End of Summer

There is absolutely no excuse as to why we haven't updated the blog in over 2 months, except for the fact that we have been super busy! (And I joined facebook). Andrew is back in grad school for yet another semester, Kate started 5th grade & is back to her extracurricular activities, and Grace & I have been touring Denver and hanging out with lots of friends. We stay home some, but try to make plans to get this girl some culture & interaction. She has grown so much, as you will see as we progress through pictures that start off where we left off last time, mid-July. There are 30 pictures ahead... Warning: Very Long Post!

Reminder - click on the picture to enlarge the image.


We have been attending story time for babies at the library about once a week. This was our first time, and as Kate was still on summer break she was a good sport & went with us. Grace seems to like it, as they read, sing, and sign for a full hour! She enjoys watching the other babies too! On another note, I have found that whenever I ask someone to take a picture of us, it is always either out of focus or someone isn't looking at the camera or is in the middle of facial expressions, or it is cropped weird. What is that? Maybe it is just because my Mom & one of my best friends are photographers, but I would always make sure I got a good shot for them; otherwise what is the point? As you can see, Grace isn't facing the camera, but I noticed that she still has the last patch of newborn hair left in the picture. It is all gone now, replaced with fuzzy, spiky, reddish blondish hair. It all happens so fast at this age!


We headed over to the Tattered Cover because Kate wanted to get her little sister a new book, one that she had when she was little, "Pajama Time!" by Sandra Boynton. Kate likes to find photo opportunities wherever we go, but I guess that is what you can expect when you put a saddle on a bench.


We took Grace to the zoo for the first time. She was so good, hung out in her baby carrier the whole time as Kate & I took turns pushing the stroller full of baby stuff, i.e. the diaper bag, lunch kit, rain gear, etc. Kate's favorite animal of the day was the Red Panda (that may have something to do with the fact that Webkinz makes one). Grace's favorite was the giraffes, just like her Mama!


My Mom came to visit for 2 weeks before she returned to start her 12th year of teaching high school photography & electronic media. I finally got some pictures of her with Grace, however, it doesn't make up for not getting any when she came to visit Grace as a newborn. See the big bruise on my Mom's arm? There were a few of those on that side of her body & they were quite ugly. She said she missed a step while up on a balcony at a wedding trying to get a shot down below. Mother, you are too old to not be watching where you are going! Please, as I tell Kate, I cannot replace you. Try to avoid stairs from now on, especially those without side rails (including the one in your house that no longer has a side rail). And Dad, replace the side rail at home!


Back to the blog in progress... We had so much fun while my Mom was here! Kate & Gram did some baking, we scrapbooked (she scrapbooked, I delegated, as usual), we got some new frames to do a picture collage in the hallway. Lots of fun! Grace let my mom hold her some, mainly towards the end, and mostly when Andrew & I were not in the room. Maybe you should move closer Mom? Believe me, when you get older & I need to take care of you, I will be moving you here:)


My Aunt Sheila was visiting the YMCA of the Rockies with her husband & three handsome boys, so decided to come by for some lunch & play time on their way out of Colorado. It was so good to see them, as I had not met my two youngest cousins yet. Here we are on the porch right before my Uncle Steve pointed out that my dead plant by the front door was home to a huge ant bed. You will be happy to know I took care of the little glitch, and was quite embarrassed that there was a dead plant on my porch in the first place. Man, having a baby sure does move keeping up on the house things lower on the priority list, right above washing the cars on a regular basis, but below mowing the lawn & doing the dishes and laundry. Good times!


Kate's 1st day of 5th grade! She picked out her own outfit & hair-do this year. My Mom was still in town & got some great pictures of the first day of school, my favorite being a black & white one. Actually, I think I may try to steal it off of facebook...


Here it is! Kate asked me if she could put Grace in her back pack & take her to school for show & tell. Very sweet! I have pictures of Kate every year on the first day of school on our front porch since she started in Kindergarten. I hope to do the same with Grace! Thanks Gram for the pictures - maybe you could mail me a CD in your spare time - haha, "spare time" - I made a joke:)


I know having a new baby come into the house has changed our family dynamic, especially for Kate being 10 years old before welcoming her first sibling. I have to say she has been excellent! She is very helpful at times when I need her to be, she plays with Grace a lot, always trying to make her laugh. Here she is bringing the lion puppet to life on Grace's saucer. Thank you Katie Bug for all that you do to keep our family going! Grace is so lucky to have you as a big sister!


