16 Months

Dear Gracie,

In the first fifteen months of your life, outside of scheduled check-ups, you only visited the doctor once for a weird rash on your face.  In the sixteenth month of your life, you saw three different doctors in one week.  So not fun.

For about 10 days of this month, you were a hot mess.  First, you got a chest cold that you just couldn't shake.  Then, your eyes turned red and your nose became a faucet.  Once you started running a low fever, we decided to take you to the doctor.  Upon entering the waiting room, you threw up all over me and yourself.  Daddy and I both just stood there in shock for a good 60 seconds before the wonderful ladies at the front desk jumped into action and were cleaning things up and rushing us into a restroom.  My poor little baby, you were absolutely miserable.  One look at the doctor entering the room, and you started wailing and did not stop for about the next hour.  It was brutal.  Finally, they sent us home with directions to start some allergy meds.  As Daddy pulled you out of the car in our garage, you threw up again, this time all over him.  You've probably been wanting to do that for awhile now.  A few days later, and you were miserable again.  You were sleeping in 30 minute spurts at night, and I was functioning like a zombie during the day.  So, back to the doctor we went.  One breathing treatment and a double ear infection diagnosis later, and we were off to the drugstore to fill your antibiotic prescription.  While I was in the store, you threw up all over yourself in your car seat.  Man oh man.  We cuddled a lot that week, on the couch and in bed, something you normally would never put up with.  I guess that was the silver lining in this awful storm cloud.  I got to hold you like my little baby again.  Oh, and I almost forgot, you also had four teeth pop through during this time.  Once again, you were a hot mess.  Guess what?  You survived.  We all survived.

Up until this point, it feels like most of your big milestones have been physical - rolling over, walking, running, climbing Mt. Everest, etc.  This month, your brain seriously exploded (seriously - cleaning brain out of your ears every night after bath time), and Gracie, you are sooo smart!  I mean I knew you would be, but the things you are doing and SAYING are blowing me away.  You have added the following words to your vocabulary - cracker, sticker, cheese, keys, and shoes.  You say everything with such enthusiasm - like every word has at least four syllables and takes you 20 seconds to say.  Cheese is cheeeeeeeeeeese?  Everything pretty much ends with a question mark.  Sticker is hands down my favorite - stchxxxxxxer?  That's exactly how it would be spelled the way you say it.  Your favorite word is probably, more.  You want more of everything.  I've been singing a lot of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" to you because of that, but I change up the words.  "You loved my pot-roast and peas, you cried, more, more, more!"  There are a few words that you say over and over that we just can't quite make out.  The other night, at the dinner table, Daddy and I spent a good fifteen minutes trying to figure it out. 
Grace: phire?
Daddy:  fire?
Grace:  oh (shakes head no)
Momma:  fly?
Grace:  oh (shakes head no)
Daddy:  fine:
Grace:  oh (shakes head no)
This went on for awhile, until you deemed us too stupid to converse with, and left the room to talk to your dolls.

Your personality is really starting to shine through, and honey, you are such a little lover!  You've started to give CLOSED mouth kisses (hallelujah!), and make a little mwah sound.  We get kisses, your dolls all get kisses, and Daisy gets A LOT of kisses.  Sometimes, if you really want to get your point across, you drag out the mwah sound so it's more like this...mmmmmmmwwwwwwaaaahhhhh.  Those are the best kisses - sometimes your lips don't even make contact because you are so concerned about the length of the sound.  Also, you started hugging us.  You've never been a cuddly baby, so it's been fun to finally get some affection from you.  You can be pretty judgy about when and to whom you distribute said affection though.  Sometimes in the morning you wake up on the wrong side of the crib, and Daisy is the only one who gets a good morning kiss.  Sometimes friends of ours are relegated to high five only status while you lay a long one on some random kid at the playground.  Fickle, much?

