Gracie at 9 months

The past 9 months have gone so quickly...it's hard to believe that Grace is already 9 months old! Oh, how she continues to bring us joy. For a little girl that was a difficult infant, she's becoming easier and easier the older she gets. She genuinely loves life and loves to explore and loves new discoveries. Yesterday I was getting ready in the bathroom and she was in her room next door. I kept peeking in on her and watching her play. She had three of her dolls out and was "talking" to them. She loves dolls and loves interacting with them. My sister-in-law, Destin, says she's an old soul in a baby's body and that's so true. She never meets a stranger and is friendly with everyone. She met Santa on Saturday and LOVED him...she smiled at him and tugged on his beard.

She still is not a great sleeper, but she is sleeping through the night and she'll take one good nap a day. She crawls very fast now and cruises around using furniture as well. She loves walking behind push toys and can maneuver them quite well. This week she's started going from sitting to standing all by herself. She can only stand a few seconds, but I think she'll be an early walker. She babbles constantly and I think she's trying to mimic some words. We clearly heard her say "Yay" at Thanksgiving.

She still just has two teeth but I've started her on some table food (finely chopped) because she chews pretty well with those two teeth. She wants to eat what Jake is eating so I've let her recently if it's appropriate and she loves being like her brother. She still adores Jake but is also becoming more of a Daddy's girl lately. She loves it every night when Ty gets home, and he definitely gets the loudest laughs from her. She still nurses well and I am totally enjoying this process with her. I love the bonding we have through nursing...I'm already sad that I'll have to wean her before too long.

At her 9 month check-up she weighed 17.10 lbs. and was 27 1/4 inches long. That puts her in the 25-50th percentile for both. She's our petite child for sure :) Dr. Chandler did find a heart murmur in Grace at her last visit although she believes it's an innocent murmur and not a cause for alarm. Because she's Jake sister and of our family history, she wants to have her evaluated by a cardiologist. She said if it was any other child, she would not follow up with it, but she wanted to be safe with Grace because of the history.

So, we're going to believe that it is indeed an innocent murmur and not worry. Today Texas Children's called to schedule her appointment and I requested she see Jake's cardiologist. Irnonically, the first available appointment is on March 8th which happens to be the date of Jake's next check-up. We'll take them both that day and Grace will have an EKG and chest x-ray and meet with Dr. Altman, then Jake will have an echo and then we'll meet with Dr. Altman again... The fact that they're allowing Grace to wait 3 months and also that they're not requesting an echo reassures me even more that she is fine. Just start praying now over March 8th for our family!

I continue to thank God for our little Grace and can't wait to continue to watch her grow!

Loving life...

Enjoying some yummy chicken

In the rocking chair at JoJo and Papa's house

Talking with her cousin Nash