18 months

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog three weeks ago when Grace really was 18 months old, but the camera cord has gone into hiding so I am just now posting.

The last time I checked I had a six month old bouncing, drooling, babbling baby girl. Time has either literally flown by me, or I am the most imperceptive mother alive. Our bouncing, drooling, babbling baby girl has turned into a full blown running, talking, molar cutting toddler. What a ride parenthood is! God allows us to somehow fall more and more in love everyday with this little pumpkin of ours and we are so blessed. Here are the monthly updates:
We spent an insane amount of money on new "big girl" toys for her a few weeks ago. Something about watching my baby girl play with a sock and tupperware bowl made me feel a little bad about her toy choices. I don't consider myself cheap but I did find myself muttering under my breath, "Good gravy, it's plastic made in China," on more than one occasion. Nonetheless, we now have a new big girl wagon, a sandbox and water outdoor thingy, and a small slide and swing.

She LOVES to be outside and cries when we come back in from a walk or wagon ride.
She ate an entire half of a McCallister's turkey sandwich. It was crazy to watch.
She does not want to be in her stroller unless I'm jogging with her.
We took her to Legacy play village for the first time and were amazed to see glimpses of her personality. She was incredibly cautious and did not want to take a step unless I was holding her hand or right behind her. If I tried to back away she would start crying. I think she was more interested in watching all of the big kids run around her than actually playing.


She is definitely cutting her back right molar.
We turned her carseat around to face forward and all the sudden the car meltdowns have stopped. The poor thing is so long that she was basically sitting indian style when she was rear facing.

She had her second virus and cough this month. I think she may have her dad's allergies.
I know every parent thinks their child is remarkable, but I am seriously so impressed with Grace's verbal skills lately. And I think I have every right to be ridiculously proud seeing as how I thought my child was Rainman for awhile and might be a few fries short of a happy meal if you know what I mean. She is honestly saying so many new words that I cannot keep up with all of them (but that doesn't mean there isn't a list on it's way of ones I can remember!) So far this month we have: stairs, picture, bowl, in there, up there (she says that when she wants us to pick her up) thank you, please, apple, paci, mik (for milk), bite, car, whoa, step, egg, sock, wad-der (for water), bar, eye, hair, a-nudder (for another), all gone, more, wagon, pretty, flower, yummy, bite, bracelet, diaper, and outside.
She still takes at least one good nap a day, goes to bed about 9-9:15 at night and wakes up around 8 or 8:30 every morning.
Favorite things: seeing her daddy walk through the door, turkey sandwiches, vanilla wafers (cookies), Sesame street, her monkey chair, Nana and Papa, pulling all of the diapers out of her basket under the changing table, laughing, sitting on the table or counter instead of her high chair to eat, wagon rides and being outside, her car seat facing forward, brushing her own teeth, and the new Dave Matthews album.
Not so favorite things: tomatoes, the coffee grinder, blender, and vacuum cleaner, being told "no", sitting in the high chair, having her diaper changed, and being in a store with me when it's naptime.
Enjoy the pictures!



Dan thinks it's funny to hike her pants up around her chest like a granny.


Playing a little chess at the Lubbock airport.
oh man, I love this picture

I love how she looks like she got caught in this one. She has two of her favorite things in this picture: crackers and her wagon.

Cheesey Mc-Cheeserson

We have a sweet little pumpkin.

Who smiles and smiles. A LOT.

And lately when you ask her to smile or she sees the camera, this is what we get:





Being the shy and un-hamlike individual that I am, I haven't the foggiest idea where she gets this. Must be from her father.

