Sunday, March 31, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Wedding Reception
We traveled last weekend to Dubuque, IA for the last phase of Will and Danielle's wedding...the reception. Since they got married in the Turks & Caicos, it was impossible for all of their family and friends to celebrate with them, so they opted for a big wedding reception in Dubuque (near where Danielle is from). It was a quick trip with a lot of driving, but Graecyn traveled great and we had a fun time. It's always nice to see our family!
On the way there, we stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and did not make it out of the store without Graecyn getting a new toy. She grabbed ahold of the pink Beanie Boo unicorn in the picture below and did not want anything else. We tried offering her other things, but she would just shake her head, say "no", and squeeze the Beanie Boo tighter. Hard to say no to that...we'll eventually learn to say no. :-) Once we arrived in Dubuque, we wanted a way for Graecyn to burn off some energy, so we headed to the nearby shopping mall for the kid's play area where she got to play on a helicopter.
The hotel had a great indoor pool. After our experience in Turks & Caicos with Graecyn being terrified of the water, I wasn't sure what to expect with the hotel pool. She was a bit hesitant at first, but Eric helped ease her into the water. She got really comfortable in the inflatable tube, to the point that Eric didn't have to hold on to her and she would just kick her legs and float around.
The wedding reception was so much fun. Once again, Danielle looked gorgeous in her dress - they traded in their flip flops for their cowboy boots!
On the way there, we stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and did not make it out of the store without Graecyn getting a new toy. She grabbed ahold of the pink Beanie Boo unicorn in the picture below and did not want anything else. We tried offering her other things, but she would just shake her head, say "no", and squeeze the Beanie Boo tighter. Hard to say no to that...we'll eventually learn to say no. :-) Once we arrived in Dubuque, we wanted a way for Graecyn to burn off some energy, so we headed to the nearby shopping mall for the kid's play area where she got to play on a helicopter.
The hotel had a great indoor pool. After our experience in Turks & Caicos with Graecyn being terrified of the water, I wasn't sure what to expect with the hotel pool. She was a bit hesitant at first, but Eric helped ease her into the water. She got really comfortable in the inflatable tube, to the point that Eric didn't have to hold on to her and she would just kick her legs and float around.
The wedding reception was so much fun. Once again, Danielle looked gorgeous in her dress - they traded in their flip flops for their cowboy boots!
Graecyn, Addison, and Gracie all got to wear their flower girl dresses again and looked so cute. Graecyn got lots of love from Addison, Colton, and Gracie over the weekend!
Graecyn absolutely lights up when she sees her cousin Addison - smiling, waving, saying hi, and trying to touch/kiss her. It is so cute to see. With a little advanced planning, the girls got to dress like twins one of the days.
We managed to time our driving around Graecyn's sleep schedules, so she ended up sleeping most of the time we were driving, which was great. We planned plenty of stops for her to get out and stretch her legs, even finding a Chuck-e-Cheese for dinner. It may have taken us an extra 3 hours to get home, but traveling with a happy baby made it all worth it!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Silly Girl
We've been taking more video of Graecyn now that she's doing so many silly things. She loves to dance now - as soon as she hears music, her head starts bobbing, her hips start shaking...she just can't help herself. It's so much fun to watch!
She is also a jabber box. She's pretty good about telling us what sounds an elephant, monkey, lion, and puppy make. But also can say "Elmo" pretty well. And, she loves to make this silly face (it never gets old).
We've had a lot of deer in our back yard recently and Graecyn loves to watch them through the window, wave and say "hi dee dee" to the deer.
The other night I was trying to make supper and she was constantly at my feet (not good when you're using the stove). So, to distract her, I pulled out one of our pots and gave her a wooden spoon. Most kids would bang on the pot and make noise; Graecyn preferred to practice stirring and sitting in the pot!
She is also a jabber box. She's pretty good about telling us what sounds an elephant, monkey, lion, and puppy make. But also can say "Elmo" pretty well. And, she loves to make this silly face (it never gets old).
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| Silly Face |
We've had a lot of deer in our back yard recently and Graecyn loves to watch them through the window, wave and say "hi dee dee" to the deer.
The other night I was trying to make supper and she was constantly at my feet (not good when you're using the stove). So, to distract her, I pulled out one of our pots and gave her a wooden spoon. Most kids would bang on the pot and make noise; Graecyn preferred to practice stirring and sitting in the pot!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
14 Months
Graecyn,
You are 14 months old today. After you turned one, I hadn't planned to continue with the monthly updates, but there are still so many fun things happening almost daily that I have to keep them going.
