Amazing,Sweet,Precious,Irresistible and Enchanted

Monday evening and Grace is asleep. We had another incredible day. We thought that we would leave a magical picture of Grace to end our day. We hope that you enjoy it.

~Mary Ann/Mom/Maddy

~Walter/Dad/Poppy

Beautiful Mama and Rebecca

Bob emailed us these two beautiful pictures of Rebecca at Marco Island in Florida.

She has no idea that we are posting them but, we just couldn't help ourselves we think that she is so lovely.

What We Did On A Rainy Monday Afternoon

Monday afternoon

Weather - rainy:

This is how we spent our rainy Monday afternoon. Poppy just came home and I thought that I would post these pictures very quickly before we take Grace for a ride to Middlebury College.

We drew with chalk, sat in a box, petted Willie again, played dress-up, and even went out in a "little" rain to watch the men cut the lawn with the "cut, cut" machines.

PS. Notice the important information that Rebecca left for us on our chalkboard wall.

Best Friends!!

Doing Projects

Monday morning with Maddy in the kitchen:

After breakfast Grace and I did a few projects. Grace made a very special present to Give to Mama at the airport when Mama comes back on Wednesday afternoon.

Sshhhh, don't tell Dada but Grace made a Father's Day gift, too. I promised that I would mail it to Dada for her!

Playground Fun

The afternoon at Maddy and Poppy's!

After the warm and beautiful morning we had the afternoon turned out quite different.
A strong wind from the north came rushing into Middlebury and blew Grace's hat off! We had fun on the swings and at the playground. We even took a walk to see some big yellow trucks. Grace loved it! She met some new children at the playground and ran in the soccer field. We had a remarkable day. We are all off now to have sweet dreams. We'll show you more pictures tomorrow.

Bob and Rebecca,
We hope that you are enjoying hot and humid Florida! Have a marvellous time.

There Is Nothing Like a Sunday Morning in May With Grace

Sunday morning at Maddy and Poppy's.

Grace went for a wonderful walk around downtown Middlebury with Poppy. Before lunch we played outdoors while enjoying the nice flowers in our yard. All of our neighbors came over to meet Grace. Grace gave everyone a rock! She is such a generous little girl and has the best time sharing. It just melted our hearts! We think that Grace might become a geologist though, because she loves rocks so much. She knows all about small, medium and large rocks.

PS...Notice Ella up in the tree!

Grace Leger Hard At Work

Just to let you know, it's not all fun and games when dealing with Poppy. I had to get some tax work done and I needed some help. So Grace and I went over the paperwork. Grace knew what to do and went right to work on the calculations. She did an excellent job. I couldn't have done it without Grace's help.

(Actually, it's all fun and games when Grace is here. Grace and I enjoyed a good book together. Grace also had fun playing with Rebecca's old calculator and watching the paper tape come out. When Rebecca was a toddler, she wanted her own calculator because she wanted to be a "working mans".)

Maddy & Poppy Doing This Post!!

Hello to all of the viewers and readers of Grace's blog.

This is Maddy and Poppy posting from our home in Middlebury, Vermont. Bob and Rebecca are at Marco Island off the western coast of Florida. They are at a Board Retreat for Bob's work. Bob is in senior management at the Town and Country Credit Union in Portland, Maine. Each year the executives and board members go away on a week long retreat to an exotic place. Rebecca did not go last May because Grace was still a baby. So, this year they both went and left Grace with us. We are having the best time ever with our sweet little Grace. She is pure love and joy. We are enjoying ourselves so much we can hardly stand it! We'll be posting more pictures as soon as we can. You cannot believe all the fun things we have done!

Bob and Rebecca,

We love Grace more than ever. She is the best child in the whole world. We are sure that you are missing her very much but have a wonderful time with each other. All is perfect!

Too bad, that Rebecca is not staying the whole week----she is coming home on Wednesday.

Life As An Artist....

...is always very colorful and full of lots of clean up!

Every morning after breakfast (and right before bath time!) Grace has art time. I think it's very important to let Grace express her creativity through art and also to let her experience a variety of different textures and colors. Grace clearly enjoyed painting this morning....and now it's time for her bath!

A Big Sister!

We are extremely excited to announce that Grace is going to be a BIG SISTER!

We are having another baby!

Due date: December 21, 2008

A Very Happy Mother's Day

We spent our day together at Maine's Wildlife Park. We saw fisher cats, raccoons, black bears, peacocks, mountain lions, porcupines, bobcats, a skunk, a cougar, deer, ducks, geese, ravens, hawks, owls, and a bald eagle.

Being with my beautiful daughter and wonderful husband made this a very, very, very happy Mother's Day for me!

Grace One Year Ago Today!

