Five Months of Joy

Well, maybe not five whole months of joy, since the first two months were pretty rough, but close enough!!  Grace celebrated her five month birthday on Wednesday; it's still hard to believe.  At first I didn't think she had really changed that much in the last month besides learning to roll from her back to her front but as I think about it she really has changed a lot.  Not any huge milestones, but important ones.  She is so aware and interested in the world around her, and NOTHING is safe from those little hands!!  She especially loves hair - even when I pull it up she manages to find any loose strands and PULL!  Plus, she wants to put everything in her mouth.  The other day she started sucking on my chin - I guess she puts new meaning to the phrase "sucking face" :)  She also likes to grab your nose.  Neither Jeff nor I wear glasses, but she's fascinated when we meet other people who wear them.  I think we might see our first tooth soon - she's really drooling and biting on everything too. 

I am worried about when the "terrible twos" start - she already tries to have temper tantrums.  Sometimes I think that if she could throw herself on the floor and pound her fists she would.  When she's sweet, she's very sweet, but when she's mad - look out!!  Right now when she gets mad she screams really hard and deep and her face turns bright red.  I don't know what a five month old has to be so angry about - I tell her she needs to enjoy life now 'cause it doesn't get any easier than this!

We've also been working at introducing her to rice cereal.  The first time she had it she really didn't care too much, but when I gave it to her again a few days later she ate it like a professional, but since then she's been pretty wishy-washy about it.  I don't know if I should start trying to give it to her twice a day or just sticking with once a day, and I'm not sure how long I should wait to give her anything else.  At least breastfeeding is simple!!

The last two weeks have been pretty busy - lots of cross country meets and places to go.  Last Friday I took Grace to work (Jeff and I both work at the ACH plant in Saline) because my department always has a tailgate lunch the Friday before the Michigan/Michigan State game and Grace was a hit.  It was nice to see everyone I work with, although my boss did ask me if I've decided if I'm going back in January.  I told him I'm still not sure.  I keep agonizing over the decision.  In September we kept track of everything we spent, and I put it into the computer yesterday and we are right on the bubble.  I think we were about $75 in the black with just Jeff's salary and what I make working at church and coaching cross country.  It just seems a little close for comfort, but I can't imagine leaving Grace at a daycare every day.  Ugh!!

So, that about sums up the last two weeks.  We have our conference meet on Wednesday for cross country, and then we actually have next weekend off.  It's hard to believe there's only two more meets left of the regular season!!

A Time to Remember

I can't believe it is October already.  Less than 3 months until Christmas - AGH!  Of course, Christmas will be a new adventure this year with Grace.  Even though she won't really understand a lot of it I am so excited to see Christmas through her eyes.
This week has been pretty good, although a little bittersweet.  Friday marked the three year anniversary since we lost our first baby.  On one hand it feels like it was just yesterday that it happened and on the other hand it feels like a different lifetime ago.  I still remember the doctor telling us it was ectopic and that I had to have surgery right away - it all happened so fast it was hard to process everything (for more details, visit my first posting).  This year has been the first year where the pain has dulled somewhat now that we finally have our little miracle with us. 
On Thursday Grace decided to start rolling from her back to her front.  We had gone on a walk that night and I mentioned to Jeff that it didn't seem like Grace had really had any major milestones this month, and she must have heard me, because as soon as we got back from the walk she did it!  I guess she wanted to prove Mom wrong :)  The funny thing is that she is bound and determined to roll over, but as soon as she does she gets really mad because she hates being on her stomach.  I guess she still needs to learn cause and effect!!

Yesterday the three of us participated in the Big House Big Heart Run.  Jeff ran the 5K and Grace and I walked.  It was a little chilly but overall a nice day.  Grace fell asleep after the first 1/2 mile and slept until the very end.  It is a really cool race - you get to run down the tunnel of the U of M stadium and finish on the 50 yard line of the field.  Hopefully next year we'll be able to do it again.  A friend of mine had triplets three years ago that were born at 27 weeks and they spent almost 6 months in the NICU at Mott's so I have a special reason to support the race, since it benefits Mott's. 
On Saturday we had a cross country meet at Hudson Mills - the kids all did really well even though it was a pretty miserable day - about 50 degrees and rainy/windy.  We have another meet on Tuesday and then again on Saturday.  On Friday all the kids are coming to our house for a spaghetti dinner - at least this forces me to clean the house :)

So, another busy week, but it's hard to believe there's only about a month left of cross country.  I still have to decide if I'm going to back to work in January - any advice?