Lots of Adventures

Gracie has had quite a week, with many adventures:

• On Monday night, Gracie, Jeff, and I were drawing with chalk on our driveway, Gracie leaned on the box of chalk, it went overr and so did she. Her head hit the cement and she has a huge bump and scrape on her head. I did the mommy gasp and ran for her. In her very Gracie way, she wanted no hugs or attention, she did not cry, she had to walk it off. You can tell something really hurts when she has to take a little walk away from every one. After a little while we could talk about her "Boo Boo".
• On Tuesday, Gracie went to a different daycare - the mom and sister of our regular provider.  She got to hang out with her good buddy Aubrey.  She decided she didn't want to take her seizure meds until she was bribed with a fudgecycle.  She also refused to drink any liquids for them all afternoon and did not want a snack.  When I arrived she was in tears.  They had mentioned that I would be coming soon to pick her up and well I guess she was missing me.  Once I got her calmed down, she guzzled a big glass of Gatorade and asked for more....all evening long.  We played outside a fair amount that evening. 
• On Wednesday morning Gracie hung out with daddy in the morning.  They did a few errands and went to visit some friends from daddy's work.  They treat her like a little princess and she loves going.  Then Aunt Sheila picked her up around lunch time and took Gracie to her house for the afternoon to play with cousins Kayla and Jason, puppy Sandy, and even Uncle Chris.  She wasn't as peppy yesterday, she loved holding everyone's hand and taking walks, but wasn't quite as active as usual.  This heat is really getting to her.  Gracie loves hanging out there and was not all that happy to leave.  She got a bit moody on the way home and then like a switch was turned she became a very happy girl.  I think it may have had something to do with the peanut butter sandwich I gave her to eat...I think the blood sugar was a little low. 
• Today Gracie is at back-up daycare through work.  She was excited to go and when I was taking to long at the car she kept trying to pull me and said "c'mon".  She was excited to see her friends on the staff and there were a lot of kids already there.  I hope it isn't too overwhelming for her.  They are so good to her there, and many times will take her out for a walk to see the babies.  This is the first time they will have to give her seizure meds, so I hope she takes them okay for them.  Since she has been on the namebrand meds, she has not given us any trouble with taking them at all.  We've seen alot of positive behavior changes on the name brand meds. 

Tomorrow Gracie gets to hang out with me and we get to pick up Aunt Norma (from Texas) at the airport.  That will be the start of many fun family festivities and parties.  We're very excited.  This will probably be my last post til after the 4th. 

Wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July!!!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Weekend & More

I've been delinquent in getting updates done again...so here is how Gracie's weekend went in a nutshell:

• Friday:  After Gracie's 12 hour sleep marathon on Thursday night, Gracie decided a nap really wasn't needed.  So she was a pretty tired girl on Friday night.  We played outside a bit and had a low key evening.
• Saturday:  We had a lazy morning and Gracie and I did a little shopping at Target, we ran into a lot of people we know, so it was like a little social outing for us.  It was too rainy to spend time outside, so we tried to find things to occupy our time indoors.
• Sunday:  Gracie and daddy hung out together most of the day (I had an unforeseen trip to the ER with chest pains radiating up my neck -- uh oh!  Good news is that my heart checked out just fine.  Still struggling with some G.I. issues - who knew that the heart and the stomach have the same nerve receptors.).  Gracie was a very good girl for daddy and 9 hours later when I was released, Gracie had lots of hugs for me.  We did go to the local playground for a little bit in the evening and Gracie really enjoyed that.  I did too.
• Monday:  Gracie started out at daycare but then we found out that the little boy there has a very contagious virus.  After talking with our pediatrician, it was felt that Gracie should stay away for a good week or so, so we've been scrambling to get some back up daycare.  She will be at a different place every day this week.  Hopefully this will be fun for her.  She has been missing school a lot, she continually carries her class picture around and we have to name everyone.  Sometimes she'll say "See Justine".  Which means she wants to see her...and Justine is a classmate she quite enjoyed. 

