4 month checkup

Grace went to the doctor last week for her four month checkup and here are her stats:

Height: 24.5 inches, 61st percentile
Weight: 17lbs. 2.5 oz Nearly off the percentile chart, yikes!
Head: 16.5 " 76th percentile

Here are just of few of the things Gracie loves recently:

• Eensy Weensy Spider

• Her bumbo seat, we call it her "throne"

• Listening to Daddy play the piano

• Church - so much stimulation, the music, the people, the girl goes nuts!

• When we can get her to laugh - there are all manner of ways

• Being swaddled for bed (she hates it at first, but once she relaxes, it's heaven)

• Sitting up (supported of course) she's like a turtle on her back these days, the girl just wants to be able to see everything and be involved!

• Being outside, whether she's in the stroller or the Bjorn, she is SO content

And she's developed some new skills as of late:

• Blowing raspberries

• Sticking out her tongue

• Experimenting with new vocal noises. She does this hilarious thing where she'll make these really high noises and then wait for us to do it back to her.

• Moving around in her crib at night (not so sure this is a skill per se, but something new that's she's been doing.)

• Smiling at strangers, she used to reserve her smiles just for Mom and Dad, but is starting to get a little more friendly these days

• Thumb sucking - yep, she figured it out all on her own how to get that thumb in there. She's been a finger sucker ever since she figured out she could control her own hands. But lately, she's got the thumb much more under control.

Grace is a pretty decent sleeper these days. She still wakes up once a night most nights, and total is down for about 9-10 hours. Though sometimes she wakes up at 5:00 AM and decides she wants to be awake for the day! And she's getting better and better at napping for long stretches all the time.

Here's some recent photos. The first three are a hike we went on on Labor Day:

Grace and her cousin Macy. Gracie is absolutely ADORED by her cousins. They all beg to hold her anytime we get together.

She is always so smiley when she wakes up!

Hope everything is going well for you guys. We think of you often.

Labor Day weekend was a big one for Miss Grace. On Friday, we went to the courthouse to have the official adoption finalization with the judge. Now we'll be able to get her birth certificate and social security number and such.

Waiting outside the courtroom.

We had an awesome judge who just held and played with Grace the whole time and thought she was the cutest thing ever.

Then, Sunday was a big day for Grace at church. In our church, when a baby is born, it's traditional for the baby to be presented in front of the congregation and the baby's father gives her a special blessing and official name. It's a really special event and we had a lot of family come to watch and participate. Afterward, we had a big dinner at our house for everyone who came. Grace wore a white dress (which is tradition) and she looked so beautiful. It was such a wonderful day for our family. Here are some photos from then: