Cars, Cows, Forks, Oh My!

The "Hide Inside The Onesie Or Sleeper" Game continues! Since my last post, I have found: play cars, EVERY animal from her Little People Farm (all at once :), remote, cookie and toothbrush! Maybe one of these times, I'll find some cash!

Grace has been doing much better lately with listening. It seems as soon as I post a complaint, she changes. As long we don't fool around with a wimpy "no", she will stop. She has spent quite a bit of time in time-out, mostly for hitting. That is the one thing that is not improving. She will have good days, which means Mama doesn't get hit at all. Or we will have bad days where Grace enjoys some quality time on the hallway floor about 5 different times. She really only hits now when she is not getting her way and she immediately regrets it. You can see it on her face as she smiles, waves and says "hi" or "tickle, tickle". That doesn't get her off the hook though :)

*I started typing this post this morning. Big mistake! Grace's behavior has been pretty stinky today. From now on, I will only post bad things in hopes of changing it :)

The biggest improvement has been with her answering to her name. So much better! We have been going to OT and I've been doing a lot at home. I'm not sure if that is what has helped or not. My thought is that she is handling stimulation better and is able to focus more on other things around her. I have no idea if that is a bunch of bologna or what.

We have put Grace back on the bottle once a day to help with eye contact. In the beginning, she didn't care about the bottle and I thought doing the sippy cup would be the same thing. I was wrong. Unfortunately, not being a first time mom doesn't always help. I was worried about having trouble getting her off the bottle so we didn't push it when we first got her. After two weeks of her being given a bottle of milk after her nap, she does so much better in the cradle position and looking at me. She still tends to want to look at my mouth when we are that close, but I've seen a great improvement. It is even carrying over throughout the rest of the day. Not perfect, but we are moving in the right direction. I did pick a time of day that would be easy to get rid of the bottle though :)

The best news to report is that I'm consistently called "Mama"!!!!! I love it!

I need to brag a little bit, too! Our little smarty pants knows almost all her colors and we just realized that she can identify about 10 letters of the alphabet! She learned them from her LeapTop I posted about before. And it's not just on the laptop that she can point to them. She has a blanket with a "z" on the corner. One morning she was very excitedly telling me "z, z,z" (only she was making the sound of the letter). Amazing little girl!!!

I have been trying so hard to get some nice pictures of Grace (looking at the camera and smiling). I'm convinced it may never happen again. For the past 2 months, she has been sooooo difficult. I need some good pictures for her homestudy update we are doing next month. She better start to smile or Russia is going to think the kid is miserable here!

We went outside today and had a little success with some happiness captured on camera.

Loving the swing!


Dragging herself up the ramp to go on the slide.

Trying her best to swing on the rope!


Nate had Colonial Day at school today. His report was on Colonial Laws and Punishments. His teacher let him use her pillary to show the class. I want one of those for home! Could be an effective Time-Out spot. Kidding!!!

Scouts

Last night was the Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts. Nate is in 5th grade and has decided to continue with scouts and become a Boy Scout. He loves everything about scouts....minus the uniform :) That is just tolerated. All the cub scouts received awards, badges, pins at the banquet and the Weeblos (5th graders) "cross over" to Boy Scouts. They make it meaningful, which is so nice. Nate is so excited about all that lies ahead with being a boy scout. (Mom's a little worried about her baby camping every month with boys ranging in age from 11-18. But that's a different story.)

We are so proud of Nate and the commitment he has shown to scouting. Great job, Nate! We love you!

Our new Boy Scout!

This is the "Crossing Over" Ceremony. All the cub scouts that want to become a boy scout, need to cross the bridge (along with mom and dad). Then he receives new shoulder bands, new scarf thingy and new book! Nate was beeming!

Check out the excitement! He came home and read the new scout book in bed and then as soon as he woke up, starting reading again!

Aidan received some awards at the banquet too! That's Aidan who is shaking hands with his leader.

Proud boy!!! Great job, Aidan!

A Fork and Favorite Toys???

Funny story....I went to change Grace's diaper yesterday and when I unbuttoned her onesie snaps, I found a FORK! A toddler one with rounded metal prongs! I didn't realize it was missing after I cleaned up her lunch. We both had a good laugh! Then throughout the rest of the day, I found the remote control and several plastic apples! I shouldn't have been totally surprised since the night before when I went to change her diaper before bed, I found an M&M magnet inside her sleeper! We may have a hoarding problem :)

Grace got this new lap top for Christmas from her cousins. She LOVES it! It gets played with at least 5 different times a day. She has figured out how to hear animals sounds, songs, emails and pretty much uses it correctly. The coolest part is that you can plug it in to your computer when you first get it and personalize it. When Grace hits the email button, she gets emails from mommy, daddy and Nate. It greets her every time she turns it on by saying, "Hello, Grace". It even sings a song about her name! It is so cute. After you program it, you don't need to plug it in anymore.

What are your kids' favorite toys??? Grace has a birthday coming up and I need some ideas!