It looks like summer is here!!!  Enjoy the sunshine.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Thursday/Friday - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Gracie's nap after her ENT appointments yesterday lasted much longer than even I anticipated.  She slept from 4:50 p.m. to 5:40 p.m., when I awoke her to take her seizure meds.  She did so cheerfully, but I think God was helping me with that.  Immediately after taking the meds, she got very upset and needed comforting.  She fell back to sleep.  At 6:30 p.m. I tried to wake her up and she wouldn't wake up, I tried again at 7:00 p.m. and she didn't wake up, so I changed her diaper (she awoke just long enough to have a fit about her diaper being changed) and fell back to sleep for the night.  Other than a brief chat session at 3:30 a.m., she slept until 6:00 a.m. this morning.  I was in shock.  She has never slept 13 hours straight in her life!

She was in a good mood this morning and was giving daddy lots of hugs.  You can always tell she is feeling warm and cozy when she says "Daddy home, mommy home, Gracie home."  She loves it when we are all there. 

After having no supper last night, I thought my growing girl would be ravenous, but that was not the case at all.  She had a little bit of breakfast and was ready to head to daycare.  We did have to have a tea party before she went though.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Wednesday/Thursday

On Wednesday, Gracie had a great day at daycare.  She got to go to a movie about cats and dogs and then she got to go out for pizza for lunch.  In the afternoon she got her toenails painted hot pink.  She is very proud of her colorful toes.  She was in a great mood when I picked her up and she had lots to say.  With it being so rainy, we just snuggled and played all night til bedtime.  It was nice to just have a low key evening.

Today (Thursday), Gracie got up way too early and was a little grumpy.  She did not want her diaper changed.  She started to have a bit of a fuss about getting her diaper changed until suddenly she became quiet.  It made me laugh to see her checking out her pretty pink toenails.  She had forgotten about them.

Gracie had a good morning playing at daycare.  I picked her up right after lunch and we headed to the clinic for an afternoon of hearing tests and ENT appointments.  All checked out just fine.  Her hearing came back much better than previous tests and her ears looked very healthy.  She was not happy about having to wear headphones during the hearing tests...that was almost cause for a meltdown.  She wouldn't totally cooperate, but she did enough for us to get what we need.  We had quite a wait between appointments, so we spent the time walking the lobby and making new friends.

After our appointments we stopped up to see Aunt Sheila for a very short time.  Gracie was excited to see her, as well as some of her officemates. 

Since it was a no nap afternoon, she fell asleep on the way home only to wake up once we arrived home, but was still very tired.  She is now snoozing on her bed...we can't make it a long nap or she won't go to bed tonight, but she definitely needs a little rest...she was operating on fumes.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Tuesday/Wednesday - A Good Week

Gracie has been having a good week.  She has been playing really well with the other kids at daycare.  Yesterday they went to the park and Gracie had great fun climbing up to the high tornado slide and zooming down.  She was filthy when she came home from playing so hard and I loved it!  She was in such a good mood all night long. 

I think I mentioned that Gracie must be on the verge of a growth spurt because she is eating everything in sight.  Last night on the way home from daycare as she is drinking a glass of juice in the backseat, she says "store".  I asked her what she wanted at the store.  Her reply:  "Food, eat, hungry!"  So when we got home I said "Look Gracie, daddy made us some pasta for supper."  Gracie responded:  "No!  McDonald's."  That cracked us all up!

Gracie had a fairly good night.  At one point she woke up, lifted up her feet to look at them.  Sort of like she was making sure they were still there, then went right back to sleep.  I would love to know what she is thinking sometimes! 

Gracie was snuggling in bed with me this morning, trying to wake up. She was sucking on her thumb and I asked her if it tasted good.  Then I went to pretend to suck on her little finger and I said I wondered what it tasted like.  Gracie pipes up with:  "Chicken!"  Then she added "Boop" (that is her word for ketchup).  She cracks me up.

