Baby Grace Elizabeth

[Bella2]

aww thanks M2A, how are things with you and little Lexi? x x

 

[Bella2]

9 MONTH DEVELOPMENTAL CHECKUP

Grace has continued to progress with her learning, this morning she pulled herself up to standing in her cot and held onto the bars, she looked so adorable grinning out at us! She has a few toys in the bottom of her cot so if she wakes up early she can keep herself amused, she never cries in the morning, just happily plays until I get her up for breakfast.

Mum & Dad had a lovely day with her yesterday while I was at work, they said she was so so good and they both had her in stitches playing with a dog hand puppet! Her 9 month development check went well on Wednesday although she got a bit restless and tried to escape out of the room hee hee! She was measured for the first time since birth, she is just below the 50th centile for her height so average, not a short arse like her mummy! The health visitor was also pleased with her vision and hearing and the fact that she babbles lots.

Off to Liverpool tonight until Monday, looking forward to a nice weekend away with MIL and her other half. MIL has said she's happy to get up with Grace in the mornings so we will get a lie in...bliss! Hoping to take Grace to knowsley safari park while we're there although the weather forecast is not great. Finished packing last night, didn't seem to have half as much stuff to take as when we went up at Easter, or maybe that's because I'm used to all the baggage now I don't notice it lol! We've stopped using
her angelcare breathing mat as she was forever rolling off it and setting the alarm off so that's one thing less to take, also less formula and MIL has plenty of toys at hers. Going to set off from home around 6ish, treat ourselves to a Burger King drive thru then hopefully Gracie will drift off to sleep in the car

Can't wait!

 

[Bella2]

WEEKEND AWAY

We had a lovely time up in Liverpool, although didn't get off to the best possible start. As I was working Friday OH picked Grace up from my friends house at 5pm and she had been fine all day. We still weren't quite finished with the packing though so things were a bit crazy, and this was all around the time Grace normally would have bottle then bed. She started getting upset and just wouldn't stop crying, one of the worst times she's ever been! She wouldn't take her bottle so in the end we had to stop by the side of the dual carriageway and OH managed to get the bottle into her. She eventually fell asleep poor poppett and was fine once we made it to Liverpool.

The rest of the weekend was great and she was such a good girl, Saturday we went to Speake Hall, a Stately home, and Grace was more than happy being carried round looking at everything and waving her arms! OH borrowed a little carrier with a seat which he attached round his waist and sat the babe on, she looked like a little spider monkey Sunday we went to Knowsley Safari Park, Grace was in awe as we drove through the monkey enclosure and all the monkeys started jumping on the car!! She actually made it through the day with just a morning nap although was out for the count by 6pm!

Monday we went to another much smaller animal park which had a few bunnies, pigs, goats and chickens, and then went to a pub which had a brilliant childrens section with interactive toys for babies and small children. This kept her busy until our food arrived then we gave Grace her tea too.

Thankfully the journey home was fine, we organised oursleves packing while MIL played with Grace then she went straight off to sleep in her carseat. That said mum has said she's been upset today, I'm at work and she rang to say she's been crying quite a bit but we are wondering if its the last of the 4 top teeth now cutting through. Poor baby. Going to ring again soon and see how she is.

 

[Bella2]

SUCH A CLEVER GIRL!

Grace is continuing to learn new things, she now sits on her bum and turns herself 360 degrees using her legs, can pull herself up using the sofa, coffee table and even in the bath! This morning OH put her at the bottom of the stairs and she pulled herself up 2 steps eek!!

On Wednesday took Grace to Snakes and ladders, a soft play centre with her little friends Finlay, Ella & Niamh. She had fun in the ball pits and loved crawling around investigating. I think she's just the right age for that now, any younger and she would just have been too small/unable to do things. Then in the afternoon after her nap we went to our local park where they had a fate, there was a man playing drums so we sat Grace on top of one and gave her her own beater, she had so much fun and was mesmerised as the guy was playing a samba beat.

Yesterday we went to a friends beach hut, took a little paddling pool and filled it with seawater and the babies had a great time splashing about. Unfortunately though couldn't get Grace to go off for an afternoon nap, she'd had an hour and a half in the morning but just wouldn't go off while we were out. She refused to go off in the car on the way home so by the time we got back she was hysterical. As a result I took her up to bed at 5:20pm and she fell asleep in my arms! Will make sure I don't make that mistake again. I think the problem is now she's older unless there's complete quiet and no distractions she just won't sleep, she's so nosy and inquisitive!

