Parrot Baby

Whenever it is morning and Grace is just waking up, she is a very happy baby. It is pretty difficult to capture it on camera, because whenever she sees the camera she freezes! She likes to repeat sounds that she hears, just like a parrot. Here is one we shot last week.

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Great News

We have great news to report. Gracie is going to have a new cousin! Dan and Dalia are expecting their first baby on June 1st. We could not be happier for them and are so excited for Grace to have another cousin to play with. There will be another Gemini in the family, which will make 4 (or 8 I guess)!

Gracie says, " Oh my! I am so excited to meet my new cousin!"

Sunday

When Grace falls asleep in my arms and I place her on something else to sleep she will keep her body in that same position. It is quite funny! On Sunday, Todd and I kept trying to straighten her out, but she would arch her back and go right back into the same position.


Here are some pictures we took at Dolores Park on Sunday. Who can believe that it is still warm in mid November? We were able to be there with short sleeves.

While we were at the park, I came to a stunning revelation. We can put our car seat in our Bumbleride Stroller which is great when you are driving somewhere and the baby is still sleeping in the car seat. I noticed someone with a similar stroller as us in the park. She had her car seat in the stroller the opposite way so that you could see the baby when you push the stroller.

I had suggested this to Todd when we were shopping on Saturday, but he adamantly said, "No it does not go that way." Of course I believed him. It seemed odd to me that when you put the straps around the car seat, they fit so tightly that if Grace grew any bigger, they would not fit over her legs.

This time I said, "Look at that stroller. She has the baby facing the other way. "

"It does not go that way, trust me." he said.

"But the stroller is so similar to ours. I bet it goes that way."

Again, very sure of himself, "No it doesn't."

"Let's just try Todd." And of course it turns out it does! We had poor little Grace in the wrong way (most likely unsafely facing the wrong way). I also continue to learn that when Todd is most adamant, he is usually wrong.
Note the white bow. This is so you know that Grace is a girl! When she is in a unisex outfit, I often feel it is hard to tell! Sadly, when I removed the bow, she had indentations on her head where the bow was. She is already learning the sacrifices you must make for beauty :)


Here is Grace with Teresa's goddaughter. She loved looking at Grace and was very interested in her. Aren't they cute?

I am BIG

Grace went to the doctor today and she continues to grow like a weed. She is 10 pounds 10 ounces and 23 1/2 inches... This puts her at the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th for height! Way to go Grace!

I Can Sleep, and Sleep and Sleep....

Gracie had a very busy weekend for her two month birthday! Mostly, she slept through every activity....

On Saturday it was raining so we took Grace bowling. The loud noise of the balls hitting the pins kept her down the whole time! It was fun but Todd and I did not realize how expensive bowling had become..I was hoping to get a picture of Grace next to the lane, but this is all I could get:
On Sunday, I went to Staci's baby shower. Todd took Grace to hang out with the boys at Teresa's house downstairs while they played poker. I told him to make sure that Brian changed a diaper this time. Lucky for Brian Grace slept the entire time. However, the day was not without excitement. I had called to see how the baby was doing and right as I called, the dogs came rushing into the house, straight for Grace. Brian was yelling, "Get the baby! Get the Baby!" as Todd calmly said, "She's fine. The car seat will protect her". I am not sure whose reaction was worse!

On Monday, we took Grace out to lunch and to see "Happy-Go-Lucky" and again she slept the entire time! She is quite the noisy sleeper and during the quiet parts you could hear her snoring and making noises.

Tuesday we went to Healdsburg to go wine tasting with Allison and Brandon. It was a quiet day and we were the only ones at each of the wineries we went to. We stopped at De La Montanya first to pick up our November wine club shipment. This is one of my favorite wineries. To be honest I enjoy every wine that they produce and they produce a lot of varietals. We enjoyed a great picnic in the back with sandwiches from Lucca.. It is the perfect place for a picnic. Next, we went to a fairly new winery, Rued. I liked the Zins especially. It was the perfect place for a picture with the hills and the vines in the background but Grace was still sleeping so we decided not to wake her up! Last, we went to Sunce. They have a cute little tasting room and they also serve you outside through a little window. There is a great Bacci Ball court in the back as well! Their wines are very earthy and delicious. We ended up waking Grace here so we could get at least a few pictures. On the way home, Alli, Brandon ad Grace passed out together at the same time. It was pretty cute!
Grace sure has grown the last month. She loves to interact with people and is constantly smiling and cooing. It is so much fun to put her on the Boppy and play with her. She is also beginning to learn how to put herself down for a nap all by herself. She is a great sleeper (she takes after Todd), and is still sleeping 6-8 hours straight at night and then will sleep another 2-3 hours after she nurses. I feel blessed each day that I get to spend with her. I know that Todd misses her so much while he is at work. I take a picture of her on my phone each day and send it to him just so he does not forget her!

3 Little Girls

Grace and I went to Buri Buri on Thursday to visit and to takes some school pictures. The plan was to have all the new Moms take a portrait with their little ones. It was hard to get myself and Grace ready to be at school at 9:30 am, but I was so glad that I did. It was wonderful see all my work colleagues and to meet Jen's daughter Hailey and Gemma's daughter Mady! They are all 10 days apart which is so special. I got to hold Mady and she is the most precious (I hope to hold Hailey next time!). I was able to rock her to sleep, although she was awakened shortly after because there were many more people who wanted to give her love. I was also excited to see that Lia was expecting a daughter in March (she looked so cute)! Congratulations Lia and Mike! There really must be something in the water at Buri because we have had 4 little girls born in the last year and one on the way.

Here is Emily holding Grace.

Grace seemed to enjoy herself and all the attention that she was getting from everyone. I also had a chance see my students and they got to meet Grace. I did not realize how much I missed them. They were so cute and excited to see Grace.. and I was excited to see them. I have been home and busy with Grace so I have not thought too much about work but being there really reminded me of how much I love it! My colleagues are the best group of women and men, and they are such a pleasure to work with. There was such a positive and happy vibe at Buri Buri on Thursday...

Here is Patty holding Mady! Isn't she darling?

Mady getting more love from Melanie.

This week we received our nursery letters that we ordered for Grace. We could not be happier with the results. We ordered them from Tinkerdots. The owner/artist Jenni will paint any design that you choose on your letters. We emailed her pics of the nursery and the pictures of the animals that we have hanging above her crib and she created the cutest set of letters for us. She is amazing! If you click on the photograph, you can see the details on the letters.