Gracie,
Oh you are so much fun. The past months have been busy having fun with you and dreading preschool (I'm the only one dreading it--you are totally excited).
As for your name, you are sometimes Grace, sometimes Gracie, and sometimes Sue when playing Littlest Pet Shop. Your current favorite shows are Horseland, Littlest Pet Shop, Smurfs, and Transformers Rescue Bots. You also love anything Angry Birds.
You've realized that happy meals at McDonalds contain toys every time. I think you used to be just pleasantly surprised but you're on to it all now. They just had a smurf campaign and we went 5x in two or three weeks, partially because we had been on a trip during that time and McDonalds was easy to agree with you on meal choices. You were missing Smurfette and I even took you in to ask if they had her but they were all out here. I quick post on Facebook and you now have 2 Smurfettes with 2 more and another smurf on the way.
You love to sing. You'll sing "lalala...smurf all day long" and it cracks us up. From Little Mermaid you also sing "lalalala....kiss the girl." Speaking of kissing, your princess and prince barbies kiss all the time. It's quite the big deal as you always giggle after having them kiss. Remember that tricky to say word, caterpillar? You know call it a "tickle patter." I'll be so sad when you finally get that word right because you are too cute when you get it wrong!
At bedtime, you love two different storybooks and nearly always choose one of them for us to read. There's one about Cinderella's birthday and the book Popcorn by Frank Asch. Popcorn was one of my favorites as a kid and I love that you've fallen for the book, too. After the book reading, you always want me to sing You Are My Sunshine. Sometimes you sing along, sometimes you want to hold my hand while I sing to you, and sometimes you fall asleep right as I sing it.
You are very obsessed with camping. Your daddy and I even spent quite a few hours one weekend designing a teepee for you. You love it and I have had to design a campfire to go with it. You'll yell out "I LOVE camping!" often. Very often. You want a sleeping bag and we're planning on saving that treat for your birthday or Christmas. When camping sometimes you ask me for a cracker, chocolate and marshmallow so you can make a smore. Camping is all about sleeping and waking up. I have to be an owl when you first lay down and you'll sit up and say "What was that? Oh, an owl." and pretend to go to sleep. Then I have to be a rooster and you engage in a very elaborate and dramatic stretching routine to "wake up."
You like to rescue people and things. You'll say "Oh no mommy! Daddy in trouble!" or hang a doll off the edge of the couch or table and have her screaming for help. It's quite the dramatic play!
The other day you were very angry that I made you take a bath. As soon as you were done, you grabbed a toy cell phone and informed me that you were telling daddy. When the phone didn't actually work you started crying again, saying "Oh no! It's broken!" Telling on me is becoming quite the thing with you. When I wouldn't go in the pool at 7:30 a.m. because it was cold, you had me call grandma. The first thing you said was "Grandma! Mommy no pool! Mommy no pool!"
You've had your first bee sting this summer. I was relieved to see you are not allergic to bees. The yellow jackets have been horrible and aggressive this year. Your dog had been stung earlier in the week. When you were stung, your daddy came home right over his lunch hour, stopping at Lowes to buy 2 cans of bee killer on his way. He took care of them! Nobody hurts his baby!
I broke my ankle in May. You had left a mini etch-a-sketch on the stairway and when I ran downstairs for something, I stepped, it slipped and snap. I was laying at the bottom of the stairs screaming and crying in pain. It was horrible because I couldn't even get up and I knew we had to get me to the dr. You were so sweet and so worried for me. The pain would get a little better and then worse because the endorphins my body produced for pain relief would get used up and it would take a little time to make more, etc. I started saying "I need more endorphins" as a bit of a joke with your dad. You ran to get your pillow pet dolphin and handed it to me saying "Here mommy. More dolphins for you." You sweet, sweet girl! You also kept patting my head and kissing my forehead, trying to help me. It was so sweet.
