Whats that I see....

Its HAIR! Yep Grace has beautiful brown hair! How do I know you ask? Well that is because after just short of 7 months she finally is Helmet Free!!!!!!!!!

We already had a tough evening though as Grace has to learn that hitting her head does in fact hurt since she doesn't have the protective cover anymore. She'll learn...pretty quick I am sure.

Well we are off to Highland, IN tonight for Christmas with my grandparents. Will update more later.

1 Year

Yep, Can you believe it Grace is 1 year old! We had her party this past weekend and the poor girl was sick. She had spiked a high temp. Friday just after her 1 year pictures, and I told Scott that if she still had it in the morning we were canceling the party. She woke up with no fever so party was on. After she ate dinner she threw up and about an hour or so later she spiked another fever. Poor girl and bad mom, I should have canceled the party. She did enjoy the toys and stuff though. We saved her cake for another time so she can go at it.

We had her Dr. appt. yesterday her stats:

Weight: 20lbs 30th %
Length: 29 1/2" 50th % ( we don't agree with this, we think she is closer to 28 inches )
Head: 18 1/4" 90th %

We did get referred on to a neurologist just to rule out that there is anything neurological or anything that is causing her gross motor delays. We don't go see him until the end of Jan though by then she could be running, I highly doubt it but she could be.

I will upload updated pictures another time. Right now this mommy has to go to bed.

Just a Little Bit Longer

Above are some recent pictures we took of Grace at a pumpkin patch.

So we had an appointment today for Grace and her helmet. She was supposed to graduate (meaning be done with the helmet today). But no go. The numbers aren't what the Dr. wants them to be so we have to deal with it for another 6 weeks. I am bummed my goal was to have it off by her first birthday but that is not going to happen seeing as she turns 1 in 2 weeks.

Oh well the new date for Graduation from the helmet is tentatively Dec. 10th. So everyone think round thoughts!

Soooo Big!

Yep! You guessed it that is Grace's new thing. We ask her how big she is and she raises both hands in the air and smiles really big. It is the greatest thing. We can't help but have her do it repeatedly.

We also think Grace's top teeth are working their way through. Grace has been very irritable lately and we can't figure out what else it could be. The earlier bedtime is kind of nice, she has been going down at about 7:30/8:00 instead of 8:00/8:30.

Nothing else new to report.

A Little Late is Better Than Never

So Grace has finally discovered that if she rolls from her back to her tummy and back to her back again she can get around the room. Well at least a small square foot area. She has also learned to scoot on her butt.

Grace's physical therapist finally came to the conclusion on Friday that its not necessarily that Grace can't crawl its maybe more that she DOESN'T want to crawl. Well I could have told her that months ago. Grace is a very laid back and easy going girl. She is happy as a clam sitting in one spot or in one general area!

I will post updated pictures later this week, hopefully, when we get them downloaded from the camera.

Still Waiting!

So Grace still has absolutely no interest in crawling, scooting or any other form of movement. Now don't get me wrong I LOVE the fact that I can put her down on the floor and when I return she will be in the same place but having to retrieve toys that get without her reach every couple of minutes is getting old.

Also, Scott and I have decided that we need to start drinking out of sippy cups on a regular basis when Grace is around because she wants nothing to do with one. We try to give her one to play with and try and she just gets mad and pushes it away. I think when its time to get rid of the bottle we are going to have to go COLD TURKEY! But we shall see, she may surprise us yet.

Long Time No Post

So I have been told by several people now that they keep looking to the website to see updates on Grace. So here is an update on Grace!

Grace is 9 months old now, her stats are:
Weight- 18lbs 10oz (50%)
Length- 26 3/4" (25%)
Head 18cm- (90%)
She is a very disproportionate child but she is so darn cute!

As I said in the last post we got her a cranial orthosis helmet in May to reshape the severe flat spot she had on the back of her head. She has had the helmet now for 2 1/2 months and we have seen great improvement! We only have about anothe 2- 2 1/2 months left of the helmet. Our goal is to have it off before her first birthday!

