A Day in the Life of Gracianna

"Vote for 'Bama"

2008-06-29T14:49:00.003-04:00

Okay, Gracie may not even be 3 yet, BUT she is already getting political! These aren't the best pictures I could have gotten ( I didn't notice the shadow until now). Her shirt says "I'm a Little Hope-apotamus... Obama 2008). She LOVES this shirt. If you ask her what it means she says " Vote Bama". If you ask her who we're going to vote for she'll shout "BAMA!" Granted of course she got this from me... but it doesn't make it any less cute. We are decked out here with Obama wear and even a really cool Obama tote. She's so proud of her shirt, probably because it has a hippo but hey, still no less cute.
Gracie is doing well. She is sooo excited for her cousins to visit. Since I'll be at school and interning the day they come she gets to go to the airport to pick them up. And she hasn't stopped talking about it since we told her last week. She is dying to have a sleepover with Leanna and Emily. She has never gotten to have anyone sleepover at our house.. so its kinda a big deal. Hopefully my little brother and sister will be comfortable enough to come for a sleepover soon!

Gracie's made lots of new friends at school. And she is doing well healthwise. We get to switch doctors in July so that's exciting. Her dr before was 30-40 min away before... now they're across the street, and speedy! We've been doing lots of swimming ( well the days we don't have anything to do and it is actually nice out). And I took her to "Concert in the Park" last week with my mom and stepdad for a picnic and the music. She loved it, but didn't last long because she was so tired ( she hasn't taken a nap at school yet... her teacher told me that they'll think she's asleep but she'll be faking)! Since she is used to getting a nap she has a hard time when she misses it.

I can't believe she'll be 3 so soon! The time has flied and I swear she is 2 going on 13. Sometimes the things she says are so grown up or teenager-y. If I'm nagging her about cleaning her room or something, she rolls her eyes and says " What-ever mom" ( I put the hyphen because she actually stresses the second syllable after a slight pause.. just like a teenager!) I'm very scared for the teenage years! But for now just enjoying every single second with her. We were cuddling in my bed watching a movie and she looked at me and said " Mom, I'm so glad you're here, You're my best friend I've ever had." I thought it was so cute and funny.

I also pointed out a rainbow to her for the first time. When she saw it her jaw dropped and she asked " Mommy, who did it?" I told her God did it. She was amazed. She asked me if God colored it with markers? Those are the moments I hope I'll always remember.....

Update

2008-06-12T17:55:00.010-04:00

Okay, wow its been a long time! I've been wanting to post these pictures of Gracie and Noah since March! I took them to Chuck E. Cheese for Noah's birthday. It was the first time they had gotten to see each other since Christmas time and they really had a lot of fun!
Gracie was definitively diagnosed with NF1 a couple of months ago. NF1 stand for neurofibromatosis 1, right now her only symptoms are cafe au lait spots and freckling in her armpit and groin. The hardest part is not knowing what complications she will develop from it. At her age, most kids with NF1 don't exhibit much more than that. The geneticist said that she may only end up with spots but we won't know for sure until after puberty. Even after then she could still have more stuff pop up. But I'm trying not to think about that or worry about it... I am just very aware to keep an eye out for other symptoms.
She is doing very well developmentally. She talks up a storm. We have started to do articulation exercises to help with her speech ( she talks a lot its just not always clear!). She does talk in full sentences though. She is sooo imaginative and creative. She is constantly coming up with stories or games. She frequently will jump in my bed or on the couch with me and pull a blanket over us and say "Shhh.. a shark is coming!" She loves to play pretend. And frequently acts like a grown up. We were playing with her dolls yesterday and I made them do something silly and she put her hand up to her head, shook her head and said " Mommy, you're too much!" I thought it was pretty funny coming from a 2-almost- 3 year old!
I know they say all kids are like little sponges but I swear Gracie is extra sponge-y! She suddenly started saying "Gracias, De Nada, and Hola!" And using them appropriately... thanks Dora! She will hear or see something once and remember it long after and if its a new word she will not only remember it but use it appropriately.
So we have "stolen" my mom's dog, Bailey. We were just supposed to babysit him for one night, but we never really gave him back. Gracie LOVES having him around. He has really become part of our family. The pictures with her and Bailey in bed were his first night with us and she was so excited she was dancing! Then again, Gracie is constantly dancing and "shaking her booty."

In the past few months Gracie's hair has really started to grow.. thanks I think to new hair products. I have to special order them online.. and they aren't cheap but they are soooo worth it. I have been able to do much more with her hair. Including braids , puffy pigtails, regular ponytail, etc. And it all just looks better! Not to mention her hair always smells amazing now. Her braids below were a couple of days old but I just wanted to give an idea!
Last semester Gracie was going to the daycare at my school a couple of afternoons a week and LOVED it. When the semester ended she was saying " I want to go to school.... I NEED to go to school!" So, now that she is potty trained and almost three I signed her up for one full day of preschool a week. She LOVES it. She gets very excited and talks nonstop about it.
Gracie is sooo expressive and silly and very loving. I got the stomach flu a couple of months ago and I couldn't head into the bathroom without her following, and when there she was rubbing my back and telling me I'd be okay. ( In hindsight it was very sweet, at the time I of course just wanted some space!) She's always hugging me saying " MOmmy, I'm so glad you're here"
Last weekend we started going to the pool again. Gracie is a little fish, although when she's swimming she tells me that she's a mermaid! We hold hands and she kicks along... she's so proud of herself and it always really wears her out! She loves going to the movies. Last Sunday I took her swimming in the morning and in the afternoon we went and saw Kung Fu Panda. Now she can't wait to go see Wall-E. She also saw Horton Hears a Who when it came out and now has a stuffed Horton ( thanks to my aunt) that Gracie takes EVERYWHERE and cannot sleep without.

Potty Training!!!!!

2008-02-26T12:25:00.004-05:00

To start, I don't know why but lately when I put Gracie down for a nap when I go in later to check on her she is sleeping in weird ways. In the picture below she looked like she was in the middle of playing and all of a sudden passed out with her head at the foot of the bed and her tiger right on top of her. A couple days ago I went in and she was sitting indian style slumped over fast asleep. Weird!
Publish PostGracie LOVES spaghetti! I don't have any pictures of her on the potty... so I included these and will have to add potty pictures later. Gracie is doing AWESOME with potty training. She has had very few accidents and now even just tells me when she has to go if she does not just go herself. I made her a potty chart with disney princess stickers as a reward. And if she gets a line of stickers filled up then she gets a prize of her choice. So far she's gotten the Aristocats dvd, and now she is working towards a Barbie. She has for the most part been going on a potty training potty but now is starting to use her cool step potty seat on the toilet in her bathroom. She even stays dry while we're out running around. She has overwhelmed me with how fast she picked it up. I'm so proud of her and even better she's sooo proud of herself!!!
Also, Gracie's language skills have been developing rapidly. She is using 3-4 word sentences. She is very articulate and talkative. Unfortunately she learned "poopyhead" ( I am guessing at school) but other than that her vocabulary is great and just increasing so quickly. She says " Can I please?" "Mommy, I have to go poopy, hurry up, lets go!" And she's just so funny, she says funny stuff constantly and is like a little mirror image. Now everyone's REALLY got to watch what they do and say in front of her because not only will she repeat/imitate it but she remembers EVERYTHING. I am constantly amazed at how good her memory is. She remembers things that happened months ago. It's crazy!

