We weren't planning on it this early, but Grace came to Disney with us on Saturday night! She was a champ! It was drizzling, pretty chilly, damp, and we stayed until 10 pm! She didn't make a peep and didn't rest her eyes once. Even at the end when we were watching the parade and Matt was trying to sway her to sleep, she was peering over his arm smiling and laughing at the crowd around her. Too funny! It was a last minute trip and we thought it would be fun for William to see Disney in the evening. He really enjoyed the electrical parade and if it wasn't starting to rain harder we would have waited for the fireworks. Fireworks happen around the time we were leaving at 10 pm.
Grace ready to party at Disney!
William asked for his raincoat before we left - good thing!
Grace is wearing one sock I found in the car that was William's
First time meeting Mickey
Alright, everyone get in the rain for a picture!
We met Mickey Mouse this time for the first time and William got shy. He said he wanted to hug him while we were waiting in line, but when given the chance he declined. Then we waited in line to see Pooh, who William also wanted to hug in line, but changed in his mind when put on the spot. He was much more comfortable giving high fives. Grace got to meet Pooh and she wanted to grab his face and eat him! Smiling ear to ear like usual. William and Matt went on the Winnie the Pooh ride. I tried to get William to go on the teacups and he wasn't having it. We went on the Buzz Lightyear ride, which in my opinion would be much more scary than teacups, but William was happy to ride in a spaceship. He had a cautious eye out for the aliens though. The best parts, of course, were the monorail and the ride back to the Villains parking lot. William kept yelling "Choo! Choo!" at the top of his lungs.
For a very unprepared trip - no one had raincoats except William. I had to buy Grace socks because I didn't pack anything for her feet or bring a blanket. There was only one diaper in my bag - whoever went #2 first was getting it. We had an awesome time! We love a good impromptu trip!
Grace is now climbing the stairs! She climbed the stairs like she's done it before! I looked back on when William climbed the stairs and sure enough he did it the same way. As if this was a common occurrence. When Grace decided it was time to conquer the stairs, William and I were heading upstairs for bath time and Grace wanted to join the party. She wasn't waiting on Matt to bring her up! Up she went on her own. Here she is!
She is growing up so quickly and she's so much more aware of the world around her. She gets upset when I leave a room and crawls to find me. She is always looking for William in a room and laughs at him whenever he's being funny. Still sweet as can be - even smiling at Maggie. Loves when people talk to her and smile at her. The fastest, fastest crawler ever. Into everything. Pulling cords, picking up crumbs, everything goes into her mouth, she's biting a bunch because of all the new teeth coming in. I see two more teeth (the ones to the left and right of the top two teeth). Yes, today I look down and jump (and yell) because she was down on the ground biting my toe. Always pulling up and wants to pull up on anyone near her, which doesn't make William too happy. He's getting much more irritated with her recently because of it. She wants to hold onto him all the time and it hurts William. So William bops her on top of the head. If he catches me watching then he pretends to pet her instead. William has been in time out MUCH more often this past month. Time out works pretty well for him, but that is probably another post.
Loves to watch the big kids
Chewing on everything
Sleeping at the beach
I must be near you big brother
More chewing
Always, always smiling
Let me grab you more, William
Strong little lady
She loves food. I think if we made the switch to all food now, she'd be perfectly happy. She loves a bottle, but she acts like she's never full when she gets fruit and veggie purees. She eats small bits of soft food like bananas. She's great at picking up puffs and feeding herself baby crackers. She picked up avocado bits and fed herself those the other day as well.
On the milestone front, she's definitely ready to begin walking. Last week she walked four slow steps with the aid of the walker. I wish I caught it on tape! She keeps using the walker in the wrong way, and tries to move forward - but it's much more difficult the way she's doing it. See below! This was a week ago.
She's beginning to cruise. Last week she went from the ottoman to the couch. Turned around and took a step. Today she walked the length of the couch holding onto the edge. She side stepped. Then I held her hands and let her put her weight on my hands while she took steps from the kitchen island to the couch. I bet in the next couple months she will be walking! Right now when I try to trick her into walking or lure her, she drops to the ground and crawls. She's walking when she's not distracted or thinks no one is watching. As soon as the video camera comes out, she smiles, and crawls like Speedy Gonzalez.
Loves the walker and trying to push it
Crackers at lunch
Kisses from Clarke visiting from North Carolina
Grace's usual sitting position - one leg forward, one back
Sleep is still great for Grace. 7/7:15p to 7/7:15a then two naps a day, but still a third on occasion. She naps at 9a and 12:30p. I could probably hold her off longer on the 2nd nap, but I like that her and William go down at the same time together. Then I usually take a rest or get things done around the house.