You weigh 19 lbs 11 oz (same as at your 12 month appointment) - I'm pretty sure you put on some weight since then, but now that you're so active, it's hard for you to keep the weight on. You grew 1" over the past 2 months (no wonder your pants and long sleeves are all too short) - you're now 31" long.
You are talking like crazy and trying to say many of the words Daddy and I say - they pretty much all sound like you're saying "addy" or "daddy" though; most days it sounds like you're speaking in French. You're trying hard to say "more" and after a few tries and some help from me or Daddy, you can usually say it pretty clear. You have mastered saying "no" (probably because you hear us say it to you so often) and "hi" - your "hi" sounds like "hieeee" and is so cute, especially when you say it while giving your whole arm wave. I love coming home to you greeting me at the door with a big smile, wave and "hieeee". You love to imitate sounds, especially any type of timer. No matter what you're doing - eating, playing, throwing a tantrum - the second you hear a timer go off, you stop what you're doing and say "dong". It's the funniest thing.
You got your first ear infection yesterday, but handled it like a champ. I think you get your ability to handle sickness from me and not Daddy, which is good; you had a fever and double ear infection, but were still smiling, waving and saying "hi" to everyone in the waiting room. After the doctor's appointment, you had another first...your first McDonald's happy meal - it came with a tiara that I think I might be more excited about than you are.
You are pretty shy around new people and like to sit back and observe in new situations (so much like me and Daddy) and stay close to me. Once you're comfortable in your surroundings, you become quite the show-off. You are extremely independent and love to climb on anything and everything. You've recently rediscovered the Bumbo seat and love to sit in it and read a book. You also love to make funny faces (you'll do any thing to make us laugh) and give the biggest, wettest kisses and have even started to blow kisses.
You are a great eater and there is not much that you won't eat. We try to feed you whatever Daddy and I are eating. So far I think the only thing that you're not crazy about is eggs. You absolutely love sausage (just like Daddy) and any fruit we give you (just like Mama) - you especially like blueberries, grapes, bananas, and clementines. You are finally done with the bottle; you stopped showing interest in it a few weeks ago and would only drink an ounce or so at bedtime. I finally decided to try bedtime with out offering the bottle at all and you had no problems not having it.
You absolutely love books and your favorites right now seem to be "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "My Fuzzy Valentine to Elmo". You will go to your book basket, pull out all of the books until you find one of these two and push yourself into my lap to read them to you. Only thing is that you don't like to sit still for long, so we rarely make it all the way through the book. You actually have two different "Brown Bear" books; one that is a "slide and find" (each page has a slider hiding the next animal") - you love to slide open each picture. The other "Brown Bear" book is more traditional; the last page has a summary of all of the different animals - you love to point at each one and have Daddy or me tell you what it is.
You have grown really fond of Elmo and Abby Cadabby - maybe partly from our trip to Turks and Caicos where you got to dance with them both. You can say "Abby" pretty well and are working hard to say "Elmo". You have also shown a lot of interest in all of the family pictures I have out on shelves. You especially like the pictures of your cousins Addison, Colton, Anna, and Abbie.
You are such a silly, happy, loving, sweet girl. I can't wait to see what you learn and discover over the next month. I love you baby girl!
Love,
Mama
You are 14 months old today. After you turned one, I hadn't planned to continue with the monthly updates, but there are still so many fun things happening almost daily that I have to keep them going.
You weigh 19 lbs 11 oz (same as at your 12 month appointment) - I'm pretty sure you put on some weight since then, but now that you're so active, it's hard for you to keep the weight on. You grew 1" over the past 2 months (no wonder your pants and long sleeves are all too short) - you're now 31" long.
You are talking like crazy and trying to say many of the words Daddy and I say - they pretty much all sound like you're saying "addy" or "daddy" though; most days it sounds like you're speaking in French. You're trying hard to say "more" and after a few tries and some help from me or Daddy, you can usually say it pretty clear. You have mastered saying "no" (probably because you hear us say it to you so often) and "hi" - your "hi" sounds like "hieeee" and is so cute, especially when you say it while giving your whole arm wave. I love coming home to you greeting me at the door with a big smile, wave and "hieeee". You love to imitate sounds, especially any type of timer. No matter what you're doing - eating, playing, throwing a tantrum - the second you hear a timer go off, you stop what you're doing and say "dong". It's the funniest thing.
