You LOVE Chocolate & Frozen Custard

Gracie,

     The move to WI has been a good one for you.  You LOVE frozen custard, a treat very common here in Milwaukee.  We asked you tonight if you wanted to go for ice cream & you came running & yelling "Ice Cream!"  When asked if you wanted your ice cream to be chocolate ice cream, you immediately said "Choc" with conviction.  You couldn't wait for us to get going, hugging each of us as if to hurry us along.

     I should preface these photos by telling you that you have been tired all day but refused your nap.  When you are tired, you are generally very naughty.  It's like your body seeks out trouble nonstop!  The ice cream diversion was partly to keep you busy for a few minutes & out of trouble.

     We decided to head to Leon's (we call it Neon Leon's due to his apparent love of neon signs) & daddy went to get the custard while we waited in the car.  You were so excited!  I turned on music to keep you occupied & we rocked out to that "I hate myself for loving you" song.  I have to admit that while I'm thrilled you're trying to talk & to sing, I was a little nervous about you learning this song.  Maybe we should start with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?  You started to cry when daddy took too long, as if maybe he was secretly standing in the parking lot, eating all our ice creams.

     You wasted no time when he handed you your cone & began to eat.  Poor thing--you were so tired!  We laughed as we watched you falling asleep while trying to still eat your cone.  You'd nod off between licks.  Then, you were out.  Daddy calls this the Ice Cream Hobo look.

Your cone is in your lap!

Messy, tired girl!

Still so cute!

     After we snapped these pics, your daddy carried you up to bed.  As he laid you down, you drew up your arm & licked an imaginary cone.  I agree, baby girl.  The chocolate custard here is the stuff dreams are made of!

Sweet dreams Gracie Goo!

You Love the Outdoors

Grace,

You get your love of the outdoors from your father--this is sooooo not your mother's quality!

What's better than mud?

What mom?  This is good for my nails!

Not sure what you were digging for!

You LOVE this rock at the edge of our yard.

It's so good for jumping!

   
     I asked your daddy tonight if he thought we could ever take you camping.  He said,  "Grace?  Yes.  You? No."  He knows me so well!  We had dinner at Olive Garden tonight.  You had bread sticks galore, pasta, went potty not once, not twice, but three times & then finished the meal with one of their mint chocolates that come with bill.  Best night ever you thought.  You blew a kiss to the restaurant as we left & yelled, "Bye!  Bye!!" as you waved while we walked out.  Too cute.  The way to your heart is carbs, chocolate and frequent bathroom visits.

Love you!

You Are an Artist

Baby Girl,

You love art.  Drawing, coloring, painting--they are all passions for you.  Is it any wonder that the words "draw," "color," and "paint" were among your first 50?  You don't have a favorite color but already name the colors yellow, blue, red and green.

We knew you needed a new easel--a taller one with the chalkboard you'd been craving.  How do I know?  You kept writing on EVERYTHING with chalk.  Grandma & Grandpa found this goodie in their shed & when they brought it up, you were in love.  When we got out the paints, you fell in love even more!

The plastic tablecloth on the floor is essential!

So is using Crayola WASHABLE paints!

You have such a vision! :)  Not sure what it is but you're busy!

You're always soooo focused when you paint!

Moved you by the window so you could have plenty of
natural light. 

     Your favorite thing to draw is circles but painting seems to be where it's at for you.  We've stopped putting the paints & brushes away since you paint about eight times a day.  The other morning, I woke up at 4:45 to find you cheerfully painting!!  You smiled and kept on with your work as if to say "I was inspired by a dream & just had to paint this!"

     I love you little Monet!

Grace: Style Icon

Yes little girl, you insisted on wearing one glove to and from the park.  It was 60 degrees out & you didn't want a coat, just one glove.  Fashion over function I'm guessing. :)

Every Day is April Fool's Day with a 2 Year Old

Hey there bunny!

Your dad & I talked about it this morning and we're changing your nickname.  We always call you monkey because you climb over everything.  You were climbing out of your crib by 11 months!  Well you jump a lot these days.  A LOT.  This morning I made the bed, turned around & it was disheveled.  Gracie!  I said, rolling my eyes.  When you jump, you either say "jump jump jump" with every bounce or my favorite "up down" "up down" "up down" every time.  We've decided maybe you're more of a bunny than a monkey.

You're a snuggle bunny, making daddy hold you while you insist on holding
cookie monster, baby, big bird and pinky bear!

We've also been talking about your language skills lately.  Your speech therapist agreed this week that you're better at language than you test at initially.  Specifically, you understand more than it seems.  You're a tricky girl!  We first noticed it when I said some not nice things to you in a plain tone.  I was frustrated & let myself vent for a minute because you'd never understand what I was saying anyway.  I was wrong!  Wrong to say mean things but also wrong because you understood me.  My tone was pleasant but my words gave away my frustration.  You started sobbing immediately.  Your dad & I were both in shock.  I hugged you and told you I was very sorry & that you were a very good girl & thank goodness you forgave me.

Maybe you started saying momma
because I always wear all the
hats you give me?

You do have trouble understanding things at times but it's not nearly as bad as they made it out to be.  Thank God for that!!  Your language is coming along slow & steady.  The other day you were on the phone with grandma and grandpa.  By the way, they are the most patient phone buddies on earth.  They talk to you for 10-15 minutes while you say nothing.  That is love, Grace and boy do they love you.  This week Grandpa said "Grace, are you not gonna talk to me?" and you shook your head no with a big smile.  Yeah, you understood what he asked.

YOU SAID MOMMA!!!!!!!  You now say momma regularly.  You say it with a French accent, much like you say the word jump (shump!) and it's the cutest thing ever to hear "mum-MA."  You already use it mostly to manipulate me, like saying mum-MA when you want me to get you another cookie (it's a good strategy that works 90% of the time).

