Daddy is still here

As you can see I haven't wrote a lot of posts Grace. That doesn't mean that I don't love you as much as mom. I just don't blog as much as mom. I'm sorry if you wanted me to blog and write more about what has happened since the last time I wrote. Please forgive me. Well I can't remember where I left off but here I go.  My have you grown since you just came home. I remember when you first started rolling. Now this past Friday you literally rolled into every single room of our apartment. You kept dad busy that day. You always have to know what is going on. You love to grab things and immediately put them into your mouth. O it doesn't matter what it is. You grabbed the bathroom mat and tried to stuff that into your mouth. ha ha. You love pretty much anything you can get your hands on. We wish you would start crawling now but I don't know why you haven't yet. I think you are going to be a video gamer like your dad. Whenever I am playing you love to watch me. Also if you get a chance you grab the controller and I let you play a little bit. Well until next time, Dad loves you tons. Just can't wait till you say your first words and know what you said. Love you.

Daddy

10 months!

So much has happened since I posted about Grace turning 9 months.  It doesn't seem possible that she can be this old already.  How am I going to feel when she is 16?!?!  I love every minute of being a mom and getting to raise our amazing daughter, we are so blessed.  Cody and I often say that to each other.  
Some of the milestones in the last month...
*You eat almost anything that we give you.  You have tried many table foods and are now eating stage three foods.  You continue to drink formula and juice from a bottle.  You have tried a sippy cup but aren't quite ready for that.
*You love playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  You have so much fun being with the other kids.  In fact, you have decided that you can't miss out on anything so you have only been taking one nap for the past week and a half.  I am not sure if this is a phase or if this is what you are going to be doing now.  I didn't really think that you would only need one nap this soon, thought it might happen closer to your first birthday.
*You like to play peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. 
*You love to empty the DVD shelf.
*You have figured out how to make more noises with your mouth by moving your fingers on your lips.  You can mimic what we are doing too.
*You love to be read to.  You fuss when we are done reading to you each night.
*You enjoy getting your teeth brushed.
*You sit up really well and continue to be a rolling expert.  We are working on standing, you just don't have any desire to do this.
*You wear 9 month clothing and some 12 month.

*You survived two weeks of being sick with strep throat and an ear infection.
*Every time you see Grandpa Dick, you beg to have a ride on his scooter.

We love you to peices!!

the adventure continues...

So during the past two weeks the adventure that we have been on with Grace continues.... I went back to work on Thursday, August 16 (two day institute).  That Saturday night, Grace started coughing, nothing major but kept her from a sound sleep.  We attended Madison's baptism on Sunday, still nothing major.  On Monday, my first day with students, Grace went to day care at Grandma's.  By Monday afternoon, I called the dr. office and they told me to do some things to help with her runny nose and slight cough and if it got worse to call again and schedule an appointment.  During the night Monday night, Grace's cough got tons worse and woke Tuesday not feeling well at all.  Cody ended up taking her to the dr. only to be diagnosed with strep throat!!!  I couldn't believe it, how can a 9 1/2 month old get strep?!?!  Especially since she hadn't been around anyone sick.  I felt awful, guilty, broken hearted, helpless.  It was a blessing though that Cody hadn't gotten a full time job and was able to stay home with her a couple of days while on the first doses of the antibiotic.  By the weekend she was feeling some better and we went to Kewanee to Rebecca and Mike's wedding.  She did great and was super cute!  She still had a cough and runny nose though.  She finished the medicine on Thursday morning and I thought she would have been all better.  I called the dr.and they told me to bring her in to be checked.  So off we went!  This time she was diagnosed with a double ear infection!!  Again, I couldn't believe it and all those same feelings came back.  We are on day three of the antibiotic so hopefully Grace will be back to "normal" very soon!

Only 3 months to go....

                                                          Such adorable PJ's!

                                                       Playing with Uncle Aaron

                                                         Braden is so much fun!

                                                                 Cousins

                                                                I love graham crackers!

                                                                Happy 9 months!

                                       It is so much more fun to play under the bouncy seat!

                                                                   I love to laugh!

                                                               

                                                                 A hot day at the fair

Can it really be that today Grace is 9 months old which means that there are only 3 months until her 1st birthday?  Yikes!!  I am sure everyone feels the same way when a child is growing up, how time flies!  We are loving every minute watching her learn new things and become the beautiful little girl that she is.  She has quite the personailty, sometimes it is very goofy while other times she is sweet and serious.  Amazing at such a young age that we can tell that already.  She loves to roll around, an expert roller, and play or get into things.  She has started to follow us around the apartment, just by rolling.  Grace has made no attempt at crawling or scooting any way.  She may just roll to get places for the rest of her life!  Ha! Ha!  She does sit well now, not wobbly anymore.  I love to watch her discover things.  We have not bought her any new toys but she always seems amazed at them, she will hold them above her head and study every detail.  Grace is a good eater now too.  There haven't been too many things that we have given her, baby food or solid food, that she hasn't liked.  Her favorite is a graham cracker, she will devour that very quickly!  I suppose her 4 teeth help with that!  Today for the first time, she tried using a sippy cup that has a straw.  She didn't know what to do at first, of course, but soon figured out how to use it.  Such a big girl!

