Gracie's First Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Gracie this year! Although she was too young to know what was going on around her, we still enjoyed opening her gifts and dressing her up in Christmas attire! She was definitely showered with lots of love from our friends and family...and Santa of course!

Before we left for Midland, Trinity and I helped Gracie open her gifts from Grandma & Grandpa, Thomas, Jessica, & Addison, and Jen & Mike. We set her in her swing and would hand the gifts to her before opening them for her. She got some great books, clothes, an owl, and some finger puppets!

We spent Christmas Eve with Nana, Pop-Pop, and the extended Pinkerton family. We enjoyed a wonderful Mexican spread, and then all the great-grandbabies opened gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Pinkerton and some aunts and uncles. After dinner we went to Nana and Pop-Pop's house to open more gifts. Gracie got a seahorse glowworm, a singing clock, a doll, some pink and purple cars, clothes, and the My Baby Can Read program. I have to say the singing clock might be her new favorite toy. She could stare at it for hours, and it has helped me calm her down a few times this week! We also watched the first DVD in the MBCR program, and Gracie loved looking at all the images while Momma read the words to her!

Christmas morning I took Granny Buff to Christmas mass while the rest of the family hung around the house. Once we were back from church, we ate a wonderful Christmas meal and then opened presents with Mimi, Pop, Uncle Steven, Aunt Megan, and Granny Buff. Gracie got another glowworm, a Target gift card, some fun rattles, and a generous investment in a college savings fund!

And when we got home, Santa had left Gracie her first baby doll and a princess bath toy set! I can't wait for next year, when she will be a little more aware of the holidays.

You can see all of our Christmas pictures on our picasa site!

Merry Christmas!

Belly Laugh

Here is a video of one of the first laughs we heard from Gracie. It's about one minute into the video. The girl is hard to catch with a smile or laugh because she gets distracted by the camera! You can see her look at the camera for a split second at some point during this video, and when she does she looks a little confused to see a camera instead of my face. Too funny!

Daycare

On Thursday we turned in Gracie's paperwork for daycare. The last few days I've been having moments of weakness and crying as I count down the weeks and days until I have to send her to "school." I've never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but I never dreamed it would be so hard to even THINK about my baby being in daycare. I know that it does not make me a bad mother, and I believe that it will be very good for Gracie to play with the other children and be comfortable without me at her side all the time. But that doesn't always console me.

The last few days I've been trying to get Gracie as ready as I can for the new routine. We've started feeding her a bottle daily, as she isn't too fond of being denied her mommy (I guess we should have been doing this much earlier). I've also tried to have her down for naps at regular times, which is not going so great. I can't seem to get her on a consistent nap schedule or to get her to fall asleep on her own during the day. She requires the following for nap time: music, movement, and Momma! I worry she will be the baby everyone at daycare knows about...you know, the one who won't nap and screams when you put her down.

But, I think most of all I worry that some of her "firsts" will be at daycare, and I won't experience them with her. I love the look in my daughter's eyes when she discovers something new. Just the other day we heard Gracie's very first true belly laugh! Trinity and I just looked at each other and started laughing together. What an amazing experience to see and feel true joy! It's moments like that one that I do not want to miss.

On a more positive note, we are very pleased with the daycare that we've found. It is half a mile from our house, and Trinity even has plans of walking her there and back when the weather cooperates. Of course we are very impressed with the teachers in the infant class and trust that Gracie will have a great experience. And I am sure that I will quickly adjust to the new schedule and enjoy my adult time at work. It might just take me a few days or weeks to be comfortable in our new routine. I need to remember that not all moms get three full months at home with their babies, so I am truly blessed to have had this time at home with Gracie.

Dear Gracie

Oh the things we will do to entertain you. I have danced a jig for your amusement, I speak gibberish at high octaves just to see you smile, and I sing now more than I ever did when you weren't around. Your mother will sound like a crazy woman as she does whatever is needed to get you to smile and I hear her reading to you and I just laugh. To hear a grown woman read "One Berry, Two Berry, pick me a Blueberry" from another room is such a silly thing to hear.

You have a pensive stare that has intrigued us. You stare at the ceiling fans and especially at "your pictures". That group of frames that resides above the sofa has been our saving grace in times when you won't calm down. We still marvel at how you can be so engrossed in them.

I had you resting on my legs, facing "your pictures" and was singing you a ridiculous song that I was making up. It didn't rhyme, which bothers me to no end, but you were enjoying it. It was clear you were tired and slowly my song was putting you to sleep. Your eyes closed and I stopped singing because I assumed you were out, but resting on my legs you let your eyes peek open and you made a slight "huhn" to let me know I needed to continue.