Grace has started eating in the last month or so. I make all of her baby food at home, it is super easy, and so far she is a good eater (no surprise there, look how chunky she is). She also likes eating whole pieces of fruit out of her baby safe feeder with mesh bags. Dad seems to think she doesn't need bibs. This is after her favorite snack of peaches. Nice job dear, I'm pretty sure he gave her a bath that night too.


I took a weekend off in August, one of four I get a year, so that we could attend a friend's wedding. We attended as a family, and out of the 10 or so pictures we took, there were only 2 in focus. Note to the IT dept - stop changing the settings on the camera! I did notice this at the wedding, however, IT was unable to fix it.


Grace fell asleep in Andrew's arms at the dinner table. She was so good & looked so adorable in her tiered dress from Aunt Boo, complete with a lilac flower headband! She was in the pouch for most of the night, and we were unable to stay in the ceremony because of all her "talking." Kate had a blast, in fact she was wondering what other weddings were coming up that she could attend. The DJ let her announce getting the party started, which she loved of course, and we danced to Mustang Sally and Twist & Shout before heading out for the evening. Thank you Nate & Margo for inviting us to be a part of your special day!


Grace is sitting up all by herself, we merely put pillows behind her just in case - especially when she is on the bed. So far we haven't had her fall off of anything, which probably means we are decent parents. She loves to play & is very busy with exploring new things. Sometimes she will share willingly, and others (mostly when you take something away that she is not suppose to have) she demonstrates her relunctancy to give up the object by screaming a thrashing backwards. Babylove, we do not act like that in this house, the sooner you figure that out, the happier you will be (just ask your sister).


We headed to the pool as a family during my weekend off from work. The outdoor pool was a little too cold for babies, so we headed inside to the indoor pool. Grace does not let me hold her like this unless she is nursing, but she will let Daddy. Whichever parent she has been with all day, she wants the other one as soon as they arrive home.


Mommy broke down and purchased a swimsuit. Gone are the days of sitting on the side of the pool reading while Kate plays. If you don't know this about me already, I much prefer cold weather & winter clothes. I love the snow covered mountains, and would choose them any day over the beach.


Grace seems to like the water, as long as there are not children (without parents watching them) splashing her in the face. I understand we are at the public pool, but Grace & I sit as far over to the side as we can, and in the most shallow water. If of all the million places to enter, including the 100 yard stretch on the other side of me, you choose right next to me & splash the baby, I will probably say something. Anywho, Kate & Andrew played swim tag, and Grace & I played with our rubber giraffe Sophie in the water & under the waterfall. Lots of fun for sure!


Afterwards we headed home for some bratwurst & grilled veges. Yummy! What a wonderful weekend we had together as a family! They are so few & far between that I savor every moment. Hopefully one day we will have a day to look forward to every week that we can spend all together!


Kate decided she was going to have a baby class one day, and teach Grace all about rainbows. She even wrote a poem about Grace using the letters of her name & coordinating colors of the rainbow.

G - Graceful
R - Rambunctious
A - Appetite
C - Cute
I - Intelligent
E - Expensive


Every Thursday we attend a Kindermusik class with our friend Laura & baby Caroline. To be quite honest, you feel a little goofy singing some of the songs & doing the motions, but the babies love it! There are lots of props the babies get to play with like maracas, drums, jingle bells, scarves, balls, toy wheels, etc. We have really enjoyed going, and my favorite part is having lunch with Laura afterwards & walking around the historic downtown area.