School is FINALLY over, which means I'm home with you full time again until August/Septemberish.  It also means that we went on our annual 4th of July vacation to the Fleming Cottage in Caseville, MI.  This year, you spent the first few days of vacay with Gramma and Papa Jack ALONE, while Daddy and I did adult stuff by ourselves.  This was the first time I've ever been away from you overnight since you were born.  I think I handled it well.  You handled it a little too well.  When we finally showed up at the cottage, you barely registered a smile when we walked through the door.  I was expecting you to throw yourself at us, but I reminded myself that this was a sign that you did just fine without us, which was important to me.  I wanted you and your grandparents to enjoy some alone time together.  We had so much fun during those days Up North.  You attended your very first parade, and sat on Daddy and I's shoulders clapping and waving your little American flag the entire time.  Your little hands had to hurt from so much waving.  Each tractor or fire truck that went by elicited a very enthusiastic "wooooow" from you.  The wows were my favorite part.  You whispered them under your breathe like you really could not believe there was a big tractor rolling right down the middle of Main Street!  I wish I could see the world through your eyes for a day and be amazed again by small town parades and fireworks.  Never lose that sense of wonder and joy - it is so charming!

Last month you were barely walking barefoot on grass, and this month you were getting down and dirty planting a garden with me on our back patio.  There was a raised bed up for grabs out back, so we decided to plant some green beans, cherry and grape tomatoes, and some herbs and marigolds.  Armed with a child sized garden spade and watering can, you were the best helper ever.  You especially loved to pull weeds which actually is now problematic now that the plants have sprouted and you think we should pull those too!  We usually garden for a little bit every morning, and I've started just throwing you in your bathing suit so I can hose you down when we're finished...that's how dirty you are getting!  As a born and raised farm child, watching you run your little John Deere tractor over the dirt makes me so happy.  I take a million pictures of you every morning while you move dirt and pour buckets of water all over the place.  Of course, you often do this while wearing several necklaces and a bow in your hair.  I love how well rounded you are!

I hear you babbling in your room right now, and I can't wait to go pick you up and (hopefully) get my post-nap smooch and hug!  Crossing my fingers that your dreams were full of all the fun we had this morning, and you will grant them to me!

xoxo
Momma

p.s.  You hate having your picture taken all of the sudden.

15 Months

Dear Gracie,

Month fifteen was full of parties and celebrations, and you were always the belle of the ball!  Some of that attitude disappeared, and you were that sweet little girl again giving wet open mouthed kisses to anyone you could grab.

The month started off with your cousin Carolyn's baptism and Mother's Day all packed into one day.  We made the drive to Michigan again, and again, you decided to only sleep for about an hour of that long car ride.  You never wake up drowsily from a nap.  Your eyes just pop open and you say "Hi" to whatever your eyes land on.  You definitely inherited that from your Momma, and Daddy is not all that excited about that.  He's always telling you to be quiet in the morning, and you just run all "I LOVE MORNINGS - WHEEEE!".  I love that about you.  So happy to be alive and surrounded by all of your favorite things and people every morning.  You had absolutely no interest in seeing Carolyn be baptised, and instead ran around the church the entire time with Daddy close behind.  You were a champ going on no naps and survived the whole service and meal afterwards.  Your little eyes were so heavy, but you would just not give in to sleep.  I always see parents carrying sleeping kids around your age and I envy them.  You rarely slow down long enough to put your head down on my shoulder, and I don't think you have fallen asleep somewhere other than a crib or your car seat since you were six months old.  I long to feel the heavy weight of your sleeping body in my lap and arms, but I also love how you just can't bear to miss out on one second of anything.  The world is your oyster, my dear.

Not long after our trip to Michigan, you attended your friend Connor's 2nd birthday party.  You all seemed so grown up jumping around in Connor's new bounce house and eating cupcakes by yourself while us parents sat on the outskirts and had a glass of wine.  You were a little apprehensive of the bounce house at first, but once the other kids were in there and screaming in delight, you just couldn't resist.  You were jumping all over the place (I use the word jump very loosely), and laughing so hard you were out of breath.  For the first time, when something funny happened, you were looking at the other kids to see if they noticed instead of Daddy and I.  You were making friends!  The night ended with you curled up in a chair with the birthday boy reading The Bible.  Awesome choice there, kid.  You were looking at Connor like he was the best thing in the world, and Daddy looked at me and mouthed "oh, shit."  It's too early to be looking that content snuggled up with a boy in a chair!  You were practically batting your eyelashes at him!  Oh boy, are we in for it.  You received a blow up elephant from the part as a parting gift, and now you throw your arm up in the air like a trunk and make a noise similar to what an elephant would make.  I love that your first animal noise after dog was elephant.  Forget those barnyard animals - let's get exotic!

