Gracie Girl

I didn't do Grace justice (and could never really do it) when she turned one, so I wanted to give a little peek into her life right now, so I wouldn't forget it, now that I'm not doing her 'first year' book. Grace just started eating solids about a little less than a month ago, and she's doing great! She just decided she was willing to eat, and does really well now!! In fact, she often yells at me when I'm not fast enough! She likes to stuff her mouth, and after Cameron's habit we're making her wait, so she can be pretty upset and demanding sometimes, but she's learning to eat slower. She has two nursings with meals, and is eating most things besides rice and meats! Way to go Grace!! She wasn't eating for very long, and hasn't been growing much, so she's had to have check-ups every month to weigh in. I was hopeful she had finally gained some weight, and was excited for her checkup. What a disappointment to see she had LOST 5 oz.! Grace!! I know I can't change genetics, all our kids have been slow to grow, but losing weight is a new one. That was a week ago, and we've been more diligent about loading up the calories since, so I'm hoping next month she'll have maybe gained something. Tonight she ate a whole slice of bread loaded with butter, 1/3 a small can of pears, and about 1/2 cup of whole-milk yogurt with jam! Go Grace!That's only the third time she's let me spoon-feed her!
Grace has a very determined mind (hence the sudden reversal in opinion on solids) and has not yet decided she wants to walk, though she does like holding onto our fingers and walking around often. She loves to play with her ball popper as well as her shape sorter, dumping the shapes out and putting them back in. She loves to read books, especially one we have with animals that are hidden and are pulled out to see. She likes to play rhymes that involve tickling/little "piggies." She has learned to get safely down off of steps/couch, feet first, and can almost stand up in the middle of a floor by herself. Sitting on a lap while play or she watches her brother(s) is a favorite activity, and she will initiate 'chase/hiding' games.

Grace is very socially aware; she is very sensitive to attention, which makes me have to be very careful about what behaviour I give attention to. She'll hold food out over the floor to get a reaction, even if she plans on eating it. She'll stick food inside her ear after taking her aids out while eating! She grabs her hearing aid out a lot, and I have to be very careful to not give her attention for taking it out but still get it from her, and then get it back in without paying attention to her (very hard since she's so wiggly) and distract her to play. But it also makes for a lot of fun when she's being silly or playing games together. One day this week Cameron took a nap while she was up (bad late night with Cameron) but it was SO fun to have some one-on-one time with her! I involve Cameron in playing/singing/reading with her, but it was much less stressful with just her! She is such a snuggle bug, it's so sweet. She gives great hugs and kisses.

Grace is doing pretty well with language. She signs or approximates signs for want, more, flower, bread, duck or goose, baby, cereal, be careful, all done, cheese, paper, ball, banana, bath/wash, up, down, without modeling/prompts. She responds appropriately to some simple signed and some vocal-only directions (like; say prayer- fold arms, go outside, go get.., where's .., shoes on,) , and says 'ma' for more, 'dada' for RD, Cameron and Reese, 'mama' for me, 'baba' for bye-bye, 'uhuh' for ruff-ruff, 'haha' for honk honk (geese), 'ba' for ball, 'oooo' for zoom (cars), 'nana' for banana, 'e-o' for hello, 'oh' for go, 'dow' for down, and something close to 'no-no'. We're putting more effort on the 'eee' sound and some more consonants she should be saying, but she's making progress and that's encouraging. If she would just stop getting plugged up with wax and needing to go to the ENT to get it out! Ear molds just don't help with that. We love our Gracie Girl! As with most babies, we're a little sad she's growing so fast. As I was holding Reese today, which is rare now (at least in my book:)) I was thinking wistfully of those days he'd cuddle me every day, and I'm so grateful I still get snuggles from her. What a joy these children bring to my life! I love being a mom.