Gracie Turned 3

Grace has been waiting a long time for this day and it has finally come and gone! She was so excited to be "free" and be a "big girl" who can go to preschool and be in primary like Millie. She helped to plan a little Princess party with her girl friends, and she even helped make the cake. For the past month, she has asked almost daily when she can have her chocolate dirt birthday cake with gummy worms. But then last night, she changed her mind and insisted on a princess cake like when she turned 1. I was a little relieved because that would work better for the "princess theme" anyway.


At the party, the princesses danced, made candy necklaces, played games, had dinner and cake, and played outside. I was thrilled that we didn't load them up on sugar! And they all seemed pleased with the party, even though it was very "low-key."


I love how easy to please Gracie was. All she wanted was the cake and a ring-pop. Grandma gave her the ring-pop on Saturday, so we granted her the lolipop she wanted so badly at Lagoon, but couldn't have. She was oblivious to the fact that she would get other presents. She got some fun card games, playdough and a cute little doggie, along with some wooden animals, paint, and glitter pens. It was a blast!



Here are some fun little facts that we love about Gracie:

• she is a great talker, surprising us each day with her words and phrases
• she loves to tell us about her nightly dreams (usually starting with, "So...one day...") and how she got her "owies"
• she is very excitable by little things
  
• she has eaten instant oatmeal every morning for breakfast for the last 2 months, but today she announced that she doesn't like oatmeal anymore
  
• she is potty trained (no more accidents lately!) but still wants mommy or daddy to come with her to the bathroom (I think she just likes the personal attention)
  
• when Claire followed her to the bathroom yesterday, she yelled, "No, Claire! I need my privacy!" Needless to say, she feels threatened by Claire's ability to move toward her, touch her, or take away her toys
• She loves to laugh and play with Millie
  
• likes to make Claire laugh and cry; likes to squish, kiss, hug, tackle, & walk around her.
  
• she loves to say the prayer, and is starting to say very mature and spontaneous things from the heart
• she only likes three hairstyles right now: crimping, two low ponytails, or down with nothing done to it. Anything else "buggles" her and ends up coming out within a minute or two
  
• she is still wearing her "ballet shoes" that are too small, but just made a break-through yesterday in admitting that "naybe" they are too small
• She is almost always bothered by the straps on her car seat, and will often want her skirt and panties off to ride!
• she is no longer napping (except for occasionally), but will usually have a good 45 minute quiet time in bed reading books
• she loves to play with duckies in the sink, Pet Shops, Polly Pockets, puzzles, matching cards, and dollies
  
• she just started going to joyschool twice a week with Lucy, Josh, Raimana, & Lance
  
• she can be quite difficult to dress for the day, but if we offer a good bribe, she'll usually give in; but then she finds a chance to strip down to her panties again later in the day
• she is just learning to play computer games by herself, and loves the autonomy
• she asks several times a day when she can play a game on mommy or daddy's cell phone
• she loves to chew gum, but can't quite resist the urge to pull it out and play with it
• she whispers sweetly in our ears a few times a day, "I love you."

Birthday Photo Shoot