Graciedotes

Bubble Bath time. Lovingly called "bubba" by the bathing beauty. It is a most enjoyed part of bed time.

Singing Time
Everyone must participate. With both hands. If there is anyone who tries to get away with just listening or half hearted participation, she will seriously point out the offender and we all have to stop and start over again. Her favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam. She has also started singing with Cori at night. After family prayers, Cori takes Grace into her room and sings a couple of songs to her before laying her down. She sings right along, breathing in the same places as Cori and even singing some of the last words in each phrase. The first time she did this with me, I had a really hard time singing. I had a big lump in my throat that was half giggles because her singing is so cute, and half crying because it is so sweet.

She did this herself. She was pretty darn proud.

Favorites

Jumping. She loves to jump everywhere; on and off the elevator, up and down steps, and all through our apartment--much to our downstairs neighbors' chagrin.

Little Einstens, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It has only been in the last few weeks that the TV has held any allure for her. I have to admit, I love the hour of distraction in the morning. Grace lets me feed her anything for breakfast, get her dressed in anything I choose, and comb her hair with out a single fuss. I can take a shower, blog, get myself ready, and enjoy an early morning free of the tear stained variety we were having.

We've got ears, its time for Cheers!

Finding Nemo. Another recent find. She loves this movie. I don't let her watch it until the evenings, she tends to get really fussy around 5:00ish. And even then, we use the scene selection feature to watch just bits of it. But again, the distraction is so great for me. I can make dinner in half the time because I have both hands free.

Talking. We've known it was coming. We've known that she would be a talker. Oh my. She says a new word nearly everyday. And we have long jabber sessions quite frequently. My favorite is when we go out to eat. Like the little big kid she is, she'll take her cue from me and Cori and place her order with the server. She nods her head and points at the menu and the table as she speaks.

Foods. It seems like her appetite has two switches, feast and famine. When the feast switch is on, she loves everything. Though her face doesn't portray her enthusiasm, that is a bowl of chopped red onions she is munching from. We waited for the sour face and instead got an "mmmMMMMmmm". She loves broccoli trees (especially if she has some ranch to dip them in), peaches, bananas, cherries, any kind of meat, yogurt, toast, and cheese, cheese, cheese.

Sacrament Mtg. Reverence
A couple of Sundays ago, Grace made for the most irreverent Sacrament meeting ever. You must realize that there are not many young children in our ward, so this part of the meeting is very, very quiet. Just as the prayer was being said on the bread, Grace decided that she really needed some Cheerios. Okay, here you go. "Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch." So loud. Then we needed a drink of milk from the sippy. Y'all know how quiet those things are. Then she recognized Cori up on the stand. He was helping bless that day. "D-A-D-D-Y!!!" Then, looking at me and pointing to him, "D-Aaaaaaa-D-D-Y!!" Yes, Grace. I see him. Please use a quiet voice! By this point the family sharing the bench with us is laughing so hard that the whole pew is shaking. But her antics were not yet over. The piece de la resistance was yet to come. A few more crunchy cheerios and one lengthy slurp later, Grace let it rip. Yep. A nice resonant man belch. Oh my. So sorry Crestridge Ward. We are really trying to work on this.

In her happiest element; exploring, taking the world at her own pace, touching everything she can reach.