You got your first ear infection yesterday, but handled it like a champ. I think you get your ability to handle sickness from me and not Daddy, which is good; you had a fever and double ear infection, but were still smiling, waving and saying "hi" to everyone in the waiting room. After the doctor's appointment, you had another first...your first McDonald's happy meal - it came with a tiara that I think I might be more excited about than you are.
You are pretty shy around new people and like to sit back and observe in new situations (so much like me and Daddy) and stay close to me. Once you're comfortable in your surroundings, you become quite the show-off. You are extremely independent and love to climb on anything and everything. You've recently rediscovered the Bumbo seat and love to sit in it and read a book. You also love to make funny faces (you'll do any thing to make us laugh) and give the biggest, wettest kisses and have even started to blow kisses.
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| making one of your funny faces |
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| you love pushing your doll around |
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| your first pony tail |
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| watching Sesame Street on the airplane to Turks & Caicos |
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| You love to help sweep the floor |
You absolutely love books and your favorites right now seem to be "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "My Fuzzy Valentine to Elmo". You will go to your book basket, pull out all of the books until you find one of these two and push yourself into my lap to read them to you. Only thing is that you don't like to sit still for long, so we rarely make it all the way through the book. You actually have two different "Brown Bear" books; one that is a "slide and find" (each page has a slider hiding the next animal") - you love to slide open each picture. The other "Brown Bear" book is more traditional; the last page has a summary of all of the different animals - you love to point at each one and have Daddy or me tell you what it is.
You have grown really fond of Elmo and Abby Cadabby - maybe partly from our trip to Turks and Caicos where you got to dance with them both. You can say "Abby" pretty well and are working hard to say "Elmo". You have also shown a lot of interest in all of the family pictures I have out on shelves. You especially like the pictures of your cousins Addison, Colton, Anna, and Abbie.
You are such a silly, happy, loving, sweet girl. I can't wait to see what you learn and discover over the next month. I love you baby girl!
Love,
Mama
Monday, March 4, 2013
Turks & Caicos
Last month we got to take a vacation to Turks & Caicos to help celebrate my younger brother's wedding. We had a fantastic time! Graecyn traveled well and we've discovered that take off relaxes her - we could feel her body melt as the plane sped faster and faster down the runway. We purchased a seat on the plane just for her, which was wonderful. Even though she still perferred to be in either Eric or my lap, it was so nice having the extra space and not worrying about bothering the stranger next to me (and it was really great when she finally decided to take a nap).
The island was gorgeous with bright turquoise water and white sand; the weather was gorgeous every day we were there (we did get a few rain sprinkles one day, but when it's 80 degrees in February and I've got a rum punch in hand, I'm not going to complain).
I was so excited for Graecyn to see the ocean and touch sand for the first time. My excitement quickly wore off though as she decided she hated them both and would cling to us like a monkey to keep her feet as far away as possible. So much for building sand castles! The resort did have little carts that we could rent and that was a life saver for us. Even though we had her stroller along, she was so much happier rolling around the resort in her cart (see middle picture below).
We stayed at a Beaches Resort, which has a Sesame Street theme. Graecyn was a little scared of the characters at first, but by the last day, she was in love with them! We even got to have breakfast with them on our last day and got to dance with Elmo, Abby Cadabby, and the rest of the gang! If you look at the middle picture of the below collage, that was pretty much her face when we were around the characters - her super excited cheesy grin.
We enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine as much as possible. Graecyn was happiest on her towel on the lounge chair. Graecyn has always loved bath time and enjoyed swimming lessons last summer, so I was so excited to take her in the pool. For whatever reason, she developed a fear of water (pool, ocean, bathtub) as soon as we arrived in Turks. We did finally get her into one of the pools without screaming like crazy (thanks to her Aunt Juli and cousin Addison) (thankfully, bathtime has become fun again).
The most important thing that we did while in Turks (and the whole reason for the trip) was celebrate Will and Danielle's wedding. Danielle was a gorgeous bride and the wedding was absolutely beautiful; I think it was everything they hoped it would be. Graecyn was a flower girl along with her cousin Addison and Danielle's niece, Gracie, and Colton was the ring bearer. The girls looked so cute in their flower girl dresses.
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