Someone looked hot in her bikini....

Unfortunately, it wasn't me. It was little Miss Gracie. She was so excited for her first day of swimming lessons. We decided to take a few 'before' pictures of her sporting her first bikini, compliments of her Auntie Marcie. The girl is so excited!

The lessons went really well, but I think it's safe to say that Michael Phelps' records are safe - for now. She was pretty indifferent to the water. No tears, but she also wasn't playing much. I think she was pretty chilly. The pool is a warmer pool, but when you're like -5% body fat, apparently no pool is really 'warm enough'. I say "apparently" because I would actually have no idea since I've never had a first-hand account!

We did lots of fun things in the class, but mainly sang songs that got them used to playing and moving around in the water. She was pretty modest about her mad swimming talent and didn't want Aaron to take any pictures of the swan dives she did for the class. The butterfly stroke was also something she was working on, but again, no pictures. This time because she was just too fast for the camera. Aaron had today off, so he went as our resident photographer.

Gracie really liked swimming on the swim noodle. She thought it was pretty fun. This was one of the only pictures of her without her hands in her mouth. She spent more time sucking her fingers than kicking and splashing.

Our friends Carmen and baby Duncan were in the class as well. We me them at the mom's group I attended. Duncan and Grace are just a few weeks apart.

Gracie also liked playing with the toys in the pool. This ball was one of her favorites.

More interested in her fingers than the toys in this pic.

Lots of Updates

Hello Blog,
Long time, no speak! I'm sorry to have neglected you. I have been very busy and just not in the mood to download pictures from the camera. I promise to do better in the future. I hope we can still be friends.
Love,
Jamie

OK, now that my blog and I are BFF's again, I can get to the updates. We have had quite a big month. Grace turned 6 months old last week, which means she 'graduated' from the mom's group we have been attending. She was quite the proud graduate and loved wearing that graduation cap! I think it's great practice for when she graduates from Harvard. Being the proud mom that I am, I also baked HAPPY GRADUATION cupcakes for her class. Hey, the girl needs to go out in style!

Attending this mom's group was the best thing I could have done. We have been going religiously since she was 8 weeks old. I would encourage any mom's to be to get connected with a mom's group like this one. It's a great outing, you're surrounded by people who are experienceing the same things you are, and your baby can scream and cry and no one expects you to apologize for it! The volume in this group did get a bit loud at times, especially when the babies got to the age when they were discovering their voices.

In other news, Grace has started teething. Not fun for her or mom and dad. While there isn't a tooth to be found, she has been very fussy and shoving anything she can into her mouth to chew on. I found that one of her favorite 'teething toys' is a stick of celery. I don't even know how I figured it out, but she loves it. It's kind of cold, but not too cold to hold on to. Plus, it's the perfect size for her little mouth and hands. Best of all, it's not messy at all. Of course, I have found celery sticks in random parts of my house, which is just plain wierd, but stranger things have happened.

Some of her favorite toys are these cars that grandpa and grandma bought her for Christmas. She loves sitting on the couch in the evening and playing with them.

Grace has also been eating more solids. Until a few weeks ago, I only gave her the baby food that I made (fruits and veggies). I started giving her some rice cereal recently and it is NOT a big hit. Here are a few pictures of her not enjoying her dinner. I think she has more on the outside than on the inside - as my grandpa used to say. I always wondered what exactly happened when I would hear parents say they were picking food out of their kids ears. Now I know.

Last picture to share...I could just eat these cheeks for dessert. Apparently she is feeling like quite the big girl!

I hope to have some good pictures to post next week. We start a mommy and me swim class on Monday. I'm excited for her to get in the pool. I hope she enjoys it as much as she enjoys the bath tub. On the other hand, I'm well aware that chubby thigh rolls are only cute on babies. How am I going to survive the swim suit!? I'm less than thrilled about this. Anyone think it's possible to lose 10 pounds by Monday?

These are a few of my favorite things....

A few of Grace's new favorite things.....

Her highchair! This thing rocks. Thanks Melissa! I only wish I brought it out sooner. She loves sitting in it because she is up higher and she can play with all of her toys on the tray. Her new favorite thing is to drop ANYTHING she can get her hands on off the side of the highchair and wait for me to pick it up. It was funny the first couple of times...not so funny for me anymore but she still seems to enjoy it.


Watching for the cats out the back door. Here kitty kitty kitty!

Following the cats into the laundry room and watching them eat. This usually ends with the cats leaving half way thru the meal because she sits and screams at them from her little chair.

Chasing the cats down the hallway and trying to grab them. These poor cats....they are in for it when she can start walking!

The anticipation of a bath! She loves to hear me start the water and kick around naked on her towel before she jumps in the bath. It is officially my favorite time of day too. She is always so much fun during her bath.

Feeding herself. Needless to say, she only gets to do this when eating non-staining food (no squash or peas).

Sherwood the Beannie Baby Bear. She got this from Grandma Jan for Christmas and he is officially her new favorite pal. She gets excited when she sees him and loves to chew on his hands and feet.