Eight Beautiful Months

Helen Grace turned eight months old on January 25th. She is such a joy, as always, but now she is more than ever a ball of energy and happiness.

• She’s about 19.5 pounds and finally fitting well into Size 3 diapers.
• She does this crazy thing when she gets a wild hair…she will grab your knee (insert whatever body part is closest to her), wrap her arms around it, ‘bite’ it, and scream- all at the same time. Random, but she gets so excited!
• When she is sleeping or eating, she will often cross her legs. Such a little lady.
• While she still goes to sleep on her side, she will wake up on her tummy most of the time. Also, when she naps, her right eye is cracked half open. She’s watching you!
• She loves to watch tv and can entertain herself better now- at least long enough for you to run to the bathroom without her throwing a fit.
• John does this thing with her that he calls the Pillsbury Dough Baby. When he pokes her tummy, she just throws her head back and giggles! It’s hilarious- he has the magic touch!
• She goes NUTS when she sees a remote, phone, camera, etc.
• She is still not crazy about being on her tummy, but she is enjoying the ‘sea'l’ position more- laying on her tummy but pushing up on her arms with her head in the air.
• She loves to shake balls and rattles in her hand. She’s getting more coordinated so that she can drop a ball through a hole in a toy or reach down and pick up the ball.
• When her bottle gets toward the end, she tries to take over and hold it on her own. She can hold it by herself, but it’s a challenge for her to get it high enough for the formula to make it to her mouth.
• She is a really good eater. She is eating all kinds of Level 2 foods, and it’s adorable how she leans into the spoon now. She always has her mouth open for more! We’ve introduced yogurt meltaways and puffs which have been a hit. Her pincher grip is amazing to watch, although sometimes instead of putting the puff or meltaway in her mouth, she prefers to hold it in her fingers and suck on it. Whatever works! I have to admit that my OCD kicks in when it comes to her hands going to her mouth when she has a mouth full of food. I have to have a wet paper towel ready to intercept her little paw!
• She can navigate a sippy cup well, but I still don’t think she understands that she’s supposed to drink the water. She doesn’t fuss if it runs out on her, but she doesn’t lift the cup up to get to the water yet.
• I’ve noticed in the last few days that she is getting more excited when she sees the cats, even across the room. She starts grunting and reaches for them. We still haven’t mastered the ‘gentle’ touch though.
• She still only has the bottom two teeth, although there has to be another one coming. Her sleep pattern has been crazy this weekend, and the drool is crazy.
• We’ve had some big developments this weekend. John and I have both witnessed her pulling up into a standing position if she can hang on to our clothes. She still can’t pull up on her activity table, but if she has a pants leg or sweatshirt to cling to, she can do it!! Also, she has mastered the raspberry, so watch out for the spit the next time you see her! And finally, I swear she is giving me kisses now- what an amazing gift!!!!! I was sitting behind her on the floor while she was playing on her activity table. She turned around and lunged at me with open arms and an open mouth, aimed right at my mouth! She’s done it twice more tonight, and while it could just be a wild hug, I’m claiming it’s a kiss. She’s also doing the cutest kissy face- like fish lips. What an amazing phase she is in…something new every day!

Eight Months Old There’s no such thing as a still baby anymore.Mama had to reach in the shot to keep her from doing a nose dive off the chair. Yet she tried again…don’t worry, we caught her…again.Checking out what little was left of our ‘ice storm’ Doing the cutie patootie kissy fish face

A Diamond in the Rough

A story in pictures…

Wednesday morning, Helen Grace put on her cute green outfit, her pink bling paci clip, and her new pink shoes, and off we went to FTMs! This is her favorite thing to do. Instead of bringing her feet to her mouth, she will just lean down to chew on them.  After FTMs, we stopped by Michael’s, and then we headed home. When I picked her up out of her car seat in our garage, I gasped when I saw this… Somewhere along our travels, the child chewed off the rhinestones on her paci clip!!! That gives a whole new meaning to our nickname of ‘billy goat’! I didn’t see the rhinestones in her seat or stuck to her clothes, so I can only assume she swallowed them. Eek! I couldn’t decide if I should freak out or just laugh it off, so I decided to call the rational half of our marriage, and John said the call the doctor just in case. Luckily, the doctor said it should be fine and that she might pass it. We are still keeping an eye out for some sparkle during a diaper change!

Nicknames

I’ve been making some notes over the last few months of all the silly names that we call our sweet little one.