Near the end of the month we made one more trip, this time to see Grandma and Grandpa H on their farm in Indiana.  Your cousin Emma graduated from high school, and we arrived in time to help set up the party.  During this trip, you discovered something that stopped you in your little tracks.  Grass on your bare feet.  It literally was a wall between you and all of the wonders the yard held - the swing, the sprinkler, balls, the sand pile, and Daisy and Wendall.  You absolutely refused to walk on the grass without shoes on for the first 24 hours that we were there.  You ran back and forth on the sidewalk staring out at all the fun like a trapped dog.  We finally put shoes on you so that you could go out and play, but I could not stop laughing.  This little girl who was climbing on furniture and walking into a strange church daycare without a look over your shoulder at me leaving finally found something that flustered her.....grass.  It's just so funny!  You finally warmed up to barefoot grass walking, and even graduated to running on the gravel (that's my little country girl), but for one moment it was nice to see you sitting back and not just diving straight into something you weren't so sure about.

This is the month when I realized something about myself as a mother - I had relaxed.  While I was pregnant with you, and in the early months of your life, I was obsessed with you being this perfect little preppy city baby who had monogrammed clothes and listened to hip music instead of Baby Einstein.  I don't know why I felt the need for us to be so cool and collected.  My favorite moments with you this month involved you being in dirty clothes and messy hair just being Grace.  You cried putting your hands in finger paint for the first time, and instead of being disappointed, I laughed and kissed your tears.  When you decided you didn't want to wear bows in your hair anymore, I just pulled back what I could and sent you off to play.  When you picked to eat a cupcake first instead of your fresh and healthy meal I put together for you at a party, I grinned.....until you wiped your chocolate covered hands on my linen J.Crew skirt.  Oh well, that's what dry cleaners are for, right?  When I dropped my skirt off to be cleaned, the lady behind the counter smiled and said it looked like I'd had a good time.  You know what, she was right, I did have a good time.  What's even better is that you, my darling, had a GREAT time.  Grace, you just keep being you.

xoxo
Momma

p.s.  Here's you and Carolyn during a Mother's Day photo shoot for Gramma F.  You guys are going to be trouble once C is mobile.  I can tell you're already scheming.

14 Months

Dear Gracie,

Remember how I ended last month's letter by mentioning your "spark"?  Oh yeah, that spark turned into a red hot flame of whiny, clingy, screaming toddler mess.  I'm sorry for saying "no" so much to you.  It was pretty unreasonable for me to worry about you pulling bookcases and televisions over on yourself, wasn't it?  Hello, fourteen months!

You entered into a daredevil phase (I hope it's a phase) that is going to give your poor Daddy a heart attack.  You have a small child size table and chairs set that I inherited from my Granny.  So far, it was just a place for you to store books and bowls of snacks and such.  Then, one day, I walked into the kitchen and you were sitting in one of the chairs.  Daddy was working in his office, and unless Daisy gave you a boost up there, you had crawled up into that chair all by yourself for the first time.  You were so proud of yourself until you realized you couldn't get down.  Crap.  We taught you how to turn  around and slip down safely, and you conquered it pretty quickly.  So, for the next oh, two weeks of your life, you crawled up and down off that chair for a solid two hours a day.  Your legs and arms were covered in bruises, and every time you made it up and down, you grinned just like it was the first time.  Check me out, I'm climbing, yo! Cue your parents freaking out that everything in our apartment was almost fair game for you chubby little hands to grab now.

See those necklaces around your neck?  You became unreasonably obsessed with wearing multiple necklaces at all times.  You constantly were taking them off and putting them back on - over and over and over again.  Now, don't get me wrong, it was adorable, except for the times when these necklaces got caught on something you couldn't free yourself from.  Remember the two weeks of chair climbing?  Yeah, you were wearing necklaces during a lot of those climbs, and they got caught on legs and chair backs and your feet and pretty much everything within a twelve inch radias of your neck. Once finding yourself caught, you would instantly melt down and jerk and flop around like a fish caught on a hook.  Heaven forbid that you were forced to slow down for two seconds and try to solve the problem.  Sometimes we would just stand there and be mean parents and try to force you to figure out the snag yourself.  Of course, we always gave in.  You also had a handful of bracelets that you forced all of our guests to put on and take off several times.  Daisy didn't even escape the wonderful jewelry stylings of Gracie.  I would often find bracelets around her paws while she was sound asleep in her bed.  If you become a famous stylist or designer some day, I will be able to say that I knew this was in your future way back when.

