Just Like Daddy!

Noticing lines starting to form, Grace did a quick regression analysis which concluded that she better open up another register quickly. If she didn't act immediately Grace could see declining sales. Combined with existant margin compression, this would inevitably result in decreased market capitalization as a result of the Street selling short on Grace & Co. stock.

One Year Wellness Visit

Grace had her one year old wellness visit with her pediatrician on Wednesday of this week, a few days before her one year birthday. Grace weighs 20.3 pounds (25th percentile) and is 30 inches long (75th percentile). The doctor asked many questions to see whether Grace is meeting her developmental milestones. Once question asked was whether Grace is able to pull herself up to a standing position and whether she is able to stand while holding on to furniture....we simply smiled and said "yes." A few seconds later Grace ran across the examination room to examine a bead toy. We think she's mastered pulling to stand and the doctor wholeheartedly agreed! We are so proud of our Gracie Girl. She did an amazing job at this visit by showing all that she has learned and mastered over the past year. Grace greeted everyone with "hi," she said all of her animal sounds, and even gave the nurse a big smile and a "bye-bye" after her vaccinations.

"Look Mommy & Daddy...That's The One!"

Thank goodness for our Grace...she found our Christmas tree for us this year. Mommy and Daddy had looked at hundreds of Christmas trees on Sunday without any luck until Grace pointed to the perfect one!

Grace's First Birthday Party!

Our Beautiful Birthday Girl

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

We can't believe that Grace is almost one. This past year has truly been the best year of our lives. We celebrated Grace's first birthday at our home on Saturday with our families. Here are just a few highlights of Grace's "ladybug garden" party. It was an unforgettable day ~ Grace was absolutely glowing!

Celebrating Grace's Special Day With Our Wonderful Families

We can't possibly thank our families enough for making Grace's first birthday party a truly perfect day.

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

SO MUCH To Be Thankful For.....

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been a very special holiday for our family but it is even more special to us now. Grace was due to arrive on Thanksgiving day this time last year but she decided to wait a little longer to make her appearance! We are most thankful for our beautiful daughter and our wonderful families. Happy first Thanksgiving Grace ~ we love you more than words can express.

Snow

It snowed for the first time today. Grace and I left her swimming lesson this morning and we were quite surprised to see snow gently falling outside. Grace loved it!! She tried to catch the snowflakes in her hands. If you look closely, you can see the tiny snowflakes on Grace's coat and pigtails. I can't wait to build snowmen, snow angels, and go sliding & snowshoeing with Grace...Daddy can't wait for Grace to snowblow the driveway, but that's probably a few months away yet!

"I'll Take One of Everything Please!"

We enjoyed a fun family trip to L.L. Bean today ~ it was the debut of their Northern Lights display, which consisted of an incredible display of lights throughout the L.L. Bean grounds, as well as activity and product demonstrations, crafts for kids, a 40-foot Christmas tree, ice carvings, life-sized gingerbread characters, and carolers. Grace loved walking around L.L. Bean and she gathered quite the collection of items throughout the store along the way......the girl can shop!! Grace was in awe of all of the beautiful Christmas trees and lights. As seen here, Grace closely examined the lights on the Christmas trees. The advertisements stated that there were 50 Christmas trees throughout the grounds and we think Grace pointed out 49! We also enjoyed seeing L.L. Beans new 15-foot fish tank. Daddy excitedly pointed out a rainbow trout to Grace. Grace momentarily looked perplexed. A few seconds later Grace turned, pointed, and said, "What Daddy? Do you mean an oncorhynchus mykiss?"

A Beautiful Day

It felt like spring today! Grace & I spent most of the day outside enjoying the warm sunshine.

What a Big Girl!

After our swimming lesson this morning, Grace and I spent the afternoon together at the Children's Museum. It struck me today as I was watching Grace play what a big girl she is and how grown up she seems now. Rather than playing in the baby/young toddler play area, Grace chooses to spend most of her time "shopping" at the grocery store within the museum. Grace found all of her favorite fruits and vegetables and put them in her very own shopping basket. Grace also picked apples from the apple tree and put them into her basket too....and she did all of these things all by herself! Grace also enjoyed interacting with the older children in the grocery store area and proudly told everyone that she had "apple" and "nah-nah-nah" (bananas). Grace even approached an older boy who was holding an apple and said, "peas," (please) to ask him if she could have his apple too. On our car ride home, I asked Grace if she had fun at the museum and she replied, "apple," "nah-nah-nah" and "bah" (ball) - all of the things she played with today at the museum. Grace continues to amaze me each day!

