Goldilocks

We took Grace to the furniture store yesterday to try out some "big girl" beds. With her 3rd birthday a month away I figured it is time to start considering moving her from the crib to a twin bed. She is not climbing out of the crib and she seems pretty happy in there, but at 37 inches tall and about 31 pounds she is getting difficult for me to lift in the early mornings when I have to get her out of bed before she is even awake. Sometimes, she even holds onto the crib bars, covers herself with her blanket, and moves to the farthest corner just to make it harder for me to get her!

I did a lot of searching on the internet and found the bed I wanted. Then, I found a local furniture store that would order it for me. We went there today so I could choose a mattress and so Grace could have the experience of shopping for her bed. We let her try a lot of them like Goldilocks tried out the bears' beds. She seemed to like the loft and bunk beds the most, but it would give me a heart attack or lots of sleepless nights if she were sleeping up that high.

So here is the bed that is coming to our house in 4-6 weeks....

iKnow iAm iNtrouble

I'm not at "techy" person. And, up until recently, I didn't own any Apple products. But now I have an iPod and a few weeks ago after I saw Kellie's iPad, I knew it was something that I would use. So the day after they came on the market, Kyle drove about 40 minutes with me so I could go to the Apple store as soon as they opened. I ended up being the 2nd person in line and within 15 minutes, I walked out with the newest tech gizmo to hit the shelves. And, I have to say I love it! But....there is someone in this house who loves it even more! The iPad is so easy to navigate, that Grace can choose a game, movie, TV program, or story book on her own and navigate through the screens to do what she wants. I have been selective in choosing "apps" for her, trying to concentrate on learning letters, numbers, and simple Spanish words. We have a few favorite programs stored like Curious George, Backyardigans, and Sesame Street for when she wants to watch something and it isn't on TV....or in the car...or in a restaurant. I think her favorite thing, though, is an animated version of Toy Story. It is basically like someone is reading the book aloud. You even see the pages turn. Very cool....

So far, she understands that it is Mommy's 'puter and she can use it "sometimes". But, in reality, I think she uses it as much as I do!

Earth Day 2010

Today in honor of Earth Day, Grace did many fun activities at her daycare. In fact, all month they have been learning about the earth starting with looking at pictures of the earth, holding globes, pointing to Ohio on the map, talking about how all the blue is water. (Aunt Susan gave Grace a huge ball that is a globe and she brought it to school the first week of April to share with her friends.) As the weeks progressed they learned about soil, plants, and recycling. The other night she saw some gum on the ground in a parking lot and told me that we shouldn't drop trash on the ground. We are supposed to put it in the garbage can. Have I mentioned that I love this school?

Each day I get a note home that looks like this one. Today, in addition to knowing what she ate for lunch (critical in planning dinner) I also found out that after reading a book called I Love Our Earth, when her teachers asked what she loved about our earth, Grace responded "I love beaches." That's my girl!When we got home we did our own Earth Day project...we planted cherry tomato seeds from a little kit I bought. It was perfect for little hands and she was able to plant the seeds all by herself.Grace was excited to use her Dora watering can... ...and even made sure to water our neighbors plants. I think when Mr. and Mrs. M. return from their winter home in Arizona they might have a little helper they didn't plan on!After taking care of the seedlings and the perennials we went around the front of the house to blow bubbles and check out Mommy's favorite flowers - daffodils! These spring flowers are for you, Aunt Phil! The sun was in her eyes, but she was a good sport and looked up at the camera when I asked.

Big shoes

Grace tried my shoes tonight before we went to gymnastics. The funny thing is she did a pretty good job walking around in them!

How did I get so lucky?

I get to parent this child?

I have said it before, but Grace is truly amazing....She astounds me every day with the things she does, her vocabulary, and what she remembers. That last one is truly incredible. She remembered a local pizza place this weekend when we had only been there once before, and an ice cream stand, and this sub place where she likes the pickles....Hey, wait. Maybe she isn't that amazing...she is just focused on food!

No, Grace is wonderful. Lately, she is especially proud when she can accomplish something alone, stating, "I did all my-self." Emphasis on the "my". And, at almost three she can do many things for herself like pull her pants up and down for using the potty, drink from a big kid cup, hang her coat on a hook, feed Daisy, and put her shoes on. Today she dragged the big trash can into the garage from the curb. Really? How old is she? That trash can is twice her size. Grace loves to help when I am cooking or cleaning and it makes me laugh when I see her pretending to talk on the phone with a toy cell phone perched between her ear and shoulder. I can only hear her half of the "conversation" which includes a lot of "uh-huhs" and "okays". Hmmmm...I wonder where she gets that!

I also love that Grace has a mind of her own. She knows what she wants and no degree of persuasion will influence her. Believe me, I try. She is open to bribery, though, which explains when she has a HUGE collection of toy cars from the Disney Cars movie. Bribery and just that she is so darn cute, how can we possibly resist when she asks for one?

Grace loves to "pack" things - her cars in a suitcase, her lizards in a purse, necklaces, coins, blocks, etc. The other night she put her Curious George in a suitcase and brought it to the kids' playroom at the gym. I know it is weird. But it worked. She was happy and I got to exercise. Sometimes she packs her Dora backpack and her Minnie Mouse rolling suitcase (which, by the way, has never been out of the house) and walks away for a few minutes. Then she returns to wherever I am and says, "I'm back. I missed you" and we go through this whole kissing and hugging routine. Love it!