Grace playing with my sister's dog, Taj.

The boys were calling Grace a "baby middle schooler". They got her lap top, cell phone, "text book", lunch box and back pack and set her up in her desk. Ta da.... baby middle schooler!

Again with the shirt over her head! She wore her shirt like this most of the day. Although it made it easier to spot things that she dropped inside her onesie :)

Things I love...

Today is 9 months since we came home and officially became a family of 5! I wish I had some great pictures to share, but I've been lazy lately with the camera.

I wanted to take some time to document the little things I love about my Grace....

She says "hi" all the time. She comes down from her bath and says "hi" like I haven't seen her for hours. She will climb behind my back on the kitchen chair, lean over my shoulder and say "hi". When she is in time out and I'm standing nearby, she will wave and say "hi". So darn cute!

She makes the funniest fish face.

She will sit next to me on the couch at night while watching her show and she will rub my arm. Love it!

When she tries to pull me to get her something, she will strain her face like she is pulling with all her might as she says "pull" with a strained voice.

She does the "We did it" dance from Dora the Explorer.

When Dora or Diego tell her to do something (like climb a mountain or catch a star), she does it! I wish I had that much influence :)

She kicks a ball around the house all the time and is getting quite good. Daddy is so proud!

SHE PUTS HERSELF TO SLEEP ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

She will go up to any strange child in public and lean in with a very delicate hug. I like that because it shows her loving side that she just isn't ready to show other family members right now. But it is there!

She says "oh no" with the sweetest voice and hands on cheeks. Too freakin' cute!

She will forget that hitting is not allowed and quickly smile, rub my head and say "hi". Usually this happens mid-hit. I think she thinks I won't notice that she almost hit me.

She will climb into any box or bucket, whether she fits or not :)

When her bow isn't in her hair, she will brush her hair out of her eyes with her whole hand. It's so sweet!

She sings the beginning song of Dora (da da da da da da da).

When the whole family is in the car and I'm not driving, sometimes she will hold her hand out for me to hold it. She holds on so tight and sucks her other thumb. Very uncomfortable for me, but I secretly love it!

She fake snores, with her eyes open :)

She adores her brothers...

And we adore her!

You Can Call Me Ma

I've waited so long, almost 9 months, to hear my baby girl actually call me "Mommy" or "Mama". She has said the word, more like the sound, many times but would not call me anything. I've gotten whined at, pulled (as she says "pull"), pointed at, etc. Well, just this past week Grace has starting saying my name... Ma! What??? Do I look like Mrs. Ingles from Little House???? It cracks me up! She calls balloons in the store 'mamamama" and I get "ma"!?! She has only said it a handful of times, but it is progress. She still doesn't say it trying to get my attention or talk to me (like when she wakes up in the morning). She says it when she is looking for me (like when she is telling Brad she wants to know where I am) or when she is climbing on me (kind of labeling me). I always make a big deal out of it and she gets all excited.

I will accept "Ma" for right now. But I refuse to refer to myself as that :)

Check out my little amish girl with the shirt half off again.

Lip Sync 2011

Last night was Lip Sync! It was a lot of fun! I'm always amazed at the confidence and talent these kids demonstrate. I would never have been able to get on a stage in front of hundreds of people when I was their age.

Aidan and his friend, Adam, did Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson


I have been trying all day to upload the video and it won't go through for some reason. I will keep trying.....

By Aidan

Aidan took this picture tonight of Grace with his IPod Touch. He is very proud of it and how it "looks like a professional took it". He emailed it to me so I could put it on the blog. He is so sweet!!!

Thank You!!!!

I want to thank you all so much for your comments!!! The advice, support, shared stories and websites really helped. It did make me realize that we all have our issues and how grateful I am that Grace has come as far as she has in the past 9 months. I always struggle with trying to get my point across through writing. I need to do video taped posts :)

We have days where the eye contact is pretty good (actually great today) and then there are days I can barely get it. It's weird since Grace has a cold today and you can tell she doesn't feel well. Maybe her walls come down when she doesn't have the energy to fight looking away :)

Back in Sept/Oct. I went back to the gym but had to stop. Grace was becoming very clingy at home again and I felt that she just needed more time before being left in the nursery. I started backup again last week and Grace has done great for 3 visits there, but today she has been GLUED to me. She was asking to be held a lot today and when I would try to put her down to do something, she would cling to me. I'm not sure if it is related to the gym or if it is just her not feeling well. Time will tell....

Thanks again for all the support! So happy for fellow APs!!!!




Grace LOVES to play outside. The other day she was getting herself ready with Aidan's coat :)

Ever since the loved laundry basket ride, Grace is constantly getting the laundry basket to play in it. She was watching Dora when I found her like this.....Too darn cute!

Grace was loving having Nate carry her around. You can't tell from the picture, but she was on him like a koala bear :)

Aidan wanted a turn too. Grace is saying "bye bye" here. I think she thinks Aidan is taking her somewhere :)