So, as of now, Daddy is still watching you during the day while I am away at work.  Now, he is amazing at juggling both you and excelling at his extremely demanding job, but I started to worry that you were a little too isolated in our little apartment.  I love Daisy, but she's not much of a conversationalist.  So, I started setting up more play dates with your friend Connor, and we also started attending a music class.  You absolutely thrived being around other kids.  It made me feel awful that I hadn't pushed this before.  You just light up when you see little humans your own size.  Maybe you didn't know they existed?  You thought you were stuck on this planet with only big people who wouldn't let you play with knives that you found in the dishwasher.  You LOVE music class.  You stand right in the middle of the room and sway to the music, clap, and stomp your little feet while Mr. Dave plays his guitar and sings.  Every time a song ends, you clap, and then you look around the room to make sure everyone else is clapping as well.  If you see someone who made the mistake of not clapping upon completion of the little ditty, you walk over and stand right in front of them continuing to clap.  I laugh so much during those 40 minutes each week.  You love Mr. Dave, you are such a fan girl.  Your favorite part of class is when Mr. Dave brings out a bag of musical instruments for everyone to play along with.  You always grab a maraca, and with some coaxing help pass out instruments to the wee ones who can't fight for one themselves.  Now, there is a good amount of "sharing" going on (i.e. kids grabbing instruments away from each other), but you are usually a good sport about it.  Music class is the one place that you have yet to melt down in.  I wish we had a 24 hour Mr. Dave channel on tv.

You mastered some funny little things this month.  For some reason, you decided to start walking backwards.  You always have this look on your face like "whoa, this is seriously blowing my mind" every single time you do it.  You also sometimes stand with your hands clasped behind your back like you're pondering the meaning of an abstract painting or waiting patiently for your bus to arrive.  It's such a grown up action that it just cracks us up.  You also are mastering scribbling with crayons and playing with play-doh.  Both of which usually end up in your mouth after a few minutes, but I love seeing your little creative juices flowing.  I pulled out some old dishes that I used to play with as a little girl, and we make all kinds of muffins and cakes for our pretend tea parties.  Just please stop sneaking bites of play-doh.  Daddy is convinced that it is making you sick, and even though that is impossible since it's non-toxic, he doesn't need anything else to worry about!

Even though you were a little tough to handle this month at times, every time I walked into the room and saw you swaying your hips to the Hot Dog Dance on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I prayed for time to stop for just a few days.  I never want to forget the joy that jumps on your face when you hear that song playing.  Whatever is in your hands gets dropped immediately, and you celebrate Mickey and the gang's success by clapping and walking in circles with your arms in the air.  Sometimes I join you.

xoxo
Momma

p.s.  Here you are contemplating your next stroke of creative genius.

13 Months

Dear Gracie,

13 months on this crazy planet with us, and you finally said MaMa - or something that closely resembled that.  After responding "yes, dear" after every utterance of your new word, I realized that you were actually asking for a Mum Mum (a rice cracker you can not eat enough of), and are not referring to me at all.  Bummer.  You're still cute, though.

 

 

This month two really important things happened.  #1.  Your hair finally grew long enough to wrangle into pigtails, and  #2.  You crawled up a flight of stairs for the first time.  The first achievement is important to me because whenever I pictured having a little girl when I was pregnant, that little girl always had pigtails.  Even though I have to bribe you with cartoons to get you to stay still long enough to achieve the style, it's worth it.  Between the dimples, the space between your top teeth, and now your spiky little palm tree pigtails, I could just eat you up with a spoon.  Cutie-patootie!  Now, the second achievement is important in a different way.  While visiting your Gramma and Papa Jack, you walked right over to their basement stairs, and started making your way up all by yourself.  Natural progression right?  Sure, except you'd never in your life had access to stairs to practice your technique before showing it off to the word.  We live in a one level apartment where the closest thing you have to stairs to practice on is a step stool.  While you are quite the independent woman (throw your hands up at me), this is the first physical feat you have accomplished without some sort of coaching or coaxing from Daddy or I.  I was just amazed, as you climbed that mountain of stairs all "no biggie" like.  My thoughts during those three minutes veered back and forth from "yay, you're doing it all by yourself!" to "sniff, sniff, you're doing it all by yourself without me" several times.  By the time your little pigtailed head made it all the way to the top, and you turned around and smiled that sweet gap toothed smile, I was firmly on Team Gracie Master Stair Climber. 