Have a great day!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Weekend

Gracie had a busy and full weekend.  On Saturday we traveled to see Grandma & Grandpa B.  We had lunch with them and then spent the afternoon visiting.  Gracie had lots of hugs for Grandma and enjoyed teasing Grandpa.  She would offer him one of her fruit snacks and just as he was about to take it, she would pull it back and put it in her mouth.  Grandpa being the tease he is, enjoyed this immensely.  Gracie was so tired by the time we left late afternoon, that we were just sure she would fall asleep in the car.  She did, but only for about 20-25 minutes.  She didn't go to bed all that early either and so by the time it was bedtime, she was so overtired that it was hard for her to fall asleep.  She had a bit of a restless night, but slept until 7:30 a.m. 

On Sunday morning, we took Gracie to Sunday school for the first time.  She was in the room with 3-5 year olds.  She was fine staying, she enjoyed story time, but mostly wanted to dance to the music.  She had no separation anxiety, but we saw some aggressive behaviors as we went out to the van.  She was a biting machine and just was not happy.  Once again, those transitions seem to get her.  We had a quick lunch and then headed to a friend's graduation.  Gracie made an adult friend there who was sweet and went for walks with us.  Gracie also decided to go scooting on the grass with her diaper clad butt (she was wearing a dress), then she hit sidewalk and kept on scooting.  I quickly had her get up, but not before she had sidewalk burns on the top of her legs where her diaper didn't cover.  She didn't seem to notice at the time, but they were quite sensitive later. 

Gracie took a two hour nap and then we made hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill.  We were sitting outside eating our meal when Gracie got a big smile and signed the word "picnic".  Gracie loves picnics!  We spent alot of time outdoors in the evening.  It was a beautiful night for a long walk.  Gracie started out walking, but we eventually got the stroller.  Then it was bathtime and bedtime.  Gracie got to bed a little later than normal, but fell asleep quickly.  Not sure what she was dreaming about all night, but at one point she started clapping her hands. 

She was a little grumpy when she woke up this morning, so we snuggled for awhile.  She was reading a magazine in her room and I said "Gracie, I'm going to get your applesauce with sprinkles."  This is how we give her seizure meds to her.  She promptly said "fruit chews" - which is what I use to bribe her to eat her applesauce.  I guess she didn't want me to forget to bring those along.

I'm not sure what the plan was for daycare today.  I'm sure she'll have fun, whatever they do.  I was happy to learn that she did a really good job at daycare on Friday and even though she got frustrated a few times, she handled it very well and didn't get grabby with the other kids at all.  Yay!!!!

Have a great week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Thursday/Friday - Lots of Time Outside

Gracie's most frequent ask these days is "Outside?"  She loves to be outdoors and yesterday was the perfect summer day to do just that -- be outside.  The kids spent most of the day outdoors yesterday at daycare and even went swimming in the kiddie pool.   When Gracie came home from daycare, she wanted to go on a "walk".  So Jeff, Gracie, and I all went on a walk.  When we were just about done walking around the extended block, we got to this grassy area that Gracie loves to run on and if you happen to chase her, better yet.  She suprised both Jeff and I (matter of fact I'm still chuckling about it) by saying "Race Ya!"  I have no clue where she even came up with the concept of "racing".  Jeff and I have not ever said this to her, I'm wondering if perhaps this has been said by kids at school or daycare. 

We spent most of the evening outdoors and all that fresh air made Gracie a tired, yet happy girl.  She had a very good night's sleep and awoke in a pretty good mood.  She did have a bit of a tantrum when it was time to leave for daycare and I'm not even sure what prompted it.  By the time we got to daycare this morning she was fine, but clingy.  That all changed when her buddies showed up.  She was all excited telling them "hi".  Pretty soon she looked at me and said "bye" and waved with a big smile.  She was ready to play.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Wednesday/Thursday

Gracie had a great day at daycare yesterday.  I could tell it was great the moment Jeff and I picked her up at daycare.  She was dancing around and had a big smile.  She did get to go to the library yesterday, but not for story time, there was a musician -- Hans Mayer --there that sang alot of kids action songs.  Gracie was very into this and she was doing the actions and interacting with other children there.