I was looking through some older photos of Grace today. This picture of Grace was taken exactly one year ago. Grace was just five months old and she had just learned to sit up on her own a few days before this picture was taken. It's unbelievable to see how much Grace has changed in just one year. The one thing that has remained the same is Grace's very happy and sparkly personality!

We wish Maddy & Memere a very happy Mother's Day tomorrow. Thank you for all that you do! We love you.

Ferry Beach

It is so nice to be able to post lots of beach pictures, especially after the very snowy winter we just had. I am thrilled to say that the last of our snow is finally gone! I thought it would take until June to melt. Grace and I enjoyed a warm and very, very windy afternoon at the beach today. Because of all that wind, Grace's hat kept blowing away. Grace thought this was very funny and she let out huge giggles each time it happened, which was a lot! Hearing her giggles made my day!

Grace is Back!

Sadly, our Gracie girl has been sick for the past several days with ear infections but she is back today feeling great! Grace and I have spent most of our day outside enjoying our hammock and marveling at the beautiful shades of green that have appeared in our neighborhood over the past few days. We have small green leaves on all of our trees and even some beautiful green grass in our yard!

Grace's look of pure joy is priceless!

Seventeen Months Old!

Grace continues to amaze us by how quickly she learns and how much she knows. Here is a brief update about our Amazing Grace:

• Grace has started to combine two words together. Some examples include: big dog, Daddy work, little rock, hair tie, I love, go bus, and more please. Grace's single word expressive vocabulary (spoken words and signs) is very large. Grace talks all the time and we love hearing all that she has to say!
• Grace can count to 13 by herself and to 20 with some help
• Grace identifies and names colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black)
• Grace knows all 26 letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds. She is able to recite the entire alphabet when we point to the letters.
• Grace can spell her name
• Grace can identify the printed words mama & Grace
• Grace imitates the drawing of vertical & horizontal lines and circles
• Grace identifies the basic shapes and more complex ones including: rhombus, pentagon, octagon, & trapezoid
• Grace understands the size concepts little, medium, and big. She uses these words to describe objects, mostly rocks and balls.
• Grace names the functions of common objects. Her favorites are telling us that scissors "cut, cut" and that spoons "scoop"
• Grace remembers past events and tells us about them using a series of words, signs, and gestures
• Grace follows two-step directions
• Grace is very charming and she has a great sense of humor. She keeps us smiling and laughing all the time.
• Grace's favorite things: buckling buckles, going for walks to the lake, the beach, our cat Petey, apples, eggs, books, markers, painting, stickers, her swimming instructor, music class, her Learning Tower, The Children's Museum, the produce section at the grocery store, potty time, swinging, shoes, phones, dressing, dancing, twirling, walking backwards, lotions, and any fine motor task. Grace's very favorite thing in the entire world is ELLA (seen below).

Enjoying the Beautiful Outdoors!

Grace loves to blow bubbles.

Our Walk To The Lake

After the warm weather we had last week, I packed away all of Grace's warmer jackets thinking that the colder weather was finally behind us. How very silly of me! Everyone in Maine knows to keep fleece coats, hats, and even the mittens readily available until at least July! Every morning Grace & I take a walk to the lake across from our house. This is one of Grace's very favorite things to do. Today we bundled up for our always beautiful walk. Along the way Grace and I collect "big ocks" (big rocks) to throw in the water. Grace loves throwing the rocks into the lake to see the big "spash" (splash) that they make. The bigger the splash the better! This is a special time that Grace and I share together and is something that we both look forward to each morning.

Grace's First Baseball Game!

Grace attended her very first baseball game this week with Mommy, Maddy, Poppy and me (Daddy!) and LOVED every second of it. Grace saw the Portland Sea Dogs, who are the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. It is only a matter of time before the players Grace saw will be winning Championships in Boston.

Maddy was stylishly outfitted at the game with a beautiful Red Sox hat. It clearly communicates her classy style and compliments her winning attitude. On the other hand, Poppy was wearing an Orioles hat. It signifies his acceptance of complacency, and shows that style is not something he puts a high value on. A Yankees hat would have surely drawn the ire of thousands of attendees at the game but the Orioles lid flew under the radar, just like the Orioles do in the AL East.

Celebrating Earth Day

Grace celebrated Earth Day with Maddy and Poppy on Tuesday by planting beautiful purple and yellow pansy flowers in our yard. Grace then took her small red watering pitcher and watered the flowers, leaves, trees, grass, dirt, rocks, pine needles, and sticks around our house! Thank you so much Maddy & Poppy for making Earth Day a very special day for Grace while Bob and I were away. This was a wonderful way for Gracie girl to honor and celebrate Earth Day.