They just keep on keeping on

Sure enough, the continued snow this week meant that Mom and the girls have had an extended time at home together. It really is a blessing that Mom has this extra time alone with them… Not just for obvious reasons either. We mean, you can undoubtedly say that Mom has enjoyed her extra hugs and kisses from the girls. Much to Dad’s chagrin, Mom’s also taken the time to introduce Braelyn to a toy shopping cart in hopes that she soon will be swooning through the aisles of the store picking out just the right purse alongside Mommy.

Still, one of the greatest byproducts of the extra time has been Mom’s ability to focus on getting Gwen’s legs stronger and stronger. Like clockwork, Mom wheels out Gwen’s stander each morning after breakfast and keeps her occupied during this time. We’ve come to find that Gwen prefers this routine but it obvious isn’t practical to haul the bulky stander to day care and back each day. So, we were typically relegated to placing her in it at night time. Needless to say, much like the rest of us, Gwen is more in the mood to wind down in the evenings and not exert extra energy. So, evening time in the stander is often a tug-of-war between Gwen getting the time she needs upright on her feet and not pushing her past the point where she’s so worked up she can’t even settle down and get to bed. Still, that's a much better option that getting her up even earlier in the morning so that Gwen can have stander time before going to day care.

However, with snow days, Mom’s jumped at the opportunity to get extra stander time in during the morning in between breakfast and her late-morning nap. The results have been very impressive. As we’ve talked about in recent posts, Gwen has been showing marked improvement in her leg strength and movement. No doubt, a HUGE reason for this is that she’s been home for a little over a full month now thanks to the holidays and winter storms. To her credit, Mom has been very diligent about getting Gwen in the stander each and every day. Gwen’s confidence is evident now and she even spends “play time” enjoying the activity walker that guided her sister from wobbler to walker (or maybe we should just say slightly less of a wobbler). As you can see, while Gwen’s obviously steadying herself by griping the walker's handle and isn’t yet able to pull herself up there on her own, she really is enjoying the times when she’s able to play upright. While Gwen does have her braces on, she doesn't really require much of a "spotter" to keep her standing at all!

Outside of the excessive snow (with more on the way today and Sunday might we add) another constant is just how amazingly quick our beautiful Braelyn and Gwendolyn continue to grow. Now at nearly 16 months, we often do a double take at just how fast they have grown and matured.

It’s funny in a way. When you have a child, it’s kind of like getting married… Everyone comes out of the woodwork to offer you their pearls of wisdom (no matter if you want them or not). Still, the constant that we kept hearing was that you need to relish every moment with them because of how quickly they grown and move from one stage to the next.

Well, those soothsayers couldn’t have been more correct... While Mom and Dad couldn't be more blessed!!!