Just as we got home, the sky opened up and just poured rain.  Gracie and I just stood in the garage and enjoyed watching it come down.  I'm pretty sure that if I wouldn't have had a firm hand around her, she would have been out in that rain doing her own little rain dance.  She was in a pretty good mood all night.  Jeff was performing Magic at Hope Lodge, so it was just Gracie and I most of the evening.  She had a splash fest in the bathtub until she violated the bathtub rule of no peeing in the water.  That was pretty much the end of splash and tub time. 

After bath we read books and snuggled until daddy came home.  She also looked at the class picture from her preschool class.  I asked her if she missed her friends and she nodded her head "yes". 

She had a pretty good night, but did wake up a few times.  She fell back to sleep fairly quickly each time.  She must have gotten some good rest because she had a lot of energy this morning.  I had to chase her down just to get her dressed!!!

This morning it was so nice and sunny out that I sang a made up song we have about it being a beautiful day for a smile.  We usually sing it as we walk up to daycare.  Today as I got to the word smile, she looked up at me with the biggest smile.  She has the most beautiful smile -- her eyes just sparkle. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Tuesday/Wednesday

Gracie had a good day at daycare yesterday and got to play outside, which is always a treat.  Jeff picked her up and they had some good bonding time.  I went to the mall to take advantage of some summer deals on clothes for Gracie...she's growing again and I'm a little concerned that she will outgrow her summer clothes before summer is over.  So I stocked up. 

Gracie ate a big supper and when I got home she wanted some of mine.  Then later last night she wanted a bedtime snack.  Rarely does she want a snack at night, but last night she ate applesauce, a glass of chocolate milk, and some Cocoa Puffs cereal. 

Last night as I was asking Gracie about her day and her time with daddy, I asked her if she and daddy were buds.  She emphatically shook her head yes and said "daddy, buds". 

We had a thunderstorm last night and I was amazed that Gracie slept right through it.  I was sure the thunder would wake up my light sleeper, but it didn't.  We had more thunderstorms in the wee hours of the morning and those did wake her up, but only enough to snuggle with me and go back to sleep. 

Gracie was in a good mood this morning and was a little upset with us when it was time to leave for daycare.  We have a summer ant problem in our kitchen...and she was having fun crawling on the floor following the ants.  I need to call the bug man!   If you ask Gracie what mommy says about the ants she'll tell you "No, no, Kitchen"!

I think a trip to the library was planned for today at daycare and her good buddy Aubrey was coming to visit.  Both make the day extra special.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Monday/Tuesday

Gracie had a great afternoon at daycare yesterday.  She ate a good lunch, she took a good nap, she went poop in the toilet, and she got to go to the park and play.  When I arrived she was eating goldfish crackers like they were going out of style.  I guess she worked up an appetite.  We sang songs on the way home and she was all smiles. 

After supper we all went out for a walk and when Gracie was too tired to walk, we put her in her stroller and kept on going.  It was such a beautiful evening that I really hated to go indoors.  Gracie needed a bath though, so we eventually went in and we got her to bed a little later than is ideal.  She fell asleep quickly, but had a restless night.  She kept waking up, saying a word or two and then falling back to sleep.  I suspect she was dreaming. 

Gracie was a little more clingy this morning, which I believe has to do with the fact that she could have used just a little more sleep.  Jeff and I were laying on her bed with her for a little bit and she looked up at me with a smile and said "mama home", then she said "Gracie home", then "daddy home".  She was very content with this, so I think it is a happy time for her when all three of us are "home". 