You say words like car, dog, up, etc. to name things more and more.  No new words in the last week but that's okay because you've been working on consistently saying the words you know.  You're also trying to communicate a lot more.  You climb up on my lap & here's how the conversation goes:
You:  Mumma!

You're also trying out new faces all the time!

Me:  Good!  Yes, Gracie?
You:  Uh Oh
Me:  Uh oh
You:  Dada
Me:  Dada!  Good!
You:  Wow!
Me:  Wow!
You:  No no!
Me:  No No--what no no?
Yep, that's how the conversation goes.  You sit on my lap thinking of any words you can.  I generally repeat them.  Eventually you run out of words & then get a disappointed look on your face.  I try to encourage you but you tend to slide out of my lap and walk away, getting interested in something else pretty quickly.

You're getting a little bossy but we roll with it.  After all, you're an only child and we live to cater to you.  :)  Ok, that's just what you think but we let you boss us on the little things.

Daddy lets you be his stylist.
You tell him "hat!" and he puts in on
diligently, even lining the bow on the front up.

You bossed me at the children's museum.  I asked if I could draw too, and you promptly said "No!"
When I tried to draw on my own paper, you took my crayon away and said "No No!"

We're loving all your talking Grace!  It's letting you show your personality even more, as if faces like this one didn't tell us you were a bit of a character!

In addition to peeing on the carpet a few times this week, breaking a water & glitter filled baton open and getting glitter all over, and drinking from a bottle of pancake syrup while wearing a lot of it too, you also played a little prank on your daddy while he was cooking this week.  That's dry oatmeal.  I came in the kitchen to find you throwing it in the air like you were making it rain.  "Where is your daddy?" I asked, looking at your daddy standing not 2 feet from you & oblivious to your mess.  "He's cookin!" he said with a smile.  Ah, two year olds.  You're lucky you're cute!  Your daddy is lucky he's cute, too!

Brazilian Feijoada

Grace,

You're always helping me in the kitchen.  Always.  We attempted this Brazilian Feijoada (pronounced fay-ZWAH-da) last week.  I love your style.  When we were browning the first of the meats, the fat was jumping in the pan.  Not one to like grease splatters, you came up with a fashionable solution:  your winter coat!

Stirring the pork shoulder from a distance where it's "safe."

Getting right in there and working hard!

Working on your spoon skills with the pork shoulder.

Cutting an onion with a butter knife on your cutting board while I work on my own.

The focus and concentration!

Still working hard on your onion while the beef short ribs sear.

You insisted on trying the sharp knife!

Back to work on your own onion & butter knife but you insisted on using my cutting board.

Washing dishes while I keep cooking.

There are two ingredients mommy won't touch with her bare hands:  turkey necks & smoked pigs feet!

See how nice I plated your meal?

All that work and you only ate your rice!  Never touched the rest.

     You thought the rice was delicious.  We loved the whole meal but I should have known your love of rice would keep you from even attempting to eat anything else on your plate.  That's okay.  We'll make it again & you can try it then.  Thanks for all the help!

Fast Trip to Ohio

Grace,

This past weekend we did our first fast trip to Ohio meaning we left Friday night after your daddy got off of work & came back right after lunch on Sunday.  You did better on the drive to Ohio than your dad did (when we got stuck in downtown Chicago he wasn't happy) and you were great on the way back, too.  Thank you for that from the bottom of our hearts!

We were in town for a baby shower.  As always, we try to dress you cute for these things so that if your behavior leaves anything to be desired, people can at least focus on how cute you were!  It was fun because your Aunt Emily, Aunt Amber & Grandma came with us and any time all of us ladies can get together it's a great day.

You behaved well overall, starting out shy.  Then the momma to be started opening presents & you know what? There were TOYS in those presents.  Language disorder or no language disorder, you knew you shouldn't go up and take them.  So instead you tried to sneak closer.

And closer.

Yeah, we were on to you!

You had two favorite moments at that shower.  The cake and the other kids.  Toward the end of the shower, you'd warmed up to them & ran in circles around a table.  It appeared you thought someone was chasing you & you laughed and laughed as you ran around the table.  It wore you out!

The rest of your weekend was pretty low key.  Mommy had a lot of running around to you but you took time to lay on your "daddy chair."  At least that's what he calls it when you lounge around on him.

You loved grandpa's slate chalkboard, too.

You had fun with grandma.  By the way, your grandma has a lot of sass in her (as you've probably noticed).  Your daddy smiled after we left and said he was so glad your grandma has her attitude and is such a close part of your life.  He said your grandma Lee was a lot like your grandma.  We both wish you could have known her too, baby girl.  Your daddy finds comfort knowing you get to know this grandma.  She's full of personality, so was your grandma Lee, so is your momma and so are you!  It's a long line of strong women with a quick wit and fun sense of humor.

There's another woman in this line of strong women from whom you should admire Grace:  your great great aunt Sue.  We are so grateful that she's in our lives and that you're getting to know her, too, Grace.  She always makes your daddy laugh and this time when she saw you, she said you look more like your daddy every day.  He always hears how much you look like me and I saw him smile just a little brighter at the comparison to him!

You're one of us Grace & we'll always be a part of you.

We ate lunch on Sunday at the Chinese restaurant your daddy loves there in Bryan.  You attacked your rice with such gusto that one of the cooks came out from the back & laughed when he saw how much you loved it.

After lunch, it was time to go & you gave each of your grandparents a kiss.  Oh, you are such a sweet, sweet girl.  

We asked you if you were ready to go bye bye & you yelled out NO!  You cried when we left but don't worry.  We're seeing them again in just two weeks.