Gwen and stuff

I looked at Gwen yesterday and noticed that she is getting older. I mean, she has enough hair for pigtails, she is getting longer and bigger in general. She is no longer measuring tiny for her age. Well, except for those size 3 baby feet. And those 6 half-grown in teeth.

But she is starting to talk instead of whining for things. I love this stage in a child's life! The other day she sweetly said "Have cheese?" instead of crying and reaching at lunch. She says "that one!" and "Don't want it" (A LOT thanks to Asher) and she has said "Can I have?" for quite a while now. She knows lots of single words like belly, nose, hair, and shoes, but she is actually putting sentences together now. She loves saying all of our names, including her own. And she sings recognizable songs like "Hello, Dolly," "You are my Sunshine," and "I am a Child of God." But my favorite happened last night. She and I were playing on my bed and she put her head on my chest and said "I yov you."

Oh, my heart.

FYI: I had a birthday. I didn't post about it, but it was awesome. Dan surprised me by taking me to a nice hotel in Scottsdale for the night while our niece (and sometimes nephew) watched our kids. We went to a crazy awkward but yummy hipster place called Cowboy Ciao for dinner, we walked around the mall (but didn't even see half of it because it is HUGE) and had dessert at the Herb Box. It was great to sleep in. And then we went to a place called Dilly's Deli, then home. That is a very abridged version of what happened.