Sesame Street Live!

2008-02-26T12:05:00.013-05:00

Waiting very patiently in her room to leave to see Elmo! We made up a song/chant and sang it all morning. When we were turning into my mom's neighborhood to pick her up Gracie started panicking that we were no longer seeing Elmo anymore.

Okay, so the funnest thing we've done to date this year has been Sesame Street Live! We went with Grandma. I was nervous that she wouldn't be old enough to really enjoy it or even sit through it... boy was I wrong. She sat through the show with a look of awe on her face. She was getting tired and cranky while we were waiting for it to start... but once it did all that melted away. She still talks about it. She got lots of cool souvenirs to remember the day by and went out to lunch afterwards. I'm so excited that she's old enough now for this kind of stuff! It seems like lately her growth has been on super drive!

More from December....

2008-02-25T17:02:00.005-05:00

Gracie LOVES being around other kids and playing with her baby dolls, so she loves when her buddy Nadia comes over .

A couple of days after Christmas Gracie got really sick and a few days later I caught it. And we were both miserable ( pretty sure it was the flu.. even though we had flu shots) and stuck in the house for about a week and a half. So when we finally felt well enough to run some errands we went to the hardware store. Gracie saw a kids bike in there and started begging. Little did she know I had already bought her one for Christmas, but was holding onto it for a rainy day. So I told her to sit on the couch and close her eyes. She was holding them shut so tight that her whole face was scrunched up.. and when she opened them and saw the bike she was ecstatic. Her eyes got huge and she started jumping up and down, clapping her hands, squealing " Yes!Yes!Yes!!!!"
Now we just can't wait till we can ride it around the neighborhood!
Gracie got an awesome desk/easel for Christmas... and now when mommy is doing homework, she scurries over to her desk and does her "homework" too... she LOVES doing anything artsy. They told me at school the other day that they ended up doing art early that day because Gracie was begging for it!

Christmas (better late than never!)

2008-02-25T15:13:00.007-05:00

Christmas this year with Gracie was really really fun. She for the most part got it and was so excited about everything. She still brings it up. Santa went a little overboard this year so near the end of opening presents she was just unwrapping them and throwing them down without even looking at them. She had a lot of fun though. And some presents were even put away and saved and have been given to her at different times since Christmas. I had put a gate up at her door so she wouldn't come out and see her big presents before I could get it on camera. And we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to come and then we opened presents. Somehow from her door, Gracie spotted her enormous doll house, knew what it was and started squealing!! Then she RAN out to it without even noticing the mound of all her other presents.... we took our time/.. and played with everything a little before opening more ( at least at first : )) Then we had orange cinnamon rolls and watched a movie before leaving for my brother's. We found out that we have another cousin to look forward to this summer! It'll be the first little boy (finally!).

Ummm VERY Belated Halloween Post!

2007-12-10T21:01:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it has seriously been forever since my last post and I apologize. We have been VERY busy. We moved which was an enormous job, especially since it ended up happening during the week so I was busy with work and school. Gracie's Aunt Kristin came stayed with us for a few days. Which was super fun. Gracie and her Auntie became the best of friends. And then I've been really busy with school and work. Next semester I'm taking 18 credits so I won't be working any longer, but I'm sure we'll be just as busy!
So, I've been wanting to write about Halloween badly. At first Gracie wanted nothing to do with her costume. Even after she saw her "aunt" and "uncle" Chloe and Zach wearing their costumes.. I thought I would never get her in one ( I brought her two options) But at the last minute she finally submitted. And oh my goodness, the pictures don't do her justice. For whatever reason everytime I was taking her picture and I asked her to smile she would do this weird fake smile. She LOVED Halloween. She was running up to the doors saying "Treat! Treat!" She was really packing in the candy. She was even saying Happy Halloween to everyone! And for weeks and weeks and weeks I heard " Happy Halloween, Trick or Treat" I usually had no idea what she was saying at first because I just wasn't expecting that to be what she was saying. She had a really good time with my little brother and sister.

When we first moved Gracie would not sleep by herself through the night. And she wouldn't go to sleep unless I sat in her room until she fell asleep. Which sometimes would take forever. I gave her a big girl bed when we moved and it was all just a little too much for my lil munchkin I guess. But now she is back to sleeping in her own bed all night and going to sleep on her own. Sometimes she'll call me in there for various reasons, but for the most part she does it on her own. And she does sometimes keep calling out to me every few minutes " What are you doing Mommy??" Actually that is probably one of her most frequently used phrases now. " What are you doing?" and "What's That?" . She is extremely inquistive. She is very dramatic and stubborn as well. She huffs and puffs. Goes " Geez". Very bossy. Likes to tell everyone what to do, where to sit and what to say. She's still very affectionate. When's she's up to something and I call out for her she ALWAYS says " No mom, go away!" That's when I know its time to go running for her! She's very into retelling her experiences. She's very independent. And if she knows she's in trouble or doesn't like what she's being told she closes her eyes and pretends she's asleep or will tell me she's tired.

And as for Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving we put up all our Christmas decorations and Gracie just has been so excited ever since. I am taking her to see Santa this weekend ( hopefully I'll post pics of that sooner than I posted the Halloween ones!) and I was telling her about it and now she keeps talking about Santa's lap. She gets sooo excited whenever she sees Christmas lights or trees. And if she sees Santa she starts screaming his name till someone acknowledges her! Santa went a little overboard this year, but I think that this will be her first year that she really gets Christmas. She is already so excited! Which makes me so excited!!

Quite the Hand Full

2007-10-07T22:38:00.001-04:00

Pretending to be asleep, using a pacifier ( which as you may know, she doesn't really use and never has) and waiting to get her diaper changed.... silly head...

Trying to hide from me behind the towels to avoid getting her teeth brushed..... Notice her look of angst : )

My silly willy giggling chef.....

Okay, as always Gracie is very funny and cute. She has definitely entered the terrible twos though. Full blown tantrums in parking lots and stores. Refusing to go to bed. Screaming at me to "Shut up!" and slamming her bedroom door when I tell her no( actually this makes me fear her teenage years!). She is REALLY asserting her independence. I am reading a parenting book about how to properly deal with this behavior and hopefully it will help. She is into EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe! But in between it all she makes jokes and is sweet with her kisses and cuddles. Thank goodness for that. Plus she is such a chatterbox. She just talks and talks... and is very animated when she does talk. She tells these long stories and everything she has to say is VERY important. I can't imagine where she gets her talkative-ness from.