Grace is also our very stubborn child, she will roll from her tummy to her back and has been doing this since she was 6 1/2 months old however she refuses to go the other way. She absolutely hates being on her stomach. The physical therapist even laughs at her stubborness with rolling over. Well because she won't spend any time on her tummy she is not crawling nor is she moving. In some ways its nice to have a child you can put in the middle of the floor and walk away from and know when you come back that she will still be in the middle of the floor, however a lot of her friends are moving and I think that would be fun too.

In May we had to buy a new vehicle as Scott's car rusted out, we then entered the world of minivan owners. We really love the minivan and it really came in handy in June when we went to MI to see Scott's brother and his family. Nothing else really new. Please find some pictures of Grace posted in the next post.

So Close

Grace is so close to rolling over. If she is on her tummy she gets caught up on her elbow, if she's on her back she can get to her side but then can't swing her leg over to make it all the way over. One of these days she's going to do it.

Today while feeding Grace her solid foods she decided that she needed the spoon. What an interesting site that was. We gave her one to hold so that we wouldn't make such a mess and if she wasn't poking her eyes out she was shoving it down her throat and gagging!

Well our house is officially on the market. We had two showings yesterday and none today, which was good I had LOTS of laundry to do. Hopefully we will get some more this week and break our neighbors record. They just sold their townhouse in 3 weeks.

I included a picture of Grace and promise to post more when I get a chance for some reason my computer doesn't always like me to download pictures!

6 Months

Yes can you believe it, Grace is 6 months and I actually have time to sit down and blog.

Grace had her 6 month appt. last week and here are her stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 10oz (50%)
Lenght: 25 1/4" (35%)
Head: 17 1/4" (85%)

As you can see her head is growing much faster than the rest of her body. Because of that the Dr. is concerned about water on the brain. So on the 22nd we are going in for a CT scan. I will update the blog when we know more.

Also on Friday we had another appointment for Grace. As some of you know at Grace's 4 month appt. we were referred to Physical Therapy because Grace's range of motion was not equal on both sides of her neck and she was developing a flat spot on the back of her head. Well we began PT shortly after that and have been able to fix the neck muscle issue however, the spot on the head is not getting better. So last week Friday we had an appt. with an orthotist who fitted Grace for a Cranial Reshaping Orthosis (helmet). Grace will have to wear this helmet for 23 hours a day for 4-5 months. I will post a picture of it when we get it next week.

Please keep that little girl in your prayers as she is being put through a lot in her young life. Thanfully she doesn't remember any of it and can easily and quickly go on with life, talking, laughing and sleeping!

Other updates, Grace has started to eat solids, she loves fruit and oatmeal and tonight we started the veggies, we had squash and she loved them. Hopefully the rest of the veggies go that well.

I will update pictures next week when we have the helmet and know more about the results of the CT scan.

4 1/2 Months

I can't believe that Grace is already 4 1/2 months old. She has turned into such a little person. It is fun to watch her take the world around her in. She studies it really hard. She is still sleeping through the night which makes mommy and daddy happy. She does wake up once or twice to have her nukie put back in her mouth but goes right back to sleep.

Grace had her 4 month check up a few weeks ago. She is 13lbs 8oz, 24 inches long. She is in the 50% for everything. We do have to start physical therapy though because Grace has a major flat spot on the back of her head since she HATES tummy time and favors her left side. The Dr. is concerned about the muscles on her right side since she doesn't use them as much. She says that PT will be short lived and hopefully it will help Grace like her tummy better.

We have reached one milestone in the past week...we have pretty much graduated from 0-3 month clothing into 3-6 month clothing. Now granted the 3-6 month stuff is big on her but the 0-3 is way to small. Gotta love those middle stages!

We have been dealing with thrush for the past few weeks. For those of you who aren't sure what that is, it is basically a yeast infection in the mouth and it is hard to get rid of. I think we are goign to have to replace all her bottles when we finally get rid of it to be sure that everything is clean and not still carrying the germs.

I will post updated pictures of Grace as soon as we get them downloaded which will hopefully be tomorrow.

Schedule's

You have gotta love schedules! I love them even more now that Grace seems to have one. Its a lot easier to plan our lives around since we know what will be her crabby times. Plus, she is sleeping through the night. She goes down between 8:30 and 10p and sleeps until between 4am and 6am. Then has a bottle and goes back down for another couple of hours. Thats really nice on Saturday mornings, like this morning when we didn't have to get up for good until 9am.

