38 Weeks

Hi everybody! I turned 38 weeks old last Wednesday. Mommy had a well...mommy moment and wrote 40 weeks on my sign only to discover the next day that I won't be 40 weeks old until the 28th. I forgive her.

Things have drastically changed around here.  Just when you think they're slowing down (ha!), they look you in the face and say, "NOT!"

• I am now pulling myself up on toys, the ottoman, mommy's legs when she's sitting in the recliner and whatever else sturdy enough to hold roughly 17 lb of cuteness. I have tried using the kitchen cupboards with no luck. Turns out they're too flat. Maybe next time.

• And I'm going up stairs! I tried and tried and finally went up my first stair last week. Now it's one of my favorite hobbies. Play with toys, eat, sing songs, go up the stair, play with toys, pull on mom's hair, go up the stair. It's so fun. They (the parents) put me up to the challenge of the big staircase tonight and with little hesitation, off I climbed! You'd think I'd been climbing stairs my entire life.

• I stand up in my crib now. And it never fails, I'm almost always standing in the corner with eyes glued to the door when I am sad and want someone to come pick me up. It's odd but mommy always smiles at me when she sees me like this. She says that no matter how sad I am, it's one of the cutest things she's ever seen in the whole wide world. I've also discovered that it's pretty cool to bite on the crib railings. Good thing they bought protective coverings!

• I have tried more and more new foods - craisins, turkey, string cheese, beans, and most recently oranges. Mmmmm. Daddy also found me gluten-free puffs, which I love!

• Meeting Santa was fun. He's not scary like I had heard, and I liked his white beard and jingle bell necklace. No lines and free - can't beat that!

• Miss Kathy offered her daycare parents a "night out" so I got to go over to her house for dinner last Tuesday and play with my friends until 8:00 pm. We made crafts, played with toys and watched a movie while mommy and daddy went out for dinner and ran some errands.

• I went to my big cousin Grant's Christmas program - he had a solo and played Joseph, father of Jesus. I stood or sat on my Mimi's lap almost the entire time and loved watching the big kids and listening to the pretty songs.

• I was dedicated at my church. I had a lot of family come and support me and I love them all so much for that. Mommy dressed me in a pretty white dress with matching headband and everyone came over for sandwiches and cake afterwards. I feel so blessed. Mommy and daddy take their pledge before the congregation and God very seriously and made some very important promises that day. They agreed to the following:

1.  Do you recognize these children as the gifts of God and give heartfelt thanks for  God's blessing?

2. Do you now dedicate your children to the Lord who gave them to you, surrendering all worldly claims upon their lives in the hope that they will belong wholly to Jesus Christ?

3.  Do you pledge as parents that, with God's fatherly help, you will bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the Word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into their lives?

4.  Do you promise to provide, through God's blessing, for the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of your children, looking to your own heavenly Father for the wisdom, love and strength to serve them and not use them?

5.  Do you promise, God helping you, to make it your regular prayer that by God's grace your children will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and for the fulfillment of all his promises to them, even eternal life; and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey his teachings?

I am well loved.

I hope you have a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas. It may not be "white" this year, but I hope it's Merry.

Love,

Gwendolyn Rebecca