"La la la!"

Our sweet Gracie Girl is becoming quite the little singer and musician! We are always singing and playing music in our household-- everything from the classic children songs to songs we make up ourselves, and Grace now sings right along with us. Grace especially enjoys singing in the car and in her stroller when we are out and about. Here, Grace is loudly singing "la la la" in her stroller, which drew lots of attention from onlookers. Grace also loves to play the piano, shake maracas & tambourines, blow on a penny whistle that her Poppy gave her, and turn on CD players.......the budding of a future musician perhaps?!?!

Walking...check.

Running....check.

Moving on to climbing!

"Wheeeeeeee!"

"I have my very own swing at home now. I'm so happy! I love it!"

"I'm a "Big" Cousin!"

"I am such a big girl now because I am a BIG cousin. Here I am meeting my beautiful cousin, Kimberlee Anne Zalimas, for the very first time. She was born on Friday, November 2, which makes Kimberlee exactly eleven months younger than I am! I had to touch her face to make sure she was real. She is so tiny!"
"Kimberlee was born at 7:06 p.m. She weighs 7 pounds, 12 ounces and is 20 inches long. Isn't she cute?! My Mommy told me that Kimberlee looks a lot like Rose did when she was a baby.""Here I am with Auntie Allison and cousins Rose & Kimberlee. Having two girl cousins to play with is the best!"

"Rose and I had a great time together today. We played on the swings and even got to play Memere & Pepere's new piano. My Mommy has been showing me how to make music on our piano at my home so I was excited to show off my newly learned piano skills. Cousin Rose has so many fun and new toys and it was nice of her to share them with me!"

Eleven Months Old!

Eyes & Ears & Mouth & Nose....and Teeth & Toes!

Grace turned eleven months old yesterday and she changed so much over the past month. Grace quickly advanced from walking to running within a few short weeks! Her new found mobility has allowed Grace many more opportunities to explore her home and her community. The most amazing change has been the growth of Grace's expressive vocabulary. She now has a total of approximately 25+ words/word approximations, some of which include the following: hi, bye-bye, dada, mama, hat, pee (Petey, our cat), bih (our other cat, Lil' Bit), Eh-luh (Ella the elephant), buh (butterfly & balloon), bah (ball), up, peas (please), chee (cheese), boh (boat), puh (pumpkin), apple, nah-nah-nah (banana), ow (outside), ih (swing), yih yuh (we say "yick yuck" for something that should not go in Grace's mouth, like shoes!), ah-duh (all done), bah (Grace's word for sheep), ooo (Grace's word for cow), pretty, and ghee? (this is Grace's unique way of asking, "What's that?" or "Tell me more." She will point to something while saying this and look to a person for more information). Grace even combines two words together to say, "bye-bye dada." Grace says this phrase each morning just before her Daddy leaves to go to work. Grace's verbal imitation skills have also taken off over the past month. She will now attempt to repeat any word when asked to do so. Grace also uses the signs for up (reaching both hands up in the air) and more (bringing hands together). Grace also initiates the singing of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by opening and closing her fingers. I can't seem to keep up with Grace's receptive language skills. She identifies so many objects and pictures and is able to identify novel pictures after being told what it is only one time. Grace's favorite things are: books, swinging, walking through the leaves, going for long walks, the lake across from our house, pine trees, music & singing, balloons, shape sorters, blocks, puzzles, baby dolls, broccoli & spinach with cheese, carrying her play phone up to her ear while walking around our house, farm animals, her kitchen set & play food, the Children's Museum of Maine, pointing......and ladybugs. Amazing Grace!

Flying High With Daddy!

This is something only Daddy can do and Grace loves it! Mommy stands behind the camera anxiously watching as little Gracie Girl gets thrown up higher & higher in the air......the higher the better according to Grace! You can see Grace sign more (hands together) each time Daddy stops!