Gracie will be 14 months on the 22nd. of March. She is not walking yet...but oh so close. She is making all sorts of connections and beginning to communicate in her own way. I know when she wants to get in her walker or get out of her high chair. I know when she is full, when she wants more... She makes her own signs and noises. She can touch her nose, ears, eyes and diaper on command. She knows how to do fish sounds and she sticks her tongue out and moves it from side to side to make a snake face.
She can climb the stairs, but we don't let her do that very often. She has favorite toys. She still sleeps with a paci and burp cloth (which is like her "lovey").
She kisses and loves on her dolls - wish you could see this for yourself. She loves on the doll and gives a hug with a little shoulder dance. Speaking of which - if music is on, Gracie is dancing - hip action, shoulder rocking, head bobbing. She is a dancer and she has rhythm and moves her white momma knows nothing about!
She knows that pants go on legs and shirts on her arms/body, headbands on head and she'll try to put these things on where they belong. She likes to take things in and out of drawers, boxes. And she wants to take clothes off an on (that gets a little old after a while, but cute, nonetheless). She LOVES Libby and calls her "Buhbuh" She is a daddy's girl. We have a book with pictures for her to hold and play with. Every time she gets to her daddy's picture she kisses it - so sweet!
She has a smile the size of the sun and she wants everyone to see it. Her eyes and smile are magical, drawing people in wherever we go. And she wants to be seen and heard. She gets upset if she doesn't get enough eye contact. She waves goodbye/hello to everyone in the stores. She still adores bath time and sticks her whole head in and blows bubbles in the water (crazy!). She wants to open every cabinet, eat every small thing she finds on the floor, and get into anything and everything that she shouldn't. She keeps me BUSY!
Tonight is the first night I've put her to bed without a bottle. Then it hit me...last night's bottle was the last bottle I'll feed my baby - ever. Don't really plan on having another baby - so the bottle she sucked down last night was it... I don't like that very much. Makes me want to cry. I've decided I'm going to give her a bottle tomorrow night and savor that moment for what it is and also take a picture. It pains me to be done with that baby stage...ugh.
In the news (if you haven't heard already) Gracie is going to get another big sister soon. If you haven't visited our new blog that tells that story you can click here: www.thispoeticpresent.blogspot.com and find the post "Hip To Be Square, Not - Part 1". That's where the story begins. But to catch you up to the present - we've been matched with a 6 year old girl in Haiti who was a proven orphan before the earthquake. If the Hope Act (H.R. 4603) passes here in the U.S., it will make way for orphans like this girl to come here and then be adoptable. So when the law passes, we are counting on her joining our family. She was featured in the San Antonio paper a couple of Sundays ago. I wasn't supposed to share her picture, but when the newspaper put it out there (great story you can also read about on the poeticpresent blog. ) I figured - why not! Here's our beauty in Haiti:
I never feel like I give Gracie enough of my time, but I'm not sure where to find the time I'd like to give her. Friends keep reminding me that she has Libby to help keep her occupied and Libby didn't have that as a baby - so its different for each child added. Probably true. But I just don't want to miss anything in this precious girl's life. She is incredibly sweet and lovable. Just absolutely precious. She is an easy baby as far as emotions go (though I know that could change). She only whines when she's hungry or tired or in need of some t.l.c. She is very sensitive. If I tell her "no" to something she gets the most pathetic little face and cry going... Good thing this isn't my first go round or I'd be totally sunk! It is nice, I have to say, to have a child that responds to discipline with such sensitivity. It was never (is never) quite that way with the Libster. Gracie sleeps well. She's starting to go to bed at 7:30 PM and she wakes up about 7 AM. She still takes 2 naps a day, but that is about to end, I fear. Loving those 2 nap times, but I can tell she doesn't always need both. sigh.
Gracie only has her 2 bottom teeth. Its taking her upper teeth FOREVER to break through. But the girl eats solid foods like a champ - cut up fruit, meat, bread - you name it, the girl will eat it.
I think that sums it all up. She is a joy, delight and I just want to squeeze her and kiss on her all day long - seriously! LOVE MY GRACIE LU GIRL!!!!!!!!!! Every curl, every smile, every bat of her eyelashes, every raised eyebrow moment...love it all!!!!!
Enjoy the photos taken over the last month!