Have been thinking ahead to her first birthday in October, as OH's mum & dad are separated it's a bit difficult so we've decided we will probably have 2 days of celebrations! Her birthday is on a Saturday so we thought that day we could have a little party for her and her friends at Father-in-laws house (him & his partner have a huge place and said we could hold it there) then on the Sunday have a little family get together at ours for MIL and my parents. We said the key is though to make sure it's not too much for her and that she doesn't get over tired so will limit how long they go on for, after all we want Grace to be happy and enjoy her birthday!

 

[Bella2]

ANOTHER MONTH GONE!

Well only 2 months till we hit the 1 year eek! Have had a lovely couple of days with Grace, yesterday morning took her swimming with my friend Julia & her baby girl Elodie then in the afternoon went to get her weighed, she's now 18lbs 3oz. Mentioned to the health visitor about going to France and she said that babyfood/jars over there are much nicer than what we have here! Am also thinking she will pretty much be able to eat what we eat so long as they do something other than chips with everything lol! She's doing great with food, I can't think of a single thing she doesn't like! Now she has 6 teeth she does really well with lumps and finger foods. Also asked health visitor when she thought she would need to go in the next sized carseat but she said she is still probably a bit small and to check with the manufacturer the weight restriction. Well I checked my graco carseat and its up to 29lbs!! As it is though she's getting a bit long in length so may wait it out until her 1st birthday if we can then get her a bigger front-facing one.

 

[Bella2]

Grace continues to amaze me everyday! She's getting so fast now at crawling and pulls herself up all the time, she loves standing. She can now climb all the way up the stairs!! (Supervised at all times of course!) Need eyes in the back of our heads we really do. Had a fantastic day yesterday, took her to birch farm playbarn with my friend and her little boy Oscar, was the first time I have taken her since she started to crawl and she had the best time playing with the toys and being able to crawl really far. Even took her on the bouncy castle Had to laugh as she was sitting in this toy car and Oscar came along and opened the car door for her - such a gentleman lol!

Her routine is changing now that she is getting older, she has started going down for her morning nap later at around 10.30am and will sleep for around 1.5 to 2hrs. Then she has lunch about 12:30pm and maybe a very short nap in the afternoon of around 15mins. Trying to make bedtime for around 7:30pm but a couple of nights this week her afternoon nap was too long/too late and she stayed awake till 9pm!! Don't think the hot weather helped either. This morning she woke at 7:30am which is the latest she's ever slept in. Have also eaten all together as family for the past 3 nights, usually we have ours once she's in bed but now she goes to bed a bit later have been able to sit at the table together. Trying to get her into good habits from a young age! Went to mum & dad's on Sunday and all sat and ate dinner together there, Grace fed herself chicken stirfry

She's at Nanna & Grandad's today while I'm at work, mum's hairdresser is going round to cut mums hair so hopefully she's going to give Grace's fringe a trim as well. This will be her 3rd haircut eek! Here she is at birch farm yesterday...

 

[Sarah13]

Awww, she's doing brilliantly! How fast has the last year gone? Can't believe they will all be 1 soon!

 

[Bella2]

I know only seems like yesterday we were nursing our bumps! Hope you and little man are doing well x x

 

[Sarah13]

He's doing well thanks, he's so mischievous though!

 

[Bella2]

He's doing well thanks, he's so mischievous though!

Ahh glad he's doing well xx

 

[Bella2]

Have had some problems these past few days getting Grace down to sleep - it's like she won't switch off when we put her off to bed, she just stands up in her cot and messes about. A couple of nights it's been getting on for 9pm which is just crazy. Her naps have been a bit all over the place too, we just seem to have lost all routine! Yesterday at mums she only went off when mum took her out in the pushchair for about an hour in the morning then wouldn't go off in the afternoon so by 5pm she was hysterical. Was getting a bit stressed over it but mum said I just need to relax and let her sleep when she needs to, after all she's only 10 months old and hopefully this is just a phase. I don't think it's necessarily separation anxiety at bedtime as she doesn't really cry, I think it's more that her little brain is so overactive with all that she is learning and taking in that she can't relax.

