We're not as young as we used to be

We just got back from Cedar Point, and though we had a great time, we have come to the realization that youth is no longer on our side. We made the drive in 10 hours and a little over a tank of gas (woohoo!) and went to the park Fri. night for a couple hours. Lines weren't too bad, but we had to eat and thus only rode Maverick, Millenium and Dragster. Dragster was a fluke- we were leaving, a couple minutes past closing, and saw they were still letting people in line. So we hopped in the queue and walked straight to the loading area and STRAIGHT onto the ride. NO kidding. People who have been there before will appreciate the awesomeness of this. We were like, the 2nd to last train of the night.
We then got up Sat. a.m. and got some Starbucks, came back so we could get in early (we were staying at the resort) and the line to get in was all the way back to the hotel! There were SO many people there, and lines were horrible, so we didn't do a whole lot on Sat. Took a nap, even. We did ride the new Challenge Park ride, the Skyscraper. I can't describe, so see the linky . That was fun, and different. Sunday morning was our ticket- we got in early with no big line, got some rides in, had lunch, rode a couple more things and headed home. The lines were decent that day. We're SO tired and sore. And were supposed to be going to Busch Gardens this weekend. What are we thinking?!
Gracie had fun at Grandma's- I'd like to think she missed us a bit (I sure missed her!) but maybe not. She's getting really good at pulling up on her pack-n-play, and can stand holding on with only one hand. So big!

Finally- 8 month pics

You can kinda see her teeth in the last one!

If you give a Grace a pancake...

She will eat it. And like it. We went to IHOP for breakfast this morning and I ordered a small pancake for Gracie. I cut it into tiny pieces and gave them to her one at a time and she gobbled them up! That's about the first time I've ordered something for her at a restaurant. She is broadening her horizons!
She has also figured out how to sit up from a laying down position. Randy's mom said she had done it a couple times this week but she'd never actually seen her do it- just one minute she was down, the next minute up. Then this morning when I went to get her our of her crib she sat up (took quite a bit of effort) and has done it twice in her pack-n-play since then. A new skill- and a useful one at that!

8 months!

I didn't forget about Gracie turning 8 months last weekend. I was going to wait to write this until I did pics, but I don't have the outfit I want to take the pics in yet, and may not have it for awhile, so here goes.
I now know why they say all parents think their kid is the smartest kid ever born. Because Gracie is, without a doubt, the brightest baby ever. She is so smart. And cute to boot! She's got the pincher grasp mastered and gets the puffs to her mouth almost every time. And loves them! We took her to McCormick and Schmick's, the new fancy-shmancy seafood restaurant at Crabtree, for an early dinner this weekend, and she did so well! We almost left as soon as we got there because we didn't realize that it was going to be such an upscale place, but it was early, so we stayed. As long as we had puffs to feed her she did great! (and the food was excellent. I had miso black cod, which is WAY out of my typical comfort level, and it was fantastic.) She can pull herself up on her crib from sitting, and tonight did it from laying down, but I didn't see her- I just turned around and there she was, standing up so proud of herself. She can get into a sitting position from laying down, but nobody has seen her do that, either.
She says Dada all the time, but it seems to be more of an expression of happiness than anything. She also does the ma sound, but only when she's mad about something. Figures.
She's eating the puree fruits, veggies and now meat/dinners. She gets three 9 oz. bottles a day and three solid meals. She has had a couple bites of real people food (mashed potatoes, bread and stuff) and her two bottom teeth are almost all the way in! I can't get a photo of them- she won't even let us LOOK at them.
That's all for now- I will post some videos as soon as I can get photobucket to cooperate (sorry mom!).

DaDa?

So, mommy is the one who does the majority of the baby care. I change diapers, I do the baths, I wipe the butt and the snotty nose. I fix food, I play, I do the laundry. I buy cute clothes and do dishes and go shopping. And what is my reward? The kid's first word is DaDa.
Hmph.
Yeah, I know, she has no idea which of us is DaDa, or that the sound even corresponds to a person. But STILL! All evening she's been babbling about DaDa and how great he is, and how he's so funny and so much fun. That, and talking to the kitties. I swear- what does a mommy have to do to get a little recognition from the child she carried safely for 9 long months! And let's not even go into the whole birth experience. And I just can't wait until she's a teenager.
In other news, Grace has been experimenting with finger foods- the Gerber Puffs are a favorite, and she is getting quite good at getting them into her mouth with her thumb and finger. She has 2 chompers coming in and is getting faster everyday with the army crawl. She can pull up on her crib with a little help, and we installed a better baby gate downstairs to contain her in the living room. She has a walker at Grandma's and gets around really well in it. She gets mad at home in her Exersaucer when it won't go anywhere! She had her first big-girl bath in the tub by herself last night- she was so cute! It is NOT easy to bend over the tub, but at least I can do it by myself, without needing Randy to get her out and dressed.
I was talking at dinner tonight about how I can't believe how fast babies learn stuff. She went from about 3 weeks ago not even being mobile, and now she's a wiz! I look so forward to the next milestone, then it passes in a blink and I am sad. I guess that's what we do from day one- maybe it gets easier as they get older?

A kinda sad event

We had to move Gracie's mattress down on her crib tonight. She is starting to pull up on things, and it wouldn't have taken much for her to topple right over with it up high. We put it down on the 2nd lowest, so that I can still reach to get her out (kinda). I am trying not to think about it, but it makes me sad. It's like, she's not in her baby crib anymore. Just looking at it, it now looks like a toddler crib, and I am thinking that the crib will never be on its highest setting again, ever. I don't know that we want another baby, so, even though that bed will convert into a full-size bed eventually, I'll never see it in "newborn" form again. And that makes me a bit sad. I didn't think about it with the carseat, I guess because I was excited about the new one. And I haven't gotten sentimental about her clothes, because I know other babies will get good use out them. But for some reason the crib hit a nerve.

Purr Motor