Grace's first birthday party

Here's a collage of pictures from Grace's actual first birthday. From top to bottom and left to right: Grace enjoying the Cozy Coupe Charlie and I gave her; Cousin Steve with Lily; Playing "So Big" with Tess and Cousin Megan; Loving the new book that the Lemstras gave her; Testing out the Pinata that was a huge hit with the "big" kids; Mmmm....wonder how that frosting tastes; Wow! That's pretty good; Grace can't believe Mom let her make a mess, again; The adults wine tasting in the afternoon while Grace slept off her sugar high (The big girls were in charge!).

Grace's current accomplishments:
*She walks more than she crawls.
*She only eats table food, and we're down to only one bottle a day. When she sees the bottle, however, she practically hyperventilates with excitement.
*She's not saying any distiguishable words yet, but she has her own language. When she sees Charlie, Lily or myself, she says certain words. She also has a word for kitty. They are all too garbled to write down here, but at least we know what she wants.
*When she's hungry or thirsty, she walks to the refrigerator and bangs on it.
*She's much more determined than Lily was at this age. She knows what she wants and will push and yell until she gets it!
*This kid eats just about anything, literally. She doesn't swallow something if it's not food and is known to walk around with it in her mouth until she sees me. She'll then promptly spit it out for me. For instance, she had a plastic Polly Pockets shoe in her mouth the other day. She spit it out as soon as I caught her with it. I'm glad she does that because her four year old sister has toys with lots of small parts.
*She became an aunt again for the fifth time yesterday. Sophia Joy was born to Kevin and Brooke. There's a picture on Brooke's blog, and the link is on the left. I'll post some too when I have time to upload the pictures from my camera to the computer.
*Her curls are my favorite physical feature of Grace. Maybe it's because I know she inherited them from me.
*Grace gives an abundance of kisses, but plan on getting "slimed" with saliva because they are usually open mouthed and sometimes with the tongue out!
*She is much more attached to me than Lily ever was at this age. I kind of like it.
*She is the best hugger. She will wrap her arms around you and nestle her head in your neck and hold on for minutes. I secretly think that's why Charlie likes to get her up in the morning.
*She's a reader, like her sister. I am very proud of and excited about that. Yesterday, she sat with a picture book of animals for about 15 minutes and just giggled. She didn't care either that the book was upside down.

I could go on and on. She does amazing things every day! We are enjoying her immensely.