Grace is 5 Months!

Grace is now 5 months old and I know I keep saying it... but time is flying by! She will be 1/2 a year old in just a few weeks! She's becoming more and more animated each day and is really starting to sit up pretty well. A week or two before her 5 month birthday she was able to balance herself sitting up in a tripod position. It was very impressive. As you can see in her 5 month picture below she's sitting up well with the help of the pillow behind her back. I think in the next week or two she should be sitting up unassisted! I love when they start sitting up. It brings a whole new world of playtime. 

5 months old

Brown eyed girl!

Grace is still a happy little lady! She smiles at EVERYONE and smiles very BIG! She loves to be held and be part of the action. At dinner she doesn't usually want to sit in her bouncer and watch us from afar, she wants to sit in one of our laps and see everything. She kicks her feet real hard at bath time as if she purposely wants to splash. The exersaucer has been really great. She stands very well in it and really enjoys the little toys. I'm amazed at how well she spins herself around to see all the different toys (the seat can move 360 degrees). When she is on her belly she kicks her feet very hard and looks like a little baby seal with her arms held back. I wonder when she will crawl. Already she tries to move her body and does a pretty good job in maneuvering the floor. I found her head under the ottoman today - about 2 feet from where she originally was placed! She rolls, twirls and scoots!

Little tripod!

I like standing in my exersaucer

What is Grace's day like? She's a champion with the daily schedule! I don't know if she's that much better at adapting to a schedule than William was (who wasn't even bad, but it took until 6 months to get two naps a day down pat) or if I'm just more knowledgeable as to what the day should look like, but I'll take it nevertheless! She gets up around 7:15/7:30a, eats, plays, then goes down for her first nap of the day sometime between 9-9:30a. She gets up sometime between 10:30-11a, eats then plays on her mat or runs errands with me and William or goes to the Y daycare with William then is ready for nap #2 of the day right as William is ready to go down around 12:30-1p. Nap #2 has been her longer nap, which has been really nice in letting me relax for a little. She gets up a little before William does and eats again, which works out nicely because I like to get her "meals" out of the way when William is occupied. William has no problem playing while I feed her, but I'd rather be on the run with him than making him wait. Once William is up then we go play until Daddy gets home. Grace some days wants a third nap and some days is just a little cranky, but won't nap. She can't quite make it the rest of the day without a little rest, but she sometimes fights that late afternoon rest. By 6p she's making it clear that she's ready for the bedtime ritual. She takes a nice warm bath, gets her footie pajamas on and sleep sack (a fleece sack with armholes that is essentially a blanket), eats then passes out on her tummy in bed. She is still a tummy sleeper and I very rarely see that she's rolled onto her back to snooze.

I managed to rip my mobile down to play!

So as you can see she eats 5 times a day at this point. The late afternoon feedings are a little tight, so I think we may be dropping a meal as we start bringing solids into the mix. We haven't tried any solids yet, but think we should probably get started here shortly. The doctor gave us a go ahead at 4 months, but we clearly haven't rushed into it. Her two bottom teeth are very much in and ready for food!

Yummy feet I like to try to eat

Grace loves her big brother so much and constantly stares at him. William is getting really helpful with her. I can ask him to give her certain toys like her toy links or if she's bored I ask him to show her a book then she's happy again. She laughs at him all the time - even when he isn't doing anything funny. I think William found his #1 fan - outside of his mama and daddy! Next to William, for entertainment she enjoys mouthing on everything (probably because of the teeth) especially the toy links. In her exersaucer she likes to mouth the fish toy. She's just now getting into her crinkly book and I brought out the singing dog that William really enjoyed playing with. Once she's sitting up better there are many fun toys she will probably enjoy.

You're fun, big brother!

Well, we sure are lucky! Grace is doing so well and we couldn't be happier. I can't wait to see her grow more each day and see how she and William start to play. It's mostly eye pokes and blankets on top of the head, but I can see William making attempts and Grace really hoping he will entertain her!

Great job, Miss Grace! We're looking forward to the month ahead!

Smiles smiles smiles

Whatcha have there William?

Working on sitting up

Two teeth! I'm a happy lady!

William's 2 Year Wellness

William's 2 year wellness visit was on Monday after his birthday. We saw Dr. Middleton this time and had a great check-up. Here are the stats, which is my favorite part of the visit!

Weight: 30 lbs 8 oz - 79% percentile

Height: 36" (or 3' tall! funny to say) - 92% percentile

People ask all the time how old he is and when they hear his age are surprised because he's tall for being 2. He's the second youngest in his nursery school class and he's the tallest out of the group. Maybe he will be like Matt and grow completely by 8th grade! So in addition to growing, the doctor asked about a few other milestones...

Talking: we didn't need to touch on the subject too much because as soon as Dr. M walked in William informed him "Balloon sky! Up!" The question was going to be does he speak in two and sometimes three word sentences yet? Ha! Yes, the balloons went up into the sky on his birthday and the memory is seared in William's memory :)

Teeth: Time to see the dentist before he turns 3! I think I will likely wait until he's much closer to 3 though. Dr. M asked if he brushes each night and I told him yes, we do and if we were to ever forget William would certainly remind us! William loves to brush his teeth - mostly because the toothpaste tastes fruity :) He holds the brush to his teeth and sucks the toothpaste off and says "Mmmm!" Then he actually gives a few good brushes! Sometimes he demands to brush his teeth before nap time too.

Safety: this is the time when certain accidents just can't happen. Dr. M remembered when we called him on Christmas Eve because William pulled up on a chair that fell backwards on top of his face. We got worried because he got a nose bleed an hour later and of course, I freaked out thinking he was bleeding internally or had a concussion (he was perfectly fine. The nose bleed was because the chair hit his nose and it stopped two minutes later). So Dr. M said those type of accidents are likely going to happen now and then and we do the best we can to avoid them, but BIG accidents like fire/hot objects, medicine cabinet, cleaning supplies, etc., can NEVER happen - clearly. William is at age when everything is a new discovery and he's able to get into anything he puts his mind to, so we need to be ultra careful. William is very attached to whoever he's with and very, very rarely will wander off, so we are lucky that we don't have to worry too much, but Miss Grace is growing quickly and we really need to better baby proof the new house. A funny story (but potentially could be hazardous) was our neighbor who is 6 months older than William just recently left his bedroom upstairs, climbed down the stairs of his house, out the back door, through the gate, crossed the street and ended up at the playground to play -- without his mom knowing! He has two older brothers and I'm sure he's learned the art of escape quickly, but I was amazed! I really don't see William being capable or even wanting to do that right now, but we shall see 6 months from now! Till then, eagle eyes on the little man!

One shot and we were on our way home. William knew what the shot was as it was coming, so the gift of a sticker is now a bargaining tool. I remember those days myself - vividly! A sticker helped out tremendously.

No wellness visits until he's 3, since it's now a yearly process...  big boy growing up fast... But we do hope we don't see the doctor any sooner!

Till next year!

Grace's Baptism

Grace was baptized on Sunday, January 26, 2014 at Annunciation Catholic Church. Mgsr. Caverly and Fr. Parkes performed the baptism and Erin Sullivan and Brandon Saltmarsh are her godparents. It was a beautiful service and Grace did very well! She smiled as soon as Matt lifted her from the baptismal font. 

It was very nice to have Grace baptized at the same church as William and also with Mgsr. Caverly and Fr. Parkes present. Mgsr. Caverly and Fr. Parkes were at our wedding, and it is very special to continue the connection we have with them with our children. 

God bless Grace.  

Grace being baptized