Summer Days

Our Explorer

Now that Graecyn is mobile, she's starting to explore more and more.  Yesterday she discovered Eric's stack of Xbox games and decided she needed to get a closer look.



 



looking all innocent

Summer Vacation

Eric, Graecyn and I spent our summer vacation visiting my family in Iowa.  The last time we were there, Graecyn was only 8 weeks old, so everyone was very excited to see her.  Graecyn and I had a great time...Eric was really sick the entire time, so it wasn't the most fun vacation for him.  We spent lots of time with family, ate lots of Taco House (yum!), took Addison & Colton to the amusement park, and Graecyn got to go for her first boat ride, first playground swing, and dipped her toes in the lake for the first time.

Addison feeding Graecyn

Graecyn and her cousins

Graecyn checking out Riley

Graecyn's first boat ride

Loving the swing

Graecyn's New Moves

Every day is a new adventure for Graecyn and it is so fun to watch.  It seems like every day she is doing something new.

She now likes to tap her foot...it's like she's plotting her next move.

She loves to tuck her water bottle (her new favorite toy) under her arm and carry it where ever she goes.

She can pull herself up to standing and safely navigate up and down a stair (without face planting).

She giggles like crazy.

7 Months!

Graecyn is 7 months old today!  It's hard to believe...time flies!  Everyone warned me about how fast time would go by, but I never really believed them until now.  As exciting as it is to watch Graecyn grow and experience new things, with each passing month, I feel a sense of sadness that my little baby is not so much a baby, but becoming a little girl.  I can't stop or slow down time, so I just need to remember to take in every single moment, every laugh, every new discovery.

Last week, she weighed in at 14 lbs, 13 ounces and was 26.5” long.

She still has no teeth and has just started eating 3 meals per day – so far she loves everything we’ve given her (green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, squash, zucchini, oatmeal, rice cereal, banana, nectarine, applesauce).  We’ve definitely seen an  increase in her appetite in the last few days.  I'm still nursing her, but she is very easily distracted now, so our nursing episodes are shortening, which makes me a bit sad.

She babbles and squeals constantly and it seems that her favorite thing to say is “da-da-da-da”.  She also has a fake cough/laugh that she loves to do, which is really cute.

She has started to "drink" water from a sippy cup...mostly she just chews on the spout, but occasionally gets some water in her mouth.

She can sit on her own, unsupported and is not yet crawling on her knees, but has mastered the army crawl on her elbows and has gotten really fast (we definitely cannot turn our backs on her now).  She does big push-ups where she gets up on all fours for a few seconds, rocks back and forth and then plops back on her tummy and starts to army crawl.

She has started swimming lessons (aka splash class) and loves the water.  She also loves to play peek-a-boo (aka “where’s Graecyn?”) and her favorite toy right now seems to be an empty water bottle of all things.

She's a great sleeper with her bedtime by 9 and up by 6:30 or 7; occasionally she'll wake up between 4 and 5 a.m. ready to eat.  She takes good naps during the day – usually ready for her first nap by 9 a.m. and second nap by around 1 p.m. and sleeps anywhere from 1-3 hours.  She has gotten to be pretty predictable.  As soon as she starts rubbing her eyes, we start the nap time routine.

She has started to reach her arms out/up for us, which is super cute and absolutely melts our hearts.

She never ceases to amaze us with her new developments and continues to fill our lives and hearts with joy.  We love you baby girl!

Graecyn and her daddy

Eric took a break from working in his woodshop today and joined Graecyn and me outside.  I took the opportunity to practice my photography skills and snapped some pictures of Eric and Graecyn.  One thing is for sure is that Graecyn loves her daddy (and he loves her). :-)

Time for a tea party

Old MacDonald