
| Trip to the aquarium |
3 Aug 06 |
Gwen and I joined Sara Soderstrom, her daughter Mira, and their friend Sharmi at the Shedd. It was a nice rainy day activity after six days of intense heat. As with the zoo, Gwen had a lot of fun and especially appreciated anything brightly colored and/or moving quickly.
|
| Architectural boat cruise |
28 Aug 06 |
On our second anniversary, we took Gwen on her first boat cruise—my favorite Chicago activity, bar none. She loved it, and so did we. And the very rainy and foggy weather just added to the fun, reminding us of the weather for our wedding.
|
| Birthday party! |
16 Sep 06 |
We had so much fun celebrating Gwen's big day with lots of family and friends. Check out the birthday page for details and photos. |
| El Ride |
30 Sep 06 |
We took the very fun Chicago Loop Tour Train for Gwen's first El ride. We went around three times and heard about Chicago history and architecture. We all had a very nice time, although two loops may have sufficed for Gwen.
|
| Ride in front–facing car seat |
6 Oct 06 |
On Mommy's thirtieth birthday, our girl made the big switch! She seems to enjoy it so far.
|
| Trip to the voting booth |
7 Nov 06 |
Today marks Gwen's official inauguration as a cog in the Chicago machine.
|
| Pet |
10–19 Feb 07 |
AKA: The Rupert Giles Fiasco of Ought–7. We got a cute little cockapoo, thinking Gwen would love it and grow up with a pal and have far more empathy than her mother has ever learned to muster. Unfortunately, we got him from a bad breeder, and the very, very sick dog had to be isolated from Gwen for the nine days he lived in our house. We sent him to a shelter because the awful breeder would not take him back and recorded the incident here to remind Mommy that she never, ever wants to do that again, especially since the dog gave Mommy an intestinal parasite. Oh—and as sweet as this picture looks, please note that Gwen is crying her eyes out, and Rupert is trying desperately to get away.
|
| Attempt to pit parent vs. parent |
16 Feb 07 |
After Mommy said no to watching "Signing Time," Gwen put on some alligator tears and cried out for Daddy, running into his arms and looking back at Mommy. Nice—good execution, shows a strength for capitalizing on our desire to make things easy during stressful time (see the "First Pet" entry above), and expertly threw into sharp relief her parents' roles of Bad Guy (Mommy) and Softie (Daddy). |
| Member of a wedding party |
23 June 07 |
Gwen was adorable (if non–compliant) as the littlest of four flower girls in Liz Mason''s wedding.
 |
| First night without pacifier |
13 Aug 07 |
Gwen has reached a huge milestone: she went to bed and slept all night without a pacifier. She even woke up and settled herself down without it! I don't know how long it will take to stick permanently, but we are very proud that she has come so far! |
| Time wearing ponytails |
2 Oct 07 |
Check out how long the back of Gwen's hair has gotten—and how about that Prince sweatshirt?!?
 |
| Place Gwen lived |
20 September 05 thru 7 June 2006 |
723 Reba Place 2S: Our Evanston condo!
|
| Night in her big–girl bed |
8 December 07 |
Mark converted Gwen's crib to a daybed. She is very proud and excited to be able to get in and out of bed all by herself!
|
| Time reciting her phone number |
11 Apr 08 |
I called to order Thai food for dinner and had to give our phone number. I gave our area code, and then Gwen spouted out all seven digits of our number! We had never even begun teaching her this; she just learned it on her own. That may reveal how frequently we order delivery! |
| Day of preschool |
22 Sep 08 |
At Athletic Field Park. It was much harder on Mommy than on Gwen!
 |
| Trip to the dentist |
1 Oct 08 |
Gwen consented to having her teeth counted (16) and to listening carefully during a discussion of swishing and spitting. |
| Email |
10 Nov 08 |
Gwen sent her first email. Mommy was the recipient. Here is the text, as dictated to Daddy: "I love you mommy; my favorite bunny; my favorite tiger; my favorite horse; my favorite my favorite my favorite dog; my favorite cat; my favorite dad;
my favorite mom
chicken nuggets is my favorite food; a horse is my favorite animal; candyland is my favorite game; I like pretty pretty princess is my game too.
my favorite game is word world match too. my favorite school is to write my name. miss meg is my best friend at school. Bela is my friend. Gabriel is my friend.
I have a lot of friends at school. I like Wyatt. Hug Wyatt. I was running with Wyatt really fast and then Miss Tracey said stop running and I slide.
Cookie monster yeah; Grover and I like Elmo; and I like a horse and I like a cat and like a dog too and I like a horse too.
I just like big bird too.
I just like Mr. Noodle too.
I like Mr. Noodle's brother.
Goodnight Mommy; .com; ptthtt;
Goodbye I see you when you wake up.
I love you."
|
