A smiley sort of day

Today started off well with pancakes that smile at you.  How can you have a bad day when your breakfast smiles back?  Thanks Gammie for sending such a fun pan!

Pancakes that smile back!

Eyeing her pancake before she takes another bite

After a tasty breakfast of pancakes and turkey bacon, we all bundled up to see what fun was going on outside.  We were very excited to see that several of our neighbors had sleds that they were sharing and everyone was taking turns going down the ‘hill’ in front of our house.  We tried two different sleds and Grace really enjoyed herself!

Trying out the first sled

We tried several sleds, but everyone’s favorite was the one that had a steering wheel and breaks– lots of control and safety, because despite the fact that our hill is tiny, you get going pretty fast (as evidenced by the fact that when I tried to take a picture of Greg and Grace after I helped them push off, they were well down the road by the time I got it snapped!  Because it was so far away, I’m posting the one I took when Grace and Daddy got off the sled.

Watching snow melt with Daddy

Back up the hill again!

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Fun in the snow

I love my pony from Aunt Cathy!

Before getting bundled up to go out into the snow, Grace took a minute to ride on her horse.  She even tried to take the horse outside when the family went out to check out the snow.  As it turns out, Mama & Daddy didn’t think that the horse wanted to go off the porch, so we left the horse waiting for us there.  Grace was happy to have Daddy as a home base as she began to explore the snow, commenting that it was cold and white (she is getting really good at naming colors!).  After she got used to it, she took off to explore further.

Getting her bearings

Off to explore

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Peaches and (clotted) Cream

Today when Gracie got to daycare, they were eating peaches and cottage cheese.  This is one of her favorite treats, so she sat right down and got to work eating!

What a yummy treat!

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Hupa- Bufda Mama!

That was how Gracie greeted Mama this morning– with a big hug and her special words that she and Daddy had been practicing.  It was a wonderful way to start a birthday and the flowers and card sent to my office by Gracie and Daddy were wonderful too.  Here’s a picture of Ms. Grace reading Mama a Happy Birthday story!

Reading stories

All bundled up!

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Feeling a little better

Queen of the indoor slide

Antibotics are wonder workers, and Grace seems almost like herself this morning.  She got to school and ran immediately to the indoor slide and then posed.  She’s such a ham for the camera!

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Double ear infection again

Due to Grace’s continual bad behavior and high likelihood of bursting into tears at not getting her way (more so than normal) we took her to the doctor today to realize that she’s got a double ear infection again, and it’s gotten so bad in one ear that we can’t do drops because the discharge is so thick.  Yuck.  So the good news is we have antibiotics on board and an explaination for why Grace isn’t being nice to other people… it’s hard to be nice when your head is ringing.  Hopefully she’ll ditch this cold soon and the antibiotics will clear up the ear infections.  Boo on earaches! 😦

The apple today didn't keep the doctor away..

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Not her sweet self

Please, no autographs

Grace is a little touchy today.  She walked into day care and tried to take a friend’s toy and was all around grumpy when asked to do anything that did not involve getting her way.  Given the way she scored on the aptitude tests that Elizabeth ran, Mama’s worried that we might be heading into the terrible twos just a little early, but I sure hope not!

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Practice makes perfect.

Emmy helps Practice.

Grace loves to drink from a cup now and will only take a Sippy in emergencies (ie the back seat of a car when Mama won’t offer her anything else).  Since that is the case, she likes to see what other people are drinking and often wants to try a taste.  Last night when Grace saw Emmy drinking from a cup with Diet Coke she wanted a sip.  Being the experienced and responsible mother that she is, Emmy didn’t get Grace wired on caffeine.  Instead, she let her taste the ice and got Grace her own grown-up cup!

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Taking baby tests

Today Grace got to play with Elizabeth, and more specifically got to play with Elizabeth’s assessment toys.  Based on Mama’s report (which was honest, I swear!) and different activities to assess cognitive, gross motor and fine motor skills, Gracie scores between 18 and 21 months for her skills.  She’s got a 20 word vocabulary (maybe even a few more!), she can make a stack of 12×12 blocks up to 4 blocks high and she plays pretend by giving her baby a bottle.  What a funny, busy girl.