• HG
• Baby Girl
• Sugar Boo (this used to be my pet name for the kitties’ but now my Sugar Boo has been replaced, nickname wise only of course)
• Sweet Pea
• Punkin’
• Puddin’
• Monkey
• Precious
• Piglet (when she is eating like she’s a bottomless pit- and it started somewhat as a joke when she was born so tiny but soon became a chunk)
• Hell Cat (when she’s mad- coined by my cousin William and initially meant to make me mad)
• Billy Goat (when she’s eating paper)
• Sweetheart
• Sweet Potato
• Bug A Boo
• Little Birdie (when she has that little top lip stuck out)
• Little Stinker (well, you obviously know when this is applicable)

Three Generations

I will not be of those moms who sit back quietly, keep their feelings to themselves, and let their daughter make her own decision about what sorority to be in. Delta Gamma has given me more and taught me more than any other organization I’ve ever been a part of, and my life has forever been changed because of the friendships and sisterly bonds that I developed through DeeGee. Some call it cheesy- I call it grateful. I want to share that Delta Gamma bond with Helen Grace, just like I do with Bubba, and I think it’s never too early to start the brainwashing. :)

Tuesday was Popa Frank’s birthday, so Daddy took Bubba on a field trip to Holly Springs and Oxford. Of course, they swung by the DG house, and they had a celebrity encounter when one of my sweet girls recognized them from seeing their pics on the blog (love it!!!). Daddy snapped a pic of Bubba in the rocker just like I took of HG last weekend. Then, Daddy added a pic he took of me on graduation day in 2002. What a beautiful span of the stages of life!

Happy Birthday, Haney!

Today, Helen Grace and I met my college friends in Oxford for Haney Harris’ 2nd birthday party. Where has time gone? It feels like just yesterday we were all taking over Whitney’s hospital room upon Haney’s arrival (in our typical bossy fashion)!

HG, Me, Adickes Thomas, Emily Nail, Rebecca Thomas, Leighton Thomas, Whitney Harris, Haney Harris 

After Haney’s birthday party and a fun lunch with Em, I had a meeting at the Delta Gamma house, and Helen Grace was quite the sport throughout the meeting. She sat in my lap and played happily for the longest time, but she finally gave in and fell asleep after a while. We must have been boring her. ;) On our way out the door, we stopped for a mini photo shoot on the porch with our famous rocking chairs- one of my favorite places/memories from college! Today was such a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed my time with my baby girl. That little smile just melts my heart and can make even the worst day become brilliant again. She constantly reminds me what is truly important in life.

Big Girl Pants

Friday was a big day- our first day of the spring semester of Kindermusik and Helen Grace’s first day to wear ‘Big Girl Pants.’ You know, the ones with a snap and a ZIPPER!

I don’t think this she is as excited about her pants as her mama is. We had a great time at Kindermusik. Now that she can sit up tall, she really is even more mesmerized by all the activity and noises and colors. She soaks it all in and loves playing with her friends.This girl is going to have abs of steel. She is now doing this thing now where she will sit straight up in her car seat and does NOT want to lay back and get strapped in. Enjoying a little afternoon snackMocha has gotten much braver these days and even jumped up to join Helen Grace for a quick nap.  Friday night was John’s girls’ last soccer game, and they pulled out an awesome win against Horn Lake! We stopped by to say hello before his game (and HG’s bedtime). The boys were playing at the time, and she could barely focus on taking a pic. She couldn’t take her eyes off the big field, bright lights, and boys running around. I think we might have a problem! The girls ate her up too. After stopping by the high school to see her daddy and then meeting Spif and Google for a quick dinner, Helen Grace was READY for bed!

Spiffed Up for Spif

Wednesday was our first FTM meeting since before Christmas, and man, it was great to get back together with everyone! We laughed throughout the morning about how big the babies have gotten and how when we started last summer, we all sat in rocking chairs holding our sleeping babies. Now, they are almost all rolling over or sitting up and a good many are crawling and trying to walk. Sniff, sniff! (We actually just welcomed our youngest member to the group, Libby Baird, on New Year’s Eve, so we still have one itty bitty one that we can all oooh and aaah over.) I love watching all our babies grow from week to week. It’s neat to go through this life experience with such a great group of mamas, and yes, I do know how lucky I am to have found this group- thanks, Doty! I wish I could have caught video of this moment. As Lilly crawled toward Helen Grace, Caroline reached out and grabbed Lilly’s booty. So funny- we were all dying! We stopped by Greenbrook Elementary to see Spif since HG was all dolled up, and Helen Grace had a blast playing with all the fun toys in Spif’s office….the phone handset and cord, her keyboard, her badge, and especially her glasses!

Helen Grace Live

Here are some videos from the last few weeks with Helen Grace.

Last Sunday at Bubba’s, Helen Grace was all fired up. She has been doing this new thing where she sits straddling your leg and will attack your leg/knee with her mouth and then throw her arms around you…and then squeal at the top of her lungs. No clue where she picked this up or what she thinks she’s doing. The first video is our attempt of catching her new trick in action.

