More Words

OK. I'm back. Circulation to my fingertips has resumed. Because I'm beat after a fun day with my girl, I'm going to try to keep this post a little shorter so I have time to add more pics to the side bar. It turns out that the technique I used in the last post is waaaaaay too time-consuming. Although the larger images are an improvement over the smaller ones to the right, it's a pain in the neck to format.

Soooo, back to our recent goings-on. Last weekend, to celebrate our country's independence, we spent 3 nights at our favorite resort in Cannon Beach with our best friends, Jill, Megan, and Benji (and their 2 pups, Ruby and Murphy). It was incredible! We spent hours in the sand and near the shore; Gracie could not have been happier. She loved the feel of sand between her toes (and apparently in her mouth because she ate quite a lot of it), and she even went for a little dip in the Pacific! On the morning of the 4th, we went into town and had a front-row seat to the 4th of July parade. Gracie even got to pet a horse!

One morning while searching for seashells, Chad and Grace found 3 perfect sand dollars laying in the sand. Another morning, we spent time at the hotel swimming pool, which was a huge hit for both kids. Saturday night, we had a camp fire on the beach where we made s'mores. Grace got so much gooey marshmallow on her face and hands that she needed an extra long bath just to get it all off! All weekend, Gracie got lots of puppy love from Ruby and Murph, and she had unencumbered playtime with Benji. On our last day there, Gracie got to touch real, live sea stars, barnacles, and anemones in their natural habitat at Haystack Rock. Even though we do a lot of fun things with Gracie, we have never seen her as happy as she was on this trip. We all had such a wonderful time that we have already made reservations for 4th of July 2009!

Then... the day after we got back from Cannon Beach, my mom and Ron came to see Gracie for 2 whole days! They lavished her with love and attention, and Gracie relished every second of it. Come to think of it, I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more: Gracie or mom and Ron! When they weren't playing "I'm gonna get you" and chasing each other down the hallway, they went out to lunch, to Gymboree (a make-up class for last weekend), on lots of walks, and out for ice cream. It's a goooooood thing Gma and Gpa are going to be retiring soon because Grace can't get enough of them!

Other than lots of fun weekend stuff, we've just been enjoying the summertime. Grace is using a lot of sign language lately. Most of her signs have to do with mealtime, but hey, it's a start! She can do the signs for eat, milk (only in her case, it's a plea for a drink of any sort), more, and all done. She has also perfected the nod when asked if she's hungry (that's really the only time she nods). One of the most precious new things Grace has picked up is blowing kisses. She knows how to do the hand motions for the song "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and loves the rain part. "Peek" has long been a favorite game of GG's, but she has recently started to use her own hands to cover her eyes (so cute). Oh, and she says "bub bub" for bubbles! Right around her birthday, Gracie was saying "dye dye" (bye bye) to everyone and everything, but abruptly stopped soon after. It was a little concerning to me until I read that it's common for babies to temporarily forget some of their old tricks when they're learning new ones. She clearly knows what "bye bye" means because she waves to everyone. She has "hi" down pat.

What else... Oh! Grace is trying all kinds of new foods and is especially fond of mandarin orange segments. The child slurps them down whole, I swear. We took her to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner the other night, and she tried all kinds of new veggies from the salad bar. Turns out she hates purple cabbage but enjoys garbanzo beans quite a bit. Her all-time fave summertime food? Watermelon. She would eat the rind if we let her, she loves it so much.

There's a ton more I could report on because Chad and I find every little thing Gracie does to be absolutely brilliant, precious, spectacular; but there are not enough words to capture the wonderment that is Gracie. Plus, I'm done with the blog for tonight. I'll have to save the pics for tomorrow. Check back soon!