As I stated in an earlier blog I went back to work 3 weeks ago. So far its going pretty well. Grace did get her first cold and our first frantic parent dr. visits happened but all is well. She is adjusting well and so is mommy.

Grace is almost rolling over. She gets so close but doesn't quite make it. She is really enjoying her activity gym and the toy bar on her car seat. She has finally figured out that if she reaches out she can touch the toys.

Congratulations to our friends Chet and Heather on the birth of their baby girl Hallie Grace Sat. Feb. 10th, 7lbs. 9ozs. Also congratulations to Scott's brother Ross and Sister-in-law Wendy on the birth of their 3rd child a girl Dakota 8lbs, and 20 inches.

I will have to post updated pictures when I get them uploaded to the computer. We did get her three month pictures done and you can view them at www.flashportraits.com last name is Vrieze and password is grace.

Updates

Nothing new to really update. Grace has found her hand and every few minutes its a new discovery and its great! I can't wait to see what happens when she figures out she has two of them.

Grace is starting to talk to us a little more. She tries really hard to laugh but usually nothing comes out. Its kind of fun to watch. I can't wait to listen to that first little squeal. Right now I just soak in all the smile's and coo's I can get.

Tomorrow Grace starts daycare! I think this day is much harder on mom than on Grace. I always thought I could be a mom who worked and took my child to daycare, not so sure I can. We shall see how it goes. Thankfully we have a very good friend who will be doing the care that makes mommy feel lots better.

As I said in my last blog I will put pictures up once my computer stop copping an attitude and will let me.

Meeting Mickey Mouse

Yes, that is correct, we took Grace to meet Mickey Mouse at Disney World. It was such a great trip. Grace was a wonderful traveler and I just hope that keeps up as she gets older. We were down there with my parents and it was nice to spend some time with them and also as our small little family. We were also able to see some good friends who live down there one day at Universal Studios.

When my computer will let me I will upload some pictures from trip, but right now its being moody!

2 Month Stats

Well Gracie had her 2 month appointment today. All seems to be going very well.

Weight: 10.5 lbs (50th percent)
Length: 22 inches (50th percent)
Head: 15 inches (25th percent)

She did pretty well with her shots, cried really hard when got them but once they were done she was calmed easily. She has however, never held onto me so tight as she did after I picked her up. Thank goodness for Tylenol!

Thank Goodness No Ear Infection

So I took Grace to the Dr. today because I thought maybe she had an ear infection since she really didn't want to lay down to sleep and would do her best sleeping in her bouncy seat. Well there is no ear infection but Grace is getting a cold so we have to watch it.

So many of you have asked me what Grace weighs now and I always guessed 8-9 pounds well I was wrong today she was 10 pounds even.

I think I may have solved the problem to her only wanting to sleep in her bouncy seat though. I went to a Baby and me class today and one of the moms was talking about this thing that vibrates the crib mattress and plays music if you want it to. So I went out and bought it, we will see if it works.

Blogging at Last

So I've had the information on how to get a blog started since I was only 5-6 weeks pregnant and here it is 8 weeks after Grace was born and I am now just getting to it. But lets be honest the stuff I post now about Grace is a lot more fun than hearing how my pregnancy went. (Which for the record was not so great.)

So here is the quick update on Grace:

Grace Eleanor Vrieze was born November 7, 2006 at 9:10pm. (She came into the world about 4 weeks early due to mom developing some complications.) She was 5lbs 10oz and 19 in long. It was amazing how small she was.

Even though Grace is considered a preemie she is doing well. She is getting bigger all the time. She has outgrown all her preemie clothes and is in all newborn clothing. I can't wait until her 2 month check up to see how much she weighs now. I am guessing 8-9 lbs. She is starting to get such a personality and its a good one. She loves to be talked to and play with the play gym she got for Christmas. Its been fun to see all the changes that have come over the past 8 weeks.

I think that is all for now. I am including a few pictures from birth to now so you can see how she has grown and be brought up to date. Then hopefully I will be able to keep this blog up and all of you in the loop with Grace.

Picture one is 2 days old, picture 2 is 5 days old and picture 3 is 6 weeks old.