She was a little subdued at daycare this morning -- again because I think she could have used a little more sleep.  Music was turned on, so I'm sure that will get her in a happy, playful mood.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Weekend

Gracie had a good weekend, here are the events in a nutshell:

• On Friday Gracie went to a new park with daycare.  There were a lot of kids there and it was very overwhelming for her.  When kids would get too close she would get frustrated and grab/pinch at them.  It was just too busy for her comfort level.  They tried to move to a quieter part of the park, but there really wasn't a quiet part.  After they left, Gracie was fine again.  A little too much sensory overload.
• On Saturday Gracie and Jeff went to watch cousin Jason play soccer.  She learned a new word:  "GOAL!"  Congratulations to Jason and his team on a win!!!  Jeff and I both got haircuts on Saturday, so I got mine first and then Jeff and Gracie came and Gracie was to go home with me.  Just before we left, I went to grab Gracie from getting into other's personal space and I caught my shoe on the floor and we both went crashing to the floor, me on top of her.  I felt so horrible, as I'm sure she hit her head on the floor, but I couldn't find a mark and she did not fuss or cry.  I, however, am in a bit of discomfort.  I think I pulled or tore something in my foot by my big toe.  It hurts to bend it or put any pressure on it.  I skinned my knee up a bit too.  I'm sure it will just take a little time to heal.  Gracie took a 2-1/2 hour nap and then was excited to have Grandma & Grandpa D. come over to join us for supper and a visit.  Gracie insisted that Grandma sit on her bed and visit for a good part of the night. 
• On Sunday it was a more mellow day.  Gracie got to talk to Grandma & Grandpa B. on Skype.  They were visiting Aunt Cheryl & Uncle Russ.  Then Gracie and I did a little shopping at Target, back home to take a nap, then outside for a walk and to play in the backyard. 
• Today (Monday) Gracie got to sleep in a bit as she had a morning eye appointment at the clinic.  She has been doing this weird thing where she looks at things out of the corner of her eyes instead of straight on.  The good news is that everything checked out fine.  They even checked her for color blindness and she did okay there too after we finally convinced her to wear the special glasses.  Gracie did not like the ophthalmologist.  He made the fatal mistake of not welcoming her into the room.  The tech brought her in and he kept his back to us until he was ready to take a look.  Then they turned on these fake animals on tv and that scared her to pieces.  She cried big crocodile tears.  They did end up having to dilate her eyes, so they are a bit more sensitive to the sun today.  While we waited in the waiting room/play room, the doctor would come out inbetween patients to try to play and have her warm up to him.  In the end, she did let him take a look and did give him a high five when we were done, but she was happy to be done.  She really liked the technician and did take her for a walk up and down the hallway once.  Now Gracie is at daycare and there was talk of maybe checking out a movie this afternoon.

Have a great week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Happy Girl

Gracie had a great last day of school.  They had a party for the summer birthdays and of course Gracie was one of the kids honored.  She got to have ice cream and a pink frosted cupcake.  I picked her up at school so she wouldn't have to ride the hot bus and because I needed to pick up her epi pens from the school nurse.  Gracie was in a great mood!  When I dropped her off at daycare for the afternoon, I did so with a warning that she was all sugared up! 

She had a great afternoon, did a little swimming and playing, and was a happy girl.  That happiness continued through the evening.  She was in a great mood and insisted all three of us take a walk around the block.  Usually halfway through she wants to be carried.  Not so yesterday, she walked the whole block on her own. 

Gracie and Jeff played outside for awhile while I made supper.  She wasn't too happy about the fact that mommy wasn't going to be outside too.  She got over it fairly quickly.  It was a good evening and she fell asleep very quickly last night.  She did wake up with some nasty coughing again through the night.  I just feel so sorry for her as she is so sleepy, but coughs and coughs. 

Gracie awoke in a great mood this morning.  After a little snuggling, she went to the fridge, pulled out the chocolate syrup and wanted chocolate milk.  Keep in mind this is the child that has wanted pretty much nothing to do with milk for the last couple of months.  Then I asked her if she wanted toast for breakfast and she was very much in favor of that.  When I mentioned jelly, I got an affirmative answer there too.  She gobbled it all down.  Amazing since I can barely get her to eat breakfast most days.

Gracie didn't think getting dressed this morning was such a good idea until we decided to make a game out of it.  One run around the island, then we put our pants on, another run, we take our jammie shirt off, another run we get our shirt on, another run then we get one sock on, well you get the picture.  Now you all know why it takes so long to get ready in the morning at our house. 

