America The Beautiful
July 6, 2006
It's been close to two weeks since I last journaled.
All has been well. Watching Grace advance in her motor skills and the way she interacts with us is amazing. I'm pleased to announce that she is now able to sit up, roll-over, and speak, and all it takes are some Scooby snacks and a little scratch behind her ears.
While she is sitting and rolling over, she doesn't really speak all that much, but I'm quite sure that she will say "da-da" before she says, "ma-ma". This is not because she loves me any more than Tricia, but because I practice with her for about two hours each evening with one 15 minute break for a short snack and diaper change.
I doubt Grace will ever enjoy the pleasures of getting rug burns on her knees as she appears to have no desire to crawl, but frequently squirms to have us hold her by the hands so she can walk—or rather prance—around the house. It's quite a hoot to watch her since she is so little and when she "walks", she high-steps it. Perhaps these are early signs that she will be into marching band.
As for instruments (speaking of marching band), she hasn't started playing anything yet. In addition, she is struggling in her math skills and grammar skills (which is to be expected since she is from China). However, she is excelling in her cuteness skills and exercises them quite frequently.
Some of Grace's favorite things are her bottle (which is a concoction of all sorts of "yummy" (healthy) ingredients), sweet-potato puffs, peek-a-boo, and facial hair. For some reason she is entranced by men who have beards as she loves to touch the bristly stuff (just don't think about handing her off to them).
Some of her least favorite things are, baths, people outside her immediate family holding her, waiting for the next bite, and the word "no."
As a family we had a nice evening on Independence Day at Englewood Baptist Church. Every year they throw a big shin-dig, complete with inflatables that the kids get to enjoy and plenty of space for weary parents to park a lawn chair, flop down with a Diet Pepsi and visit.
Tricia brought some Strawberry shortcake which we thoroughly enjoyed! After eating and talking with others we saw there, we watched a great show of fireworks. Even at 9:30 p.m. it was still about 90 degrees and the humidity this year has been extreme, so, we got the kids home, in the shower and off to bed.
I'm very grateful for the freedoms we have in America and for the beautiful land that God has given us to enjoy. However, it's my opinion that America is just a little bit more beautiful now that Grace is here.
Oh...I almost forgot...I'm also thankful for air-conditioning.
