We will continue to update our web page with new pictures of Gracie Lee and add to her milestones as they happen. Thanks to everyone who has given has given us their love and support during our journey to bring Gracie Lee home.

Gracie is so close to walking. She will walk between Steve and I for about 6 feet but is not quite ready to give up crawling as the preferred mode of transportation. She goes to the doctor next week for shots and exam. I think she now weighs between 22-23 pounds.

Gracie went for her 15 month check yesterday (she is in fact almost 16 months). She weighs 22 lbs 2 oz and is 30.0 inches.

Today Gracie completed the transition to a "walker". It has been hit or miss until today. Today was the first day that if she fell while walking she just got up and continued to walk. She walked about 80% of the time today. She's still pretty unsteady and sometimes swerves in odd directions but now prefers walking to crawling and can successfully walk from one end of the house to the other. Shopping has become more difficult as she does not want to stay in the stroller or the shopping cart. She has also become quite affectionate and likes to give her version of hugs and kisses (kisses are darn wet). This is a really fun age.

Gracie had her 18 month check up today. She now weighs 22 pounds 9 onces and is 31.5 inches tall.

Happy Valentine's Day! We have our little Valentine. She is still not talking but understands so much of what we say. She is busy all the time. She likes to help load the dishwasher, put paper in the trash can, gather the old newspapers, help Mommy make the bed by bringing all the throw pillows and get treats for Mickey when she is a good dog.

Gracie is now 20 months and much more a little girl than a baby, although, she is still not talking. We have made a full transition from the bottle to a sippy cup with no problem. She had no attachment to the bottle and had continued to use it occassionaly only as a convienence to Mom and Dad. Her self-feeding skills are improving dramatically and she has what to us is amazing dexterity with a fork. We took her to a Chinese restaurant last night and she could have entertained herself all evening "spearing" tiny pieces of a steamed dumpling. She also entertained one section of the restaurant as she loudly proclaimed "Mmmmmmmm" while simutaneously devouring her fortune cookie.

Her comedic talents are also blossoming. She usually has a period every evening when she gets silly and everything that she does just makes her laugh. She will put on quite a little show all the while laughing at herself.

The other noticable change in the past 6 weeks is she is much less willing to immediately go to someone besides Mom and Dad. In the past, she was extremely outgoing and would literally go with open arms to anyone. She is still very friendly and hardly shy but may prefer to greet someone ( at least an adult) while holding Mom's hand.

It's July and our baby is almost two. Where has the time gone? Gracie is finally beginning to talk a little. She only has a few words at this point but we all have to start somewhere. She has mastered "hi, more, dog, up, out, car, and wawa".

She has also had her first experience with daycare. I have joined a community center which has excercise facilities and a very nice daycare that you can use for up to 1 1/2 hours while excercising. (So far Mom can't exercise for more than 1 hour!) Wasn't sure how Gracie would react to being left there the first time but she happily walked off with the teacher and never looked back. They said she does just fine and couldn't believe that this was her first experience in a daycare.

This past weekend Gracie also got to go swimmng for the first time in something more than her wading pool. We attended a picnic sponsored by Families With Children From China (other adoptive families like ourselves). We didn't know that there was a small lake for swimming at the park and did not take a bathing suit for Gracie. When some of the other little girls started going in the water, no power on earth was going to keep Gracie out of the water so Mom did the best she could and took Gracie in the water in her "bloomers". There was no hesitation on Gracie's part, she just marched right into the water and sat down. I was holding her arms but before I could even react, she put her entire head under the water and just came up laughing. I think we have a little fish on our hands.

The following day as I was washing our lunch dishes, I saw the backside of Gracie in our family room doing something by Mickey's water dish. By the time I got to her she had basically emptied the entire dish on her head by splashing herself with her hands. She was soaked, the floor was wet, the wall was wet, but boy was she happy! I think she was reliving her swimming experience from the day before.

We have had a busy two months. We flew to Ohio for a brief visit, celebrated Gracie's second birthday followed one week later by the 1st anniversary of the day Gracie came to us. In the midst of this we also squeezed in our 22nd wedding anniversary. July will never again be a "quiet" month.

At her two year check up with the doctor, Gracie weighed in at 27lb 4oz and was 32.75 inches. She is very comfortably wearing 2T clothing.

Gracie is finally making some progress with talking. She now has a vocabulary of about 75 words that she attempts - half of which she will use on her own and half require some prompting from Mom or Dad.

Gracie Lee Milestones:

Started eating solid food: July 22

Crawled for the first time: July 25

First ice cream and McDonald's french fry: July 30

Changed from formula to whole milk: August 3

Cut second bottom tooth: Late August

Cut first 2 top teeth: Beginning October

First Step: October 10th

Learned to climb up on the couch:October 13th

Cut 3rd bottom tooth: Oct 27

Stood up without holding something: Nov 6

Is now walking as much as she is crawling: Dec 4

Full transition to walking: Dec. 14

Moved from high chair to junior chair: January 1999

Cut 2 additional teeth: February 1999

Discovered Gracie has cut all 4 molars: March 30, 1999

Opened the door to the basement by herself - YIKES: April 6

Stood on kitchen chair and locked Mommy in the basement: June 1999

Cut her four eye teeth: June 1999

First time swimming in more than just wading pool: June 27, 1999

First haircut (not counting those from Mom): July 2, 1999

Gracie Lee Milestones:

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