15 months

Here is a list of a few of Gracelynn's milestones at 15 months:

-Shakes head yes very slowly with a serious look at any question
-Points to heaven when you ask "Where is Jesus?"
-Will blow when told to "Blow your nose"
-Will do a new dance with "chicken arm" out and move in circles or bobble up and down
-Started using utensils at dinner (having a harder time with this...just wants to stab at her food)
-Likes us to chase her when you say "I'm gonna get you" and will also chase you if you say "Come and get 
 me." Helps to get her started if you shuffle your feet
-Sometimes pats her belly and says poo or shakes her head yes when you ask "Did you go poo poo?"
-Watches Tangled (her favorite movie) everyday and mimics characters motions on the screen.  This is so 
 cute. Steffon and I will be watching her from behind and we crack up every time.
-After watching me make shadows on the wall and finding this very interesting by looking closely at my
 motions and then at the wall, she gets up and walks to the wall and tries to grab her shadow. This is a new thing we do before bed sometimes for some laughter before the fight to go to bed :-\

So there is the update for this month! 



Playing at Daddy's softball game

Watching Tangled





14 Months

Lot's of activity went on through Gracelynn's 14th month so I will just highlight on a few. One of her new words is "Uh Oh." She will purposely throw something on the floor or knock something over to say make that surprised expression and say "Uh Oh," it is the cutest thing :-)  She gets very excited when she sees a ball, bird, or dogie and will say the correct word for them. She has learned to show me what she wants by reaching her arm out towards the direction she want me to take her... so I will follow her directions and find what she wants...usually food in the pantry. If food is where she took me, she will then point to her mouth to tell me she wants to eat it, lol.  Right now she is also going through a very clingy stage; wants to be held 24/7 by mainly me and sometimes daddy.  This can be frustrating when trying to cook, clean, or even use the bathroom for 2 mins and she throws a tantrum when not getting her way :-{ So our prayer for now is lots of patience. My favorite thing she has learned this month is pretend to be mommy. She will play with her baby doll and pretend to feed her the bottle and spoon feed her. I love watching and playing with her, wish I had more play time. 

Preparing for Easter

 





We made a visit to Uncle Mike's farm to have a little party for Michaela's birthday. Had a nice time with the family. Gracie loves the outdoors! She took a little tour to see the baby goats and she also fed the mommy goat with her cousin Elliot. She found this exciting! Then mommy took her on a little 4-wheeler ride down to the ponds. 





Finally, we took our second trip to FL. This time there was a lot more to do. We were able to take Gracelynn to the beach to play in the sand and also to Jungle Gardens to see some birds and reptiles.  We mainly went to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Bianco. Also celebrated Easter Sunday while we were there, with the family that could make it. Gracelynn enjoyed her time with family and loved the attention. She had a fun time climbing up and down on Great Grandpa's lap... I think his wheelchair was also fascinating to her ;-). Gracelynn also held her first lizzard and fed her first flamingo, and liked them too:-\

 

 





 


13 months

Here is where Gracelynn is now... She is walking quite regularly at a slow pace but doesn't want to crawl anymore, she can drink out of a sippy cup but only when she wants to (does best out of a straw), she can go down the slide now on her own while someone catches her at the end but doesn't want to stop, & she only says a few more words like tweet tweet, banana, jazzie, doggy, star...

We have learned that Gracelynn is very stubborn, always has been but now very stubborn. She will only do things when she wants to and how she wants to do them. There are a lot of things she likes to do and can do but if not done on her own timing, her own style, her own technique...she will rear back or push away and not do anything.  This is not good. We are having to spank her for this behavior :( This means a lot of spankings. She has also become a biter. She has bit her cousin Elliot a few times over sharing or something, and mommy had to pop her in the mouth. I think she is listening a little better on this issue. Well, when she is not being stubborn she is very loving. Loves to gives big kisses, and loud ones at that, mwah mwah.

Gracelynn has also upgraded to a front facing car seat! This is great in the fact that we can see her and talk to her now while all riding in the car, but bad in the fact that she doesn't sleep in it well and we can't use the rear facing car seat for a sleeper at nap times when at someone else's home.

Favorite thing right now...is when we can just be sitting around the house, turn and look at her, and she will just grin really big and then do a silly laugh out loud. :)

Baby Steps!

Gracelynn is starting to walk...Wed. night, 2/22, Gracelynn took 3-4 steps in the nursery. Last night, 2/23, she would take anywhere from 6-10 steps, fall on her bottom, and then take 6-10 steps again and again till she was too tired and fussy.  My baby will be running around the house in no time! (And we will be chasing her).