We went to her two year check up last week. The doctor said she now has two of the criteria for neurofibromatosis... so a diagnosis looks eminent.

New Look

2007-09-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

Okay, I got her these cutesy headbands and just wanted to share... this is when her hair was still relatively wet, I wish I got some shots once it was dry. It was much fuller and very cute. She got quite a few compliments. She is getting a cold so thats why she's not looking quite herself and a little runny eyed. Let me know what you think!

A Couple of Firsts for my Baby....

2007-09-05T13:10:00.000-04:00

Well, last Saturday Gracie got her first haircut! She was sooo good, all the old ladies in the place commented on how well she behaved. She just sat there and watched in the mirror. Halfway through she did want to hold my hand, but she was soooo good.

And Gracie had her first day of "school" yesterday!!! When I picked her up and asked her how it was she said "FUN!" She was so excited to show off her artwork. She was so excited to be there that she hardly noticed me leaving.. she just gave me a kiss, a hug, said " Bye Mom," and gave a little wave. And turned around to play. I am so happy she loved it!

She's TWO!!!

2007-09-05T12:50:00.001-04:00

Okay so I promised all these pictures and then I never got around to it... so here is my true picture taking happiness gone wild.

Gracie climbed up next to Noah with her puzzle and I thought they looked so cute together I just had to share....
On her birthday we went to Jungle Java... she had so much fun. She played a little in the toddler part but was much more interested in the gargantuan play structure. She had a lot of fun climbing!

At the park by my house with Noah....
A fun day at the pool.. She really is getting to be more and more comfortable in the water....

Here's Gracie trying on my jammies....

Okay, when I last posted I had these pictures of Gracie and Noah playing dress up and haevn't posted them because most of them are sideways, so sorry about the sideways one... but I can't get it to open in the software!

Picture Happy

2007-08-09T10:53:00.000-04:00

Well, we were lucky enough to get another visit from Heather and Nadia! Who Gracie talks about all the time. Gracie is pretty good about being gentle with her and is really sweet with her. Always trying to help ( even though most of the time she's really getting in the way!)

Gracie loves being with Noah, she will follow him around all day. She lately drags a chair over to where he is at the computer to watch. And of course she carries a phone everywhere she goes... just talking away!

Gracie also is obsessed with Sponge Bob. She is always asking to watch him.. and luckily he is practically all the time. I got her a stuffed Sponge Bob pillow that has arms and hands. And at the store he sat up in the seat of the cart with her. She was hitting his hand.. and just as I was about to tell her to be nice I hear her quietly saying..." Five! Five!" She was giving him high fives!

I honestly don't think much makes her laugh harder than Noah. He makes her laugh so hard... and pretty easily... though there are days where she really makes him work for it!

And babies.. Gracie is still sooooooo into playing with her baby dolls. In fact, we usually take them with us everywhere we go ( at least to the car) lately she grabs an old purse of mine ( stuffed with all sorts of odds and ends.. i found all our remotes in there the other day!) slings it over her shoulder and grabs her babies. And we can't go before she does all this. That and pretend food... she LOVES to play with her play food!

Okay, I know it hasn't been that long since my last post... but I have gone picture happy. We have been doing so much and had so many cute picture opportunities. Besides the fact that Gracie is just so funny that we happen to get a lot of chances. We went to the zoo and it was soooo hot... and Gracie was sooo hot she was almost zombie like. But every time I tried to walk away from some animals she would throw a fit! She would just stare mezmorized at a lot of them. She was also calling a lot of them cows... we never did see a cow though : )

Fun at the Pool!

2007-07-25T23:49:00.001-04:00

Okay, so Gracie once again LOVES the pool and is getting more and more courageous in it!
She has even started trying to get in more of a swimming position, so that she can really get around. She of course still prefers the side of the pool and the stairs. But in the kids pool she's been starting to get pretty brave!

She is super fortunate that she has her " big brother" Noah to play and swim with her! Unfortunately they were both looking so cute with huge smiles for pictures but my shutter was being weird and not taking it in time before Gracie would get wiggly : (

Here she is swimming in the kids pool!

She loves these fountain things, they kept making her giggle!

Ready to get out and warm up with Mom!

Yay for summer! Hopefully she can take some swim lessons this year and will be totally ready for a fun water filled summer next year! I'm so excited that she seems to like the water... because I LOVE it myself!

Okay, more pictures from our vacation!

2007-07-24T23:38:00.001-04:00

Making Zach giggle!

Gracie putting on sunscreen at the beach

Gracie playing with her sand toys at the beach

Holding Zach

My dad with Zach, Chloe and Gracie having a little pajama party for a couple of hours : )

A New Friend

2007-07-23T00:33:00.000-04:00

My best friend Heather had her baby.. Nadia Maree. And she's just cute as could be. ( sorry, had to get that rhyme in!) Anyways, I wish I had gotten a picture of Gracie with her.. because Gracie absolutely LOVES her. We were with them yesterday and all day today she just keeps saying "Nahyah" and "Heher". It's a little weird but a lotta cute. We could barely make it out the door to go home because Gracie just couldn't stop kissing her. Anyways, just wanted to show her off.

Vacation!

2007-07-22T09:10:00.001-04:00

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So, we went on our first "vacation." At least one where we weren't visiting my sister and her family! We stayed at a hotel on the beach. Gracie would NOT walk on the sand... at ALL. She would get one foot on it and scream with her arms up for me to pick her up. She didn't seem to mind it at the shoreline though where it was wet and packed down. We were only there for a couple of days so I didn't really get to work on her with the sand or the water. I had gotten her some sand toys, and she did enjoy playing in the sand... but only from the safety of my lap on the towel!

And she liked the water at first. But our first day there the waves were pretty big ( umm, I didn't even know lakes got waves like that?!?) and she got knocked over on the shoreline by them. Then I carried her into the water. At first she loved the rocking motion. But then, out of nowhere, a wave would come and go right over her head. She didn't cry about it... but I don't think she liked it. The next day she wanted nothing to do with going in. She did enjoy the pool. But even that.. unless there is a shallow kids pool, she just likes to stay on the stairs or edge. She did discover the whirlpool though and surprisingly LOVED it. She had sooo much fun with our cousins and my little brother and sister. She was really very cute with them. Whenever she is around younger children she loves to give them kisses and help take care of them! She will make a very good big sister one day ( not ANYTIME soon!)!

She was really into our room. Of course being very excited to sleep with me. But she would love going in and out of the sliding door and just laying up on the bed "chilling out." Her schedule got a little screwed up so the picture of her on the bed is her pretty tired on a night where we had a big dinner to go to. There are better and more pictures of her ( where she's actually smiling!) So I will update soon! As soon as I can get my hands on the pictures.