 

I was looking forward to this month since January when I went back to work because I would be home with you for a whole week during my Spring Break!  I had so many plans for us.  We were going to bake cookies, finger paint, visit the library, and wrap up the week spending a long weekend in Michigan with your grandparents.  I had visions of this being the absolute best mother/daughter week ever.  Well, you know what they say about best laid plans, right?  So, of course you got sick, and of course none of our fun activities (except for the visit to Michigan) took place.  You were hot and achy and uncomfortable.  All you wanted to do was lay in my arms on the couch or in bed and watch cartoons or read books.  And, Gracie, that's what we did.  Although I was sad that we didn't create a finger paint masterpiece worthy of filling that blank space on the living room wall, I was so thankful to have the time that I did to spend with you.  I was thankful that I was able to spend hours rocking you and singing to you until you were able to find a few moments of restful sleep.  I was thankful that I was able to get a few tired giggles out of you by balancing various toys on my head.  I was thankful to just be there in that moment with you - sick or not.  I have always had a problem with creating impossibly high standards for myself.  Every night out with my girlfriends needs to create a new inside joke.  Every concert I attend needs to have the best set list ever.  Every run I finish needs to leave me feeling energized like I can conquer the world.  Every lesson plan I put together needs to include something completely out of the box and innovative.  This has spilled over into how I approach motherhood, just ask Daddy, but I like to think I've got it under control a little bit better now.  I've felt disappointed more than I probably should have in my life, but as our spring break to do list laid on the counter with nothing checked off on it, what I felt was completely opposite from disappointment.

 

I mentioned earlier that we made a trip to Michigan to see your Gramma and Papa Jack.  You always have such a good time at their house.  There are always a million people stopping by and a million things to do, and you just play and show off until you physically can not play and show off any longer.  During this visit, you had butter on your toast for the first time, which I admit I totally overreacted about.  Gramma was nice enough to make you breakfast and manage your morning routine while Daddy and I got some much needed extra sleep.  I am a mean mom and make you eat dry toast at home, but I'm pretty sure that small amount of butter did not put you on the road to childhood obesity that I've always obsessed about.  That doesn't mean I started buttering your toast at home, but I'm cutting Gramma a break.  The extended weekend included Easter which meant you got all dolled up in a beautiful pink dress and behaved wonderfully at church.  Well, the first part of that statement is true.  This is the trip when you also decided to give up sleeping in the car.  So, guess who got to sit in the back and entertain you for five hours both ways?  If you guessed Daisy, you are wrong.  She was very comfortable napping in the front passenger seat like the princess that she is.  We read books, we played with finger puppets, I dreamed about the glass of wine that was waiting for me at the end of the trip, and finally I gave in and let you watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on my laptop.  I'm loving this age where you have no idea you watch the same 20 minute show three times in a row.  I'm sure this era will die a horrible death just like the era of moving cars make you sleep for hours and hours upon end.

 

This month a little spark come out in you.  You started to make your opinion known a little more and you made it known a lot louder.  I'm nervous to see where this leads.  Thirteen months going on thirteen years it seems like.  You're probably already thinking in your little brain, "Ugh, you don't know everything, Mooooom."  You're right, honey, I don't.  I just know that I continue to be amazed by everything little thing that you do. 

 

xoxo

Momma

 

p.s.  We did manage to make some homemade biscuits during the Spring Break from hell.  Look at how excited you were!

 



12 Months

Dear Gracie,

I am quite late in writing this letter to you.  I think I've avoided the task because I'm still in denial that you are one year old, or as your cousin across the pond, Kitty, would say, "no longer zero."

 

 

I could go on and on about how fast this year went, and how you will be going off to Prom before we know it.  I could also list all of the cute things that you've grown out of, like stopping mid crawl to lay on your side with your little hand up like it's holding a waitress' tray.  I won't though.  I will tell you about all of the new wonderful things you are doing.  How you continuously amaze us and how if you would have lived back in the 1400s, you probably would've discovered America.  In other words, girl, we dig you.  You turning one is a celebration of all of the things we have gained by having you in our lives!