Jeff took Gracie to daycare this morning and they were thinking about checking out a new park for their activity for the day.  Should be fun.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Monday - Not a Great Day

Gracie had a pretty rough Monday.  I think heat certainly contributed to it.  When I dropped her off at daycare she seemed fine, but she didn't want to get on the bus for school and cried out for "mama" when she was carried on.  She has never done that before.  School isn't air conditioned and she was hot.  They were good about spraying her with water throughout the morning and they did not go outside to play because of the heat.  They even put water in the sensory table to cool the kids off a bit.  The bus was even warmer, despite having all the windows open.  Children with Sotos Syndrome have a hard time regulating body temperature and Gracie's seizure meds don't allow her to sweat as she should, so heat is really, really hard on her. 

Back at daycare, Gracie was pretty out of it.  She did not want to play on the slip n slide pool, did not want to put on her swimsuit, but yet did not want to get out of the sun.  Go figure.

Once at home, she seemed to do better.  Our air conditioning was running non-stop.  We have to keep it cool for our little hot body.  She has been a major mama's girl lately, to the point of having great anxiety if I'm out of sight at home.  She had a huge tantrum for Jeff when I went to the bathroom and she would not calm down or stop screaming/crying until I was back to hold and comfort her.   I'm not sure if this is just because she is still struggling a bit with her cold or if this is a new phase. 

Gracie was extremely excited when we went to open her backpack from school.  She had a birthday card in it from the school principal and I heard the principal came to personally wish her a happy birthday.  They are celebrating early since she has a summer birthday.  When we took the card out of her back pack, she kept saying "party, party, party" in a very excited voice.  They are having an ice cream party at school tomorrow to celebrate the summer birthdays! 

Gracie had a rough night, she kept coughing and coughing through the wee hours of the morning.  I walked and held her for a while just to keep her upright from 2:30 - 3:30 a.m.  That seemed to help a bit.  She did wake up in a good mood this morning, but was very clingy when I dropped her off at daycare.

Gracie did go poop in the toilet this morning so she got to wear princess pants pull ups to daycare this morning.  That was a big deal!  :)

Hopefully today will be a better one for our little pumpkin.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Weekend

Gracie had a great weekend!  On Saturday we went to help cousin Kayla celebrate her high school graduation.  Gracie had a great time meeting new people (she definitely is not shy) and greeting people with Kayla.  She didn't want to leave Kayla's side.  It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of family members around to play with.  The heat got to her a bit, so we took frequent trips indoors to cool off and veg.  We left way after her bedtime and I was just sure she would fall right to sleep.  Not so...she chatted with us most of the way home, but did fall asleep shortly before we got home.  She did wake up when we arrived home, but it didn't take her long to fall asleep again.

I was just sure she would sleep in, but again, not so.  She was awake bright and early at 5:30 a.m. and I couldn't convince her to go back to sleep.  She was pretty grumpy all morning though.  You could tell she was just overly tired.  I did put her in the stroller and took a nice long walk with her.  I also let her watch a video, so she could kind of kick back and chill. 

Gracie did take an hour and a half nap, I was again hoping for longer.  While she was sleeping we set up the kiddie pool on the deck.  She spied it immediately upon waking and that is where she spent the next 2 - 3 hours.  I literally had to take her out of the pool as she kicked and screamed as she would have stayed in it forever.  This morning as we were getting ready for school she went to the deck door and tried to open it, then she signed "game" and then said "swim".   I think we may have a fish on our hands this summer. 

Gracie had a good night sleep until about 1:15 a.m. when she awoke with a bloody nose.  Blood all over her pillow case and sheets, although it wasn't as bad as some of them she gets.  Then she had a hard time staying asleep after that.  She would fall asleep and then wake up.  I picked her up for a while and walked and bounced and that helped.  She finally fell back into a good sleep about an hour or so later. 