Grace is doing great! She's a lot of fun and she really makes the job easy. Matt was asking me the other day if she ever gets upset when we're out for no reason - never. She is always happy and ready to ride. She wants her naps or bottles, but really - always in a great mood.
This is a short, but monumental post! William finally said WATER! Yes, a silly word. But, William has referred to water as "cuppa" for a long time. Since he first started talking. It was one of his first words because I had always said to him, "Would you like a cup of water?" A cup of - he associated water with "a cup of" - hence "acuppa" or "cuppa." He knows exactly what water is, but always, always calls it cuppa. We've been trying to erase "cuppa" from his memory because it's been very cute, but it's time to say the right word. Tonight he asked Matt for a "cuppa" and Matt asked him what he wanted in his cup. William said: "water." WOW! So perhaps when we pass by a lake or it's raining outside, we will hear more of "water" instead of "cuppa." Funny how one day when you least expect it, you see that everything you have been repeating finally clicks. You're getting big, William.
William has gotten into TV shows now that he's turned 2 and I didn't think he'd have the attention span for a movie until he was closer to 3. Turns out he was ready!
It all started with Peter Rabbit, as I'm sure I've mentioned before. He still loves Peter and anyone that spends time with him knows that! Thomas the Train love developed after Peter. Then he likes Sesame Street if Elmo pops on. And most recently Chuggington is a hit. He calls Chuggington (he's a train), "Ten." I'd say those are the only shows he watches right now. He's only allowed 1 show a day at the max (they're about 25 minutes - perfect for before dinner time). I try to go a couple days without turning one at all as well. I'd rather go outside and play.
Holding Thomas the Train - a favorite Easter gift
And so his first movie (start to finish) is Frozen, the new Disney movie about two sister princesses living in a cold blistery wintery tundra. There is a snowman in Frozen, a couple handsome Disney men, and a reindeer. William loves the snowman and Anna. And he loves the whole soundtrack. He has watched the movie twice and didn't budge an inch while it was on. I downloaded the soundtrack and whenever we're in the car, William asks to listen to "Wa-wa." I have no idea why he calls the movie "Wa-wa." Or he will say "Snowman?" I hear him occasionally sing "Do you want to build a snowman?" and the only words he "sings" is "Build, snowman... Build, snowman..." and he says it in a sing songy voice. Cracks me up.
He's watched parts of Up and parts of Cars as well. While I was away this past weekend in NYC visiting friends, Matt said he turned Cars on for William. There was a scene where one of the cars gets "attacked" (for lack of a more kid-friendly term...) by other cars and Matt said William burst into tears. Legit, "I am so upset this car is getting hurt and I don't like it" - tears. Matt consoled him and everything turned out okay. I was a little worried it upset him so much though!
Watching Frozen songs on my iPhone
Still watching Frozen songs...
Watching tv together
For Easter we picked up Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh. We haven't opened them yet, but we may open shortly once the soundtrack to Frozen starts to wear thin on my ears :) We're looking forward to many a fun movie date with William!
And has been - since last month! One small reason for the delay in posting is that Grace is on the go and she is FAST. She has no interest in staying still. She's pulling up on everything. Crawling over everything. Grabbing everything. Bouncing up and down. Holding on by one hand to the couch or ottoman. She is a lady on the move for sure. The picture above definitely sums her up!
Grace started crawling the day before we left on a ski trip sans children. She slowly moved her way forward a couple crawls then flopped to her belly. That weekend the babysitter Kelly sent us video of her moving along slowly. By the time we got back on Monday night she was crawling like a champ. She pulled up in her bed just a few days later. Game over. She loves to be mobile.
Always into something now that she can move
Enjoys the swing at the park
Sitting with her big bro and boy cousins
Grabbing William at the zoo - he's not so happy about that
Enjoying the exersaucer in the backyard
Pool time with William for the first time
So the crawling and pulling up were the big spotlights for 6 months going into 7 months. Plus going into a sitting position from the crawling position. She's taking 2 solid naps a day, plus a 3rd every now and then. She has 4 bottles a day. I try to feed her food twice a day. It usually only happens once though with all the activity happening in our house. She does love a Mum Mum cracker. She's even started to pick up puffs by herself to eat.
Still loves her big brother and is always cracking up when she watches him. Now that she's getting mobile and starting to pull on him, he's irritated with her. Trust me - it isn't fun when she grabs hold of your hair and yanks as hard as possible. She's still sweet as can be and has the happiest smile of all.