Gracelynn's 1st Birthday!

 

Happy Birthday Gracelynn! We have had one full blessed year! Look how fast you have grown and how much you have learned.

Well Feb. 11, we threw a family party for Gracelynn. Thank you all for making it special for her! She had a great time. We were very blessed to have Steffon's Dad, Michele, and Joey make it here too, to celebrate with us. 

Gracelynn's morning started out with mommy getting her out of bed and singing happy birthday to her, then took her to daddy, who sang happy birthday to her. Spent the rest of the morning eating breakfast, watching  a movie with Dad, Michele, and Joey, and then went shopping. We then rushed home to decorate, eat lunch and clean up for the party. Everyone showed up at 4. We had 27 people total at the party. Yes, big family. Little kiddos everywhere!

Once everyone was there, we first opened gifts. She received a lot of nice clothes and toys. I think her favorites were the baby dolls. Second, we sang happy birthday and watched Gracelynn eat her cake (she was very slow and didn't want to make it too messy, but she enjoyed it and was so mesmerized by it she wouldn't hardly pay attention to anything else). Finally, we all snacked and socialized while the little ones played with all Gracie's new toys. After the party, Dad and Michele took us to dinner at outback, then came home and played cards. 

Gracelynn took her two first steps alone during her party. Auntie B was helping her and quickly let go. After two steps she realized what she did and plopped to the floor.  Also, yesterday, she took 3 steps on her own. This is a work in progress. Going to really work on it this weekend.

Yesterday, she was playing with a baby that Rachael from church got her. I was teaching her how to rock the baby to sleep, kiss her on the forehead, and put her in the bed.  She watched me a few times then I gave the baby to her and told her to rock the baby, she rocked the baby; then to kiss baby, she kissed baby; and to put baby to bed, and she threw baby in her little bed. It was the sweetest thing.



 

  





You Are My Dancing Queen

You’re the daughter;

The greatest daughter,

Parents could ever wish for

Nothing more do we adore.

We love our daughter,

Our Angel,

Who lights up our lives

Your smile, it revives.

We love our Angel,

Our little love bug,

Whose kisses we love

And just can’t get enough of.

We love our little bug,

Our bundle of joy,

Who makes us laugh

  And brings blessings every day.

Well, Gracelynn is almost a year old...I can't believe it! She now has 4 teeth on her top and the 2 on the bottom.  In Dec. her right top incisor came first then her left in early Jan. Then in mid Jan. her 2 front teeth came through.  She is now a good eater and can chew up almost anything.  Also this month, she has started dancing almost every time music starts playing. She will rock her hips or sway from side to side with her shoulders.  Dancing must come from Grandma Bianco since Mommy and Daddy do not dance.

So, we are going this weekend to purchase party supplies and arrange for a cake.  I will post pics and details and let you know how it goes!

11 months

Gracelynn is 11 months and is almost walking.  She can walk around the house while holding or pushing something.  I think she will have it down by her 1st birthday!  She is starting to understand what "no" means. We have the dog bowls on the floor in the kitchen and she loves to try and play in the dogs water bowl...no, no, no.  We will see her head that direction and tell her no. She will stop, sit down, turn and look at us, and then start telling us something while waving her hands around. Then she will try for it again but it ends with a pop on the hand.  I'm worried she might become a back talker like her mommy...please Lord no! She also learned how to her baby doll a bottle, Grandma Bianco taught her this one :) So sweet!

Well one month and she will be one!  So, this month we are planning a party and decided we are only doing a big family party.  Just ordered the cutest outfit too, can't wait to post it!

1st Christmas and New Year

Rise and shine!

Thank you Lord for the birth of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ! We are so thankful for this time of the year to gather with friends and family celebrating Jesus' birthday, eating and spending time together, and giving gifts to one another. Our greatest gift this year is Gracelynn.  Steffon and I spent a lot of time this year coming up with a tradition to start with her. We really want her to learn and appreciate the true Christmas story and the love of our Lord. We want to teach her to love and have a giving heart. One thing we also talked about was trying to find a needy family every year to buy gifts for. We want her to find joy in giving to those in true need. 

So, this year Gracelynn had a wonderful time at the Christmas party they had at work. She is so blessed to have so many people who love her and wanted to make this first Christmas special for her.  Gracelynn thanks all her wonderful Aunts and Uncles at Cumberland Container for the gifts and the love she received this year!

We celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family and had a great time seeing everyone.  Gracelynn had a fun time playing with all her family.  She received so many clothes and also some neat learning toys.  She really showed her exitement when she watched me open the gifts to see a new toy and then get a little frustrated when I put them aside to open the next one. 

For New Year's we relaxed around Grandma and Grandpa Bianco's house and wathed Football games and also spent a lot of time playing Zelda with Auntie B.

 





  







10 months

We were invited to go to Gatlinburg with our friends Dana, Danny, and Abby. Left Friday after work and stayed till Sunday. It was nice to get away for a bit and to see our friends.  We took Gracelynn put put golfing. It was pretty cold so she didn't want to ride in the stroller. It wasn't bad though, Daddy and I took turns holding her. I believe it was Dana who won the putting match, but Daddy and Danny won a free round and was able to play again with Abby. After that, we walked around the strip in Gatlinburg and shopped. With Dana and a 7 month pregnant belly, Danny carrying Abby, and Daddy and I taking turns holding Gracie...we were all tired and ready to go back to the chalet. After resting for a while, we went back out for dinner at Calhouns and kind of celebrated Dana and Danny's anniversary and Danny's birthday together. 

 Then it was back to the chalet for a game of candy land with Abby, TV, hot tub, and bed.

Thank you Dana and Danny! We had a great time!



I think Gacelynn's favorite thing there was the ornaments on the Christmas tree they had set up in the living room, and playing/watching Abby. lol.  She crawled around on the floor pushing around a glittery ornament everytime we put her down to play and this would satisfy her while we talked and watched TV.

Awe...look at that precious
pregnant belly!

So, now Gracie is ten months old and not much has changed since last month. Just jabbering more and using her hands a lot when she talks. She is giving more kisses to everyone now, especially when she is tired. She is really started to get a personality now.  It's funny when we are at home and Daddy is laying on the floor with her; he will call Jazzie and she will come running over to the two of them, then Gracie will get all excited laughing and turning her head back and forth and then burrying her face into Daddy's chest. So cute! She liked when mommy reads books to her too. She will later take the book, hold it in her hands and jabber like she is reading it herself. She is also eating a lot of foods now right from our plates. She loves cheese and Chic-fil-A chicken nuggets.

First Thanksgiving

A time of thanks...thank you Lord for the blessings you given us. We are so thankful for our precious Gracelynn and all the joy she has brought us.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Bianco side of the family on Tuesday and with the Root family on Thursday.

Gracelynn loved Grandma Bianco's broccoli casserole and all the turkey. Friday, we went to pick out our Christmas tree at a little tree farm. Put the lights and the star on it last night. Still have the ribbon and ornaments to go. Get to have Gracie put her first Christmas ornament up!

Yesterday, we went over Granpma and Grandpa Bianco's for hamburgers and Daddy was sitting in the living room with Gracelynn playing around. Daddy would put a plastic ring on her head and when the ring fell off, he would say "Oh my goodness!" and Gracelynn would laugh so hard. A couple times she would fall back laughing so hard and realized we thought it was funny so she would try falling back each time thereafter.  We sat there and enjoyed watching her do this over and over again. Gracelynn loves her daddy. She finds him so funny. I will try and get this on video and post.

Gracelynn is also starting to understand so many things. It amazes me how fast she catches on. She will now mimic us. We will say la la la la and she will repeat. If we are singing in church, she will try and sing too. She loves when we sing Old McDonald and when we get to EIEIO it really sounds like she repeats it and she almost gets it right on. She loves to sing and talk, it is such a blessing to hear her sweet voice.

9 months

Gracelynn said mama for the first time! It was Saturday morning on Nov. 12 and I was in the shower. Daddy had her in her highchair and he said she said ma ma ma ma... she didn't say it again for me to hear until Sunday afternoon. Yeah Gracie!
So she is 9 months and crawls around everywhere and is now pulling herself up on everything into a standing position. She also waves hi and bye but doesn't usually say it.
Took her to the park yesterday and she went on the swings for the first time and down the slide with mommy.

1st Halloween!

It's Gracelynn's 1st Halloween! She dressed up this year as a cute little lamb, although Gracie didn't find it cute...she hated he lamb hoody.  On Sun. the 30th we had a fun fest at church and then Mon. the 31st we went door-to-door with Grandma, Auntie B, and cousin Michaella.  At the fun fest we got to meet Aunt Meghan and cousins Elliot and Gabriel.  Daddy took her into the nursery for a little bit to get her out of the could and up out of nowhere she started really crawling. Every time he would put her down she dashed for some toys.  

