Six Months

I'm a little late with my six month update. We had a very busy first half of May. Gracie was actually six months old on May 3rd so this is more like a six and a half month update. She is blossoming every day.

On May 7th we (Gracie and I) boarded our first flight home to Corpus Christi, Texas. Gracie did wonderful. She made lots of friends the whole way there and she only cried once when I pinched her with my seat belt. Whoops! Poor baby had a little bruise on her leg for a couple of days but it didn't seem to bother her. She absolutely adored her Grammie Carol and Grandpa Marty. While we were there we did a lot of shopping, ate Mexican food, went to the beach and "swam" in a kiddie pool in the back yard. She enjoyed digging her toes into the sand but did not love the waves rolling over her feet. She loved the kiddie pool though. I think she thought it was a big bath tub and she didn't want to get out. We spent time with her Great Aunt Patti, Great Great Aunt Lois, Great Grandpa Carl and Great Grandma Billie. She soaked in all the love and attention and I'm pretty sure she didn't want to leave but alas we had more family to visit.

On May 14th we made the 5 hour journey to College Station, TX (thanks for the ride Aunti Patti!) to visit Matt's side of the family. When we got there Nana Debbie, Aunt Shannon and Cousin MacKenzie were waiting for us. My cousin's Pam and Melanie came by too. Everyone wants a piece of Gracie. Who can blame them? Gracie thoroughly enjoyed her Nana, Papa, Aunt, Uncle and Cousin in Aggieland. We ate great food, took a walking tour of campus, Gracie and MacKenzie swam in the baby pool while I got a back massage (Thanks Shannon!), shopped, visited with old friends (Trey, Jenny and Ava), celebrated Uncle Cory's birthday (Happy Birthday Cory!) and then headed back home via Houston Intercontinental.

I think Gracie misses having so many people around. She seems a little bored with me by the afternoon but perks up when Daddy gets home to play with her. We had her 6 month well baby visit yesterday and she took those shots like a champ. Until last night anyways. About 6:45 pm she started wailing because her legs started hurting. I gave her some baby tylenol, bathed her (which seemed to help) and then she sobbed herself to sleep on my chest. She was out by 7:30. Today there are little bruises where the needles went in and red, hard, knots too. She weighed in at 16 lbs 14 oz (my guess was 16 lbs 13 oz, man am I good) and was 25.25 in long. Her head is still the biggest at around the 75th percentile.

I'm convinced she's going to be smart. Not just because her head is huge but because she is very contemplative. She always seems to be studying things. Just today I noticed she is starting to use her hands differently. She will grab a toy and then watch her hand as she moves it up and down at the wrist. This sounds silly to anyone who doesn't have children but it really is a milestone. Up to this point she would grab a toy and just flail her arm about but now she has figured out that she has this added level of control. She isn't crawling yet but I can see the wheels in motion as she lays on the floor trying to decide what the best way to get to a toy is. She is sitting up completely on her own now. Apparently this happened while we were in Corpus. At least that's what Matt says. She constantly amazes me.

In honor of her six month birthday and the name of this blog I've decided to make note of a few things that I'm beginning to see through Gracie's eyes.

* Putting my hair in a pony tail - Gracie's eyes get really big whenever I start to put my hair up because she knows I'm going to swing my pony tail for her. I find myself excited when I start to gather my hair because I can't wait to see the smile on her face.
* Walking to the park - We've started putting Gracie in the backpack carrier when we walk to the park. When Matt puts her in it and swings it up onto his back her eyes open up so wide and she smiles so big. She looks down at me as if to say, "Look Mommy I'm taller than you!"
* Bath Time - Gracie finds so much joy in splashing and playing with her toys in the tub. It is no longer a chore but a wonderful way to wrap up the day. Even though Matt is the one that usually bathes her I find myself hanging around the bathroom just to watch her bath dance on the floor before she goes in and the smile on her face as she starts to splash around.

Note to Gracie:

I can't believe you are six months old already. We've already experienced so much together that it feels as though a lifetime can't hold all of the precious memories. A lifetime will not be long enough to show you how much we love you but we will do our best to make sure you know.