So I did. I made up more verses to the ridiculous picture song and you kept looking at me through those little slits. I would stop and you would smile and "huhn" again for me to continue. It was one of those moments that made me smile.

Love,

Your Father

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

This past weekend Mimi came for a visit. She had conveniently found a conference to attend at the Gaylord in Grapevine, which is a short 20-30 minute drive from our house. The Gaylord is decorated to the max for the holiday season, so we took Gracie to see Mimi and get some good Christmas photos on Thursday night.

Dashing through the snow...

While we were waiting in line to get our pictures in the sleigh, a grandma with another baby asked how old Gracie was. I could tell she was surprised when I answered, "Two months!" Apparently her grandson was 3 months, and he looked to be about half the size of Gracie. His mom turned to us and asked how much she weighed when she was born, but Trinity misunderstood her and told her how much she weighs NOW...15 pounds. You should have seen the look of shock on her face! Mom and I quickly corrected the misunderstanding, but it was pretty funny!

At the life-size real gingerbread house

We had so much fun walking around the hotel and enjoying a glass of wine with Mom! And Gracie was so well behaved. It threw a little kink in her schedule, but she did great! It's so nice to know that she can be flexible with her schedule. You can find all our Gaylord pictures here.

Dear Gracie

Being a parent can be very rewarding, I knew that going in. When your mother and I started planning to have a baby we knew there would be firsts that would make us so in awe of life. I am still waiting for your first steps, your first word and your first heartbreak but until then I have been stopped dead by a single sound you make. The "Oohhhhh".

I wish I knew what you were thinking. You smile and you chatter on to us but I hear the "oohhhh" from the other room and I just stop and smile. There is such a jubilation in the tone of it. I like to think you are discovering something for the first time and it is amazing you. Simple things like sunlight on the wall or the way the mantle now has a nutcracker on it. All of these are new to you and it makes me smile to think that we get to appreciate the simplest things through your "oohhhh".

I dread the moment that these things start to become standard for you. Your mom and I will do our best to keep exposing you to new things that will make you in awe of the world as much as we have been in awe of you.

Love,

Your Father

Baby's eye view

Last night was time for some Father/Daughter bonding so Diana went to have drinks with friends and Gracie and I spent the evening together.

One thing Diana and I have really noticed is that Grace is very focused on our ceilings, and specifically on the fans. She can stare at them for long periods of time and just seem so content. So, last night I decided to join her and try to see what the big deal was.


She decided to spit up right as I was taking this picture but here we are on the floor.

Here is the amazing view of our ceiling. I must admit it looked much more interesting looking directly up from the ground than it ever has by just standing under it.

And here is Hazel getting in my face. I realized that this might be scary to a small baby. Hazel is pretty up in your face and she gets in Gracie's to give her kisses occasionally. Gracie doesn't seem to mind it but that is a scary sight when the only other thing you see is people.

I got the flashlight out and shined it on the walls and ceiling and Grace was interested enough to follow it around. I would guess seeing something so out of the ordinary on her ceiling got her curiosity up.

She spent the rest of the night either fighting a bottle or sleeping on me but I now feel like I know a little better why she doesn't seem to mind being on the floor.

Trinity

2 Months Old

Well, Gracie continues to be a big baby! We went to the doctor on Monday, and she is weighing in at 15 pounds, 1 ounces and is 25 inches long, which are both greater than the 95th percentile for her age! Trinity and I always try to guess her weight before her appointment, and I was the winner this month! I guessed 15 pounds, and Trinity guessed 14 pounds.

She also got her first rounds of shots, which was so hard to watch. She was pretty good with the first one, but the second and third are more painful, and she screamed and turned bright redish purple. I almost started to cry just watching her. I am sure she was so scared and didn't understand why we would put her through that. Thankfully she calmed down rather quickly and fell asleep on the car ride home. The nurse suggested that we give her infant Tylenol in case she got a fever or had soreness in her legs, and I am so glad we did! I was prepared for a fussy baby for the rest of the day, but she was completely fine after a nap at home.