 

In your twelve month, we celebrated the last of your "first" holidays.  There was your First President's Day when we dressed you up as a tiny Barack Obama.  Ok, we didn't actually do that, but I wrote that idea down on my calendar for next year.  I'm drawing a blank on what we actually did on that day, but I think I sang "You're a Grand Old Flag" to you in the morning.  You threw your diaper on the floor.  Not impressed.  More importantly, we also celebrated your First Valentine's Day!  Now, that was a fun day.  Earlier in the week, I helped you make Valentines for all of your friends and family.  You only ate the tip off of one crayon, so it was a success.  We celebrated our love for hot dogs (only the best food evah!!!!) by visiting Hot Diggity Dog for our annual Valentine's Dinner.  Your father and I started this tradition a few years back when we first moved to Chicago. Instead of going somewhere fancy for dinner (mostly because we were broke), we decided to pick the place that made us the happiest.  Nothing makes us happier than Hot Diggity Dog!  We used to frequent this fine establishment so often that the owner, Joe, became our friend.  He knew our regular orders and loved that we found that place romantic.  Daddy and I also celebrated my birthday there last year only a few weeks before you were born.  So, we already knew you were a fan.  You ate dinner before we left, but I could not resist giving you your very first french fry.  You loved it - of course - you'd never had salt added to your food before.  It was like heaven was shining down on you after that first bite.  You just kept licking your lips!

 

Only a few days after writing your 11 month letter, your few tentative steps turned into flow blown strolling around the apartment on your own.  I really think you were spending nap time practicing while we weren't watching.  It was like a switch just flipped, and boom, you were walking.  Unfortunately, it seems you have inherited your Momma's extreme clumsiness.  Sometimes it seems like the walls, furniture, and floor are just out to get you.  I seriously think Daisy has made a deal with them to make your life just a little miserable - they just pop out at your all the time and trip you up.  It is not unusual for you to have several bruises and/or scratches on your face and body at all times.  I'm sure no famous adventurer went unscathed.  There are dangers that must be faced during explorations!  You want to explore everything, touch everything, figure out how everything works, and then usually put almost everything in your mouth.  You will spend long periods of time touching all of the screws in your tricycle tuning it up or taking all of your books off your bookcase and then (trying to) put them back.  Everything fascinates you.

 

You've become quite the loving little girl.  Everyone of your dolls and stuffed animals gets a huge hug at least once a day.  Lately you've been also covering them up with little blankets and giving them little bottles.  Sometimes you give them the bottle in their arm or leg instead of their mouth, but I don't think they mind.  You're already a little caretaker and mommy.  Sometimes these dolls get roped into dance parties with you where you spin in circles until you get dizzy.  You also loving shaking your hips and your little booty whenever you hear music.  Loosen up a little bit though - I'm really hoping you didn't inherit Daddy's rhythm. 

 

Your vocabulary is starting to expand.  We have added hi, oh wow, wowee, and Daisy to the list of words we're pretty sure you are saying on purpose.  Other than that, you speak your own language all day long - loudly.  Daddy is trying to get you to say his name.  He looks at you and repeats, "Dada" over and over while patting his chest.  So, whenever we ask you were Dada is, you just pat your chest.  Between you and me, kid, just humor him and mutter Dada every once in a while.  He changes 95% of your dirty diapers, so he deserves something. 

 

I've decided there is something I have to share with you.  Something bad happened in our country today.  I wasn't sure if I was going to address or not, but I promised myself that when I became a mother that I would never pander to my children.  So, like I said, something bad happened.  When I got home from work, we kept the news on in the background while you played with your Lego's on the ottoman.  You didn't have a care in the world.  You were hitting two Lego's together and giggling nonstop, and I was sitting on the floor with tears in my eyes.  How would I ever explain these things to you?  Someday you will have questions that I probably won't be able to answer to your satisfaction.  Things won't make sense.  I can't stop bad things from happening (and believe me, I would if I could), but I can be there to hug you and provide whatever I can.  Always.  A friend of my mine posted a quote on Twitter that has helped me through this tough afternoon, and I want to share it with you. 

 

 “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  Fred Rogers

 

Now, you probably won't ever know who Mr. Rogers is, but he was important to my childhood, and these words will always be true.  No matter what scary thing you are facing, there will always be people who are helping, and I will always be one of them.

 

I love you my beautiful child.  This past year has been a crazy roller coaster ride, and it's just beginning.  I can't wait to experience the whole stomach dropping and smile like crazy inducing ride with you.  Gracie, you are a delight.

 

xoxo

Momma

 

p.s.  You were quite the ham at your birthday party.  You look good in green!