She awoke in a good mood and was ready for school and time for friends.  We dressed her very cool today - it's supposed to be a scorcher and she doesn't do so good with the hot, hot days.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Thursday/Friday - Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs

Gracie had a fun day back at daycare yesterday.  She wasn't too sure she wanted to be there in the morning when Jeff dropped her off and her daycare mom said it took her a bit to warm up, but once she did all was good.  Her daycare buddies Claire and Kate were there to play with her yesterday.  At lunchtime, Gracie now gets applesauce with some of her seizure meds...well Claire and Kate decided they wanted applesauce too and they pretended that they "got" to have medicine in theirs too!  How sweet is that.  Gracie thought it was wonderful...and so do I!!!

Gracie brought home two planted sunflower seeds from daycare that she is to water and nurture and watch grow.  That will be fun.  She is so into flowers. 

When I went to pick her up from daycare she was eating Cocoa Puffs.  Gracie usually doesn't want anything to do with cereal, but was eating these like they were the best treat known to humankind.  When asked if she wanted them in a bag to take along, she assured us she did.  She ate them all on the way home and asked for more.  Of course, I didn't have anymore.  When I got her out of her car seat upon arrival home, I found one stuck to the seat of her pants...that was like gold...she gobbled it up.  Guess I'll need to get some Cocoa Puffs!

Jeff was out golfing with his dad, so Gracie and I had girls night.  We just played and read books.  She also got to have a bath and had great fun laying in the water and blowing bubbles.  After bath we were sitting reading books and magazines, with Gracie cuddled into my side.  I looked down and my sweet little cherub was fast asleep....and so peaceful.  I just sat with her for a while and watched her sleep.  There is something so sweet and innocent about a child sleeping.  Gracie did wake up when I carried her to bed, but not for long.  She had a good night sleep and awoke in a happy mood.

Today at daycare she was going to go swimming to beat the heat!  :)

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Memorial Day Weekend and More

Gracie's cold has been a rough one and her cough still quite strong.  Her poor little nose continues to run and Gracie is learning how to blow her nose...only not when you have a kleenex by her.  So she does her thing and then I run to fetch a kleenex...quickly!  She is just starting to be able to sleep restfully again.  She was a major grumpy pants a good portion of the weekend, we could just tell that she didn't feel well.  We did get to do a few fun things.  Here are the highlights:

• Saturday:  Stayed home most of the day, but did make a trip to the playground.  I think that was the highlight of her day.
• Sunday:  We had a picnic with Grandma & Grandpa D, Aunt Kathy, and cousins Calvin, Maria, and Josh, and friend Amanda.  She loved seeing a mommy and daddy duck with their baby at the pond, taking walks outside, seeing some tadpoles, swinging, and sliding down a hill over and over again on her butt.  I wondered how I would ever get the mud out of the back of those pants, but realized I wouldn't have to as she wore a hole right through the backside of her pants.
• Monday:  We went to visit Aunt Sheila, Uncle Chris, and cousins Kayla and Jason.  We helped Jason celebrate his birthday a little belatedly.  Gracie was smothered with lots of attention and even got to pet Sandy, the yellow lab. 
• Tuesday:  She travelled to Iowa with me for my 102 year old aunt's funeral as daycare was sick.  She did much better than I expected.  She was a gem in the car for the whole ride there and most of the ride home. 
• Wednesday:  Gracie had school in the morning.  Daycare was still sick, so Jeff dropped her off at school and I picked her up.  Gracie and I spent the afternoon together.  After nap we went to get her some new tennis shoes and also went to Target for a few things.  She was good as gold once again.  We walked into the shoe store and one of the clerks saw her and said "Hi Gracie" and Gracie remembered her, got all excited and ran to give her the biggest hug.  Jeff worked late last night, so Gracie and I had fun reading books and just hanging out. 
• Thursday:  Gracie was back to daycare today.  Her nose is running a little less, her cough still sounds nasty, but productive.  Hopefully she'll have a good day.

On a fun note, we've been slowly re-introducing milk products such as yogurt and pudding back in Gracie's diet and she seems to be tolerating them.  Every year we give them a try and she has not tolerated them, this year seems to be going better.  Yay...let's hope she continues to be able to tolerate them...she loves yogurt, ice cream, pudding, etc.  I haven't been brave enough to give her a glass of milk yet. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie