Half a year!

Six months old and strutting her stuff on the East Coast! Grace took her first airline flight this month (six to be exact) and showed her parents that she is just as interested in travelling as they are. She handled the flights as well as any 5 month old could and showed she could sleep soundly on an air mattress, bed, crib, or in her parents’ arms. In Charleston she was able to spend lots of time outdoors and even got her little piggy toes dipped into the Atlantic Ocean down at Folly Beach (a.k.a. the Edge of America). She had a bottle under the southern oaks draped with Spanish moss at White Point Gardens while listening to her daddy tell her stories of Charleston. And while she wasn’t too impressed with the Old Market, she did enjoy window shopping on elegant King Street (I believe she purposely kicked off one of her socks on King in order to persuade her mother to buy her a pair from one of the stores). True to form for a young child, she became upset and cried loudly after just 10 minutes inside the antique store.

In Washington D.C., she enjoyed the people watching on Sunday morning in a French café and also swaying to the Spanish music inside a tapas restaurant Saturday afternoon. She is already becoming a lady of the world and appears to be quite at ease with it all.
As you can imagine, Gracie Sweet Pea was just that on Halloween: a sweet pea. In mid-September, Doug made a trip to Target, saw it, and bought it on the spot. I was planning on making her into a Jayhawk cheerleader, but I couldn’t resist the father his Sweet Pea. She was quite cute and it was entertaining for the rest of us.

Grace now weighs around 13 pounds and is taking 7.0 oz. per bottle. She has actually pushed the bottle away a time or two this month which has been a startling change! She is rolling over tummy to back with ease and supporting herself with her arms sometimes in sitting, although still very wobbly. She is getting ready to roll back to front someday soon, but we think her big cloth diapers are getting in the way as they’re twice as big as she is. She loves her rattles and grabs at things everywhere she can; she is starting to show interest in her feet and I helped her to bring her foot up far enough to suck on it. Boy, did her eyes light up! Her favorite activity is to look at herself in the mirror, smile, and discuss the meaning of life. I’ve told her numerous times that I never get an argument from my friend in the mirror; And those conversations can be quite good! Grace now smiles ½ the waking day and has been giggling more and more. Her sense of humor is starting to show and as long as she’s not tired or hungry, she is so very happy with life. She also is able to play by herself for about 15 minutes a stint and allows us to put her down more often. She’s also really discovered Truman this month as she reaches out for his fur whenever he sits close enough. He’s been patient so far….

We have our 6 month checkup on the 13th and I admit I’m hesitant to start her on cereal and solid foods. I guess I just want her to be a bottle-drinking baby for a while. I did let her taste the end of a pear slice the other day and she vigorously sucked and sucked. She whined every time I took it from her mouth to check it and just loved it. I s’pose someday her mother will accept that she’s growing up and get with the flow…. Someday….