Girly Girl

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

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!

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...

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!

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....

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!!

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!