Stacking blocks

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Pigtails!

In hopes of managing what has come to be quite a lot of hair with a little girl who likes to chew on clips, we’ve begun to use pigtails.  Here are some pictures from yesterday (we forgot to take the camera to day care today!)…  She looks so grown up!

Using a cup!

Our big girl!

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A snuggle bug

This morning when she got to school, Gracie wanted to sit in Ms. April’s lap.  Fortunately, she could, but as you can see, lots of other friends also wanted Ms. April’s attention…  Sam is the one offering her the bubble wand.  What a busy morning!

In April's lap

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A bathtub transition

Last night, when we got home, Grace needed a bath.  She had food in her hair and snot on her face and there was no putting it off any further. 

As we might have shared on the blog before, Grace does not like baths.  She loves splashing in the water, but baths are not on her list of things that are fun for little girls to do.  AT. ALL.  She starts to cry when the water starts running and begins a mantra of “All done, All done, All done” which she repeats until she’s snuggly in her PJs. 

Last night we decided to try something different.  We removed the blow up ducky bathtub that has been a part of bathtime for over a year now, and we filled the tub to the brim with bubbles.  We added toys and books, and then Mama got in.  At this point, Grace was looking over the edge with trepidation, but was undressed.  She was not wailing, but did have a tear or two streaming down her face.  Mama started blowing bubbles in the bathtub and Grace started to laugh amidst the tears.  After a little convincing, Mama was able to lure her into the bathtub and they played and blew bubbles and splashed (A LOT) and the only time the tears returned was when a little bit of the water to rinse her hair snuck into her eyes, but with more bubbles, crisis was averted.  So it seems that we’ve figured out a way to a make bathtime fun– lots and lots of bubbles.  Who can argue with that?

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Rejecting the sippy

Look Mama-- they're up here!

Today at daycare Grace arrived asking for “Wah-Wah” and so after washing hands, Mama filled the sippy with water.  Grace would have none of it and looked at Mama as if she were not very smart for not realizing that there were big girl cups on the counter.  To help clear the matter up, Grace pointed them out to Mama in hopes of getting herself a big girl cup.  As we left, she was busily drinking her water, and Ms. April was helping Emerson (who has been drinking from a big kid cup for quite some time) clean up the mess he made when he turned his cup over.  Grace played that trick of turning a cup with water in it over multiple times this weekend, so we now have a house rule that drinking from a big girl cup can only happen in very closely supervised environments where a parent can prevent “Oopsies”.  The good news about the multiple oopsies this weekend?  She goes to find a towel immediately and begins wiping up the mess.  🙂

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“Hi, I’m Sweeping Sam”

Grace has a fun new toy, given to her by Ms. JoAnne from Daddy’s work.  It’s a broom which talks.  Grace loves to sweep the floor now (day care has already taught her to like wiping down tables) and paired with the lawnmower that Grandpa gave her, we figure in a year or two, we can just turn household maintainence over to her…

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Twirling to the music

Today before church, Grace got out her piano that plays music (thank you to Martha for this wonderful present!) and spent a good 15-20 minutes spinning around and dancing.  She seemed to like watching her dress puff out and spun around so much that she fell down a few times.  Mama got some video footage which she’ll try to get posted soon, but for now, here is a picture of her mid-spin.

Spinning around

Another funny Grace story– but some quick background.  In our church, at the end of the service, all of the children are invited to come to the front of the church to stand near the priest for the dismissal.  Because Grace was a little squirmy upon returning from the nursery in time to be blessed at communion, Mama let her go up to the front with the other kids.  Little did Mama realize, however, that Grace was not interested in being with the other kids, but in making a break towards the altar!  Fortunately, our rector Bob saw her make a break for it up the stairs and scooped her up and held her for the dismissal, amidst knowing laughter from the parents in the congregation.

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