It's so difficult to get things right particulary with naps as too much/not enough sleep causes problems as well as if she naps too late in the day. Not much we can do if she won't go down though! As we're going away next week her routine will be thrown out of kilter anyway so I'm going to just go with it and see where we are in terms of sleep patterns once we get home. That said she is a happy little girl, (when not tired lol!) still very active and now cruising around the furniture on her own

Only 5 days till our hols now Am pretty organized and have most of the packing sorted as I knew this week would be hectic with me working overtime. As Grace will be sitting on our laps on the plane she has no luggage allowance so to get around this issue I'm taking most of her things in a mini case which I can take on board as hand luggage, then OH will take the changing bag as his carry-on bag. Have tried to think of things to keep her occupied on the plane, I read somewhere post-it notes can provide hours of entertainment for little ones (pulling them off, sticking them places) and have bought a couple new toys & books which she has never seen before to keep her amused.
She has another party to go to on Saturday - her little friend Isaac is turning 3 and the party is at a small farm so looking forward to that!

 

[Bella2]

So last night's bedtime was much more sucessful, Grace had gone down around 9:30am for a nap and slept for an hour and half; then after lunch MIL took Grace to a soft play centre and she had a little nap in the car on the way there. When I got home from work Grace's Uncle Ryan came round for dinner then at 7pm she cuddled up on his lap and put her thumb in and watched in the night garden. I took her up to bed at 7:30pm, gave her her bottle and she fell asleep in my arms I think it helped that I didn't even try to put her down before 7:30pm, that way she was properly tired and ready for sleep rather than an hour of up & down stairs with her! Will see how things go tonight....

 

[Bella2]

It has been far too long since I last wrote in here!! Only 1 month till my princess will be a year - scary!

Had a lovely holiday in France, apart from half of our group getting a diarrhea & sickness bug! I honestly think Grace was the catalyst, she had awful runny mucusy nappies and was sick a couple of times on the friday before we went, but only lasted a day. We left for France on the Monday and on the Tuesday morning I became ill, followed by OH the following day and then 2 other friends who came with us! Luckily it was only a 24hr bug but awful all the same! On a positive note the campsite was lovely, we had a nice roomy 2 bedroom caravan with a decking attached, the park was so well catered for families in that they provided a highchair, travel cot & safety gates for the front door and decking of our caravan. There were 3 outdoor pools and one indoor pool, 3 of which were suitable for little ones. Then a beautiful lake with a lovely sandy beach. Grace was so good on the plane, she slept going out then coming back was awake the whole time, was a bit fidgety but we managed to amuse her with the in-flight magazines, a few toys and by letting her look out the window. Weather was gorgeous although got very hot the last couple of days so little miss did go to bed later a couple of nights as was too hot for her to sleep. Would have BBQs in the evening so worked out perfect in that Grace could go to sleep in her own bed. Would definately go back

So back to reality now, and Grace is teething again! Yesterday she barely ate her lunch which is very unlike her, and didn't go down to bed till 9pm. This morning seemed happier in herself but has a runny nose and is dribbly, also keeps sticking her finger in her mouth so pretty sure another toothy peg on the way. Have made arrangements for her birthday, are having a family get together at ours on Sat 13th Oct (her actual bday) then the following saturday having a party for her and her little friends at OH's dad's house as they have a lovely big conservatory which is ideal. Made my own invitations with a really cute picture of Grace on them, sent them out yesterday so hopefully will get some acceptances. Now just need to buy decs and paper plates etc, very excited!!

 

[Bella2]

Once again I have been slack on updating! Poor baby is still teething, she has a double tooth coming through on the bottom & today noticed she has a double one coming through on the top too, both on the same side So that will be 8 teeth in total Still very dribbly and suffering badly this time with a runny nose. On a positive note she is continuing to grow and develop, the past couple of weeks she has developed a new found love for dancing! She will move her shoulders up and down and wiggle about to the beat, very funny, she has us in fits! Just this morning we were in the car and as soon as the radio came on she started grooving in her car seat!

She can walk confidently now pushing her walker along but still needs to hold on to something or someone with both hands. Think it will be a while yet before she walks unaided. Recently was my mum's 60th birthday so her uncle Jamie came home from Nottingham for 4 days, he was amazed in the difference in her as hadn't seen her since May. Had a lovely few days with the family. She went to her little friend's birthday party on Sunday and had a great time, caught her eating wotsits off the floor mind and cake off someone else's plate! (She had already had a plate of her own food too). What else is new? Oh yes she had her 4th haircut last week her hair just grows like the wind and will now fit in very cute bunches.

Have a great little bedtime routine going now, she has dinner at 5pm, then we play for a couple of hours and at 7pm we dim the lights, get her changed for bed and put "In the night garden" on. She'll then sit and cuddle with either me or daddy and after it's finished we take her up for bed, give her her bottle and put her down for the night. She'll then go through to around 7am the next morning, have breakfast and play until 11am when she'll nap for around 2 hours. So nice now having a good routine.

Have ordered her a couple of things for her birthday (which is only 2 weeks away) a wooden push along mouse which makes a clacking noise when pushed and a wooden block where you hammer the shapes through. Then going to get her an upsy Daisy Doll. Not going crazy as no doubt she will get endless presents from family and friends and she's still quite young to know what's going on. She has so many toys but would rather play with tupperware containers or spends ages emptying out and re-filling my handbag!! Have ordered a pink tutu dress off ebay for her party, she's going to look so cute Also ordered balloons, plates, napkins etc off the party pieces website, then planning to do a little buffet myself and make her a cake. Will have 2 cakes to make, one for family on her actual birthday then another for her party so just have to decide what sort of cakes to make. I'm so excited for this month!!

 

[Bella2]

Only 5 days until my little princess will be 1!!!! Am so excited
Everything is coming together, her tutu arrived and she looks adorable in it, have also got her 2 little hairbands with birthday cakes on them so she can have her hair in bunches. She won't wear alice bands in her hair now, just pulls them out! Got some more banners yesterday and a pink table decoration, then on Thursday going to bake some cupcakes & sausage rolls as well as her birthday cake (as have to work friday). The theme for her party is princesses/fairies so I am planning on making a princess castle cake. Going to make it for her birthday for family then if it's successful will make another for her party the following week.

Had a lovely family weekend, Saturday we took Grace to Needham Lake to feed the ducks and yesterday was her great nanna's birthday so we went round to visit. Grace played with her ciaowowa and also loved looking at the baby guinea pigs OH's nanna has. Walking wise she can now just about manage to walk one handed although is still very wobbly so we're working on it. Just this week at mum & dad's while going up stairs she managed to come down a few steps as well safely by herself. Although we have stair gates up we still let her practice (whilst stood behind her!) as I think it's important that she learns.

That's all for today will report back on how the birthday preparations go...

 

[Sarah13]

Birthdays are so exciting, bet grace will look well cute! I did a pink fairy castle cake for my dd when she was 1! Kynon got a jungle cake! Hope you all have a lovely day, look fwd to some photos x

 

[Bella2]

It's been a few weeks since I updated as unfortunately I've been quite unwell. Had a another awful stomach bug with sickness & diarrhea which lasted a week Gracie's birthday was right in the middle of all this, felt reasonably ok on her birthday enough to have a few family members round but didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped That said though she had a lovely day, got thoroughly spolit with lots of lovely presents including tons of clothes, a hello kitty pop up wendy house, various toys and lots of books. Dressed her in her pink fairy tutu, she looked adorable!

The party the following week was much more enjoyable, I felt soo much better by then and it was just a really great day that went off without a hitch. All her little friends came and we just put lots of toys out for them to play with and did a lovely buffet. So my baby is now a year - sob! Actually had a little cry on the evening of her birthday, was feeding her her bedtime bottle in the nursery and came over all emotional thinking about where the past year has gone and what a gorgeous little girl she has grown to be. I definately feel now as though she's making the transistion from baby to toddler

So - lots of developmental changes recently! First off I had her weighed this week, she was 19lbs 6oz so has dropped from the 50th centile to the 25th but health visitor said still a very good weight and its down to the fact she is so active now. She had another tooth through, bottom right one next to the 2 bottom front ones and think the one the other side is coming through now too. So will be 10 teeth in total! She has her 1yr jabs on Tuesday, such a happy little girl went we went into the docs but not so happy when we came out!! Had one in each arm and one in her thigh poor baby. Soon perked up once we left the surgery though and we popped into the charity shop next door and bought her a halloween bear and a shape sorter toy which she loved.

Now for perhaps the most exciting news so far... Gracie took her first steps! Mark & I took her to Birch farm on Wednesday as he was on nights and she took 12 steps all on her own!!! Unfortunately Mark was in the loo at the time though so missed it! However she did take another 9 steps once we got home and he saw that so was dead chuffed. Yesterday she took about 6 steps but nothing much else, I think its all confidence, she will walk holding on with just one hand with the tips of fingers but the minute we let go she automatically sits down She will get there though. Health visitor said they like them to be walking by 14 months really so we have until Christmas!!

Other things she does now is points the remote at the TV and presses the buttons, and picks up my mobile phone, swipes the front with her finger (she has seen me do this to unlock it), puts it to her ear and says "Eh yo!" very cute If I show her a picture of Mark she says "Daddy!" and says "mum mum" quite a bit now although I'm not sure she actually associates it with me yet! Exciting times...

 

[Bella2]

I have a very poorly baby on my hands!! Poor Gracie had not been herself for a couple of days...yesterday her great auntie Tracie came to visit and she was crying on and off all day, had a dreadful cold and chesty cough. Was also off her food and refusing to drink much, and wouldn't go down for a nap. By dinnertime I was getting worried as her head was hot and her hands freezing so took her straight round to docs who luckily fit us in at the end of surgery. Doctor said she had a temperature and was most likely she had a virus so to dose her up with Calprofen & calpol and try to get fluids in her.

She fell asleep at 6:30pm so we put her to bed, then at 7:30pm she woke up crying then was sick when I lifted her out of the cot. Was so hot so I stripped her off and gave her calpol & calprofen and cuddled her and she fell straight to sleep till the morning.

This morning she seemed brighter but her eyes were so watery and she seemed full of cold I had to work which was just awful, felt so terrible for leaving her but had already had time off for my own sickness the other week. Mum & dad are looking after her though so I know she's in the best hands. Mum rang at lunchtime to say she'd seemed a bit brighter and been playing with her toys, and had a good hour nap but was refusing to drink much. She's had lots of cuddles too! Can't wait to get home to see her.

 

[Bella2]

My poor little Gracie is still not well still has a temperature off and on and crying/sleeping lots, won't hardly eat either. Spoke to the doctor again but this time on the phone, he said the raised temperature is a good sign in a way as shows her body is trying to fight off the virus and to continue dosing her up with calpol. He said its most likely that those injections last week have lowered her immune system making her succeptable to picking things up. The health visitor advised offering her plenty of water, she has been a bit loathe to drink also but we have to keep trying so she doesn't become dehyrated. Health visitor says the not eating thing is not too much of a problem as long as she drinks. She's not been taking much milk although did manage a full 7oz bottle this morning which was great, but wouldn't eat her breakfast.

Actually have a sore throat myself today so looks like I have inevitably picked up the babe's cold!

 

[Bella2]

My little baby is finally all better! Took a week but such a relief she is now eating & drinking properly again. Still has a bit of a runny nose but shes also teething again which just adds to it, has a 12th tooth coming through, a double one which is also causing her pain Been using teething powders again though and they work fabulously. My poor mum has the bug now, me & Mark have both had dodgy throats and I've had a cough but my poor mum has been in bed feeling so ill.

As for Grace we're getting back into a normal routine, she's sleeping really well too. I have noticed though what I think might be the start of toddler tantrums!! She hates getting dressed/undressed and having her nappy changed, it's come so I hate doing it as she gets so ratty. She seems to be getting to an age now when she knows what she wants and doesn't want. I think she's getting a little frustrated as well not being able to walk properly yet, we've had a few more little steps on her own but nothing much aside from that, obviously she had a week of being ill so wasn't in the mood for practising either! She's also started getting impatient when in her high chair, when she was ill we didn't put her in it as she was barely eating so would feed her bits on our laps so I'm making every effort to get her used to eating in there again and being up the table eating with us. Have a meal out on Sunday for Mark's nanna's birthday so hoping that all goes ok!

Hoping to take her to town tomorrow to get her hair cut again, her fringe has got so long again so been putting in a ponytail ala "pebbles" lol