A Very Special Visitor

2007-07-14T17:42:00.000-04:00

First I just needed to show this picture of Gracie sleeping in the morning with her blanket over her head. It was like she was trying to tell me she wasn't ready to get up!
So, Alyssa came and we had soooo much fun! Gracie kept saying her name and was pretty interested in her. We went to the beach, the wave pool, shopping, the movies, out to eat... and had a pajama party! It was a fun packed time!
Gracie is saying more and more words... basically repeating everything she hears. I like to think she has pretty good manners usually always saying "please" and "thank you"... as well as "excuse me" when she burps and "bless you" when someone sneezes. She has definitely and FINALLY calmed down with the hitting and pinching. She of course still does it sometimes but nowhere near the way she used to. And I think its because the naughty corner has been so effective with her! If you ask her how old she is she says " Two" and holds out the right number of fingers too! ( I know she's not two yet... but almost!)
She's also gotten pretty good with names and amazes me with her memory! She loves to cuddle in bed and is so super affectionate. She really is such a good girl. And I think there is a possibility that she just might be a genius : )

Funny Silliness

2007-06-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

Okay well, the above face is a classic Gracie face. In fact, when I was uploading the pictures she sat in my lap and we watched the slide show. When this picture came on she made the exact same face. She also kept saying " hi Gracie" to all of the pictures of her!
Okay, I have to say that this is just about the funniest face ever. She can do it on command and she knows she is funny doing it. She laughs until she bends over at the hip. She'll even do little variations of this face. She is such a clown! She just started doing it out of no where in the care this past weekend.

This girl LOVES the computer. My dad pointed me in the direction of a fun web site for her age and she LOVES to sit on my lap and play on it. Any time I get up from the computer for just a second... she hops in my seat sooo fast and makes it look like she is doing very busy and important work.

She recently had her ASQ and scored very well. Any delays that they may have thought that she had before, seem to have been caught up on. Something I was already very aware of. She talks more and more everyday. And has such a fun and sweet personality. ( At least when she's not pinching or hitting... hopefully just a phase like the biting was!) I've been using the naughty corner and it is slowly but surely really working. She even gave Noah a hug, stroked his cheek and said sorry after she had to go to the naughty corner for hitting him. Who knew watching supernanny would be soo darn helpful?!?

Well, that's all for now. We are getting excited to do lots of swimming this summer!!!

Step Stool

2007-05-23T10:31:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to show off Gracie's super cool step stool that Grampy Bill made her!It even has a little stash spot in the top step! What a lucky girl!

Easter Fun in Texas

2007-04-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

Well, the pictures are pretty much the jist of it. Gracie didn't really get to into everything the Easter bunny brought her until we got home. But it was a fun Easter with her cousins. We had a lot of fun in Texas. A nightmarish plane ride both to and from, but a good trip other than that. Gracie really seemed to enjoy being around her cousins. I think they enjoyed have her around too! ( By the way: Emily got a tattoo kit for Easter and that is what the girls are doing drawing on Gracie. We ALL recieved tattoos from the girls that day!)

Brief update... (sorry!)

2007-04-03T13:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, I've been terrible about the blogging. We're just so busy. Gracie especially! She's talking up a storm.... it seems like everyday she picks up a couple more words. She signs still though when she says a lot of things or will sign instead of saying stuff. She is a total ham. She stands n front of the mirror posing and making faces. She cracks herself up ( well, let's face it... me too!) She's very cool in her shades. She likes to wear them EVERYWHERE. She wears them for long periods too.... and she just looks like she knows that she is sooo cool.

She is also obsessed with brushing her teeth. I have never seen a kid love to brush their teeth as much as she does. She asks to do it a least three or four times a day. She very into hygiene apparently!
She's super independent. And no longer allows me to feed her. So after a few tries with the yogurt... we gave it up. She drinks kefir now instead! She knows a large majority of her body parts. And is super pleased with herself when she accurately points at them. It's pretty cute.
And she is super into trying to help me. Here she is "mopping" the floor. She may make the apartment look like it was hit by a tornado most days... but she does like to make it look like she at least TRIES to clean up : ) We're going to Texas tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have lots of cute pictures to post when we get back!

Woah...

2007-02-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

Woah, this kid is growing up so fast and keeping me soo busy it's almost hard to keep up! I hardly even know where to start about all her new cute Gracie-isms!

She's been hiding in the closet! And thinks it is pretty funny. She'll laugh hysterically if I start going where is Gracie? She watches me from the crack in the bend of the door and if when I pretend to look everywhere BUT the closet she starts really cracking up.

I got her a giggle and shake Elmo chair... and it is her favorite new place to perch herself. She's been weaned off the bottle except for at bedtime.. but that'll happen soon too! She's started to really start playing pretend even more ( I think she must be extremely advanced... 1 1/2 seems to young to play pretend!) She carries her baby around with her and tries giving her old pacifiers or their bottle. And is so gentle with them... It's pretty darn cute. She pretends to eat the toy food from her kitchen ( and of course wants me to do so as well!). She plays so well by herself when I am studying. She is really learning to be gentle with babies and dogs (FINALLY). And when she sees her "uncle" Zack and "aunt" Chloe she kisses them and is just so interested in them.

Gracie is just such a happy baby. She was playing at the library and approached this little boy who was probably 3 or 4. He turned around and slapped her across the face and ran off. I, of course, was stunned and worried about my babe... but it didn't even faze Gracie she just smiled and continued playing. At church, she goes into the daycare there during the service. She LOVES it there. And most of the people in there know her by now. And they have been telling me how she can get plowed over or fall and she just gets up and keeps on going! I knew she does that but to hear it from someone else, kinda struck me as " whoa... I guess that is kinda unusual!" Or is it? She is saying some words... like"No", "Yeah", "D" for dog.... and she is learning more and more signs. I hardly ever used the bath sign with her and out of nowhere everytime I ask if she wants to take a bath or a shower she starts doing the sign! And boy, this kid LOVES to take showers with me! She spends the whole time laughing and trying to splash in and out of the shower stream! She also has started climbing some. Which is a discovery that makes me kinda nervous. And of course now I have to be extremely more careful. She pulled open my kitchen cabinets and climbed up the shelves to get to a knife I had been using on the counter. SCARY! This kid definitely keeps me on my toes! She never ceases to amaze me!

Girly Girl

2007-01-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in forever... so there is just soo much to gush about! Well, first off Gracie is quite the dancer. I think I'll definetly be putting her into a dance class in a couple of years! She is constantly dancing. And if she is in one room occupied with something and she hears the Elmo song come on... she goes running... and dances all at the same time. She's completely entertaining. She's currently getting her 4th molar and has been quite the pistol! But sooo loving all at the same time giving tons of hugs and kisses... go figure. I haven't been able to put her in any hard soled shoes because none of them fit her right. So, we went to a kid's shoe store... and they told me that her foot is abnormally shaped. She has an extremely wide foot, an extremely high insole and her foot is really fat. ( Hey what the sales girl said, not me!) So after trying on 7 pairs of shoes that fit these specifications we found 2 pairs that fit her right... 2 out of 7.... : ( So I got her a pair of over priced tennis shoes. And it was like she was learning to walk all over again! She wanted to hold onto me and furniture at first with every step. But she's pretty used to them now and loves to stomp her feet on hard floors because of the noise.

I gave her large crayons for Christmas and she carried them around with her until I finally took them away from her ( I suddenly realized the trouble she could get into with them!- Although a little too late because I've found that she colored on her little house and my entertainment center : ( Oh well...) But during supervised coloring times she's so serious. Every "scribble" done so carefully. She loves it!

She really plays with more than this tent/house... but I just think she's so darn cute in it... that I've ended up with tons of pictures of her in it!

She has been amazing me at what she can get into lately. She reaches up onto counters and yanks anything and everything off. She comes out of the pantry with stuff that was so out of reach I cannot begin to imagine how she got it. She came out with a bag of cheetos the other day, took the clip off and started walking around the house munching on them carrying the bag. She finally came over to the TV turned it on and plopped down in front of it chowing down on her Cheetos. It was actually pretty cute. I am constantly reminded of how quickly she's growing up : (

My boss gave her their old play kitchen. And I thought Gracie would probably not pay any attention to it really because she's a little young. But she ran for it when she saw it set up in her room. And played with it ALL day! She was almost knocking the thing over trying to turn the "water faucet" on! She talked on the phone, emptied and filled the microwave and oven. She LOVES it! She's such a girl!

Gracie has been carrying her dolls. It's adorable because she takes the dolls into her little tent/house and feeds them. One of her dolls cries sporadically and if she is having trouble giving the baby her bottle she'll frantically search for me so that I can help.

Gracie really has sooo much fun in the bath. She loves playing with the running water. She has a bunch of stacking cups and she has figured out how to stack them. She also loves to fill them up and empty them. Over and over. She's such a little fish. She lays on her belly and sticks her face in the water and comes up laughing hysterically. Our bathroom is usually completely damp after her baths from all her splashing. She's so funny to watch in there. That's all I can think of for now, but I will sincerely try not to take so long to blog again : )

Christmas 2006

2007-01-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, these pictures were a long time in coming. We had a FABULOUS Christmas. We were super busy but had sooo much fun! Gracie opened many of her presents herself which was fun to watch. And she got sooo many great toys and even some super cute clothes! She loved the "hustle and bustle" of the season as well. I had soo many good pictures I couldn't choose just a couple so I've narrowed them down the best I could! I can't even imagine how much fun next year will be when she can at least sorta get the Santa part!

And a special thanks to Jen for finding Gracie's them song: Gracie by Ben Folds! It is Gracie's new favorite song... actually more like her theme... it's like she knows the song is about her! When she hears it she starts dancing like a maniac and flapping her arms around and clapping. TOO CUTE!!!!

Lil Miss Grown Up!

2006-12-11T09:56:00.000-05:00

Gracie loves to help with anything and everything. Last night she wasn't happy unless she was right with me, which was making it difficult to make dinner! So I pulled up a chair and she watched for a little bit and then started whining again. I gave her a spoon and let her stir and she was happy as a clam! She stirred and stirred! When I was done having her stir and took the bowl away she was so upset she was on the floor staring up at the counter screaming at the bowl because she wasn't done! She's such a good little helper!

Gracie LOVES talking on the phone. She's talking to Grammy in these pictures.

Gracie is getting over a cold, and has no problem laying down on the couch with her bottle watching TV! She just keeps seeming older and older. Ahhhh! I want it to slow down!!!

Leaps and Bounds...

2006-11-28T11:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay... finally some pictures for everyone. I had them ready to do... just have had a very busy month. Gracie is really getting soooo much personality. She's such a happy baby, almost always smiling. Very social with not only other kids but adults as well. She has become a dancing maniac. She is always dancing. And if we are listening to rock she is head banging (well, kinda). And after watching Papa dance, now she lifts her little legs up to do her dancing sometimes. It is pretty darn cute. I gave her my old cell phone and she carries it around constantly lately. Jabbering away.

Earlier this month we went to the children's museum in Ann Arbor with Anthony and Rosana. It was mainly too old for them, but they still had a lot of fun. They get along really well.

She is imitating like crazy. she pretends to comb her hair, tries to put clothes on ( she has figured out zippers so she likes to unzip anything she's wearing and can even get a jacket off. ) She even helps get her toys out of the tub before she gets out by handing me them one by one. She also helps unload the dishwasher, mainly just the silverware, but she stands and hands me it piece by piece. Looking ever so proud that she is such a good helper.

I had to include a picture of her with her bathtime mohawk. Plus the expression on her face is pretty funny. I can't get over how fast she's growing and developing! She can even fit circle and triangle puzzle pieces in one of her toys. She's such a smart cookie! Now if we could just slow down this whole growing up thing.....

Halloween!

2006-11-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

So, a couple days before Halloween, I tried a couple different costumes on her. First I put on Pooh, and she was in front of the mirror and just stared and smiled. Then, I tried the princess costume. And she SCREAMED and cried! So, I didn't have to decide... Gracie did! She has really been good about letting her opinions and wants be known.

( yes, i know that is a scary picture of me... but gracie looks way too cute not to post it!)

Well, it was not Gracie's first Halloween, or first time getting dressed up, but it was her first time trick or treating. She even held her own candy bag.... and had some chocolate... she LOVED it. We went with Rosana and Anthony. Anthony is Gracie's age... and they were VERY interested in one another. It was pretty darn cute.
We went to the allergist yesterday and my suspicision that Gracie is allergic to eggs was confirmed. She is not terribly allergic though so she just can't eat plain eggs. She can still eat most things with eggs in them. The dr. even said that she would most likely outgrow the allergy. And the less things she eats with eggs in them the sooner that will happen.
Gracie also surprisingly enough loves tomatoes and portobella mushrooms. She shoves tomatoes in like it's nobody's business!

Walking....

2006-10-15T20:57:00.000-04:00

Yes! Gracianna is walking! And able to get to standing from anywhere ( by artfully standing on her head and pushing up). It is sooooo exciting and even she seems like she is glowing with pride! She does still love to crawl when she wants to get somewhere fast. But otherwise seems to much prefer walking. And now because she is walking "confidently" she is allowed in the "big kids" room at the gym daycare. She hated being in the infant room and would be all over me when I would come back to get her. When I came to get her out of the big kids room for the first time she didn't even want to leave. I walked in and she was sitting on these child sized couches watching tv with some other kids around her age. She had her feet up and her arm up on the back of the couch stretched out. She even had a look about her like " yeah... i'm in the big kid room... I'm a BIG kid now!" When i approached her she just patted the girl's leg next to her... and it just seemed like she was saying... " see mom, this is my friend!" Okay, Okay, I know I am probably looking WAY too into it but let me believe what I want! She is getting her eighth tooth now so she is biting again badly! And if you couldn't tell from the background of the pictures... she is making TERRIBLE messes!