17 month update

Sweet Grace, you are growing so wonderfully. I love to watch you play and laugh and learn.
Here is what you are up to these days:
You have started saying so many new words I don't know if I can remember them all. And not just repeating but "naming" things. You have added door, bite, "Annine" for Auntie Am, Ky-Ky for Uncle Kyle, shoes, socks, Elmo (no more Mel-Mo), nose, book, shirt (it sounds more like a four letter word when you say it so we are working on "blouse") cookie, monkey, basket, another, egg, meal-meal (for oatmeal), water, and car to your vocabulary. You are also repeating so many things you hear.
You are ridiculously ticklish
You say "hi" to everyone you see and if someone doesn't say "hi" back you keep repeating it louder and louder until you are finally screaming it.
Your hair is starting to curl up in the back and I put in little pigtails for the first time this week. You look so much older when I do your hair like that.

You are about to drop your second nap of the day and we have been putting you to bed earlier.
I made the mistake of laying you down for a nap with no pants on and you pulled off your diaper and peed all over your crib. It was neat.
You absolutely love hunting Easter eggs. We have egg hunts about four times a day since Easter. You get so excited when you find an egg and start whining when we say no more. We only have seven eggs so when you turn around to get the next egg we take one out and hide it again. It's exhausting but so much fun. I suppose we could go buy more eggs... but now you just hunt in the cabinets for bottle and breast pump accessories.

You have a new monkey chair that I bought at United and you love to sit in it and watch American Idol with me. You like to clap after every performance.


At night when you and Daddy are playing on the floor you like to sit on his stomach, pull up his shirt, and put your finger in his belly button.
You got a stomach bug on Tuesday night and threw up three times. It was your first time to be sick since your virus at 10 months. It was awful and then you gave it to me. You have bounced right back though and I must say that the extra cuddle time was nice.
Enjoy the pics of our about to be 18 month-old!
A lady must always wear the proper headgear when playing in the kitchen.

her new "cheese" face

Sneak Peek

Grace is going to be the flower girl in her Uncle Kyle's (Ky-Ky) wedding this weekend. Is she the cutest or what?
17 month update coming soon and wedding pictures coming soon...

Easter 2010

Well the pictures I have just aren't going to do our Easter Sunday justice. Grace runs everywhere now and gone are the days of propping her up in her chair and taking 30 pictures of her smiling in her cute dresses! This is the only full shot of her in her dress. She smiles about 5 miliseconds after I take the pictures. Sigh.

After church we spent the afternoon over at Nana and Papa's house eating, napping, and hunting eggs.
Grace loves the little pond on Nana and Papa's back porch. We have to keep a close eye on her because she likes to get uncomfortably close to the water. Dan and I told her no about 20 times and she would just shrug her shoulders and get too close anyway but the one time papa told her no, you would have thought the world was coming to an end. Beth said it was the first time she ever heard Tom tell Grace no. Dra-ma.
She is in love with this little frog that sits by the pond. She likes to kiss it and give it hugs and pat it on the back. Notice Tom and Dan standing guard over the pond in the background.


Hugging Mr. Frog...
Losing her grip on Mr. Frog...

Mr. Frog 2007-2010. May he rest in peace. Grace caught on to hunting eggs very well. She had a little Elmo basket and once Tom showed her how to put the eggs in the basket, she had a blast. We have had seven egg hunts since Sunday afternoon. It hasn't gotten old, yet.


Why do people take pictures staring straight into the sun? Our faces may not show it but we had a great afternoon.

I kept thinking I was just being lazy but it turns out I had a stomach bug and all of my "I don't feel great" comments were justified about three hours later.
I love this picture. Like father, like son. This is not a bad thing if Tom is your dad. I look forward to teaching Grace about the real meaning of Easter, but for now, we will enjoy our daily egg hunts. I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter full of family, frogs, food and rest!

laughter is the best medicine

This little pumpkin cracks me up! I could sit and listen to her little laugh all day long. Lately she has been entertaining herself in the back of the car with her mirror and I catch her giggling quietly to herself all the time.



The pictures don't do her laugh justice- here is the audio to give you the full effect.