A little update...

So some things have happened in Grace's life that I thought I should document them somewhere and this was the easiest until I sit down to write them in the journal.
*She has 4 teeth, two on the bottom and two on top.  It is a rough several days while she is teething but in the end all is well!
*She had her second nose bleed.  We think that it is due to the dry air and her rubbing her nose to fall asleep.  It is quite a sight to get her up in the morning and have blood everywhere!
*She loves eating fresh peaches and also tried smashed turkey and loved it.
*Endured the heat at the 4-H show.  She was such a trooper!
*Spent her first time in the nursery while mom and dad taught at VBS.  I guess she was fussy the whole time, she just needed her mommy!
*She has discovered how to get other places in our apartment besides her play area in the living room.  She does it all by rolling, she has no interest in crawling.
*She says sounds that sound a lot like "mum", "da", "hi", "hey", "nigh, nigh", "mmmm"
*She waves her hand at herself.  I don't think she really knows what she is doing but it is a start.
*She can click her tounge.
*Since getting her new teeth, she has started to rub them together like she is grinding them.
*She doesnt' use the sling in the bathtub, just sits in her tub.  Loves to splash and kick!

I think that is about it for now.  Till next time.....

Happy 8 months!

Everyone always say how time flies when you are raising a child and how time needs to slow down and I so agree!!!!  I can't believe that Grace is 8 months old today.  When I look at her year of pictures picture frame and there are only 3 spots left until I have to put in the one year photo, I just can't believe it!  It has been a terrific 8 months and I look forward to many more!

So it seems like you are learning new things all the time, Grace.  During this past week and weekend we celebrated the 4th of July and my birthday and went to a Berg family reunion.  You didn't go see the fireworks this year, we didn't think that you would handle being up so late.  You will get to see them next year for sure!  On Saturday we ventured to Shabonna, IL to the family reunion.  You were such a good girl and managed seeing lots of people that you don't know.  We spent the night at Carl and Phoebe's and got to spend time with our family on Sunday which included time in the pool.  We also surprised Grandma Cilla and went for a visit.

You love to go swimming.  While we were recently at Grandma Cilla's pool, you figured out how to splash.  You don't mind the water in your face at all.  You weren't even afraid when she left you floating, to go rescue Bubba!  Ha! Ha!

You have started to get the idea of playing peek-a-boo.  We can put something over your eyes and you will pull it away for us to say "Boo!"

You enjoy playing pat-a-cake, whether it is with your feet or hands.  Daddy and you play it with your feet!  

You like to sit and watch "videos" on the computer.  Your favorite one is by Hoopla Kids, A Phonics Song.

You figured out how to shake your rattles and make lots of noise.  It was funny when you were at Grandma Pam's and were sitting in the booster seat that has a tray on it and we gave you a toy.  When you were shaking it and banging it on the tray, you would grimise every time it hit the tray.

You have tried several foods from the table: mashed potatos, watermelon, jello, ice cream, cool whip, turkey, green beans, sweet potatos.graham crackers, Rice Krispies, Cheerios.

You now eat three meals a day: cereal and fruit in the morning, yogurt and fruit at lunch, and fruit and veggie at night.  You have a bottle with each also.  You have tried juice but aren't quite a fan yet.

You have two teeth and are currently working on more.

You love to "talk".  Most of the time you wake up talking.  Sometimes even in the middle of the night, in which you have learned to put yourself back to sleep.  You have made sounds that resemble "mum", "da", "yum", "hi", "hey".  We even think that you respond to music and start "singing."

We think that you had your first bloody nose the other night.  You woke up and had blood all over your bed but the odd thing was that there was no evidence of it anywhere on you or your clothes.  It was very odd and a little scary.

You have mastered sitting up.  You sit for awhile and then fall over.  You are still working on catching your self so that you don't topple over.

We love you tons! 

No More

I think that the time has come that Grace is done nursing.  She has started to bite me.  She bit me for the first time a few days ago and I didn't anticipate it continuing.  I thought at that point that it was by accident.  Then yesterday, Thursday June 21, when she bit so hard that it cut me, I knew at that point that the time was very near for her to stop nursing.  I just didn't want to be bit every time she ate.  I tried mutiple times since then and she continues to bite me.  It makes me really sad that all of the sudden, I think, that we are going to be done with it.  I have come to realize that it isn't good for her or I to put us through the stress of it.  I have been very fortunate thus far to have been able to nurse her to almost 8 months.  I realize that there are many moms who can't or don't make it this far.  I should be more thankful and stop being sad.  I guess it makes me sad because it means that Grace is growing up and that special time that we share (just her and I) is probably no more, it will just come in different forms/times.  In my head I imagined that I would be weaning her gradually this summer so that by fall she would be more comfortable with the whole process.  It will take some patience and time for us all to adjust to this new part of her life.  We will make it and it will all soon be forgotten.  I will just keep reminding myself that.