Well we finally had her year check up. She weighed 25 1/2 pounds (92%), was 30 inches (60%) and her head was off the charts ( >97%). The larger head can sometimes be a sign of neurofibromatosis so she now needs a ultrasound of her head. We also have to see an allergist to get her tested for a possible egg allergy : ( She is doing so well otherwise though. And I just kinda feel like saying "phooey" to all those people who evaluated her at the beginning of the school year that said she was " slow." She seems like she is developing beautifully to me! She is quite the jabber jaw.... she can say doggy and hi... and when she imitates it sounds like she can say a LOT more.

She is imitating sooo much lately too. She puts her eyebrows togther and look all stern.... imitating the look I give her when I am telling her no. She puts my phone and headset up to her ear and says " hi!". Everything just keeps happening faster and faster I feel like.... ahhhh! I feel like I can hardly catch my breath!

Getting SOOO Big!!

2006-09-21T12:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, well I know I've been terrible about blogging these past couple of months. We have just been soooo busy. And any spare time I have I am usually too exhausted to move or I am practicing on my machine! So in the next couple of weeks we should be done being evaluated by the school district. The PT came last week and said she looked really good ( which I was expecting to hear). Tomorrow the teacher comes and next week we meet with the school psychologist and the other two ladies to discuss "the game plan." Which will most likely be to do nothing, but wait... just like we are doing with the doctors.....

Gracie has been super busy getting into everything! She has discovered how to open drawers and cabinets. And loves to do so. She is not walking totally yet still. Just a lot of cruising and a few steps here and there. Which stinks, because at the day care at the gym they make her be in the infant room until she can walk! And most of the kids in there are too little to really play with.

I know I may be biased but Gracie just keeps getting cuter and cuter. In fact yesterday, we first had a lady stop us at the gym to say that she had seen Gracie in the daycare and had though " who is this baby? She is just soooo cute!", then a deaf woman that was not able to effectively communicate wanted to tell me that she was so cute so badly that she pulled her Sidekick out to type it out for me! I know, I'm bragging, but I figure I'm entitled to it!

A couple weeks ago we went to the zoo with my cousin Katie, her husband, and Andrew their little boy. He is just a month or two younger than Gracie so it was fun to see them interact. It was crummy weather but still a lot of fun.

Gracie does not like it when all attention is not on her, so lately she says hi to anyone that isn't paying enough attention. It is quite funny. She imitates a lot of the words I say, Like "stop" , "mom", " hi", "hey".. She is really learning to communicate. She even does the "all done" sign when she is done eating. It is amazing to me how far she's come in the past 13 months.

One of her favorite things to do lately is put any article of clothing she can find on her head. It is constant. She'll strectch the clothes like she is about to pull it over her head and then just place it on her head. And she usually looks pretty proud afterwards!

Well, I promised pictures from her final birthday celebration at Grammy's. I thought this picture was very appropriate. It not only shows her covered in cake. But she is doing this goofy face ( which she does all the time now!) She scrunches up her face and start sniffing really hard. It is hilarious. She's such a ham!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2006-08-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

Well, one year ago today at this exact time actually ( It's about 10:00pm) my water broke. I was moved from antepartum to labor and delivery and my labor began. And just 16 short (ha!) hours of labor and one hour of pushing later the beautiful Gracianna Patricia was born! It is so hard to believe it's already been a year. And yet we have gone through a lot this year. She was in the NICU for 5 days, where she was poked more times than I care to remember. At Christmas, she was "failure to thrive".. and once again poked more times that I could stand to watch ( but of course did....). Then there was the neurofibromatosis thing... which now isn't as scary to me..... but still a little..... But look at her... she is definitely thriving at a whopping 23 pounds! She is doing so well with her weight that I pulled a muscle in my back lifting my little sugar plum! She has travelled to Texas three times! She is doing well developmentally... at least I think so! She is soooo verbal, not that surprising considering who she spends most of her time with : ) And she is HAPPY! When I was pregnant that's all I really wanted was for her to be happy and healthy. And she is.... In one year, she has had one bad cold accompanied by an ear infection and one VERY mild cold that lasted two days. She has an awesome immune system, because I was sick quite a bit and she caught nothing from me! I am just so proud of her and so in love with her! Okay, enough gushing... although I could go on and on....

I would just like to say that yes that is a picture of her kissing the vacuum. She makes it nearly impossible to vacuum lately. She is not scared of it at all but goes straight for it wanted to kiss it, climb on it, or just sit right in front of it. Making it very difficult to actually do anything with it! It's just so funny! She loves books and being read to... which I take as a very good sign. And she loves to music and to dance. She will actually cry in the car if you turn the radio off. As soon as you turn it back on, she's fine..... she really is developing such a strong personality.

After next weekend Gracie will have had 4 celebrations for her first birthday! She is one loved little girl! Her first party, at my dad's, was a couple of weeks ago... and Gracie was probably the most tired I have ever seen her. But we still had a lot of fun and she knew just what to do with her cake! Later that week we had a small birthday dinner with Gma Sharon and Gpa Pierre. And today we had a little birthday dinner with her dad, her Grandma Pat, and her Aunt Stacey and Aunt Michelle. She had so much fun! Next weekend my mom will have a little party for her too ( I'll make sure to post pictures.. I know I've been bad about it lately!)! If only she knew how lucky of a little girl she is to have so many people that love her!

Gracie still really enjoys taking her bath. And now loves to try to "catch" the running water. She is absolutely fascinated by it. She's so funny about getting out of the tub too. She'll pull her little leg up and over the side of the tub! As if to say, " C'mon mom, I'm DONE!". She took her first steps earlier this week. She doesn't do it much and can only go about three steps at a time... but it's progress! I just REALLY have to coax her.

She is really doing well feeding herself. Though some have said she makes too big of a mess (Yes, you know who you are). But I figure that's all part of the learning process. And I don't mind cleaning up the mess. So it works for us, and at times it is pretty hilarious.

And Miss Gracianna has a thing for throwing her hands up to her head. She'll put one up to the side of her head everytime I say "Aw, man!"She does it on her own at the funniest and often very appropriate times. She really is becoming quite the character.

We went to the neurologist this week. He didn't really say anything new, just that she seems like she is doing very well so far. It was a pretty optimistic visit. He said that if she isn't diagnosed by the time she's six, we'll do an MRI. We just have to see the geneticist when she's two and keep seeing the opthamologist once a year to keep an eye on it. So I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it all.

Just the cutest one year old EVER! And no, i'm not bias... of course not!

Fun, Fun, Fun!!

2006-08-04T13:20:00.001-04:00

Okay, so we're back from Texas. Gracie is turned 11 months a week ago! And she had sooo much fun with her cousins! Leanna and Emily both fed her. Emily was really into playing with Gracie! Leanna was not so sure about her though. She would yell at her to go away and was very possesive of anything Gracie may have been going after. When asked if she like Gracie, you were given a firm "No!". But by the time we left Leanna was saying she liked Gracie.

