Gracie Finds Her Voice

Yesterday (3/1/09) Gracie found her voice. She's been cooing and laughing and squealing for some time now but yesterday she starting talking. Not literally of course.

She was sitting in her papasan watching daddy work when she started conversing with the baby in the mirror. I stopped what I was doing and went into the room to see if she was enjoying a conversation with Matt. There is a mirror that hangs over the seat with a bumble bee hanging down. She was batting the bee around and cooing up a storm. Neither of us were coaxing her into her squeals like we normally do. By coaxing, of course, I mean generally making fools of ourselves. She has also starting smiling and laughing as if she is beginning to understand the world.

Saturday morning she was napping on the full size bed in her room and when she starting stirring Matt went to take his turn putting the paci back in while I caught a little more shut eye. He later told me that as soon as he opened the door she was smiling at him from the bed with one of those, "Hi Daddy, I love you Daddy, aren't I cute Daddy?" kind of smiles. He laid next to her while she played with his hand and fell back to sleep. I'm sure that is no indication of how their relationship will be in the future. I'm sure Matt will be forever cool, calm and collected in the face of a little blue eyed beauty who needs a little swat on the rear or a firm, "No." Or maybe, just maybe, she's already got him wrapped around her little finger. :)

I was giving her a bath a few nights ago and she was laughing in the tub while she kicked. When I was dressing her I held her up to put the sleeper down and she had a view of a Parents magazine with a goofy kid smiling on it and she laughed out loud.

She seems to change in little ways everyday. I'm feeling more and more like I'll wake up one morning and she'll be walking and talking already. I guess she's got to grow up eventually. At least we can have fun along the way. I'm trying to will Indiana into an early spring by thinking about all the fun things we can do when Gracie gets a little older and the weather gets a bit warmer. I plan to go to the zoo, the children's museum, home to visit family and see the beach, plant some flowers and take lots of walks outside. I'm sure all of these things will have Gracie "talking" and laughing as she learns about the world God made for us. Beautiful flowers and funny looking elephants make me smile and I'm sure Gracie will enjoy them too.

You can watch the video of Gracie finding her voice here .

Note to Gracie:
You will be four months old tomorrow and time has flown by since the moment you were born. There have been some tough moments but they are all out weighed by the moments spent cuddling, rocking, smiling, cooing and laughing with you. I can remember life before you were here and I don't miss it at all. The fact that God saw fit to place you in our lives reminds me everyday just how much he loves us. All of us. Daddy and I had a song in our wedding called "Blessed Be Your Name." It is about the relationship we want to have with God throughout our life together. One of the lines is, "Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise." Gracie you are a blessing from God and every day I praise Him for you. Every day.