Sunday, November 11, 2007
7:11 PM
Gracie's two.
TWO.
Before I became a mom, two seemed like "still baby". But when I look back at photos from a year ago (see photo below), and see how much Gracie's grown, I am startled. In front of me is NOT a baby, but a little, tiny girl. A child. Someone with her own ideas, her own spirit, her own likes and dislikes, her own attitude, her own plans, and her own SELF.
Gracie is still pretty small- only about 25 pounds. We think she's a big girl, but when I saw this photo of her and Tom at the town Halloween party, I realized how tiny she is. She's still in 18 month clothes, but she's starting to grow out of them. Her feet are a solid size 5.
There's so many things she loves and is interested in: her tools and workbench, her medical kit (she likes to give people "shops" and then pretend to make it better), her tutu and princess shoes, her nightgown with the fairies on it, dressing up and looking in the mirror,taking baths, Handy Manny, The Price is Right, The Wiggles, swimming, being outside, the cats (especially Ginger, or "Shee Sher" as she calls him), answering the door, helping out around the house, coloring, and hanging out in her little house and pretending to cook elaborate meals.
Things Gracie mainly dislikes are not being able to participate in an activity or being restricted from an area where one of us are. For instance, she's not allowed in the garage. And it breaks her heart that when her Daddy is in there, she can't be in there, too. Same with my studio. My solution to that situation was to take all the HUGE beads I have made in the past and done nothing with, put them in several clear boxes, and let her use them while I am in there. So she gets to bead, too. She'll come in when I am working, point and ask for "bees" and then sit down and work on organizing them for quite a while. She takes it very seriously.
Gracie's language is finally coming along. She's learning words and phrases like there is no tomorrow. She has troubles with her "R" sounds, but she works around it. It's awesome to communicate with her in a real sense instead of signing and pantomiming things.
Her appetite is so-so. She's not fond of most foods. Her favorites are chicken nuggets, graham crackers, pasta, and chocolate soy milk. She's also had various international foods that she loves- Indian, Greek, Vietnamese, etc. We try to give her a huge variety of foods, but with the certain favorites, we just buy the healthiest we can find.
Gracie's allergies and asthma has really developed in the last year. She's now had two attacks after eating foods that had hidden allergy-triggering ingredients in them. Last night was her second attack, and we were able to treat her at home using the nebulizer. A few hours after eating something she's allergic to, she'll start breathing as if she's congested. The first time it happened, it was so severe that we had to rush her to the hospital. This time, we caught it right away and gave her Albuterol.
She still swims almost every day. She loves to run and jump and play ball. Her latest challenge is learning to jump with both feet in the air.
She's still a late riser and is quiet in the mornings. She LOVES animals, especially the cats. because of her allergies, she can't spend a lot of time at the cat shelter Tom and I volunteer at, but she goes every so often and is in heaven.
She's a great singer and dancer and loves to make up songs. She loves to talk on the phone. When she meets someone, she is quiet for a long time, but when she gets to know you, you'll never heard the end of her long, detailed stories. Last night we had a potluck, and she actually shook each guests hand when they came through the door. Then stayed quiet for a long time, hanging back, watching everyone. It wasn't until the end of the night that she came out of her shell.
Overall, we are amazed that this little PERSON is with us. I don't know if this is the case with most moms, but I am still in awe of her, every day. It still feels like most days are special occasions. I can't explain it... I'm not one of those moms who say that they came alive with their children, but Gracie has definitely added a vibrancy to our life. Everything is a little clearer, and more bright and colorful.
Happy Birthday Gracie!
Posted by Gina @ November 11, 2007 08:17 PM
She's so adorable.
Happy Birthday Gracie!
Posted by Colleen @ November 11, 2007 08:32 PM
Happy birthday Gracie-girl! It is shocking to see the change over just a year. She really is a big girl!!!
Posted by Nicki @ November 11, 2007 08:48 PM
Happy Birthday beautiful girl - here's to many, many more!
Posted by C @ November 11, 2007 09:13 PM
that was such a lovely entry, chel! *hugs*
happy birthday gracie. There will be something in the mail for you very soon! please excuse your very slack i-aunties from australia :)
Posted by melanie @ November 12, 2007 12:53 AM
it's gone so fast! it seems like just last week we were anxiously waiting to hear when you'd have grace home with you and now she's 2! happy birthday, lovely girl!
it sounds like she has a lot of similar interests to abigail, i wish we could all play 'bees' together.Posted by jade @ November 12, 2007 04:18 AM
Happy Birthday Gracie!!
Beverly
Posted by Beverly @ November 12, 2007 12:59 PM
Happy Birthday, Gracie! She is absolutely beautiful!
Posted by Sue @ November 13, 2007 06:15 PM
Happy Birthday Gracie! My goodness, she is the same size and weight as Kevin (he is also in 18 month clothes now), but she is so much more grown up! Hugs to you all from DC! --Lucy, Robert, & Kevin
Posted by Lucy @ November 14, 2007 03:11 PM