Patience

I struggle with patience. It's a major character flaw, but I have dealt with it all my life. When people (read: husband) say things to me like, "Patience is a virtue" I tell them "Silence is golden," roll my eyes, and charge forward. I am just not known for waiting well.
Maybe this wouldn't be such a problem if God didn't count patience as one of the fruits of the spirit, but alas, he does, and therein lies my problem. I desire so much to posess the qualities of a disciplined, dedicated Christian, but this area leaves me with much to be desired. Especially as it pertains to waiting on God's timing.
Many of you know that we have been trying to have another baby since Grace was about ten months old. While I realize that means we haven't been trying long, you other mothers know that when your heart is ready to be a mommy, whether it is for the first time or the fifth time, you are ready now and it is difficult to wait. I hate cliche' answers to life's big problems, but in this case I know the cliche' is true: God's timing is perfect. Trying to reconcile this with my patience deficiency (or complete lack thereof) has proven to be difficult, especially when I thought I was pregnant last month. For three weeks I held out hope that just maybe we were, but five negative tests later, I laid it to rest. Now we are waiting until May to try again (it's a long explanation that has to do with the store and Christmas help) and I can feel the impatience creeping up in my heart again. I want to be patient, I want to rest in the comfort of knowing that God knows what is best for our family, God's timing is perfect, and when it is time again, He will bless us with another baby. These are all things I believe but find hard to hold onto in my impatient moments.
On top of all that, I feel selfish. I have a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby girl who absolutely lights up my world.

Why then am I so impatient with a heart that seems unwilling to wait on God's timing?
I am praying for patience right now, which most of you know can be an incredibly scary thing because that may actually mean God will give it to me and teach me other difficult lessons in the meantime. Like how to fully rest in Him. How to walk by faith and not by sight. How to say "God is good all the time," and mean it. How to watch friends lose babies or try for years unsuccessfully to get pregnant and still know deep in my heart that God is in control even when things don't make sense. These are the things God is teaching me right now and while I can admit (a bit embarrassed) that I am not enjoying it, I know I will come through on the other side deeper in Christ and hopefully with a measure more of patience.

15 month checkup

Grace is seeing a new pediatrician and we went for her first visit and 15 month shots. Nothing says "nice to meet you" like two shots in the arm and two in the leg. Grace had a rough time during the appointment but did the best she has ever done after shots this time. No fever, slept great, not fussy.

A few new updates:
She weighed 21.9 (25th percentile) and was 31.75 inches (75th percentile). She gained three pounds since her one year appointment which is good considering she gained five ounces from 9-12 months. She also grew an inch and a quarter.

She loves blowing kisses and giving high fives.

She has started picking up her stuffed animals and when she hugs them, she pats their bottom like a little mama. So cute.

The doctor thinks Grace is about to cut her molars. It is very white back there and we have all the teething symptoms only worse than before. I put no faith in teething symptoms though. Remember months four thru nine? I do. Nary a tooth for five long teething symptom ridden months.

She has a new dancing thing she likes to do where she shakes her head from side to side while she bends her knees.

She likes to brush her own teeth, which really means she sticks her tongue out and chews on the toothbrush but it is pretty darn cute to watch. This is something we started doing recently. Not sure where that mom memo went, but I didn't know you were supposed to start brushing when they get their first tooth.

She has added big bird (be-bur), boy, and bob dole to her words. You read it right. Bob Dole.

She absolutely hates being in her high chair for longer than five minutes. Last night she would take a lap around the table, stop for a bite of my food, then make another lap and repeated the process until she was full enough to go play in the living room.

She is also completely disinterested in milk. I got a stern talking to from the Dr. who said she should have 16 ounces a day. WHAT? I am lucky if I get her to drink 3 or 4 ounces. This is my new goal for the month.

She has an inflatable car full of those plastic balls you find at fast food playgrounds that she absolutely loves. She climbs in and out of it from the side and it always makes her hair full of static! Too funny.




Here she is dancing in the kitchen the other night. It was before she started her new moves, but it is pretty cute nonetheless. Please pretend I wasn't doing a crazy mama dance in the corner.