While on crutches the next 6 weeks, I accidentally spilled your glass of water on the floor. Sweet thing that you are, you grabbed a towel to clean it up but not before sighing and yelling "Mommy Olson!" the way I yell "Grace Lee Olson" when you are in trouble.
Oh, you like cheerleaders a bit but we're not big into sports here so it makes things funny. You'll grab your pom poms and yell "Go Ariel!" "Go Cinderella!" "Go.....Easter Bunny!"
You call slushies "Freezy Freeze!" As in, "Freezy Freeze Mommy! PLEASE FREEZY FREEZE!" Your daddy accidentally called it that yesterday. The poor woman we were ordering from had no idea what he was talking about.
You had your first water balloon fight this summer (with us). I didn't get the best balloons for it evidently because they only popped after they hit the ground. So we'd hit each other with the balloons and it would just kind of hurt, then fall to the ground and get your feet wet. You hit your dad twice in his private area and I have to admit. It was funny. You weren't trying to hit him, it was just how your height and throwing worked out. You have a very strong throwing arm so he found it a bit painful.....and then the balloons fell on the ground and made his feet wet. It was a bit of a pathetic water balloon fight but you didn't mind. You thought it was hilarious.
You still love art. You get your water paints out by yourself but can make a bit of a mess. Your dad saw all your new paintings scattered on the floor and teased you "Boy Grace, this looks like quite a mess!" You answered, "No daddy. No mess. I arting!" You know, when you run you are running and when you make art you are arting. Super cute.
You used to be so shy about a camera but now you are all about it! You like to look at pictures right after I take them and have me take pictures of certain dolls or toys. The other day you let me get video of your dancing. I asked you if you were a good dancer and you said "No, Imma MOVIE STAR!"
We had your preschool orientation and play date this week. When we showed up, they had tables outside by the playground so you could paint rocks. You thought it was awesome. You just ran up and started painting (arting), spending more time on your creation than the other kids and then ran out to play on the playground.
We aren't sure if you'll attend this preschool but we do really like it. We find out in one week (four days before preschool starts) if we are moving to South Carolina. We flew out about a month ago to check it out. Grandma and Papa drove down to see you and you guys had an absolute blast. You loved room service at the hotel. You'd get up to find a big tray with food with covered lids. We'd remove the lid and you'd gasp at the beautiful blueberry pancakes or French toast that awaited you. On Sunday, we all went housing searching together. Your daddy and I had gone by ourselves on Saturday. You were not interested until the very last house, which was our favorite from the day before. If we move, that will be the house for us. You loved it. You ran around just soaking it in and loving it. We'll see what happens with that!'
When we flew to Charlotte, you were awesome on the planes. You really "got it" this trip. You loved being up in the clouds and loved snack time, when the flight attendants let you pick your drink and cookie or peanuts. Last week you started imagining our bed was a plane and had me get you peanuts for your flight. I did but then they all spilled in our bedding and it made me second guess that decision!
You get in trouble often but "real" trouble only happens about once a week, ending with you getting sent to your room. Last night you got in trouble for taking the pins out of the roof lining of my car, making the roof sag inside. I told you that you were going to your room as soon as we got home (3 block drive) and you were upset. When I pulled in the driveway, you said "No, no home!" as if we could avoid the whole thing if I didn't take you home. You are such a sweet girl though. A little later you asked your daddy to fix it and thankfully he was able to. A few hours later you told me again, "Mommy, sorry I broke car. So sorry I broke car." You sweet, sweet girl. You don't get in big trouble often but when you do, it sticks with you and you'll often apologize even days later for the mistake. We just assure you that everyone makes mistakes and it'll be ok.
Gracie, I am loving this time with you. I'm not ready for you to go to preschool but that's just because we've had such special time at home together that letting go, even a little bit--makes me a little sad. It makes me think of how soon you'll be off to school full time and living your own life. I pray that we'll be able to give you freedom and yet boundaries and that you'll always know just how important and special you are to us. I always want you to know just how loved you are. You are awesome just being you.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!
Mommy
