Once again, I'm way behind in posting updates on Grace. We've been so busy lately. But I now have tons of information and pictures I'd like to share. I'll post some info now and spread the pictures out so that you all have something to look at until I get around to updating again ;-)
Independence - Ryan and I intended to help Gracie to be really independent. What we didn't expect is that she would soon insist on being independent. She's able to follow simple instructions now, and thoroughly enjoys helping us to set and clear the table, load/unload the dishwasher, clean up, etc. It's wonderful, except that it takes three of us to do these tasks now instead of one (one adult to actually do the job, and one adult to help Gracie to do the job). It is a lot of fun most of the time. Though when we just need to get the job done and she has to help or meltdowns occur, it can be a little frustrating.
Gracie is also a wonderful sleeper and completely independent in doing so. She gave up her bottle at the beginning of October with surprisingly no protest at all. One day she just wasn't interested, we forgot it one night and she didn't care, so we stopped giving it to her and she never wanted it again. Strangely enough, she likes to take naps and go to bed (for now), so we don't get any protests from her. We just tell her to lay down and she goes to sleep. She doesn't crawl off of her bed or cry or anything. She also doesn't use any type of nightlight, which is good, but I'm wondering if there will come a time when she wants a little light in her room. It took us over a year to get her to sleep through the night and take good naps, but she now sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 1.5 to 3 hour nap.
Where Gracie has grown the most in her journey to independence over the past couple of months is in self-care. She can eat anything with her fork and spoon by herself (most of the time), uses a regular cup (no sippy except in the car, church, or other place where we need to take a drink with us), and can wipe her own face and nose when needed. She's even learning to blow her nose, which is so cute. She loves doing things on her own, and continues to make strides every day in doing so. Our newest adventures are in dressing/undressing and putting on shoes and socks, which she can't do by herself yet, but she wants to and we let her do as much as she can.
Personality - Gracie is certainly developing her own little personality, and she has of course, made known what a strong one she has since birth. However, her personality continues to develop and she shows it in almost every interaction. She has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to laugh and rough-house. It's amazing the jokes she gets and those that she makes. She is also stubborn and gets easily frustrated. It's getting better with every word she learns though. I think her frustration is in her limited ability to communicate, particularly since she understands almost every word we say. We're working on that though.
Movement - Gracie has always been a mover. She loves to go, go, go and rarely stops to catch her breath. She's learning to run, and practices those skills often. She is a fan of music and enjoys dancing, clapping, and singing along to any beat, even those we make up. She loves to imitate our movements - especially marching, but also other movement patterns we try to stump her with as well. She's much more coordinated than I ever was or will be, so she must get that from daddy. Gracie is also working on perfecting her fine motor skills. As I mentioned she eats independently, which happened all of a sudden. She likes manipulatives, painting, play doh, etc., and is getting pretty good at using them.
Communication/Language - And I saved the best for last...Gracie is adding new words to her vocabulary all the time! She already understands so much, follows simple directions amazingly well (when she wants to), and has found ways to communicate in addition to words and real signs. One of the cutest things she does is point to something than point to herself, in essance saying "I want that." She doesn't do it much anymore, but it is still pretty funny when we are eating and she gets tired of feeding herself or if something is too difficult to feed herself, she'll hand us the spoon/fork and point to what she wants a bite of next. You can actually see her making a decision...her face jsut says...hmmm...that was good, but I'll save it for last. I'm not sure where she got her decision-making abilities (certainly not from her parents), but she knows what she wants and usually how to get it
She can say: daddy, mommy, happy (her favorite right now), up, hi, hello, bye, I love you, ball, and water
She says quite a few things when she wants something, but has only said each once or twice: please, pretzel, etc.
More to come soon!