Aunt Meghan & Cousins Elliot and Gabriel
Gabriel's 1st Halloween too!

When we went door-to-door, we carried her up to each house and Gracelynn loved it. She would bounce her arms and legs around as she watched all the kids dressed up and running around. She actually carried her own basket in her hands as we received treats from each house. After about a block and a half she started to get cold and fussy so we headed over to Nick and Bethany's house since this was their first Halloween together in their new home.  We had to also show off Gracie's new moves on their carpeted floors.



Auntie B and her friend Bri G.



Also on Monday, Gracelynn said bye and waved to Uncle Phil. Then later that night after trick-or-treating, I set her in the living room to play, walked into the kitchen, and started to hear a cry following me. Gracie crawled all the way from her floor mat in the living room to the entryway in the kitchen! Congratulations Gracie Bug! 

Off to Day Care!

Well, last Thursday, my boss called and mentioned that since Gracelynn is becoming more mobile, we may need to look into a daycare. He said no rush, just something I need to prepare for. So I decided to start that coming Mon. Grandma offered to watch her Mon-Wed. so all I needed was a Thurs & Fri babysitter.  Called everywhere and there were only two day cares with a open spot for her age, but they were both $150 a week and would not do partial wks.  Daddy and I could not afford this and prayed about it. Wed we went to church and after service Michelle (a lady at our church who we REALLY wanted to watch her and was told she was booked) talked to us and I mentioned it to her and she said she would try it out even though she was kinda booked.  Thank you Lord for Grandma and Ms. Michelle! So today is her first day at Michelle's and we will see how it goes.  We all miss her at work though : (

She is still not off the breast so this week I made lunch breaks to mom's house to feed her, but Thurs. and Fri. she is gonna have to toughen it up from 6am - 4pm with no breast milk. Unless of course she decides to take the sippy cup. Here is her diet for now: morning-breast milk, morning snack-oatmeal mixed with fruit, lunch-breast milk/yogurt, afternoon snack-vegetable, dinner-some type of protein and breast milk, and before bed-breast milk. Geesh this girly is a little piggy.

Gracelynn, is now 8 1/2 months and she likes to jibber jabber while moving her hands around like she is trying to show and tell you something. She is still not completely crawling but she can move forward a couple times then stops. She has no problem getting around though; scoots, rolls, military crawls... She can now use her pincher grasp and pick up cherrios or any snack and put it in her mouth. She is real good about chewing slow and not choking on anything. Gracelynn, you are growing so fast already! We love you and love watching take each new step in life.

8 months

Gracie's first trip to Michigan! Well yesterday Steffon's (daddy's) mom calls and tells us that Great Grandpa passed away...yes, very sad news...we were hoping to take Gracelynn to see him before this day came, but at least she will be able to meet a lot of the family, family on daddy's side that I haven't even met yet. She did really good on the trip. Got a little fussy since she

couldn't get all her wiggles out. She's having a lot of fun with Grandpa Root, Grandma Michele, Joey and yes Rocky too.  Rocky even gave her a good morning wake up pounce on the bed :) 

Saturday, when we left Grandpa Root's house, we went to see Great Grandma. She was very surprised to see us and meet Gracelynn for the first time.  We spent all day Saturday with family, looking at old pics, and talking.  Sunday we hung out with Grandpa Root and Grandma Michele at the apple orchard. Gracelynn had a lot of fun picking apples, going to the petting zoo, getting her face painted, and riding on tractor trailers. Oh, and did I mention Gracelynn is now a snake handler???  Monday, was the funeral. It turned out to be a nice funeral. We really enjoyed the marine tribute for Great Grandpa Vern and the '21 gun salute.' It was nice to hear and see the love the family had for Great Grandpa.



Check out these teethers!!!



After the funeral we met Grandpa Root and Grandma Michele at Silver Lake with Daddy's brother and sisters...and all the kiddos. Took some pics by the lake and sand dunes.  Tuesday was the long trip back home.

Well, Gracelynn is 8 months and has her two bottom teeth completely in and she is eating well. She can eat her snack puffs and on stage 2-3 baby food.  Her favorite is her yogurt for snack. She will eat that till she falls asleep from satisfaction.  She can now get into the a crawling position but only moves backwards.  She also pulls herself up into a standing position...geesh she is growing so fast, and always on the move. She jabbers a lot but mainly dada.  She still hasn't said mama yet but fingers crossed by the end of this month.