Brunch

Today we had brunch and hung out with Lauren, Burke and Rabia. Week 64 Album.

Walking & Rocking

It's Miller Time!

Miller came over early this morning to play, which was a lot of fun...for Grace. Poor Miller took a bit of a beating; Grace pulled on his nose, head butted him, took his snacks and more. Grace is lucky he's so good natured! Grace is picking up a lot of words these days. Tonight she practiced saying and showing "all done" and "in/out."

And she's off!

Grace started walking today! She went from taking a few steps at a time yesterday to totally taking off today. Although it's exciting to watch her toddle, there is no question the best part is to see how proud she is of herself. The look on her face is priceless - a combo of amazement, pride and disbelief.

Baby Steps

Grace started taking a few steps at a time! She jumped from crawling to stepping, skipping the standing on her own phase. So I took her to get her foot measured, which she didn't seem to mind. She wasn't quite ready to test out shoes though. We tried. We'll go back again when she's really walking.

Happy Birthday, Sam & Henry!

We lounged in our pajamas most of the rainy day until it was time to celebrate Sam & Henry Schiffman's first birthday.

Grace had a blast rocking to the music, walking around the room and celebrating with her buddies. Things got so wild, she emptied a bowl of Cheerios to fashion a party hat. She also enjoyed the pizza, candle lighting and cake.

Whenever it's time to eat cake, Grace proudly shows off her fork skills. She rarely misses a scoop, gets almost everything in her mouth and cleans the plate. This cake was so good - no joke, the best I've ever had - that at one point Grace forgot she had the fork and went mouth to plate.

Little Mimic

Grandma came to visit this morning, and Grace had the best time with her. The two of them could play for hours. This evening Grace enjoyed reading the NY Times, particularly the Arts & Leisure Section. She's become quite the mimic (or should I say actress?!) lately - with emotions, facial expressions, language and more. As you can see, she's getting excited for the Oscars. Week 63 Album.

AB...Cbiscuit

Gracie is teething really badly right now. She constantly has her hands in her mouth. Teething biscuits have helped too. Just moments after this picture, she kindly offer some of her soggy biscuit to Daddy. Mmm.

Big Girl

Grace loves to be a big girl, and a new way she expresses that is by climbing and sitting in chairs. She pulls off the pillows and cushions (to make room and/or to lower the height), climbs on and tries to act grown-up.

Hanging with GG

Grace sat in a shopping cart for the first time ever today - she's such a city baby! Then we went to visit Great Grandma Bess - who Grace affectionately calls GG - with Aunt Dina and Uncle Teddy.

Fun with the Fam

Mom-mom and Grandpa came to visit today, and Grace couldn't have been happier. She enjoyed every last minute with them - and with Aunt Meredith. Grace showed off her new walking skills and loved the cheers she earned from the crowd. She gave out kisses, practiced her alphabet and read lots and lots of books with them. At the end of the day, Gracie cried when they left :(

Downtown

This morning we went to Battery Park to spend time with Henley, Xabi and Sofia. Grace and Sofia greeted each other with kisses and played so nicely together. Grace tried smoked salmon and capers for the first time at lunch and enjoyed them. That's our girl! Week 62 Album.

Elmo On/Off

This afternoon we met up with Max and Chrissie for a walk. After a few blocks, we realized it was way too cold to walk so we played inside. Something that cracks Grace up is her Elmo towel from Ella Charron. When she comes out of the bath, she loves looking in the mirror and seeing Elmo sit on her head. We play "on"/"off" until it's time to head into her room for the rest of her nighttime ritual. Aunt Meredith kindly babysat tonight - thanks, Boosh!

Up High

Grace is now using her first two word combination: up high. This morning it was 51 degrees, perfect for an outside adventure. We hit the Zoo and Grace went wild. She LOVED it. It was so quiet, and all the animals (she can say animals now) came out to play.

They literally performed and danced before her eyes, and she enjoyed every show. "Up high" came in handy today. Check out the before and after shots of Grace motioning and talking to the polar bear. It was awesome.

Grace especially loved the petting zoo (big surprise) where she could get up next to the sheep (baa, she says when she sees them), the goats and the turkeys. Something else she loved doing was pushing through the plastic door things that look like they belong in a car wash. After lunch, we stopped by Erza's, but Grace had had too much activity and was too tired to play. This afternoon we went to Penelope's for Music with Brett, and afterwards Max and Chrissie came with us to eat and play. The kids get along so well; it's really cute.

Ellen Visits

Ellen came over to visit Grace tonight and showered her with her favorite gifts: books! Grace was so excited to see her. Recently - as you may have noticed in the pics - Grace has expressed a serious interest in jewelry, especially necklaces. She will put anything over her head to wear. Usually it's a necklace or ribbon, but tonight she was innovative with a shopping bag.

Grace Reads

Grace went to Parkbench today and really enjoyed herself. The class format is: free play, clean up, table time (hand tapping, hand washing, table wiping, snacking on graham crackers/water from a cup and storytime), an art project and then songs. Today's art project was awesome: sand! Grace was totally fascinated - she was more into scooping the sand with a cup than touching it with her hands, but she loved it. After class we went to lunch with Grace's buddy Max, who kept offering Gracie his food. She gratefully accepted his chicken fingers and half-eaten french fries. Yum. We made it to Grace's Free to Be Under Three class in time too!

This afternoon Grace napped and then ran some errands with me. We had some shopping to do before Uncle Z-man came over for dinner. Speaking of Uncle Z-man, he's called us out on the lack of video posts recently. This video is for you - and for everyone who has read these books countless times to Gracie.

Like Spring

Here is Grace in one of her sweet outfits from Shimmy. Grace went to Diller-Quaile for music this morning and then visited the pet store. It was so nice outside that we took a walk before lunch and ran some errands. We also hit the park for a quick swing ride after her nap. This afternoon the Monday playgroup came here.

14 Months Old

This morning we went over to the Lean's place for a brunch playdate and had a blast. It's amazing to see the kids grow together; check out this picture from last May. Ali taught Grace how to color, Jackson shared his toys like a true gentleman and Penelope and Mark Halpern played the drums after Danielle outplayed Mark in some 1-on-1 baby-sized basketball. Grace conked out when we got home. A short nap later, we went to the Park to walk and swing and stopped to say hi to Alex T on our way home. Grace continues to learn letters of the alphabet and picked up R and Q today, thanks to Daddy.

Grandma and Parties and Puppies, Oh My!

Grandma came in to play and hang out this morning, and Gracie was thrilled to see her! Right now Grace addresses her as "Ma" and will hopefully learn the "Grand" part soon. This afternoon we celebrated Sloane's 1st birthday at My Gym, where Grace explored tunnels, ate her heart out (pizza and cake) and then took a ride on the zipline swing. This afternoon we took her to the Penn's new place to say hi and meet Ricky, their new puppy. In walking news, Grace can take 3-4 steps solo, as long as we set her up well on flat feet to start. Week 61 Album.