The DeLorme Family: January 2015

Gymnastics

Ashlyn has been taking gymnastics since October. She goes to a weekly class and she really enjoys it. She always has such a fun time and I love watching her learn new things. The gym she goes to is a non-competitive gym which I love. They are all about kids just having fun. This is a good thing for Ashlyn because she is very competitive by nature, and this allows her to just have fun. The gym she goes to has such awesome teachers. Every week they change the entire gym around and they get to learn and try new things. Last week, they had a show to demonstrate some of the skills they had been working on. We all got to come and watch Ashlyn, She was so excited to show her family what she has been working on. I'm so glad Ashyln enjoys gymnastics so well and so proud of her willingness to try new things. She is really learning some wonderful skills all while she has so much fun.

Coming out

Getting ready to do a cartwheel

It's very hard to capture with pictures.

Part of their show

Such awesome girls

More of her routine

Gracie had so much fun watching her sister. She sat and clapped.

The bounce board which she loves.

She really likes the bars.

My little monkey

She got to take Ella around to her favorite things.

She loves the rings

Getting her award

Her class

Denver Museum of Natural History

On Martin Luther King JR day, Ashlyn had the day off from school. We decided to go and do something fun. We headed to Denver to the Museum of Nature and Science. We have been to this museum many times because we really do love it. They are constantly adding new exhibits and they have temporary exhibits so it never gets old. We always have an awesome time. This was the first time Joey has come with us. He enjoyed it as much as we did. I think next time we go we will definitely be purchasing a membership. Even though it is a drive, it is such a great place and so educational for the kids. I always learn something every time we go. Even there we were there for several hours, we only managed to see a small part of the museum. We always find a new area to explore and something new to do. Here are our pictures from the day.

Checking out the map

This is part of the new kid's interactive area. They always love this part.

Water fun

Dawson always loves these blocks

Dinosaur digging always happens

Gracie crawling

Gracie checking out the dinosaur dig

They loved the big dinosaur

Gracie's first time climbing on a dinosaur

Dawson has been loving puzzles

Getting to ride a camel

Checking out some seals

Rest break

We discovered a new Native American area. I don't know if it was new or not, but it was new to us. I teach a huge unit on Native Americans in 4th grade so I really enjoyed it. Here are the kids with a totem pole.

They had a replica of a Navajo Hogan that you could go in. The kids didn't have too much interest in this area, but I would love to go back and really take the time to read about all the artifacts.

The outside of the Navajo Hogan

This is the view from the observation area at the museum. It's even better in the summer. I really do love Denver.

Gracie checking out the view.

Doing some walking

10 Months

Our sweet baby girl is 10 months old!!! Why is she growing so stinking fast? I just can't get over how quickly this year is going by. I love watching her grow and do new things, yet I miss my baby. Every day she gets closer to a toddler.
Gracie is growing like crazy and doing new things each and every day. She loves to explore her world and continues to get into everything. She is getting super close to walking. She took 3 steps last Sunday. She walked from the couch to the coffee table. She is constantly practicing standing by herself. She loves to push her little doll stroller around the house to practice. I'm not ready for her to be even more mobile, but I know it's coming very, very soon.
Gracie is getting her top two teeth. These teeth have been very rough on her. I also think she has a little bit of a cold, so she has been going through a lot. Her poor gums were bleeding the other day due to her teeth. It broke my heart. She is a trooper and I'm giving her lots and lots of extra love and cuddles. Her sleep has been awful due to this, and Joey and I are operating on very little sleep. I'm praying that once these teeth pop all the way through she will sleep all night like she was before the teeth.
Gracie is still the sweetest and most smiley little girl. She loves to be sung to and read to. She likes to do whatever her brother and sister are doing. Ashlyn is constantly playing with her and she already idolizes her big sis. It's so neat to watch.
Gracie continues to be a good eater. Although between her cold and teething, her appetite has slowed down. She is still a meat lover and will eat almost anything new we give her. She loves pancakes and egg yolks. Its fun to see how she reacts to new foods.
She still says "mama" a lot. The other day she really seemed to call Dawson "Bubba". I also think she says "Hi", but I can't quite tell for sure. I'm excited to hear all of her new words in the coming year.
I swear Gracie reminds me more of more of Ashlyn as she gets older. When Ashlyn was this age she was such a daredevil and climbed on everything. Gracie is the exact same way. The other day I caught her standing in her infant seat to try to get to what was on a table. Today we had some little chairs out, and she climbed on (I was right behind her in case she fell) and she stood up and put her hands up and was so proud of herself. She even tried climbing on the piano today. I think she's going to be fearless just like Ashlyn is. I'm totally expecting her to be climbing out of her crib at 18 months like Ashlyn did.

Here are some of Gracie's likes and dislikes:

Likes: taking baths, swimming (we got almost every Sunday and she just loves being in the pool with me), reading books, being sung to, playing with her brother and sister, swinging in the swing out back, pushing her doll stroller, putting everything in her mouth, getting into things she's not supposed to have, and being held by mom

Dislikes: getting dressed or changed, having things taken away that she wants (I've even started to see little tantrums), going to bed, not being held by mom when she wants to be held, and her car seat