Forbidden Objects

Everyone has kept telling me that Gracie being slow to crawl just gives me more time to take it easy and oh, baby proof. To date the only baby proofing we've done is install a gate at the top of the stairs and two crummy cabinet locks in the kitchen. Wow, in a matter of days Gracie has mastered the army crawl and is already testing her limits. I imagine in no time she will have made her rounds and proven that Brandon and I have a lot of baby proofing work we need to do. Today she made her way to the stereo and kept touching it. I'm positive she knows what "No" means because each time I said it, she would stop and look at me. Then she would go on to touch the stereo and all its buttons. This happened repeatedly so I moved her away from the stereo. She turned and looked at it, then looked at me and then proceeded to cry. This happened over and over. She kept looking at what was forbidden and letting me know it upset her. What is it about forbidden objects that makes them so alluring?

Brandon's Gift

Hollie with Rubigirl Photography snapped some great pictures of Gracie. We did this back in May and it has been hard to keep these a secret from Brandon. However, it made for a great Father's Day gift! Gracie was actually tired this day but Hollie still managed to capture her in some happy and fun moments. Love them all!!!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh my goodness, we're already at 11 months! I'm trying not to get sad that this first year is almost over. Of course, there is much fun to be had going forward but moving those tiny cute dresses off their tiny hangars into boxes does weird things to a mom's heart. Lately, I've been realizing more and more that my love for lil G-dub is pretty intense. The thought of losing her is rather painful yet I have to recall to mind that my Lord is even better in all His splendor, majesty and love. All I can say to that is WOW!

So, I was really hoping this month's update would be filled with news about Gracie learning to crawl but she's still not quite there. Bless her heart, she's trying so hard but in all her attempts she ends up pushing herself onto her back. She's quite adept at getting to where she wants to go with this method but I think her world is just going to get even better when she actually learns to move on all fours. Seriously, this girl is so expressive it just cracks me up. So when she can move her little (almost 18 pound) body around the house more easily, she's going to be rockin! She's already jabbering up a storm most days and really enjoys saying "oooooooooooooooooooooo" at the cutest things. It's hard not to just eat it up especially when she dawns a cute bow in her hair and flashes her two tooth smile. Can you tell that I am just loving this one?!

CDs

Not compact discs but cloth diapers! So, I gave cloth diapers a whirl a while back with no success. However, I still have a bit of an interest in them and Simple Mom has had an amazing week of posts regarding cloth diapering. So, for some of the best stuff on the internet regarding cloth, check out all of her week's posts. She's giving away some cloth diapers too.

Back from NC

We got back from our North Carolina vacation last night. It was fun to spend time with my brother's family and just live life with them. Some of our highs from the trip were a lake day, double date night, my niece's bounce house birthday party, enjoying Nana's swing, and walking around the UNC campus in Chapel Hill. Gracie did fairly well flying. She was far too interested in everything else but sleeping on the flights though. Overall, I was proud of her for not being too fussy.

We did something we have never done before and that was leave Gracie with a baby sitter other than family or the Fosheas. I was mildly anxious about leaving her for so long with a sitter I didn't know but I really wanted to enjoy our lake day. We didn't just leave her at night after we put her down; we left her at 10 in the morning and got back at 6:30 in the evening. Her sweet baby sitter not only took care of her all day but also Gracie's 13 month old cousin as well. Upon our return, we found both babies happy, fed and wearing clean diapers. I'm ready for more lake days now!

Gracie enjoyed watching everyone at the bounce house.
Brandon kept racing my brother through the obstacle courses. The competitive person in me wished I had not worn a skirt that day!

Gracie loved the balloons at the party.
This was the first time she had ever played with balloons.
I think she is mesmerized by the orange one here.

Ten Months

Gracie often covers her eyes when she is trying to fall asleep or while nursing. I had no recollection of her doing this at 10 weeks of age until I came across this picture on my phone yesterday. While I have a few new things to report for our little 10 month old, some things have not changed and that makes me smile. In fact, some things just get better. For example, on her 8 month update, I shared that Gracie has a little happy dance. This little happy dance has evolved and is now defined by rapid head shaking, squeals, and lots of arm waving. She often does it when her Daddy enters a room. It's hysterical and as if she is bursting with so much joy she cannot contain herself.

Gracie & GranJo (Brandon's Mom)
She's wearing the dress we bought for her in Hawaii last year.

New things are occurring in Gracie's little world.

• We started swim lessons at the YMCA with a few of Gracie's friends this past month. Thankfully, Gracie is not opposed to being in the pool and she loves to splash and kick. I predict that she will master breaststroke at a young age as she is already kicking her little frog legs in that manner. She actually loves to pull her legs up like a frog even when we practice floating. She's the only baby in the pool who keeps her legs up in the air while floating.
  
• Nuh-uh - I don't know to spell it but it is as if Gracie has learned to say that while shaking her head NO anytime I try to feed her lunch or dinner with a spoon. Breakfast, no problem. However, lunch and dinner are a different story and this girl is making it clear that she does not want pureed foods. Since she only has two teeth this makes finding foods she can eat a bit more difficult. Instead of wasting the baby food I already have, I am now spreading it on bites of toast.
  
• Operating the mobile - Even though a few of the baby books I've read say to remove the crib mobile way before this age, we still have Gracie's up and running. One day, after she had been napping for a while, I heard her mobile through the monitor. It took me a second to realize what it was and that she must have accidentally turned it on while kicking her legs. Well, now she's quite adept at pressing that button off and on. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing but it's quite entertaining to watch her press it repeatedly as you leave the room.
• Crawling - You thought I was going to tell you that she is crawling now, huh? Not quite. However, I really do believe that we might get to report that next month. She's so close and often gets stuck doing the splits while trying to get to something. Oh, to be that flexible.
• The wave - We finally got Gracie waving and it is so cute. My favorite wave yet occurred while I was vacuuming the stairs and she was playing below. I looked down at her and said, "Hi, Gracie!" She smiled and threw her hand up in the air and waved it back and forth. I didn't even have to prompt her by waving first.
• Where's Marley? - When asked this question, Gracie will turn her head until she spots the dog. Or, if you mention "read" or "books" while she is sitting in her room, she immediately leans over the edge of her chair in the direction of her books until I've selected a book. Sometimes if not satisfied with the book selected, she'll lean back over the edge of the chair in the middle of a story. I then will pull out one book at a time until I get a good smile on her face. She's got her current favorites for sure...Personal Penguin and Barnyard Dance.

Testing the Limits

Today, I had a first. Long story, not short. My parents are getting ready to hit the road for the next three weeks and really wanted to see Gracie before leaving. So, I decided to drive up to Pflugerville right after Gracie's first nap and stay for a few hours until it was time for Gracie's second nap. It wasn't much time but enough for my parents to get their grandbaby fix. I loaded up the car, dog and all, got onto Mopac and realized I was almost out of gas. Then the fuel light came on pretty quickly. I didn't want to stop and get gas because that would cut into time my parents would be spending with Gracie. Here was my thought process:

"I think that light comes on when there is around two gallons of fuel left in the tank. I get around 18 miles to the gallon so that means I've got at least 30 more miles I can drive." Mental note of odometer made. "That should be perfect, I can make it to Mom and Dad's and then get fuel when I leave their house. They're a little over 20 miles away from home. It will be close but should work out. They fuel light JUST came on, too. Yes, this should work."

Right before my exit off the toll road, the car gets a little sluggish. "Uh oh! Hang on, we're almost there." Car immediately slows down and is in coast mode. While coasting, I call my Dad to let him know that I am just about to take the Heatherwilde exit and am out of gas. He proceeds to tell me where the closest gas station is and I repeat "No, I'm totally out of gas. I think I can coast through the toll booth though." I make it through the booth and pull over just on the other side ONE mile short of my parents house. Jan's calculations, bad. Dad had me up and running again within 10 minutes though.

I don't take for granted that my Dad lives 30 minutes away and is there when I call for help. This little predicament I got myself into was quite silly. However, as a daughter, I loved having my Dad save the day.

Poop Stories for Daddy

Little did I know that being a mom would involve so much conversation about poop. I've never talked about it this much or even written stories about it before having a child. However, here I am typing one. You might ask why, however, if you know me somewhat then you know I'm not shy to most topics. And, this story while gross is rather hilarious I think. Let's begin. Prunes do do wonders (no pun intended). Lil G-Dub has been a bit stopped up so I busted out the prunes and gave her about half an ounce last night and the other one and half ounces this morning with her oatmeal. After her morning nap, she had a usual medium sized cow patty filled diaper and I was quite pleased that the prunes were working. Little did I know how well they were working. After nursing Gracie and reading her books, I sat her down to play with one of her toys while I looked for a recipe for a few minutes on the computer. I looked up and saw a terd on the floor behind her. I thought to myself, how did that get there? I rushed over to see that her diaper was majorly overflowing. What comes first? Cleaning the baby or the carpet? The terd looked firm enough to not really get into the carpet, so I chose to clean up the baby first. (I cannot believe I am writing this now and using the word terd on my blog!) Marley was right there observing everything and I prompty told him no as I picked up Gracie knowing he would check things out. I took her to her room for the clean-up and diaper change. Within one minute, I looked out and couldn't find any trace of the terd. Instead, I found Marley, ears flat against his lowered head, looking up at me sheepishly. HE ATE HER TERD! I couldn't believe it. Do I laugh? Get grossed out? How do I respond to this? So I sent Brandon an email letting him know what his dog was up to. I will conclude this post with same line I concluded my email to Brandon with...This concludes Poop Stories for Daddy.

Nine Months Young

Another monthly update on lil G-Dub as she is now nine months old. I'll keep this short but I will say that Gracie has really been moving around quite a bit. Not on hands and knees but she is a getting much more comfortable rolling around. No longer can I leave her sitting with some toys while I run to another room to do something and expect her to be in the same place. So, we installed a gate at the top of our stairs. I'm beginning to see that my freedom to do things while Gracie is awake is already getting more limited. What do moms of crawling and walking littles do?! Anyway, Gracie weighed in at 16 pounds 2 ounces and is 26 inches long. She has tiny feet and is still wearing shoes that 3-6 month old babies wear. I guess we can thank B-Dub's side of the family for her petite (and cute!) genes.

Gracie's First Easter
It's as if she knew she was wearing such a pretty little dress and needed to pose.

Peeps...don't worry she's not allowed to eat these.

Gracie's Aunt Summer would be so proud!

Marley & JarJar

Marley, our dog, turned two yesterday. We didn't celebrate. He's been celebrating for a few days by having his best friend here. I'm totally convinced that dogs can have best friends and Gus is his. We offered to help out our friends by keeping their vizsla while they went to Colorado for spring break. Marley and Gus LOVE each other and play very well together so it hasn't been too bad having another dog in the house. They have distinct personalities and as you'll see distinct body types. Marley is twice as wide as Gus and he keeps eating Gus's food which as you can see from the pictures isn't a good thing.

Marley as a wee little pup.

Marley as a not so wee little pup.

Marley today with Gus.

We kept Gus a few years ago when Marley was just 3 months old. Look how much he has changed...

On a somewhat different note, we think Gus resembles Jar Jar Binks. What do you think?