It's Here!

A Party for Gracie

We had a very low key celebration on Thursday. Pappy brought her a tricycle that she loves, especially the fringe on the handlebars. She opened a few toys. Last night we had a big party for the two year old. My house was packed with friends and family. We had Grace's favorite for dinner - corn on the cob. Then came the presents!

The Dora tent was a BIG hit.

The Dora ball pit was a REALLY BIG hit. She jumped into it as soon as she got out of bed this morning.

She loved all her new Little People toys especially this house.

Kristan was shopping for books and look what she stumbled across.

Grace and her cousins Josh, Ryan, Crystal, Kristan and Kayla


At the end of the evening she was a sleepy little girl.


Her big present didn't get here yet. There was a delay and it just didn't make it for her birthday. But it should be here tomorrow...

Almost Two!!

In one hour Grace will be two. Another thing about Grace that amazes me is her deep love of animals. She isn't even scared of really big dogs (which means I have to watch her very carefully around new animals). She had her picture made on Monday and they had two dogs. She was in heaven! They got some great pictures of her chasing the dogs. Sometimes her animal love is a bit more extreme than I would like. She has this thing about eating Ellie's food. Science Diet small bites - apparently very tasty. If I mistakenly leave the door to Ellie's crate open she will run and get in. Her new thing is chasing Ellie around with food or the water bowl trying to get her to eat/drink. And she squeals and laughs when she does this. Sometimes Ellie will retreat to my bedroom for a little quiet time! I love that she truly enjoys animals.

NEWSFLASH - Grace pooped in the potty yesterday! We hope to have other potty training successes in the near future.

A few of the things I love about Grace

Since Gracie is going to be two on Thursday I thought I would take the next couple of days to share the small things I love about her. She has so much excitement for the things she loves. Music is one of her favorite things.

She sings constantly and when she is not singing she is standing by the stereo saying "music please." Then she will sit down in the floor and listen. She sits still and listens. AMAZING.

We watch the movie Annie all the time. Often we just watch the song and dance numbers. And it's not just Annie. She loves musicals - Hairspray, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Sound of Music you name it.

She also loves Justin Timberlake, her cousins introduced her to him. Non-traditional toddler music but she truly loves him. We have his concert on DVR and if anyone turns it on she will start waving her arms and dancing around saying Justin. The other day I was referring to Lucy's parents and when she heard me say the name Justin she started dancing in place and waving her arms.

I love the excitement and enjoyment she gets from music.

Gracie Goes for a Checkup

This week Gracie went for her 2 year checkup. All signs of her ear infection are gone and Dr. Amy doesn't think her ear infections are frequent enough to talk about tubes yet. She has had three in seven months. She weighs 25 lbs. and her height is in the 75 percentile. She has all of her teeth with the exception of her 2 yr molars. Hopefully when they come through she will cease being the queen of drool.

Not only has she become averse to medication, she now hates going to the doctor. She SCREAMED when Dr. Amy looked in her ears, throat, etc. When Dr. Amy was leaving the room she said bye in a not nice tone. Little did she know the worst was yet to come. Next came the immunizations and another crying fit. Then came the blood draw. She hated having her thumb pricked but that was nothing compared to her reaction to the nurse squeezing her thumb to get blood flowing. There was a consensus among everyone. She is a very, very strong little girl. I already knew this and I am constantly amazed at the things she can pick up and carry around.

We are working on potty training. She hasn't actually used the potty, but she will sit on it. But not a potty chair she wants to sit on the real thing so we have a little Elmo seat that fits on. Maybe she hasn't gone on the potty, but she is champion hand washer. She will sit on the potty just to get to wash her hands after. She loves having a little stool by the sink so she can do it on her own. In the past when she got quiet I would find her in the bathroom dunking a roll of toilet paper in the toilet. Now when she gets quiet I will find her in the bathroom washing her hands (pretending to wash her hands but really playing in the water).

In a week and a half my baby will officially be two years old.


Grace has a shoe thing now. Everytime she gets a flip flop it ends up on her leg.