Also at Bubba’s, she enjoyed “walking” from the couch to the coffee table with Spif’s help. She’s doing a lot of this lately. Today, I was helping her stand up against our ottoman, and she looked down and saw one of her balls on the floor beside the couch. She turned and started making her way “walking” over to the ball and squatted to pick it up (with a little help from Mama). Scary!

Helen Grace and I were playing with one of her new toys the other day, and I love to watch how coordinated she is getting. She loves to shake the balls (I swear Kindermusik taught her this), and she even is starting to figure out that she can drop the ball through the hole in the toy. It’s amazing to watch the wheels turn in her head!

This girl really loves to eat. She gets into it now and leans into every bite. Of course, she got a little camera shy when I turned on my video camera, but she still does show off a little for us. She’s still eating Level 2 baby food and loves Apples with Chicken, Bananas, Sweet Potatoes, and Peas, to name a few.

Sleeping Angel

Monday morning, I walked into Helen Grace’s nursery to get her up, and I was greeted by her little eyes peeping at me through the spindles on her bed over her bumper pad!!!! She had rolled over onto her tummy, and she pushed herself up on her arms and was watching for me to come around the corner. How freakin’ adorable! Of course (you know me), I tried to make a run for my camera, but I gave up when she started to cry. You’ll just have to visualize!

John snapped these pics tonight to show how he found us when he got home from a soccer game. I just don’t think pictures can truly capture how precious that big ole stuck-out lip is!!

HG’s Sunday Tour

Bubba had us over for lunch on Sunday for what she kept calling, “Helen Grace’s Day.” I wasn’t sure what the special occasion was, but we soon learned that I think it could have been called, “Show Off Helen Grace Day.” :) While we were eating lunch, my cousin, Susan, dropped by to meet her for the first time. It was great to visit with her and watch her pick on my Uncle Bill- Susan is very witty! Then, after lunch, Bubba and I took Helen Grace over to see Bubba’s friend, Rhea. Rhea is dying for a great-grandbaby, and I soon witnessed Helen Grace get loved on from all directions and passed around and around. It was hilarious to watch her family get so excited over HG, and Bubba was so proud.

This weekend, we enjoyed having some good family quality time in Byhalia one day and Jackson the day before. It’s not often that I get to see almost ALL of my family in one day!

Happy Birthday, LeLe!

Leighton Thomas, affectionately known as LeLe, will turn ONE on January 22nd, and Helen Grace and I celebrated with her and her family on Saturday. Happy birthday, sweet girl! We were so happy to be there with you for this special day in your life!

Leighton and Helen Grace “hugging”Adickes LOVES Helen Grace. When we walked in the door to Rebecca’s house, Adickes was helping Leighton open gifts, and she stopped and screamed, “Helen Grace!” and ran to hug her. Auntie Sha must be chopped liver now. ;) Auntie Em, Adickes, Helen Grace, Me, Leighton, Reba (We missed Auntie Whit and Haney!) Proud Aunt Em Em had to get a pic with HG and Cotton, who has not really crazy about this little girl grabbing his hair. We are obviously still working on petting rather than grabbing and being gentle. Rebel and Mocha will be much happier when we figure out that lesson. Mama and Helen Grace Helen Grace was checking out all of Leighton’s new toys, and one of her favorites was her new rocking butterfly. Since her feet couldn’t touch the ground, she figured out that she hold on to the coffee table and make it rock. Birthday Girl in her tutu!

Jackson

On Saturday, Helen Grace, my parents, and I made a day trip to Jackson to celebrate Leighton Thomas’ 1st birthday (see next post) and to have some fun family time. John’s girls had their last home game, which was Senior Day. Soccer season has flown by!

Maybe HG will be a cheerleader when she grows up?? She has her toe touch down pat already. This is how she stretches on long car rides. ;) We met Aunt Glo; my cousin, Suzanne; and her daughter, Grace Ann for lunch at Peppers before Leighton’s party. Helen Grace sat between our tables in her cool little high chair and entertained herself by looking back and forth and back and forth (and chewing on everything, of course).Grace Ann likes Helen Grace to sit in her lap. I warned her that she has to hold on TIGHT nowadays because HG will test your grip! After Leighton’s birthday party and Grace Ann’s basketball game, we met back up at GG’s house. Four GenerationsHelen Grace was so excited to see her daddy after a long day (and to get out of that outfit and into a new diaper)! For the record, on the way home, we did have to stop at a gas station in Sardis in the pouring down rain to change a diaper. Now that was an experience! Also, she’s so busy these days that she is very hard to keep entertained for hours at a time. Maybe she will enjoy road trips more when she can turn around in a big girl car seat and see out the window or watch a movie. So back to the pictures, check out those teeth! I still can’t get over seeing those things in her mouth.