Alyssa loved helping out with Gracie too, she even babysat her a little! We went to the zoo, went on the train, went to the beach at the zoo, went to Sea World ( including the water park) and went swimming at Cricket's. Gracie is like my lil fish. She really seemed to enjoy the water park at Sea World. And she is really starting to notice animals at the zoo ( and Sea World). But most of all she just really loved having her cousins to play with!

She's still not walking, but she is doing so well with feeding herself ( other than her cereal and yogurt).

I Know, I Know....

2006-07-27T11:25:00.000-04:00

Okay.... So I'll admit I have been slacking on the blogging.... It has just been a pretty boring month!! Gracie is still crawling and cruising... No first steps quite yet. But I don't think it will be long. She has four teeth now, two for the top and two for the bottom. I have been trying to get a good picture of her top teeth but she won't cooperate!
She started her Kindermusic class and loves it. She loves being around the other kids. She is the youngest one there ( as am I!). She is super friendly and just crawls up to all the other moms and will start climbing on them. She has no stranger anxiety to speak of, what so ever! She weighed 23 lbs at her last doctor visit! So she is off formula already and just drinking milk. Soo much cheaper! She also eats mainly all table food with a few exceptions like her cereal before bed and in the morning.
She is so funny with her toy "box" lately. She pulls the whole thing down and pulls almost EVERY single toy out. It's so funny. She crawls into it to get ALL the toys out! Well, we leave for Texas tomorrow and will surely have lots of things to write about when we get back. Not to mention good pictures!

My First 4th of July!!

2006-07-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

Well, we didn't do much during the day but we had a very fun evening! Gracie took an early evening nap and then we walked to the park for fireworks! Unfortunately, I was unaware dusk was as late as it is so we were kinda early! There were tons of people there though and Gracie didn't seem to mind the wait at all. In fact, when we first got there before we got a spot she started kicking and laughing with excitement about all the activity and people. And then she had fun just crawling all over me and the blanket! The picture above was taken before the fireworks started...

I was nervous that Gracie may get scared by the loud noise of the fireworks. But fortunately, she didn't mind at all! The above picture on the top left was taken right when the fireworks started. She just layed back in my lap and took it all in. They must have made her nervous though because she suddenly stood up, turned around and clutched on to me watching the fireworks over her shoulder. So I put her up on my knee, gave her her blanket and wrapped my arms tight around her and she was happy once more. There were times when I looked at her where she just had these wide eyes and her mouth hanging open! The fireworks kept her attention for an amazing 20 minutes ( which is an extremely long time for something she is only watching to keep her attention!) Then she got distracted by a water bottle, but she did watch the finale! All and all a great first 4th of July for Gracie I think!

Cruising

2006-07-03T09:07:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe Gracie is already 10 months old! And how many new things she has learned to do in such a short amount of time. She has really started cruisin along. She can climb a couple steps ( though once there she has no clue how to get back down!). She drinks well from a sippy cup and is pretty good at self feeding. She is ALL over the place. She loves dogs and is fairly gentle with them. And a couple days ago she started saying mama ( though not really in relation to me... but she refused to make the mmm sound until now!) And she's hilarious playing peek a boo . Yesterday she even ducked behind my shoulder playing. We don't have much news to share but just wanted to share some pics of her playing with the doggy and playing peek-a-boo with mommy. ( I had to include a pout picture in there b/c she is always smiling so much... variety!)

Another Day at the Zoo

2006-06-21T08:38:00.000-04:00

So we tried out the zoo again yesterday and it was by far the most fun we have had there! Gracie was actually interested in a few of the animals, though still not that many of them! She was especially intrigued by the kangaroo exhibit. They were only a few feet from us and were just the neatest. Gracie was kicking her legs and smacking the tray on her stroller with excitement!

She had so much fun and saw so many new things. She is really interested in peacocks. And looked a little puzzled when we went into the butterfly house. She even got a little ice cream! And by the end of the day she had of course, fallen fast asleep.

On other news, she has started eating a little bit of table food. And she LOVES cheese! She shovels it into her mouth faster than you can put it on her tray! She's not too interested in pasta, but loves any kind of bread. (But certainly not more than she loves cheese!)
Yesterday she started clapping!!! And last night she started "cruising!", which (for those of you who may not know) means she started walking around holding onto the furniture! Which is also the step right before walking!!! Everything is happening so fast and my baby is getting so big!

Crawling!!!

2006-06-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

Okay.... so early last week Gracie was sitting on the other side of the apartment from the bathroom playing in her toy bin. I went in the bathroom to brush my teeth ( which probably only took a minute or two ) , came out and literally tripped over Gracie. Yes, she decided she had had enough of being in only one spot and decided she was ready to crawl! And now she is crawling all over. She can even crawl up a couple of steps! It is so amazing how she went from being content to sit in one spot for long periods of time to just moving all over. She didn't even give me any of the signs that she was ready like th physical therapist that evaluated her said she would have. She's my little genious who just enjoys surprising us!

So, in the past few weeks we have had multiple evaluations from the school district. Because if Gracianna is diagnosed with the neurofibromatosis, it is likely that she may have learning disabilities. So we have had a special ed. teacher, a physical therapist, and a school psychologist come to evaluate her. And all said she is looking pretty good. They keep calling her a preemie though and are going by her " adjusted age" which is SO irritating to me because she was obviously full term- my OB was just an idiot!! But for her "adjusted age" she is dong well and she is still doing alright for her chronological age. Which is very good news! They will come back out in the fall to re-evaluate her and then there will be a meeting to decide where we go from there. If things continue to progress as they have been then they will just keep on eye on how she is doing but she won't have to be in the program. We will be going to see the neurologist again soon as well... I know it's still so early but I am really hoping that she is just a really birthmark-y kid and will not develop any other symptoms!

Her hair is getting so crazy. And the hair on the back of her head is finally starting to grow in! Her hair is super curly (surprise, surprise!) and it's funny because the hair on the top of her head is like mine but in the back it's like her dad's! She has "two-tone" hair! It'll be interesting how it turns out!

I signed her up for Kindermusic sign and sing class this summer! I am so excited to see her interact with a group of kids in a setting like that! And we have planned another trip to visit her cousins! This is going to be such a fun summer for her!

All Over the Place

2006-06-05T08:23:00.000-04:00

It has been so interesting checking on my sleeping Gracie lately. She keeps getting into variations of the weirdest position! Besides the fact that now that she is all over the crib!
Gracie is really starting to move all over. Of course she isn't crawling around the conventional way... but she has her own unique style of getting around! She loves crowds of people and is just so social!

Here is a picture of her playing with her friend......

She gets along so well with other babies. And is so happy just to get to be around them. She studies them and then tries so hard to interact with them!

And here is just the cutest picture of her in just about the strangest tub position!

A Whole New Baby!!!

