Three. Three! I cannot believe it. I won't waste any time waxing philosophical and emotional about how much I love her, how time continues to slip through my fingers, how child development is the most amazing thing in the world -- well, I would, but I simply don't have the time to craft cogent thoughts about these topics. I have two kids 3 and under and we have things.to.do.
Things like princesses and villains. "Mom, you be Maleficent. I'll be Elsa. You spin around me really fast and take my ice magic. No not like that, like faster, like you're on a little carousel but really fast in circles around me." You should see her afterwards, completely in character, wide-eyed, peering around corners for her ice magic, shocked that the evil villain would take advantage of an innocent snow queen. Then the drama stops and she gives me my next direction, and on and on we go until I can't stifle my dramatic impulse and go off her script and get in trouble. Or her baby sister grabs something she wasn't supposed to and she gets in trouble. You see, Grace runs the show around here, and Elle and I just take turns being in her good graces or the subjects of a lecture on what we did wrong. It's fun, and it's impossible to get anything done (thanks Eric for making sure our water and light bills get paid, thanks Mimi for taking us to Costco so there's usually some food in our house).
Some of Grace's favorite things include: PJ Masks, YouTube videos (which she calls commercials), apple cider, Elsa (I really thought/hoped that ship had sailed but she made a triumphant return about 2 months ago), candy, Disney princesses, light sabers, being the mom, craft projects, not napping. She still loves babies, but her baby sister is no longer on her VIP list. No one was expecting Elle to be able to crawl and stand and climb so early, and the fact that she does has caught us all off guard. Since Elle thinks she, too, is almost three, she wants to be in the middle of every dramatic scenario we play, turning into a daily battle that Grace is compelled to fight. The other day a Pampers commercial was on and she saw a super tiny newborn and said "oh sooo sweet! I want a new baby!" and sort of shot her sister a look out of the corner of her eye, like, you weren't supposed to grow up and be a PERSON you were supposed to stay TINY and out of my WAY. I feel the same way, in some regards, but for different reasons. Anyway, I'm holding out hope that they'll be best friends since Grace can be incredibly helpful with her little sister when we ask her, but she will definitely squish her cheeks before it's all said and done. ("OOOH soo FWSIHY!")
Grace has never been real keen on sleeping, and a few months ago, after many trials and very few triumphs, Grace stopped napping. Mostly it's been a nice transition, but WOW 12-14 straight hours with another human is a lot of hours. Usually she'll have some quiet time on her bed -- I had hoped she would, like, read books or something but because she's not quite three she can't actually read, so generally she has an iPad and I just let her play with it for awhile, and her ability to manipulate it all by herself is a.mazing. She inevitably finds her way to YouTube and watches videos where people showcase new and popular toys, which she calls "commercials." I've found her recreating these videos when she is playing, and the other day I heard her say, (again, while she is playing, not watching) "and if you like the video you're watching make sure you give us a thumbs up!" I am still slightly reeling from that comment, but holy smokes is that funny. I just wish they were also teaching math along side these toys as she's clearly completely engaged. Yeeesh.
Another cool thing that's happening is watching Grace's vocabulary and syntax evolve. She uses real, multi-syllablic and appropriate words on a regular basis, like when she said, "Nico is terrifying me," when her buddy Nico crept up on her with a toy knife. She's super expressive, using many hand gestures, head shakes and shoulder angles to commit to a point. She's an excellent rhymer, and sometimes comes up with silly little poems that don't make much sense, but she definitely understands rhythm and rhyme. I think she's going to have a great interest in the arts, which is probably a good thing because lately she has been quite clumsy, one minute walking next to me and the other laid out, flat on the floor. She's growing though, and there's a solid chance her shoes are a little big. Poor thing, Papa is already talking about Elle being his great hope for the golf course. Don't worry Grace, it's hard having long limbs. I feel you. She eats like a bird and is a tall, skinny thing. Now that I'm thinking of it, most of our behavior issues stem from one of us being HANGRY, and the best way to get her to eat is to hold her on her lap and literally put food in her mouth while she's opening it to talking to you. Yesterday she shocked me when, after asking her a question, she pointed her index finger in the air and raised her eyebrows, like, I'm chewing, gimme a sec.
Something Eric and I have both noticed this past year is her great poise and control, even when things are displeasing to her. She can hold herself together very, very impressively, especially in the public sphere, when things don't go her way (at home, with mom and baby sister, that's not necessarily the case). She possesses a great maturity for her age, especially when it counts, so thanks for that, G. She likes doing everything all by herself, except going to bed, but even then, sometimes, if she's tired enough, she'll snuggle up with her dad as he reads her off to sleep, and Eric, I think, has never been happier. (She did tell me today, putting her head on my shoulder, "I wish I could be by you forever. " I then assured her she could in fact, be by me forever, leaving me to pull my puddle-shaped self off the floor.)
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