This month she has learned to smile and shreak when we talk to her, and she is starting to learn to laugh too! Gracie is super happy in the mornings, and I just love walking into her room and seeing her smiling at me. It melts my heart. She's also started to coo and babble when we talk to her. I love asking her questions like "What do you see?", "What are you thinking?", "What did you dream about last night?", etc. She will usually respond with some baby talk and then I'll "repeat" whatt she said with real answers, usually trying to incorporate new words for her to hear. It's intersting to see which sounds she likes best...words that end in vowel sounds usually get the biggest smiles.

Smiling for Daddy

What a beautiful smile!

She usually enjoys her bath time, at least until we pull her out of the warm water! She's already outgrowing her baby tub, so I think we'll soon be filling up the tub and holding her up to keep her head above the water. I can't wait for her to be able to sit up and play with her toysin the bath.

After a bath at Mimi's house

I am afraid that I may be spoiling her rotten. I spend a good part of the day holding her or playing with her, so she's used to lots of one-on-one attention. And she loves to fall asleep in anyone's arms, but she's not great about taking naps when you lay her down awake. Hopefully that is something daycare can take care of! Thankfully she does really well at falling asleep in her room at night. I nurse her and then swaddle her with her Rockabye Baby Journey, Beach Boys, or Queen on the iPod, and she's out in less than 15 minutes. And she's now sleeping a solid 6-8 hours at night, which is wonderful!

Napping on Daddy

Every day I think Gracie is looking more and more like Trinity. And anytime someone new sees her, they always comment that she looks like her daddy! Her beautiful blue eyes have stayed the same so far, so I'm hoping that means they are here to stay!

I have really enjoyed my time at home with Gracie, and I cannot believe that in four weeks I return to the world of the working and have to take her to daycare. It is going to be a hard thing for me to do, but I know that it will be good for her to interact with the other kids and teachers. And this momma needs to make some money...so I can spoil her rotten!

Trimming the Tree

Grace helped me decorate the house for the Christmas holiday on Friday! I think she did a pretty good job:

Our tree includes two new ornaments this year to remember the addition of our sweet little girl.

We bought the first one at the 2010 Chi Omega Christmas market. Our friends John and Lana invited us to go to the market with them last month, and we had a great time. I'm hoping we continue to go to the market every year!

The second one is an ornament I bought for Grace to have when she's grown. I thought it would be a good idea to buy her a new ornament every year, and then when she leaves home she has a set of 18 ornaments to remember her childhood.

Giving Thanks

The last few years we've decided to stay in DFW for the Thanksgiving holiday for one reason or another. This year we had so many things to be thanful for: a new position for Trinity that allows him to work from home, having an easy and safe pregnancy, delivering a healthy baby girl, our wonderful family and friends who provided lots of support, and most recently a new job for me! So, we decided to go home to Midland, mostly because we wanted our extended family to meet Gracie.

We decided to drive Sunday morning as soon as we'd fed Gracie her early morning feeding at 6:30. Two hours later we were actually on the road. Funny how much extra time you need for a little baby...who had her own suitcase full of necessities! Thankfully she did great in the car and slept the entire trip. We stopped in Abilene to eat dinner, feed Gracie, fill up the tank, and walk the dogs. Amazingly we made it to Midland in six hours, which is as much time as it takes us with traffic on a Friday night.

Trinity worked from my mom's house on Monday and Tuesday while Gracie and I made our rounds of visits and played. Thursday was a big day with two huge Thanksgiving meals: lunch with Trinity's family and dinner with mine. Gracie mostly behaved and let us enjoy our Thanksgiving meals.

My first thanksgiving!

Trinity's family has quite a few little children and babies, so it was fun to watch them notice Gracie. She got to meet cousin Luke for the first time, and he loved to pat her and say "Baby!" We can hardly believe how big he's gotten since we saw him in August! I can only imagine how much fun it will be in a year when Gracie will be running after all the other kids.

Meeting cousin Luke

At my family's house, Gracie was most definitely the center of attention. We hardly had any room in our stomach's at our second meal, but somehow I managed to eat a whole plate of food and a slice of pumkin bread for dessert!

Four generations!

The rest of the weekend we made rounds at some of our family and friend's houses and tried to relax. We must have worn our little girl out because she slept 8 hours almost every night! The first morning I woke up thinking, "Wow, I feel amazing!" We were hoping that the sleep pattern would continue when we got home, but I think the 5 hours of sleep on the ride back home did not help. Our first night home she woke up every 3-4 hours, which was hard to go back to after a week of good, long sleep. Thankfully it only took a few days for her to get back to her regular schedule, and she's back to sleeping 6 hours straight at night. And now we have two more things to be thankful for: a good traveling baby and a sleeping baby!