2006-05-29T23:21:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been an extremely eventful long weekend. Saturday morning in a matter of an hour, Gracie figured out how to go from her belly to sitting and how to really pull herself to standing-- she was doing it before but only if I helped a little!! BUt she was sitting in her crib playing while I picked up her room and grabbed the bars and pulled herself up. She looked so proud! ( HEr crib did get lowered two rungs by the end of the day though! I'm not taking any chances!) And ever since, she is like a whole new baby. She is all over the place. She may not be crawling, but she sure is starting to climb and scoot more. She is starting to make more and more sounds as well. It is almost like she has all of a sudden really started developing a much stronger
personality.

She went swimming for a first and second time as well. I think she's going to be my little fish! She seems to feel the most secure and have the most fun though if you are on the steps and she can feel a bottom. But she loves to splash around. She also took her first shower with her mommy and loved it. I can't help thinking that maybe she was just excited to see what it is that happens behind that shower curtain. She always sees me go back there but probably didn't really know what I was doing. Maybe not, but it's funny to think about!

I am really working on clapping with her too. I clap everytime she goes from her belly to sitting or stands... or really any kind of accomplishment. I clap and cheer. And slowly but surely she is starting to try. Right now she mainly uses one hand to clap and closed fist, but she is getting the idea. Besides, the proud look she gets makes it near impossible not to do it!! I'm so proud of her!! And she's got two little teeth half sprouted on the bottom! She is starting to used her little jaws to mash things when eating . So, I've been giving her some table food here and there. And she's drinking out of her sippy cup splendidly! Ahhhh, my baby is changing sooo much!!!

Stuck and Standing

2006-05-09T22:34:00.000-04:00

Gracie is finally getting her first tooth!! It is very exciting... she does not seem to really be in any pain. And she seems to be handling it very well....

She is getting to be extremely social and is thoroughly enjoying the warm weather. Our schedule has been a lot busier and she has been adapting beautifully.

She is holding her own bottle now too! Which actually makes being so busy a lot easier. I can now give her the bottle in the car when we are on the go....
Her newest problem: She keeps getting her poor little legs stuck in the bars of her crib! She has woken me up a few times in the night to be freed from the bars.

But in this particular picture the only reason I even discovered her like this was because I was just peeking in on her... She wasn't even complaining! In fact, when I walked in, it looked as though she was completely defeated. She had actually fallen asleep stuck like this, lying on top of her blanket. Poor Gracianna.....

Her biggest new achievement: standing.

She was standing before but now she is starting to pull herself up to standing. She is also able to remain standing for a considerable amount of time... sometimes even daring to go one handed! (Such a daredevil!)

I'm beginning to think we may skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking. She does walk to me if supported. She doesn't really want much to do with being on her belly.... I guess we'll just have to wait and see what she ends up doing!

Scootchie Scootch

2006-05-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

Well, my little peanut has begun scootching all over the place. She puts her little bum up in the air holds herself on her arms and inches forward. It's pretty darn cute if I do say myself.

She has also started waving "bye-bye"! And is SOOO vocal. I think she will be talking our ears off (just like her mom!).

She's been loving the nicer weather. We went to the zoo again and she stayed awake this time! She wasn't too interested in the animals. She merely glanced at the giraffes and rhinoceros'. But there was a peacock walking down the sidewalk and she couldn't take her eyes off of it. I am determined to have her love the zoo as much as I do by the end of the summer!
She is super interested in standing. She likes to stand now as much as possible. She can't quite pull herself to standing yet. But boy, does she try! She keeps climbing all over me in the quest to get herself to standing. So I am figuring it won't be long! She is getting so much personality. She's just so funny!

My First Easter!!

2006-04-18T15:07:00.000-04:00

We had a fairly quiet first Easter. The funnest part was probably getting dressed. We couldn't seem to decide on an outfit so we took pictures in both of our choices and emailed them for a vote! We decided on the outfit above....

We went to a small get together at my aunt and uncle's. And then a small dinner at Papa and Meme's. We can't wait till next year when Gracianna can get a little more into the Easter bunny!!

A Day at the Zoo

2006-04-16T07:53:00.000-04:00

Gracianna has a new fascination... which provides unlimited amusement.... BALLOONS!! She is so funny with them. She'll pull them down and start batting it, then try tasting it.... and then it usually bops her in the head and she will just look bewildered for a few moments. It is so funny.

It was a gorgeous day yesterday so we decided to go to the zoo with Papa. We got all ready and really excited to see the animals. We even read our baby animals book first to get revved up for it!

Unfortunately, we were not the only one's with the brilliant idea. And by the time we started looking at animals.... well.... the picture says it all. Gracianna was sound asleep! Oh well next time!

Splish Splash

2006-04-08T14:15:00.000-04:00

Gracianna has been so much fun in the bath lately. She just recently started being able to sit up (without slipping!) all by herself.
Her favorite bath toys are a plastic bowl and some plastic keys. She gums both of them constantly while in the tub and splashes around with them. She fishes around for the keys because she knows they're in there. (She's SO smart!)

I have a kindey infection and have been without my little peanut for two days! I can't wait to get back on my feet and am able to take care of her again!!! Also, on Thursday we went to the eye doctor ( people with neurofibromatosis often will have nodules on their irises). The Dr. said that she was in the clear so far, although they often don't show up until later anyways. He did say that she was slightly myoptic and had an astigmatism though... figures since I have terrible vision! Poor Gracie!

Also, I discovered that I had somehow chosen the option that you had to be registered to comment and have fixed the problem.... so please let me know what you think! ( Anyone can comment now).

Crazy Girl

2006-04-02T18:45:00.000-04:00

Gracianna has started a new, kinda strange, half rolling-half tummy time position. She rolls her upper body to the side but leaves her legs straight. She refuses to actually roll though! It is pretty humurous. She just lays her little head down and to the sideand plays like that. She has also started reaching like crazy for people. And had her first real incidence of stranger anxiety this weekend. She is just more and more fun everyday.....

On a messier note...The other day she grabbed her spoon away from me and insisted upon holding it herself... which
was messy but soooo much fun for both her and myself!!

Seven Months!!

2006-03-30T16:19:00.000-05:00

Gracianna just had her 7 month birthday! Yesterday we saw the geneticist. She said that with the number of cafe au lait spots Gracie has she most likely has neurofibromatosis. But we still won't be able to diagnose it until she displays at least one other symptom. At this point, all we can do is watch and wait. If she does have it she may not even be greatly affected by it.

Gracie is suddenly gumming every surface in sight sooo hard. I think that a tooth may be on its way! And she seems to babble more and more every day. She is starting to lower herself in a semi controlled manner from a sitting position to being on all fours. She hasn't completely figured it out but she's trying! She alsohas gained a full pound since last Tuesday! She weighed in at 18lbs 11 oz at her doctor's appointment yesterday. I can't get over how big she's getting, and how fast. She seems to have more of a personality everyday. Although she is still the same laid back, good tempered baby that she's always been!