Seven Months Old

Gracelyn is seven months and one week old today. Somehow seven months sounds years older than six months to me. And with all that she has learned in the past few weeks, life has changed quickly. Gracelyn started crawling the day after Thanksgiving. We have made some adjustments to our house but are also trying to train Gracelyn to know what is off-limits. Using the word "no" with her has brought out some interesting responses in our little peanut. She has a bit of a temper and we are trying to reign her in early before she's two and throwing tantrums in the grocery store (although there's no guarantee that this won't happen too). It's easier in some ways to be lazy, let her do what she wants, ignore her screaming and mini-tantrums in hopes that it will just all go away. It's nice in some ways to believe that this is just a phase and she'll grow out of it. Or that there's no need to tell her no and just believe that she's too young to understand what mommy says. But what is easy isn't always best. And what I want to believe isn't always true. In many ways I am in training as a mommy. Even if Gracelyn doesn't understand all that I am saying, it's important for me to start standing for what I feel is important and finding the words I want to say to her. I am amazed at what she can understand already. I pray that our efforts at parenting will be blessed by the Lord and will be a blessing to her and our family. Discipline and training is a discipline for me.

Gracelyn had a tooth poke through yesterday on the bottom. I think this explains some of her crankiness lately. Her gums are all swollen and she can't seem to get enough fingers in her mouth. It's got to hurt. We continue to struggle with cereal. I've tried about four times with different varieties of cereal and at different times of the day. Each time she spent the next several hours projectile vomiting and lethargic. I hate it for her and if she didn't need the iron I would quit all together trying. I'll give it several more weeks before trying again and in the meantime I plan to ask some very knowledgable people for ideas. As for baby food, she doing great and loves all the new flavors.

Onto fun stuff. At her last appointment, Gracelyn weighed 16 lbs 15 oz (50%) and was 26 7/8" long (75%). She waves from the across the room or when someone greets her. I love how she uses her hands...when she moves her hand like she's knocking on the door or folds her hands together. She squeals, she screams, she laughs, she whines, she sings, she talks, and she has been calling to "mum mum." Last Sunday in church, she was singing during hymns so loudly that the song leader stopped between verses to encourage everyone to try to sing louder than her. She is pulling up easily now onto furniture and her crib. She takes most of her naps in her crib and I can lay her down before she is fully asleep (this is a big accomplishment for us :) I love watching Gracelyn and Trent playing together. It seems like they are always laughing and doing something silly like exchanging the pacifier back and forth in their mouths or singing "Five Little Deer." And then there are those precious times when he slow dances and sings her to sleep or when she just really wants to be with him. I grow more and more in love with her everyday and I am so proud of the little person that she is becoming.

Now onto some pictures...

Kisses for daddy

I love her hand on his face!

I have a new affection for leg warmers and tights.

Playing in the sun

Bows and ponytails

Thanksgiving pics

She loves playing with Grammy

Somehow I missed getting Todd's face. Good friends over for Thanksgiving.

Julie and Darby

Kado sharing his cars with Gracelyn

Ready to eat Turkey!

Hope, Sarah, and Emma--my fun, sweet nieces

Steven. I love this picture of him!

Michael & Sarah playing Cranium in the basement. The girls found items in the closest and decorated the basement. It was very cozy!

Gracelyn's friend, Gentry. They are so intrigued with one another.

What a cutie!

Gentry is three months younger than Gracelyn and weighs a half pound more than her.

How do I get on the floor?

Cuddling with daddy after throwing up all day long :(

Six Months and Crawling...backwards!

On October 29th, Gracelyn turned six months old. It's hard to believe that we are halfway to the one year mark. A little unnerving and yet it is such exciting times for our sweet girl. She is learning something new literally everyday. A couple weeks ago she started sitting up independently from lying on her belly. She just tucks her little feet up under her and scoots her tushy back. Trent and I both got to witness this grand accomplishment the first time. Every time we applaud Gracelyn she beams with pride and shows the best smile. Lately, she has begun to lengthen her trip to her bum by crawling backwards for several strides before finally making it on her bottom. This means the girl is making it to every corner of the room now. She is on the brink of crawling forward but for now she reaches as far as she can and ends up on her belly. She enjoys pulling up on her crib and while holding onto our hands. I love how she throws her hands in the air when she playing and reaches out with her palm up like she is trying to wave. My favorite new thing is the most delightful squeal that she makes. She's just plain happy and it shows with every high-pitched squeal. I am anxious to see her stats when we go back for WBC in a couple weeks. It's been almost three months since we've had her weighed and measured. My arms can attest that she is growing but mostly in length and not so much in chub. I think she might be tall like her Daddy and Aunt Joni.

Sleeping arrangements have continued to be an issue, although for now, we have an arrangement that seems to be working well for all of us. After several nights of attempting to keep Gracelyn in her crib and surviving the torture of hours of crying (one night of two 1/2 hours of it), we stumbled upon a new approach. One night about three weeks ago she finally fell asleep on a sleeping bag on the floor in our living room. It was such a relief to see her sleeping somewhere other than our arms that we almost left her there for the night. Instead, we decided to transfer her on the sleeping bag onto the floor in our bedroom. Unexpectedly, the girl slept all night! And each night since she has done very well. We can lay next to her for just a couple minutes on the floor if she wakes up when she put her down and this immediately settles her. When she wakes to eat, which is now back to once (most nights), I can lay next to her and catch some rest and then return to our bed once she is settled again. It's so much better than struggling to find comfort while upright in her room. I don't know if she likes to hear us breathing or finds comfort in our smell but I am so thankful that she have found relief at night...for now.

Over the past few weeks, she has been going through a major mama stage where she would whine or cry when I left her sight even for a moment and wanted to be held often. It is difficult for many reasons...sometimes it is just plain tiring, it's hard to get things done around the house when she isn't content with anything but being in my arms and yet at the same time it's hard not to hold her all day and just sit on the couch watching TV. However, in the past week, she seems to have had a shift in this and is much more content. I wonder if she started having a little more anxiety with her new mobility and just needed a little more reassurance that mommy would still be around even if she started exploring more. I am still learning her and need some much Godly wisdom in knowing how to best respond and train her. What a big task!

Here's her six month shot...notice the paper has to be out of her sight, otherwise, it is in her mouth.

Trying to enjoy the outdoors even when it's chilly.

Pulling up

Pumpkin Patch in Liberty

Exploring with her new friend, Joel McCall, who is getting ready to have a new baby sister.

Her best friend, Charleigh Ford. They still are a little oblivious to each other but will be playing together before we know it.

We traveled to Salisbury on Halloween weekend. Here's Sarah as a candy corn getting ready to play in the marching band...what!! She's growing way too fast.

This is just odd but funny!

Steven in the tree...love this picture.

Five Months & Moving