Grace at 6 months

So I haven't been so good about updates lately, as several folks have politely reminded me. Sorry about that. The end of the semester has a way of overwhelming us around here. Grace is doing very well though, and continuing to grow like crazy. At her six month checkup last week, she was 28 1/2 inches long. Apparently the average for a one-year-old is 29 to 29 1/4. These are a few recent pictures, and I'll try to fill in some of the gaps in a couple of weeks when things calm down. Hope you are all doing well.

Christmas Day & Boxing Day

This is Grace hanging out in her red Christmas dress. She looks pretty grown up in it -- those long legs help.





The whole family at the dinner table.



Grace with Alexandra, who is Candace's daughter, on the day after Christmas.



Eileen and Candace with all of their kids. Eileen and Candace have been friends since they were seven, or the age that Alexandra is now.

Music Lessons and Getting Ready for Christmas

On her way to get her first set of immunizations - 6 shots in 60 seconds. She was a real trooper. She's wearing a beautiful hand-knitted sweater from my Aunt Helen in Scotland.



With our good friend Virginia



Napping with Dad...







Getting some early music lessons...



As you can see, she's moved from being held while playing to playing herself. The next step will be completing her own compositions. If Mozart did it by age 4 she really needs to get started.




Stockings for the family that my mom made. Notice that the cat doesn't get one.

Meeting Dogs and Elephants, Being an Elf

These are from late November and early December. Ceilidh pretty much ignores Grace, and doesn't seem to recognize that she is a person. Grace, on the other hand, is sometimes fascinated by Ceilidh, since Ceilidh is black and white, moves, and has ears that are fun to grab.

In Vermont

These first three pics are among my favourites of all those taken of Grace so far. She's started to smile a lot, especially when she first wakes up, and even seems to giggle a little bit at times.





This was us getting ready to go for a walk. She looks like a starfish in this oversized snowsuit. Her arms barely reach to the elbows.




This is Grace with her Aunt Ann. They spent some quality time hanging out on the couch.

Sleeping in the Big Bed

These first two were taken one morning when we put her in our bed for a few minutes. I love the way her hands are folded under her head. The last family-portrait-with-dog took some posing. So far Ceilidh doesn't seem to recognize that Grace is actually a person, since she doesn't move around like one. She'll figure it out when Grace starts pulling on her ears.

Being Yuppies In The Park

On the day we took this walk in Trexler Park in Allentown, the park was full of young couples with children who looked like us, creating the sensation of being on the set of a bizarre suburban movie.