Grace has also become quite the little mother to her American Girl doll, Miki. Yes, the doll she ignored at Christmas. Now, Miki takes center stage. Last night, Miki was riding in the grocery shopping cart which was full of play food and they walked from store to store (aka: room to room). Each room was a "store" and Grace kept telling me, "They closed. We try another store."

Are you laughing yet? This kid is a character.

She knows it is almost her birthday and she walks around reminding me, "It my birthday soon!" Oh yeah? I'm pretty sure I remember. But then she tells me, "I blow out my candles all my-self!" Funny kid.

Life is an adventure with this incredible child and even though I am dead tired, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Run, Mommy!

I know it looks like fall, but these were from about a month ago - just early spring in NE Ohio!It looks very different now. It is amazing how a little sunshine, warm temperatures, and rain can turn everything fresh and green again!

Friendship and laughter

I hope Grace's life will always be full of both!

Curious about George

I bet you know who this is....But did you know that the Curious George history dates back to 1940 when the authors Hans Augusto and Margaret Rey fled Germany with the manuscript in their luggage? They published the first book in the series in 1941 and it has blossomed from there to include dozens of books published in many languages around the world, movies, a PBS television series, and even a ride a Universal Studios.I was never a big Curious George fan as a kid, but I have become one since Grace has gotten interested in him. When we went to see a live performance of the Curious George musical yesterday, we were lucky enough to get to meet George up close and personal. Grace was shy at first, but warmed up enough to give George a high-five and to take a few photos.

(Thanks, Kellie, for the great photography!)

The show itself was a lot of fun singing and dancing with a good message about doing everything with love! How can you go wrong with that?

Little lady

It cracks me up how Grace crossed her leg to read her book in this photo. Now where could she possibly have learned that!

Some bunny loves you

I think Grace had a really nice Easter. She woke up to this "basket" from the Easter Bunny (it is a suitcase from the Disney/Pixar Cars movie because Grace is a big fan!)which she found by following a trail of eggs that went down the stairs, through the dining room and the kitchen, and ended up by the windows looking out onto the lake.

Later in the day, we went to Kyle's sister's house where she participated in her third egg hunt of the week! (I didn't plan it when I dressed her this afternoon, but now that I look at the photos the circles on her dress kind of remind me of eggs.)By now Grace is an expert at finding eggs! She knows to look high an low and doesn't mind if she has to squeeze behind a tree to reach one tucked far back!Grace is also great at opening her eggs to see what treasures are hidden inside.She has no trouble convincing Kyle that she needs another piece of chocolate. But, I can't blame him.... How can anyone resist that smile? BUT.....I am hiding the rest of the candy until next week!

Egg-stravaganza

I am one tired kid. I think my mom is pretty tired today, too, because in a moment of weakness, she fell asleep on the couch which gave me some time to work on her 'puter. Why am I so tired? Well, this is our week "off" from work and school but we have been going non-stop since last Saturday. Just check out mom's blog entries and you will see SOME of the things we have been doing. Then, if you add potty training to the mix, you can get an idea of why I am tired and a little cranky. Potty training is stressful, you know. I have to concentrate so I don't have an accident and mom is always asking me or telling me I have to go use the toilet. I wonder how she knows I have to go and sometimes I really don't have to but when I protest she gets upset and then I get upset....you get the picture. But, if you don't, here is one to show you what happens when mom and I butt heads. I never end up winning.

This was a good day, though. I took mom to my friend Dawson's house so I could play with Dawson and Mayna. We had a really good time on the swingset. Ahhh....I could swing all day if someone would push me. Luckily, Tommy and Andy were happy to help out with that.Tommy told Mayna and me to try touching our feet together when we were swinging. It was fun and we giggled a lot. I think mom was enjoying something called a mimosa while I was doing all this work on the swing...

I wore my new sandals to play. Don't you love them? The best thing about them is that I can put them on all by myself. Sometimes they are not on the correct feet, though! But at least they are on and that makes me really proud. I took them off to cool my sweaty, stinky feet in this pitcher of water just like Dawson. In fact, all day I took my shoes on and off about 10 times...just because I could!Dawson, Mayna, and I hid a bunch of Easter eggs outside for the grownups to find. But they were taking too long talking, so we just rushed out to gather them all up. It was an egg-stravaganza with big eggs, small eggs, shiny eggs, and eggs that were funny shapes and didn't look like eggs at all!We all found lots of eggs and put them in our baskets. I tried to grab some of Dawson's when she wasn't looking. Mom was not happy about that!But egg hunting is hard work and I figured why look for them when I can get some that had already been "found". I guess I wasn't supposed to do that!Then, we sat down to see what goodies were inside. I got a bracelet, some squishy bugs, Chapstick, money, candy, a ball, a book, and more treasures I can't even remember right now.We played for a long time today and every time Dawson, Mayna, and I get together we become better friends. Our moms say it is fun to watch us interact, but I'm not really sure what they mean by that.We're not doing anything special...we are just being kids!