She's a happy babylove! Love seeing her smile, it warms my heart. I have also been able to compare her to other babies her age, and let me tell you... she is huge! Tall & chunky! However, all of my friends who have had breastfed babies have been quite chubby! Did you know the American Academy of Pediatrics growth chart is very different from the World Health Organization growth chart? Grace is in the upper 75-80% (at least she was at her 6 month appt) on the AAP chart, which is what pediatricians in the US use, mainly to account for a large majority of our babies being fed formula. On the WHO chart, Grace was more around the 50% mark, which accounts for more breastfed babies around the world. Have I told you yet that I think I would make an excellent lactation consultant? Too bad the field is over saturated right now:(


Like I said before, Kate is so good with Grace. Here she set up all of Grace's stuffed animals around her & then took about 40 pictures (I kid you not). Then she did a video of the nursery, so that Grace could look back at her baby years. Including what books she had on her shelf, pictures that Gram had taken (excerpt from the footage "and here is a picture of you as a newborn, taken by my one of a kind grandma, yours too, GRAM! Holla if you like Gram! --- Remember that Gram I was telling you about, well she is a true artist, she did the letters of your name above the crib.") Sweet silly girl!


We have visited the Museum of Nature & Science a few times, we are members thanks to Nana Laurie & Papa Homer! Grace really enjoys looking at the animals, as well as watching the other kids play in the discovery zone for kids. She especially likes to watch their big goldfish "Goldie" swim around her tank. Last time we met our friends Sara & her 18 month old daughter Grace there, and we had a picnic afterwards. Thank you Grace Sue for showing me what I have to look forward to with my Grace Elaine! Maybe with all that running after her I will finally drop my last 10 lbs of baby weight my breastfeeding body seems to want to hold onto?


Kate ran 40 laps at her fun run at school, the equivalent of 10 miles! She raised $400 for her school! The next day her legs were "jello". We are really encouraging her to do track in middle & high school. She loves to run & has always been good at it. She has won the most laps for girls multiple times throughout her elementary school years. Way to go Kate! And thank you to all our family members who supported Kate in the fun run! She is very lucky to have so much encouragement from you all!


How many of you can say you have/had this view from your school playground? Oh how I love beautiful Colorado! Sorry Texas, never coming back. Your size just can't quite compete with the views.


Mommy & Grace rolled out of bed that morning to be there to support her! Grace fell asleep in her ERGObaby carrier (couldn't live without that thing), while I alternated giving Kate a squirt of water to drink & mist in her face to cool her down. Imagine how many miles she could run at sea level? She packs a lot of punch in that little package!


We think Grace is getting ready to crawl. Every time she is on her back, she rolls onto her stomach & tries to scoot. Not quite pushing up on all fours yet, but we are not far off. We have learned that diaper changes have to be extra fast, otherwise she will be on her tummy in a second. I wonder if she will crawl off immediately when we try to change her diaper in the future. I'm almost sure of it! Too many fun things to explore.


She doesn't even stay put in her crib anymore. She use to love to watch her mobile, but now she will roll over to her tummy, then back to her back, then over to her tummy, then back to her back until she is all the way on the other side. We ask her what she is doing & she replies with giggles. Here is our precious upside down babylove!


Her new favorite thing to do is tear up paper. Magazines are the best of course because they are filled with lots of bright contrasting colors & make lots of noise when your crumble them up. She has also learned how to play peek-a-boo. I love that she pulls something over her face, then down really fast reveiling a cute smile & waits for your reaction. If you laugh, then she will too. Oh how I love this age!


I took my girls for a picnic in the park last Friday, Kate was out of school, and it was a perfect 75 degrees outside. We had the picnic basket & all. Kate was off playing with one of her friends from school who had slept over the night before. Grace let me take a picture of her as long as I let her hold the camera case. She mimics so much now. I stuck my tongue out at her, and she did it back. I clap, she claps. I know this is getting really boring, full of baby milestones, but it is amazing to think that they grow the fastest they ever will in their life throughout the first year.


She is waving "hello" or "good-bye" here. We had such a lovely time at the park! That is until the girls pulled out their Cinnabon & the bees started swarming us. We tried putting it away, but they wouldn't go away. No one in our family is allergic to bees, but I sure don't want the first to be Grace, nor do I want to find out now. So we headed home for the day.

Fall is my favorite season of the year! The weather, the colors, the clothing, the food, the house decor, all of it! We have been going for walks in the evenings, baby in the stroller, dogs on their leashes, and Kate not on her bike. Maybe she'll get it next year? I promise not to wait so long between posts next time, or at least I'll try not too. But hey, we are just too busy living life to the fullest out here! Take care & we'll be seeing a lot of you really soon! -SR