 

 

 

 



11 Months

Dear Gracie,

Little girl, you are a not so little 11 months old.  Your smile and giggle light up the room.  I think you are becoming aware of how charming you are, and are using that to your advantage…already. 

 

You learned how to clap your hands this month, and the first few days were hilarious because more often than not, your little chubby hands would miss each other and hit your face or some other body part.  You thought this was absolutely hilarious, and we agreed.  One morning while clapping along to your favorite show “Yo Gabba Gabba”, Daisy decided to come lay down near you.  Your clapping got super aggressive, and poor Daisy ended up with an open palm slap to the cheek.  Of course, you thought this was the funniest thing ever.  Basically, you think EVERYTHING that you do is the funniest thing ever.  You are quite the comedian, and while Daddy and I think you are humorous, you are definitely your biggest fan.  Throwing your sippy cup off your high chair at dinner elicits a belly laugh from you every time – as does sitting through our meal time prayers, but that’s a totally different story.  I love that you think this world you live makes you so happy.  I never tire of hearing your giggles – except when it’s 5 AM and you are awake and laughing at who knows what in your room.  You must already have imaginary friends.

You’ve loved being read to since you were a tiny tiny little thing.  We read before naps, at bedtime, during bath time, and pretty much any other time.  Every morning after breakfast, I always grab a few of your favorite books and sit down on the living floor with you.  It’s easy to tell which books you like because the ones that don’t hold your attention get slammed shut and shoved to the floor.  One morning as I was collecting a few of your favorites and getting comfortable on the carpet, you crawled over to your book basket, selected one more book, and crawled over to me.  Then, you handed me the book, and without any help from me, crawled up into my lap.  I know in the grand scheme of your life that the first time you crawled up into my lap to be read to doesn’t seem like much, but tears quickly sprang into my eyes, and I had to blink furiously to keep them from spilling over onto my cheeks.  I remember how it felt to be curled up with my mom reading a book, and now here you were, patting my arm with your little hand ready to hear about that silly catepillar’s adventures again.  We must’ve read 15 books that morning with my head stacked on top of yours, sneaking kisses and tickles, and it will be a memory that I never forget.

There is something that was very difficult for me this month.  I found a teaching job and went to work, leaving you at home with Daddy for part of the day.  We still spend mornings together eating breakfast, catching up on the local news, and saying good morning to every single one of your stuffed animals.  Then, when you start to get sleepy, I put you down for your morning nap, and I slip off to work.  When you wake up, Daddy takes care of you until your afternoon nap.  When you wake from that, I’m usually home to pick you up out of your crib and we tackle the rest of the day together.  I hope that you are proud of me for moving forward with my career/life goals.  I  do everything for you.  Each time I put together a lesson plan, read an article on a new teaching technique, or sit in on a school meeting, I think about how this can help you.  Will this help you learn?  Will this help the educational system that you will be entering in a few years?  I don’t think that you even notice that I’m gone for those few hours every day.  Daddy is a pretty fun guy to hang out with, and we’re so lucky to have him.  Everyday I come home to stories of how well you ate and slept that day.  It’s like you know you need to help us out, and that we’re all in this together, and for that, I think you my darling girl.  I know that we can accomplish anything together as a family.

You are becoming more and more independent each day.  You stand alone for several moments without any support and have taken a few tiny and very tentative steps.  Daddy and I always try to stay in the shadows and encourage you quietly so as not to startle you, but we really want to grab you and spin you around in our arms.  When you fall down, you just pull yourself back up and try again – jabbering and laughing the entire time.  There is rarely a time that there is not a smile on your face, and you beam confidence.  You’re like “hey, guys, I got this.”  And you do.  You’ve got it, kid.  You’ll be walking soon, and then probably running circles around us all. 

Your love for life and all other living creatures is infectious.  We could all learn something from you and your little dimple.

xoxo,

Momma

p.s. Here are some behind the scenes shots from your photo shoot.  Daddy is the official "Grace Wrangler" for all monthly shoots.  He makes sure that all of your demands are met and that you are on your marks for all of the poses.  His job is hard, and we don't pay him much, but he loves it!

 



Dog Hair

Dear Gracie,

I constantly worry about you having dog hair on your clothes or face.  All of your toys are made out of materials that have crazy dog hair attracting properties.  I vaccuum and dust like crazy, but guess what?

 

 

I really don't think you mind.

 

 

xoxo

Momma