This is what 2 1/4 looks like

Looks like trouble, eh?  I love it.

If you're just meeting Grace, don't worry, she'll charm you with her natural sweetness.   If you're tight with her...she might push your buttons, just a little, just to see what will happen.  After all, she's 2!



As much as I love and care about your reading experience, my faithful friends, I want you to know this post is entirely self-serving, so I can remember some special things about my Grace.

As I write this, Georgia is chasing Grace around the kitchen table while Grace giggles, and then she stops, puts her hand in her hair and says, "My hair is browwwn. Mommy too?" She's so curious and  eager to share what she knows -- she offers up colors, people's names (she calls me Erin from time to time, lol), and other random facts, "Mimi's favorite color yellow? Yeah, yellow."  Her dialect still requires a close listen...a few weeks ago while we were at a dinner party Grace was telling a story, when a family friend asked if we were teaching her a foreign language?  No, that's just Grace's English.  It's kind of got an Asian overtone, with a lack of "S" sounds.  I can usually decipher it, but even I get stumped.  And if I do, watch out...in her defense, it's got to be frustrating, right?

New achievements?  Potty trained!  Well, at least 90% of the way there.  I'm too scared to leave the house without a pull up, but she's close to not needing them anymore.  We have this great routine  after she uses the potty where she gets a chocolate chip and M&M from a Santa cookie jar.  She always has a nice little chat with Santa about what she's been up to and they tell each other how much they love each other.  And I will forevermore have a Santa cookie jar on my kitchen counter. Other things to remember -- She can identify numbers 1-9, quite a few letters, all of her colors, many shapes and basically she's a genius.  She sings songs for us like Bingo, Where is Thumbkin, Frosty, and Bad Blood, and she likes to act out scenes from Frozen because she loves drama (she's totally going to be into computer science, Eric...totally.) She still loves to dance and her latest trick is to say "Ta Da!" and then bow deeply while her minions clap for her.  She also likes to walk around and yell "BOR-ING" if the spirit moves her--no idea where it came from, but she always uses it in the right context.  Hilarious, yes...insulting, yes.  Oh, and if you offend her, watch out for the stink-eye.  It's amazing.

Speaking of drama, we've had to institute a few time outs because Harry Houdini insists on climbing up the steps by herself...and since she's usually lugging a teddy bear, a baby, a cell phone and sporting a petticoat and tutu, we insist she grabs an adult's hand before she takes off.  Alas, the thrill of the chase is too enticing for Grace, so when she's bored she often scampers up the steps, unaccompanied, hoping someone will come chasing after her.  Usually the first time she gets a warning, but after she does it a second or third time, she gets a one minute time out.  Upon one such occasion, I had her sit in a little blue chair in her bedroom, while she, holding her teddy bear, kind of fake crying and whining, seemed to be enjoying the process -- having my eyes on her, feeling sorry for herself, cuddling her sympathetic teddy--when the alarm on my phone went off and I said, "Ok Grace! Time out's over!  No more steps today, ok?  Let's go play!" she said, "No mom!  No STAY in time out!" And her tears became more effusive and the hug around teddy's neck got tighter and she refused to make eye contact with me, and I found myself convincing her to come out of time out.  And then I realized I fell right into her trap because she wanted the drama to continue and I was just amazed and horrified and impressed.   Look out world, we have a master manipulator on our hands!  I know I'm going to bear the brunt of this drama and manipulation for years to come, but man I'm excited to see what kind of things she can make happen.  Baby genius.

In more developmentally appropriate milestones, we love the going to the library and Clifford, Curious George and Dora books are current favorites.  We've delved deeper into the wonderful world of Disney, and the Little Mermaid and Cinderella are both winners.  Next up?  Beauty and the Beast.  I'm so excited! Tutus and dresses still dominate her wardrobe, but sometimes I can sneak her into her Hudson boyfriend jeans (thanks Dena!) as long as someone is distracting her -- usually Elsa or Dora.

Girlfriend still doesn't like to sleep, and we've waged some SERIOUS battles over nap and bedtime. She's been so great about being willing to sleep in her big girl bed, but most nights she wakes up between 2-5 am and calls for me.  Sometimes Eric tries going in but then Grace turns into Chuckie and gets even more ramped up, so I usually join her, between her pink kitty cat sheets, until morning.  We simply must remedy this before baby arrives and I simply do not want to fight this battle.  Heaven help me.




Speaking of baby, if you ask Grace what her baby sister's name is, she will 100% of the time respond with "Minnie Mouse." I have no idea why or what this says about her expectations for her sister...or if she knows something I don't?  She's so excited to be a big sister...but I'm slightly terrified that I've rushed her babyhood and that maybe bringing Minnie Mouse home is going to be the worst experience of her life.  So for the time being, I'm going to savor the last weeks of life as we know it, where I can have Grace all to myself and vice versa. I know it's going to be a big transition for all of us so please, pray for me :)


I don't know what's going to happen to my Grace-only posts in the coming months...partially because I know I'm not going to have as much free time, partially because she does new and delightful and amusing things everyday that it's hard to lump them into a month by month category.  So maybe I'll drop everything and write about her when she does something amazingly cute, just so I don't forget.  I know these kinds of posts can't be all that interesting, they're not particularly well-written, but I'm just so glad I have a place to jot a few things down about my girl...she's such a precious gift and I never, ever want to forget the unique little pieces of joy she brings me.  Thanks Grace, for being such a delight.  I adore you more than you could possibly know!

...and may God bless Georgia.